The simple point: if we can open a path to thinking more clearly and acting then we will, in time, let go sufficiently to dream, and consider what we (really) want out of life.

Hopefully you are all familiar with the concept of open loops. They manifest with a lot of that internal chatter telling you over and over what you need to do or haven’t done.

I know it’s Saturday, but if you can find time today or tomorrow, rather than ‘thinking’ about all the things you have on your plate, I would suggest that you find a quiet space and start writing down all the things that are on your mind.

It doesn’t matter that, at this stage, everything is jumbled up – a list is a list.

The point is you want to get everything out of your head and down on paper. To be clear it doesn’t really matter if you use a pen and paper or electronic system, just make sure that you get everything out of your head.

I’m not going to say much more for now save that you will be amazed at the amount of detail you are storing in your mind. Frankly, I would be surprised if you weren’t surprised.

This post and yesterday’s isn’t expressly written for you to find time in your life to do other stuff – how paradoxical would that be? No, what I am building towards is a system that you can apply to not only make more of your day but also frees you to start looking at some of the bigger issues (Why am I here? – now that is profound) that you have either talked endlessly about but done nothing to address or you fear to embrace for fear you will lose what you have (sometimes we have to let go if we want to grow…).

Don’t worry if you need to do this over a few days or even a week. The trick is to get everything out of your mind that is on your mind.

… [A]nd so the journey begins

- JS

So much of what we read about is focused on the big picture: What do you want to do with your life?

Using an airplane analogy, we are asked to look from 50,000 ft, and map out the future.

But I’ve come to realise that unless we order our lives from the bottom up (the more mundane the better), then it’s unlikely we will ever find the space, silence and peace to contemplate the ‘Why’ question.

I am fortified in this view not just because of my own modus operandi but by virtue of the way that a holiday or sudden crises always seems to open a space for us to think (the weekend is seldom long enough). Both of these don’t cure our open loops but, for an instant, they allow our minds to stop thinking of them.

Of course, there are lots of hacks for getting our ‘stuff’ together, and ordering our (busy) lives, but we have to want to change long before we address our habits. I don’t mean change in the conceptual sense either. I mean we want to bring forward our action list and a find a way to close more loops or put in place a system so that what’s on our mind doesn’t permanently stay there. The problem is that our minds can only store so many things and if we don’t manage them we end up stressed out dealing always with the urgent and never getting to the most important.

If you think time is the enemy, it’s not. You or rather your consciousness is your foe.  What I picture is bringing order into your life and clearing a space in your mind that enables you to think more clearly about the future and then take ACTION.

For now, I just want to introduce the idea that if you can better manage your (daily) commitments you are far more likely to respond to the idea of change.

This isn’t about striving for the perfect life or thinking you have to suddenly acquire a messianic zeal to sort out your grunge but rather to offer up the idea that if you can find the space to think clearly in an air of calm reflection, you may just be able to do more of the things – life affirming or otherwise – that have for so long been out of sight.

But, right now, social media has become the go to thing to the point where, in some quarters, it has obliterated all other discussion.

As heretical as it may sound, in and of itself social media is not remarkable. It is just another communication medium.

At nearly every talk I have delivered, I have said that the critical component of social is to earn attention … and so the audience nods or smiles.

And then I look out again.

What do I see?

…

Nothing of the sort.

No free downloads.

No remarkable content (of whatever form).

As for the conversation, it is non-existent.

If you think that social media is going to reinforce your How (you do business) then you are mistaken. Even if you are new on one platform, unless you are going to wholeheartedly commit your resources then it will end up looking like every other platform – broadcast x100!

The success recipe

1. Start again

2. Know your audience – demographics, psychographics and techno-graphics

3. Start with the end in mind

4. Connect

5. If you can’t say that you content is valuable (to whom?) then don’t bother

6. Measure your results

7. Commit some proper resources

8. Reward people

9. Consider how you embrace an openness inside your business

10. Have fun

I recognise that social media is not for everyone; but for those people in the space they need to do more than flood us/me with turgid content, and keep their fingers crossed that things will come good. If the history of the website is anything to go by, in a few years time there will be thousands/millions of orphan sites which will do nothing to help your reputation or brand.

From E-Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber

I haven’t gone away.

In fact, I have never been so focused on getting my web presence and branding sorted.

Nothing stands in my way save the limitations of my mind.

You could say I’m only just beginning.

A break with law was merely one small step to realising the real me.

What comes next?

As I’ve said before, the pursuit of more won’t cut it. It’s in the creative act that everything changes. The template is yours to design. You can ape those you admire, but it’s never the same. You have to go much deeper. To the core of who you really are.

I am excited about the new persona.

Simplicity will be my touchstone.

My legacy?

Who knows. But I hope a body of work that stands the test of time.

- Julian

Plato

This quote has remained with me for a long time. It reminds me to take things as they and not judge.

As if you hadn’t noticed, and it may be a sign of the times, there is a lot of talk of getting better, facing our demons and making a leap into the unknown.

But, truth be told, very few people will be inclined to break asunder their lives in the pursuit of living out an uncertain future. And by not doing so, I don’t believe that is cowardly or makes them any less a person.

My journey is my journey, and whilst I hope, in time, that people find my story helpful, they have to find their own way to self-fulfillment.

At best, all I can do is provide a series of signposts.

For me it’s about adopting beginner’s mind, and living fully in each moment of time.

What else is there?

- Julian

In other words, you could live your life totally in the present – all past thoughts and cravings or worry for what lies ahead being absent (or ignored).

This has a name – mindfulness – and my sense is that we all recognise the peace that comes with being in the moment, and enjoying the simplest of things.

I have spent a lifetime trying to understand the mind. But, having taken up meditation and Zen Buddhism, I realise how facile it is to believe that we can control our thoughts – think positive etc.

You might think me deluded. Leaving law was one thing, but adopting a spiritual philosophy which informs how I live my life is entirely different.

I don’t think so. We can’t, for any sustained period, adopt an approach to life that goes against who we are.

In time, I will share more of my journey but, for now, I feel comfortable sharing this insight, which has made such a significant impact on my life.

- Julian

This subject is so anodyne, it almost beggars belief that I should feel the need to throw my hat in the ring.

But it still vexes me how few businesses have yet to work out why they have invested time, energy and insight into a business critical area without nailing down exactly what they want to achieve.

In a way, it’s the same sort of response I get when asking why have a website.

It’s the sideways stare ….”who wants to look stupid then” that gives the game away.

This isn’t about talking SMART goals or any of that guff, but just figuring out what you want to achieve.

And please don’t default to the same languid response – brand awareness.

Just being on Twitter, Google+, Facebook and having a blog won’t do you or your business a jot of good without a focused approach to the people you are trying to reach or influence. A clear set of objectives that go to the heart of the Return on Investment. A meaningful strategy backed up with some heavy-hitting resources. And a focus on the platform(s) that you control – a website, blog and other dedicated media (self-hosted video).

Stop and focus.

Yes, I’m sure you are fed up with me using that pithy expression, but that’s exactly what you need to do.

Stop

and

Focus.

If you don’t then you will end up doing more and more for less and less return.

Here are a few areas that you might want to consider. The important thing, as I have said before, is to align your business critical goals with your social media efforts.

Sales

Let’s debunk the myth that social shouldn’t have a price tag. If not, you’re wasting your time. How much revenue are you expecting to generate and over what period?

Who will resource your channels?

Who has the competence to work out if what you are doing is working, or an abject flop?

Are you clients or customers ready to be sold?

Do you understand the technographics well enough? If not, how will you uncover the necessary intelligence?

Customer/client support

You may already have this licked but there is a huge push in this direction. Are you ready to deal with your customers in this way?

Have you sorted out Twitter to deal with complaints or queries?

Do you have live chat enabled?

Are you using SMS?

What metrics are in place to measure the success of any roll out?

Human Resources

How much of the talent hiring budget is now being invested in social media?

What does your LinkedIn account look like?

Do you have a Facebook page dedicated at least in some way to recruitment?

Do you have a blog dedicated to the hiring and retention of graduates or staff?

Public Relations

Have you a policy to deal with:

• negative comments on the brand?
• clarifying an issue which has been misreported?
• invalidate false rumours?
• and add some fact to the fiction created on-line?

On-line reputation management needs to be measured actively. You can’t afford to leave things to chance, and you need to understand how you will deal with all eventualities or as many as you can predict.

Business Intelligence

Are you using a listening tool like Social Sprout?

Do you know what your customers are saying about you on-line?

Do you know what your competitors are up to?

Websites

How many customers or clients have come via one or other social media platform?

How are you managing SEO?

How do you share intelligence in your business?

What’s working and what’s not working?

How regularly are you updating the content?
__________

Frankly, the list is endless. But hopefully you get the drift of where your time should be spent.

Yes it might be the most spoken about truism in the business world but that which gets measured gets done, and social media should be no different. Leaving it to chance or expecting someone else to pick up the slack just won’t do.

Working with me

I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at juliansummerhayes@gmail.com or contact me on +44(0) 7588 815384. You can follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,  Tumblr.

The point that most resonated with me was his exposition of the Golden Circle.

I saw immediately how this related to my work.

As I see it, unless a business can address the ‘Why’, well ahead of anything else (“Are we hardwired to adopt social media?”) then any attempt to use the multiplicity of platforms will fail. And I don’t mean fail in the sense of spewing forth content (which can, of course, be bought it). No, I mean it won’t resonate with the business identity.

Right now there is endless talk about the hyper-use of social media platforms – the number of users is usually the major hook – but nothing really answers the question:

“How does social media fit with our values and core message?”

The guru culture would have you believe that you are dead if you are not in the fray, but the smart money is on those organisations who understand their sine qua non before they ever paddle in the social media waters.

My point is this. Before you spend any more time asking how you can make more money out of social media, see if you can answer the ‘Why’ question.

PS. Social media needs someone or ideally a few people to resource it. It won’t happen by magic or by the well-intentioned folk being put upon to carry through your aspirations. Look at your budget for 2013. How much money have you set aside – including staff costs? If it’s no more than a smidgen then don’t be surprised if you don’t make any dent in any Universe.

Working with me

I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at juliansummerhayes@gmail.com or contact me on +44(0) 7588 815384. You can follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,  Tumblr.

Seth Godin

The high street is crumbling.

Long term employment will become the exception.

A portfolio career will be standard.

Entrepreneurship will become a taught subject (if that is not an oxymoron).

Social interaction via on-line tools will increase at an exponential rate – just look at the growth rate of Pinterest.

Doing projects where you control the flow, rather than looking for instructions will be where the action is.

And, importantly, we will have to get used to a simpler, more frugal lifestyle as the World’s natural resources disappear.

The trouble is that very few people are prepared for such a paradigm.

We all have grown up believing in the Industrial complex. In short, the pursuit of more. It is too simplistic to believe this is a hangover from World War Two. My parents (and theirs) wanted a better life but not, I would conjecture, to the extent where we grew drunk on excess.

I am not a pessimist. Nor do I feel the situation is hopeless, but we need to lift our eyes skyward and dream, think for ourselves and stop waiting to be picked. No one is coming to your rescue. Whatever government is in power, they would see it as political suicide to proselytize a message that was anything less than before.

For my part, I see the future as a brilliant opportunity to create art that has the power to connect people who are looking for more than a temporal fix.

Sure the new ‘lifestyle’ will be hazy in parts, stressful and Old School learning will be just that …old. But it will be more fulfilling emotionally, spiritually and, hopefully, financially.

One last thing. Business, of whatever hue, has to do a lot more to future proof their tenure in the market. This means tearing down the old models of ‘employer’ and ‘employee’ and look for something much more adaptive and synergistic. This goes beyond collective ownership or sharing of risk (forget John Lewis just for once). It must also positively transform lives.

I have three children (9, 13 and 16) and I see massive challenges ahead for them, but one thing I am determined to do is to make sure they look outside the lines of education, and consider the World their playground not the arc of Devon or the South East.

A challenge? You bet. But one I know they will be better equipped to cope with than my generation.

- Julian

Working with me

I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at juliansummerhayes@gmail.com or contact me on +44(0) 7588 815384. You can follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,  Tumblr.

As a topic, I am quite sure that people are sick to death of hearing about social media. So much for a paradigm that prides itself on the power to earn attention by dint of worthwhile, remarkable content that ends up shouting the odds.

Of course, it won’t have escaped your attention that those people who shout loudest are usually self-interested in ensuring that their message is understood and adopted!

I haven’t been in this space as long as a number of my peers, but one thing I am absolutely clear on is that if you come to social media with the wrong, dare I say perverse, mindset, you will fail. And I don’t mean… fail to gain attention; but, over the long haul, if all you ever do is proclaim the import of one platform over another without looking at the whole – the people dynamic, resourcing, cultural barriers, adoption and measurement – then you will fall quickly into the box-shifting camp (my apologies to those people who still sell boxes but I hope the point is understood) as opposed to the solutions-minded entrepreneur.

Social media is much more than the sum of the social media platforms. It goes to the heart of the business:

1. Servant leadership;
2. Openness;
3. Creating greater organisational trust, communication and honest dialogue up and down the management hierarchy;
4. A democratisation of knowledge;
5. Idea generation from all quarters that is adopted – remember the ‘Fail Faster’ mantra;
6. Meaningful listening – not the usual lip service variety;
7. And a genuine willingness to c-h-a-n-g-e.

My practice has from time to time involved the sticking plaster type of consultancy – a bit of training here or coaching there – but, fundamentally, I see my role not quite in the Troubleshooter mould but as someone who can shine a light on the areas of excellence that have the greatest potential to be leveraged. That’s gobbledygook for business transformation (more gobbledygook I know) – your cynicism is excused!

If I’m being brutally honest it doesn’t excite me half as much to talk about the nuances of LinkedIn than it does to get down in the proverbial weeds and understand what is the most pressing issue for the business, be that client/customer retention, winning work, innovation or managing change.

Right now, and not just because I say so, social media has to be seen as integral to the success of your business. You need only look at the carnage on the High Street (HMV, Jessops, Comet) to realise that any business that doesn’t have a foot in the on-line space is exposed to the risk of failure. If you do feel that now is the time to get (social media) serious then please don’t start with the ‘What’. Start with ‘Why’ (see Simon Sinek’s excellent Ted talk) and then the ‘How’. If not you will get lost in a forest of geek talk, and miss the point of social media as it applies to your business.

On a personal level, social media opened my eyes to a new World. In time, I will have something behind it rather than just a slew of platforms and lots of entries on Google. However, it’s my Givers mindset that has kept me in the game. If I had started out with a view that I was going to bug the living daylights out of people then I never would have started the journey.

Working with me

I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at juliansummerhayes@gmail.com or contact me on +44(0) 7588 815384. You can follow me on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn,  Tumblr.