Archive for August 2010
The difference between a coach and a mentor
What’s the difference between a coach and a mentor?
I’m often asked this question and one of the best explanations I’ve seen recently is this article was written by Mark Boyd, Marketing Manager at School For Startups http://www.s4s.com
Want to be a successful entrepreneur?
Try to be born into a wealthy family that starts and owns successful businesses. That almost always seems to work well. Growing a company from the ground up requires a broad set of skills, and there’s nothing like discussing corporate mergers and intellectual property rights over the dinner table to prepare you to launch a successful enterprise as soon as you leave school. At least that seemed to work well for Bill Gates. But, for most of us, it is too late to choose a Mother and Father. That means you’ll have to find a good Mentor instead. Nothing shortens the road to personal and financial success for an entrepreneur more than some early hand holding by someone who has built a business from the ground up. Why?
Because you can’t teach what you don’t know . . .
An effective mentor should have the following properties:
They have owned and operated a successful business, and they have demonstrated that they have the skills you need to master in order to succeed.
They have some experience in running businesses similar to the one you want to run. It doesn’t need to be an enterprise in the same industry, but if you are planning to sell products it helps if your mentor has some insight into product design and product sales. If you are selling services, it is handy if they can help you come up with manpower management solutions.
They’ve dealt with their fair share of disasters and disappointments. More than half of the skills required to build a successful business are related to dealing with the unknown and turning unpleasant surprises into unexpected opportunities. Furthermore, most very successful business professionals have had to start multiple enterprises in order to reach their current positions.
They need to understand the true evolution of a business. A business starts with a simple idea which becomes a business model. They’ll understand the dangers inherent to each stage of a business, and be able give you some guidance to alleviate the growing pains. They won’t tell you to just write a business plan and take a loan . . .
They’ll be honest. They’ll happily admit that they don’t know something they don’t know. They’ll tell you when they think an idea is unwise. They’ll offer their advice and then happily watch you make your own mistakes.
They’ll be almost as proud of your successes as you are.
And they’ll open up their Rolodex to offer you access to some of the resources and relationships they used to build their own successful enterprises.
While your boss may be your mentor, your mentor is not your boss. He is not your teacher. He is your advisor and your slightly senior compatriot. He is your coach and your confidant. One day, if you are very lucky, you will find he is your friend. Finding a good mentor can make all the difference between success and failure when it comes to starting a business. It will almost certainly change the course of your life forever. If you are starting your first business, and you don’t have a mentor to guide you, perhaps it is time you set out to find one. It may be one of the best business decisions you ever make . . .
Published in the S4S blog 23 Aug 2010
I don’t have a Rolodex but I do have a vast network of contacts, I’m a she and not a he and if you ask for my advice you’ll get it but you may not always like it. If you want someone to offer you soft words and assurances that you can have whatever you want I’m not the right mentor for you. I don’t deal in fluffy thinking and I know that businesses work irrespective of whether you are passionate about them or not. If you want straight talking based on 30 years in business and a sound knowledge of what makes people tick, you’ve come to the right place. Call me.
Posted in Mentoring | 
Tags: Bill Gates, Business Professionals, Corporate Mergers, Dinner Table, Disappointments, Fair Share, Financial Success, Intellectual Property Rights, Management Solutions, Manpower Management, Mark Boyd, Marketing Manager, Mentor, Mother And Father, Startups, Successful Business, Successful Entrepreneur, Unexpected Opportunities, Unpleasant Surprises, Wealthy Family | 
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You CAN Inspire!
This post was written by Katherine Connolly of Keeping HR_Simple on 19th August 2010
http://www.keepinghrsimple.co.uk/
Over 100 people listened to Richard McCann talking in the Cambridge Cancer Help Centre last night and many of us were moved by what he had to say. I have heard messages like these before – “you can do it”, “get out of your comfort zone”, “challenge yourself”. I’ve never once thought they applied to me. I’ve never once felt personally affected by any of them. For me, the speakers and writers were always talking to someone else. They didn’t apply to me because I didn’t want to feel challenged. I didn’t want to leave my comfort zone, thanks very much. I never wanted to release my potential because as far as I was concerned, maybe I didn’t have any. I’d rather not try than do it and fail.
I’ve never once felt personally affected by any of them.
Last night, Richard’s message got to me. I believe that things happen for a reason (Jason always says that things don’t just happen, things happen just) and that the time was right for me to get that message and what’s more, to act on it. Until we started this business, I was a PA. A very good PA, thanks very much. I went to work every day, stayed in the office, acted as the central point of contact for everyone and everything. If someone wanted to know where something was, guess who they came to? If someone wanted help or advice or to pass on a bit of gossip, guess who they talked to first? I knew everything that was going on and I was very comfortable. My feet were firmly under the table there and I loved it all; the job, the company and the people.
I’ve learnt that I’m capable of much more than I think I am.
Now I know that I was missing out. Doing that job was fulfilling maybe 1/10th of my potential. If even that. I’ve learnt so much in the last year but mostly I’ve learnt about myself. I’ve learnt that I’m capable of much more than I think I am. I’ve learnt that I can go out and talk to people – people I’ve never met before. I’ve learnt that I can survive difficult situations. I’ve learnt that I have a way to go before I could call myself a good public speaker. But I’ve tried it and I’m willing to keep trying it. I may never be as good a speaker as Richard McCann but I have the potential to be. I’ll never dye my hair ginger though – I don’t want to be an honorary member of “the ginger massive” 
. Most importantly of all, I’ve learnt that if I say “no” to the things that scare me or worry me or make me feel uncomfortable, I’m missing out. So, thank you to Richard McCann for bringing that message home to me. People probably tell you all the time how you’ve affected their lives but you should know how you’ve affected mine. Richard McCann
Posted in 12 Steps to Success | Tags: 19th August, Cambridge, Cancer, Comfort Zone, Gossip, Help Centre, Job, Point Of Contact, Richard Mccann, Speakers, Things Happen For A Reason | No Comments »
Can you forgive easily?
How easy do you find it to forgive?
This post was written by Ellee Seymour on 18th August 2010
http://elleeseymour.com/
I met Richard McCann this evening and, like the entire audience at The Inspired Group , sat mesmerised as he told us his devastating life story and described how he had 
overcome one major personal catastrophe after another. Being born with ginger hair was another one of life’s challenge he was forced to face, he joked with us to lighten the mood as his story was dark and haunting.
The colour of his hair certainly paled into insignificance compared to the trauma of being the young son of Wilma McCann , the first of 13 women murdered by the Yorkshire Ripper in 1975, a week before his sixth birthday. A fairly horrendous life followed which forced Richard to lie about the true nature of his mother’s death to Army comrades, culminating with a spell in jail as a drugs dealer, and a desperate struggle to get back on his feet after his release so he would not lose his home.
The theme of Richard’s motivational “I can” speech, which he gives around the country in schools, prisons and to business groups, is to make us believe that even the worst situations in life can have positive outcomes if you focus on them, rather than the negative. He wants to inspire people and give them self-belief – and counsels others who have lost loved ones in violent situations – using his early wretched life with a brutal father and his unhappy experiences as an example of this.
His dramatic life story and how he coped with his personal tragedies has been described in his moving best seller, “Just A Boy: The True Story of a Stolen Childhood.” Thankfully, the story has a happy ending as Richard is now blissfully married to a midwife with three adorable ginger haired kids! But that is not the end of the story.
I sense that his real happiness came from being able to forgive – first of all his father for the misery he caused to his family, and then, most surprisingly, forgiving Peter Sutcliffe for the murder of his mother. This happened after he heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak at the Forgiveness Project charity which explores forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution through real-life human experience of which he is patron. Afterwards, Richard managed to catch up with Desmond Tutu before he left and told him that he was now able to forgive Peter Sutcliffe who had stabbed his mother 14 times. The two men hugged, and I imagine there were tears following such a huge release and acknowledgement, something 99% of people in his situation could never do.
Richard is an amazing, powerful speaker. He left us all speechless and humbled. His mum would be so proud.
Do you find it easy to forgive?
Posted in 12 Steps to Success | Tags: 13 Women, Best Seller, Business Groups, Comrades, Desperate Struggle, Dramatic Life Story, Ginger Hair, Insignificance, Midwife, Misery, Personal Tragedies, Prisons, Richard Mccann, Self Belief, Sixth Birthday, True Nature, Violent Situations, Wilma Mccann, Wretched Life, Yorkshire Ripper | No Comments »
Are you an influencer or a manipulator?
Audience by Adam Hawkins http://anodiseproductions.com
How influential are you? (really?)
I got into trouble recently because I was having a rant (as I do from time to time) about people making a fuss about how influential they are on Twitter according to a dubious tool called Klout, (which, incidentally, recently gave a perfect 100 score to a celebrity I’ve never heard of who had had an account for only a week).
What got me going was this whole idea of ‘influence’.
You see, in my book, and that other more famous one, the dictionary, to influence means to be a compelling force on the behaviour or opinions of others.
Now, I am often entertained, informed and helped and sometimes, even provoked and infuriated by people on Twitter but I don’t think I’m often influenced by them to the extent that I’ll change my opinions or alter my behaviour.
Do you make a difference?
Getting excited about being recognised as an ‘influencer’ is understandable. Most of us want to make a difference in our own way and using social networks to influence behaviour and opinions has worked really well in a number of cases like the backlash against The X Factor at Christmas, the subversion of the Daily Mail ‘hate’ polls and most famously, the way emergency services were mobilised by Twitter participants in the plane in the Hudson crash.
However, in these cases it was the medium and the viral nature of the message that was important and not the person who started the campaign.
Becoming a real influencer takes more than gathering followers, fans or arbitrary scores. It’s not about the transitory nature of celebrity or seeming popularity but about establishing a reputation and becoming the person that others turn to when they want information they know they can trust.
In business, its probably the most valuable thing we can achieve but influencers don’t set out to deliberately become influencers, its something that happens as a by product of the ‘real’ work they do, when others start to seek them out or recommend them and they gain very little from it directly.
Are you an influencer or a manipulator?
When someone asks your opinion do you give it honestly or are you afraid of upsetting people? Do you only give your best when you are being paid for it? Do you deliberately build a large following so that you can brag about it and use it to your own advantage? (This is the opposite of building a following organically because people are interested in what you have to say.) Do you do deals for commission before recommending a product or service? If so, you’re a manipulator rather than a real influencer.
If you feel the need to try and measure your influence, you’ve already lost the plot. If you need to shout about it on a social network that touches a tiny fraction of the 6 billion people on the planet, there’s no hope.
Influence is about the number of people who trust your opinion, not the number of people you collect and those who join social networks as a vanity exercise are missing not only the point but most of the fun.
Posted in Social Media | Tags: Backlash Against, Crash, Daily Mail, Dictionary, Emergency Services, Extent, Followers, Fuss, Influencer, Influencers, Manipulator, Popularity, Rant, Reputation, Subversion, Transitory Nature, Twitter, Using Social Networks, Viral Nature, X Factor | No Comments »
Blogging Business for Beginners
This is aimed at beginners who would like to blog for business
What is a Blog?
A blog (from web log) is a web page that contains short articles, known as posts, on a variety of subjects. The most recent one appears at the top of the list. Each post has its own unique url that you get by clicking on the title of the post so you can send links to specific posts.
The blogger can set up categories that each post can be linked to, e.g. events, workshops, mentoring, so that a reader can quickly see all the posts in one category. Blogs in Plain English is a great little video that explains what a blog is.
Why Blog?
Work out what you want your blog to do for your business. Make it part of your marketing strategy and assess its effect.
These are some of the reasons to blog for business
- attract potential clients
- show your expertise
- reveal the personality behind you business
- comment on events you’ve experienced
- publish articles you’ve written
- form the content of newsletters
- discuss industry practice
- initiate discussions
- get good SEO ranking
- drive traffic to your website
Blogging Platforms.
There are over 40 blogging platforms to choose from. The most popular for business are Bloggerand WordPress.
These are the main options to choose from:
1. Free themes (templates) and free hosting are supplied by both Blogger.com and WordPress.comand are the simplest way to get started. However, your blog title will contain the words Blogspot or WordPress rather than a unique domain name so assess if this is the right impression for your business. If you are expecting a lot of traffic these options won’t support it.
2. Free themes and separate (paid for) hosting gives the opportunity for a unique domain name e.g. http://www.annhawkins.com At WordPress.org (different to WordPress.com) there are thousands of free themes to choose from.
3. Paid for themes and paid for hosting give extra functions and flexibility for serious bloggers.
4. Customised themes and flexible hosting packages offer the most flexibility and create a business like appearance with art work matched to your branding, several mail boxes, email addresses and high band width for high volumes of traffic. They also offer ongoing support and training. See Ian McKendrick’s http://killerseosuperblogs.com/ for these packages.
5. Posterous.com is the simplest, non-technical option. You simply email your content and it appears on your blog. I use this for fun .. see http://therealannhawkins.posterous.com
What to write about?
There are only three rules here: be entertaining, useful or interesting.
Having strong opinions and creating a little controversy to generate debate is no bad thing either!
Know your target readers and write for them.
Subjects:
How to …..
Top ten tips to …..
Industry trends
Trade shows/conferences
Help sheets
Competitions / surveys
Profiles of industry leaders / customers / employees
Your response to current events that affect your readers
If you don’t like writing, create a video blog. A flipcam from Amazon costs about £130 and comes with all the connections to plug straight into your computer. Sound and pictures are excellent quality. 
You can embed video into your blog or website or create your own YouTube Channel to which people can subscribe. Add keywords to the descriptions and it will rank higher than almost any other content onGoogle.
How to get readers.
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are just some of the ways to direct people to your blog. However they each attract a different type of person so you need to work out which is the best channel for YOUR business. You also need to establish relationships with people before they’ll take any interest in your blog and use the same entertain, inform or be interesting rules. Popping in once a week with “New blog update” and a link will have the opposite effect to the one you need to create.
When you’ve got readers, keep them. Invite them to sign up for future updates and you’ll build a mailing list of interested people.
Invite Comments. At the end of each post ask a question and invite comments. Back links from other people’s websites are great for SEO.
Invite Guest Bloggers and offer to be a guest blogger to attract new readers.
SEO Overview.
If your website has a good Google ranking there is no need to host your blog on your website. If it is a new site, adding a blog will help it to get ranked more quickly. Having a blog and website with different urls will give you twice as many chances to get in the top SEO rankings.
WordPress.org blogs can have a “plug- in” (a parcel of code that customizes your blog) called “All in one SEO pack” that enables many SEO friendly features.
Other SEO tricks are to use keywords in the post title and the text, use Paragraph headings rather than a large font and use alternative text for pictures.
What were your experiences as a blogging beginner?
How would you advise other people to get started? Share your comments below.
Posted in Social Media | Tags: Appearance, Art Work, Blog Title, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogs, Business Events, Domain Name, Drive Traffic, Extra, Flexibility, Free Themes, Hosti, Hosting, Initiate, Marketing Strategy, Opportunity, Personality, Plain English, Platforms, Web Log, Web Page, What Is A Blog | 4 Comments »
