Two examples of completely meaningless Web site copy

Here's one of the worst examples I've seen recently of an introductory paragraph on a Web site:



Why can't they just say something clear and simple, like:

"If you're a professional facilitator, we'll help you improve your delivery skills and get more business."

Sure, it doesn't use as many big words, and it might not be exactly right, but it's a lot clearer than "Maximising the benefits of their learning initiatives"!

But if you think that's bad, look at this example from the Vitec Group in the U.K.:



Admittedly, this is their second paragraph, so they don't lead with that. But it's still a lot of words, saying absolutely nothing useful.

Is too much Twitter bad for you?

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are the big three social networking tools for busy professionals. But are we getting fooled into giving them more time than they're worth. Self-proclaimed "contrarian" Alan Weiss certainly thinks so, in his recent blog post Social Medea.

He takes aim at people who become too absorbed in these platforms, and makes some provocative points - such as:

• If you didn't use Facebook for a week, would your life be poorer?
• The people most in favour of these tools are those most likely to be making money encouraging their use.
• Serious conversations in these environments tend to peter out.
• Why talk of monetising Twitter when even Twitter itself can't make money from it?

The article is written in Alan's usually provocative style, and isn't entirely rational and unbiased (he even says so himself). For instance, his argument about taking a week's break from Facebook could equally be applied to "real world" networking; people selling spades are often the people most often talking up a gold rush; serious conversations might peter out online, but often create real connections offline; and Facebook - unlike Twitter - does make money.

But he does make some important points, and it's well worth the read.

The Internet Road Warrior

How easy is it to do "business as usual" in today's connected world? Gihan put this to the test last month, and has just returned from a month in Prague, which was a combination of work and pleasure ("weisure", as New York University sociologist Dalton Conley calls it, or "furking" (combining fun and working), as Kirsty Spraggon calls it). In this podcast, Chris interviews Gihan about his experiences using the Internet for this purpose.


MP3 File

Broadly, let's use the metaphor of taking a trip. It has three broad parts: How you get on the road; what you take with you; and what you do when you arrive.

Get (metaphor for Internet access)

In general, Internet access in Europe is easy and fast compared with Australia (and in Venice, it will soon be free to residents). In Prague, wireless hotspots are widely available, though of course you have to be aware of security issues when using public access points.

Other access:

• Use Skype for free computer-to-computer phone calls, and for cheap long-distance calls
• Get a SkypeIn phone number for incoming calls
• Get a virtual fax number with mbox.com.au - your faxes are delivered to you by e-mail

Take (metaphor for essentials)

Phrase book (metaphor for all the language things):

• Be aware of differences in keyboard layouts e.g. finding the "@" key on an Italian keyboard!
• Various Web sites (Google, Bing, Facebook, Blogger) detect your location based on IP address, and default to the local (Czech) version
• Most informational Czech Web sites have English (and German) versions
• If they don't, BabelFish can do translations for you

Money:

• Online banking is easy for transferring money between accounts
• Currency converter - www.xe.com/ucc, OANDA.com or just Google it.

Things to Do

Sightseeing:

• Google Maps - invaluable for maps and directions
• Tourist information Web sites
• Coin-operated Internet kiosks in airports, info offices, etc.
• Planning and booking side-trips can all be done on-line nowadays

Keeping in touch: Plan what level of information you share with each circle of people in your life - e.g.

• Facebook for family and friends
• A blog for business
• An e-zine for subscribers
• Twitter for anybody

Business meetings:

• Use Skype for phone calls - as mentioned earlier
• Use a webinar service like GoToWebinar.com for conference calls and presentations
  
• Time zone issues - www.worldtimeserver.com has a handy meeting planner to show time zones in different countries

Head of MI6 outed on Facebook

It's a story that could have appeared in the 1960s spy spoof "Get Smart". Confidential and personal details about the new head of Britain's MI6 have been leaked to the public on Facebook.

The guilty party? His own wife, who didn't bother checking Facebook's privacy settings, and went about merrily exposing to the world all the details of their personal life - including information that rival spy networks usually have to work hard to learn.

Not everybody is as naive and stupid as Lady Shelley Sawers. But it's a timely reminder to check the privacy settings on all your social networks. You might be exposing more than you intended!

Sometimes It IS Just About The Wedding Dress

All other things being equal, long-term success is better than a short-term focus. But right now, all other things aren't equal.

Listen to the audio clip here:


MP3 File

Read the article in full here.

The Power of One - it's unhealthy!

One of my mentoring clients, who runs a big training organisation, told me that his biggest client - worth more than 60% of their business - suddenly decided one day to build a big in-house training centre for their people. My client was suddenly left with a gaping hole in his cash flow and profitability.

I was reminded of this recently when I heard that Microsoft announced it would make free anti-virus software available for its users. I wondered what security software companies like Symantec and McAfee would say. Sure enough, David Hall, who is Symantec’s Product Manager in the Asia-Pacific region, came out fighting today, claiming that Microsoft's solution is inadequate - even calling it "dangerous". Maybe it's true; maybe it's bluster. Either way, it shows they're concerned.

What would you do if your biggest income source suddenly disappeared? For many employees, this is exactly what's happening now, when they lost their jobs due to the recession. Business owners are better protected, because we usually have more than one person paying us. But are you over-reliant on one client, one method of delivery, one strategic alliance, one market niche, or one product?

Reflections on a fabulous month away in Prague

I've just returned from a month in Prague, which was a combination of work and pleasure ("weisure", as New York University sociologist Dalton Conley calls it, or "furking" (combining fun and working), as Kirsty Spraggon calls it).

Here are some of my insights, reflections and ideas.

1. Yes, you CAN do it.

Travel no longer has to be about EITHER work or pleasure, or even a work trip with a holiday tacked on to the end. It really is possible to combine work and fun into your everyday life while travelling. That doesn't make you a workaholic who can't switch off work even when on holiday. It means you're in the lucky position of being able to work in an exotic location!

I first realised this a few years ago when I started spending Fridays working outside by the river at Matilda Bay here in Perth. I pack my laptop, mobile phone and wireless Internet card into a backpack and ride my bike down there, sit myself at an outdoor cafe and work there all day. Occasionally somebody passing by would say something like, "What a shame to be working on such a beautiful day". But they were the exception. Far MORE people would say, "How lucky that you can work in such a beautiful environment". Of course, both attitudes are equally "right" or "wrong" - I just happened to adopt the more useful one!

2. Plan a soft landing.

When planning my trip, my biggest concern was for the first few days, making sure I would be able to set up everything easily in Prague for a smooth transition. It made it a LOT easier that I was staying with a friend, so I knew I would have Internet access, a desk, a local Czech SIM for my phone ... and a friendly face when I arrived.

For my next trip (next year), I won't have that luxury. So I have to do more planning ahead. But it's worth the effort, because I know if those first few days go smoothly, it makes everything else so much more relaxing.

3. Don't work too hard.

One of my goals was to spend the month in Prague doing "business as usual" - as easily as I would work in Perth. On reflection, that was an unrealistic goal. Not because it was more difficult than in Perth - it wasn't - but because I wanted to spend more time doing personal stuff.

"Well, duh!", I hear you cry - and you would be right. But it just hadn't occurred to me. I thought I could fit in a full day's work and get a full day's play as well. Something had to give, and luckily for me, my work was flexible enough that I could reduce those hours in order to give myself more play time.

4. Start before you're ready.

As I said, one of my goals was "business as usual"; and, despite the reduced working hours, I was able to make this work fairly easily. This was mainly because I had already set up my business to be able to work in this way.

Perth's isolation can be an obstacle, but it also has the advantage that if you want to reach beyond Perth, you just have to figure out ways to do it without constant travel. For me, I do most of my consulting and mentoring by phone; I do presentations by webinar and teleseminar; I do almost all my sales calls by phone; I use Skype for long-distance calls; I have a good mobile phone plan; I record podcasts and interviews by phone; I have an on-line membership site for clients; I publish e-books, online courses, blogs and podcasts; and so on.

So all of this stuff happened exactly the same way when I was in Prague - as far as my clients, subscribers and network were concerned. I do do some stuff face to face, but because most of my clients aren't in Perth, that's a minority of my work, not the bulk of it.

If you're planning this sort of trip, I suggest you start implementing some of these things as well. Don't wait until the month before your trip - that's too late. Start now, so that when you do announce you're going away, your clients and business contacts won't really be affected.

5. Stay in touch in a controlled way.

The Internet makes it so much easier now for us to stay in touch. But be careful and choosy about what you share with whom. I had four levels of contact:

1. Phone and e-mail for specific people
2. Facebook for family and friends - for general, chatty travel news
3. My blog and newsletter for my business contacts - for a more business-like tone of voice
4. Twitter for anybody else

This meant I could keep in touch, but do it in an appropriate way for each group. It meant business contacts didn't see my personal travel photos, and friends and family don't have to wade through business-related stuff. I do that anyway when I'm at home - so I was keen to keep that discipline while travelling.

Of course, sometimes I could share my communication among different groups. Nowadays, Web 2.0 technology makes that easy. For example, if I put some photos in an album on Facebook, I can choose to make that album visible to others. I used that feature, so I could share (some) photos with my business network as well, in case they were interested (If you're interested, click the pictures below to see some of my photos of Florence, Prague and Berlin).



6. Just do it.

At the start of the year, I set this goal for spending a month in Prague. But I kept dragging my feet and putting it off. Finally, two things forced my decision: My friend Brandon was going to leave Prague soon; and I read that Singapore Airlines was offering very low fares.

Looking back now, I can't believe I procrastinated so much. I'm so glad those two external things forced my hand! My advice to you is: Don't wait. Yes, do all the appropriate planning and preparation; but don't get bogged down in it. It's better to do it too soon than too late.

You won't regret it, and you'll have a wonderful experience.

The Inspired Leader, by Matt Church

Matt Church, a client and friend, has created this slide presentation about what it takes to be an inspired - and inspiring - leader in the 21st century:

What are the hot new business markets?

Nuclear physicist Neils Bohr is quoted as saying "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future". Despite this, we all want to look into our crystal balls, especially when trying to determine the next big booming areas. Even if you don't want to work in those industries yourself, if you can position yourself to serve those industries, you increase your chances of long-term success.

One guide might be to see what career advice is being given to university graduates. For instance, the University of California San Diego Extension program recently published a list of the best career options for new graduates. Their dozen picks are:

1. Casual Game Development
2. Clinical trials design and management for oncology
3. Data Mining
4. Embedded Engineering
5. Feature Writing for the Web
6. Geriatric Healthcare
7. Mobile Media
8. Occupational Health and Safety
9. Spanish/English Translation
10. Sustainable Business Practices and the Greening of all Jobs
11. Teaching Adult Learners
12. Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Some are predictable - such as the technology and green areas - but there might be some surprises for you here. You can read the full article here.

Avoiding depression during the recession

One of my clients, Tim Sharp, has written an excellent special report "Taking Control in the Economic Downturn: How to avoid emotional depression during the financial recession". It's well worth a read if you (or somebody you know) are concerned about the current economic downturn.

There are plenty of other resources like this, but this is not just some Oprah-style pop psychology from an unqualified consultant, author, speaker or celebrity. Tim - or to use his full title: Dr. Timothy Sharp, Ph.D., M.Psychol., B.Sc.(Hons); Adjunct Professor - UTS Business School; Adjunct Professor – RMIT School of Health Sciences - knows what he's talking about!