The internet is a wonderful thing. It can help market and grow our businesses, connect with other businesses, help our business run smoothly and keep us up to date on anything and everything.

But do you use it to find out what people are saying about you?

Image: sheelamohan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Using these 2 simple tips will alert you whenever someone mentions you or your business name.

Google Alerts

This is so simple to do I wish I had done it sooner. Go to this webpage -http://www.google.co.uk/alerts?hl=en – fill in the blanks, create the alert and sit back until the emails start coming through. You can use this without a gmail account, but it is much easier to create and manage alerts if you have one. Not all the results will be relevant to you, but if your business is mentioned on the web this alert should let you know

Twitter Search

Also very simple to do. Log in to Twitter and go to the search screen and enter your business name. The results will show any tweets you have made, but they will also show tweets that other people have sent that did not contain the @yourusername tag. If you want to narrow the results down even further try using the advanced search function

 

There you have it; 2 quick, easy and free ways to find out what people are saying about you on the internet.

I’d be interested to know how you find out what people are saying about you…

Whether you are new to Twitter or an old hand at it, I hope that you will follow these 5 people who I have found to be very interesting and knowledgable about their field of work

1. Mark Shaw – a Twitter guru, by following him you’ll learn the ropes in no time at all
2. BBC Breaking News – Breaking news alerts and updates from the BBC
3. Emma Jones – Founder of small business support company, Enterprise Nation and co-founder of Start-Up Britain.
4. Josh Massey – Sales leads, Business referrals, New business and Lead generation. He sends out free business leads and referrals every day using the #msrfr hashtag
5. Purple Dog – Twitter Marketing Specialists who can provide you with the tools, tips and strategies to unlock Twitter’s huge potential.

Follow them all now, what have you got to lose? Just click on their name to go directly to their Twitter page. If you’ve been paying attention, I’ve given you more than the 5 accounts to follow that I promised. If you’re looking for small business advice and bookkeeping, don’t forget to follow me either

Feel free to add your own lists of who we should follow on Twitter. If the list gets to about 25 accounts I’ll list them all in a future post

Outsourcing is defined as: the process of contracting a business function to someone else, and it can take on many different forms. But the main question is, should you outsource any of your business’ work or keep it all in house?

Pros

• Allows you more time to focus on your business.
• Peace of mind that a professional is performing the task.
• Long term it could save you money.
• You can outsource the work as and when needed.
• It can lead to more efficient processes within your business.

Cons

• Loss of control – you have to put your trust in someone else.
• There will be a cost implication – if you are a new start-up this will be the major drawback.
• You will be allowing an external person/company knowledge of how your company works/wants to work.
• Until it is complete you will not know if the work meets your standards.

Outsourcing doesn’t necessarily have to be between you company and another; it could be a director asking one of the staff to perform a task that they normally would do themselves. The final choice must be that of the business owner after taking several variables into consideration.

My own view on outsourcing is that you should stick to what you’re good at. I am not a graphic designer so would not attempt to design a new logo for myself; it would take far too long and be a total disaster. I would be far happier to contract someone in to do the job for me; it would save time and be a far more professional logo than my own design!

Have you ever outsourced any aspect of your business, and if so, was it a success?

Over the last month I have been taking part in a blogging challenge to make a blog post every day for a month. There were days when this was easy to do and others where it was a little harder due to my work load of lack of ideas. Thankfully I managed to complete the challenge and I think that I managed to keep the content interesting enough for people to keep coming back – my site traffic stats seem to indicate that.

During the month there have also been lots of other people who have taken part in the challenge, below are links to the top 5 blogs that I have enjoyed reading during January (in no particular order):

1. Writers Block Admin Services – Jo is a virtual PA and very friendly
2. EosGrafx – Web design services
3. James Debono - Big Thinking Online
4. Michelle Shaeffer – Fantastic site for blog ideas
5. Networking Goat – A new blog but has some good advice

If you took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge which were the blogs that you enjoyed reading the most?

Advertising is always a massive problem for small businesses – we want it but cannot always afford it. Most of us rely on word-of-mouth advertising, or advertising in places which are free/don’t cost a great deal. By doing so we run the risk of not getting to our target market.

Some readers may know that I am a massive Rugby League and Leeds Rhinos fan, last week the RFL (governing body) announced a new sponsorship deal with Eddie Stobart who will sponsor the competition for the next 3 years after Engage Mutual ended their association with the sport.

In brief, the terms of the deal are: Eddie Stobart will be branding 100 of their trucks in Superleague artwork, in effect creating a mobile advertising board. Oh, and they are not paying the RFL any money at all for doing this. There was an offer on the table from Betfair which, allegedly, was around £750,000 per year sponsorship but the RFL decided the Stobart deal was the best long-term strategy.

This news has been met with a mixed reaction from rugby league fans; personally I think it is great news. Rugby League has suffered from a lack of national exposure for a long time and will always struggle to compete with the Premier League, but with Stobart’s trucks giving some free advertising it may help increase the profile of the sport. 100 trucks out of 2,500 is not a lot, but it’s better than none. The RFL, for all their faults, have never been afraid to change the way things are done in rugby league – summer rugby, video technology, rule changes etc…

Getting back to the main point, is free advertising worth it? If a whole sport thinks that free advertising is a good idea, surely it must be? There are a few points to take note of though:

• Make sure the advertising is done in the correct place; it has to be relevant.
• It may take time to see any return from the advertising, possibly even longer than paid adverts.
• Take time to weigh up all your options and make sure you select the one that is right for your business

Most importantly don’t be afraid to make changes, changing the way you do things could put you ahead of your competitors.

For those who are interested, the Stobart Super League starts again on Friday 3rd Feb on Sky Sports – why not tune in an enjoy 80 minutes of fantastic sporting action?

I came across this article today which states that most small businesses fail within the first 5 years – the article is based on US statistics but these statistics are likely to be the same for other countries.

One of the comments lists two things the reader believes indicate that the business has been a success:

• Pays a living wage comparable to the national average to it’s employees and/or owner
• Makes a profit

photo credit: thinboyfatter

I agree and disagree with the first statement. With the global economy in such a mess at the moment many people are starting up businesses in their spare time outside of their main jobs because a) they need extra money b) they have a skill/hobby/service that they feel is in demand.

If you are a Twitter user, take a look at your followers and the accounts that you follow, a large majority of these are probably ‘ordinary’ people who are using Twitter to engage with other businesses and to promote their own. Social Media is a great leveller and is a massive help for smaller businesses to compete against larger organisations. It also helps businesses talk directly to other businesses that they may never have interacted with before.

How do I think that you can define success? Like most things it’s all relative as each and every business is different. Below are a few ideas:

• Does your business get repeat business?
• Is it making a profit?
• Is your product/service/skill still in demand?
• Are you seeing sales growth?

Most importantly, is your business achieving what it set out to do?

If a business set out with the sole aim of increasing the owner’s income by an extra £500 a month to meet the day to day bills and it is providing that amount (plus enough to cover year end taxes), then the business owner will consider it a success.

photo credit: Regina Hackenberg

One of the major factors behind businesses failing (small and large) is that the business sets unrealistic goals. If you make hand made chocolates, don’t set out with the aim of competing with Cadbury’s in your first year of trading. Be realistic about it. Use the mnemonic SMARTER:

• S – Specific targets
• M – Meausreable targets
• A – Attainable targets
• R – Relevant targets
• T – Time orientated targets
• E – Targets which can be evaluated
• R- targets which can be re-evaluated

photo credit: alexmcc1986

As 2011 draws to a close it’s time to reflect on what has happened during the year. Each and every one of us will have faced some tough challenges, but along the way had some fantastic experiences that we will remember for a long time.

There have been 2 highlights for me this year. The first was spending the weekend in London for my first wedding anniversary and going to the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final whilst down there (just a shame that Leeds Rhinos lost). It was a fantastic few days and we hope to do it again in 2012.

But the experience that was head and shoulders above everything else was when I got the chance to drive 3 supercars around a race track – something that I have wanted to do for a long time. My wife bought me this as a wedding anniversary present. The whole afternoon was fantastic and one that I will never forget. The sound of the Ferrari engine behind my ears will stay with me forever! Below are the videos from the day.

 

What has been the highlight of your year, outside of your job/business?

photo credit: tharrin

Most people will have seen by now about the tragic deaths of Indycar driver Dan Wheldon and Moto GP rider Marco Simoncelli. Immediately the news is full of people claiming that motorsport is far too dangerous and the cars/bikes are going too fast. 2 deaths in quick succession and a handful of other deaths over the last 5 years seem to indicate that.

But do they?

The top level of motorsport is at the cutting edge of car/bike design. Some of the technology which is now on Formula 1 cars will eventually find it’s way into your road car of the future. KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is already being used in some hybrid cars to help recharge electric batteries. ‘Flappy paddle gearboxes’ which are becoming the norm on high end cars have filtered their way down from F1.

But what about the safety of the drivers? In my opinion they have never been safer. Compare the deaths in a  Formula 1 season now to one 30 or 40 years ago. Interviews with past F1 drivers from that time all say ‘We expected to loose a few of our fellow racers during the course of a season’. But now drivers can walk away from the most horrific crashes with nothing more than a scratch, bruise and damaged ego.

A couple of years ago Felipe Massa was hit on the head by a piece of suspension from a car in front in a freak accident and then ploughed head first into a tyre barrier at over 100mph.

Yes he was badly injured and did not race for a long time, but he lived to tell the tale thanks to his crash helmet and car being phenominally strong. The cloth hats of yester-year wouldn’t have protected him at all.

Last year Mark Webber had a huge crash in Valencia where he clipped the back of the car in front, took off and landed the wrong way up…and walked away from it

The fact is, the cars are designed to unbelievably high standards and are designed to protect the drivers. The central pod where the drivers sit is practically indistructable, yet the parts that surround them are designed to shatter into a thousand pieces to absorb all the energy from a high speed impact. This keeps the drivers safe, and this technology also helps to keep us safe in our road cars.

photo credit: ryanmilani

To answer the intial question, in my opinion motorsport is becoming safer and safer and because of this our roadcars will become safer. When you have 20-30 cars travelling in small proximity to one another at 200mph, the slightest nudge can cause chaos. Thankfully the drivers are well protected the majority of the time. But that’s not to say that work cannot be done to make the cars even safer…

There are a lot of articles in the news at the moment reporting on the government’s plans to review the speed limit on Britain’s motorways to raise it from 70mph to 80mph. Personally I think that this is the wrong way to go.

One of the main arguments is that the speed limit has not been changed for nearly 50 years, which does seem a little odd.But think about it, how many more vehicles are on the road now compared to when the speed limit was introduced? If anything we should be looking to reduce the speed limit.

As speed increases the use of fuel also increases exponentially. At a time when fuel prices are through the roof surely we should be looking to conserve our fuel? Moving the speed limit to 80mph will increase fuel consumption and make an even bigger dent in our pockets.

The idea of increasing the speed limit to ‘get Britain moving’ and cut our journey times is farcical. Most people’s daily commutes will be around 30-45 minutes, mostly spent in traffic jams. The only time that an increased speed limit would lead to substantial time savings is on longer trips, but in those instances people would probably use the train. Just set off on your journey earlier.

The state of the roads also needs to be considered. Compared to some of the roads in Europe ours are a disgrace. A little bit of frost/cold weather and pot holes appear everywhere. Travelling faster over the roads will not help one bit. Take the money that is being put aside for this review and spend it improving the roads.

Speed is fantastic, as long as it is done in a controlled environment. The motorways are not controlled as you cannot predict what other drivers will do, travelling 10mph faster will make things happen a lot faster than at 70mph. If you want to drive fast, go to a track day or supercar experience. There are plenty of them available.

If it ‘aint broke don’t fix it!

…We Didn’t Have Smartphones & Social Media?

Simple enough question. What are your thoughts? There are many arguments for and against smartphones & social media, here are some of mine:

For

• Smartphones have made it much easier to keep in contact with people via email & social media. No matter where you are in the world (with a few exceptions) you can keep in touch with people to keep your business running. It may only be a simple yes/no email back to someone at the office, but it is a lot easier than ringing them (which would probably lead on to ‘whilst I’ve got you on the phone’ scenarios).

• If you are on the bus, train or just passing the time it only takes a few seconds to load up Twitter to see what the people you are following are doing/saying, which presents an opportunity to engage with these people and develop more contacts. I tweet with people from all over the country, which would never have been possible without Twitter. A chance comment to somone on Twitter may lead to a business opportunity for you.

• If you’re out and about and find that you’ve lost your way you’ve got a mobile GPS device in your pocket, so there really isn’t an excuse for getting lost any more. Plus it’s a lot more portable than a map

• It’s even easier to keep up with the news now than ever before when you are on the move. All the major news companies have apps and mobile websites for you to use. But more often than not referring to the trending topics on Twitter may give you a clue about what is happening

Summary: we’ve never been more connected to real time events and other people and this is of huge benefit to everyone involved

Against

• The fact that we are so connected via email, social media etc.. it means that people can easily get hold of us, even when we don’t want them to i.e when you’re on holiday. Holidays are for leisure time and to get away from work, not carry it on from abroad

• Has the art of conversation been lost? How often do you have a conversation (as in face to face/phone call) with someone that you regularly email/text/tweet?

• Meal times are meant to be a time for the family to sit down, eat and discuss their day at work. All too often people forget this and sit there using their phones (I know as I’ve done it many times). This is vey frustrating for other people sat around the table. Easy way to sort it: make a rule that phones are not allowed at meal times, must be left in another room and will not be answered during the meal. It does work.

Summary: Becasue we are so connected to what is happening around us, by constantly trying to keep up to date with everything and not miss an opportunity, sometimes, we totally miss what is happening right in front of us.

Personally I love smartphones and they have totally changed they way the people do business and connect with each other, but with using some self discipline they can lead to problems with the people closest to you.

What are you opinions on smartphones? It would be good to get a few thoughts and collate them together in a future blog post…