My Day Job Versus My Passion

So many people are employed and

My Twitter Presence

This blog post has been triggered by a great post I read by Chris Brogan at www.chrisbrogan.com.
In Chris' article he talks about how hard it can be to manage 146,000 followers and to be able to engage with them. He then explains his mindset and methodology and some of the tools he uses.

Here I'll share what I do. Like Chris, his way is wonderful, your way will be wonderful too. My way is just the way I choose to use Twitter.

My Twitter Presence

My Account

@DickieArmour

The Tools

Here's a list of the tools I use for Twitter:

Hootsuite – for my desktop.
TweetDeck - for my desktop.
Hootsuite – for my phone.
TweetDeck - for my phone.
Seesmic Mobile - for my phone.
Echofon - for my phone.
ManageFlitter - for manual deletion of inactive followers
Twitter Search – for search strings.
Listorious – for finding good Twitter lists.

My Twitter Goals

I use Twitter for many different things. My main goal is to connect with like-minded people around the world. My reasons for using Twitter are probably different to your's. Your goals are also okay. (Oh, and you’re doing it wrong!)

• I use Twitter to find like-minded people
• I use Twitter to have 2 way conversations
• I use Twitter to raise my profile
• I use Twitter to provide interesting stuff to my community
• I use Twitter to promote other people’s stuff much more than I do to promote my stuff 
• I use Twitter to find out about upcoming events
• I use Twitter to keep in touch with friends
• I use Twitter to keep in touch with customers
• I use Twitter to find business (via search) 
• I use Twitter to find new suppliers
• I use Twitter to spy on competitors
• I use Twitter to get help with all sorts of things
• I use Twitter to send & receive DMs rather than email sometimes
• I use Twitter to give me magical moments of Serendipity

My Twitter Methods

• I never follow the Home Feed (Your Friends). It flows too fast to keep up!
• I use loads of different search strings.
• I save these searches and have them in columns in both TweetDeck and Hootsuite.
• I always check my @replies and DM columns so I can be sure to reply and join in the convesrations.
• I use lists so I can catch up on conversations and tweets from the different groups I'm interested in.
• I follow lots of other Lists. You'll find people have already done the hard work for you. 
• For example Nigel Legg has a great List of people in Bristol,UK where I live. So I follow this list instead of wasting time creating my own.
• I tend to follow back most people. I won't follow you if you don't have a profile photo or logo.
• I like to provide interesting articles on Internet marketing, Social Media, business, sales & marketing
• I schedule my article tweets using Hootsuite, usually the previous night.
• I always retweet things I find of interest and think others will also find interesting. 
• I often post tweets with photos of where I am or things I see or books I'm reading.
• I try to reply as often as I can. If I miss your @ message, I’m very sorry.
• I like Echofon on my iPhone because it autocompletes @ usernames for the more tricky ones which are easy to forget or mistype.
• I use Twitter to send & receive DMs rather than email sometimes.
• I often use Twitter to get answers and to get help.
• Twitter is a great place to connect with companies like BT. BT have been excellent with their customer service on Twitter.
• Don't rely on using Twitter to always reach me. If you need me immediately, just call me on my mobile phone. 
• But of course, the old fashioned ways of communicating like email and phone still work! 
• Twitter is an amazing place for serendipity! Try it and see!

How do YOU use Twitter?

This is how I use Twitter. Chris Brogan said it would be fun to see your post on his “My Twitter Presence.” Or feel free to put your links to such posts and comments in the comments section below.

Are you in control of your Online Business?

Your online business is an important part of your company and you should be in full control of it.  The 3 main elements which make up your online business are:

1. Your domain name
2. Your website
3. Your website hosting

You need to make sure you know where your domain name "lives". Do you look after it yourself and have access to a control panel for the domain name? Or do you rely on a 3rd party such as a web designer or media agency?

I suggest that you should be in control of your domain name and look after the renewal process yourself. If you have a good web designer and they look after it for you then that's OK but you still need to check a few things for your peace of mind.

1. Your Domain Name
The first thing you should check is that you are the Registrant of your domain name. You can do a WHOIS lookup of your domain name. A WHOIS lookup is just a search of the central Registry's database to see the key info on a domain name such as:

• Regsitrant
• Registrar
• Expiry Date
• Domain Status

A Registrant is the recognised legal owner of the domain name. 

A Registrar is an organisation accredited by either ICANN or the National Registry to manage the regiostration and renewal of domain nams

The Expiry Date is the date when a domain name lapses. All domain names have to be renewed on a regular basis. .co.uk domain names have to be renewed every 2 years.

Domain Status shows the current state of a domain and will usually say something like "Domain renewed until 18th March 2011". If the domain name has not been renewed it might say "Renewal Required" or "Pending Deletion".

If you go to http://whois.domaintools.com/  you can enter your domain name and see all the relevant WHOIS information. The image below shows you the WHOIS lookup result of my domain name dickiearmour.me.uk

Click the image to see a larger version

If your name isn't listed as Registrant nor your company name then you need to rectify this as soon as you can. If you need any help or guidance on this please do get in touch and I'll be happy to help you.

So let's assume that you ARE the Registrant of your domain name; the next thing to check is your website.

2. Your Website
If you don't yet have a website then you MUST have a website. Again get in touch and I can point you in the right direction for some excellent web design companies.

If you do have a website the next question is do you have a copy of your website? What I mean by this is do you have all the pages, images, folders etc that make up your website? If not you MUST get a copy.

If your website was designed for you by a web designer then you can ask them for a copy of your website and ask them to put it on a DVD for you. There has been some debate around IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and Copyright. Some web design companies argue that the work of a web design is their's and so don't always feel they should have to give you a copy. Most of the ones I deal with are very happy to give their customers a copy of their websites. So make sure you get a copy of your website.

More and more people are using CMS (Content Management Systems) to update their websites themselves. This can be a good and easy way of keeping your website current. But you should be aware that in most cases, if you wanted to move your website to another hosting company, or the current provider who sold you the CMS goes out of business you won't be able to move your current website. Most CMS website can only be hosted on the same hosting platform as the CMS. So using a CMS you will never be in full control of your website.

But what happens if they go out of business or decide to leave the rat race and go off surfing in Hawaii? I speak to customers every single day who have lost control of their online business for these very reasons. The first thing that happens is the website hosting is switched off and your website and email stops working. You then have to begin the Internet Detective work of finding out where your website used to live and how you can get back control of it.

If your domain name was not registered in you or your company name then that's often a huge hurdle to get over. Even if you are the Registrant it can still be hard for the man on the street to find out who the current Registrar is and get back control of it.
If your web designer looks after the domain name as well as hosting, they will be the one who gets the renewal reminders, so in many cases you won't even know when your domain name is due for renewal. If a domain name is not renewed after a certain period the domain name will be suspended by the central Registry. Again, your email and website will stop working.

3. Your Website Hosting
In most cases you won't know anything about the hosting of your website. It will have been arranged and set up by your web designer. But again, part of being in control of your online business is knowing where your website lives. Find out from your current provider who they use to host your website.

Some web designers may not be happy to share this with you because hosting is one area where they make money. Now that's fine; most people understand that business is business and if they're indirectly looking after every aspect of your online business, it's fine and acceptable for them to add a margin to things like hosting and domain name renewals.

But do press them and insist on them telling you where your website is hosted. You can even explain you're not trying to find out to check prices, but that you just want to know in case anything were to happen to them or their business. That way should anything untoward happen you will find it much easier to keep control of your online business.

If you don't want to rock the boat with your web designer, there are clever tools you can use via the Internet to find out where your domain name and website live. Get in touch and I'll be happy to do some digging around for you.

So, make sure you do a WHOIS lookup of your domain name and ensure you or your company is the Regsitrant. Also make a mental or calendar note of when your domain name is due for renewal.

Get a copy of your website as soon as you can.

Find out where your website is hosted and make sure you get the contact details in case of disaster striking.

Please do get in touch if any of this worries you and you need some help and guidance. By getting and staying in control of your online business you can relax and concentrate on the more important day to day task in your business.

4Networking - My first 5 Months

I've never really done any serious sort of networking. I worked in the City in London for nearly 17 years and there was networking of sorts, but most of that happened in bars, clubs and restaurants with customers. The last 10 years I've been involved with the Internet which isn't always the most sociable place as we're all too busy sat in front of computer screens!

But I discovered 4Networking(4N) just over 5 months ago, in December 2010.

The video below will give you a snapshot of how it works:

Learn about 4Networking in 1 minute

I went to a couple of meetings and loved the people and the relaxed format so I joined on 23rd December 2009. And in 5 short months I've had a blast; I've got lots of new customers; made some great new friends and last month I became the Group Leader of Bristol Cribbs. 

The beauty of the 4N is that with a Passport membership you can go to any breakfast meeting anywhere in in the UK. As of 29th May 2010 there were 215 4N business breakfast groups. 

See the complete list on the Meetings page of the 4N website.

I personally go to most of the ones around Bristol and Somserset but I also link up with some of the other members and we arrange "Road Trips". 8 of us recently travelled to Hatfield, Hertfordshire and stayed over night and it was excellent. 

The power of the Road Trip is in how it helps to increase your profile and get your name and company out there. Read the buzz on the forum that was generated by the 8 of us travelling up to Hatfield!!

Mr Kim Hambley, Nick "Monster" Elston, Simon Bunker, Me, Olly Culverhouse, Tara Gillam

The format of every meeting is the same so it's great when you go to other groups because you know the agenda and so there are no surprises. I also love the fact that people who are in the same industry as each other can go along to the same group. It's always baffled me why other business networks limit a group to just one web designer and just one accountant etc. People from the same industry often pass work on to each other and will have different skill sets.

Also, and for me this is the real key behind any kind of networking whether online via Social Media websites or offline at face to face business networks - people do business with people they know, like and trust. If I was in one of those other networks where there was only one web design person and I didn't like them then I'm never going to do business with them nor pass business on to them.

As Group Leader of Bristol Cribbs it has really helped to raise my profile. I love the venue at Berwick Lodge; a new boutique style hotel in Bristol which is aiming for 5 star status! I'm proud to say we're the only 4N group with a red carpet to welcome our guests!

So if you run a business or you're someone responsible for business development in your company then I highly recommend 4N. You can come along to up to 3 meetings before you have to join so you can try the format to see if it suits you. I'll hazard a guess that you too will enjoy it; you'll make some wonderful new friends but as important you'll win lots of new customers too.

See you on the 4N circuit soon!

Where's the Lid to Your Company's Jigsaw Puzzle?

I absolutely love Michael Gerber!

Perhaps I should add here, that I can get quite excited about life and I do love lots of things! And I'm happily married; so when I say "I absolutely love Michael Gerber" please take it the right way! ;-)

OK, now where was I? Oh yes, Michael Gerber. For those of you who don't know who he is (shame on you!) go to Michael Gerber's website to find out more.

I was fortunate enough to see Michael talk in Leeds in 2004 and I got to meet him afterwards while he signed his book. You can listen to the very evening I went to on a Red Audio CD. Just go to the Red Audio website to get your copy.

This is not an affiliate link and I make no financial gain from your purchase
He was a really nice guy and when you listen to his talk you'll realise not only is he very funny; he's incredibly smart about small businesses.

The part on the CD when he tells the stary of Ace and Bob is hilarious and it's a key turning point in Michaels' life. He realised that most small business owners don't have a clue about business. Most small business owners don't have any systems in place by which to run their businesses. They just react to the day; phonecalls; emails; customers. 

"It was like someboday had bought a jigsaw puzzle, thrown the pieces on the floor.... and thrown away the cover of the box.... Nobody had a picture of the finished puzzle of the business they owned!" Michael Gerber

Mechanics open garages, chefs open restaurants, chiropractors open clinics and Michael Gerber thinks this is a profound mistake. Just because a chef can cook doesn't mean he can run a business. Just because a chiropractor can fix people doesn't mean she can run a business.

He says that nearly all small business owners are busy, busy, busy everyday, working in their businesses instead of ON their businesses and at the end of the week they wonder where the time's gone. Every business needs to have systems to follow. "This is how we do it here; no not that way; this way." Most small businesses are reactive instead of proactive and Michael Gerber says it's a tragic shame.

So where's the lid of the jigsaw puzzle of your business? If you've lost it don't worry. You can start today and decide what the picture of the finished puzzle of your business looks like. Leave all those peices scattered on the floor of your office for now and take some time out to think about the vision of your business. 

• What do you want to achieve with your business? 
• What's the reason you started it originally? 
• What's your story?
• Do you want to build it into the world's biggest something? Like MacDonalds or Walmart? 
• Or do you just want a nice income each year? 
• Do you want to build a business which you can pass on to your children? 
• Or do you want to sell up in 7 years time for mutli-millons?

Whatever it is you want, you need to get the picture clear in your head and put some systems & processes in place so you can begin to stick your jigsaw pieces together. 

The beauty of this is you get to decide! I look forward to hearing about your jigsaw puzzle.

Why I love Volcanoes & Virgin Holidays!

On April 13th I flew with my family on holiday to Dubai. Our friends booked the holiday as a group booking for the 6 of us and boy oh boy are we happy they did it with Virgin Holidays!

We booked just a 6 day holiday as we were staying in The Atlantis Hotel on The Palm and it's not the cheapest hotel in Dubai.

On arrival at the airport we all said we wished we'd booked for a few days longer.

Confusicious said: "Be careful what you wish for!"

Little did we know the Icelandic volcano was to affect us and so many other air travellers around the world.

It was soon apparent from watching Sky and BBC news in our room that the affects of the volcanic ash were far reaching. But even when the UK airspace was closed we didn't envisage the closure would be more than a day or so.

Our Virgin Holidays Rep, Fares Malaeb, was at our hotel everyday at 11am to book excursions etc but as the situation worsened he was the bearer of the bad news that we were unable to fly home. Initially, there was drama as we imagined the implications but the next day our Rep explained that Virgin Holidays would be paying for our hotel room and breakfast for every day we were stranded! 

Fares was incredible. He was excellent and did a very good job keeping us all in touch every single day. Many of the others contacted him day and night by mobile and also text and Fares was unwavering in his service. 
On one particular morning, when the situation had once again changed, there were a few, very angry customers who were quite rude to Fares. But Fares was always polite and he was excellent at calming people down. He of course had me there to help too! On a few occasions I argued with some of the Virgin Holidays customers explaining that these were unprecedented circumstances and that Virgin and Fares were doing everything they could etc..


Virgin Holiday, you have an excellent rep. I hope Fares Malaeb receives the recognition he deserves for his tireless hard work and sleepless nights.

As you can see from the photo on the right, the pool was lovely and it became my working office each day. I had my iPhone and free wi-fi from the hotel so I was able to handle emails and phone calls. So I could have happily stayed for a while!

We watched all the doom and gloom on the news and whilst I have a huge amount of sympathy and some empathy with my fellow, stranded tourists; I appreciate our situation was no where near as bad as many of those stuck at airports or those who had to take on a plane, train and automobile type of trip to get back home.

So a huge THANK YOU to Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Holidays and to Fares Malaeb, for looking after us so well and taking the panic and strain and stress out of our situation.

I will defintely be booking ALL future holidays with Virgin Holidays. Any chance you can make sure Fares is our rep each time we travel with you??!! ;-)

Right I'm off to finish opening my 2 weeks worth of post and emails and get back to all my customers' requests.

I love volcanoes and Virgin Holidays!! 

P.S. My mate has a video of me whizzing down the "Leap of Faith" slide screaming "I love Virgin Holidays!" I'll upload it here as soon as he sends it to me. :-) 

Monitoring Social Media for Business - Is it a White Elephant?

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Trey Pennington at the Monitoring Social Media Boot Camp 2010 in London on March 31st.
I was interested to find out more on the monitoring side of things and what different options there were for people to start using monitoring systems. I was also intrigued to know more about the different providers.


This video is by Trey Pennington and you can read some notes from Trey at his website - www.treypennington.com

But I think I came away from the day with more questions than I started with and my initial feeling is that this whole Social Media Monitoring trend could be the latest White Elephant!

Let me explain.