Category Archives: networking

Twitter follower numbers have little to do with influence!

Twitter follower numbers mean a great deal to a lot of people. However, it seems that as Twitter matures as a service, the number of followers someone has, has very little to do with their influence. For those of you like myself, who use Twitter as part of your marketing mix, ...

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Building a great team

One of the common traits among every successful business owner I have ever met, is their ability to build a great team of people around them.  These people may be; consultants, marketing professionals, accountants, lawyers, IT professionals, media contacts or people with influence within their ...

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He made me an offer that was easy to refuse!

Yesterday evening, I received an unsolicited email from someone I don't know.  What follows is his entire email, other than his name and address: "WOULD YOU CONSIDER Doing a 30-minute webinar for real estate agents on Monday, August 2, at 10 a.m. Central time U.S., 4 p.m. London.  And talk about marketing in today's world!" The email ...

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Business blogging experts?

Over the past 24 hours, I have seen 2 people advertising their services as business blogging experts.  In both cases, I decided to check THEIR blogs out.  As a marketing guy, I was curious as to what kind of blogs these expert business bloggers had. I'm really glad I did, because it motivated me to ...

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How dependent is your business on Twitter, Facebook etc?

If your Facebook or Twitter account got suspend or deleted, what impact would it have on your business? I ask this question, because I'm seeing more and more people invest huge amounts of their valuable time building social networks on 3rd party sites, ...

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Surviving information overload!

Following on from yesterday's post, about the need to be a student and not a sheep, today I would like to focus briefly on the importance of improving our comprehension in the era of information overload.  It's one thing for us to read something of value, but if we fail to comprehend what ...

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Why your client’s social networks matter to YOUR business!

It's a fact: Your customers and prospective customers have a bigger voice then ever before!  Thanks to services like Facebook and Twitter, their ability to reach people is so huge, that it can generate an avalanche of word of mouth marketing for you, (so long as you continue to exceed their expectations.) Of course, ...

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Have you considered the worldwide market for your services?

This is a blog post I have intended to write for a while now.  I've noticed that many small business owners and entrepreneurs are missing out on a massive amount of high quality business, because they are applying out-dated thinking to the reach of their services. It's all to do with a hyper-local mindset.

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Just because Bob can, does not mean he should!

One of the great things about being in business today, is that we can get an idea, write it down, click a mouse button and get it in front of thousands of people in seconds.  Better still, we can reach all these people for little more than the cost of our time.  However, instant communications ...

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What do your links say about you?

What do the links on your website or blog tell prospective clients and customers about the kind of person you are? One of the reasons that Google has become the dominant player in the search engine market, is that so much of what it does, reflects the way humans think.  If Google's algorithm spots ...

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Steve Jobs, iPhone 4 and the Apple marketing experience

Steve Jobs and Apple in general, never cease to amaze me.  This week, Apple announced their latest product, the iPhone 4 and received, as always, millions of dollars worth of free publicity.  I watched a live video of the iPhone launch event at the World Wide Developer's Conference, and saw journalists ...

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Social media marketing – A more social approach

Some people have asked me, why I place so much emphasis on building a community rather than a following.  Yesterday, within a 30 minute period, I received 2 emails from people enquiring about my services.  I believe the way these emails begin, (see excerpt below), demonstrates the marketing value of community. Email 1: "Dear Jim, You don't know ...

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You are on your way – But where?

In 3, 5 or 10 years time, your business will truly arrive! The question is; "where?" Over the past 15 years, I have worked with thousands of business owners all over the world and in my experience, people tend to focus too much on instant gratification.  They are unwilling to invest ...

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The marketing power of giving

Whilst I had not planed to write any new blog posts during my holiday, (I've been sending out scheduled posts since last Thursday), I really wanted to share this with you.  It's all about the power of small, simple human connections – the kind that are easy to forget, yet can be so powerful for ...

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Using Google Buzz?

I recently took the plunge and started using Google Buzz.  My initial thoughts are that it has a lot of potential, which is why I wanted to mention it here. Google Buzz: So, what does it do? VERY briefly, Google Buzz is a micro blogging application, which comes as ...

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Just because you CAN does not mean you SHOULD!

Have you ever wondered why there's so much poor quality, ineffective marketing out there? The answer is simple: Many DIY marketers do things purely because they can, rather than because they should! Just because they can subscribe you to their newsletter list without your permission, they do. Just because they can leave a spammy comment on your blog, ...

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4 Secrets of the world’s most successful businesses!

Thankfully, we don't have to guess or wonder what it takes to be successful in business.  The answers are in the stories behind every successful businessperson, who has been kind enough to share them. Here are 4 things I have seen over and over again, in every successful businessperson I have ever studied: 1. Expert advice Successful businesspeople ...

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Twitter as a marketing tool: Your feedback!

Has Twitter helped you attract new clients or customers? Some business owners and entrepreneurs, who use Twitter as part of their marketing strategy, do extremely well.  Others seem unable to transform their tweeting time, into tangible, commercial results. I would like to hear from you, if you use Twitter as part of your marketing efforts and ...

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Dealing with critics!

How well do you handle criticism? If you use blogging, newsletters and/or social media sites as a way to market your services, you will receive varying levels of criticism.  Paradoxically, the more successful you become, the more criticism you will receive, because ...

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Twitter can be amazing: Check this out!

I just fell back in love with Twitter! As some of you might remember, I was once one of the world's top 40 most followed people on Twitter.  Then, in January 2009, after being swamped daily with hundreds ...

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