Monday 30 May 2011

What is the return on your investment in social media?

I have a lot of time for Michael Stelzner and the folk at Social Media Examiner, one of the world’s top ranked business blogs.

Everyday I gain something of value from reading or watching. I recommend subscribing.

A recent blog was about simple ways to calculate social media return on investment. You can read the full blog here.

ROI is a hot topic everywhere right now. I expect it will get hotter. This Social Media Examiner blog prompted me to really think hard about what return I am getting from my own investment in social media/networking.

Social Media Examiner say ROI measures the efficiency of an investment.
I say ROI also measures the effectiveness of an investment.

I invest time, intention, feelings, thoughts, actions, and money into social media/networking. I am primarily interested in how long it takes me (efficiency), and does it achieve the kind of results I want (effectiveness).

For me in terms of efficiency, I am happy to invest up to an hour a day providing value online, providing I achieve the following objectives (effectiveness):

1. People buy my changing what’s normal book
2. People subscribe or sign-up at relationship entry points such as my monthly ezine, my e-learning trial, my performance possibility pulse check, join differencemakers community, subscribe to my blog and/or YouTube channel
3. People inquire about my services

I have weekly goals for these three objectives.

What are your weekly objectives and your goals for each?
How efficient and effective are you?

In other words what kind of return are you getting on your investment in social media/networking?


The more we understand ROI for our businesses the more we are able to understand ROI for our customers. For the foreseeable future ROI matters most to most people in business.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

PS For a short time only you can buy my Changing What's Normal book and 24/7 access to the companion web page that contains downloadable files, references, links, tools, tips, techniques, templates, for just $30 here.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Enhancing their gifts - a tribute to TJ

My best friend Terry Jenner died yesterday after a long illness. I have a zillion great memories. From a business perspective Terry's concept of enhancing their gifts is a gem. It is insight 49 of 58 in my book Changing What's Normal. Here is an extract.

Normal

I usually feel emotionally and physically ill when I meet leaders on a quest to change people into someone in their own image.

I once hated people trying to change me. How about you?
In fact I used to be so stubborn sometimes knowing I should change something, however I didn’t because other people I perceived were driving the change, not me.

These days I ignore people trying to change me. I have concluded that what other people think of me is none of my business.

Trying to change other people is futile and is a slippery slope to self-destruction. The good news is we can inspire others to change themselves by being change masters ourselves.

Changing what’s normal

A great way to lead i.e. inspire and influence, is to focus on enhancing people’s gifts and this has much to do with coaching and mentoring.

I am often asked what is the difference between a coach and a mentor. My answer is that there doesn’t need to be a difference in terms of labels; however making a distinction can be very useful in terms of roles.

Coaching is concerned with competency: the skills needed to perform at optimum levels. Good coaching is about maximizing skills.

Mentoring is concerned with commitment: the will we need to perform at our best. Good mentoring is about maximizing will.

In the 90’s I was President of the Tea Tree Gully District Cricket Club in Adelaide for six years and for four of those years Terry Jenner, who played for Australia in the 70’s, was the coach. It was the beginning of a life-long friendship with TJ as he is better known.

TJ believed his role as a coach was to Enhance the Gift of the people he coached. This is a beautiful phrase (from a storehouse of many from TJ) to describe both coaching and mentoring. We are drawing out what is already there.

TJ was widely acknowledged as the preeminent coach of his generation in his field of spin bowling. I was privileged over two decades to watch him work with many people with diverse gifts in both Australia and the United Kingdom, including his work with Shane Warne, regarded by most as the greatest bowler in the history of cricket. I have adopted many of TJ’s philosophies and methodologies in my work as a mentor including: basics are beautiful, inch by inch is a cinch; yard by yard, too hard and, if you practice the things that work, you get better at the things that work. Conversely if you practice the things that don’t work, you get better at the things that don’t work.

The Ancient Greek word for gift is charisma. When we coach and mentor well, people’s charisma increases. The higher the levels of charisma, or what I prefer to call personal significance, the greater the performance.

We all need coaches and mentors to help us inspire ourselves to be and do more. My whole life I have worked with and engaged mentors and make it my business to do so at least twice a year.

Are you a good coach and a good mentor? Your people, including your children if you are a parent, need you to be.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian

PS You can download my Changing What's Normal book as a gift from me to you here.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Changing what's normal do it yourself program

All human beings have aspirations. Most people do not achieve them. In my view this is because most of us do not feel we are worthy of achieving what we aspire to.

Three of our greatest aspirations are to be loved, valued, and fulfilled.

My changing what's normal do it yourself program explores 15 ways for you be loved, valued, and fulfilled.

You receive my book and 24/7 access to the companion web page that contains downloadable files, references, links, tools, tips, techniques, templates.


Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Saturday 14 May 2011

Be a hero in your own home first

Be a hero in your own home first is insight 26 of 58 insights I share in my book Changing What’s Normal which is you can download as a gift from here.

My book and 24/7 access to the companion web page that contains links, downloads, tools, tips, templates, & techniques for your contemplation, and to help you take action in your own way, is a Do It Yourself Change Program.

The format for my sharing of each insight in my book begins with my view of what’s normal, some insights into changing what’s normal, and then an action/s section which includes where appropriate a link to the companion web page.

Be a hero in your own home first

Normal


There is conflict for most people between work and home life and never the twain shall meet and one is seen as a means for success in the other.

Changing what’s normal

The first place we must collaborate in is own own homes.

One day at the peak of my corporate career in 1989 when I was working over 100 hours and mostly 7 days a week, I decided on one particular day to arrive home early. I had picked up a new company car on this particular day, the first I had driven with electric windows.

On the way home I played with the new windows and began to reflect on my life. It’s fair to say that by the time I arrived home I had a big head thinking how well I had done from poor beginnings and on how well I was providing for my wife and two children.

With a beaming smile I got out of my new shining car to greet my wife who was standing at the top of the stairs. Right of the bat she said: We need to talk. Now what does that mean male readers?!

She then said: Your children do not know who their father is. And after a long pause she said: I’m starting to wonder as well.

You see I was a hero in my own mind yet not in the hearts and minds of the people who mattered the most to me.

A few days later my daughter came into my study and asked:
Hey Dad, Do you want to get a video?
I will never forget the look on her face when I said: Yes. Let’s go.
Previously I would have told her to get lost or can’t you see I’m busy!

The videos we rented that day were the two part, Anne of Green Cables.

At a certain point in the first part I began to cry. The first time my daughter had ever seen me cry. I was raised that real men don’t cry and had hidden my emotions until that day. Real men do cry.

I changed what was normal for me from that day forward and it has made an incredible difference to the lives of my family and many other people as I have shared this experience worldwide.

It’s not what the world holds for you.
It is what you bring to it.

Anne of Green Cables

In my book each insight is followed by a Action/s section.

Get the book as a gift from me here and take the actions in your own best way.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Nestlé Prize for Creating Shared Value

As my regular readers know creating shared value is the fundamental business growth model I follow and help my clients to follow.

In The Responsible Business Group of Ethical Corporation on LinkedIn I put the question Will CSV supersede CSR? a fascinating conversation has followed and one participant referred me to the Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value that is awarded in alternate years to an individual, a non-government organisation (NGO) or a small business to reward an outstanding innovation or project in the area of water, nutrition or rural development.

I would be very interested to know if you know of any other organisations who are making a difference in this way or similar. Please let me know.

You can find our more about the Nestlé prize here.

And you can join in the LinkedIn discussion here.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Friday 6 May 2011

The Power of Words

This is the most powerful 1 minute and 48 seconds I have seen about making a difference.



Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Networking with purpose - introducing Networlding

Networking is normally seen as a necessary evil by most people and is undertaken grudgingly because it is seen as a have to do particularly by business people in order to stay in touch, be seen, and possibly extend or uncover business opportunities.

Changing what’s normal

Two years ago I was introduced to the concept of Networlding and participated in a webinar presented by founder Melissa Giovagnoli.

I was immediately taken by the differences between networlding and traditional networking and soon began to practice them. The results astounded me. So much so that I became the Ambassador to Australia for Networlding and earlier this year presented the first classes in Australia to inspire other people to engage in the practice.

Networking

Transactional
Goal based
Undisciplined effort
Temporary
Often one-sided
Haphazard
Fragmented
Superficial
Opportunity specific
Two dimensional
Push

Networlding

Transformational
Values based
Leveraged effort
Long term
Mutually beneficial
Strategic
Systematic
Authentic
Opportunity expansive
Multi-dimensional
Pull


Networlding is not about the number of connections you have on LinkedIn, the number of followers you have on Twitter, or the legion of fans you have Facebook, nor the size of your business card collection – it is about the quality of the connections you have and develop.

Networlding is a powerful concept to embrace because it involves ensuring a values match with people before you pursue a business relationship; and once such a values match is confirmed, relationships are only pursued with people who meet the following criteria:

1. Have a wide variety of connections
2. Are observant of people and environment
3. Have a talent for staying in touch
4. Are outwardly focused
5. Are sensitive to other’s needs
6. Have access to different information
7. Have a natural talent for helping
8. Are focused on diversity
9. Are spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally balanced
10. Are influencers to a broad base

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favourite books about change and how change can happen quickly. Malcolm refers to three kinds of people who are critical to the spreading of a story, an idea, anything; Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople.

Mavens are people in the know and across the details of things.

Connectors are people with a special gift for bringing people together and are also gifted at spreading the word.

Salespeople are people are persuaders, influencers, and inspirers.

How many Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople do you know?
And more importantly how many people know you as a Maven, Connector, or Salesperson, or all three?

After reading The Tipping Point when it first came out I immediately caste a critical eye over all my connections to see how many of these kinds of people I knew and began to focus on pursuing relationships of mutual reward with such people. I also closely reviewed all my business relationships where I thought people would see me as Maven, Connector, Salesperson, or all three, and began to strengthen my ties with these people.

When I first embraced Networlding I was shocked that with many of the Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople I knew there, and with many people who knew me as having the skills, there wasn’t a values match, and when there was, very few people met the 10 criteria stated above.

Since then I have began to build relationships of mutual reward with vastly different people to the past and the results have taken my breath away.

Possible actions:

As I write there are Networlding Circles In Australia, United Kingdom, and United States of America. Melissa is very keen to expand these to everywhere. Get in touch with Melissa.

At very least buy Melissa’s books and learn to Networld yourself. You will be amazed at how it will help you to change what’s normal.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

If you have a deep hunger to:

make a real difference
leave a legacy
do something pioneering, breathtaking, and truly innovative
do well by doing good i.e. thrive in your business and solve a problem in your world at the same time
then please review all the details here of my year of changing what's normal leadership development program.