Our Friends over at Cerebra have recently posted this smart guide to LinkedIn.
There are some very valuable lessons in this document that I know are valuable to your business.
Click here to download: Guide to LinkedIn
Ask any consultant, business adviser or successful business owner what you need when starting or developing a business? The answer will invariably include “A Good Marketing Plan”.
It is certainly the case that if you want to successfully build a business, a plan of where you are going is essential.
But it can be little help if this plan is simply an overview of objectives and strategy. It is important that the plan is a practical document, actively used in the ongoing management of the business, rather than a nice report that sits on a shelf gathering dust. Over many years working with clients in developing effective Marketing Plans, I have found that the SOSTAC Model developed in the 1990’s by PR Smith is difficult to beat.
It is a straightforward model that goes systematically through the steps to build a marketing plan, and helps to ensure that all relevant factors are considered, without the need to go into excessive and expensive detail. The model then continues to look at the practical issues of putting the plan into practice.
DOWNLOAD this working tool below:
Developing a marketing communications plan using the SOSTAC model | Growing Pains from Brent Spilkin
Kevin’s presentation was entitled ‘Importance of storytelling and authentic leadership’ and covered the importance of good storytelling in your business and the duties that MD’s and business owners have to become authentic story tellers.
Check out the full presentation here:
The overriding theme that Kevin shared was as follows:
- Be as you wish to be seen and be authentic
- Be available and have an opinion
- Your reputation is all you have
Nicholas Haralambous is the founder of the online fashion company, NicSocks.com.
Nic was the CEO and co-founder of Motribe, the mobile community platform, before the company was successfully acquired by the social network, Mxit in October, 2012. He also founded ForeFront Africa consulting firm before selling that business to Imperial Holdings.
He was selected as one of the 200 young South Africans to take to lunch by the Mail&Guardian, featured on GQ’s list of top 30 men in media and was also a finalist in the Men’s Health Best Men Awards. The company he co-founded, Motribe, was named by Forbes as one of the top 20 startups in Africa.
His career included roles at the Sunday Times, Financial Mail, 702, Mail & Guardian as well as Vodacom SA.
PART ONE
PART TWO
It was Craig Rodney who in passing conversation said, “People like you and I have the innate ability to always make money.”
Craig is a smart guy who says smart things for a living. He said that quote rather glibly, a week after I started my new business venture, but it has been floating in my *Cerebra-l cortex for the past month.
It may first seem a rather cocky statement to make, but Craig is right. Certain people will always make small fortunes, fortunes that are not necessarily in the billions of Rands but money that is way above average incomes and often enough to allow the individuals to retire debt free with a property or two, regular holidays and some healthy interest payments.
Perhaps you may think this is a case of trial and error and that most entrepreneurs lose their fortunes before making their retirement numbers. This may be true but there is something deeper at work, something that sets the successful apart from the mediocre. I believe that something is the ability to network.
Networking is a skill that can be taught. There are millions of pushy motivational speakers who claim to know the key to successful networking in 5 easy steps. It’s the people who have a business and the natural talent to network which are the ones that outshine all the pseudo sales gurus. Let me define “natural networking talent” as an ability to integrate ones social skills with the needs of ones business, seamlessly, effortlessly and without expectation of a return.
Networkers I admire always offer up their contacts that can address my needs without expecting me to scratch their back too. They willingly share their information because they want to genuinely help and be supportive. These people are always on the top of my mind when someone I know may need their service.
Great networkers have cast their net far and wide thus giving them a broad spectrum of people they know and can refer to, when needed. They are approachable and always pro-active in introducing themselves to strangers. These people prefer networking face-to-face more than social media platforms as they thrive off personal contact and seeing people’s appreciation for genuine moments of friendship. Look at the successful people in your life and whom they are friends with – chances are they are successful people too.
I think it is basic Karma. Sharing is caring. What goes around comes around. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
Let’s hope that Craig was right about me.
I’m so proud to be a small contributor to this amazing piece of music and video. I drove around Joburg on my Vespa with one hand taking some car shots. “Danger” is my middle name.
Shot on iPhones around the Joburg inner city and Braamfontein, its yet another reminder of our love of Jozi.
Follow my lovely Bitches, Nechama Brodie & Nadine Hutton on Twitter and the interwebs now.
Listen to the track on soundcloud here
I love you ladies long time. Thanks for opportunity.
Spillly
The Reason why I love Twitter #27
I get to meet the coolest people in Real Life (RL) and participate in radical art projects like the #TwitterattiPrjkt currently in process. Its being shot by Fiko fotography and is staring 20 local folks who may not be Celebutards in their own right, but are significant in the local twitter streams.
The Image below is a rough unedited “outake” and wont be featured in the final works.
Thanks For the black-eye & Laughs, Fiko!
@Spillly
