My Favourite Twitter Tools

Guest blogger Adam Thompson, the man behind our own social networking updates, shares his view on Twitter applications.

Twitter has hundreds of free applications each boasting its own features and benefits. Here’s a few that I’ve used in the past that can make life easier. This isn’t intended as a comprehensive guide or even a ‘recommended’ list, but simply to pass on a few tips to people new to Twitter or existing users that aren’t making the most of the available functions. You’ll have to make your own mind up as to what apps you find most useful.

• Tiny Url Rather than posting long links that use up your precious 140 characters use an application like this to shorten your url, there’s loads of them about
• Twitlonger If you’re struggling to fit everything you’ve got to say into one tweet this tool allows you to post tweets longer than 140 characters
• Bit.ly Some apps like this not only shrink your url but also provide you with real time click through results so you can measure how many tweeple have used your link
• Hootsuite gives you the option of scheduling your tweets in advance meaning they get sent automatically throughout the day. It also boasts a built in URL shortener.
• Hashtags (#hashtags) not an application but a feature of Twitter that seems to confuse people. Basically this enables you to tag your tweets making them easily found in searches. All tweets with the same hasthtag are grouped together which can be useful for people discussing the same topic or at the same event
• Mr Tweet recommends users for you to follow based on your common interests. All you have to do is follow Mr Tweet to get started
• Tweetdeck allows you to organise the people you follow into groups and add individual columns so you can view your @mentions, DMs and RTs easier. You can also update your Facebook and LinkedIn status using this desktop client
• Twitpic and Yfrog provide the option of uploading photographs and videos which can then be directly posted via a link in your tweet
• Twittersearch Very useful for finding out who’s talking about you right now and what they’re saying.
• Twitter for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. You can install Twitter apps onto your phone so you can view and post Tweets when you’re out and about. You can also set up alerts so you’re notified when you receive a message or @mention
• Tweetstats An interesting app which allows you to gather statistics on your tweets such as average number of tweets per day and reply volume
• Twitterscore This one’s just for fun and basically scores Twitter users out of ten based on friends, followers and frequency of updates. It also gives you a ranking to compare with your friends.

These are only a few of the many applications that you can use to improve your Twitter experience and they’ve all benefitted me in one way or another. Have I missed off your favourite? If so let me know…

Social Networking for business – opportunity or distraction?

Guest blogger Business Link West Midlands’ Knowledge and Information Officer Adam Thompson, the man behind our own Twitter updates offers his opinion on how businesses can use social media.

Ok, so these days everyone will tell you that you’re missing a trick if you and business aren’t clambering aboard the social media bandwagon. There’s no shortage of consultants that are screaming at you to embrace Twitter, Face Book, LinkedIn and numerous other online networking platforms. But are they really right for you? From my experience the answer is usually a resounding YES but you have to do things properly and for the right reasons. Here‘s a few points to consider that should help you decide whether it can work for you.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in the initial excitement of social networking and spend hours refreshing your screen awaiting your next @mention. And that’s fine right? Because most social networking sites are free...true. But don’t discount the hours you spent setting up your account, customising your profile and composing the 10-20 tweets that experts recommend you should send each day. Still think Twitter’s free? Make sure you work out the hours you’re putting in each month and be mindful of your return on this investment of time.

Some organisations just aren’t ready for social media and there’s still an element of fear that accompanies it. The potential benefits of chatting directly to your audience or target market are often outweighed by the fear that there may be some negative responses. I guarantee that will be the case, at some stage there WILL be some negative feedback but that’s exactly how you should see it – feedback. An opportunity to respond to a client and put right any wrongs. People often think that providing clients with a public forum to air dissatisfaction without being able to moderate it is crazy from a business point of view. I’d say you couldn’t be more wrong. Clients will always voice their dissatisfaction one way or another (and rightly so) if not directly to you on Twitter or Face Book then via some other means. At least this way you’re instantly aware of it and can take positive action. Make sense?

If you’re thinking of using social media as a direct marketing tool then think again, you’ve missed the point entirely. For me it’s about chatting with your audience, building relationships, cultivating a good reputation, having conversations, answering questions, raising awareness, creating an interest in your brand rather than pushing sales messages. Obviously we’ve all got a product or service to sell but subtlety is the key. Be careful how many promotional/sales updates you send, how many links to products or special offers you push. Eventually this can be seen as nothing more than spam. Finally, have fun. Make friends and build connections with like minded professionals. Remember platforms like Twitter weren’t really built for corporate speak so relax a little. See how the big brands do it and don’t be afraid to use some of their ideas.

There’s loads more I could say, that’s the beauty of social media, it’s all about collaboration and is still evolving. We’re still developing best practice every day and learning from mistakes we make. There’s loads more pros and cons so let me know what you think are the most important ones.

So what’s a Business Link event really like?

 If you’ve never had the chance to enjoy one of our free events then put the kettle on and sit back, I’m about to introduce you to the Business Link West Midlands experience.

Back in August 2010 we decided to try and capture the atmosphere at one of our events using a handheld flip camera. The result (after minimal editing) is true to life footage of one of our events.

You can view the film on our own You Tube channel, so take a look and let us know what you think. We’ve split the event into 12 parts with each segment lasting around 10-15 minutes.

The video features one of our most popular topics and was filmed at Worcester Warriors Rugby Club on 24^th August 2010. Online Marketing Success for Business was a series of highly successful events run by Business Link West Midlands featuring Susan Hallam of Hallam Communications Ltd, a leading provider of Internet marketing consultancy.

These videos provide a useful overview of online marketing for anyone interested in the topic and cover key areas such as search engine optimisation, website design best practice, email marketing, pay per click and social media marketing.

Digital technology offers growth opportunities for all businesses

Guest blogger Business Link West Midlands’  Ian Grewcock highlights how digital technology should be a key ingredient in any business growth plan:

One barrier to the adoption of digital technology is the misconception that cutting-edge developments are somehow exclusive to design and design agencies, ICT firms or other creative companies. In fact, digital technology can be adopted by all - and often the biggest benefits are seen by businesses in traditional industries, such as manufacturing or construction.

Whether it’s software that results in more efficient business processes, or the use of social media to offer sales promotions or increase event attendance, digital technology is everywhere and many businesses have been quick to take advantage of it.

For example, just three or four years ago, smart phones were not available in the UK. Now, mobiles are an important shop front for businesses, with even traditional retailers like M&S making use of the technology and boasting more than 1.2m unique users on its mobile commerce site since its launch this year.

To emphasize the point, social media is no longer just for socialising. It’s a serious marketing tool, with more than 50% of those on Twitter and Facebook interacting with businesses in some way, as consumers now expect to access information from anywhere and be able to purchase goods 24-hours-a-day.

As customer needs and expectations change, it is only by responding to the rapidly changing marketplaces that businesses can retain a competitive edge.

Digital technology clearly has a crucial role to play in business growth, whether for a cutting edge online creative firm or a more traditional professional service company – the leading businesses in any sector will be those who embrace technology.

Definitely food for thought.

Why Saying Thank You Could Lead To That ‘Dream’ Sale

You’ve nurtured the relationship, you’ve cold called your dream client and made that all important appointment, you’ve diagnosed their needs, built the relationships, and a shared vision of a better outcome.
And now you’ve made your big boardroom presentation. You used everything that you learned to make it great; you performed well, and answered all of the questions.

Now, the whole thing is out of your hands and you must simply await the buying team’s decision - right? Wrong!

You don’t stop selling until the decision is made (and even then, should you not be awarded the business, you move your dream client right back onto your nurture list and keep selling . . . they’re still a dream client, after all).

After your big presentation, you need to send a thank you letter. But saying thank you could be so much more, if you let it.

Saying thanks

You certainly want to give a business card to each person to whom you presented. But that isn’t enough and it isn’t selling. You need to send a formal thank you letter that continues to sell your message.

Reinforce the value that you create

You have a solution that will help them generate better results. You had some dialogue with them during the presentation that clarified their vision and you heard the challenges that they made to your solution in the form of questions.

Your follow up letter needs to reinforce your ability to generate the result that you and your solution will provide. It needs to spell out how the conversation you had has strengthened your proposal. It needs to outline the changes to your plan and your solution based on the buying team’s questions and what you have learned.

More than anything else, you have to reiterate and reinforce your differentiation. Your dream client may have seen only you, or you might have been one of ten presentations. Your follow up letter is your chance to sell, and it is your chance to remind your dream client of the differences that will make the difference.

You had solutions. Your competitor had solutions. Both seemed pretty reasonable. Your follow up letter has to say more than thank you; it has to say that your solution is right, that it will produce the results that your dream client needs and that you are committed to helping them achieve that result.

Respond to their questions in writing

If you are super sharp, and if you have a great team, you will have taken exceptional notes, including who asked what questions and who made what comments. Your letter will include a list of the questions that were asked with written answers reiterating and expanding on what you said when your time was limited to the presentation and the follow up, now your time is no longer limited.

The fact that you bothered to take notes, to remember what was important to each buying team member, and that you felt it was important enough to require a written response, demonstrates that you are detail-orientated, professional, caring, and concerned with the implementation and execution after you make the sales. Ultimately it proves that you are listening.

This alone will differentiate you from your competitors, most of whom will send a thank you, and many of whom will do so by email only.

Ask for the business

The closing of your letter needs again to ask for your dream client’s business. You need to say, “We very much look forward to working with you on this project, we will achieve the results that we discussed and presented, and we ask you to give us the opportunity to be part of your team.”

Ensure that you don’t leave your presentation without scheduling a follow up appointment of some kind. I know your dream client’s buying team told you that they would be contacting you, but waiting is not an option; you must continue to sell until the final decision is made.

Your dream client has to know that you want the business more than your competitors. They have to know that you are more serious about producing the results that are better than your largest and fiercest competitors and that you will act as part of their team.

A thank you card isn’t enough.

Your follow up letter needs to sell in your absence. It needs to differentiate you and your offering. You can say thank you, or you can say something real - like how passionately committed you are to helping your dream client produce better results.

Take the time to write the follow up sales letter. Say thank you.

Employing the right people – Induction and Recruitment

Recruitment

A vacancy within your business presents an opportunity to consider restructuring, or to reassess the requirements of the job. Carrying out this assessment is valid whether it is to fill an existing job or a new one.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• Has the role changed?
• Have work patterns, new technology or new products altered the job?
• Are there any changes anticipated which will require different, more flexible skills from the jobholder?

Answers to these questions should help to clarify the actual requirements of the job and how it fits into the rest of the organisation or department.

Also writing a good job description or job specification helps in the process of analysing the needs of the job moving forwards, and should detail the purpose, tasks and responsibilities of the job.

A good job description should include:

• Main purpose of the job – try to describe this in one sentence
• Main tasks of the job – use active verbs, like ‘writing’, ‘repairing’, ‘machining’, ‘calculating’, instead of vaguer terms like ‘dealing with’, ‘in charge of’
• Scope of the job – expanding on the main tasks and the importance of the job. Job importance can be indicated by giving information such as the number of people to be supervised, the degree of precision required and the value of any materials and equipment used.

Induction

Induction need not be an elaborate exercise, but it must be thought out in advance, carried out in a timely and careful manner, and evaluated to ensure that it meets the needs of the employee. The benefits of a good induction programme are a more settled employee, a more effective response to training, lower employee turnover, and improved employee relations. It is easy to forget that the selection process is only the beginning of the employment relationship, and the future of that relationship depends to a considerable extent on how the new employee is settled into the job. A good induction programme makes business sense, whatever the size of your business, and whatever the job. It is useful to have a written checklist of the items that need to be covered in the induction programme and also not only does this give some structure to the induction but it also ensures that both the new starter and the manager know what has or has not been covered at any given time.

A good induction programme should include:

• An introduction to the company
• Terms and conditions of employment
• Equal opportunities policy and personal development
• Worker/employer relations
• Organisation rules
• Welfare and worker benefits/facilities
• The job and key responsibilities

As with any work activity it is recommended that the recruitment and induction process be reviewed for its effectiveness. Recruitment and induction may be a continuous process in your business, necessitating more or less constant monitoring.

If you would like to discuss the above with us in more detail, please contact us on 0845 113 1234 or email info@businesslinkwm.co.uk

Welcome to the first of Business Link West Midlands’ regular blogs

Our aim is to provide you with insightful and relevant information to help your business grow.

This will include information to compliment our events programme, feedback from attendees and speakers and a comments section where you’ll be able to chat about the events you have attended, or are attending in the future.

Whilst we will endeavour to answer all the questions submitted to this site, we would remind you that the normal channels of communication are still relevant and if you do have a business issue you would like to discuss, please contact us on 0845 113 1234 or by emailing info@businesslinkwm.co.uk