10 Days to a New You (Social Media-wise)

It’s the time of year when we are all looking ahead at the months stretching in front of us and planning just what we do when.  Thoughts are already on booking holidays, bikini diets and sporting summers.  Likewise now is a great time to take a look at your Social Media (or consider it if you haven’t got anything going) and make some changes.

Here’s a simple 10 steps that can transform your Social Media, and they only need take a day each to get started.

1.  Create a Plan

It sounds simple, but it is the crucial 1^st step to improving your Social Media performance.  Take some time to consider what you want to happen in 2012.  Think about your target audience, top customers, your market, your competitors and what you want to achieve.  If you have existing Social Media channels review these, what have you done with them so far, how have they performed, what could you have improved, what lessons have you learnt.  Your plan for 2012 should be simple and most importantly take a realistic account of things like the time you will commit to Social Media in 2012 and how you want to measure your performance.

2.  Create a Knowledge Bank

However knowledgeable we are about our subject/business/hobby we still need a super source of information and expertise to fall back on.  By identifying key sources of fresh information on your market/area of expertise and doing simple things such as creating email folders, favourite bookmarks and any number of ‘notes’ systems.  Simple tools such as Google alerts can deliver daily feeds of information in all kinds of formats without you having to search.  Use these tools, create a knowledge bank and you will have a constant stream of fantastic information to help your Social Media efforts.

3.  Learn all about it

There are many tools of Social Media and though you won’t be expected to know how they all work intimately it is certainly in your interest to get to know the tools and how they work.  Take some time to learn how each one works individually, it will help you when you look back at the plan you made in step one.  One thing that may help with this is...

4.  Get Advice

Let’s face it there are now almost as many Social Media ‘experts’ out there as there are users of the tools.  This isn’t a bad thing, as many can ensure you get the results you need quicker and without the many mistakes they will have spent time making.  A good Social Media adviser will be able to simply outline the tools and consider your business objectives to direct you to the best tools for you.  LinkedIn isn’t going to bring your £1 stall thousands of sales a day, and equally Facebook may not suit your niche manufacturing consultancy.  What is crucial is that the experts give you the guidance/coaching you need to feel comfortable with Social Media.  In fact that is a great thought, find a Social Media coach not a know it all ‘Expert’.

5.  Who are You?

Your online persona is the single most important component in your Social Media.  Developing this persona is the starting point for all your subsequent activity.  That isn’t to say you need to suddenly become someone else.  However, there are degrees of yourself you can develop, show or not show and this will dictate the kind of messages/conversations you have.  People you interact will quickly get a feel of who you are and what you stand for.  So make some time to decide what it is you want this to be.  This may even follow the persona of your company brand.

6.  Be A Helpful You

It is vital that your online persona is you.  Social media carries transparency at it’s core, it thrives on real people having real interactions.  So interact, be genuine, be authentic and most importantly be helpful.  You will quickly find that other users of Social Media will be drawn to you if you are helpful, polite and genuine.  Your online persona is you, and people need to know there is a genuine person there behind the screen.

7.  Stand Out

Have you considered how your various Social Media sites look?  Have you got the standard template for your Twitter background?  Is your Facebook page just a boring old photo?  There are millions of users of social media and finding a way to stand out is tough.  However, there are ways to make your profile stand out that much more, or at least be memorable enough.  You should also look at ensuring a consistency across the various sites/tools.  People should know that it is you wherever they find you.

8.  Connect with the right people

The best way to get to know what works in your area of expertise is by finding leaders and key influencers in that same area.  Spend time searching for them, observing what they are talking about, how they are interacting.  Join in conversation where appropriate and before you know it you could be getting your own share of interactions.  Take time to research who the leaders and influencers are that will most benefit you or your business. It’s all well and good being followed by half of the local college, but just 1 influential follower more than beats 500 ‘messers’.

9.  Interact

Social Media is about interaction.  That means two things, the first is being interactive with your various networks.  Reply to tweets, comment on blogs (especially written by influencers), join discussions on LinkedIn, use hashtags, post questions, and if someone asks you a question give them an answer.  Secondly, look at even more interactive ways of communicating.  Try creating videos (vlogs), presentations on Slideshare, podcasts and webinars.  All of which create an even stronger bond between you and your network.

10. Get Publicity

We aren’t necessarily talking a PR campaign to promote your twitter feed.  All around the internet are many influential bloggers, media contacts and digital media writers.  Take some time to identify some of these people and think about how your business or a specific piece of news fits with them.  How can your expertise or company help people, or even better, make life easier for them to do their jobs.  Get writing articles, How To’s, blogs, press releases basically anything that shows off your expertise.  Having these to hand when a relevant issue breaks means you can swing into action before others.  Providing great quality means they’ll see you as a good person to know.  Also, think about how events impact on your area of expertise.  When a newsworthy event happens, be the first to react with a thoughtful piece.

There we have it, 10 simple steps to creating a more impressive social media presence.  Ok some of the steps may require a little longer than a day, but by making a start on each activity you will quickly find your social media presence improving.

Overcoming Writers Block on Your Blog; 3 Tips

What’s the first thing you did this morning when you switched your pc/laptop/tablet on?

I’m guessing you checked your emails.  Or at the very least scanned the total in your inbox to see by how many it had increased since yesterday (or earlier this morning if you were burning the midnight oil).  Am I wrong?
Ok, so if you didn’t check your emails I bet you went straight to your favourite website or some other ‘habitual’ place.  Don’t worry I’m not watching you, nor am I the new Derren Brown, it’s just something we all do.

Let me ask another question.  At some point over the last week how many times have you had an opinion about something?  Quite a number I would hazard a guess, and equally how many times have you thought ‘I should write that down’?  I have and I suspect I’m not alone in these thoughts.  I sometimes worry I’m having a seriously high number of ‘senior moments’ for someone in their thirties, such is frequency I forget what it is I was going to write.

However I’m beginning to realise that the reason for what I politely term ‘bloggers block’ (and impolitely harangue myself about) is more to do with the habits I’ve formed over years of working at a computer.

So some simple tips to overcome bloggers block and make a start on that company/personal blog you’ve always wanted to write:

Start your day different

We all need to check emails, after all it could be a new sale, a customer that wants a reply or 10% off at Krispy Kreme.  But how about for once, maybe only one day a week you (horror of horrors) switch your machine on and instead of going straight for the emails, you pause open Word or some other writing programme and get writing.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got a clear idea of your article, just the process of ‘brain dumping’ your thoughts on a subject can make things a whole lot clearer.

Get some inspiration

Sometimes you’ll have a fantastic idea on an article you want to write.  Other times you’ll know what you want to say, but you’re missing some bits.  Don’t despair, get the thoughts down you’ve had and then have a search round.  Try searching for your subject, check a couple of books, maybe send a tweet out and ask your followers their opinions on the subject.  Sometimes the very process of searching can be enough to formulate your article in a much more coherent way.

Fresh Air

It’s amazing how many times we have our best ideas when we don’t mean to.  Generally that means we are doing something else entirely.  Having a shower, working out, sat on the toilet or even having a bath (it worked for Archimedes) all seem to be favourites for eureka moments.  Rather than sitting at your machine, putting yourself under more and more pressure to get an article written, why not put your coat on and take a little stroll in the fresh air.  Even if it’s rotten weather, the process of concentrating on something entirely unrelated can get your subconscious creative juices flowing.  At the very least you’ll be getting away from your screen.

Writing a blog is a fantastic tool for promoting and growing your business, it is all about consistency and content.  Unfortunately we all get caught up in our work habits and forget that masterpiece of an article we wanted to write.

So to use some poetic licence on a programme I do remember from my youth I’m going to ‘Turn off my email and do something less boring instead’.  Why don’t you.

What can Digital Marketing learn from Direct Marketing (DM)?

For many marketers, digital marketing has quite rightly become their number one priority.


The flexibility, cost savings and relative ease of use makes it a marketing channel that is perfect for many. Quite rightly too, but what is sometimes forgotten in the use of this marketing panacea is sometimes focused too much on the technology and not enough on the best way to use it.

And in this respect digital really can learn lessons from DM.

One clear lesson is one that DM practitioners have been using for years. The well worn DM path of Test, Learn and Refine is one that fits perfectly with the benefits that digital bring. And it is a reason why many of the best digital marketers have a DM background.

Secondly, the essence of any great marketing strategy is a perfect mix of marketing channels all working in conjunction to best meet the business objectives. Digital campaigns work best when they are combined with other marketing routes. Making sure, as you would with a DM campaign, that all branding is in line and reflects the key messages you are trying to make.

Thirdly, any great DM campaign follows the Test, Learn and Refine process, but also any DM must be AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action). The beauty of digital is that it can speed up this process as feedback can be instantaneous. However, as it is so easy to do, it often becomes forgotten. Test, Learn and Refine can bring excellent results to any marketing campaign.

Creating something interesting, great design, persuasive copy and call to action are key to any effective marketing piece. Be that digital or DM, the trick is to ensure that some of those fundamental lessons that arrived before the digital era are followed through. Digital marketing is essential for all businesses. It takes customer and supplier interaction to a new level.

However, the fundamentals of great integrated marketing campaigns should not be ignored.

Transfer Deadline PLC

As I write there are 9 hours 05mins and 32 seconds until transfer deadline day comes roaring to an end.  No doubt Jim White, the bouncing silver fox of Sky Sports News, will announce the ending of the countdown (along with live Big Ben link up) in typically enthusiastic fashion alongside @hayleymcqueen. 

We'll all finally remember to breath again having spent the final hour hoping above hope that somehow our club has managed to pull off the 'deal of the window' (not that we enjoy the hyperbole).  Then, unbelievably of course, a fax (why still faxes?) will have gone through with seconds to spare.  We'll all steel ourselves again as Jim will excitedly declare that things have yet to be tied up, but we're just awaiting confirmation. 

Finally at 1am we'll break that SSN trance and retire to bed, wondering what on earth we stayed up for to see a handful of journeymen footballers move (again) in a transfer window.  Of course they'll be a few big transfers, and with the Premiership already spending in excess of £100m* this window (not including transfers completed today) there's certainly enough movement to keep everyone interested.

And it is for just these reasons that the Transfer Deadline day has become a huge economic deal all by itself.  Forget for a second the £100m+ that is currently flowing cross-boarders and into and out of various league clubs, and perhaps most tellingly footballers and agents bulging bank accounts.

Days like this have become manna from heaven for 24 hour rolling news channels, especially a dedicated sports channel like Sky Sports News.  Advertisers will be more than aware of the likely increased interest on deadline day, and will be willing to pay the premiums. 

Headline sponsorship of Transfer Deadline Day programmes become a tool in themselves for both advertisers and the network to negotiate longer term deals.  This applies equally across the associated online channels, which for many football fans like me become more crucial on days like today.  After all, the vast majority of interested watchers of the football news today are going to have to contend with finding out the news on the go, or at least from the confines of a workplace.

Traffic levels on Twitter certainly back this up, with hash tags #transferdeadlineday and #bbcfootball already dominating.  Even footballers names have begun trending as the latest sightings and signings reach a crescendo.  In future years, this area holds massive revenue potential for advertisers and clever marketers who get their offers spot on.

Equally the written press, from red tops to broadsheets have been building to transfer deadline day.  Rumours, counter rumours and moves generate miles of column space in the build up, with the fallout and implications being covered in an equal amount of detail over the rest of the week.  It is events like this that must be firmly within the budget plans of news organisations these days.  With football fans eager to consume anything and everything to give them the inside track.

Obviously deadline day wasn't brought in with the intention of generating so much revenue for so many sources.  That has been a pleasant (for many) consequence.  But with many within football calling for a review of the validity of such a window, how long can the sales boost last in what for many companies is a quiet period?

Hopefully for a little longer, after all Jim White's over exuberant delivery is the equivalent of Freddie Piquionne diving into the crowd, it may not be by the rulebook, but it's a long way of deserving the red card!

The Rise and fall of a simple call – Episode 3, The Apprentice 2010

It’s a phrase that has long elicited feelings of power, triumph over disaster and success. Rising to the challenge conjures pictures of a bloodied and battered Terry Butcher, an exhausted Roger Bannister and a triumphant Edmund Hillary amongst others. These were people who have triumphed when the odds seemed against them, when they mustered every ounce of courage and what little energy was left and rose to top.


So to use the phrase to describe the goings on the latest Apprentice challenge is purely on for ‘punning’ reasons. Although, when Lord Sugar uttered the phrase at the start of the programme he was probably hoping to see Dr Shibby standing aloft a large pile of cash with his one remaining muffin shining like a beacon in triumph. Sadly, and very predictably it was less a case of the teams rising to the challenge, more the premature opening of the oven door on a soufflé.

Classic Apprentice in every respect, from the pitch through production and even final sales day, it was a challenge littered with ‘how not too’s...’ even down to the conduct of the project managers. Melissa and Shibby were the two project managers in the firing line, with Melissa’s team claiming the win in-spite of her.

The task for Shibby (sorry, Dr Shibby) fell down on two major aspects, over promising at the front end, and a production process that was badly managed. With communication between the departments the key to the whole debacle, or rather lack of communication. With clearer communication it was still feasible that the mistakes made at the front end could’ve been turned round and a win achieved. However, the lack of communication between the sub-teams and even between the members of the sub-teams was staggering.

In many ways saying ‘Yes’ to orders that will stretch your business is not a bad thing. As the old saying goes ‘if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten’, so stretching things isn’t inherently wrong. Under-promising and over-delivering is always better than over-promising, but the key to whatever approach you choose to take is ensuring that the communication lines within your business are such that all the key parts are aware of their roles in pulling off this mammoth task.

I was certainly left wondering what would’ve happened if Christopher had been running Dr Shibby’s production line. It is fair to say that Melissa only really succeeded through the qualities Christopher and his military background brought to the cake production. And the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced Christopher could’ve rescued Dr Shibby’s hotel order and ensured that it was Melissa and her Jenny Eclair style that faced Lord Sugar Cakes.

What it did go to show is how crucial communication is to winning. The best teams, be they business teams, football teams or military teams succeed where clear communication exists and is encouraged.

Friends, Lancastrians...here me now!! Apprentice 2010 Episode 2

Sound. We all make it, some more than others. And it’s the same in business, and never has there been a better time to be heard. Though let me qualify this, there is a distinction between sheer volume and the distinct sounds of passionate and enthusiastic believers.

The enthusiasm with which the candidates have attacked the first few tasks is admirable. Enthusiasm, especially around the creative table, is an essential element; a fired up, high-energy session creates its own momentum of ideas. Enthusiasm and energy can get you a long way, particularly when the going gets tough.

What has been seriously less admirable is the usual Big Brother mix of ego’s, super-ego’s and demi-gods, focused solely on making, well noise quite frankly, and lots of it.

As expected a dose of Stella tempered the boys’ stag-rut (in complete contrast to real life). However, the screaming match continued on the girl’s team, with the all-seeing eyes of the classy Karen and Nick less than impressed.

The uncontrollable noise from the girls meetings reflects a similarity within many industries these days. The markets out there are often crowded, noisy places, not easy places for your customers to hear your voice. Sometimes it’s just hard to get heard.

It’s your marketing that gets you heard, and the very best marketing will do this in such a way that you’ll get heard over the din created by everyone else.

Many desperately join in to the cacophony of sound; hoping brash volume will turn heads, Joanna being a prime example. Others sit back, aghast at the wall of sound in front of them, unable or unwilling to get involved. Some crack it with expert advice. And others put up their hands and hope for the best just like Joy.

A hand in the air, will get attention initially but as the old saying goes, sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. And after seeing that hand wafting in the breeze for a few minutes, it no longer registers as relevant.

It is as true with your marketing. Truly uncontested spaces are difficult to find, and it is important that you are able to get noticed, and then create such an impression that it’s your voice that is the one others turn to.

Get heard, make some noise but ensure you can back it up. As Karren Brady put so succinctly, it’s about finding those moments where your words will make the most impact. Don’t think putting your hand in the air is enough. Joy did, and the impact was lost. And even more criminal, when she was given the platform in the boardroom to put her view over, she flunked it.

Throw your enthusiasm and energy into your messages, and find innovative and most importantly, relevant ways for your message to be heard. Pick your moments and strike with impact, understanding and relevance.

Then the next time you get vocal, you’ll see the room quietening a whole lot quicker, with no hands required.

The Apprentice is Back (-'s Up!)

The Apprentice well and truly sizzled back onto our TV screens this week with the usual mix of ego’s, attention seekers and potential stars. That wasn’t entirely unpredictable, and neither in many ways was the result once the boys appointed Dan Harris to be their first project manager.


It was an episode filled with lessons in ‘how not too’, but let’s not forget in the furore that followed the result, both teams achieved profit. That was about as good as it got, as neither team overly impressed, though it is fair to say that that isn’t unusual in week one.

Watching the episode with a group of seven women was an interesting place to be, especially as the boys team held their kick-off meeting...or should that have been stag rut. Things didn’t get any better once the sausage challenge kicked off, with the views in the room going from mild annoyance to outright disgust.

From the moment Dan was appointed project manager, Desperate Dan appeared. Indeed he may have been better eating his cow pies lovingly prepared by Aunt Aggie. The bumbling fool of The Dandy fame was there, however somewhere along the line, it may have been the kitchen fumes, he morphed into Gordon Ramsey, or certainly his vocabulary did.

Under the pressure of the challenge and the testosterone filled frenzy, Dan ignored almost all the rules of good people management and proceeded to shout, swear and bully his way to a profitable loss. His team were on edge from the first moment, automatically taking their lead from the project manager. His body language, demeanour and conduct did nothing to calm, reassure and control his charges. In fact, it’s fair to say we will probably see several of them less macho as the series proceeds, with a different project manager around.

There will be different body language and communication experts that will be able to explain what went on far better than I can, but you certainly didn’t need to be an expert to understand just how wrong the boys and Dan in particular got it.

Respect was for me the biggest lesson. Even the girls team got it wrong a couple of times, almost in a more spectacular way when they left a customer wanting to do a big deal, whilst they proceeded to have an argument over who would close the sale. Showing no respect to the customer, they were lucky he stayed around; he may not have come back. Equally, the boys may have made a profit, but just who from the team has any respect for Dan? After all he showed none to them, and even more astonishingly, none to Lord Sugar in the boardroom.

Disagreements are acceptable in business. Dictatorial leaders/managers are arguably needed in certain situations. What makes it possible to move on and create lasting relationships with staff, suppliers and customers is having an underlying respect for each and everyone. Be they Lord or sausage maker.

Finding a Way

I applied for a job.

It isn't a recoil in horror moment, I promise.  Working on my businesses is still the best decision I've ever made and I'm still doing that, but this is different.

It was for a senior marketing role with my 2nd love Oldham Athletic.  A job I make no qualms about admiting was my 'dream' job 5 years ago.  I even went so far then as applying my cheekyness to arranging a meeting with the then Director of Marketing, Sean Jarvis to discover more from him about how he had made such a position, and how I could get into football marketing.  In a way I wasn't interested in general football marketing, I just had a burning ambition to be involved in my club.

Similarly, I don't mind admiting that my ambitions have changed on that front.  Certainly one of my dream goals is not just to have a marketing job with my club, but own it!  Ok, I'll rephrase that (I'm not that stupid), have a piece of it.  It may seem a silly goal, but for me it frames lots of smaller goals into a very exciting an tangible conclusion.

So why go for this job?  Well one thing I've realised over the past few years is that there are certain key things any business needs whether it is serving customers, providing a service, selling a box or playing football.  These are:

• A clear vision filled with positivity
• Clear effective communication with customers and staff (placing their needs at the heart of decision making)
• Innovative thinking
• Persistence

All seemingly simple things and so often missing or muddled.  And that it is a lack of those that I've noticed at Oldham since the owners known as TTA (The Three Amigos) came face to face with the stark reality of life at Oldham Athletic.  Over the last few years there has been a steady decline from within the club and that doesn't just apply on the pitch.  I should at this point point out that I have a great deal of admiration for TTA and indeed some of the staff within the club for what they have done and there has been plenty especially in terms of financial support.  They deserved more for the efforts they put in. But there is no doubting that so much concentration has been on 'old' methods of selling the club.

And that is where I can see so many possibilities.  As you all know I'm definately in the 'glass half full camp' and although you can't suddenly fill a stadium with clever marketing ideas (we are a cynical bunch us football fans when it comes to our own club), you can put the structure in place so that when the day comes when the on-field product flourishes, you are ready to maximise the off-field opportunities.  After all the success or failure on the pitch is fundamentally they key to any off-field successes.

Oh how I'd love to get into the club and just seeing what could be achieved.  After all for anyone out there willing to give it some investment the picture in many ways is quite an interesting one.  Certainly in terms of divisions the club could go lower.  But in terms of crowds in my opinion we're now pretty close to the bottom.  As the economy still struggles to recover, outside of the Premier Greed there is an increasing supply of out of work footballers, which will make lower wages a reality in the lower divisions eventually.  This again brings costs down.  Financially the club is fairly stable and certainly in no danger having cut its cloth accordingly over the past few years. In Paul Dickov, Oldham Athletic have a young, ambitious manager keen to mould a squad of young, hungry and talented individuals into a winning team.  A new stadium could be on the way, and there is an owner who wants to sell.  All these add up to a tasty looking investment for someone with deeper pockets than me.

So I applied to get in through that class door, it wasn't to go back to working life, it was to try and inject a little of the entrepreneurial spirit into a business that means so much to me.  A business that I want to see thriving even if that doesn't always translate to trophys and promotions.  A business that I want others to feel the way I do now 100 years in the future.

I didn't get it!  But that's ok, because the way I see it, it could be me making that decision in a few years time.

What a lucky shot: football and business opportunities

It's nearly football season time again. The time when every football fan in the country experiences a massive high of expectations in that last 10mins before kickoff.  A feeling only a relative handful will continue to feel for the remaining 9 months of the season.

For those of you who are not followers of our national sport you will be quite justified in dismissing the upcoming months as yet another year of pointless running around with a pigs bladder.  But there is no getting away from the fact that football as a sport, way of life and increasingly a business, is a key strand of our local and national pysche.

Take Burnley, many non-football fans in the town (of which there are very few) will point to the glorious industrial past, ringing singing tree and the beautiful pennines as major selling points.  But few will be able to argue that the town has been put back on the map of England in a major way by the promotion and season in the Premiership that filled the past year.  Even those businesses that didn't benefit directly from the increase in the football club's spending in the local economy will have seen the benefit that having a team in the Premier League with the eyes of the world focused upon it brings.

It is certainly a benefit that Blackpool will feel this coming season as they emulate Burnley by taking their turn in the 'big league'.  Without doubt it is an opportunity that must be taken, as an Oldham fan I can vouch for that.  Our town saw our Premier League opportunity come too early (before the big money really arrived) and despite 3 seasons in the top division our team now prepares to embark on it's 13th consecutive season in League One (or division 3 in old money).  As a club and a town Oldham didn't take the opportunity to maximise the chance they had, and that is really where a business lesson lies...maximising opportunities however big or small they may be.

Luck plays a part with all opportunities, and rather than declaring that luck has nothing to do with business I like to look on it another way.  Luck or LUCK really is all about maximising opportunities and how do you do that?  Well through LUCK:
L - Location, getting yourself out there and speaking to as many people as possible, mentioning your aims, your goals and your challenges and where you're looking for help.  Be on the field.
U - Understanding, know your chosen field as well as you can, who are the players, where are the opportunities
C - Contacts, speak to people, network (both in real-life and on social networking sites), draw up a list of the people you would really like to speak to and mention them to everyone you know...you've played the Kevin Bacon game right??
K - Knowledge, know your subject, be an expert, you don't need to be working in an industry for years to know about it, do your research.

Or to bring it back to football, Rooney worked hard on his skills and that enabled him to score 36 goals in total last season.  But he also used a big slice of LUCK...he knew where he would score most goals and got himself there. He worked in training on where the opportunities best arrived for him. He had some excellent teammates, and he knew exactly how he needed to strike the ball each and everytime in order to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way.  (World Cup aside of course!!!).

So increase your chances of scoring by using your own slice of luck, and take a leaf from Burnley and maximise the opportunities when they arrive.  And any time you get that feeling of complete optimisim in the 10 mins before kick off hold on to it...it will get you through those cold winter Tuesday nights at home to Gillingham.

So what did we learn from Young Apprentice?

With the dust still settling on the winning task on Junior Apprentice I’ve been delighted, but not surprised by the candidates performances. The show did much to showcase some fantastic young business people, all offering different levels of maturity and skill, but bags and bags of enthusiasm.


And it was no coincidence that the teams managed to pull in some record breaking Apprentice sales records. Stripped of mature ego’s (something I sure we’ll see lots of in the Apprentice show proper) the youngsters often identified the key points quickly and, without a sense of fear, threw themselves into the tasks. So many times in the show proper mature ego’s not mature people, have let their desire to be seen override the basic key points related to the task.

The show produced a worthy, if slightly surprising winner in 17 year old Arjun Rajyagor who scooped a prize purse worth £25000 for his future business career. Surprising only due to the fact he didn’t leap out as a winner in the early tasks, but came flying to the front in the last couple, just pipping Tim Ankers to the final decision.

It was the correct decision for me, certainly out of the final four of Arjun, Tim, Zoe Plummer and Kirsty Cleaver.

Tim showed a level of maturity unsurpassed by many of the others, but a definite role on future episodes of Countryfile look assured for the sheep-shearer turned sharp suited TV natural.

Kirsty lived up to her name, cutting straight through so much nonsense and was never a shrinking violet, despite her lack of inches.

Zoe was an intriguing character, her of the Human League bob and rolling eyes. Despite annoying almost every viewer I’ve spoken to and most of the other contestants, she displayed a ruthless sales instinct. She would quite probably be able to sell ice to the Eskimos.

The Twitter-sphere was alight with running commentary on the tasks, and it was clear that all the contestants have good futures ahead of them, whatever their chosen field.

So what have we learned? Well as many of us know already, there are a fantastic group of young people working their ways through the education system who aren’t out to jump on any bystander with a knife. The bad rap that many youngsters get was dispelled in huge quantities by driven and hungry young people looking already at their futures. Yes, there was more than a touch of toe-curling regurgitation of classic Apprentice lines “I’ve been working for this all my life” said one 16 year old – an interesting concept!

There was for me one salient lesson for all of us whatever your chosen path.

Discover that childlike enthusiasm for business; go jump in a few puddles, bump down the stairs on your bottom and run as fast as you can down the road. And once you’ve found that inner child take a look again at your biggest challenges and tackle them with all that youthful energy.

Where have all the mentors gone?

Us entrepreneurs are interesting beasts.  Full of our own ideas and thrust to put things into action, but for many of us there is a bit of a hole that needs filling. 
As many a Sir David Attenborough programme will tell you, so many other species in this world learn from those that have done it before, nearly always a parent, but occassionally a wily ally or two.  How to swim, how to fly, how to dig yourself a den, how to defend it, and how to live to fight another day.
And so it's also the case with entrepreneurs, there are so many places and people to go to for advice and help.  So much so that it can rapidly become white noise.  Particularly over the past few years as the government and authorities have understood that enterprise is central to the prospects of our great town/region and country.  Certainly I myself have benefitted from advice when I was starting up, much of it though, I have to say, pitched at such a low level that I left never to return.  Indeed, one advisor sat and listened to me outline my plans, produce marketing plans and other strategies and could do nothing except to ask why I had even asked to see them. Such was level of detail I had already been involved in.  But I would wholly defend these types of agencies and the work they do in dispensing advice and helping each and every person looking to start a business.

But what about those of us who are looking for a mentor? Someone who really has been there and done it, someone who you can approach with an idea or a query relating to your business. Someone who sits outside of these local advisors and isn't restrained by targets to increase jobs/businesses in the local area.  What about those mentors who really have taken a start up business and taken it national, or understand the 'think big' mentality, but also know the very practical pitfalls. Those that have thought big and made it happen, where are they?  I guess I'm talking about someone you can pick the phone up to and ask for advice.

And how does someone like me get to speak to them, meet them and be mentored by them?

I confess I don't know the answer to that. Perhaps it is different for everyone.  But I am one of those people who likes to learn from others, and likes to bounce ideas off.

As someone pointed out to me, the ideal mentor is someone that you respect in business and someone you can create a clear structure of support with.  I agree with that, There has to be both of those things in order to really benefit both parties.  As someone who has done a little mentoring myself I know that I as the mentor feel more fulfilled when I'm learning as well.

After all when the tiger cub is taught how to run, catch and eat it isn't kept close.  It is sent out into the big wide world to fend for itself - but always with some valuable lessons and advice.

Being social in real life

Headed home from my mastermind group tonight (that's mastermind as in the group principle advocated by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich as oppose to a group that meets to put each other in a black leather chair and ask searching questions...I've started so I'll finish)...after an interesting discussion and ideas on Social Network/Media.  We were coming up with ideas for three different businesses tonight to do with Social Network/Media and it got me thinking about the latest 'marketing black art'.

Now I call it 'black art' as being a relatively new arm of marketing it holds a lot of fear for some people.  But it really shouldn't.  In fact give it another 2-5 years and aspects of Social Networking/Media/Marketing will no longer be known as that, they will have reverted to just marketing.  And for those of you filled with fear and confusion when terms like blogs, linking, buttons, updates etc etc I give you the line to ease your mind...

Forget the technical terms, its just a different way to speak to your customers.

Honestly that is all there is to it.  By all means create a proper plan (to prevent ps poor performance) and dedicate resource to it, but most of all embrace it - don't be scared of it.  For the generation or two (yikes) below me - the next raft of employees and employers - the above terms are second nature.  So put aside the fear and meet it head on.  Start learning, using and engaging - you'll find the new marketing black arts will soon merge into all those other marketing black arts that have been scaring us for years.