What's all the fuss about Internal Comms?

Internal Communications is not one singular item. It's a combination of various different mechanisms which link together (nice tie-in to photo above!) - the ultimate aim being how you tell people what you are doing ... and in the case of staff, why and how you are doing it and how it affects them.

This may sound a little convoluted, but bear in mind that communication impacts our business directly everyday, and furthermore, if you don't get it right, there can be huge costs involved.

Communication tells our employees what we expect of them, and what our business stands for. It's a cultural landmark in business as it sets the tone and expectation for employees as well as other stakeholders.

To discuss all the elements of Internal Comms, we would need more than a blog, however bear this in mind: how your business communicates is defined entirely by your business's identity and, moreover, its strategy. How you communicate must reflect your strategy and vice-versa, if they jar, you will have problems.

Most of all, it's extremely important to remember that consistency is key.

If you offer coffee at your staff meetings, you'll always have to... and if you decide to stop, remember, you need to communicate why!

Believers are definitely Achievers!

Hello loyal blog-readers!

I'm afraid it has been just over a month since my last post and I do feel most remiss in not writing for so long.

On Friday I attended the Network Ireland conference in Galway; it was truly inspiring. Not only because of its calibre and content (including fantastic speakers such as Veronica Canning, Deirdre Bounds and Jack Black... plus the inimitable Senator David Norris), but the innovative, brave, fascinating people I met.

As so many of the speakers on the day commented, it is a hard time to remain motivated and positive, with non-stop negative news saturation, and the heightening feeling of frustration towards our current government. There are few antidotes as effective as the indefatigable force of human spirit in times like these, and I, for one, am thoroughly delighted to have had access to a plethora of it in the last few days and weeks.

Until next time...

Have you got a Big Audacious Aim?

This weeks' topic was inspired by the very-insightful and thought-provoking speaker, Veronica Canning, who last week introduced me to the concept of a 'Big Audacious Aim'.

Firstly, I must advise any of you who have the opportunity to go to one of Veronica's events, make sure you do! As a start-up, it was music to my ears to receive practical, helpful advice to help me thrive and not just survive.

The constant barrage of bad news, economic despair and political unease doesn't make it easy for anyone, however, as a new entrepreneur, one could feel like throwing ones' hands up and saying 'what's the point?'.

The point is: why you're doing 'this' (whatever your business is) in the first place. What was your aim? Without one, you have a hard (well, impossible) job trying to remain motivated, which creates all sorts of other problems...

Build on your aim so that you have a broader long-term vision and always remember this simple equation:

Aim + Motivation + Long Term Goals = Vision = The road to success...

Until next week :)

The Basics of Social Networking

(image copyright: purepursuitintelnetwork.com)

Undoubtedly a subject of the moment, social networking is not exclusively for personal use and is proving itself to be an excellent form of communication for business.

It is a key way to generate brand awareness, create a following and interact with customers / clients.

However... there are pitfalls. Many of which relate to:

• Understanding of what social networking can accomplish;
• Fundamental set-up and usage of pages.

Though it is not impossible to get it right, (pretty much) first time, by following a few simple rules, many businesses give up their usage or become despondent simply because they don't know what they're doing!

1. Audience: Following last weeks' post, remember that you need to be mindful of who your audience is - e.g. demographic, interests etc;
2. Set-up: This applies mainly to Facebook pages, it is key that your page is set up correctly as appearing as a 'person' instead of a business is firstly, unprofessional, and secondly, likely to be closed off by the moderators of the site in the long-term. This means that all your hard work and followers will be lost!
3. Posting: Relevance and type of posting is key - try to put yourself in the mind of the customer you want to reach. Would they want to know the latest product or service you now offer? Yes. Do they want to know what you had for dinner on Saturday night? Probably not... unless you're a chef! Don't be a post-pest; constant and irrelevant posting can turn people off your page and business.

This is just a bite-sized taster of social media for business... remember how helpful it can be and more importantly, doing it right can really help your business.

Fish where the fishes are...

Cartoon - Copyright: irishcaricatures.com

You might wonder what I mean by this? Take a wild guess... ah come on folks!

OK, it's your... target audience and marketing!

It may be a maxim you're not entirely familiar with, but 'fish where the fishes are' indicates exactly what targeted marketing is about.

Do you know who your customer is? What age profile are they? Do they read / watch / listen to anything specific? If you don't know, find out.

In more recent times, absolutely everyone has started to use social media for business; while it is undoubtedly very helpful, if you don't use it properly... it can be a big waste of time.

Guess what next weeks' topic is? Nice link, I know!

Strategy: You got one?

Well... have you?

In business 'strategy' essentially delineates what you're about. It's the key piece of the jigsaw that helps you put the rest of your business together.

It doesn't have to be hugely complicated or extensively detailed, just quietly ambitious while remaining achievable.

For many businesses, a strategy doesn't exist, however there are implied values and aims which have become engrained in their everyday activity. Other organisations may have a 'mission statement' or a philosophy which governs the way they run their business.

Whatever the case, the most important thing to be remember is: if you don't know what you're doing, how do you expect anyone else to?! In business, that can mean customers, clients, media, staff... to mention a few.

If you would like more information on business strategy / planning, please contact irishbusinessintelligence.com.

Developing your small business... innovate!

Einstein claimed insanity to be 'doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results'. While you could say that this is a slightly brusque definition, it does hold true when we think of such behaviour in the context of the working world.

I feel it's particularly accurate when I think of some businesses I have worked with; they wanted to develop and grow their business, but felt that this was most effectively done by continuing on in the same vein as they always had. I hasten to add at this point, that their 'ways' were not all-too successful, and certainly didn't garner the kind of sky-scraping results they had in mind for their businesses in the short and long term!

My key point here is: INNOVATE! Don't expect that you are suddenly going to create an amazing response by using the same methodology to market or publicise your business... maybe you need to re-brand or examine the business model as it stands? Be honest with yourself...
there's no point in hiding from issues when you know they exist. Most importantly, ask for help or ideas from others if you need them. Know your strengths and your limitations: if you don't know - find someone who does! It'll be worth it in the long-run; you'll save time and money trying to excavate ideas that just are not there and be able to actively pursue the things you need to.