soho-life.com

I spend a lot of time surfing blogs these day. Time after hours that is, and on weekends. Periodically I’ll find blogs that align with one of mine and I’ll blogroll it and/or leave comments at that blog.

There is something though, that really annoys me about many blogs, and that is the author forgets their audience is global, not national. So many times I’ve seen a promotion for something on TV, radio, a teleconference, web conference, web radio or something else that I would be interested in but they NEVER mention what city they are in and they assume their audience is in the same geographic area as they are, and frequently they’re not. Consequently they don’t explain what timezone they’re in, or if they mention EST, they need to remember that there are ESTs in other countries too - so what is the major city near them and their country? And to mention PST, MST or others means little to anyone outside of their country. In most cases I can assume this means they’re in the US and it then means some research to try and work out what PST means to find out the timeframe.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve left comments on various blogs mentioning this (in the nicest possible way) and they probably think I’m a grumpy old so’n’so as I don’t usually get responses. I do remember receiving just one from a lady who had had a sudden revelation that someone from the other side of the world had read her blog!

So, should I give up, or keep educating the world, one person at a time?

blogging, audience, global, blog author

Tags: Blogging by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »

As you spend time exploring blogs and learning more about blogging yourself, at some stage you’re going to come across Technorati. Contained within is a massive list of blogs from all over the world on almost every imagineable topic. Setting up an account (it’s free) with Technorati will assist in bringing readers to your blog and help people find you more readily, especially if your blog is dedicated to a theme or topic.

I read tonight a really interesting interview on Technorati, the use of tags and links, but what I found really useful is the use of watchlists. I hadn’t really understood the benefits of that before tonight, but now have 22 phrases or words set up in my watchlist and that will probably grow.

But wait, why don’t I just lead you to the article so you can read it for yourself? KMT

watchlist, tags, Technorati, learning to blog

Addendum: If you want to discuss blogging with others and learn and share knowledge, why not join a chat forum for this purpose?

Tags: Blogging by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »

When setting up a business at home, I find that people tend to sort themselves into one of two different groups. One group takes their business seriously, putting in the groundwork to get it established, do the research, learn about their chosen industry, mix with the people who are already doing it and basically performing a ‘monkey see, monkey do’ type scenario. They put in the work!

The second group put in the mouth work, i.e. they tell people they’re setting up a business, but apart from having the equipment at home and their internet connection, perhaps joining a VA network, they do little else. In fact, they’re kind of waiting for the next step but don’t realise that they can’t wait for it to happen, nor wait for someone to tell them what to do, but rather, they have to make it happen. They’re all talk and no action!

I find the difference relates to two different mindsets - the latter one is an employee mentality, the former a business owner mentality. Which one do you have?

If you seriously want to get your business happening, then you need to take it seriously. In other words it needs to consume you. It should be in your mind constantly, seeking out opportunities to network, to let people know you exist. I don’t mean make a nuisance of yourself and become boring to your friends and family. I mean that your business should add a new aspect to your character.

Seek out new ways to improve on what you already do. Seek connections. When it’s not foremost in your mind then it should be in the back of your mind so that your ‘business mode’ kicks in, in less than a moment’s notice if a suitable opportunity arises.

Do you carry your business cards around with you, wherever you go? And I mean WHEREVER you go. My husband once told me off for handing out a card at a funeral. But someone had asked me for my address to keep in contact and rather than scribble it on the funeral notice or a piece of paper that might get lost, it made sense to give my card instead. NEVER leave home without them, even if you’re just going for a walk around the block.

I challenge you to think today about whether you take your business seriously or not. You need to be mixing and mingling with those who are already doing it and are successful - something rubs off over a period of time. There’s a lot to be said about business networking, both face-to-face at local events and online - there are a number of business networking links on this blog.

If you need to, find a coach or a mentor to assist you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions - not ‘how much do you charge?’ but rather ‘how did you find your clients?’

You can never do too much research, but don’t let the research be an excuse for not starting - you can ‘learn on the job’! KMT

mindset, employee mentality, business owner, mentor, coach, learn on the job

Tags: Business Operations, Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »

This morning marked another event with Ivan Misner speaking - this time to an audience of 340 people from Melbourne at the Carlton Crest. It was called ‘The Big Breakfast’ and BNI chapter members from all around Victoria attended the meeting. Ivan is obviously well-versed in speaking publicly and he kept the audience entertained, whilst educating them at the same time. He also came out with some great phrases and stories.

He told us about Masters of Success and some of the stories within. Such as:

• Dr Zeuss had 23 rejections with Cat in the Hat before it was accepted - now it’s sold millions of times over, in many languages and has had a movie made.
• Henry Ford went bankrupt twice before he succeeded.
• Richard Hooker, author of Mash was rejected 21 times before the book was accepted - we all know the movie and television series that grew from that.
• Coca Cola in their first year only sold 400 sodas.
• Erin Brokavitch talked about how self-talk is very important.

Ivan went on to say that success comes in ‘cans’. If you believe you can, or believe you can’t, you will be right.

He also talked about BNI being a referral group and when you give someone a referral it’s giving a part of yourself away - it’s a part of your reputation. So in BNI, the weekly attendances, the building of relationships and getting to know each other’s business is an important part of the membership so you can confidently refer other members to your family, friends and colleagues.

He said that success = persistance + systems.

You need to learn the fundamentals of anything you set out to do so you can do them flawlessly. This applies to both life and business.

Finally he told us that:

The Secret to Success without hard work is still a secret!

Ivan then challenged us to contact someone we know personally whom we believe to be very successful and ask them a simple question: What’s your secret for success?

I’d love to hear what you find out! KMT

Addendum: Article in The Age 10th July, 2006.

Tags: Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »

I belong to a BNI chapter in Melbourne, Australia and have been a member for over 5 years. A lot of people have asked what I get out of it, and in particular, how much work do I receive? But they’re only looking at one side of the equasion - there is another side too. My previous post refers to this - building support networks for your business. Almost all of the businesses that I do business with, with respect to providing services or products to keep my business going, has been sourced through BNI chapters over the past 5 years. Even before then, most of what I found or used was through word-of-mouth referrals from other people. It makes sense to get to know people and their businesses - you never know what they can do for you and what you can do for them. It’s about building relationships - but don’t get that confused with doing business with friends or family - that’s a different story altogether!

Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, talks of ‘Givers Gain’. In principle the more you give out to others in the way of support, referrals, information, the more that comes back to you, over time.

I was one of the privileged few invited to a cocktail event (Meet the Founder) this evening to meet Ivan Misner, who is currently in Australia. We had a Q&A session so that we could freely ask him questions and I enjoy hearing him speak on the topic of networking, and he was well versed on the statistics relating to the development of BNI chapters worldwide.

He also talked about other aspects relating to people and their membership. Things such as people with 100% passion and 50% ability can be taught and are, therefore, much easier to work with. You can teach people how to do something but you can’t teach them to learn passion.

Attitude accounts for a lot - if they are going to be people others enjoy being around.

The largest BNI chapter membership is in the US with 75 members, in Australia the largest chapter is currently Taree, NSW with 52 members.

It is important for members of a BNI chapter to remember when they’re doing their 60 second infomercial that they are not trying to close a sale, but train a sales team. That’s kind of a ‘duh’ comment but many do forget this when attending their business meetings each week.

When anyone is out networking for business it is their passion that attracts people to them. Have you ever wanted to do business with someone who sounds bored, tired, sad, angry? No, but if someone is passionate they are also infectious and engaging and you want to do business with them and get to know more about what they do. It was good to hear this message shared at tonight’s event - I believe that passion does account for a lot when you’re in business for yourself, otherwise one morning you might wake up and wonder why on earth are you bothering? I still love what I do with a passion, my business is still evolving and developing over time - and technology is playing a big part in that process.

If you’re not already actively networking in some way or another for your business then you need to give it serious consideration - read some material (there are great books for sale at the BNI sites linked above), find out what network groups meet where you are located and make a regular appointment in your diary to attend - you’ll find networking definitely worth doing! KMT

ivan misner, networking, BNI, passion, business, attitude

Tags: Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »