Seven Steps to Linkedin Success

Linkedin can give you a great platform to shout about your professional qualifications and abilities. People looking on your profile can gain a lot of information about you and your experience. Often people looking to employ you for a project or job will look you up on Linkedin and it is important that you make the most of that opportunity. I still find people that I know to be great professionals and really capable, without a photo and without any skills listed, even sometimes with a poor profile write up. Maximise your chances of being chosen by ticking all the boxes and you will be surprised by the difference it makes.

Here are my seven steps to help you maximise Linkedin:

•         Set your profile up properly complete it all, yes all!

•         Add a photograph, don’t be shy!

•         Claim your vanity URL,

•         Add relevant previous jobs/businesses

•         Select your own skill set don’t let others choose them (you will get endorsed for things you don’t do)

•         Search for & invite connections from people you know

•         Ask to join Groups that may be useful

I am always happy to connect so just follow my linkedin button and I will let you in.

Word of Mouth....Still The Best Way 


In my opinion Word of Mouth always has been and always will be the best way to generate new business.....and it's free! 
What do we need to do to achieve this?

• Firstly we need to do a good job – we need to understand what the customer wants and work with them to achieve the best results possible.
  

• —Reliability - if we say we will be there at a certain time, if we say we will email, etc etc
  

• —Be polite & cheerful – you will find some customers easy to get on well with, but some you may not relate to so well, but you should remain polite and cheerful.
  

• Be clear with customers – Sometimes disputes arise due to lack of communication or understanding, so be clear about your intentions to your customers and be clear of your customers requirements.
  

• Thank them – when you finish the job, thank them for the business. face to face, phone call, email, whatever.......they will really appreciate it.
  

—If you do all these things your customer will recommend you to others.....simples!

Bankers should look after your money – let the experts look after the other services

I am often bombarded with sales calls, emails, letters, flyers and now tweets, asking me to buy this product or subscribe to that service – none of which I have requested.

I hold the view that if I am looking for a particular service, then I will look for a solution – preferably in my local area to begin with, and if not, and then ask for recommendations from others. I believe that business and life in general just flows that little bit better this way.

A trend which has developed over recent years is that more and more consumers are convinced that their bank is their only choice, or their preferred supermarket can look after everything “from cradle to grave” they’d have you believe.

Perhaps I am in the minority, or maybe it’s because I work for a local, family owned and managed business, that I genuinely believe that buying from someone you can have more than just one conversation with is important and should be valued.

One case in point is a firm of solicitors locally, for whom I have recently reviewed their insurances covering each of their offices. For years, they have entrusted this to their bank, and for years it now becomes apparent, they have been paying far too much, without any advice or support, let alone a single visit over the years.

My approach was to visit them, discuss their requirements, and identify potential gaps in their cover, before conducting a thorough exercise with carefully selected insurers. The result is that I have saved them almost £2,000 immediately, and offered them much wider cover, in this case specifically designed for the legal profession.

This is just one example where the power of using local really does reap rewards. I am sure that many professionals and tradesmen in the county will give testimony to why they prefer to operate locally.

Cutting out the middle man, or simply letting the bank handle everything doesn’t always pay. If you, your family, business contacts or clients are still going down the supermarket aisle or are part of the banking queue, could I ask you to do them, and me a favour – have a word?

Andrew Long Cert CII

Cass Stephens

10% is that all?

Hi there again. I said I’d extend my answers to the facts on dyslexia I put out in last week’s blog – and here’s the first.

Dyslexia affects at least 10% of the population.

People often ask me if that’s all and some are surprised it’s that many and if we’re honest – it probably is more, but it’s incredibly difficult to be completely accurate, which is why we say ‘at least...’ Why is it so hard to be sure, you may ask?

Well – let’s try to explain a few things.

1.    Dyslexia is a collection of characteristics and each dyslexic person will have a unique profile of these differences. It is also on a continuum – so some will have very mild characteristics and others will have some that are very high on that continuum, meaning they will face more challenges with particular things (more about that in a later blog).

2.    It can affect anyone of any level of intelligence – there are no cut off points, so can be quite challenging to assess in individuals with complex needs.

3.    Those with very mild characteristics, probably make accommodations, or adjustments quite easily, so would not classify themselves as dyslexic. Only about 4% of the population have it severe enough to warrant specialised support – that’s still over 2 million!. About  ¾ million children are affected in the UK.

4.    Not everyone with dyslexia has been diagnosed, making it extremely difficult to say accurately the percentage of the population who are dyslexic.

5.    Some people say they are dyslexic when in fact, they may have a more general or global learning difficulty that is not specific.

Hopefully, that’s enough to be going on with. Next week – I’ll be looking at some of the overlaps with other conditions.