Do You Really Have To Pay To Play, Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs?

In the old era, you had to pay to play. But today's aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur has a new edge. In the old model you had to buy attention. But today, corporations are discovering that big budgets don't produce results the way they once did.

So, if big companies are spending less on social media and getting better results, doesn't it make sense that you can make it on a low or perhaps no budget too?

You can't buy attention anymore.
Having a huge budget budget doesn't mean anything in Social Media.
The old media paradigm was PAY to PLAY.
Now you get back what you authentically put in.
You've got to be willing to PLAY to PLAY.
------- Alex Bogusky, Co-Chair, CP&B

The following video shares with you a glimpse of how Social Media is completely changing the nature of the game.





You can do market research on social media. You can serve your customers through social media. Social media is the doorway to your success as a baby boomer entrepreneur.



One very exciting example of market research is the new use of Twitter to predict customer response to a product.

Two researchers at HP Labs have established that they can use Tweets to predict how well a movie will do - research that can be applied to all manner of events including how well a product or ad campaign may perform.

Although the researchers, Sitaram Asur and Bernardo Huberman, have only applied their methodologies to Hollywood movies, the accuracy rate of their tests is startling - essentially it was more accurate than the current gold standard, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which the industry uses, writes Fast Company.
You can click here to get the full story. http://www.marketingvox.com/twitter-as-a-predictive-tool-046619/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=mv&utm_medium=textlink

Fellow baby boomer, we are blessed to be living in the most exciting of times for entrepreneurs. If you know what business you want to be in and how you want to serve your customers, you can PLAY TODAY.

Shallie Bey

Using the Internet to get off the Internet

In 'Using online to get offline' I briefly mentioned Meetup.com Founder, Scott Heiferman, and his talk in London about the importance of meeting offline.

Scott shared that he really began to experience the power of community in post 9/11 New York when people began again to rediscover the importance of looking out for each other. I was in London during the bombs on the underground and on a bus on 7 July 2005 and saw many people going out of their way for others in a similar way.

Scott shared that the idea for Meetup came from that time and he wanted to create a site to help strengthen community. To give people the opportunity to use the Internet to get together in local communities each day with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Their mission today is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

As Scott said it's about "Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"

A great insight into how to use Online Social Media and Networks in your Business Networking, a subject I addressed more fully in this article:

'10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks'

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs Gary Vaynerchuk Explains The New Opportunity

Gary Vaynerchuk explains what he sees as the new opportunity for entrepreneurs. It is the ability to build a business focused upon your personal happiness and your personal range of opportunities. This is wonderful news for everyone, but especially for aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs.

He explains that we are in a sea of culture shifts. These shifts create opportunities that did not exist: five years ago, a year ago, even days ago.

Gary Vee believes that the Internet is the single most under-rated aspect of society today. It is the open door to the "Thank You Economy" that places word of mouth on steroids. It is the opportunity to create real relationships in new ways.




Winning this battle requires living in a world where content is King and marketing is Queen. It opens the opportunity for "Tag Team Partners" where a content producer can partner with a marketing partner. The team can produce results that neither could produce alone.

Now, in the spirit of disclosure, Gary is about passion. In the midst of his excitement, that passion shows up in the form of a word that you might not use in polite company. But, if you can overcome that, Gary Vee has a word for you about becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur.

Shallie

Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog

Note: The video is about an hour and eighteen minutes long. The first thirty minutes are presentation with the balance being Q & A. You can find the direct link at:

Crush It.

Should you lead your networking group?

In the NRG Linkedin Group last week there was a discussion about 'Making a Business out of Networking'. Some of the discussion was about leading a networking group as a way of growing your existing business.

Last month Sarah Owen of the Referral Institute presented a Networking Masterclass before the NRG Charing Cross lunch in London. One of the things she want through was their VCP Process™. This stands for Visibility, Credibility and Profitability*. A good networking group provides the platform for people to go through this relationship building process.

Leading a group can move your relationships through to Profitability when done in the right way with the right people. Sarah shared with us the experience of her and her clients who see a seven fold increase in the profitability of their networking for their existing business when they lead groups. Too often, however, people think about running a group in the wrong context. Some think it is about a new revenue stream. Others that it is just about lead generation and concentrate exclusively on the Visibility bit.

Many networking organisations have positions for people to lead groups (including ours). These positions are not usually about creating an additional revenue stream. I would treat anyone that claims that for leading a group with suspicion. Leading a group is really about increasing the overall return on investment in your networking for your main business. As Sarah said "it is about increasing the profitability of the business relationships you build through networking". A good rule of thumb is that any income generated just for running a group should pay for your networking activity.

There are some business opportunities with networking organisations that are genuinely about creating a revenue stream. These are usually a networking franchise of some description where you are investing equity to build a business. In this scenario you will building a business with the primary revenue being from the activity of networking itself.

Leading a group could be right for you if it makes sense for your business to be at the hub of the business community in that group. That could be an existing group or using a networking organisation's existing infrastructure to get a group together of the people you want to have around you in the group.

*VCP Process™ copyright Referral Institute 2010, all rights reserved.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

A simple equation for networking successfully

'Can you make networking really simple?' was the headline last week when I wrote about making networking simple. Someone asked me if I could give them a simple equation for successful networkng. Here is what I gave them:

plan + structured approach = successful networking

First of all you need to know what you actually want from your networking. Then you can do the things that will ensure you achieve your goals.

At NRG-networks we encourage people to use the NRG Advocate Marketing System. The 5 simple steps include the essential components in this equation - your plan and a structured approach;

1. Set your networking objectives
2. Identify your target market
3. Develop your proposition
4. Define your inner network
5. Build your advocates

Read more about this business networking system here.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Can you make networking really simple?

'Networking made Simple' is the title of a blog posted yesterday by Andy Lopata. In it Andy wrote;

"Think of networking groups as a way of meeting people who can help you achieve your goals. Now you should ask yourself:

- What am I trying to achieve?
- How can other people help me?
- Who is best placed to help me?
- What do they need to know and do?"

This is good advice and they are indeed great questions to help you clarify whether a networking group could be right for you and your business. I would add one more question:

- Who do they need to know?

Just joining the group, though, will not be enough. You have to be proactive!

The way that networking in such a group will work for you is by helping those people achieve their goals. To make sure it will work for you there are a few more questions you should ask yourself:

- Do I like the people in the group?
- Are they people that could add value to my existing client & trusted relationships?
- Am I able to give the group meetings priority over other things in my schedule?
- Am I willing to invest time outside the group meetings to really get to know them and build profitable relationships?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Is networking a bit woolly?

In a workshop before a recent Networking Lunch a conversation took place between a couple of the attendees. Let's call them A and B.

A said "I am not really sure about this networking stuff".

B replied "It's about getting to know, like and trust people. You build relationships and as you help and refer others then others do the same for you".

A then said "That all sounds a bit woolly to me. I prefer things I can predict my cash flow with".

I described how I have a number of regular meetings with people in my network where we share an agreed number of referrals so we can predict cash flow. These are people for whom networking is not woolly, but a proven and reliable method of business development. We have invested time in building relationships and are happy to share our contacts with each other openly so as to maximise our referral opportunities.

Last week Sarah Owen of the Referral Institute presented a Networking Masterclass before the NRG Charing Cross networking lunch in London. One of the things she want through was their VCP Process™. This stands for Visibility, Credibility and Profitability*. People can believe the activity of attending networking events is enough. It is not as that can only really build your Visibility. Good networking groups provide the environment for you to build on this and create profitable relationships with people you know and others you want to know.

One of the elements of their Referrals for Life Programme is the Referral Pipeline where you get to spend a day with a trusted contact and execute a process that will efficiently generate enough referrals to completely fill up your sales pipeline!

Networking is only woolly if you are!

*VCP Process™ copyright Referral Institute 2010, all rights reserved.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Week 5: Ethics and Information Security

1. Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.

The ethical issues surrounding information technology include:

• Intellectual property: the collection of rights that protect creative and intellectual effort. An organisation must protect the knowledge it forms and maintain trade secrets.
• Copyright: the exclusive right to do do certain acts with intangible property, e.g. the use of unlicensed software.
• Fair use doctrine: the circumstances in which a business is able to use copyrighted material.
• Pirated software: the unauthorised use of software.
• Counterfeit software: software that is manufactured to look like the real thing and is sold as such.

2. Describe the relationship between an 'email privacy policy' and an 'internet use policy'.

An email privacy policy guides the use if a business's email system by employees and establishes the privacy they have over their emails.

An internet use policy is a more general document which outlines the acceptable use of the internet by employees (e.g. banned sites).

These policies govern the way in which an employee uses a business's IT systems.

3. Summarise the five steps to creating an information security plan.

The five steps to creating an information security plan are:

1. Develop IT security policies.
2. Communicate policies with staff.
3. Identify crucial assets at risk., e
4. Test and re-evaluate risks.
5. Obtain stakeholder support.

4. What do the terms; authentication and authorisation mean, how do they differ, provide some examples of each term.

Authentication refers to the means by which an employee is given access t0 a system; it may be something the user is (e.g. a fingerprint or retina scan, face recognition), something the user has (e.g. a smart card, token) and something the user knows (e.g. password).

Authorisation refers to the information an employee is permitted to access once they have gained authentication to use a system.

5. What are the five main types of security risks? Suggest one method to prevent the severity of risk.

1. Human error: such as severity can be minimised by proper training of employees.
2. Technical failure: severity can be minimised by having backup infrastructure ready to go.
3. Natural disaster: severity can be minimised by a disaster recovery plan, e.g. a hot site.
4. Deliberate acts (e.g. virus, spam, malware): severity can be minimised by virus protection software.
5. Management failure: severity can be minimised by having high procedural standards and an effective backup policy.

Networking and the 4 Ps of Marketing

In a presentation last week from Gill Hunt of Skillfair I was reminded of the 4 Ps of Marketing - product, price, placement, promotion. In traditional marketing these are taught as the four elements essential to get right in any marketing. The world has changed with the Internet, but they can provide a useful checklist to help in our networking.

Promotion is often the initial driver for a business owner or professional to start 'formal networking'. This can lead to too much emphasis initially on trying to sell to the people you meet. You quickly learn that networking is about building relationships with others in similar markets to you - your 'Inner Network'. The best way to get your network to promote or advocate you is to get in the habit of advocating them first.

The other 3 Ps are useful in working out where to network and who with. Where to find the people who will become part of your Inner Network. If your product is providing a solution to a business problem then you can work out the places you should be networking. It is in those groups where the other members provide similar value (price) services to yours. They should be working regularly with the types of businesses you work with.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Week 4: eBusiness

1. What is an IP address? What is its main function?

An IP address is the way in which computers communicate with one another, through the assignment of a unique number to every computer in the world.

2. What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

Web 2.0 is the current stage of the internet's development as a 'read/write' web. It is characterised by technologies such as social networking, wikis, blogs and RSS. It differs from Web 1.0 (characterised by the one-way publishing of information by a webmaster) in that the user is more involved in the creation of content.

3. What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 refers to the transformation of the internet into a database through the use of metadata. It is considered the evolutionary path to artificial intelligence.

4. Describe the different methods an organisation can use to access information.

The different methods an organisation can use to access information include:

• Intranet: is best described as a 'private section' of the internet used by companies internally, featuring components such as collaboration tools.
• Extranet: similar to an intranet, however the scope is extended to include other parties such as fellow firms, strategic partners and suppliers. It also for easier sharing of data between businesses.
• Portal: is a website that combines many systems on the one page, for example, a university website which has links to email, academic information and so on. Each session should be tailored to the needs of the user accessing the portal.

5. What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?

eBusiness is a broad term that refers to all electronic business (including eCommerce, marketing etc), whilst eCommerce is the more specific function of buying and selling products on the internet.

6. List and describe the various eBusiness models.

The various eBusiness models are:

• B2B (business to business): businesses buying and selling to each other over the internet.
• B2C (business to consumer): a business selling its products or services to consumers over the internet.
• C2C (consumer to consumer): applies to sites, such as eBay, that allow consumers to sell goods and services to one another over the internet.
• C2B (consumer to business): a consumer that sells a product or service to business over the internet.

7. List 3 metrics you would use if you were hired to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of an eBusiness website.

The three metrics I would use to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of an eBusiness website include:

1. The number of page views, indicating popularity of site.
2. The type of visitors, e.g. unidentified, unique, session, tracked or identified.
3. The number of abandoned shopping carts, indicating the quality of the shopping experience.

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online.

Two opportunities of doing business online are:

1. Accessibility: eBusiness allows a business to operate around the clock, 24/7 for 365 days a year, on a global scale.
2. Increase customer loyalty: eBusiness offers additional channels for contacting, responding to and accessing customers, increasing customer loyalty.

Two challenges of doing business online are:

1. Disintermediation: the removal of intermediaries in a business's supply change may discourage other businesses from stocking its products, for example, a surf wear brand would be reluctant to sell directly to the consumer online as they rely heavily on a strong network of surf-wear retailers.
2. Protecting customer's security: customers must be protected from online threats such as spam, illegal or harmful goods, invasion of privacy and fraud.