Social Media Marketing - 7 Tips For Using Twitter For Business

By Cameron Groth

The mere title of this article may seem deceptive to some after you read the tips below. The idea of social networking isn't to sell or market your product or business opportunity at all. People who use social media for this reason may get some success here and there, but in my opinion they're totally missing the point of it. In the long run, it is the user who employs the following tips that will get the most from their social experience.

1. Build a relationship with your followers! This is by far the most important tip here. If you forget all but one tip on this page, remember this one. Social media sites exist to enhance the relationships you have with family, friends and associates. Become interested in as many of your followers as you can, people like to feel important. If you have a thousand followers on Twitter but you're still able to form a relationship with a person based on their interests, they're going to follow you wherever you go.
2. Message people regarding their interests, not your own. If your followers are human (and most of them probably are!) they're just not that interested in what you do in your spare time or what you did on the weekend. Certainly you can tweet about what you're up to and what you did on the weekend, that is the point of Twitter! But you don't want to be directly messaging people ranting on about your business or your roast tonight with Aunt Esther. Talk to your followers about their interests! People are much more likely to talk to you about something they're interested in, and the aim of Twitter is to build a relationship. If you're genuinely interested in the person you're talking to they can feel it and they will respond well to it.
3. Provide quality updates. Don't overload people with updates. Nobody likes a Twitter-maniac, in fact people will probably remove you from their list if they feel you're overloading them with useless information constantly. Don't spam the same comment either, even if it is used sparingly. Use identical comments twice (max) and then move on. How annoying is it watching the same TV-ad once every ad-break for a whole week? The updates that are most successful are the ones that relate to the common interest of your followers. In use of Twitter for business, 75% of your updates should be about (but are not limited to) network marketing personal development you're going through or interesting facts and tips. Maybe even some inspirational quotes! Anything that relates to the interest shared by the majority of your following. The other 25% should be personal updates, because you want to appear human to your followers too, no-one wants to be friends with a machine.
4. Group with people who share common interests, not randoms. You don't want to be connecting with people who have no interest in you and share none of your interests. These people are either following you so they can get more exposure for themselves, or they're allowing you to follow them for the numbers (makes them look and feel important). In a way, you could use these random people to get referrals to others who may share some common interests. I think it's probably more efficient for you to only target people who share common interests, let the randoms refer for themselves, don't waste your time chasing it.
5. Do not directly sell to your followers. Rid yourself of the selling mindset when using social media. This is not a sales pitch, it isn't a huge list of potential customers. This is about you making quality connections with people around the world who may come to value you and help you build your credibility. Sales may come indirectly sooner or later, but focusing just on sales and marketing in the social network will end in failure in my opinion. If nothing else, social media is fantastic practice at building relationships which is so vital in our industry. Without trust, value, common ground, empathy in your networking (in social media and otherwise) all you're doing is plodding along and maybe forcing your product down some peoples throats.
6. Allow yourself to be taught by others! Just as you are letting people know what is happening in your life (and in your company, in your personal development etc), read and become interested in other people. There are millions of people on Twitter, and most of them will have a fascinating thing they can teach you that you never knew! Twitter is a great social networking tool but it can also be an awesome educational tool for you and your business.
7. Do not slack off. When you stop microblogging, you are forgotten quickly. Believe me, when MySpace was very popular I had over 27 thousand friends and had no problem making and keeping friends because I was active and engaging. These days I lose between 50 and 100 friends per day because I no longer maintain my profile or my connections on MySpace. The more quality updates you provide, the more exposure you have to people of common interests. So if you're providing captivating updates often, do not slack off; because people will come to expect a certain level of professionalism from you, a certain regularity. Being regular with your updates (but not overbearing) is paramount in making and maintaining quality connections

Cameron Grothhttp://www.cjg.me/ - Free 7 Day Video Bootcamp for Home Businesses And Many Other Quality Training Resources. Fill out the form for instant members only access.

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Advancement in Leadership

By Andrea Klee

When we imagine the Stone Age, we immediately think of the principle that the stronger person wins against the weaker person. Have we made any advance since then? Is it possible to have a system in corporations that allows people to be who they are, and not to use their elbows for whatever they would like to attain?

The impression today is that in many places, we are still living according to the Stone Age principle. Especially in the corporate world, people lie and take advantage of others, often in very tricky ways. Should someone who is just more corrupt than another person get a promotion, or should we set other values?

If we really want to say good-bye to the principle of the stronger person, it appears necessary to create or use a vision of very high moral values and standards. Morality is our weapon against the domination of the strongest. Nothing else has ever helped against it. However, high moral values need always to be supported by an attitude of integrity. It is never enough just to recognize what is right or wrong according to our moral values. We also need to behave in a way that will help other people to trust us and to believe that we are doing what we say.

No matter what we will say or try to communicate, the truth is always communicated through our attitude. When we don't behave according to our words, then it becomes obvious that we are not trustworthy. Other will copy us, but they will copy our behavior, not what we tell them about how someone should behave. This is a very crucial point in leadership, since we need to be aware of the fact that we cannot hide our true selves from others.

Other people know more about us than we believe they know, or than we think they can know. Our voices, our appearances, and our attitude in different situations tell much more about us than we want to be true. Another person might even be able to derive from our words and from our attitude whether or not we are a person of integrity. Most of these conclusions are true even though we don't like to accept this fact.

If we really want people to advance from the concept that the stronger person is the more powerful one, then we need to honestly examine if we as leaders behave according to our promises and suggestions. Should we find out that we don't live as we preach, it is time to revise our own lives first before we think about changing the corporate environment. Change always starts with a person changing herself or himself. If we want to advance leadership in the corporate world of today, we will have to cope with our own possible lack of integrity.

Andrea Brigitte KleeAuthor and SpeakerE-Mail: andreaklee@gmx.net

EXPRESS YOUR VOICESupporting you to convey your thoughts, encourage listening and make an impact.http://www.express-your-voice.com

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Leadership Coaches - Resistance to Changing Culture

By Jodi Wiff and Mike Krutza

Why is changing a work culture so hard? Why is there so much resistance to making change for the better?

When you break down changing a work culture - think of employees reaction falling into one of the five categories:

1. no need to change
2. the timing is bad
3. cost of the change
4. they may need information on why, what and how
5. feel distrust of the new direction

People will have different reactions that is a given. Now is the time as a leader to really listen to their reaction and identify what category of resistance they fit into. Do they question the need to change the company culture? You may even hear conversations that start with, we're making money, why to do we have to change how we interact with customers or employees? Or, everyone is so stressed, why rock the boat, wouldn't it be better to wait until next year when the economy concerns level off before we assess our company culture. Changing a work culture will confront resistance - improve your odds of success by anticipating what the barriers will be and remember just because it is easy for you to see the need and benefits, it won't be easy for others to visualize the positive impact of the change. Think about how the messages get shared to answer all of the above barriers. Try moving forward by engaging the teams you work with - what are they worried about? What do they need to move forward? What feels unclear to them?

Culture isn't the hard number or line item on the bottom of an annual report or productivity report. However it is a key ingredient on how to get that number to look better.

Jodi Wiff, partner Lighthouse Leadership, created the mantra of "Elegant Courage"-- honesty with grace and elegance during good or bad times. Her 28 years as a leader distinguished her special and unique problem solving abilities. Her innovativeness and creativity changed the company culture from ugliness - sniping and lack of hope to a warm, engaging, respectful environment. She believes the employee and customers are special and important to a business and that leaders must create the environment which "feels" hopeful and stirs the inner calling of employees to make a difference. She creates that kind of profound difference.

http://www.lighthouse-leadership.com

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Should You Hire New Employees in a Slow Economy?

By Shari Roth

Unemployment figures are at an all time high and companies continue on the course of downsizing. So should your company actual be hiring when most organizations are scaling back? If your organization wants to be one of the key players when the economy turns around, then the time to prepare for the turnaround is right now. Three important things to consider are:

• Do you have employees that are not meeting performance expectations?
• Can you capitalize on the abundance of top performers that are currently available?
• Have you considered utilizing interim hires?

Take a good look at the performance of your existing employees? During good times if an employee is not meeting expectations, there's a tendency to look the other way. Can you afford to carry weak employees? It's critical to take a hard look to see if you have under-performers in your organization. If you have employees that are not meeting performance expectations you must take action. Replace weak performers with people that will do what the job calls for.

Next capitalize on the top talent that is currently available. Just like it is a buyers' market in real estate, it is currently a "hiring market" for employers. Company restructuring and downsizing has created an abundance of quality talent available. Short-sighted organizations are looking at survival. Companies that look beyond survival are looking towards the future to see if their current talent pool supports their long term strategy. These companies are hiring top talent now and building a strong, solid organization.

One note of caution; be careful using the same approach that you might use in a real estate transaction, when you are making an offer to a new hire. You may throw out a below market offer on house. And if you are lucky, you may get it. If you do the same thing with a new hire, the new hire may accept the offer; however this strategy could backfire. The new hire may not be happy in the long run. Their dissatisfaction may be reflected in their performance, and ultimately they may leave your company as soon as the market turns around.

Hiring interim employees is the third consideration that often gets overlooked. This is a perfect time to engage top talent for interim employment. Interim employees work for you on a temporary basis, typically for a period of one month and up to one year. Interim employees do not receive benefits, which is huge savings to your organization. With interim employees, you can have top talent work on projects and initiatives that everyone has been too busy to do. The main purpose of the interim hire is to fill a gap and work on a specific project. The organization benefits because they get to address a much needed initiative. The interim hire benefits too. They gain meaningful work that helps them to bridge the employment gap until they can obtain a permanent full time position.

You may be concerned that an interim employee may leave before the project is completed. To minimize the possibility of an interim hire leaving prior to project completion, you can offer a bonus for the successful completion of the project. This approach not only encourages an interim hire to complete the project, it ties their performance to the success of the project as well. Interim employment is a terrific win-win for the company and for the interim hire.

Should you be hiring in a slow economy? First, take a hard look to make certain that 100% of your employees are meeting expectations. Replace under performers with people that will do the job. Look at your talent pool and determine if you have the talent that will be able to achieve your long term strategy. And, can you utilize interim hires on projects that you have been too busy to start. Considering the advantages that this market brings, the question no longer is should I be hiring in a slow economy, the question becomes, how many people should I be hiring right now?

Shari Roth is a managing partner of CAPITAL iDEA. An accomplished performance improvement consultant, Shari's ability to simplify complex problems into effective solutions has driven notable results in the transportation, insurance, financial, hospitality and telecommunications industries. Shari's focus is to create leadership cultures where employees are empowered, engaged, and aligned to achieve the organization's desired results.
With over twenty years of experience in Fortune 500 companies, her clients find Shari's unique blend of financial, marketing and sales expertise invaluable. Shari's in depth knowledge and certifications in Behavioral, Motivator and Hartman Assessments contribute to her clients' success in hiring and retaining top talent. Shari's clients have seen improvements in employee retention, increased profitability, and customer growth.

• http://www.capital-idea.net
• shari@capital-idea.net
• http://www.twitter.com/ShariRoth

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Managing More Efficiently With Results Based Performance Management

By Bill Walsh

Is your company planning on down-sizing staff (or perhaps has already done so)? It's an unfortunate effect of the turbulent economic times. Although many companies decide that the bottom-line will be improved with belt tightening, it doesn't lower or diminish expectations for productivity and profits. So, how can you produce results with less staff? The answer is result based performance management training.

Performance management training is to help managers improve their capabilities and that of their teams. This training focuses on improving clear goal setting and follow up, , performance feedback and evaluation, time management skills and coordinating performance to deliver the best results.

As your company experiences changes from down-sizing or economic stress, it's especially important to retool your supervisors skill sets to address these changes. Bringing training on site allows you an opportunity to remove managers and supervisors from the chaotic daily demands and get them into an environment where they can focus on the most important things: improving performance effectiveness, setting clear goals, and establishing a plan to work towards those goals.

As companies down-size, managers and supervisors are often required to supervise more teams from a distance. It becomes even more important that these managers and supervisors receive remote employee management training in order to have the skills necessary to manage employees when they aren't able to directly supervise employees at the same physical location. Off-site or remote employee management provides many challenges that can be overcome with the proper training.

With proper remote employee management training, you'll learn how to set up an oversight system that allows you to set and track clear goals and improve employee performance without having to be at the employee's work location.

Even when budgets are tight, supervisory training still makes sense. The best way to have fewer employees get the most work done is by increasing the skill sets of our supervisors and managers. They have the greatest influence over the productivity and effectiveness of their employees. Training programs like time management for supervisors, results based performance management and remote employee management training can provide a productivity return on your investment.

With the right training programs, you can greatly improve team and employee productivity and supervisory skills. That means supervisors manage employees more effectively, teams are able to work more efficiently with less, and goals are being met. Can you afford NOT to take advantage of the benefits and returns of on-site management and supervisory training?

Bill Walsh, managing director of Proven Training Solutions, has successfully developed and delivered over 2500 training engagements throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. With over 25 years experience as a management and training consultant, his expertise includes all levels of management and supervisory development, project management, team building, as well as, customer service and time management. He has appeared on radio, television and has been quoted in Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. For additional information and proven solutions to your training problems visit http://www.proven-training-solutions.com

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