You can Use Social Media as a Powerful Business tool

If you believe that social media is a fad or the end of face to face communications as we know it. In both instances you may be wrong. Yes of course the technological changes all around us, have changed the business and social landscape. Bear in mind that social media is only one small part of those changes, which if used properly, will most certainly be to your advantage. Ok, so if social media presents us with so many potential advantages, how can you turn the feeling of overwhelm, into something useful?

Taking advantage of Social Media

Action Idea: I have written this article, detailing four simple steps, to take you from an uncomfortable to a place, to a new place where social media can become a really powerful business tool. I will guide you to use your strengths to leverage the most from this medium. So whether you are better at writing paragraphs, or you are an expert at pinning things to virtual bulletin boards or you have a flare for making videos, there is scope for you to use social media to your advantage. The key is to play to your strengths and to work to attract a tribe of loyal followers.

Step 1: Clearly understand what you sell and then identify a tribe of individuals, who would want exactly that. Your tribe is effectively the group of people, who you would want to positively influence, with your thoughts and offerings. The best way to align yourself with the right tribe is to discover a group, who align with you in three key areas. You must know what their challenges are and that you have the right solution for them, you must really want to help and support them, you must want to give and receive value from them. 

Examples: 

•  If you are a real estate agent, your tribe may be community members, who may be or will be looking to buy residential property.
• If you are a dentist, your tribe may consist of current patients and local community members, who can become new patients.
• If you are a small business owner, your tribe may be current customers, anyone who needs what you sell or anyone, who can influence them.

As you build a strong tribe and you consistently offer them value, the relationship of trust will grow and they will begin to trust both you and your organisation.

Step 2: Get a voice. To effectively use social media, you need a voice or persona, which reflects, who you are or who you want to be seen as, by anyone, who bumps into you, online. These people may never meet you for coffee or even walk into your store. Your tribe will get to know you by your posts, videos, comments and discussions you get involved in. Your style and the voice you use, will either pull people in and engage them or if it is wrong for that particular tribe, even potentially push them away.

Action Idea: When building your voice, think about what your tribe would love to hear. What will make them like what you have to say and return to listen day after day? As is the case in the face to face world, your voice will grow as you learn more and apply your knowledge, by putting great content online. The best advice when speaking online is to always be authentic, personable and approachable.

Step 3: Go to where you tribe already meet. Remember that every group, which you are trying to engage and positively influence already goes somewhere to hang out, in the social media ether. To be really successful on social media, you need to find out exactly where that is. The best success is to start looking for them on the big three forums, namely LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Go to where your communities already are and plant your flag, so that people will spot you and begin to huddle round.

Step 4: Start today: Remember that social media tribes build on themselves, never by themselves. Discover the right community, plant your flag, start a relevant conversation to attract members of the right tribe and then gradually bring people back to your tent. Work your way systematically through these four steps and you will begin to build a perfect tribe of loyal followers and build a community, which will buy what you have to sell.

Motivational Speakers    

Would you like to Make Better Choices in Life and at Work?

I was just like you, until recently and naively believed that when faced with a choice, it was only possible to choose one or the other. Since reading a few books, articles and research papers on decision making and testing the principals myself, I believe that with a little creative thinking, it is often possible to have both. As Steve Cole, vice president of research and development at HopeLab, a silicon valley, a not for profit organisation so eloquently said and has demonstrated on numerous occasions. “Any time in life I am tempted to think, Should I do this or that, instead ask yourself, Is there anyway, I can do this AND that”?

As Steve says and has demonstrated on numerous occasions, it is possible. With creative, innovative thinking, it is not only feasible, but possible to have both. A perfect example of this was when HopeLab, wanted to find a partner to work with them, to create an effective way of measuring the amount of daily exercise kids were getting.

There were a number of different companies around, who could do the work for them. If they had used the usual contracting mind-set, they would have asked for proposals from all of them and then awarded a huge contract to the winner. Instead of following this limiting approach, Steve asked five of the potential to produces to build a simple prototype. As a non-profit, they did not have an unlimited budget, so to do this; effectively Steve only got the five potential producers of the measurement device, to build just the first step in the project. 

This approach ensured that Steve had multiple design alternatives, which allowed him to either pick his favourite or even better, he had the option to combe the best features of several together. In round two, he was then able to weed out the vendors who were unresponsive or ineffective. Using this approach, he was able to avoid narrow framing. When you define your choices too narrowly, you limit your thinking and can never think in binary terms.

Remember that the quality of your questions determines the quality of your life. The better the quality of the question, the better will be the result in the end. 

Let me give you a few examples to explain this concept a little better

• People ask limiting questions like: “Should I break with my partner or not” instead of framing a better question, which gives them more scope and the ability to make better decisions, like “What are the ways I can make the relationship better”? 
•  Let’s try another example to try to explainthis concept a little better. People ask limiting questions like “Should I buy a new car or not”, which restricts and limits their choices about how they can best spend or invest the families money. A better question, which does not preclude the option to buy a car, but opens up all sorts of better options, is “What is the best way I could spend some money to make both me and my family happier”?
•  Consider the average person sitting contemplating their week on a Sunday evening. Imagine how limiting asking a typical question like, “How am I going to get through tomorrow”, is? Imagine all the possibilities you open up for yourself, when you ask a far more empowering question like, “What can I get from my day”?

When you use this approach and you invest the time to frame better questions. You equip yourself to consider multiple choices at the same time. Yes it does take more time to frame better questions, but believe me the benefits, way outweigh the costs involved. 

I know this concept of thinking "AND" instead of "OR" can be very intimidating at first. Try it, experiment with it and you will be astounded at how many times, you can actually have both. Once you have developed your “AND” decision making muscle and learned the art of expanding your ability to frame any decision or rather to ask better quality questions. You will have access to a really powerful tool to help you achieve incredible levels of success.

Motivational Speakers

Brainstorming made Easy

The term brain storming has been around for over 50 years now. It was the brain child of Alex Faickney Osborn. (He is the “O” in BBDO, the powerhouse advertising agency). He observed that when groups came together to discuss concepts, they were able to come up with far more inventive and creative ideas, than individual employees, were able to on their own. Alex coined and popularised the term in his 1953 best seller, “Applied Imagination”. 

Since then brainstorming has become a common term and common practice, in most organisations. People and organisations are brainstorming simple things, like what to get their dad for his birthday, all the way through to the strategic path an organisation should follow, over the next five to ten years. The secret to get the most from a brainstorming session requires far more than just passing a chocolate box around the room. 

I would like to share a few ideas in this article, on how you can get the most out of your brain storming sessions. 

Keep the sessions short

Many leaders want quick results, so they schedule a half day or full day brain storming session. The challenge with this is that, people can only sustain their creative efforts for a maximum of 60 minutes. During the first 10 minutes they regurgitate the same old stuff they have heard before. The second 10 – 20 minutes is probably the most valuable session, where the most innovative and creative ideas will come out. After this the rush, seems to fade. The best results are obtained during sessions of 30 – 45 minutes. As people deliver their best and feel energised and creative for this time frame

.

Excursion Technique

Another great idea, to get the most from these sessions, is to use the excursion technique. After a 30 – 45 minute brain storming session, allow the participants some time to go to their creative place, where they can digest and think about the session for between 60 minutes to 24 hours. My experience shows 24 hours to be the optimal time for this.

During this time they would go for a walk, a hike or go to any place where they can just allow their mind to explore and wander. This allows the information time to incubate in their subconscious. During this time, incredible new ideas often materialise. When you give your mind time to wander, that is often the time it generates the best ideas.

Defer Judgement

To get the most from any brain storming session, do not evaluate or judge any ideas as they come up. Try to allow the ideas to flow freely. Simply listen and record all the ideas as they come up. Say thank you to anyone who offers an idea, ask if they have anything else to add and then move on to the next person.

Quantity over Quality

Make everyone feel comfortable to offer ideas. Not every idea will be a grand slam every time. When people are made to feel that every idea is valuable, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, they will be far more eager to contribute to the session. Let everyone know that you are after quantity; quality will come when you invest time to unpack all the ideas.

Make the atmosphere fun

Try to keep the proceedings as fun and relaxed as possible. Toss a ball around, encourage people to make jokes. The more fun you can make each session, the better will be the results you will enjoy.

Schedule a critique Session

A couple of days after the brainstorming session, schedule a meeting to analyse the results. As you go through the list, focus on all the great ideas, those you really appreciate. Don’t eliminate the really absurd ideas, before you have given the team time to analyse them properly. As you dig deeper, you may uncover some really great new innovative concepts, which may come from a few really absurd ideas. Sort the ideas, hash them out, discuss them, vote on them and try to uncover the best idea, which as closely as possible, matches the original goal of the brainstorming session.

   

Brain storming is a really powerful process to support you and your team to come up with new creative or innovative ideas, which is a crucial concept for any organisation in these ever changing and evolving times, we live in.  

Motivational Speakers

   

To Create or not to Create, that is the Question

Some research I read recently showed that over 80 % of children under the age of two test, out as creative. Yet when those same children reach the age of ten, only about two percent of them still test as creative. What happened to all those creative people? Is our society robbing them of their creativity? The truth is that all those people remain creative; they just lose their confidence and ability to trust their own inner creative self. Are you one of those people?

As Thomas Edison so aptly said “To have a great idea, have a lot of them” In other words creativity is not something you occasional engage in, but should rather be the way you are. When you learn the art of always looking for new ideas and you allow yourself to explore those ideas, consistently looking for new better ways of doing or being, you will begin to uncover your hidden creative self. It is time to unlock your creativity and to allow yourself to be creative once again.

In today’s ever changing world and marketplace, I believe that anyone who works with their mind is required to be creative on a daily basis. We are constantly called on to solve challenges, design and develop new strategies and assemble and sort massive amounts of data, into something, which is actionable. All of which are highly creative acts, although very few people actually see them as creative activities. Imagine how much more dynamic and successful your business could be if you invested the time to develop and hone your creativity. I want to share a few simple ideas to get you started.

Become Childlike once again

I believe that it is never too late to have a wonderful childhood. Do you remember as a young child, how your imagination roamed freely and you could imagine anything you wanted. Then after starting school, rules and facts began to gradually edge your imagination out, making it harder and harder to be creative. Allow yourself to be childlike once again. Allow yourself to do some of the things you loved. Colour, draw pictures, shoot hoops, build blocks, etc. Try to reawaken your inner child, uncover that incredible imagination, which has been lost.

Make Creativity one of your success Habits

Creativity can be improved and developed, if you make it a part of your daily routine. When creativity becomes a daily ritual, it eliminates the question of “Why am I doing this” and it becomes habitualised. This makes creativity repeatable and effortless to do. In fact developing a success habit for achieving your goals, or overcoming challenges, makes taking the daily action you need to take, feel almost effortless and allows you to sustain the activity long term.  

Flex your Creativity muscle regularly

Challenge your mind with thought experiments as often as possible. While performing rudimentary daily tasks, like brushing your teeth or driving your car, ask yourself thought provoking questions. Ask questions like, “How would the world be without motor cars”? or “Is it possible for people to fly, without wings”? As Albert Einstein said, when he proposed these experiments, allow your mind the freedom it needs to travel into new areas, new places and to think about things in a different way. Thinking this way allows your imagination to start working and reanimates your everyday world, which gets you into the habit of creative invention.

Start to pay attention

Look around the room you are sitting in right now. See through open eyes and notice twenty things you have not seen before. When you learn the art of paying attention to everything going on in your surroundings, it helps you sharpen your power of observation, all of which is a key component of creativity.

Do different Things

Try to read books on subjects you may not normally read. Try to read a poem or two and visit the theatre once in a while. Go and watch a dance performance, even if you think you don’t like dance. Experiment with different foods. Try to travel somewhere new. The more you expand your world and allow yourself to be inspired by other people’s creativity, the more you will awaken your own creativity.

 

Do things differently 

Once you have established a few creative habits and feel like you are getting into a rut. Shake things up for a week and do the opposite of what you would normally do. Take different routes to work, go to the gym in the evening instead of the morning, have sushi instead of a sandwich for lunch, and do a puzzle in the evening instead of watching TV. When you shake things up a little, you break out of the place where you get the same responses or solutions. When you do things differently, this experimentation leads to new ways of thinking.

Use your Left Hand

Try writing with your non dominant hand. 90 % of people are right handed. The right hand is connected to the left side of the brain, which is rational and analytic. By switching and writing with your left hand, you are connecting to the right side of your brain, which is creative, emotional and intuitive. 

Steal Ideas

Look around your world and try to discover existing ideas and improve on them. It is common knowledge that Picasso was a genius in three areas, self-promotion, taking ideas from others and improving on them and taking existing ideas and recombining them in unique ways. To be creative does not mean you have to re-invent the wheel every time. 

Schedule time to be Creative

As you know, time is the currency of productivity. The secret is to be both efficient and effective. Dedicate a portion of your day towards idea generation and other activities, which will allow your creative juices to start flowing. As you know, very few, if any people come up with ideas, whilst sitting at their desk. Make time, every day, to get away from your desk, go for a walk, make paper airplanes, do anything which puts you into a more creative place. 

Use SCAMPER

When you are trying to improve an idea, make it better or determine whether it is workable or not, you can use a creativity tool called SCAMPER.

S – What can you substitute?

C – What can you combine or change?

A – How can this idea Adapt to the circumstances at hand?

M – How can the idea be Modified? What parts can be magnified or minimised?

P – How can you put this idea to different uses?

E – What can you eliminate?

R – What if you reverse the idea?

This creativity tool will help you to improve, hone and polish any new ideas you may have.

Ask Questions

Great new ideas come from everywhere. Constantly have an enquiring mind and ask for ideas and support from as many people as possible. The more people you can poll and ask for input, the greater will be the input you will get and the better your pool of ideas will be.

As Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than Knowledge” If you truly want to thrive in the new world, it is imperative that you invest the time to reawaken your creativity.

Motivational Speakers