Mar 30, 2010 | Communication, Leadership, Social Media
How do companies harness the power of social networking to the benefit of their businesses?.
It is simply a fact that employees will go into facebook, twitter, and so on, using company time and resources, rather than trying to stop them, which King Canute found hard to do with the tide, figure out how to harness it.
In many cases, this will be confronting, and require a change of attitude in the executive suite, but employees will rarely publicly dump on their employer, unless it is really deserved, in which case you should thank them for bringing the issue to your attention, not belt them for telling the truth. Employees are always your best advocates, (and conversely, harshest critics)let them advocate!
Here are a few thoughts:
- Encourage employees to post and link back to the companies site
- Provide a forum for their comments, on your intranet, a free newsletter site, or a facebook group location
- Ensure senior management engagement in the process, they are in a position to make the changes called for, but on line, are just another offering commentary, so not as threatening as in the normal course of events
- Reward good suggestions, and follow up on failures that are highlighted, and address the causes, and be transparent about both.
- Engage, motivate and lead them, so the time spent on social sites at work is not sorting out their personal calendar, and reviewing the Saturday night shenanigans, but adding value to the business.
When you are doing all of the above, the time employees spend on the web will be an investment from which you will receive a great return.
Mar 29, 2010 | Communication, Marketing, Social Media
There are lots of web site optimisation tools around, including the free ones from Google which do a pretty good job, and there are many people around who will promise you the world by next Sunday. However, the tools are best used in selectively, conjunction with the situation. Remember the old saying, “to a hammer, every problem is a nail”
To optimise a site is a process of continuous improvement, starting with the objective of the site. One that is dedicated to sales will be subtly different to one that is there to spread an idea, or point of view. So, a simple process:
- Have a clear site objective, and be unambiguous about :
- How it adds value to you
- How it adds value to your “target” web browsers.
- Determine where your “visitors” are coming from
- Determine where they land
- Make sure the landing pages have the beginning of a trail that leads further into the process you have set out to achieve.
- Track how long they stay, and where they go, both on the site and into links you may provide
- Establish performance measures
- Continuously improve by experimenting and tracking outcomes.
- This is a creative process before it is a mechanical one, so don’t just leave it to the techos.
- In this connected world, site optimisation is also a window into your business, so make sure the visitors you get are the ones you want, and they like what they see. There is no point attracting those to whom you can add no value.
Mar 17, 2010 | Communication, Leadership
It is often said, in one way or another, that the key to success is a willingness to fail, because only by taking risks, not accepting the common wisdom or status quo can you be sufficiently different to be have the chance tosucceed.
J.K.Rowling is possibly the most successful author of the last 50 years, not only on her own behalf, but her creation Harry Potter, spawned a whole new genre of stories, and yet, she was for a long time a “failure”
Now she is sharing her experience with Harvard graduates, usually associated with extravagant success in a commencement speech, not to be missed.
