edebont
- 11 comments
- 16 likes given
- 11 likes received
Bio not provided
Thanks for the tips Amy. I will definitely use them to revive my blog. It basically all comes down to discipline.
As always, thank you very much for all content (blog & vlog). It's greatly appreciated.
This one is very difficult to fill in for my profession (ICT Consultant). I can't use presentations in my linkedin portofolio since most of them contain information about ICT infrastructures of a company which are not allowed on public channels for obvious security and client confidentiality reasons. Any ideas on how to deal with this issue ?
I would like to add to keep in mind the following. When you schedule a tweet at nighttime or schedule it outside of working hours and you audience lives in a different timezone, it may cause (obviously) issues with interacting with your audience. The time you send somebody a response who responded to your original tweet can be several hours or more, which is on twitter a very long time. This can create false expectations with your audience (why don't I get a response ?), so it would be wise to keep this in mind and adjust the content of the tweet if necessary to avoid this issue.
Thanks for the video Amy. It's very much appreciated.
Great video (but what else is new). The only thing I think you should have emphasized more is the value of LinkedIn when it comes to most actual contact information. When a business card is older than 1 year there is a chance that the contact information is outdated. With LinkedIn you always have the most up-to-date information and you can see what your contact is working on (unless he does a shitty job on keep his profile up-to-date). It still is the most effective platform for me to maintain business contacts.
Keep up the good work, it's much appreciated (even by non-entrepreneurs like me).
@Wilde_Hunt The example you gave about the photographer not showing up is absolutely killing for business. I think in your case it is definitely worthwhile to put some effort in building a network of people/professionals who can assist you (and you can trust) in your business. This can be people from your schooldays or worked with in the past or a friend of friend etc..
I am an ICT consulant (not an entrepreneur) working in ICT since 1995. During these years I have done many projects and actually backtracked almost all of my co-workers (the good ones) via LinkedIn. This gives a network of people and the opportunity that if I need a certain expertise I can track someone down pretty quickly.
Now I know that LinkedIn is probably not a big thing in the fashion world, but that shouldn't stop you from building a similar network (LinkedIn is in this case is just a tool, an ordinary address book is also fine) of good professionals that will help you to develop your business. You really don't have to do everything by yourself if you know good people.
Interesting, I have seen similar behavior with project managers. The ones that do micromanagement want their team members to report every detail of what their doing and give the impression that they want to everything themselves. This will annoy the team members, spending time on the wrong things (reporting), not getting the faith of doing their job well etc... which will in the end not produce a good result.
A good project manager will let his team members do their work. Have himself informed about the major issues, and manages them. In short a team-builder which has his team do the work for him in stead of doing everything himself.
Now, the above example is not the exact same situation you're in, but I see some similarities.
I think you should ask yourself these questions (keeping the above example in mind):
- What happened that you had to redo the entire project mentioned in your article and couldn't you have discovered the issue (of dissatisfaction) in an earlier stage ?
- If I have an employee what do I want him/her to do ? Being I copy of myself so we can split the work, or do I let hem/her do the things I am not good at or don't like to do. It has to be clear what you expect from your employee to avoid frustration on both sides.
- Am I an entrepreneur or a manager ? Am I capable of managing people so they can perform at there best or do I want to do everything myself.
At the moment I think your are still are more entrepreneur (which is not a bad thing) than manager. But at least you are aware of your flaws (micromanagement) so I think you should be capable of growing into the manager role at a later stage if you want to.
Thanks again for your article Amy. They are always a pleasure to read.
I noticed I forgotten one of the most imported ones in my previous comment.
- Linked-In. Excellent platform for business use. I definitly would recommend anyone to fully complete your profile and make public as much as possible. It's is your online résumé, and it will generate business for you if setup properly (especially if your work in ICT). I am an ICT consultant and have been approached for new jobs/projects quite a number of times all via Linked-In. Also keep in mind that people can see your profile, but you can also see theirs. So if you go for a job interview or business appointment, not only can the interviewer see your profile, you can also see his profile. Use this to your advantage, it really helps.
Although I am not/have not a brand, I write down my list of social media platforms just to give you an example how social media is used from a consumer point of view.
- Twitter. Use it to follow international/financial/local news via accounts from newspapers, journalists etc... Follow a few celebrities. Follow funny people/vloggers who have daily quotes and tweet with a couple of friends on a daily basis.
- Youtube. Have an account but use only to join channels and organize favorites. No intention to upload videos in the near future.
- Facebook. Use it to socialize on the internet with mostly people I know in person (not all of them).Hated the platform in past, due to bad android app and chaotic interface. It has improved quite a lot since then, but is not a the technical level of Google+ yet, The biggest advantage is of course that almost everybody has a facebook account.
- Google+. Technically the best platform in my opinion. Have created a family circle to create a social media channel for my family to share/pictures and to announce family events. Also use is as backup platform for photo's and videos. Use it as a social platform to socialize with mostly people I don't know in person. Recently using the communities on Google+ which is a great integration of forums into social media to talk about any subject your interested. .
- Instagram. Just interacting with a couple op people. Noticed that there are barely active users on from The Netherland (were I come from).
I think 3 maybe 4 social media platforms are for me the max for to be active on.
@JacobkCurtis You're right about "nothing works better for comments then controversy", but I would say to be careful when "you try to stir it up a bit". Keep in mind the a commenter can think exactly the same and he will stir it up to. Before you know it this will give a you complete blowback of your actual goal, which is a sincere genuine comment about the article you wrote.
I hope I made myself clear, if not, just ask.
@schmittastic @pemelendezu It's part of it what I meant to say. Let me try to explain. If a subject becomes more controversial, cultural background kicks in. I will try to explain it with the following example.
You see someone singing on a youtube video who sounds absolutely terrible. He requests a comment on what you think about it. Your goal is to explain to him that his singing is not good and it's not a good idea to put this video on the Internet. He get three responses
1. Your singing is terrible and your crazy to put it on the Internet -> Direct, full throttle, no strings attached. Let's call this the Dutch way ;-).
2. Well you have made a great video, the colors are great, and the sharpness is great, and the recording of the sound is really good... -> Avoiding the controversy at the beginning and pace very slowly to what you really want to tell. Let's call this the French way.
3. You say nothing and you just smile. -> You don't want to insult the singer, so you just say nothing. Let's call this the Japanse way.
Of course the above examples are over-exaggerated (no offense to the Dutch, French and Japanse), but all of them are right or wrong. For example: If you use comment 3 on a Dutch person he get's offended, because you're not telling him what you really think which keeps him guessing If you use comment 1 on a Japanse person he gets offended because it's too direct, and you don't critize someone in Japan like that.
So you have three different comments which say exactly the same thing, but in a completely different way. That's what I mean by a different cultural background.
So if your read I comment and you know someone's background it usually clarifies his comment a lot more.
Do you understand what I mean ?
I started a blog. Haven't been promoting it yet, because I want it to have more volume before I go public. I have however made comments, delete comments on forums, sss, twitter, facebook, instragram etc... and probably made every mistake in social media communication you can make.
I like your article and I have a few tips as a person who writes comments to the blogger:
- As a blogger If you do not understand a comment. Just ask. You can say thanks as a blogger (as being polite), but that what's the point in that if you don't understand it. It's the interaction that gives a blog something extra.
- Keep in mind that you have (because of the Internet) an international audience, meaning that comments can also come from non-native english speakers (like me). This can create sometimes some misinterpretation of a comment due to the level of english of the person who writes the comment or due to a different cultural background. A comment can be insulting because it's misinterpreted while it was not intended to be insulting. If you think that is the case. Always ask if you correctly understood the comment.
- If you think a comment is inappropriate or the writer is acting like an idiot. Tell him or her the comment is inappropriate and you do not like his behaviour. This gives the writer at least a change to correct his comment. In most cases you will also get support from other readers who don't like his comment which gives the writer a strong signal that he is doing something wrong.
But first and foremost. Be honest !
Keep up the great work Amy. It's very much appreciated.