Getting around the LinkedIn Navigation Bar

One of Alterra's specialities is helping businesses develop really powerful strategies using LinkedIn.  This is fast becoming one of the most  useful research tools for companies to use to find new clients and more importantly to find the right person in the right place.

To use LinkedIn effectively, members need to understand the Navigation bar.  This video shows you the way around LinkedIn.  So once you have an account, this is the way to get started.

Good Morning. How may I help?

This week I have had to make numerous telephone calls to local companies. They were all business calls to companies offering services to the SME sector. It was a frustrating exercise, not because no-one answered the phone, but due to the fact that I was given the impression that my call was completely unimportant.

I could have been an important potential client or someone offering the dream, money-making system but my needs were completely irrelevant to most of the people answering my call. No cheery, "Good Morning, XYZ Company, how may I help?", no "I am sorry Mr A is busy at present but I will get him to call you as soon as he is off the phone".

Hardly anyone took my name, telephone number, and email address or asked the reason for my call. I know we are all busy but if I were an existing client I would have been appauled. Customer relationship management isn't just a computer system, it is every interaction a company has with their client or potential client.

So, if you are unsure of how your telephones are being answered, give your office a call. Owner-managed businesses have to use mobiles to remain in touch and to keep costs down but larger companies have a duty to train their staff to present the company in the best possible light at all times - even on the phone.

Sensitivity Analysis - one of the many decision making tools

This week's challenge was to deliver a 10 minute presentation to my networking group on a useful topic which demonstrates one of the skills I use in the course of  my work.  It really helps your network understand in greater detail the way in which you work.  The difficult part is to make it interesting to the whole audience.

I chose the topic of Sensitivity Analysis which is one of the tools I use when helping businesses through periods of change.  It helps clients focus their minds on the numbers.  It's all very well having a great idea but if the figures don't stack up, the impact on the business may be disastrous.  Assigning probabilities to different outcomes helps us consider what might happen to the bottom line if sales fall below expectations or costs exceed estimates.

The video shows the charts I used to help explain my points.

Promotional Video!

Welcome to the first in a series of 30 second videos.  The first will be shown on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/linkedinforbusiness.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

The challenges of Multi-Level Marketing

This week I have been assisting a client of mine with some forecasting for her new business.  The business is one of the many companies which operate a sales force using MLM or multi-level marketing.  Most of the products marketed in this way are 'business to consumer' and range from cosmetics to housewares, slimming aids to books.  One thing these all have in common is the appeal of flexible working  You are essentially your own boss with the backing of a large organisation and a team to help you market your product.  MLM seems attractive to those who want to fit a job around family commitments or another career.  It is also know as network marketing, direct selling or referral marketing.

There are essentially 2 revenue streams - sales made by yourself where you earn a commission sometimes expressed as a percentage of the retail price and a commission from recruiting a team of recruits.  For a relatively small outlay, a new consultant purchases a pack of samples and receives some initial training from their up-line ie the person who recruited them.  Large organisations have training days or online training videos and manuals. The level of sophistication of the marketing and selling training varies enormously from company to company. 

The mechanics of setting up in business are very simple but establishing the potential revenue from selling MLM products is actually very complex.  The discounts, percentages earned from your downline and their downline, bonuses for reaching targets, minimum sales requirements and numerous other rules, make forecasting very complicated.

I set up a model using an Excel spreadsheet which allows my client to work through some different scenarios.  As this was a new venture, the surprising result was the level of sales required to achieve a worthwhile return.  We worked on a balance between her direct sales and the commission which could be earned by recruiting a team.  But how large a team can you manage - 5, 10, 25?  There figures brought home the importance of knowing your numbers inside out and back to front.  Understanding the MLM model in minute detail is essential for anyone thinking of embarking on a new careeer in this competitive space.

A New App from LinkedIn

This little app from LinkedIn Labs allows you to see who is joining LinkedIn in real time.  This clip was downloaded on a Saturday afternoon - not the busiest time on LinkedIn but does demonstrate that a new person joins the platform nearly every second.

For those of you who are skeptical about social media, remember it takes time and persistence.  Not long each day but regular interesting posting.

LinkedIn News - December

The LinkedIn platform is a fast moving space.  Here in the UK, 1 million new members have joined since June and worldwide a person joins every second.

As a consequence, keeping up to date with contacts, companies, recommendations and group discussions is important.  A new, free application - Projects and Teamspaces by Manymoon was launched yesterday.  It allows you to keep control of all your LinkedIn activity with a simple, intuitive structure.  It is perfect for LinkedIn campaigns where your members of staff are in different locations as more than one member has access to the same project information and tasks can be assigned and monitored.

See how the app works on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WETnF_Tgvmc

LinkedIn Strategy and Training - our video of slides

New Twitter feed

@linkedin4you

LinkedIn and the Top 100 UK Accountants

As a great fan of LinkedIn and statistics, I thought I would do a rough and ready analysis of the usage of LinkedIn by employees of the top accountancy firms in the UK.  I concentrated on the top 96 as listed in an article published by Accountancy Age as the figures for the Big 4 were extraordinary with numbers reaching 70,000 members on LinkedIn for Deloittes.

For the remaining 96 I looked at the percentage of employees of each firm who are on LinkedIn.  In broad terms the results are as follows:

• For firms with 5,001-10,000 employees    25% were members of LinkedIn
• For firms with 1,001-5,000                       23%
• For firms with 501-1,000                          18%
• For firms with 201-500                             27%
• For firms with 51-200                               25%
• For firms with 11-50                                 35%

The range for each group was very wide with 8 firms having NO company page on LinkedIn and a tiny proportion has added Products and Services to their company profiles.  There is an extreme variation in the quality and detail of corporate information on LinkedIn and also some members are still avoiding including photos.

In addition, as number of firms had 2 profiles and therefore it was difficult to assess if there was any double counting going on.

If branding is important in the financial services sector then each company will require a Social Media Policy and Strategy which makes it clear what is appropriate for each employee to post on a platform such as LinkedIn.

Face the fear

As we approach December, it is a good time to review how the year has panned out.  Are you on target financially or has the continuing difficult economic situation meant that you did not attain the figures you predcted at the beginning of the year?  All economic sectors are feeling the pinch.  We have to adapt to a lower growth environment.

Analysing your figures will give insight into whch activities have been most profitable and where costs might be better controlled in the future.  Small adjustments to price, costs, adding new products and services, and revisiting old customers will  hopefully make 2011 a more profitable year.

LinkedIn - a new era?

Are we seeing the real commercialisation of the LinkedIn platform?  With the introduction of the Careers and Products/Services tabs on Company pages, LinkedIn now provides the perfect place for companies to showcase their wares.  A step up from being coy about 'selling' - businesses can present detailed information on their products including images and links to specific websites.

Additionally, you will start to notice even more advertising on a wide range of pages.  To the right hand side of connections and at the bottom of most pages.  The companies advertising are no strangers to our screens but the flickering images are a departure from the usually calm LinkedIn screens.

Keeping up to date with social media platforms is a crucial part of our role as business advisers.  Helping businesses make the right decisions balancing risk and return is one of our specialities.  We build strategies and train our clients in the most appropriate use of LinkedIn and other social media sites as part of their overall marketing plan.

Corporate Control

At Alterra, we meet businesses of all sizes who are keen to embrace social media.  But very often they don't have a conherent stratgy.

When platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are essentially public spaces, how does a company monitor what is written about them, posted, forwarded and regurgitated around the internet?

For business to business on-line networking the fastest growing website is LinkedIn with over 80 million users worldwide.  Nearly 1 million members are located within 10 miles of the centre of London.  There are an increasing number of 'private' groups set up by companies so that intra-corporate discussions can be held.

Yet I still see incomplete profiles with no photographs and inconsistant employee lists on the Company pages of LinkedIn.

Well you might say that it is not that important:; but consider this scenario - I meet a senior manager at a conference and type his name into Google.  If that person is active on the internet his LinkedIn profile will appear high up in the Google ranking.  If I click through I will see his Profile and a further click and I am on the Company's LinkedIn page.  So three steps to an unattractive message would worry me.

Worse still are the updates which are totally inappropriate for the platform.  How does a company control this in this free publishing space?

Our series of strategy posts will be coming out soon - watch this space!

Pizza, Indian, Chinese.............what's your choice?

As someone who rarely buys take-aways, as by the time I drive from the nearest town they are usually cold, I sometimes glance a the leaflets dropped through my front door from the local restaurant delivery services. Pizza, Indian, Chinese, chicken and chips - take your pick.  As I live in a village, we probably receive only a fraction of leaflets drops that those of you who live in more built-up areas. 

Most folk I talk to about their marketing media seem to think that leaflet drops are a waste of time.  The question therefore is why do the take-aways continue to do it despite the fact that the majority of receipients throw them straight into the recycling bin?  The answer is refreshingly simple - it works.  It is built into their whole marketing strategy.

Raising awareness by leaflet drops or any other means is not always about the quick sale.  It is more about keeping your brand (as opposed to anyone else's) at the front of your potential clients' minds.  In fact, some of my clients find the majority of their new business from leafletting. 

You need the right leaflet, for the right service delivered to your target homes or businesses.  And, it's all about repetition.  Once designed and printed, delivery can be staggered to fit your business cycle.  Measure the impact and repeat.

Not all products and services lend themselves to this marketing route but think about yours.  It might just work and if anything you'll at least have a great leaflet to give out at meetings and for direct mail.

Call me for more information on our design and print service.

Going local

We have recently been undertaking some local market research for a financial services business.  The need for the research arose from an analysis of new business.  The company was increasingly finding new business from existing customers and their families and contacts but very little was coming from the immediate locality.

Why is this important?  Well, one of the main reasons is that 'local' is flavour of the month, whether in buying fruit and veg or selecting a tradesperson.  Secondly, the financial services firm had a 'shop window' or rather an office frontage, door and the potential for revised signage.  Thirdly, the cost of servicing clients in the immediate locality is significantly less in terms of time and travel costs than driving an hour to several meetings before securing any fee paying business - the client is more likely to come to you resulting in 50% more new business meetings.

The main premises of the research was to test whether the 'man on the street' was a) aware of the existence of the business, b) if they were, where is the company's location in the town and finally c) did the interviewee have any knowledge of the services they offer? 

Without going into all the methodology and statistics, the main observation was that about 50% of the people surveyed (who lived in the town) had heard of the firm, and of those only 20% knew where to find the offices.  Some even directed the researcher to other financial services firms!  As for the services offered by the client, the results demonstrated that those surveyed had barely any knowledge of what was on offer.

The implications for this client were relatively straight forward.  They were missing out on a niche market that is simple to access.  A nifty piece of local marketing, well presented and focussed on the clients' needs will turn the balance of new business around.  Watch this space for how it pans out.

This case study demonstrates that businesses become stuck in the same activities because no-one asked the obvious questions.  The knowledge gained from a piece of market research allowed the financial services company to allocate their limited marketing budget effectively.  Maybe you should ask your locals some similar questions?

Lime Green and Blue - a great colour combination

Another infrequent Saturday Morning Musing and glorious weather has returned to the UK.  It encourages us outside to do something different after a long cold winter.  Running the risk of repeating a well-known phrase, 'if you do want you've always done then you'll get what you've always got', I thought I'd focus this week on Change.

Change is fun, exciting and sometime scary.  To fully benefit from change takes careful planning.  Whether it's something simple, like starting a new email campaign or something more involved such as introducing a new product or service, understanding how resources have to be allocated is key to success.  Change for change's sake is futile - if you've reached that point then I suggest you seek help.

So what changes have I made this week.  A couple of quite trivial things - adding new emails addresses to personalise our communications and adding another Workshop to the calendar.  On a more fundamental note, consideration of offering a new service - Intelligent Admin - an interim, outsourced adminstrative service offering clients more time to do what they do best leaving us to handle the repetitive tasks.  It will take some refining.  Consequently, watch this space.

So why the title of this Post?  Well, the contrasting colours of the fresh green leaves and the sky makes me think of the contrasting (and complementary) skills Sheila and I bring to Alterra.  Her attention to detail and my creativity, her calm and my frenetic behaviour, her well-rooted, traditional approach versus my more risky attitude make for a great combination.  There's a place for everyone in the Lime Green and Blue world.

Saturday Morning Musings - LinkedIn

There are now 65 million users of LinkedIn.  In the last week, I have added about 20 contacts - an increase of about 20%.  As a result, my 2nd degree contacts (namely, contacts of contacts) has increased by 50%.  Well that all sounds wonderful as I can now easily reach over 16,000 people but this social media platform will only add value if all these connections really start to use it.

Lots of newcomers to the platform are somewhat bewildered by its value.  One clear advantage is the listing of Jobs.  For a specialist in a particular field or location, the search facility gets the job hunter directly to companies seeking their skills and it may open up new avenues along the way.

Groups and their discussions are a great way to find out information on your own specialism or one you or your clients may be interested in.  Searching for work colleagues and classmates just because you can puts you back in touch.

For me the ability to post Presentations, Events and link my Blog and Twitter, makes LinkedIn an efficient way of disemminating information to my business contacts with minimal effort.  10 minutes am and pm - that's all it takes.

But on this beautiful Saturday in mid April, I'm more drawn to the great outdoors!  Have a lovely weekend.

Marketing Strategy Video

Marketing Strategy Workshop

Join us for an interactive morning creating your Marketing Strategy

• Understanding your customers
• Develop a Niche
• Growing your marketing message
• Marketing medium including Social Media
• Integrating marketing into all you do
• Marketing metrics – more than just the numbers

Who should attend?
This Workshop is for owners and managers of small businesses, either starting out with a new idea, testing a new product or refining the marketing of existing products and services.

It is the essential guide to formulating a creative plan which will increase your profitability. Whatever your marketing problem, solutions will be identified and a budget set to yield measurable results.

When Wednesday, 19 May 2010 from 9.30 – 1.00

Where The Old Pump House
1a Stonecross
St Albans
Herts AL1 4EE

Cost £37.50 payable in advance on registration

To book your place today contact:

Amanda Brown
Alterra Business Consulting
info@alterra-consulting.co.uk
01707 373138 or 07947 502760

PLACES ARE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 12