The Answer is “What do you want from life”. Do you have the Question?

No matter which way you look at it New Year is a time to reflect on the past. It’s been a year of ups and downs for all of us accentuated by a massive economic recession. Yet despite the challenges I’m sure there have been numerous successes, opportunities and wins for all of us.

You’re probably getting bombarded with messages about goal-setting right now; I make no apology for making my first post for 2011 stereotypical if that the way you see it. Unfortunately unless you understand the principle of achieving goals it becomes a pointless topic. Most of us made the obligatory token resolution … lose weight, spend more time with the family, give up smoking, to be less stressed, the list goes on. There are plenty of statistics that tell us a large majority of people fail to achieve these goals. Why, for a few simple and avoidable reasons.

Goal setting is not the secret of success, achieving them is.

Like most goals we are never committed enough to make them habitual, they are doomed to failure from the outset. If you really want to learn the secret of goal setting pull out the classic by Napolean Hill, “Think and Grow Rich” or the more modern take from Stephen Covey, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and start applying the rules, they work.

I often refer to these two books because everything else I read seems to be a facsimile of the same message. In no way am I criticising the efforts and messages of others, we need to be constantly reminded and prodded along the way. This in itself is one of the core messages that are presented in the Hill/Covey “Secrets of Success”.

The Secret of Happiness is doing what you want to do.

Our working life consumes the greatest quantity of our quality time, are you happy with what you do? If I was to put you on the spot now and ask “What is it you want most from your life” could you answer? We know that strategic planning for our business is critical; this allows us to have a focussed direction for our business. This being said, how often do we do this for ourselves?

Don’t let others influence your direction; it’s all up to you.

Everyone has a reason why things can’t be done. If they were all correct then nothing would be so get on with it, just be sure it’s what you want to do first. I realise this is all a little cliché, but it has to be said, if nothing else I am doing this to remind me of the same thing as I start a new and more productive business year.

It is fitting I end this with the words of someone who has proven his worth and made something from nothing, Hill says “ Your only limitations are those that you setup in your own mind or those that you permit others to set up for you”.

If you want to read a nice Blog post on why goals don’t work look at this excellent post by my good friend and associate Jits Doolabh from Revonet “Goals and Momentum”.

And here is the man himself Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie, the meeting that changed his and countless other lives for the better.

The rise of the networked enterprise: Web 2.0 finds its payday

Serendipity as a word is in revival thanks to Social Media. How many times have I looked at my TweetDeck feed and noticed a comment or article that is exactly what I was looking for at that moment.

Reality is this is less of a chance and more that such a wide range of information is being funnelled into our customised information channels. We follow and fan folk who talk and think about things that interest us so it’s little surprise much of it is going to be relevant.

I “found” an article today that lead me to the latest McKinsey Quarterly survey on how businesses are using Social Media now (as opposed to a few months ago – times are a-changin’).  As I read this fascinating review I noticed that it had been released only the day before and the next day they were having a live Twitter discussion (#mckweb2). As it turned out that was now so I managed to have an interactive discussion with the author (@mchui) and a bunch of other valuable conversation contributors in real time. I love Social Media, it’s just so Social.

The rise of the networked enterprise.

McKinsey’s new survey research finds that companies using the Web intensively gain greater market share and higher margins. This is unsurprising as we strive to become a “fully networked enterprise” we can achieve a measurable ROI and long term benefits to the organisations brand and culture by using rather than resisting this inevitable product.
Here is one small exert from the review that looks at who inside the organisation are managing the platforms (A question that I am often asked).

Managing the Web-based organization

Respondents report that a variety of organizational structures and units manage Web 2.0. This year’s results show that the IT department is most likely to oversee internal Web initiatives (61 percent of respondents). For customer-facing initiatives, 74 percent of respondents say that oversight falls to the marketing department. For Web 2.0 initiatives involving external suppliers and partners, roughly equal numbers of respondents cite the IT, marketing, and business-development functions. Financing comes from a variety of places, including the IT function, central corporate sources, and discretionary funds at the business unit level.

The social nature of most Web technologies, of course, opens companies to greater interaction with the outside world. To manage this change, a slim majority of respondents (51 percent) say their companies have adopted formal social-media policies; companies with higher levels of Web 2.0 adoption are likelier to have them. In most cases, only a few employees are authorized to speak on behalf of the company.

For the complete review visit the McKinsey Quarterly website here mckinseyquarterly.com

Making Sense of Twitter: Understanding Content Filtering and Hashtags

The concept of Twitter was born when Jack Dorsey introduced the idea of individuals using an SMS service to communicate with a small group, a simple concept that took flight. As popular as it has become many become frustrated and disillusioned at what appears on the surface to be incoherent and time wasting babble.

Twitter now receives an excess of 65 million tweets per day, that’s about 750 per second so how does anyone make sense of all this noise.

Launched in 2006 Twitter has firmly established itself as one of the Social Media heavyweights. Described as a micro-blogging platform it allows users to impart snapshots of information, random thoughts and or links to other sites using text based 140 character posts called “Tweets”.

Twitter is basically a conversation, as a comparison think of it as a crowded stadium during the half time break. Most of the discussions have little or no importance or benefit to you. Even if you could, attempting to follow every word at any given moment would be pointless and timewasting. Imagine if you could filter out all the nonsense and focus on the people or topics that are relevant to what you are interested in, now that would be powerful.

With the use of filtering tools like Twitter Search and TweetDeck to name a few that’s exactly what you can achieve. It’s less about controlling the conversation and more about fine tuning your ears.

There are three basic principles to creating appropriate Twitter streams:

1. Follow the right people: building your community in Twitter means following those you know as well as complete strangers. If you are too selective on who you follow you also restrict your potential flow of content and resources. If you are part of a particular sector such as the Wine industry you may choose to only follow people who refer to wine in their profile ensuring that you have a more targeted group. If someone is consistently off subject or irrelevant to your requirements simply “unfollow” them, no harm done. As your following increases use the “Group” function to segment people into subject or specialty clusters. 
2. Search Content: Try the advanced Twitter Search at http://search.twitter.com/advanced and filter content by subject, date and location. This allows you to find content that is relevant to you. You may have noticed recently that Google now features Twitter content related to your search at the top of its results page. Alternatively create search threads in columns using the Twitter website or in third party applications like TweetDeck.
3. Use Hashtags: Used in conjunction with conferences, events, presentations and webinars, the Hashtag can be a great tool for engaging the immediate and extended audience. By placing the # symbol before an unbroken word, phrase, or numeral i.e. #mytag2010, it creates a mini-search engine phrase that can be looked up and followed on Twitter thus filtering out all the other non-relevant material.

To create a Hashtag simply search twitter and check to see if your string of letters and numbers are unused. If already in use try a variation until you achieve no search results.
When your event is being publicised let attendees know in advance what the Hashtag is and be sure to use it in all your event related tweets leading up to, during and post the event. Once finished the tag retires into obscurity until used again, remember no-one owns or can lay claim to a Hashtag.

Attendees or those interested in following the conversation created in Twitter can set up a search column in their Twitter application or used a third party platforms like Twitterfall or Monitter and keep current on the on-going discussions, feedback and references.

Search on Trendsmap.com to see if your Hashtag is “Trending” on Twitter and add some impact to your presentation by putting the feed in a prominent place by using VisibleTweets.com to graphically showcase your feeds and to encourage other attending to participate.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your business grow?

While walking through the park this morning I stopped to admire the neat rows of newly planted flowers in one of the garden plots I pass almost daily. The plant selection and design was noticeably different from the layout of the previous year. This act of regeneration, of redesign, of hard work with a vision of something yet to be realised made me think how this horticultural endeavour compared to business development. How to successfully manage and maintain both are skills learnt and handed down for centuries. It’s all been done before, the mistakes have all been made, yet why is it that so many of us still get it so very wrong?

The comparison to starting and maintaining gardens and business are remarkably striking to me. One of the perplexing issues associated with business growth and development, no matter how prepared we are, is the Groundhog Day factor – of doing or being subjected to the same thing again and again. The same issues with staff, out-dated and poor planning, excessive stress, lack of direction, missed deadlines and missed opportunities to name just a few.

Looking at this garden I couldn’t help wondering how the horticulturalists involved in the project felt about this task. Did they regard the ending of the previous years’ planting with sadness, or looked to the beginning of the new garden with a sense joy and opportunity or did they just simply have a resigned indifference to the entire process. From the perspective of an observer, an outsider looking in, the quality and consistent perfection of this plot and surrounding grounds illustrated a definite pride and respect for what they do.

I like analogies because they compartmentalise ideas and put them into perspective. The comparison of the garden to business for me is easy to relate to. Most of us in some form or another have attempted to grow something. Through lack of planning, loosing focus, by not watering or managing risks such as pests and disease we fail to produce a viable crop. This may not be as financially or emotionally devastating when compared to business failure yet we miss out on the potential rewards that a ripe fruit or a flower in bloom can bring to our lives as well as the sense of achievement of creating something worthwhile.

To be successful in gardening, even if you are highly educated or an old hand with years of experience, it takes planning and strategy; having the right stock and the ground in optimum condition at the right time of the year means preparation well in advance of planting the garden. Additionally advanced management of pests and diseases is better than trying to react after they have taken hold. Removing poor performing plants and replacing them with sturdy stock ensures that the other plants are not negatively affected, diminishing our potential yield.

This can only be possible if you have contingences in place and recognising that these problems are part of the growing process. By hoping for the best and adopting a wait and see attitude may result in success, the risks are significantly higher. And of course there is little point to starting the project unless you are fully committed. Watering and feeding is a mandatory task, miss even one step and the long term impact could be irreparable. Last but not least is preparing for and observing the optimum time to harvest, getting the most out of the garden. Once this has occurred then planning for the future is already underway with the best seed and lessons from the previous year recognised and integrated into the ever changing landscape.

Gardening like business is not new, most of the mistakes have been made by others and the best ideas are available in books, taught in classrooms or handed down via experts in their field. We can choose to prepare and understand that this learning should never end and make it integral to our business rather than a reaction to issues and problems. Spending time planning and developing our own skills relates directly to the growth, success and sustainability of our business.
During my morning walk I thought about my newly discovered analogy and relayed my story over breakfast to my partner. She listened and agreed then went and got her copy of Stephen Coveys’ “Seven Habits” book. In there she pointed out a chapter how Covey compares the process of business to agricultural practice, tending and nurturing plants is the same as how we have to view our business.

This simply reinforced my point rather than detracted from it. No idea is unique; the lessons are there and readily available to us from those who have taken the time to impart their hard earned knowledge. We need to constantly up skill and remind ourselves of what these lessons mean then apply them to our daily business lives and enjoy the fruits of our labour rather than repeating unnecessary failure.

What have you learned today that’s worth sharing?

B2B or not 2B: A Social Media Dilemma

We get the point that Business to Consumer (B2C) is working for online marketers but the jury is still out on the Business to Business (B2B) sector.

This four minute video illustrates some vital statistics for B2B marketers.

What I found even more interesting was the backstory of this video and the impact it made itself as a promotional tool for its creator Earnest Agency

What makes a Public Speaker great?

New Zealand speaker, author publisher and educator Maria Carlton asked in her Speakers and Writers Community forum “Idea to Authority” the other day some questions related to public speaking.

"Is it more important to be funny than it is to be interesting?
Is it more important to be knowledgeable than it is to be factual?
Is it more important to use notes than to use PowerPoint?
Do the humorous speakers have a real edge over those of us who struggle to get laughs on cue?"

Yesterday I was given a quote to read that somewhat takes this thinking to another level.

"Trying to win over and audience by just giving them the facts is like trying to win a woman by pulling down your pants. Tell a story, and you practice the art of seduction".
Justin Cohen.

Personally I’d like to say that interesting comes before funny and facts mean little to anyone unless you can speak on a subject with a voice of authority, and that takes knowledge.

Humour is such a subjective and risky thing when speaking to an unknown audience. It is dictated by the mood of a crowd, the originality of the material, the timing and wit of the deliverer and the direction of the wind. What works for one crowd can fall flat on its face with another. It’s a long way back to the hearts of a crowd with the sound of a bad joke ringing in their ears. I have seen too many people start a presentation with the almost cliché crowd relaxing technique of telling a joke. The problem is that you risk throwing your credibility out the door if you misread your audience or it’s that old one we’ve all heard before.

If you are confident in your subject then the humour becomes organic, a timely pause may be all that is needed to generate the salacious endorphin rush laughter facilitates. The real talent of the seasoned comedian is making something that seems very ordinary funny, they are practiced at warming the crowd and capitalising on the collective energy that is needed to make laughter reinforce a good story. All said and done you know when you have the power of humour, it can be learned by trial and error but like singing it works better if you have it as a natural born talent.

What links all the points raised in Maria’s leading questioning is they are only window dressing to your message. PowerPoint cannot work without supported notes (even if they are in your head), humour is nothing without an interesting dialogue, facts mean nothing if they are not presented in a way that sounds credible.

The best speakers are genuinely passionate about what they are talking about and are convincing enough to demonstrate that they own the subject. This makes them a story teller rather than the teller of stories and it is they who we remember and respect the most.

Storytellers making their mark for New Zealand Tourism

New Zealand iconic entertainer and storyteller Andrew Lumsden, known to most as comedian, experimental gardener and alternative historian “Te Radar” sat in on my presentation last week at the NZ i-Site Conference.  At the end of the conference we were treated to Radar’s unique and hilarious storytelling of forgotten New Zealand history covering topics like the Taranaki Highwayman, a forgotten submarine in Dunedin and an acrobatic balloonist who in 1899 was last seen floating out to sea off the coast of Christchurch when a stunt went horribly wrong.

What Te Radar did so masterfully was reinforce a core theme of the conference, that we as New Zealanders have great stories to tell, and we need to be better at telling them.

Through the ages storytelling has been the most effective and engaging form of entertainment, promotion and marketing. Though communications technology has improved significantly and reaching further than we would have thought possible it is still only as good as the content it carries. The better the story the bigger the impact it makes.

This idea was supported and endorsed through an announcement by Patrick Verryt, the Online Manager from Tourism New Zealand that their online marketing portal NewZealand.com is to become an open content platform. This means a move away from a traditional single source content management structure to an open publishing forum managed by the wider community. This is a bold move but by no means new, the now famous and proven Wikipedia uses a similar open source publishing format to great success. The greatest advantage is that the right people with the expert knowledge can take ownership of a subject of their choice. When people challenge their ideas or want more information they can engage quickly, in real time and directly with the content source creator. Of course we have to also acknowledge this is not without its risks as with any form or human interaction.

Over the past two weeks I have been immersed in New Zealand Tourism communities and this has reinforced to me the absolute wealth of passion and commitment we have available in our people and communities. I have had such an amazing time presenting to, and meeting with people responsible for the promotion and delivery of New Zealand Tourism activity. I have travelled literally the length of our country from the beautiful Northland to the stunning Southland and at every stop heard new and interesting stories that have inspired me.

Some of the events I have been guest speaker at on the subject of online Community engagement (Social Media) included the E-Tourism Conference in Auckland, the Destination Northland Tourism Conference, the i-Site Conference in Napier and the Venture Southland Tourism Workshops in Invercargill.

During this time I was fortunate to meet so many people, obviously too many to mention individually but I will reference a few. Despite my own experience as a professional networker I am still amazed at how evolving methods of communication can advance this important social and business opportunity to expand networks and form meaningful business relationships.

Thanks to the power of Social Media there were people I had not physically met before yet I had a sense of rapport with them from the outset having a good understanding of their thinking by previously reading their blogs and seeing their random thoughts via twitter. This included Michelle Ackers from Adept Marketing and author of the insightful New Zealand Tourism Industry Blog, spending time with Simon McManus, active PR and eMarketing expert with a self-titled agency called McManus. Other inspirational individuals included @HippyKate, @WildfireNZ, @HotShotsIntl and @RocktheBoatNZ. I also had the pleasure of co-presenting with Jim Brody, International Sales Manager of TripAdvisor.com and Chris Larcombe, National Account Manager of Trade Me’s new travel marketing channel and booking engine.

As much as I am an advocate of the use of Social Media there can and should never be a replacement for the face to face engagement. If this was the case we would watch travel videos and never need to experience the real thing ourselves. This was validated by the very last evening of my two week tour by a meeting with Peter Ridsdale. This larger than life Executive Manager of the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill where my presentation to Venture Southland was hosted is a natural storyteller, not of the tall variety but of the salt of the earth real New Zealand adventure kind.

During my presentation at his hotel Peter heard me reference a recent hunting trip to Stewart Island so asked if I would like to try a new venison recipe he was experimenting with. While I listened over dinner to his stories that connected his love of the land with people he cared about I felt like a tourist in my own country. I was impressed by Peters passion about sharing the value New Zealand offers as a destination, especially his Southland region, and its intrinsic link with its people and diverse history.

All the people I have met recently have one thing in common; they have great stories to tell. It is through the power of stories we can inspire the imagination of others and motivate people to seek out new horizons and try new adventures so they too can have better stories to tell. Our challenge is to have the confidence to speak up and to share this wealth with the rest of the world.