Twitter: Finding People To Follow

When you're new to Twitter, you may wonder how to find new people to follow or to get more people to follow you.  I prefer the natural way to follow people and grow my list of Followers on Twitter.  I DON'T auto-follow and I NEVER join lists that promise you thousands of followers.  If you're going for numbers then go ahead and do it that way.  Here's what I do:

• Check out people following me and if they look interesting then I'll happily follow them back.
• Look at who's following people I follow or who are following me.  This can often turn up a few gems - especially if you move in the same circles, as you'll find people you didn't know were on Twitter.
• Check your Twitter stream.  Who's replying to your followers?  You can often find people to follow through who other people are reply to and Re-Tweeting.
• Use tools like Twellow and GeoChirp to find people in a particular industry or in your area.
• When you meet people at offline networking events you'll often find that they're also on Twitter, find their Twitter ID and follow them.
• Use Google or an internet search engine to check a person's name and see if they're on Twitter.  Not everyone uses their own name for Twitter - they may use their Company name.
• Check people's contact details in their online profiles - they'll probably list their Twitter name there too (or they should do).
• Check #FollowFriday tweets - people recommend others to follow.  Add a few of your own and give a reason so other people can check them out too.

You'll grow your followers and you'll find that the more you tweet and the more you participate, the more quickly it will happen.

How Much Time Do You Spend On Social Media

An interesting talk from Lee Cottier on "Social Media vs Time Management".  http://is.gd/75EcG

Links in nicely to this month's newsletter and to a talk I heard on Radio 4's Today programme this morning discussing comments made on a Twitter account by a Labour MP. http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/listen_again/default.stm

We all know about Social Media but how aware are we of protecting our image in such a public environment?

February Newsletter: Are You Making The Most Of Your Social Media Time?

Social Media is a great marketing tool but you do need to be clear about your reasons are for using it. Otherwise it becomes just another source of distraction and a way to while away the hours.

Make sure that you're not spending/wasting all your online time, by following a few basic principles: ...

Read the rest of the article in this month's free newsletter, just register on my website. Free tips, advice, information and news on how to improve your time management for your business and personal life.

How Attached Are You To Your Mobile Phone?

I was talking to a group of business advisors this week about the importance of boundaries for time management. One of the topics that often gets discussed is the use of phones - they all had their phones out in front of them in the meeting room.

While technology is great for making our lives easier, the concept that we can now be contacted any time, any place and pretty much anywhere - adds to the number of things that can now distract us in our daily lives.

The level of attachment to their phones and the need to work on their boundaries, was shown when we went for a short walk in the countryside and as soon as they phones came into signal range they started ringing. Even worse they all answered them and then had lengthy conversations.

There's a time and a place for mobile phones and I don't think being out on a walk in the beautiful English countryside is one of them.  Handy in an emergency or if you use it for photos, so by all means carry one with you but at least have it on silent!

I know this might be radical but ...

• You CAN switch your phone off - let voice mail take a message or if you're worried about losing potential business, use a call answering service.

• Especially in meetings - respect the people in front of you and switch your phone to silent or switch it off altogether.  Give them your undivided attention.

• If you're expecting an urgent or really important phone call, which is more important that the person you're with - let them know, so when it rings they won't feel you're being rude when you answer it.

• You don't HAVE to answer the phone when it rings.  If you're in the middle of something - finish the task first and then phone the person back.  Most phones, especially mobiles will let you know who the missed call was from if they haven't left a message.

• You CAN leave the phone behind - is it absolutely essential to take it with you on a short walk or when popping out to the shops?

• Switch if off or ignore business calls outside of business hours - otherwise customers and clients really will think they can contact you any time of the night or day.

Take control of your time and decide when YOU are going to use your phone. Don't let it control you.

Making Calls Whilst Driving

Someone asked me yesterday, whether using driving time was a good time to catch up on phone calls. Now I'm all for multi-tasking, when appropriate and making use of slack time but this isn't one of them.

While you might think that sitting in the car is a good time to use technology with all the gadgets and attachments that enable us to be in touch and contactable at all times - hands-free, bluetooth, voice activation etc. but driving standards are bad enough without the added distraction of having a conversation on your mobile whilst driving.

I see enough erratic driving with drivers having a phone clamped to their ear - usually hand held and NOT hands-free. Today I saw drivers on the phone, negotiating roundabouts, turning corners and swerving across their lane.

There's a time and a place and being behind the wheel while you're driving is not a place for a phone conversation.

You're having to listen and respond to the phone conversation, which means your attention isn't where it should be.

According to RoSPA, 85% of drivers observed were using hand-held mobile phones. Not only is this now against the law but drivers on the phone are mentally more challenged are more likely to be involved in an accident. Numerous tests and surveys have shown that drivers are more distracted than they might like to admit by attempting to do other things. A moments lack of concentration can all too easily result in an accident and even fatalities.

Now a lot of people may disagree, especially if they treat their car as their office because they're on the road a lot. If you spend a lot of time in the car as part of your work:

- make calls before you leave or when you arrive
- keep calls short if you have to answer a call and only if you're hands-free
- pull over safely if you need to make or receive a call.
- call them back when you can talk properly.

If you call someone and they're in the car and moving - call them back later.

Above all - keep your eyes and mind on the road ahead. Drive safely.

Make It Easy For People To Contact You

I'm often surprised at how many businesses appear not to want to give out their contact information.

Just the other day I needed to get hold of someone quickly, who I've connected with online but not yet in the 'real world'. They'd contacted me via email and needed some urgent info but hadn't left their contact details, perhaps assuming that I had them.

However ...

• They didn't have their contact details in their email - a simple email signature is a great way to provide these.
  
• Their online profiles have no contact information - if you don't want them in every profile, at least have them on your website.
  
• Their website is 'under construction' so no contact details there either.

While we all want to protect our information from spammers and the less scrupulous - if you run a business you need to make it easy for people to contact you.

• Include a phone number - not just a mobile.
• Provide an email address or a contact form.

Yes, it does mean you get the occasional unwanted sales call and spam emails but from a business perspective, it's more important to be contactable and approachable - don't hide behind a wall of anonymity.

Pick up the phone

A few times recently I've been contacted by email to cancel a meeting at short notice or request an urgent piece of information needed within the next couple of hours.

Now, if I'm following my own suggestions, I won't be checking my email every few minutes and I may even be out of the office and not get to it until later. It may even be switched off for a few hours if I'm with clients or working on something.

What is it about email that it makes people forget there are other ways to communicate and use it either as the easy option or as a means of 'instant communication'? It's not! Email is far from reliable and you can't and shouldn't assume that just because you've hit send, it's immediately appeared in their inbox and they'll be reading it and responding in the next few minutes.

If it's urgent, important or time critical - pick up the phone and remember that they're timeframe and level of urgency may not be the same as yours.

May Newsletter - So What So You Do?

You've no doubt heard that question many times before. It nearly always comes up whenever you meet someone new - whether at business networking or social events.

Networking is something every small business should include as part of their marketing mix - especially if you offer a service. Whether you prefer online or face to face it can be a great way ...


Read the rest of the article and get your free copy of this month's newsletter, just sign up on my website and you'll also receive free tips, advice, information and news on how to improve your time management and your business and personal life.

How Not To Cold Call ...

It may be a sign of the times but I'm getting more and more cold calls these days. Some of these are just people looking to sign me up to a business directory or to sell their SEO skills and get my business to page 1 on Google but just recently I've taken calls from two organisations who are trying to sell me their services.

As with most of these calls, they're not upfront about what it is they actually have to offer until they've been through their 'spiel' or they go through what appears to be a great opportunity for me but is actually just a thinly veiled offer to lure me in to what they're really interested in selling me.

One person started - injected a few questions along the way but was patently not listening to or interested in my answers before he carried on with the rest of his script, not bothering to adjust it to what information he'd just been given. I was counting the number of times he said "That's fantastic" in response to my answers (with poorly masked insincerity) as he wasn't really listening, it was just a way of interjecting something into the conversation before he moved on. It took him fifteen minutes before he got to the point i.e. what he was actually selling. This particular company has called me on a weekly basis for the past few weeks and each time speaks to me as if it's the first time they've called. I'm pretty sure I've spoken to the same person at least twice and requested again that they remove me from their list. Wonder how long before the next call.

Today's caller went on for almost twenty-six minutes without stopping - he did ask a couple of questions. I said I wasn't really interested when he finally got to the crunch point after fifteen minutes but he just carried on and repeated the benefits several times, emphasising what a great deal they were offering. I also had the classic "Hold on, I'll just talk to my manager to see if we can do a better deal for you"!

Suppressing the laughter, I sometimes keep listening out of a sense of amusement to see just how the pitch is going to unwind and how long they'll take to get to the point and if I can work out what it is they're actually trying to sell me before they say it and whether they've established if I'm likely to be the slightest bit interested.

Sadly - there seems to be one all too frequent sales 'technique' where the approach is - launch into sales pitch, talk for at least fifteen minutes before revealing the 'solid gold, not to be missed, this week only' offer, ask occasional questions, make suitable 'listening' noises, don't let the customer interrupt, stick to the script no matter what, rinse, repeat until customer gives in and agree to a sale or hangs up on you.

Now, I'm no cold calling/telesales expert and like many people would probably rather have my teeth pulled than make cold calls but I think I'd prefer to establish a) if this is a good time to talk, b) are they likely to be interested in what I have to offer before waffling on for fifteen minutes, wasting not only my time but theirs.

At least I'm learning what NOT to do.

March Newsletter - What Makes Good Customer Service?

Whether you're on the receiving end or the one providing it, good customer service can make a difference to the relationship you have with your customer and clients.

Large companies can hide behind their large, global image and we don't necessarily expect 'great customer service'.

How often have you phoned up a customer help line only to be met with a voice response system, where you have to press a series of numbers before you finally get put through or end up on a help desk where they don't understand your problem or they're so busy reading from a script they're not actually listening to what you're saying.

Customer services help desks around the country must have to put up with disgruntled, dissatisfied and irate customers all the time but if they remain calm, polite, are helpful and do what they can to really listen and resolve the problem, they're likely to end up with a problem resolved and a happy customer.

For me, good customer service comes to the fore when something goes wrong ...


Read the rest of the article and get your free copy of this month's newsletter, just sign up on my website and you'll also receive free tips, advice, information and news on how to improve your time management and your business and personal life.

How I Use Twitter

People use Twitter in many different ways - I thought it might be useful to let you know how I use Twitter, so you know what to expect.

I primarily use Twitter to follow people in my network and to let people know what I'm up to. That doesn't always mean I'll be telling you when I'm off to make a cup of coffee or what I'm having for lunch. Yes, that does happen occasionally but I like to have brief conversations with people, to respond to other people's Tweets, to pass on information, to send out occasional time tips and to let you know when my latest newsletter is out, when I've got a teleclass or workshop on and when I get an article posted.

I'll try to be useful, informative and interesting and if you send me a message or ask me a question then I'll respond either publicly or privately and I'll happily point you in the right direction if I don't have the answer.

I do use Twitterfeed to feed posts from my blogs as it saves time reposting or duplicating material and I'm all for that.

If you follow me I will always check out your Twitter profile to find out more about you and what you do. So, it helps to have a bio on your profile, your full name and a website link, as I'll often click on those if I want to find out more. I'll probably send you a direct message, shortly after you start following me. I don't auto-DM, so if you get a message from me, I've sent it personally, even if it is a brief introductory message.

I don't auto-follow and I may or may not follow you back. It often depends on if I know you, if you know someone I know, what you do, what your interests are, how many followers you have and the type of tweets. Having thousands of followers or only having one way traffic in your tweets is unlikely to make me want to follow you. However, I have wide and varied interests, so I'll often follow someone unusual or a bit different or just for fun.

If you'd like to find out more then Follow Me and see what happens.

Are You Tweeting Yet?

You may or may not have heard of the latest phenomenon to hit the web. It's called Twitter and it's been popping up all over the place on TV and Radio with the likes of Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross now tweeting.

While the original purpose may have been to let people know "What Are You Doing?", most people aren't really that interested in what you had for breakfast, that you're helping the kids with their homework or that you're just off to do some shopping but they might be interested in your expertise, they could have an answer to your question and you might just find out how to do ... well, just about anything. You only have to ask.

Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, so it's like sending a text message but via the web. You can send a message to all your Followers (people who have signed up to receive your Tweets - as Twitter messages are called), reply to a Tweet (@) by including the Tweeter's name eg. @clareevans or send a direct message (d) that only that person will receive.

I love the quick and easy way that Twitter works. You can get a whole wealth of information in just 140 characters. For me, it's a great way to keep in touch with my contacts and wider network and to connect with people on a more regular basis than I would if I spent my time emailing or phoning them.

There are several people I recommend you follow if you're new to Twitter. @markshaw has plenty of links to useful info and often Re-Tweets (RT) things he finds. @NikkiPilkington has a whole blog on "Twitter for Business" and @grahamjones also has lots of useful info on Twitter.

On the international side there is @ProBlogger @chrisbrogan and @mashable - are just a few of several, prolific online media marketing people. Dozens more I could mention as well as the Celeb Tweeters and other more obscure people who are fun to follow, if you've got the time.

Connect with your contacts, connect with your customers and clients. Have different Twitter accounts for different, focused tweets (use Twhirl to manage multiple accounts).

BUT - plan your Twitter Time along with your other marketing/business time, so you don't find your day disappearing in a stream of Twitter chat! Use tools like Twitterfeed, Tweetdeck or Twhirl to manage your 'stream' so that you can filter your Tweets into useful groups.

Follow me on Twitter.

What's On Your Business Card?

Having got back from a day's seminar and networking opportunity yesterday - I returned with a number of business cards. Now you'd think that the idea of a business card is to provide your details in one easy to read format. Have a thought when you get your business card designed and printed.

Readable print. I'm not yet in need of reading glasses although I'm starting to find I need longer arms these days but some of the print is so teeny, weeny on some of these business cards that you need a good light and a magnifying glass to read it.

Contrasting colours. While you might think that shiny silver looks good, light coloured writing on silver doesn't - again, I need to get out the reading glasses and angle it just right so I can read the letters and numbers. The same applies to light colours or where there's not much contrast between the text and background - it's difficult to read.

Photos. If you're going to have a photo on your business card, there's no harm in smiling. I think a passport-like blank stare isn't a good look, although at least it does serve as a prompt for when you next meet the person.

I like to write on the back of business cards - notes, comments, when we met - but glossy surfaces make this difficult to do - I've noticed this on my own cards. Worth considering when I next get them printed.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

My website appears to be suffering from hiccups at the moment.

Normal service will be resumed once I or my hosting company, work out what's going on but in the meantime, if you need to contact me for anything - you can do so via Linked In, Facebook or Ecademy.

Blogging - What's it all about?

Having just attended the Brighton Chamber Training session on blogging I not only have just added my blog to my website - finally, but was thinking about the reason people blog - or rather why I blog.

When I started up my own business I found I had a knack for writing. For years - many people had commented that they enjoyed my writing - which at that time was mainly limited to letters, postcards or emails home, when I was away travelling. One of the first things I did when starting up my business was to create a newsletter. The blog was started from wanting to continue the 'chat' element from my newsletter about what I was up to each month, as well as passing on tips and advice on more time-related topics or just business in general.

It's certainly evolved and not only do I have this blog but also a more focused M.A.D. Moments blog - which gets updated every Monday and may eventually get merged into this one, two personal interest blogs and one for Financial Advisers which is more business focused and specific in content.

If you're thinking about blogging, ask yourself these questions:

What do you want from/for your blog - who's going to read it, what do you want to say?

How and how often are you going to blog - separate blog, part of your website, several blogs on different topics, daily, weekly blog?

Blogs are easy to create, so don't let that stop you. Blog frequently, play, practice, adapt and once you've found your feet, tell people about it, share your blog and share your comments.

Oh, and of course - if your blog is important to you personally or your business, set aside time to blog regularly.

Technology - Slave Or Master

We’re surrounded by technology 24 hours a day. Mobile phones mean that we can be contactable wherever we are day or night. Laptops are great, now they allow us to be able to work anywhere, when we’re not in the office, while travelling and at home.

However, there’s a downside to all this technology and being constantly contactable. Firstly if it goes wrong you’re stuck. How do you carry on if the technology fails? Secondly, being constantly around technology means that we can never get away from it or we feel a reluctance to let it go or switch it off – hence we end up taking it with us … just in case.

How many of you were still working over the Bank Holiday weekend? Did you feel that the technology meant you couldn't really take time out - or did you manage to switch off the phone and shut-down the computer. How many people take their mobile phone, PDA or laptop with them when they go away on holiday? Perhaps your business is so critical that you can’t possibly be out of contact for one minute.

What would happen if you left your mobile phone at home or on your desk or even switched off while you went to a meeting? I recently read that top execs don't have a problem with being unavailable and switching off their phones - it's the one's that are out to impress or want to feel important that feel the need to be permanently contactable.

Would it really matter if you didn’t answer that email as soon as it arrives in your inbox or respond to a phone call. OK, I appreciate that in some instances you need to respond promptly in order not to lose business or to provide your clients with the service they expect but does it mean you're no longer in control of your time?

Technology is great for making lives easier and for saving time but make sure that you’re not totally dependent on it or if you are that you have a process or system in place to handle things if you’re without it for a while. Don't become a slave to technology. Learn to make the most of the tools you have to save you time and money, not to add to your stress and waste your time, when you can't get them to work or things go wrong.

Use technology as a tool, don't become it's slave.

Hurrah! Finished at last.

Well, that was certainly a greater challenge than I thought it was going to be. I've just spent most of the Bank Holiday weekend and today finishing off the final few chapters of my book. Despite the sunshine outside and the temptation to do something else - I had a deadline to meet. I did manage brief bursts of other activities but the book was my main focus.

My perfectionist tendencies came to the fore as I tried to get everything just right, added another paragraph here and there, thought of something else to say, went back and tweaked a previous chapter, until finally I was happy and sent it off - one chapter at a time over the past five months.

There'll be more to come in a few weeks - it's just off to be edited, so I have no idea what to expect and whether it will have the equivalent of red marker pen all over it.

All very exciting.

What Am I Twittering On About?

Yes, I've joined the world of twitter. For those who don't know - it can basically be summed up as a one-line blogging application. An easy way to stay in touch, keep people informed and pass on useful or useless information.

I'm not doing much with it - other than to try and keep my Status update on Facebook, Linked In, Ecademy and Plaxo up-to-date in one step rather than several. So far, I've got it down to two and still working on the single, one-hit approach by juggling and 'feeding' into TwitterSync or is it TwitterFeed or some other twitter based app?

I won't be telling you what I had for breakfast and I'm sure you don't really want to know what I'm doing every minute of the day but there will be occasional updates or 'tweets' when I feel I've got something interesting to say.

Follow-me

Just Because I'm In Your Network

... does not give you the right to send me 'junk mail' or automatically add me to your mailing list. Or does it?

I produce a monthly newsletter but I don't make a habit of automatically adding everyone to it that I happen to connect with - either online or offline. Yes, I might invite them to join and occasionally send them the latest issue if I think it will be of interest but generally I take a passive approach with my newsletter list. After all one of the issues people have is too much email. Given what I do, I'm not about to add to that by sending them something they don't want - even if it is the only one they ever need to read!

If I did take this bold step - the newsletter has a verification process, so they have to confirm they want to receive my newsletter and they always have the option to opt out at any time.

The more networking I've done, the more I've been added to people's email lists. Promotions for vehicle leasing, newsletters from solicitors, IT companies, web designers, therapists etc. Most of whom I don't even recognise the name or company. Where did they get my address from? Then I come across their name as I browse through the many forums and online groups or turn up at a networking meeting - ah, that's where they got it from.

Is it generally considered open season on your email address if you're listed on the same business directory or have 'connected' through a networking site? An invitation to freely send you unsolicited email?

I do email my business contacts list every now and then, if I have something particular I want to share or a seminar I want to promote but I always include the option to be removed from my mailing list, if they don't want to receive these in future.

No Shows And Missed Meetings

Now I know that life gets in the way sometimes and we can't always allow for the unexpected but it always amazes me (perhaps it shouldn't any more) that people will take the time and effort to book, register or sign-up for meetings, seminars and workshops and then just not turn up. Sometimes these events are free, sometimes people have paid upfront.

Is it just disorganisation, poor planning or over commitment? What gets in your way to make you miss an appointment, you've committed to?

If you've agreed to be there - there's an expectation that you will turn up. If you have to change your plans, call the person at the first and earliest opportunity to let them know, so they can make other arrangements, change bookings or make adjustments.

If you're always saying yes to things and then not turning up or letting people down at the last minute, start being more realistic with your time. Don't over commit yourself - make a tentative arrangement and then confirm nearer the time but agree this upfront, so that the other person isn't left in doubt.

Don't say yes when what you actually mean is probably not. You'll become known as being unreliable.

There's no excuse for not turning up and not letting someone know?

Watch What You Say

I just came across this quote and thought it was appropriate, not just to the spoken word but here on the internet - particularly in the world of blogs and discussion groups where words - whether written in jest or not, can be open to a whole world of different interpretation when they land in someone else's inbox or on the computer screen.

"Know that a word suddenly shot from the tongue is like an arrow shot from the bow. Son, that arrow won't turn back on its way; you must damn the torrent at its source." - Rumi

I see it time and time again in the online world. Discussions getting heated because someone said something that someone else didn't agree with or took the wrong way.

Don't jump to conclusions, just because you've read something that presses your buttons, particularly if you don't know the sender or the personalities involved. Re-read the text but take a different viewpoint. How would you read and interpret this message if it was written by a friend?

Remember that tone, feelings and the more subtle aspects of humour are difficult to convey in the written word. The same sentence read with different intonation and emphasis can be interpreted completely differently.

That said - if you have the habit of putting your foot in it it's worth spending a few minutes to think before you speak. At least take time to read what you've said before you hit send or be prepared to deal with the effect should the arrow find a different 'target' from what was intended.