Business Is Chess Not Checkers

This week we were unable to record our normal show with both of us over Skype due to tech failure! This happens from time to time and so Trish recorded this episode to talk about the implications of tech failure.

LINK

Here is an article which talks about Skype & alternatives:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fed-up-with-skype-here-are-6-of-the-best-free-alternatives/

This week we have a another special guest - Darren Dutson-Bromley. Trish interviewed him whilst over in the UK recently. Darren is a jazz guitarist and entrepreneur - in this interview you'll get to hear about how he made a living out of something he loves: playing and teaching guitar.

We hope you'll be inspired to stick with your dream, be encouraged to think outside the box and be inspired by this short yet insightful glimpse into's Darren's world.

LINK

http://www.darrendutsonbromley.com

This week Trish was over in the UK and recorded this interview with June Dennis - Head of University of Wolverhampton Business School and international speaker.

Some valuable insights on:

- What marketing really means

- Getting the right product, price and target customer at the right time

- Common mistakes people make

- How to leverage/scale your efforts

Between us we own and have read so many valuable books that help us with our business - from new ideas to useful techniques. Here are a few we picked out to discuss in this podcast:

BOOKS

Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi

The Start Up of You, Ried Hoffman & Ben Casnocha

In this episode we talk about how to manage your database of contacts using free or paid options and how we encourage people to join our list of contacts. Here is a breakdown of topics:

- Why keeping in touch is important

- Newsletters and adding value

- Professional templates versus personal email account

- Mailchimp versus Aweber

- Finding balance between regular contact and being annoying!

LINKS

www.aweber.com

www.mailchimp.com

http://www.taylorednlp.com

http://effective-businesscommunication.com

Sometimes, especially in the early days of starting a business, it can be hard to turn away business and say no. However, not everyone is our client - they may not be a good fit for us or vice versa. 

In this episode, we both share experiences when we have turned down clients and explain why. We talk about setting boundaries and having a policy in place to know when to say no in a business situation.

READ

Here is a link to the book we mention: "No Excuses" Brain Tracy:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Excuses-The-Power-Self-Discipline/dp/1593156324

When we work for ourselves we often think that we don't have time to take a break or we feel guilty. In this episode we share about how beneficial we've both found breaks to be and how balance is important. Turn not working 9-5 to your advantage!

Here is the Brian Tracy book Trish mentioned:

READ

http://www.amazon.com/No-Excuses-Self-Discipline-Brian-Tracy/dp/1593156324/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438456568&sr=1-1&keywords=brian+tracy

There are many more ways in which we can use Twitter for tracking, organising and engaging - and in this episode we talk about:

- Quote Tweets

- Sharing links on Facebook, Email, Texts

- Using analytics to find out how engaged your audience is

- Scheduling Tweets in advance and how to do it

LINKS

https://www.socialoomph.com

https://hootsuite.com

https://tweetdeck.twitter.com

Adding images to social media posts and blogs make them much more appealing and more likely to be read & shared. Finding the right image that is of high quality can be a challenge though. 

In this episode we talk about finding cost effective images to suit your budget and suggest sites where you can obtain images that don't cost anything.

Another important point to be aware of is that in many cases permission is required to use images obtained from other sites. We explain the relevance of "Royalty Free" images.

Finally, we share our experiences of creating our own images when we can't find the right image to match our message. Canva is a user friendly site that lets you create all sorts of images and social media banners at no cost or low cost.

Here are the links to the sites we talk about:

https://en.fotolia.com

http://www.gettyimages.com

http://www.istockphoto.com

https://en.fotolia.com

https://www.canva.com

If you are fairly new to twitter it can be confusing and seem like a huge time commitment. In this episode we talk about how Twitter differs from Facebook and the advantages of using Twitter. 

Here are some tips we cover:

- Who to follow and how find followers

- Twitter rules about balancing who you follow with your followers

- When and how to unfollow people

- When and what to post

- Strategies for finding time to post

- Scheduling posts in batches

- Interacting the right way

- What are trending hashtags

Links we mentioned:

https://www.socialoomph.com