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Take a look around you. It’s happening everywhere today. Even people with a ‘real’ office are doing it! You guessed it: they are holding meetings in their ‘new office‘. More commonly/formerly known as your favorite coffee shop…it is now often occupied by people ‘taking appointments‘ where you just wanted to go and relax and maybe even have a coffee with a friend. Who knew?
Now there are several schools of thought about this. From the perspective of the casual coffee drinker – someone who came for coffee and some ‘down time’ (remember when we used to call them ‘coffee breaks‘?)- this can be as annoying as not getting their favorite table, or as intrusive as having to listen to the sales pitch of the ____________(Insert Business Sector Here) an elbow-length away.
For the newly independent business professional, these meetings have become the norm, and also the necessity. It is the best way to get in front of people, and ‘I’m just going to grab a quick coffee’ is the free pass out the door, for anyone who wants to take a meeting on the bosses’ time.
For the casual observer it can be quite an incidental education, as people share intimate details both personal and professional – with increasing ease. For some serious business folk, the casual drinkers – we are still talking about coffee here – have a nuisance factor all their own. Have you ever heard anyone complain about the invasion of mommies and stroller-occupants onto their turf? (Lighten up – moms need coffee too. Where did you want them to go?)
…and that doesn’t even begin to include the issue of students with laptops hogging all that free wireless! Yikes – what’s a girl to do? Miss Manners didn’t have time for me today, so I made some up on my own.
Marilyn’s New Business Guide to Coffee Shop Etiquette:
1. This is a business and they are not renting space. Buy something! If you are there for more than one appointment, buy something again!
2. Free wireless is great, and also a marketing tool for the management, but don’t abuse it. If you have used up your time, they will give you another code – buy something when they do.
3. You are a guest of the establishment: behave like one. Respect the space, and the others in it. Don’t take over the whole room with your conversation or your high-volume iPod.
4. Your Mother doesn’t work here. Pick up after yourself before you leave.
5. Remember your manners. Say “Please” and “Thank-you”. Play nice, at all times.
I took my ideas to the first expert I found – cafe operator Jennifer Harrison (The Buzz Cafe, 901 Homer Street, Vancouver) Jen had just one Request
1. Please don’t use the word ‘grab’ when placing your request. You may tell your boss you are going to ‘grab’ a coffee….but to Jen, ‘grab’ is just another 4-letter word.
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Twitter is a giant conversation and you get to listen in on any part of it. Several million people are tweeting (talking) day and night, 24 hours a day and you have the opportunity to listen in.
Listen to what people are saying (it’s called trending on twitter), what people are excited about, what’s in the news. Find out what’s important to your readers. Incorporate popular topics in your writing, especially blogs and on-line articles.
Examples of a recent Twitter Session:
@AnneOnline was talking about taking her dog for a walk Took Ivy dog with me. A chicken poked its head out and Ivy tried to get in, but all is well. Chickens are safe for another day. =)
@billwelker quoted Lou Gerig The ballplayer who loses his head, who can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all. -Lou Gehrig
@alferreti mentioned an online article Making Twitter #FollowFriday Effective http://tinyurl.com/lemel6
@properitygal recommended someone she follows #followfriday @terrywygal cause he knows his itsha in Real Estate investing and puts on great seminars-tell him to put me on his stage
Using the search capability of Twitter, you can research any topic in less time and with more relevant results than with any other online tool.
You can connect with any of the tens of millions people who use twitter everyday. When you follow them, you’re able to see their tweets, what they’re saying.
It’s not necessary for people you’re following to give permission. In that respect, it’s like being on stage and your relationship with your audience. For example, you can follow experts in your field or celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.
Use Twitters search capability to find someone you’d like to follow. You’re able to see who other people follow, so a tip to build a community quickly is to follow all the folks a person of influence does.
Now you’ve built a community, it’s time for you to dive into the conversation. The same rules that apply at a business networking event apply to Twitter. Rule one is DON’T SPAM. Any form of “Buy my product” is spam.
Safe Twitter message types for the beginner are to
· retweet another user. Copy what they’ve said, giving them credit.
· Reply to what someone has said .. that’s the conversation part. Don’t be shy.
· Tweet your favorite quotes
· Let folks know what you’re reading .. online articles or blogs with a line
Be a giver. Help others by providing good content, tips and encouragement. In the case of Twitter, the good guys do finish first.
Twitter is one of the fastest growing internet applications. It’s so easy to use, anyone can establish an account and start to tweet. Building a community and effective communication requires some concentration, but is easily attainable for those who Listen, Connect and Communicate.
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Almost everyone has a Facebook account. The schemes we use to build up our Facebook friends are as varied as our personalities. Early on numbers mattered. It wasn’t unusual for folks to reach the 5000 upper limit.
Is it any wonder we have friends who abuse that relationship? You know who they are. They send you virtual teddy bears, ask you to play time wasting games and send you endless messages to join their mlm meeting on Tuesday in Iowa .. and you live in 2,000 miles away.
More and more, folks are using Facebook to build relationships and connect with their business community. Along with Linkedin and Twitter, Facebook can be an effective entry in your Social Media toolbox.
Is your Facebook Inbox full of spam? Removing it forever turns out to be a lot simpler than you realize. Take the time to remove those spammers from your friends. It’s really that simple. The 80/20 rule applies to your Facebook spam. 20% of your Friends are generating 80% of the spam in your inbox.
Invest some time to review your inbox messages and be ruthless. Unfriend anyone who sends you an unwanted message. The results are remarkable and almost immediate. Well worth the time for an Inbox with useful messages.
You can set up a meeting similar to Outlook using the GMail event function and Google Calendar Synch.
Send the invitation by e-mail. When you recepient accepts the invitation, you’ll receive another e-mail. Your Google Calendars are updated
I use Google Calendar Synch to synchronize with Outlook Calendar, so I can synchronize the calendar on my iPod touch (through iTunes). I’m running Windows 7 and Office 2007 and the sych runs flawlessly. I’ve synched Office 2003 on Vista, although it wasn’t as reliable or easy to set up.
We’ve been using Google Wave more and more to communicate with our clients. I hope to see this functionality added soon.
:) #