Why Richard Branson Threw Out the Rule Book (and you should too)

Following on from my last Blog "Risk" seems you also have to have a measure of Luck

By Hans Balmaeker

“Many millions of people proudly claim the title ‘entrepreneur.’ On the other hand, a title that hasn't gotten nearly the amount of attention it deserves is entrepreneur’s little brother, ‘intrapreneur’”

Success in business can be the result of great visions and thoughtful strategies, but Richard Branson has revealed that the success of Virgin is, at least in part, owed to a stroke of luck. Before Virgin Mobile had taken off, and while the Galactic project was only a twinkle in Branson’s eye, Virgin Travel provided an experience that would come to guide the entire brand’s business ethos.

By hiring an ambitious young designer, Joe Ferry, for an open-ended design project, Branson unwittingly realized the potential of ‘Intrapreneurship’. The intrapreneur, or entrepreneur in residence, is given the run of a company’s resources without the constraints of protocol and routine. This freedom can result in the kind of left-of-field ideas which inspire both cultural change and amazing business opportunity.

The success of this experiment was huge and as a result, Branson has incorporated Ferry’s intrapreneurial role into the infrastructure of the ever expanding Virgin brand. He has, in fact, credited intrapreneurship as the essential element of his success:

“Virgin could never have grown into the group of more than 200 companies it is now, were it not for a steady stream of intrapreneurs who looked for and developed opportunities, often leading efforts that went against the grain.”

Since then, Branson has been calling for a complete reassessment of how his, and other, business’ are run. He suggests that if management were to actively encourage intrapreneurship across the board then employees would have the freedom necessary to truly invest in their work.

Some other well-known companies have also embraced this thinking. They adopted policies enabling employees to play and tinker for up to 20% of their time, leading to some great new and successful products.

Would you like that freedom – the ability to act as if it were your own business? That feeling of being so much engaged in your work, that time slows down and everything seems to be going exactly right? How is that compared to your current corporate life – isn't there a big gap for most of us? 

As students, with no real understanding of the corporate world, most of us had big ideas, dreams and visions. We thought about how when we entered that world we would make a difference, how our generation would be leaders of change. Three years later, we are dragging ourselves out of bed and into work, and hoping to win the lottery so that we can have an early retirement. When you start intrapreneuring, you will do meaningful work, grow your impact and boost your career. It will ignite that spark again.

The intrapreneurial road isn't the most obvious one and for sure not the easiest. In fact, while entrepreneurs have the luxury of setting the course on their own, as an intrapreneur, you are part of a running business, which requires you to stay connected to and aligned with the influencers and decision makers in your organization.

As many impactful intrapreneurs have shared, the key to their success has been that they were able to combine their entrepreneurial thinking and mindset with some corporate-savviness. Above all, it’s not something just available for Richard Branson and the likes – it’s possible for all of us, you and me. It requires the decision to start and the commitment to succeed, which all of you at this blog have, right?

For young professionals looking to do more meaningful work, have a bigger impact and boost their careers, I suggest you follow Richard Branson advice: start intrapreneuring! If you’re not sure where to start and how to do it, have a look at our upcoming course. It might just be your ticket to corporate freedom.

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How Smart Risk Taking Can Impact Your Life & Happiness

Are You A Risk taker? Interesting piece by Rochelle Royal

According to the Oxford Dictionary the word ‘risk’ means, “A situation involving exposure to danger”. Realistically, this could range from something as simple as falling over when walking, to losing control of your bike, or even crashing your car; the list of possible dangers are endless.

Exploration in to the world of risk has shown that you can measure what kind of risk taker you are, much like an IQ score. A study with a large group of people will show that, on average, people are neither as low as a number one (averse to taking any risk as small as stepping out the front door) or are extreme dare devils (such as the famous Evel Knievel).

William Gurstelle, the Ballistics and Pyrotechnics Editor for Popular Mechanics Magazine has carried out years of research on risk aversion. It is his belief that a person’s inclination to risk-taking has a profound impact on their happiness and life satisfaction. This ties in closely to the endless asked question of whether we make our own luck in life.

Are people lucky or do they take the right risks at the right time? Science would tell us that lucky people take advantage of chance opportunities more than others; they are more likely to take risks. The more risks you take in life the more chance you have of doing something great.

Gurstelle’s research looked at the two extremes of risk-taking and found that the average person lies right in the middle. However, just to the right of the middle towards the Evel Knievel side of risk-taking lies what he calls the “Golden Third”. William Gurstelle argues: “People who fall into the Golden Third, who are more willing to take risks and capitalize on opportunities, experience the highest index of life satisfaction and fulfillment”.

How Risk Taking Can Impact Your Life & Happiness

THE GOLDEN THIRD

Once you enter the golden third, there is a fine balance in staying there. Advanced Riskology founder, Tyler Tervooren is committed to helping people utilise smart risk opportunities and live better lives through uncertainty. Tyler has granted us his time for an interview to share his insight and advice. The information provided should be able to guide you through the process of making good risks in everyday life.

Tervooren argues that: “Most people take risks because they don’t understand them”.

“We fear that which we don’t understand.”

When you take a risk, like applying for a new job, that doesn't lead to the desired outcome and you don’t understand why you didn't get it, especially if you have all of the relevant qualifications, you may be tempted to give up and stop trying again.

“Unless you understand how to take smart risks, this will be most people’s experience with it”. However, spend the time to research and understand what you are about to get yourself into, and then find a way to “dip your toe in”. Validate your big risk by taking smaller, less life altering ones first.

“Smart risk-taking can become a habit, just like anything else can. By repeating the steps necessary to take a smart risk – research, plan, test, evaluate etc. You can integrate that workflow into your habits so that it will always inform the risks you take”.

The fear factor to taking risk is likely to stay, as Tyler states: “as humans, we will stagnate unless we consciously push ourselves”.

Continuous discipline of the mind is essential to knowing how to take smart risks. As it is a fundamental part of the human experience, the more you practice and do it, the more it becomes natural: “Children learn to crawl before they walk. They walk before they run, and they run before they drive cars, fly aero planes, so on and so forth. At each step, there’s a fear barrier that has to be overcome”. With many sequences of successes before “you learn something and adjust for the next one which, of course, makes it that much scary to do”.

Advanced Riskology provides guidance on embracing the unknown without promoting any particular action. Tyler suggest that to live a fulfilled life we need to concentrate and improve on the risks that we are already skilled in and address the ones we struggle with, the ones that are holding us back from having the life we want.

He highlights:

“We tend not to notice that we’re good at something until we see others around us struggling with it”.

Even small moves in this area of your life will be uncomfortable, but if anything else Tyler assures that it simply means that “you’re headed in the right direction”.

Always remember there it is a fine art to stating balanced and living in the ‘Golden Third’ and straying into the reckless stage of many thrill seekers. A prime example of this in today’s world would be the guys from Jackass or Dirty Sanchez.

Jane Downshire, a qualified councilor for Teenage Translated, specialises in teenage development and emotional literacy. On a daily basis, she struggles with the challenge of educating the high risk-taking tendencies of teenagers.

Janey offers to share some advice on how to manage risk-taking effectively:

“People must reflect on their actions and assess the outcomes consciously. Without feedback on your actions you can become narcissistic and uncivilised. When the consequences of your actions bare no meaning to you, you can become destructive to the people around you”.

Furthermore, Lynsey Dixon, Head of Marketing at Tombola (an online bingo betting site), speaking on the subject of associated problems with The Golden Third and the ways in which individuals can seek help, said: “In the gaming industry it is important to remember that it is about enjoying the thrill of the game and not about gambling to make money. At tombola, we place huge emphasis on the overall experience. We take our responsibilities seriously and work with a number of organisations to offer support, help and guidance to those who need it and encourage sensible behavior. It is crucial that individuals stay in control when taking risks, regardless of the situation”.

Conclusion

Know that risk-taking is an important part of development and it is essential to maintain a level of curiosity, motivation and desire to move forward. However, always maintain a conscious awareness of your actions through active reflection and you will learn to enjoy the process of smart-thinking.

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How to Run a Successful Affiliate Marketing Business

This article was originally posted on the Amazing Submit site, its very interesting some of which I was aware, but I did pick up ideas and strategies I didn't know - read on I hope you find it interesting

What You Can Do To Run A Successful Affiliate Marketing Business

Internet or web marketing is all about the marketing and sale of goods and services via the Internet. Although the subject can seem threatening to those without any previous experience, the basic techniques required to do good online marketing aren't that hard to master. The suggestions presented here can help.

Focus on building a quality site before you worry about marketing it and obtaining a ranking. This must be your first step in starting an online business. The better your site looks and operates, the less work you will have to do going forward.

Create a list of FAQs about your product. For each question or issue, offer a thoughtful answer, and mention products that you sell as a solution when appropriate. Come up with questions that answer a customer’s thoughts without being too obvious that you are using your products to do it.

Use popular websites to advertise your wares. This practice could lead to major exposure of your site. Look for a site that gets lots of traffic, and this can help you get your name out there.

Have sections or a large hub for your products so that visitors can easily find them. It’s great to give customers a lot of options, but you should still strive to give your page an organized appearance.

You must be willing to answer questions. People visit your site seeking knowledge, and if you can’t provide it to them, they will go elsewhere. Clear, concise information delivered in a friendly but professional way will show that you take your customers and your products seriously.

A regular blog keeps people thinking about your products. A continuing blog also stands as testament to the enduring value of your products. Blogging adds more content to your website, which can give you a larger presence on the internet. This frequently translates into more traffic to your site.

Try to make your website memorable. If your website is distinctive, it is likely to draw plenty of traffic away from more indistinguishable sites. Try spotlighting one of your special services.

Create a signature to put at the bottom of each e-mail you send, whether it’s for a personal or business message. Your e-mails are like your business cards on the internet. You should make sure they are spread as far as possible. Offering the person you are emailing a chance to see what your business is can help to increase site traffic and revenue.

Now that you've come to the end of this article, you are ready to get started. You need to remember to take things slowly and steadily. There aren't very many tactics out there that will generate traffic instantly. As long as you’re using accurate information, you should have no trouble creating a sound approach.

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Rudeness on the rise in social media

Have you ever experienced Rudeness or nasty behavior Via your Social Media?

Ever check out your news feed on Facebook and seeing friends behaving badly?

Not surprisingly, what happens offline is happening online — even at an accelerated rate.

And online rudeness is spurring fights in real life.

Rudeness and throwing insults are cutting online friendships short with a survey released April 2013 that reveals people are getting ruder on social media.

The study says two in five social media users have ended contact after a virtual altercation.

As social media usage surges, the survey found incivility also has increased with 78 percent of 2,698 people reporting an increase in rudeness online with people having no qualms about being less polite virtually than in person
.

One in five people have reduced their face-to-face contact with someone they know in real life after an online run-in.

Joseph Grenny, co-chairman of corporate training firm VitalSmarts that conducted the survey, said online rudeness now often spill into real life with 19 percent of people blocking, unsubscribing or “unfriending” someone over a virtual argument.

“The world has changed and a significant proportion of relationships happen online but manners haven’t caught up with technology,” Grenny told Reuters on the release of the online survey conducted over three weeks in February 2013.

“What really is surprising is that so many people disapprove of this behavior but people are still doing it. Why would you name call online but never to that person’s face?”

The Pew Research Center show that 67 percent of online adults in the United States now use social networking sites with Facebook the most popular while the latest figures show over half of the British population has Facebook accounts.

The survey follows a spate of highly publicized run-ins between people who came to virtual blows online.

British football player Joey Barton, who plays for Olympique de Marseille, was summoned by the French soccer federation’s ethics committee after calling Paris St Germain’s defender Thiago Silva an “overweight ladyboy” on Twitter.

Boxer Curtis Woodhouse was widely praised after he tracked down a tweeter who branded him a “complete disgrace” and “joke” after a loss, going to his tormenter’s house for an apology.

Grenny said survey respondents had their own stories such as a family not talking for two years after an online row when one man posted an embarrassing photo of his sister and refused to remove it, instead blasting it to all his contacts.

Workplace tensions are also often tracked back to conversations in chat forums when workers talked negatively about another colleague.

“People seem aware that these kinds of crucial conversations should not take place on social media yet there seems to be a compulsion to resolve emotions right now and via the convenience of these channels,” said Grenny.

Grenny suggested peer-to-peer pressure was needed to enforce appropriate behavior online with people told if out of line.

He said three rules that could improve conversations online were to avoid monologues, replace lazy, judgmental words, and cut personal attacks particularly when emotions were high.

“When reading a response to your post and you feel the conversation is getting too emotional for an online exchange, you’re right! Stop. Take it offline. Or better yet, face-to-face,” he said.

Then how to combat the ill effects of online rudeness?

I advise individuals and professionals think twice about sharing a tweet or a post. If you have one, adhere to your company’s or organization’s social media guidelines.

But the highest standard I have to determine what to share on social media is my grandmother.

I ask myself this important question: What would my grandmother think?

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http://www.tednguyenusa.com/rudeness-on-social-media/

Build Your Small Business Brand by Avoiding These 5 Common Pitfalls

Some Great Advice from Meaghan McClellen


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Every business starts out with the hope of a bright future, but some companies just can’t build a solid reputation or overcome obstacles as they climb the ladder.

Building your company’s image, or branding, is as essential as the products or services you actually provide, and you’ll want to steer clear of these common mistakes.

 

Common Pitfalls of Branding

Offending Consumers

Crass humor, stereotyping and patronizing customers is rarely an effective branding method, but accidental offense is also avoidable. A diverse company and marketing team is one way to make sure you won’t step on any toes. In fact, if you can locate the consumers that the competition offends, you might find yourself a profitable niche.

Being Too Rigid

CEO of GoDaddy, the Web hosting and domain company, Bob Parsons, is a creative leader. Not only is he the one who came up with the idea of GoDaddy girls, but businessman Bob Parsons explained his advertising strategy in an interview with Inc Magazine, in which he said there was no real advertising budget. Bob Parsons simply open to opportunities, even ones that pop up at the last minute. Allowing yourself to roll with the punches is necessary. Others will want to work with you when you develop a reputation as flexible.

Poor Name Choice

Choosing the right name for your company comes before Web sites, marketing campaigns and printed materials. For many, their own name also represents the business. You may play on words or use industry ideals. Whatever your name, it must represent your company. Changing names at a later date is confusing and costly. Because you’ll use your company name in so many places, consider the following:

• Is it too long or short?
• Is it difficult to spell?
• Is it overly common like “John Smith”?
• Can you use it as a domain name? Who Represents might be a good business name but “whorepresents.com” is slightly less than ideal.

Test out your company name with friends, family and associates before you print it on your business cards.

Broken Promises

While your company might not be running to become President of the United States, you can learn something from the oversized branding that presidential hopefuls, and even winners, participate in. Political campaigns like Obama’s in 2008 involved a lot of big ideas, promises and hope. It was certainly the idea of “Yes we can” that helped to get Obama into the Oval Office, but then reality hit. Obama wasn't able to make every promise into a reality. Partisan arguing has led to a less effective socialized medicine law, for example, that still has some conservatives upset. Even when you do make good on your word, people will have something negative to say, so it’s best to only make promises that you can fulfill from the start.

Lack of Passion

What is causing your customers’ unhappiness? What issue can you solve for them? Once you answer those questions, advertising and branding falls right in place. The things that worry consumers and pull at their heart strings often encourage them to open their wallets, but if you lack emotion, you’ll miss this opportunity instead of empowering consumers. Furthermore, everyone wants to feel as though they’re talking to a real, live human being and not a computer. This is where showing emotion helps you stand out from the crowd.

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http://addicted2success.com/success-advice/the-10-biggest-small-business-startup-mistakes-how-you-can-avoid-them/

Keeping up with the Tools of Your Trade

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Keeping up with the latest tools

Keeping yourself updated with all things Social Media can be tricky as new media apps/ideas/things become available almost every day. New strategies proliferate every hour and everyone thinks they hold the next big thing!  No wonder it can be scary. 

Staying current is about three different components: Keeping up with the newest developments, experimenting with digital tools, and learn as much as you can.

Keeping up with the latest tools is about finding tools that will curate information so that you can easily access and process it. You might be surprised, but this tool is the (relatively old) standby, RSS. RSS, or real simple syndication, was developed to deliver information from the web to people who subscribe to that information. For example, most blog sites are equipped with RSS feeds which allow a user to subscribe to the blog and have the blog material delivered in a variety of formats.

 

Use the RSS reader in Google Reader to manage your subscriptions so that you stay up to date with the most current research and trends in digital media. Though there's a catch. I find the process of logging to access the content to be a little clumsy on mobile devices. Two tools that make that simple. Reading blogs on the iPhone, the Feeddler app is a great resource for you to manage the blogs and podcasts that you plan to read or listen to. The app alerts you when there's new posts to read and you can quickly scan through the titles of the posts to see which ones capture your interest. Second, If you prefer to read posts in a more magazine-like style, especially on my iPad. In that case turn to Flipboard.  Flipboard takes the RSS information puts it into a visual display like a magazine that you can scroll through by turning pages and clicking on articles to read the most recent updates.

Both Flipboard and Feeddler use Google Reader as their source of information, so all of the material that you read on any of these three tools syncs with the others. Therefore, when you mark items that you’ve read in Feeddler, they are also marked as "read" inside Google Reader and Flipboard. I also find it valuable to be able to share an article using Feeddler or Flipboard through Twitter, email, or other vehicles that allow me to connect these articles to my followers, customers and colleagues.

Experimenting with digital tools

Try experimenting with all the tools out there! “the ones you think look interesting or can help your business” especially the FREE ones. And through experiment you will find tools out there that will help you and often become valuable time savers. Experimented with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Pinterest, Storify, MindMeister, Goanimate, Audacity, and a variety of iPad and iPhone apps, to name a few. All will hold invaluable tools, which help and make your work much easier. 

 

Starting off

Most people start with the big three facebook, Twitter & Pinterest with LinkedIn being the professional users choice, which can reach millions of business people across the globe. I would recommend the three above to start off your business and experiment with the tools that they all offer, gain confidence with the sites and navigation systems they have, once you have accomplished these you can go on and add many more to your portfolio, which in turn widens your audience – all good. It can be mind blowing and there will be obstacles to overcome, but believe me it is worth persevering, just work through at your own pace otherwise you can overload! 

These strategies are my ways of keeping current with the changes in digital media technology and the way it affects my business. We are all learners no matter what age you are especially in this digital world of ours, I’d love to hear about the ways that you stay current – all comments welcome after all we all learn from each other. 

Happy tool hunting! 

Mike Beveridge

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