Martyn will be speaking at The Inspired Group on Thursday 9th February.

2011: The year I aimed for the stars

I am an everyday guy who runs a business, has a passion for travel, loves quality time with good people, and I happen to require an intricate package of technology, funding and personal support to function because I’m disabled.

This time last year I had overcome the routine winter chest function, returned from an amazing road trip in California I and was in reflective mode. When I travel the sense of adventure, meeting new people and broadening my horizons makes me question my life and the world. I think it’s fair to say that this particular trip surfaced my real dreams, but more so the fact I believed I could achieve them and in a sense I realised it was now or never!

The crux of these dreams and plans were around running my own business. I worked at Scope straight out of university, learnt a great deal and was well respected. However, it was time for a change and rather than go into a similar role elsewhere I decided my ideas of running my own business were now possible. Without a wife, children and major commitments the risk was only on me, something that might not be the case later on.

In May, without any real discussion with my close ones (something I usually would do) I waltzed into work and quite spontaneously handed in my notice. I knew that with time I could harness my work on my blog to launch my own projects for disabled people. I could see there being webinars, online learning courses, e-conferences and the brand new Disability Horizons magazine; all innovative, useful, engaging, helpful and fun resources. They just needed time. I didn’t know how on earth I could monetise these projects, but in hindsight an amazing sense of self belief and trusting in fate enabled me to take such a risky decision.

Since leaving Scope at the end of June I have run 3 webinar series. The first through my blog where I received kind sponsorship from Future Fundraising and the creative agency Flourish. I was also commissioned by Scope’s information service and Hackney Borough Council. I learnt so much from this in terms of the information disabled people (plus their friends and family) require, how it should be provided and about my own strengths and weaknesses. I am now planning in 2012 to run a webinar per month on specific topics, with guest speakers, interactive polls and Q&A sessions.

Beyond planning, executing and evaluating the webinars; I had my debut on BBC breakfast in January, my tv presenting debut on BBC1’s Inside Out, I appeared on radio 4 with Julie Fernandez, Richard Herring and ‘you and yours’. I have enjoyed the media work as a novelty factor, but also to be a spokesperson for disabled people on key issues. I am not the old school campaigning type, but I thoroughly believe the government should invest in disabled people – essential benefits, social care packages, access to infrastructure, educating people’s attitudes and legal protection from discrimination. I think the guys at the Broken of Britain are doing an amazing job fighting the government cuts for disabled people, and it was great to be involved in the Hardest Hit march!

As you’d imagine money has been tight since leaving the salaried job. My savings and webinar contracts have kept me afloat, but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to join Srin and Toby in New York in September. Sometimes crazy is the only way to live! Also, my quick trip to Edinburgh resulted in my finding romance with the lovely Claire. Apart from these 2 amazing trips, life has been less frantic socially. I know once my business picks up I can get back to seeing friends more in  restaurants and bars. Its all ‘needs must’ at present.

Whilst the next months are crucial in getting new work and making Sunnier Days safe and sustainable, my definition of success has altered slightly. Whilst I want enough money to be comfortable, I have been far happier and healthier due to other reasons. I am making my own work decisions, working the hours my body prefers, staying in from the cold winter and managing my life to my own needs. As long as I am not financially broke, I place such a high value on my health, happiness and relationships.

So to round this up! I am planning to grow my blogs readership, make Disability Horizons ‘the’ disability publication to read, make the monthly webinars ‘the’ event to attend and finally launch my employment ecourse by February. In the past 6 months I have misfit-inc to thank for technical support, I really know what content is required to make a difference to disabled people, I have great networks to communicate my services through and I am confident the sponsorship offers will come in time. Now I am officially part of the Nexters project I have a great outlet of support and the potential to meet companies interested in my plans to change the world with disabled people.

My personal vision is to be running a business that changes the world using new media, whilst I am travelling the world, being in warmer climates throughout UK winters, maintaining my close relationships and just staying happy. The past 6 months have been a slog, at times stressful and scary, but going into 2012 I am confident it has been worthwhile. The hard work has given me a platform to really achieve my dreams, whilst empowering the next generation of disabled people to achieve theirs too.

If you’d like to comment or ask questions you can do that below or on our LinkedIn group where Martyn will be leading a discussion on self belief:  http://lnkd.in/CpFtke

Knowing where to put your focus and your efforts is the first major step to success. A great exercise to get some clarity is in the preceding post “How to Create Your Best Year” 

It is safe to say that if you haven’t already got what you desire, you are going to have to make some changes to get it and this is where many of run into trouble because we can’t change in isolation. As soon as we start to make changes we affect those around us and our environment and we often hit a brick wall and decide maybe its easier, safer, better to stay as we are. Exit our dreams and desires.

In the 1970’s Dr Clare Graves, expanding on the work of Maslow, developed a table of eight values and thinking systems that affect human existence and development and both cause us to want to change as well as giving us reasons not to.

“At each stage of human existence the adult is off on his quest of his holy grail, the way of life he seeks by which to live. As he sets off on each quest, he believes he will find the answer to his existence. Yet, much to his surprise and much to his dismay, he finds that as he solves one set of human problems he finds a new set in their place. The quest he finds is never ending.”

Dr. Clare W. Graves 1914 – 1986 

In the book “101 Days to Make a Change” Roy Leighton and his co-authors suggest that when we want to make changes, we may need to look at each of these levels and rather than ask “Where am I?” ask “Am I open or closed to change at this level?”

1. Survival – Getting the basics right. Are you waving or drowning?

2. Tribal – Who are your people? Do you make a positive impact on those around you?

3. Self – Who are you? What are your non-negotiable values?

4. Order – Are you building a life on solid foundations?

5. Enterprise – Are you moving forward with self knowledge?

6. Community – How can you deepen your relationships and build bonds?

7. Complexity – Do you see the bigger picture or always sweat the small stuff?

8. Holistic – Do you have an existential outlook?  Can you see the interconnectedness of everything?

If desire is the starting point of all achievement, self knowledge and the ability to change go hand in hand. Are you part of this never ending quest?

Next month: Steps to Success #2. Self Belief is the Key to Success

The 12 Steps to Success are inspired by Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich”

If you have any queries about this or the process of  making changes please leave a comment below of join the discussion on Linkedin http://lnkd.in/7AR7ex

Most are doomed to failure because we are creatures of habit and it is our habits that have got us to where we are now, wishing and hoping for things to change - doing the same things and expecting different results.

The system outlined in ‘Your Best Year Yet’ by Jinny Ditzler has been working well for over 30 years and is based on ten questions around which are woven many insights into how we can change our thinking and behaviour in order to consistently improve our lives, year on year.

These ten questions are the starting point of a three hour process of discovery, reflection and planning in which you can start to design your best year yet. If you like this approach there are many more insights in the book but this is a good way to get started – with a few prompts from me.

This is also the start of our 12 Steps to Success Programme – why not join us?

1. What did you accomplish last year?

Brag like no-one is listening! Don’t hide your light, you’re allowed to celebrate. Don’t compare your achievements with anyone else’s! What is small for you might be HUGE for someone else and vice-versa. This is not a contest it’s just about YOU! If you are finding it hard to give yourself a pat on the back take a minute to wonder why.

2. What were your biggest disappointments last year?

When did you disappoint yourself? When did others disappoint you? What happened that was not in your control? You don’t have to show this to anyone so be honest with yourself. It’s not about beating yourself up but about looking at how you handled things. If you find it easier to criticise than to praise yourself, ask why. Are you hanging on to any resentment or anger or have you let it go?

3. What did you learn?

What worked and why? What didn’t work and why? What would you keep doing? What would you stop doing? What would you add that you’re not doing now? Pretend you’re someone else – what advice would you give you – without judgement?

4. How do you limit yourself and how can you stop doing it?

Fear is the biggest limiting factor in most people’s lives. Most fears are about events we imagine that never come true. What is it that you are most afraid of? What stories do you habitually tell yourself? What kind of self-image do you have? What would happen if you told yourself a different story and believed it?

5. What are your personal values?

Imagine you are an observer at your own funeral. What would you like people to say about you? How do you want to be remembered? How can you make your life be about living to these values? Authenticity and integrity are essential elements in creating a happy and successful life according to your values.

6. What roles do you play in your life?

We hear a lot about work/life balance but what does this really mean to you? Everyone has many roles and they change as circumstances change. List all the roles you currently play – in no particular order – and then note the ones you’d like to drop and the ones you’d like to add.

7. Which role is your major focus for next year?

Imagine you are in a helicopter looking down at everything you do in your life spread out beneath you. There will be some things that dominate the picture and some things that are in the background. Using the section on your personal values as your guide, decide where you would like or need to put more attention next year. Acknowledge that you have only so many hours in a day and that your first priority must be to taking care of yourself. This is not a selfish decision but equivalent to the airline notice that says “put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others”. If you are not taking care of yourself you become a liability. Note any conflicts and then decide which role will be your major focus for next year, thinking how this will fit into a long term life plan.

8. What are your goals for each role?

At this stage you may be thinking “I’ve set goals before and not achieved them so what’s the point?” There are many systems and methods of goal setting and many myths and legends too. The only sure thing about goal setting is that goals need to be seen in the context of your whole life. If you start with the end in mind and align your actions with your values you are more likely to succeed. Do you have a life plan and long term goals or are you in ‘let’s see how things turn out” mode? When you set the goals for each role check for conflicts and make adjustments where necessary.

9. What are your top ten goals for 2012?

What you are looking for here are the things that will make 2012 the best year of your life so far – not your best year ever. What you don’t do this year can go on the list for next year so that each year becomes the best year so far. Choose from the goals for each role the ones that will make the most difference to your life. Keep checking back and revising the list until you have a list that thrills and excites you. If your list causes you doubts and worries dig up the reasons. Be honest with yourself and if you really can’t see yourself achieving a particular goal cross it out and replace it. There is no ‘should’ about this list. It’s about what you truly ‘want’ and no-one’s judgement is involved except your own.

10. How can you make sure you achieve your top ten goals?

Just writing down goals will not get results. Just making a plan will not get results. Just thinking positive thoughts will not get results. Consistent action coupled with a firm belief is most likely to get the results you want but even then, circumstances outside of your control may influence what happens. You can’t control what happens but you can control how you react to it. Your plan to achieve your goals needs to be a living breathing part of every second of your life. Every decision you make will take you nearer or further away from achieving your goals. Achieving your goals is not something you do as well as doing everything else in your life. Achieving your goals is about the way you live every moment. If your goals are consistent with your values and the roles you play in your life the changes you make will lead naturally to the end you have in mind.

If you’d like to explore any of this in greater depth just get in touch with me. I’ll be happy to help.

“Is there a formula for success that can be copied?”

This is the question to which a young reporter, Napoleon Hill, was asked to find an answer by the rich and influential Andrew Carnegie back in the 1930’s. 

After interviewing 500 of the most successful people of the age, Hill came up with a list of things that most of them had in common and turned it into the best selling book “Think and Grow Rich”.  

While the title implies that this book deals only with how to achieve monetary wealth, the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help individuals succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want.  The book was first published in 1937 during the Great Depression.  At the time of Hill’s death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold 20 million copies and continues to be a best seller. Unlike many other self -help books that followed it, this is not a superficial essay on ‘positive thinking’ but a deep and often uncomfortable explanation of why learning to think and behave in a disciplined way is the real key to success.

The book and my experience of working with successful people in MasterMind Groups inspired the following questions about the 12 Steps to Success: 

1. Desire is the starting point of all achievement. What is it that you have a burning desire to be, do or have?

 Many people are driven by what they want to ‘have’ i.e. material possessions but the starting point for most successful people is when they learn how to be and how to do the things that lead to success. The material things follow on from these.

2. What do you believe about your chances of success? 

 Self belief is a huge factor in success. Any self doubt prevents us from taking action so it must be dealt with and eliminated as soon as possible. Most self doubt is caused by us believing things that other people say about us and often has no basis in fact so can usually be challenged and overcome with rational thought. 

3. Who do you need in your team in order to succeed? 

Almost all successful people surround themselves with people who can do things they can’t do and who know things they don’t know.  Henry Ford was very poorly educated and has been described as ignorant but built a team of brilliant people to turn his ideas into reality.   

4. How do you use your creativity and imagination? 

Hill says “All great achievers are practical dreamers” but it is a sad fact that traditional schooling robs most of us of our natural creativity our dreams are left behind as we grow older. Recreation (re-creation) or play is a great way to enhance creativity and many of our best ideas come to us while we are enjoying ourselves doing something other than work. Learning new things and stretching our brains is particularly important.  

5. How often do you make a plan, work it and revise it? 

 It is probably true that most of us spend more time planning our holidays than planning our lives.  Turning desires into achievements requires planning and continuous action with many revisions to account for unforseen circumstances.

6. What tactics do you use to avoid procrastination and make decisions? 

Time management is one of the biggest issues for most people juggling all the different roles they have to play in life yet one of the biggest time wasters is procrastination.  The ability to make decisions swiftly and then take action on them is a huge contributor to successful achievements. Very few decisions are irreversible and it is often better to make a wrong one than to put off making one at all. 

7. What do you do when things go wrong? 

Persistence is a quality shared by many successful people. Undeterred by obstacles they find different ways to achieve their desires. 

8. Where do you have complete control and power? How do you use power? 

 Power and success seem to go hand but before we exercise power over other people we need to have complete power over ourselves. Leadership is best when it is conferred rather than commanded and the ability to lead people in a spirit of harmony to achieve common goals is a sign of great success.

9. Sex is the most powerful drive in most people. How do you harness and direct it? 

Some people are surprised about the relationship between sex and success but there are lots of studies that explain the connection. A fulfilling sex life brings benefits to both mental and physical health but sexual desires can also cause errors of judgement that lead previously successful people to lose families as well as fortunes and the respect of their peers. 

10. What strategies do you employ to control and influence your subconscious mind? 

 Our conscious, rational mind is like the tip of an iceberg when compared to the sub-conscious. Everything we have ever experienced is stored in our sub-conscious and can lead us to think and act in certain ways ways. Learning to think in ways that put it to work for us rather than against us is crucial. 

11. Do you trust and act on ‘gut’ feelings or use logic to argue against them? 

 Most successful people admit that intuition plays a big part in their achievements and they trust their feelings. 

12. What are your major fears? How effective are you at controlling them?

 Most fears are about imagined situations that never actually happen. When truly dreadful things do happen to people they often not only survive but go on to live successful lives so being held back by fear is an unnecessary tragedy.   

Hill describes the real path to success as the ability to master our minds. Most of the successful people that Hill interviewed were also members of MasterMind Groups – exclusive small groups of people who share ideas, create solutions to problems and support each other. My experience of running MasterMind groups bears out the unfashionable view that while there are short cuts to material wealth there are no short cuts to success. Discipline in thinking and action are the enduring principles today just as they were in the 1930’s.

I am quite often asked how creative a business owner needs to be to do their own marketing. Often people will say, ‘Well, it’s alright for you, you’re a creative! I couldn’t possibly come up with ideas like that, my brain just doesn’t work that way.’

Well, for those of you reading this in a hurry, the simple answer is ‘No, you don’t need to be creative to do your own marketing!’ If you’ve got time, please read on and I’ll explain what I mean.

Its alright for you, you’re a creative!

Firstly, I think there is a marked difference between a ‘creative’ and someone who has the ability to be creative in their thinking. For example, the designers in my team are very talented creatives, while I, on the other hand, am a creative thinker (or so I like to think!). So, with that in mind, I believe that everyone has the ability within them to think creatively and to inspire a creative idea, even if they can’t visually execute something which may be classed as a creative deliverable.

The real challenge, I believe, and perhaps the question that sits at the heart of the matter, is not ‘do I have to be creative to do my own marketing?’ but more ‘how can I unlock my creative thinking to do my own marketing?’ And this is where it gets interesting!

A healthy dose of common sense

To devise a marketing strategy, select your tactics, create a plan, and put in place measurement tools for all your marketing activities, actually takes a mixture of skills and, although you may be better at some than others, in general I find a healthy dose of common sense, commitment and self-discipline will certainly set solid foundations going forward. Yes, you may need a little help learning about all the exciting tactics in the marketing toolkit, and you may need a designer to execute the final deliverables, but you can certainly be the one to inspire the ideas. So, if we can unlock the gate that holds back your creative thinking, you’re pretty much there.

For me, creative thinking is about finding the things that inspire me, that open my mind to exciting ideas, and surrounding myself with them; in essence, creating an environment that releases creativity.

Here are some of those things that help me to be creative:

1) Mix with people who inspire you – surround yourself with those who have a contagious energy about them, and it will rub off on you.

2) Follow people who fall into your ‘legends’ category and learn more about them. You may never meet them, but that doesn’t have to stop their stories inspiring you.

3) Look at everyday objects, the great outdoors, the things you see on your journey through life – something small can often inspire a big creative idea.

4) Take note of other ideas that are out there; you want to be original, but great ideas inspire other ideas.

5) Find something that triggers your stimulus – for me, this might be a brilliant piece of music that fills me up inside, or just something with a simple melody that inspires me to tap my toes.

6) Spend time doing the things you love; hobbies, no matter what they are, can release a whole heap of creative ideas when you least expect them.

7) Have fun!  Yes, enjoy the feeling of releasing your own creative thoughts.

These are what inspire me on a day-to-day basis. Your stimuli may be different, but the important thing is – do find the time to explore what makes you tick, and open that gate to release your creativity. Ignore anyone (even in your own mind) who tells you that you can’t be a creative thinker. Because I believe you can.

In other news: we’ve had a really busy month in the design studio, with lots of good stuff on the go. A real buzz for me, personally, has been the launch of my ‘Spotlight On Marketing’ radio series with The Business Hub on Star Radio. You can listen to the first episode here – my segment is around 47 minutes in, but I strongly recommend that you listen to the whole show, as it was packed full of interesting people and their topics. I’m preparing for the next show as we speak, so I hope you enjoy listening!

Don’t forget, if you want to chat, or share your stories with me, you can do that on Twitter or, if you prefer, you can email me instead. You can also find out more about what we get up to at nativeBrand on our website, or visit our creative playground on Facebook.

Lisa has very kindly written up the Marketing Game we did at the last TIG meeting. There is a wealth of information about how to create a practical marketing plan and lots of other information too. Its all on our LinkedIn Group here: http://lnkd.in/WU5XVg

I’d love to hear your views so tell us what you think below: 

“From my point of view The Inspired Group is a phenomenon. Part of what happens is a monthly meeting where business people from all over Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Hertfordshire gather.

The events themselves are amazing but what makes them so unlike any other business support or networking group is that there is even more activity on line. The Inspired Group on LinkedIn is where over 400 business owners from all over the world openly and honestly discuss everything to do with business.

There are no membership fees 

A free A-Z of Business Success is available based on these discussions and a series of interviews with business owners.  Anyone can sign up for these and have them delivered to their in-box completely free of charge for continued inspiration every week. This not only gives the readers valuable information but the people who took part in the discussions and interviews are getting more and more exposure – all for helping each other!  I don’t believe there is anything like this anywhere – you can still ask questions and get genuine answers on the discussions!

Our LinkedIn Group has open and honest discussions

There is also amazing support on Twitter where group members use the hashtag #binspired. (Just search for #binspired on Twitter and you’ll see what I mean!)

What brings these people together? Is it the expert way the group is run by the delightful Ann Hawkins? Is it the quality of businesses? Is it the diversity of skills and talent? Is it the guest speakers that lend their expertise on a monthly basis?

To a degree it is all of these put together and more. The people you meet both in person and on-line are genuine people. They are there to help each other and learn from each other, not to sell to each other. They are also there because they want to be there, not because they’ve paid a subscription (there is no membership fee). They come back time after time because they enjoy the experience. They come back because they find the rest of the group an inspiration. There is also a lot of business done between members because they get to know and trust each other but there is no selling at the events or in our on-line groups!

There is a lot of business done between members 

The group is all about being an inspiration. The guest speakers are so passionate about their subjects you can’t help wanting to get the best from yourself and your business. Just listening to these people should move you to action but you can also engage them in conversation in the LinkedIn Group before and after each event. I’m positive that businesses have been saved from extinction by the advice that has been given at these events.

Everybody in the group runs a business of some kind and they all have varying levels of expertise to share. Just simply listening to some of these people you can glean information and realise that doing things differently could save or earn you thousands of pounds.

Whatever The Inspired Group has should be bottled and sold

All of this information is given out freely, and it’s worth a small fortune. Whatever The Inspired Group has should be bottled and sold but the people that make up this group probably wouldn’t want that. They, I’m sure, get their kicks from simply helping and inspiring others to be the best they can.

I don’t believe there are any other networking groups where people actively help each other on a daily basis and where the face to face and on-line networking is so cleverly mixed. 

So, if you read this and haven’t tried it yet, get yourself involved in The Inspired Group on LinkedIn and if you are near Cambridge, come along to the next event and you too will #binspired.”

Martyn Peters

Ely European Couriers

What a fabulous post from Martyn! If you’d like to add your own views below we’d love to hear them!

To illustrate the point, members of the group were asked to put themselves into one of three groups that they most identified with while acknowledging that there may be some crossover.

The Blue Group identified most with the words:

Thinking, creative, problem solving, strategic, discerning, self starting, single minded.

The Yellow Group with:

Inclusive, mature, communicator, diplomatic, co-operative, enthusiastic

The Red Group with:

Challenging, dynamic, action, perfectionist, reliable, efficient, conscientious 

Each group was given the same task and assigned an observer.

The idea was to show what happens when people with the same strengths work on a task, compared to when people with a whole range of strengths work together.

The result is that people adapt to fill the gaps but usually feel uncomfortable in these roles. This is OK for a short while (our experiment only lasted for ten minutes) but the longer it continues, the more the cracks begin to show.

The ensuing discussion focused on the importance of not seeing the absence of a particular type of behaviour as a weakness but on playing to people’s strengths.

It is equally important not to let the ‘weakness’ become a crutch or an excuse, e.g. “What do you expect? I’m this type of person not that type.” 

In terms of identifying the people most likely to produce the best results we often look for skills first followed by personality but profiling the behaviours needed to complement a team can often improve the way everyone works and reduce the stress, frustration and effort while getting much more done in less time.

There is a huge amount of research that shows that we are really poor judges of others and relying on ‘gut instinct’ is the worst possible way to select people to work with.

When employing people, Steve recommends the Belbin Team Role profiling tool be used along with a suite of other tools for assessing personality and aptitude. Many tools on the market have no scientific validity so it is best to check this out and use an accredited practitioner to analyse the results.

Any double about the value / cost ratio will be quickly dispelled by a calculation of what it costs to make the wrong decision!

A guest blog from David F Smallman following a request on Twitter for some 'real' information.

Much cant has been talked about the current situation regarding Greece and the Euro.

There are a number of Euro member countries that are in trouble: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and of course Greece. Others are in good shape: Germany, France, (although growth is slow) and Poland.

The markets are not always influenced by just the facts. Emotion, rather perversely, plays a huge part.

So let’s look at the significance of the Greek economy in world terms.

Greece ranks in GDP (gross domestic product) terms at 32 in the world behind such luminaries as Iran, Austria and Saudi Arabia.

The Greeks leaving the Euro, in cold hard terms, isn’t significant

Greece is 13.5% the size of the UK (Ranked 6^th in the World) which in size is only 15.3% the size of the USA.

Whilst the politicians and media are all over the Greek situation and the volatility of the people and their reaction, the Greeks leaving the Euro, in cold hard terms is not significant but the emotion surrounding that possibility is a huge driver.

Of the entire EU, the Greek economy represents only 1.8%

Further context in terms of the Euro – if you take the three Euro players mentioned above – Germany, France and Poland, the Greek economy represents 6.4% of them combined  and of the entire EU it is only 1.8%

The Euro monetary  “experiment” is driven mostly by federalists politicians in Europe. The Germans in particular have a strong political reason for maintaining it (the European Central Bank is based there).  This is not a view shared by at least 50% of the population. If Greece defaults and leaves the Euro it is symbolic but this would convert into a monetary catastrophe because it would spark a big run on the Euro (thus by default strengthening the £ and $).

Of far more importance to the UK  is the possibility that Italy, Spain or Portugal might crash

Interestingly the Chinese recently bought a large chunk of Italian debt as part of spreading its risk but if Italy (ranked 8^th in the world), Spain (ranked 12^th) and/or Portugal were to “crash” the UK economy has far more to lose through potential downturn over the mid-term in trade.

But that’s a conversation for another day!!

How do I rate the possibility of the Greeks leaving in the next 6 months? Better than 50%.

David F Smallman

Managing Partner

Pathfinder Team Consulting Ltd

Twitter – DFSmallman

Linked In – http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=85648859&trk=tab_pro

www.pathfinder-consulting.com

Some of the questions asked are:

* Is is better to have a blog on your website or hosted separately?

* How to make your email signature part of your branding?

* What is the best place to buy domain names?

* Who should own the registration to your domain name?

* How do you quantify the returns on SEO?

* How important is it to keep consistent branding over all the social media platforms as well as web sites bearing in mind that social media is often personal as opposed to corporate branding?

* Is it better to be found by organic search or Pay Per Click ads?

* How do Facebook ads and LinkedIn ads compare to Google adwords?

* How important is video on a website?

* How can you test if your website is accessible to disabled people and what can you do about it it if it isn’t?

* How important is it to have access to your website via mobile devices?

* Please explain the relationship between key words and meta tags

The panel, Lisa Garwood, Rob Chant and Adam Maltpress gave some great answers but couldn’t cover everything in the time available so please add your comments, answers and questions below, write us a guest post on your favourite question or join in the ongoing discussion on LinkedIn http://lnkd.in/zxnZDd

Lisa Garwood of  nativeBrand a full service marketing and branding agency. which works with local small business owners to grow their businesses through sound marketing strategy and creative brand thinking. Lisa writes “Not Another Business Blog” for Cambridge News website and will soon be featuring on The Business Hub radio show, with a monthly slot giving marketing advice. nativeBrand’s customised Facebook page We are nativeBrand  is where the brand bears hang out and Lisa can often be found on Twitter @Lisa_Garwood.

Rob Chant of The Cambridge Web Marketing Co  has been working as a freelancer on the web in one form or another for about 10 years, first as a designer and developer and more recently in SEO. He now runs a web marketing company focused on delivering SEO and related services to small businesses. His experience with both designing and building web sites gives him insight into the SEO process from both sides of the fence.”

 Adam Maltpress www.maltpress.co.uk  is a web developer, writer and project manager. Adam has been developing websites for over five years and managing web projects – for organisations like the East of England Development Agency, Warner International and major biotech companies – for longer still. Adam currently works mostly with WordPress, a free, open-source content management system. Adam has faced (and sometimes caused!) most of the issues small businesses will see when building a web presence and can help you avoid them.

“Well, another great evening, with fab company and what a panel of experts! The TIG event last night was brilliant for me as I learned about things ‘website’ and ‘blog’ that now seem obvious.

So do I need a website? Why? What do I want the website for?

These seemingly innocuous questions became really important for me at a time when I am considering creating my new venture. I now realise that the primary reasons for ‘me’ having a new website will be to ‘validate’ who I am, what I will offer and just kinda ‘prove’ that I am ‘real’…in a cyber kinda way (Thanks – Lisa G) Although any business generated from this website will be useful, I am not looking to drive business via visitors/traffic. Do I need SEO expertise then? Not in any big way! Do I need ‘track back’ links, etc? No, probably not! Should I consider a blog within the website? Nice, but non-essential for my purposes.

These are just a few examples of the great info shared that I will benefit from. Thank you (from me) to Lisa Garwood, Adam Maltpress and Rob Chant for their engaging advice. Oh…and the networking wasn’t too shabby either )”  Bob Brotchie http://bobbrotchie.blogspot.com/ and http://icethebestof.wordpress.com/ @RobBrotchie

Why is happiness so important? Are we born happy and then lose it? What has happiness to do with business success?

I recently became aware of a number of business owners who work such long hours that they neglect all the things that make them happy, except their work.

Because I believe that most of our best ideas come to us in the downtime when we are playing or relaxing, and because I believe that we are all so much more than our businesses, this bothered me a bit so I decided to conduct an experiment.

I asked people to list ten things that they DO that make them happy and then to schedule into their diaries every day something they looked forward to doing and then actually DO them.

Over 130 people shared their lists with each other on-line and about 30 turned up for a meeting to discuss their ideas on happiness, led by philosopher John Turner (www.metathink.co.uk)

These are some of the ideas the people in the group expressed:

To be happy we need to focus our minds, not drift along without being aware.

To be happy we need to be in the flow with an absence of distractions

To be happy we need to be creating and doing

To be happy we need to feel valued – by ourselves as well as others

Happiness is our life’s purpose and nurturing friendships is a major part of this

We need a verb: “to happy” (apparently, in ancient Greek, there is/was)

On one thing everyone was agreed: If there was a machine that could make everyone happy all of the time, we wouldn’t want to turn it on. There are times when we need sadness, and happiness is something to be worked towards.

The second part of the experiment is still ongoing but these are my own thoughts on happiness:

“Happiness depends on ourselves.”

2500 years ago, Aristotle enshrined happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself.

2500 years later neuroscientists came to pretty much the same conclusion.

The Nature of Happiness 

Despite the fact that many human beings live their lives believing that they will be happy if they get everything they want, both ancient and modern wisdom shows that this is far from true. Tests show that we are notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy (or unhappy) and we prove ourselves wrong time and again. Rich people are not happier than poor people and yet much of our society is geared to the pursuit of material possessions and fleeting pleasures.

There is a school of thought that says that happiness cannot be pursued or sought and we just need to be open and wait for it to alight in our lives  but this too is disputed by both philosophy and science. This is because happiness is not something that can be gained or lost in a few moments, like pleasurable sensations. It is about the ultimate value of a life, measuring how well we have lived up to our full potential as human beings.

Aristotle tells us that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character — what he calls “complete virtue.” He argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the balance between two excesses – reminiscent of Buddha’s Middle Path.

Neoroscience shows that happiness is inextricably linked to the faculty of attention.

Attention systems that lack focus or have become habitually trained on feelings of poor self worth or criticism lead to emotional states that are out of control and lead to anxiety, depression and other distressing states. Studies show that contemplative practices such as meditation are wonderful ways to train the brain into new habits of paying attention to subjects or feelings that enhance self-worth and strengthen new neural pathways.

The language is different but the message is the same.

Happiness takes effort.

Aristotle advocates the education of the whole person, including one’s moral character, rather than merely learning a set of skills. He taught that developing a good character requires a strong effort of will to do the right thing, make difficult decisions, not give in to immediate gratification and that through training and practice we can achieve our full potential and the enrichment of human life.

Neuroscience shows that we can change our brains, not by intervention with medication or stimulants but by practicing new thought patterns. The basic structure of our mental life is habit and, just as we strengthen muscles in our bodies by practice, so we do the same with our brains.

Qualities we admire in others, e.g., kindness, generosity, humour, patience, compassion are not innate qualities but are skills that we can learn with practice until they become new habits. If we admire these qualities in others we can aquire them for ourselves by paying attention, repeating behaviours and becoming the kind of person we most want to be.

So, happiness is about human flourishing and thriving not about feelings of pleasure and it is an activity rather than a state.

What does this have to do with business?

Building a successful business, especially when you are working alone, requires great discipline. Doing the right things at the right time, even when we don’t feel like it, making difficult decisions, turning away from the quick fix in order to stick to a long term plan, staying focused on a task, being mindful, keeping the promises we make to ourselves are all important.

If the pursuit of happiness is about human flourishing and thriving, applying the same principles to business can only be a good thing. Happiness is not something we take time off to do and then feel guilty about, it becomes both the reason and the way in which we do everything.

Rather than say “I’ll be happy when ….” (I’ve got to x turnover / this job is finished / that client is satisfied / I have some reliable staff), and recognising that these things are not what makes us happy and that we don’t have to wait for them to happen, creates the freedom to make the pursuit of happiness an habitual activity that leads to real fulfilment of our potential as human beings.

Take part in the experiment

If you would like to take part in the happiness experiment simply schedule into your daily activities things that you DO that will make you happy and then DO them and share your ideas with the rest of the group either by leaving a comment below or on the LinkedIn discussion here:  http://lnkd.in/4MM6ca