Sep 29, 2011

Ideally the answer should be zero – it’s the facilities department’s job. Unfortunately, all too often in some firms it is one, or a committee of partners needs to sign off the spend. I’ve even helped one of my clients (senior partner in a practice) see that a 2 hour trip to homebase in normal working hours to get a replacement...

Sep 27, 2011

Very often professional advisors don’t act on their own advice. Don’t believe me? How many accountants do you know who get their own tax return in on the last day for filing? I have found that the clients who I have really had to nag to do a cash flow forecast for the year are normally my accounting clients… But this isn’t about bashing...

Sep 20, 2011

I’ve often wondered whether LinkedIn is a numbers game. My networking methodology and philosophy is firmly centred in relationship management. So, surely LinkedIn should be used to deepen and strengthen relationships rather than building up a large number of connections? But I see others talking about how linkedin is a numbers game. With nearly 1000...

Sep 15, 2011

Myself and my co-director Jon Baker were training some clients on social media this week. As we were going around asking the participants what were their attitudes to social media, the immortal lines were uttered: ‘I’m too old to be using social media’ Now, (although Jon wouldn’t thank me for saying this), the oldest person in the room...

Sep 13, 2011

I am often asked to refer people in my network – which, I love doing. In fact there is nothing better I like more than using my network to help my clients grow their business. However, just because I am a business coach with an extensive network doesn’t mean that I will refer you or your business. Let me explain: My business partner, Jon Baker and I have a...

Sep 8, 2011

When I am working with my clients talking about a social media strategy. I will always ask them for the firm’s strategy and business plan. Unfortunately, at this point I often get very blank looks. Business plan? What business plan? Strategy for growth? What strategy? (or even strategy for survival!) Very often, I am finding that many firms don’t...