No one can doubt the impact the banking and global financial crisis has had on people’s lives around the world, and will continue to have for years to come.

The Big Bonus Culture

The perception that city bankers enjoyed during the “loadsamoney” 80‘s, 90’s and early 2000’s as rich young go-getters willing to push themselves in their high energy world of fast cars, champagne and skyscrapers to early age burnout in exchange for unimaginably huge salary and bonus packages, has changed beyond belief. It’s certainly changed for the general public, media and politicians.

The truth is however, bankers still need to, er…bank. They still need to do what they do best; to buy and sell, invest as only bankers really understand (or perhaps find interesting) and generally deal with our money. They still need to work often long hours in incredibly stressful environments, knowing nowadays so many of the rest of us are looking down their necks, examining and commenting on their every action.

However, the world has changed. It may never be the same again, and even if it is, it’ll take decades before we’re back financially as a nation to where we were before it all went so horrendously wrong.

Definition

Some suggest the word blog is actually an acronym; Business Listed On Google! Maybe not the original or accepted definition, but fun nonetheless. The general definition for what a blog is: an online diary or journal, sounds appropriate. Add to this the fact major search engines love to find new content on the web, which blog posts are, make it an ideal way to rise up through the various rankings so that when people come looking for your service or product they find you. For that reason, a blog should ideally be hosted on your company website.

7 Reasons To Have Business Blog + Top Tips!

1. Let the world know you exist: Be brave and share your thoughts and ideas with the world. By positioning yourself as someone – or a company – at the cutting edge you’ll be positioning yourself as a ‘thought leader’ – and you know what people do when they find a leader? They follow them.
2. Optimise to Energise: SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) means your site will be visible and findable amongst the 7 billion+ other sites on the internet today. It’s important to remember that since you’re sharing great content about your company, industry as well as what your readers need, you’ll get higher rankings on Google and other search engines.
3. Enhanced brand awareness: because you’re blogging regularly and putting new content out there you’ll be more findable online, and it’s when people  find you they’ll be able to make a decision about whether or not what you do resonates with them – that’s called brand awareness. Whilst it’s good to have mass appeal, it’s the companies that stand for something that achieve the greatest success. Be brave, be you!
4. Build your online relationships: The rules are similar to friendship. Relationships stand a far greater chance of success between people who have similar values, beliefs, and interests – and I’m not suggesting copying others just to be liked! Just be real, authentic, and alert towards the type of person you/your product/service best resonate with, and connect wit them. Think about what types of places you’re online community might hang-out,because they also might be a good place for you to hang-out, too!
5. Support your customers: We’ve all witnessed the launch of a new exciting business, only to feel let down by bad customer service once they have their first wave of success. Neglecting your client base is a surefire route to failure. Ensure your blog is well maintained, is interactive and well managed in a way that it is seen to listen to your customers and be of assistance for any issues that may arise.
6. Make yours the “go-to” community: Making sure you upload quality, informative and useful content will ensure your readership grows. Include special offers, campaigns, and remember to add fun to the mix and watch your list explode, making your Blog the must-read, “go-to” destination.
7. And here’s the latest news: Include a mixture of product and services you offer along side other topical, related content, and other more stretchy stuff. The mix should always favour towards your brand and products, but keep it fun, relevant (to your readers), interesting, and interactive. If you’re blog is ever seen as becoming boring or repetitive readers will check-in less frequently and read elsewhere.

To find out more about how my new business programme “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” can help your business, please click here.

The International Coach Federation, as well as being an accreditation body, conduct valuable ongoing and periodic study of how the coaching profession is evolving and emerging as a powerful resource in the world today.

2012 ICF Global Coaching Study

Results from their 2012 study include the follow:

• Coaching as a profession shows growth, with 47,500 professional coaches generating almost (US) $2 billion of revenue per year.
• 76 per cent of professional coaches are concentrated in North America, Western Europe, and Oceania.
• Even though the majority of professional coaches are shown to be in these three relatively high-income areas, emerging markets such as Latin America and the Caribbean show faster growth at the moment.
• Professional Coaches currently feed back that they look forward confidently with regards growing their practice over the next 12 months, including growth in annual revenue and also income from coaching.
• One area of concern for the future however, is how professional coaches tackle the issue of competing with untrained individuals who whilst calling themselves a coach, have undertaken no training and demonstrate little awareness with regards the complexities and tools a good, trained coach should possess.

Regulation

This moves into the ongoing debate as to whether coaching, as a profession should be regulated, and if so, how.

The good news I take from this report and from my own experience as a Business Coach and Coach Trainer is that whilst professional coaching is still an emerging profession, it is now also solidifying and forming it’s own structures in the form of agreed codes of conduct, code of ethics, CPD and supervision – meaning oftentimes regulation is already happening in all but name.

For more information and to read the full 2012 ICF Global Coaching Study please click here

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This blog post contains information from the 2012 ICA Global Coaching Study produced by the International Coach Federation and PricewaterhouseCoopers and is mentioned here with their kind permission.

1. How much of yourself do you bring to a networking or similar business event?
2. How well do you present what you’ve brought of yourself to that event?

First Impressions Count

Whilst it’s true you can only make a first impression once, how much of that first impression are you actually in control of?

Some say they are in control of how they present themselves, but cannot control how others see them. That’s true, but only to a degree. NLP suggests “perception is projection”, meaning we generally see others in a similar way to how we see ourselves.

Put this into a business networking context. Everyone attending such an event would presumably have chosen to be there in order to meet some new people in a social, business type setting. They are expecting to meet and do business with people demonstrating similar values to the ones they have.

People buy people before they buy products and services.

So, that brings it all back to you. How much of yourself do you bring to a networking or similar business event? When I first heard the above quote a few years ago it finally began to make perfect sense. You bring YOU to the event. Before anyone buys anything in business, they usually have to “get” you first. In other words you share similar values and beliefs (the type of books you read, what you watched on TV last night, saw at the cinema recently, think about the latest news story, etc).

People buy from people they know, like and trust.

Another “aha” moment the first time I heard it. Taking this on board, business becomes more about building relationships and supporting each other than simply reeling out your latest sales pitch. So, how well do you present what you’ve brought to the networking event (and I’m talking about YOU at this point)?

Three Tip Tips

1. One way to learn how to improve your performance whilst out promoting your business is to first begin to notice what other people do well, and what they do badly at social events.
2. Become aware what resonates and ticks boxes with you. Remember “perception is projection” – what you identify as something that works well and is attractive to you, probably would sit nicely with and work well for you, too.
3. Practice, measure results, and adjust as necessary.

To find out more about how my new business programme “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” can help your business, please click here.

Because how you relate to and communicate with your team, and how they see you as a result, can often make a huge difference with regards the performance and results your business then enjoys, or suffers as a result.

360 Review

Often, one of the first tasks of a business coach is to run an anonymous 360 review of key people within your team, and occasionally of the whole workforce. Knowing how colleagues and/or employees see you, as a hero or a villain, and how they perceive the company objectives, results and prospects for the future (including their own job security) is essential information.

If you are seen as a hero, then whilst that’s good feedback and indicates you’ve built your bridges and lines of communication, it also raises the bar in that whilst you’ve done this well, you must also do even better in the future in order to keep this mantle alive.

There’s no failure, only feedback

If you’re seen as a villain, then that’s also valuable feedback. Knowing this is how you’re seen can be the catalyst from which you begin the process to evolve and grow as a manager people actually wants to work for, rather than simply a group of employees that turn up each day because it’s a job and you happen to be the person barking orders.

It’s worth remembering that heroes create a trust and loyalty in any walk of life (including business), whereas villains are perceived as untrustworthy and foster disloyalty.

Who Are Your Heroes and Villains?

Spend a few moments now to run through a list of business owners and managers, including high profile, that you consider to be heroes or villains. What characteristics or attributes do you notice they display in order for you to form this opinion of them?

Now, what about you? If you were to conduct the same analysis, which term would you come up with? Are you a hero, or a villain?

If you think you’re seen as a business a villain by your team, or a hero in search of supper hero status, then contact me today on 020 8920 0847. My new programme, “Boost Your Business” is designed especially for you to be able to do just that!

“What’s the business zone?” I hear you ask. Good question. The business zone is the place you need to be to ensure business is flowing to you in the way you would want it to. Being in the business zone would mean you have assembled the right team of people around in order run your business as seamlessly as possible, making it capable to overcome challenges when they occur and plan for future growth and opportunity.

With continued uncertainty in the present economic climate it’s important to ensure good communication throughout your business; both for the team, and essentially to keep current and prospective clients on board.

If your team don’t know the message, and the marketplace can’t hear your company message, then storm clouds are definitely overhead

Social Media

A broad Social Media Campaign, which in turn should be a part of your overall Marketing Plan, is essential to any business wishing to grow and service expanding markets.

Recent data suggests 80% of daily Internet traffic in the UK uses Facebook, and 50% of all Twitter traffic is now considered to be business related. So the question is not whether or not you like and use social media, but whether your clients/customers do.

Ask Yourself The Following Questions

The following questions are designed to help you consider and plan for the year ahead. As a business owner, sole trader, or entrepreneur the time you spend on this may well reap benefits far in excess of the time you spend on these simple questions.

1. How do you see your business growing over the next 12 months?
2. What new products or services are you planning to introduce this year, and what do you want them to bring to your business with regards position and turnover?
3. Why is it important for people to know about your business product or service?
4. What benefit will using your service or product have on your client’s life or business?
5. What social media do you presently use?
6. What social media do competitors use in order to contact their clients, position their business, sell their products or services?
7. How do you intend to integrate social media into your business marketing strategy this year?

Once you’ve answered these questions you will have the basis of a social media marketing plan – the clearer the plan, the clearer your desired outcome (and the greater the possibility you’ll achieve it).

To find out more about Mike’s new business programme “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” and how it can help your business grow in 2012 click here.

It’s true to say all you really have is the present moment, and depending what you do with it will impact the next moment, and the next, and the next (for more info on this subject watch the excellent DVD movie “What The Bleep Do We Know“).

So, what do you want all the moments you’re going to have today to be about? Do you want them to be about what you created, how positive you were, how you grew in some way? Or do you want them to remember a complainer, a negative person, someone that shrank from the challenge and missed achieving their true potential?

And if the moments you have today, and all the moments coming up this week were to be like the chapter of a book – your book – what would you want this particular chapter to be about?

Don’t dwell on what happened yesterday, 10 years ago, or when you were a child. History is gone, it’s passed – and you can never go back and live it again.

But the moments you have now, today and in the future you do have.

Total Responsibility

Take a deep breath and decide what today will be about for you. Positive mental attitude.  Total responsibility. Even when challenge comes calling, it’s often how you deal with it that will make all the difference. Use every moment. Time is the most valuable resource you have; once it’s gone, it’s gone.

This life – it’s not a dress rehearsal, it’s the real thing!

What’s your story going to be about today? This week? This year? Is it going to be about how your grasped opportunity, grew colleagues around you, and gave back to the community? Or will your story be one of moaning, complaining, blaming? Because at the end of the day would a negative story like that inspire anyone else to listen, least of all you?

One trait many successful people have in common is how when faced with failure they picked themselves up, learned what needed to be learned, and came back bigger, stronger, and more successful than ever. Peter Jones. Sir Alan Sugar. Anthony Robbins. Dame Kelly Holmes. Duncan Bannatyne. The list goes on. Want to get inspired by these great people? Read their autobiographies.

Make Today Count

So, that’s my hope for you on this new day at the beginning of this bright new week. Make each moment count, seize the opportunity, and above all:

• - Stand taller than you did yesterday
• - Help someone else around you.
• - Raise the bar in your own life or business and decide what the next part of the story will about for you.

My suggestion: make life great!

If you’re not getting the results you want, ask yourself better questions

Whether you’re an employer, employee, or thinking of becoming one, asking yourself the following questions will take you a long way towards your intended goal.

1. “What dreams do I have for my life or business?” Begin by keeping your vision wide, including childhood dreams, teenage ambitions, better lives imagined. Write them all down, and include detail such as who else you would want in your life, where it might be, and how you would expect to feel.
2. “By living and creating my dreams, where do I expect to be in 10 years time?” Once more, write everything that comes to mind. Do not filter or pre judge. Just write.
3. “Taking all this into account, who then would I need to become in 5 years time in order for this to be happening and moving me forwards toward my 10 year goal?” Think personal life, family and friends, society and how you might be contributing to it? What other opportunities might then be presenting themselves to you?
4. “Quantifiably, what would I have in 5 years time – what would be measuably different?” Think where you live, possessions, professional or other such awards you may have achieved, and of course who will you see when you look in the mirror?
5. “How would the dream I have today look in 5 years?” How far along your path would you be? Measure, refer back to these and other plans and review – notice what you notice. People that write down their goals tend to achieve them quicker. Conversely you probably also know someone who “talks a good talk” but never actually gets anything done at all – make sure they are not you.

The beauty of asking yourself top quality questions from the very beginning is that they are more likely to place your idea on solid ground – and as the old saying goes, a house, or indeed a business built on solid foundations is far more likely to be bigger, grander – and also stand the test of time than one build on sand.

To find out more about how my new business programme “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” can help your business, please click here.

Having a well thought out plan establishing the vision, strategy and forecasts for growth for your business is essential whether you’re considering gaining outside funding at some point or not.

How To Make Your’s A Success Map

The primary reason for having a business plan (some business owners even call there’s a “success map”) is to enable you to plot the best course ahead for your business.

Without this map for success you might one day find yourself making business decisions based purely on emotion or memory of what the vision was – both essential attributes for success, but both unfortunately can be clouded during stressful and/or uncertain times. A written down plan will offer certainly in uncertain moments.

Three great questions to include in any business plan are:

1. “What will my business bring to the marketplace?” Will your product(s) or service(s) be fulfilling a particular need for your target sector or audience? Will it make life (or business, if it’s a business product) easier or less painful in some way, and if so, how?
2. “Is there a potential market for my service or product at the moment?”
3. “What am I in this business to get out of it?” In other words, what’s your exit plan? Do you want to retire at 50? Sell for £4.6m in 5 years? Go live in another country and write a book? Knowing the “why” is always important to any plan. The vision handles the “why do I want to bring the product or service to the world”, and the more personal “exit plan” “why” is just as important for you, to keep your energy high throughout. Remember,

…an athlete doesn’t just focus on the finish line, they focus on a point beyond it, and as they head forwards at full throttle they pass through it, arms high in celebration; a winner.

To find out more about “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” business programme, please click here or call 020 8920 0847 now.

Those That Do…and Those That Don’t

Companies that know ask questions like, “how can we engage you to work with our senior team on this project?”, “we want to implement a coaching culture, can you help?” or, “I know you’re busy, but could we schedule something in ASAP?”

Those that don’t will ask (usually as an opener), “so how much is it, then?” (never the best first question), and then the killer, “does it actually work?”. Occasionally, they might follow up with the mouthwateringly innane “so sell it to us, then”. All red flags unfortunately. I would never ‘sell’ business coaching.

A company has to want to develop it’s people, to grow their lifeblood – and by that I mean it’s staff – to achieve more. And if they want to do that then business coaching can so often prove itself many times over, and “yes”, I am talking about ROI.

Six-2-One

ROI (return on investment) data is so often the primary measurement by which a coaching is judged to have been successful, and thankfully even though people (soft) skills are also often discussed, they are difficult to measure. ROI however can be measured, including results published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, who have been using business coaching worldwide since 1998 and reports an annual ROI of 6-to-1.

This pales into comparison with data Published by Matrix Global in 2001 which showed business coaching achieving an ROI within that organisation of a staggering 530%!

So, whilst the economic forecasts are still ladened with doom and gloom, and the reality for many people is harsh, as a business owner the question for you is, are you one of those that do (think out of the box, and employ business coaching as part of your business growth strategy), or are you a company than’t don’t (and if you are, I wish you luck – you might need it)?!

If you’re interested in my new “Boost Your Business – Finding Prosperity During Austerity” business programme, please click here or call 020 8920 0847 now.