Dawn Brewer

I really enjoyed myself talking to a Social Enterprise Networking group in Dorking  this afternoon. …I hope they enjoyed themselves too!

I’d like to thank Kary Backhouse of Plus Point for inviting me.

The topic was social media and we covered a wide range of ideas – from balls of sellotape, to knitting wool, the importance of content, SEO, key words, values and brand, and building relationships using Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

All really interesting stuff and I hope a worthwhile meeting for everyone.  For me, it drove home just how important it is to plan an online marketing strategy and follow it – otherwise a lot of time can be wasted (just like any activity). For all online marketing , before you start, I recommend:

1. Decide what results are required – what are you trying to achieve? Define this carefully, so that progress can be measured.
2. Decide on an action plan and steps to take to reach the goal. This will include a mix of activities and probably include offline marketing activity as well as online elements.
3. Track progress and make changes as necessary to achieve the results.

There’s a lot of technology available out there – the key to success is to define what results are needed first, then choose appropriate technology for the job.

I love words and writing and technology and I love speaking about it too, so if you’d like me to talk to your networking group, team meeting, seminar, or just have a coffee with you, then do contact me.

Yesterday I met Dee Blick author of Powerful Marketing On A Shoestring Budget: For Small Businesses for a quick coffee and a chat.

Wow – that woman’s amazing – within 30 minutes she’d passed on more tips on how I could do better at my own marketing than anyone else has passed on this year so far! Well OK, yes Dee can talk a lot – so can I, but I also know when to shut up and listen.

Apart from the gratitude that someone took the time to pass on some knowledge I’m also now swamped with ideas that sparked from that one short conversation (plus 2 cups of tea) and it made me realise just how much knowledge and help is available if we’d only look for it.

What were some of those tips? Well, many were all about raising my own profile and included the importance of commenting on blogs and building relationships. We also talked about being a speaker – now there’s a whole topic to be explored – as well as networking, Yorkshire and of course, technology (yes I did open my mouth too and passed on a couple of my own tips on Twitter and auto-responders – more on those in future blog posts).

So, for true marketing on a shoestring budget – apart from reading Dee’s book of course – meet up with people and don’t forget to share – share your problem and also share your own expertise.

You never know who might help – and who might inspire you to come up with new ideas!

I’ve had a pretty heavy couple of weeks in terms of Open University work. Lots of assignments to mark (so many I’ve lost count now and at one point they were arriving faster than I could mark them), two tutorials – one in Crawley and one in Maidstone, a new course started so lots of activity in my tutor group forum, phone calls to make and emails to send. Phew!

The major effort’s over and it’ll now be quieter for a couple of weeks until more assignments are due to arrive.

The Open University is a distance learning organisation, so those assignments are really important – it’s how I provide feedback to my students and how they receive individual feedback on the standard of their work.

A plea from me on how to be a student:

1. Know what date your next assignment is due and if possible complete it slightly early
2. Make a plan NOW covering what you will do when your broadband goes down so you can’t submit your assignment  (hint: there are lots of places you can access the internet)
3. If you need an extension to the deadline then tell me BEFORE the deadline and tell me how long you need and why

Three steps to an easier life… I can hope can’t I?

I really like Twitter. I joined in as an experiment, but I’ve found two benefits that aren’t mentioned that often (if at all) so I thought I’d share them. 

 

Yes it’s easy to send out a message and yes it’s easy to keep my interest with such a short message, but there’s more to it than that. As ever, all your comments and thoughts are welcome too.

 

Twitter Benefit 1 – To Learn

Do you realise that you can learn using Twitter? It’s free and it doesn’t take long.

 

When I started to use Twitter I had no idea that choosing people to follow could be so rewarding.

 

If you choose people who have something to share that you want to know about, then you can learn – a lot! For example, I started to follow a few expert bloggers and wow have I learned a lot – in a really short time. Although putting it into practice and taking action is another story…

 

Of course the knowledge isn’t usually in the Tweets, it’s in the people and looking at their profiles, following the links they recommend and reading their blogs and websites.

 

So, find people to follow that know what you want to know – and you’ll learn from them.

 

Twitter Benefit 2 – No More Home-Alone Working

Working from home can be isolating. Being online with Twitter means you can have a ‘coffee break’ and connect with colleagues worldwide.

 

I work from home and although I do visit client sites, meet people, attend networking events and I’m not housebound, I spend most of my working hours alone, at home. That can be very isolating – and the scary thing is that sometimes I don’t even realise how long it is since I’ve connected with someone else. (talking to the dog – and waiting for a reply – is a sign!)

 

When I make a cup of tea or take a break, I can share a joke, pass on some info and find out who else is online and what they’re doing – without being interrupted and that’s the key for me. Twitter’s there for me to join in when I want to – not when someone else is interrupting me.

 

It’s not the same as meeting at the coffee machine – but then it’s not a bad compromise and I can walk away whenever I want without being rude.

 

So, if you work at home a lot, join in with Twitter and no more isolation. Follow dawnbwriter (that’s me).

Did you set any 2010 goals? How are you doing with them?

It’s the end of January already and this month has galloped by for me. I set myself some goals for the year – which meant I also worked out some January goals to get me along the way – and I’m glad to say that last night I achieved one of my most important ones. I now have 50 Suite101 articles live – made me smile anyway

 

There’s been an awful lot written about goal setting and goal achievement - and a fair amount of what’s written has been pretty awful too I think. If only it was as easy as making sure that goals are SMART, writing them down and then waiting for it to happen. The key to goal achievement is in the action that we take – and making sure it’s the right action. This quote from Benjamin Franklin sums it up for me:

 

 

We need to be sure we’re working on the right things for us.

 

If you’d like some help or a refresher on goal setting, then you might want to sign up for this FREE email course on Goal Achievement.

 

I’d love to know if you achieved your January goals – or what your February goals are – or what you think of goal setting and goal achievement. Leave me a comment and let me know…

Almost the end of January and my first networking event of 2010 was today: The Womens Business Clubs in Horsham.

 

Good meeting! Janette Whitney talked about business planning – very interesting tips. Debbie has a new Beauty Works website… and lots more…

 

What struck me particularly was the upbeat attitude in the meeting. A number of members reported increased business already in January and plans for growth in 2010 – all good news. I don’t know about everyone else, but I came away positive and ready for work.

 

I’ll be launching two new services soon (based on blogging and hosting) and I found it helpful to bounce ideas off the people there today – so, Thank you, to all of you. Proof that business networking is effective for all sorts of reasons.

 

Why not head over to Janette’s Blog on Business Planning and leave a comment.

It’s snowing in Sussex today – a lot!

 

As with everything in life we can choose how to react and we really should choose carefully as we can influence others without meaning to…

 

…so BBC Breakfast stop naming the worst-affected parts of the UK and let’s start naming the best-affected parts. Oh OK then the most-affected will do too.

 

Let’s face it, the snow is really really pretty and it doesn’t snow so much very often down here, so why can’t we enjoy it and see it as a positive.

 

I’m with Angie Martin on this who lists some of the benefits of and Power of Positive Thinking in her blog.

The final entry of my take on a more traditional friends and family Christmas newsletter: 12 Days to Christmas, a Review of 2009. One day = …and a partridge in a pear tree!

 

December 2009

Planning an exciting year next year, which means ski holidays, walking & sorting out that mad dog of ours.

 

Finally – wishing everyone who reads this and everyone who knows me  a wonderful Christmas time and prosperous and happy new year.

More of my take on the 12 Days of Christmas song - Two turtle doves? Two days to go! 

 

 

November 2009

Delivered lots of training in November: Management Skills, Time Management, Managing Employee Performance.  Also lots of Open University students too: Understanding Management as well as Data, Computing and Information. Busy month.

 

Attended an event at Sedgwick Park for CHASE. Good fun evening and great to see everyone all dressed up (black tie, not fancy dress). Second of two fashion shows I attended this year – don’t think it’s improved my fashion sense though, still non-existent!

Nothing to do with Three French hens, but how about three things that happened in October.

 

October 2009

Gave my first 4sight for 4networking – a ten minute talk on an insight into my business. I love speaking especially when it’s about marketing touches. 

 

October was also the first anniversary of me writing for Suite101 – and I hit 40 articles. Do read my articles and let me know what you think.

 

Sony PS3 entered the household in October too – yes I like playing games, but don’t think I’ve improved much during the year …now that might be an interesting goal for 2010