Quit Moaning!

No one likes a Moaning Minnie (Or Michael!).

And especially so when it comes to doing business with you.


Your customers may be moaners (hopefully they won't be!) and if you get an inkling that you have a Moaning Minnie on your hands it might be wise to decide whether you want to do business with them. Are either of you going to get any enjoyment out of the work you are doing? Will it leave you feeling deflated and unmotivated?

Do you find yourself moaning about your work to people around you or on your social networks? What impression do you think this is giving to potential customers? One of the reasons (I hope) that you are running your own business is because you want to do something you love. If you are wallowing in negativity, don't be surprised if you have even more to moan about when people and customers start to avoid you.

Given half the chance, moaners drag positive people down with them.

Naturally there are times when life does throw something at you that is awful, and when that happens people will genuinely want to support you.

Just don't fall into the trap of whining about work, your passion. If you can't do something, ask for help, be proactive. If something isn't working, try something different. If you can't deliver on your promises, be upfront, apologise and find a way around it. Don't start blaming, pointing fingers, or go into 'life's not fair' mode.

When you think about people you encounter, whether it be through work or your social life, who makes you feel happier? The guys with the positive, can-do attitude or the guys that will tell you that life is tough and nothing works?

Who would you rather do business with?

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Are you a grasshopper?

I've just received a text from my best friend and I can really relate to what she said.

"Supposed to be writing. Finding my attentions are diverted to too many areas and not progressing in any area due to grass hopping about. Think I need to focus and manage my time more effectively!"

As a bit of back ground, my best friend has just left years of 9-5 working and is striking out on her own - exciting times! I'll be there to support and help her, and get her business online too!

I replied to her text:

"Yes, these new ventures can be time consuming and obsessional. A lot of it's trial and error, working out what works, what's worth your time and knowing when/if to ditch it. You really have to take control of it. I am still trying to manage it lol."

I think even the most focused individuals find themselves 'grass hopping' about at times. I know I do.

We have so many exciting ideas and also some mundane things to do, that it's easy to get distracted and jump from something that peaks our interest one minute, to something else that is vying for our attention the next. We want to do everything and we want to do every thing right now!

I'm still working on the best way to manage my time, and I think that's something that will be continual and evolving as my work and goals grow.

As an experiment, I am keeping a spread sheet (on google docs) and tracking how I spend my time.

Isn't it pretty? ;)

After a few weeks I'll turn it into a graph and see how I'm spending my time exactly.

However, just this exercise alone has made me more aware of when I am grass hopping, when I am not being productive and working towards my goals and where I can improve.

For example, I've been aware that this year I haven't been doing as many social things - mainly because I've been concentrating on work and my goals. Looking at the spread sheet I realised I really do need to spend more time with friends - it's always great to see them, plus it will go towards giving me a more balanced lifestyle.

I try to eliminate distractions when I'm working at home. No tv. Occasional radio. Sometimes I even turn twitter off!! (That's hard!)

I have asked my friends and family to help too when it comes to phone calls. When you are deep in concentration at work and then you get a social call you have to make a mental switch to accommodate the interruption. And then, of course, you have to switch back to work mode. It's not always as easy as it sounds. Your brain will be on a different tangent now and you will have to get it back on track.

So, I've asked my friends and family who would be prone to call during the day, to call me after 6pm (unless it's an emergency of course). It's working out really well.

Next time you find yourself jumping from one thing to another, take control of that grasshopper!

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Clever marketing or downright deceitful? Chris Cardell Newspaper Junk Mail

This marketing tactic has given me some food for thought.....

I received a letter in the post yesterday. Inside the envelope was seemingly a newspaper clipping with a yellow sticky note attached. The envelope and the sticky note appeared to be hand written. The note read, "Karen, I saw this and thought of you. This guy is brilliant. Have a look at his website. J".



Hmm, mysterious. I briefly scanned the newspaper article which spanned two pages. Some guy Chris Cardell was making people millionaires. Quite a promise!

And who was J? I couldn't think of anyone I knew whose name began with J and that knew my home address and that would post me something like this.





Curiouser and curiouser.....

Basically the 'newspaper article' is full of fluff about Chris Cardell and how awesome he is with some testimonials from customers and links to his websites scattered throughout.

I hopped onto Google and searched for Chris Cardell.

So, it seems Chris is running a scam. There are obviously some people that are not happy about something he is up to. It also appears that Chris is one of the UK's leading experts on business marketing.



But my point about this is: Is what Chris is doing with his marketing scheme very clever, or downright deceitful?

In a way I think it is a little bit clever. It made me stop and think, I gave thought to who could have sent this to me, scanned the newspaper article and googled him. I've spent time on Chris, doing a tiny bit of research and now I am writing about him. He got my attention and now I know his name.

However, there is something that is not sitting right with me about this. I feel I've been tricked into seeing what this was all about. I was briefly under the illusion that someone I knew sent this to me. The paper clipping is not from a legitimate paper, it's just made to look that way. The 'newspaper' article gives the appearance of being written by a journalist. Complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Authority and some of them have been upheld.

Chris's marketing has succeeded in getting people to know about his, yet it has backfired on him at the same time. It has certainly turned me off wanting to know any more about him, his business or his claims.

So, what could Chris have done?

• Been open and honest. Introduced himself and his business in a clear and up front way.
• Told me why he was contacting me
• Told me what his product was and how it could help me

I don't, and I'm sure you don't either, have the time or inclination to run about figuring out what a piece of marketing material is about or who it is from, and I certainly don't want to read about a lot of disgruntled customers. Business spend £1000's on clever marketing that does all of the above, but I highly recommend Chris Cardell comes up with something else and fast, before he turns more potential customers off!

Have you ever felt duped by a marketing ploy?

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When you write things down, you get things done!

When you write things down, you get things done. At least that is my experience.

I write things down all the time. I make notes of ideas & things to do.

This is how I store them. Each idea/thing to do has a little square piece of note paper. I store them in a little clear plastic container that comes with the square paper. As soon as something pops into my head that I think I need to do something about, I grab a clean sheet and write it down. This can lead to a very paper strewn desk by the end of the day!

I routinely (when it occurs to me) go through the paper square and re-prioritise them. Higher priority go to the top of the pile, or even their own separate pile. Sometimes there are 3 piles, in order of different urgency. Occasionally when I review my note, it's no longer relevant or I've gone off the idea so it gets binned.

There are currently about 400 to-dos for me to do. The pile doesn't really ever go down and I'm accepting of that fact now. No sooner do I execute one idea, another 2 will appear to take it's place! I guess I should worry if I ever get through all the to-do's, it will mean I am not thinking and creating!

As soon as I've done what that little piece of paper tells me that I need to do, I make a paper ball and aim for the waste paper bin - often missing. It's a good day when the bin is over flowing and little coloured pieces of paper are scattered around the bin!

I much prefer the pen and paper method of keeping track of things. Even though I am online in pretty much every other area, I just can discard my old tools for new on this occasion. I think I've dipped into Remember The Milk and Evernote, but neither lasted for more than the time it took to open an account and add things. I guess it's just not my preferred medium in this area.

"Yeah okay Karen, we get it, you like bits of paper and you don't like keeping your to-do list online! What's your point?"

I'm getting there! :)

Before I took to making a note of things, I used to get around the things eventually, no rush, put it off for another day, there's always tomorrow. I always finally got round to things, but hey, why to do day what you can put off to tomorrow? Meh.

What I have noticed over the last few years is that by writing things down, they actually get done faster! I achieve my goals no matter how big or small and none are overlooked or forgotten about. My level of productivity has soared! And it continues to increase with each passing month and year.

By writing things down you are making a commitment to do something for yourself. If I threw away all my bits of paper, I would be throwing away all my dreams and ambitions - I couldn't do that to myself. By making a note, you are marking a point of reference, you take it out of your brain and into another media relieving yourself of having to remember everything. Whatever you write it may be something that you will do in a day's time. It may be something you will do in 20 years time, but studies show that you increase the chances of making something happen if you write it down.

So, I've decided to take a few of my written-on-squares-of-paper-ideas and put them on my blog. These are some of the biggest goals I have & the most important ones too.

• Keep the 4am Project going. There is a huge momentum behind it and I want to continue the success of the 4th April and the past year. When I look back at all that's happened and how it's grown I'm quite simply amazed, immensely proud and grateful. I have invested much time and effort and cannot see it fail for any reason. I have ideas for the project such as an exhibition starting in Birmingham and then elsewhere, a book , and to take the project out onto the road at art and photography festivals in this country and abroad.


• Go to New York city for 6 weeks in September/October. I want to go for 6 weeks as I want to experience, as much as I can, what it's like to live in another city/country. I have a yearning for travel and NYC is calling me. I want to document my visit; blog, photograph, video and record using my social media skills to the max. It would be great to take the 4am Project out there too. Correction. I want to take the 4am Project out there too.


• To be able to continue doing what I love for a living. Doing what I am doing now brings me freedom and happiness. I treasure that.

Okay! Enough to be getting on with? I think so! Do you?

Of course, now I have to figure out a way of making all this happen! All of the above is going to be a real challenge. Is failure an option? Yes. But it's not an option I am going to even consider.

I'd love your input. How do you make things happen? How do you keep track of what needs to be done? Any suggestions for those ambitious goals?

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How do I get more twitter followers?

This is a question I have received from a photographic company. Another great question and one I have asked myself.

I have two main twitter accounts; one for me, Karen Strunks, and one for my global photographic project, 4am Project. Karen Strunks has nearly 1000 followers, and the 4am Project has almost 2000. By no stretch of the imagination do I have the most followers ever.

For the most part my followers have grown organically and I don't really push the matter, especially with Karen Strunks (feels weird referring to myself in the third person!).

When I first started tweeting from the 4am Project account I did make a concerted effort to get followers. I searched twitter for people that I thought may be interested in the project, mainly other photographers. I'd say I was still fairly new to twitter at this point and I followed as many people as twitter would allow - which was 2000. This garnered a fair number of people that followed the 4am Project back. But since that last effort a year ago, I have just let it grow naturally.

I'm not saying that letting things happen at their own pace is the right way, it's just the way I've been doing it. There are a couple of reasons for this; I don't want to be seen as 'spammy' and I also simply lack the time at the moment to seek out new followers.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE twitter! I've raved about it before on my blog and even organised a twitter flash mob.









I was very pleased when all these tweeters turned up!



So today's question, which was referring to my 4am Project account with regards to a photographic company.

"Was checking out your Twitter account earlier, very impressive number of followers you have… got any tips to get us out of the 70’s and into the hundreds?"

So....how do you get more twitter followers? Well, I don' t know any killer marketing tricks or tips and can only go my by own experience.

• It takes time and effort


• Tweet WITH your followers, don't just tweet out


• Interact with your followers. Comment on their tweets if you think it's appropriate


• If someone tweets out a photo link or a funny link - re-tweet it. People like to be re-tweeted and it shows you are reading their tweets. They are more likely to re-tweet you back too.


• Let people know about your special offers


• Perhaps give a discount on an item especially for your twitter followers (you can't stop other people picking up the offer, but that's ok)


• Tweet interesting things/offers - people will re-tweet and tell their friends


• Build relationships, show you are human and not a faceless company - people like and are reassured by that.


• Respond in a timely manner when someone tweets you or asks you a question.


• If someone re-tweets you, thank them


• Tweet frequently, so you are not forgotten about, but not too often! lol

One company that I think gets the balance of all this spot on is Moo.com. Have a read of Moo's twitter stream. They tweet with their customers and potential customers, they send out links that they think their followers would be interested in (that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Moo), they tell people what's going on in their office and if it's coffee or cake time!

Get someone to dedicate some time to twitter each day. Perhaps to begin with 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at the end of the day, I'd suggest. Also, start to follow more people. Don't go too mad with this as you may look like spam - say 10 people a day. Even if 2 people follow you back out of those 10, you will gradually see your followers grow. To see who you think would be appropriate do a twitter search.

For example #photographer or #photography or any other word you think appropriate. Put # in front of the word. This is called a hashtag and is used widely on twitter.

Don't just follow anyone who has used #photographer (for example). Check them out, where they live, are they a company or an individual, are they active on twitter.

Over time, you may find Friend or Follow useful. It tells you who is following you, who you are following but who isn't following you back, and who you aren't following. I find it a good way to manage my twitter account.

So, there you go! My advice to a photographic company on how to use twitter and get more followers. Of course, some of these twitter tips can be used for individuals too, not just companies using twitter. I hope you find it helpful!

And of course, if you would like to follow me, you can find me on twitter here! :D

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Hello, my name is Karen Strunks......

Hello!

You're new here....so am I. Nice to meet you!

Welcome to my new website.

I live in Birmingham in the UK, and I run a photography business. I also have a global photography project called the 4am Project.

I am an advocate of social media, which I am using to build both my businesses, and through these ventures I am learning a lot along the way.

The aim of the blog is to share with you hints and tips as I go along that will hopefully help you on your creative journey.

Please have a read of my longer bio and of course come and say hello! :)

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