mikejulietbravo

The Network Hub for all MJB's Social Network cnxns

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Social Media for Business Generation ... and .... Internet Censorship - OZ Style

I hear lots of comments about the fitness or otherwise of Social Media, particularly Twitter, for use in helping to generate business income or otherwise be helpful in business efficiency.

There are many misconceptions about what this new media really is and how it can be used effectively. In this piece I'll try to address some of them.

Throughout my career, I've normally carried responsibility for the thing called "marketing", a term as much misunderstood as the subject matter of this article.

I've advertised in the locals and the nationals. I've taken covers on trade magazines. I've had big stickers on cab doors and bus backs. I've had direct snail mail, email shots, tele-marketing campaigns and I've sponsored rally cars and even F1 racing cars. I think that pretty well every channel for draining away the marketing budget, I or one of my people have found a hole to pour it down ...

In recent times, I've often been asked to help companies on thinking their way through how to target prospective clients and how to keep their active client base communications fresh and relevant. Today I can think of no better example of how to do it on a tight budget and with only a modicum of external resource than Social Media.

This medium suffers from two problems that "marketing" has suffered from for decades:
First, people don't understand it - it's still a black art and what they don't understand they often deride. Second, When they think they understand it, they want to "switch it on". You can't switch it on. You have to grow it like a greenhouse plant. Sometimes it can be painfully slow to get the result you need, though other times not.

From my own perspective I can point to several examples of business advantage from Social Media over the past year or so and I'll give you some living breathing examples of things that are worth thinking about.

To set the scene: My main Social Media Channels (My Big 4) are currently LinkedIn, Ecademy and quite recently, Twitter. I use the NING platform to excess to create specialist interest groups too.

I also exist on Facebook, Friends Re-United, Naymz, XING, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Ping.fm, and a dozen others, but my focus has narrowed down for the time being to the My Big 4 (MB4).

First thing to say about Twitter is that it added desktop currency immediately I used it, to the other networks. I somehow discovered the ease with which I could initially broadcast and then latterly more precisely NARROWCAST my communications. The links that have now been implemented between MB4 platforms make it a delight to use them in a co-ordinated way.

This article is going to be added to periodically and I will be bringing the experiences of others to this as examples of good practice, so for the moment I'll give you a headline view of some business victories of my own and a few that I have observed.

@BTcare has saved the broadband account from migration to Virgin, simply by responding to my moans on Twitter. No Indian Callcentres were ever involved and we got great results.

@brucehallas - we've done business together in a modest way and we haven't actually met yet. There is more to come for our collaboration in the IT Security field.

@London_Law_Firm - we've exchanged advice on our respective specialities and built a basis for doing business together soon. Not yet met. Some modest gains there for me in terms of legal costs.

@efficiencycoach - she's done business for substantial fees with others that I know on Twitter. She picked up the opp through Twitter and met with the client a few times before signing a contract for circa 50% of her new business target for the year.

@regan73 - we originally joined up on LinkedIN and we signed a USA distribution contract for a security product without having met, though we have met many times since. We also now have a Social Media project underway.

@ladybizbiz linked up with @receiptangel and became their first user. Initially LinkedIn and then Twitter have been great ways to make this business relationship exist and then work well.

@margit11 @philhart @colinbartram have all contributed free articles to MJBtimes and in the first two cases - we've never met.

There are more examples that I will bring to this column in the near future of how this so often maligned medium can be used for definitive business advantage. If you want to seek advice on making the medium work for you drop me a line at: mjbtimes@briercliffe.com

We'll call this one Episode One of series I think ....

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The Australian #Cleanfeed or #NoCleanfeed Issue

This is a short piece of editorial to open this column's debate on a deep subject; that of internet censorship.

I've been around the matter for quite a few years now with a couple of my business interests focused on protecting the "on-line vulnerable".

Clearly there is a need to weed out the nasty people that prowl the ether and equally there's a need to halt the use of the web for hosting content that the vast majority of us find offensive. So simply opposing the principle of what Senator Conroy & Co are trying to achieve is not a good thing to do.

What has to be addressed is the fact that most people who drive legislation on this planet, don't understand the technologies that they're dabbling with. I don't believe I've met more than a handful of politicians in my whole career who have the faintest idea what they're doing in this environment.

"Using a Tank to Mow Your Lawn" is a phrase I used on Twitter this morning and it rings true for many of my followers. The fact is there are ways of dealing with this effectively without reverting to state snooping across the board, which is what the Australian situation seems to be heading for, so far as I can tell.

The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are the ones who can fix this and there are enough associations in that field to come up with a code of conduct and have it "policed" in a balanced and "light-touch" manner. If they took action and had the vision to wear a "cleanfeed" badge that indicated their ability to protect the vulnerable and banned dodgy content, the Australian Initiative wouldn't be necessary. If there was such a protocol the only people who would not buy their services would be the offenders, surely?

Unless the issue is adequately addressed, more heavy handed politicians will feel obliged to enter the fray and that will be no good for any of us. So let's start demanding that our ISPs are acting as responsibly as they possibly can, with the technology that is available. Where the technology isn't available, I know many many clever people will leap to make it so.

We need to make this a call to action for Internet Service Providers across the globe.


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Events

Forum

Mike Briercliffe

A great friend of mine has a large chalet in Whistler - Special Offer

Happy New year to you! I hope 2010 (is it really 10 years since the millennium?!) holds health and happiness for you and yours. I have been here in Whistler for 4 months now and the lifts opened on…

Tagged: olympics, ski, Meribel, whistler

Started by Mike Briercliffe Jan 16.

Mike Briercliffe

Web Domains for Sale or BARTER Now - New Additions - CLICK HERE

Here (see Excel attachment) is an almost complete list of names that I am willing to accept good monetary offers OR BARTER for. email me at mikejulietbravo@briercliffe.com if you are interested. New…

Tagged: names, web, sale, domains

Started by Mike Briercliffe Oct. 1, 2009.

Mike Briercliffe

Apartment in Chamonix, France - for Sale

Apartment/flat 7 persons. 3 room(s) , of which 2 Bedroom(s), Balcony, 1 bathroom, Dining room, Living room, Sleeping area, 1 separate toilet Surface area : 70 m2 / 753 sqft Year of construction :…

Tagged: Mont, Blanc, France, Ski, Apartment

Started by Mike Briercliffe Nov. 13, 2009.

Mike Briercliffe

Field Effectiveness for Vendors and Distributors

http://www.noprizeforsecond.co.uk/ Go and take a look at "NoPrizeForSecond" - A great pal of mine has established this platform and he's now run his pilots and ready for full take-off. Mention me if…

Tagged: distributor, vendor, platform, Sales, E-learning

Started by Mike Briercliffe Nov. 13, 2009.

The purpose of this site and ... Thought (or Joke, or Song, or Toast) for the Day ...

TOAST OF THE DAY
"Here's to those who keep going until it's done ...
they're often forgotten when the victory's won" ... anon

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Previously ...
"it's always dark at the bottom of a lighthouse" ... Keith Hutton

"Who ra-ra's the ra-ra man?" .... John Arnold

Are you a RADIATOR :-) or a DRraain :-( ?
When you enter a room does the energy level rise or does it drain away? ... Frank Noon

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I will also create here (in lower left column) links to the many companies in which I have played and in many cases continue to play a part.


Blog Posts

Mike Briercliffe

The Snow Approaches

And here is my first Mountain contribution for the new season

The Snow Approaches

The snow approaches
My pulse it quickens
I feel the air
The snow it thickens
The slopes are distant
But not for long
For soon my skis will sing their song

From on high I swoop on down
I can see a distant town
The crisp sound from beneath my feet
Brings me much joy
The feeling's sweet

I stop beside the piste to meet
My friends for lunch
We drink and eat
When I am high in this great land
I feel that God is… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on February 2, 2010 at 2:45pm

Mike Briercliffe

various Odes stored for posterity

A Reflection on the last 10 years and Festive Greetings too!


It’s a decade since The Millenium
And I am looking back
At some wasted years this century
There’ve been many, some quite black

The IT industry gorged itself
On fears of the dreaded bug
But, when not much happened of any note
We all gave just a shrug

Our coffe… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on January 19, 2010 at 9:16pm

Mike Briercliffe

The Mentor’s Reflective Lament

The Mentor’s Reflective Lament

You play your part
In someone’s start
Though you don’t know if
They have the heart
You watch for sparks
For inspiration
And fan their flames
With good intention

They come to life,
Burst into flame, you try their ardour to contain
You steer them through the times of doubt
They then grow, they then attain
Their spirit and their drive they show
Though all along you do not know
If all the effort, mutual trust
Will ever bring bring you more than dust

It’s very hard
A… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on December 13, 2009 at 4:30pm

Mike Briercliffe

Can you tell me how to Network? for Poetry Tuesday 10th December 09

"Can you tell me how to network?"
I hear the old man say
"I've been in business all these years
And now its gone away".

"They tell me I should Twitter
and get myself connected
But every time I try it
I'm inevitably rejected".

This new-fangled way of doing things
Is really not that strange
It only takes a little thought
Your ways to re-arrange

If you were at The Chamber
And someone just burst in
To tell you just how good they were
You might pause, then simply grin

The way you've always done i… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on December 7, 2009 at 2:36pm

Mike Briercliffe

As December is upon us

As December is upon us
I thought I ought to ponder
What it is that makes this festive time
A season of such wonder

"Do you dread or just relish it?"
I ask myself each day
The answer is dependent
On my current state of play

"A very cynical attitude"
I hear some of you say
But I'm afraid its true for all of us
At the ending of the day

The poor are ever with us
And this season is not theirs
We need to spread prosperity
Not just mention them in prayers

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on December 1, 2009 at 8:00am

Mike Briercliffe

The Dog's Party

Last week's ....
The Dogs they had a party
They came from near and far
Some arrived by aeroplane
But most by motorcar
They came into the lobby
And signed the visitor's book
And each dog hung his asshole
Upon a separate hook.

One Dog was not invited and this aroused his ire, so …
He stepped into the meeting place and loudly shouted "FIRE"
The Dogs got so excited they had no time to look
And each dog grabbed an asshole from off the nearest hook

Now this is a sad, sad story
For it is very sore
To… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on September 21, 2009 at 11:53am

Mike Briercliffe

The Venture Capitalist Joke

Two young guys came out of Uni and joined the fastrack partner programme at a well-known London accounting practice. They were sent on a six week intensive residential training course where they had evenings off but couldn't leave the hotel, let alone go home, for the whole 6 weeks.

Coming towards the end the time one said to the other, "I'm really pee'd off with you. Every night for nearly 6 weeks, we've been coming in this bar and you've taken off with a female. I haven't had even a bite iContinue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on September 21, 2009 at 11:40am

Mike Briercliffe

IF - by Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on September 21, 2009 at 11:30am

Mike Briercliffe

What is Marketing?

"Marketing is the profitable matching of total company resources to available market opportunity". That's the one that's always stuck in my brain.

Others ...

"Marketing starts with the chairman and ends with the cleaner - its a total company attitude thing".

"The marketing department is simply a bunch of people associated with ensuring the the "marketing" of the company has been conceived and it is charged with monitoring the progress".

"Marketing isn't a department - it's a company way of l… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on September 7, 2009 at 2:35pm

Mike Briercliffe

Simon Dee's Last Letter - RIP.

"It's all out of control now but we don't know how to stop it. Greed has driven us all insane. We promote violence. Assaulted by the media the emerging intelligence of growing children is confused beyond reason, and that's where many have gone. Tradition has fallen into the forgotten section of modern history. We desecrate the planet's body knowing nothing of her mind, yet with the merest shrug she can eliminate whole civilisations in a moment. She can lift mountains and drain oceans.… Continue

Posted by Mike Briercliffe on September 6, 2009 at 10:30pm

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Mike Briercliffe added a blog post
And here is my first Mountain contribution for the new season The Snow Approaches The snow approaches My pulse it quickens I feel the air The snow it thickens The slopes are distant But not for long For soon my skis will sing their song From on h…
February 2
Mike Briercliffe added a blog post
A Reflection on the last 10 years and Festive Greetings too! It’s a decade since The Millenium And I am looking back At some wasted years this century There’ve been many, some quite black The IT industry gorged itself On fears of the dreaded bug B…
January 19
A discussion started by Mike Briercliffe was featured
Happy New year to you! I hope 2010 (is it really 10 years since the millennium?!) holds health and happiness for you and yours. I have been here in Whistler for 4 months now and the lifts opened on the 14th November. We have had over 8 metres of s…
January 16
Mike Briercliffe added a discussion
Happy New year to you! I hope 2010 (is it really 10 years since the millennium?!) holds health and happiness for you and yours. I have been here in Whistler for 4 months now and the lifts opened on the 14th November. We have had over 8 metres of s…
January 16
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January 27, 2010 from 6pm to 9pm
Connect Yorkshire has recently won a contract from Yorkshire Forward to set up and run a new business network for IT & Telco companies in Yorkshire & the Humber. This new network is to be branded as "techmesh". techmesh has been established to help…
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January 8, 2010 from 6pm to 7pm
Connect Yorkshire has recently won a contract from Yorkshire Forward to set up and run a new business network for IT & Telco companies in Yorkshire & the Humber. This new network is to be branded as "techmesh". techmesh has been established to help…
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