Today, many companies offer their employees the option to work from home, even if they live relatively close to the office. But common sense tells us that for some employees, this may not be the best option. This decision tree created with Mindflash, will help you decide if you should let your employees work remotely, or if they should be required to work in-house.
Let me know which route you chose.
Gartner predicts that by 2013, forty percent of enterprise knowledge workers will have removed their desk phones. Most won’t even be content with sitting in thier cubicles or offices anymore. Instead they will communicate virtually from their smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to remain, what the industry is calling, “hyper connected”.
Everyone is talking about being social, but what does that mean to you, a seller? How can it help you? Where do you start? These and many more questions are also being asked.
Lets cut to the chase, Social Media, Social Business, Social Networking, what ever you want to call it, put simply its just another form of communication. You have been doing it for years, its just the growth in technology has just made it easier to be louder and reach a wider audience.
Some of the benefits will include; efficiency, collaboration, identification and not least, trust.
BUT these benefits will not will not happen overnight, it is a journey you will have to undertake. Some will adopt to this new way of communicating quicker than others but make no mistake we all need to be on this road.
Why? Lets look at some reasons:
Having a digital presence is one of the best ways to be found, creating your personal brand that in turn will help you become eminent in your field of expertise.
A recent study has shown that the role of the buyer (seeker of information) has changed. No longer so they pick up the telephone to you (do they know you even) and ask “is this the right thing I need”. They are looking for this information online. Eighty five percent of the buying decision has already been made before you the sales person even get involved.
We Sell or Else (#wesoe), lets face it. If you can utilise another channel to assist in growing your business then its a no brainer.
If your still wondering can social technologies really help grow your business, there are a whole raft of success stories that can be found on online. Personally, I have seen and experienced $millions of generated business
Where do you start? Firstly understand the tools. Identify which platforms you customers are on and participate in. Places like LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook or Google+ for instance. Start with three or four and ensure that one of your choices includes blogging.
Whats on offer?
LinkedIn – For a seller this should be the most important place to start. The team will help shape your profile from a resume style to a value proposition to a client. Help you understand how to utilise your network and what additional applications will work best for you.
Twitter – Lets call this an information portal. Are you advising your network what we do, what you do, the latest news, information that grabs your attention. Let people follow you and manage your reputation.
Blogging – This in my humble opinion is going to be paramount to building your eminence, creating digital footprints that allows you to be found when someone searches for you. Now whilst the premise for these tools is business, I do advocate the creation of personality, so if you want to talk about something non business (yet professional) do so.
Thoughts for your next steps?
Find your focal team, the ones that are early adopters are normally the best, teach teachers spread the word or ground swell. Get to grips on what to measure.
Lastly if you need advice or tips on best practice drop me a line.
Why not share some of your thoughts and questions below..
The amount of digital data in our world has been exponentially growing in just a few short years. This infographic looks at how big data has the potential to become the next frontier for innovation, competition and profit.
Created by Get Satisfaction,
A valued colleague of mine put together a small deck addressing some of the Myths we experience when talking about Social Business. I have converted it into a video for you all to enjoy. I am sure you have come across many more, why not let us know what myths busters you have to share below.
Thank you Luis Richardson and Jon Mell
You might have to pause it to read some of the slides!
Take care.
Did you know you have access to some of IBM’s latest and most amazing software – absolutely free of charge?
At IBM Collaboration Solutions we’ve been busy! Whether it’s social, mobile or secure collaboration we have been taking the latest innovations in social business and making them available to our customers.
To get as much of our exciting new stuff as possible in your hands we are running roadshows where you can see what you can get for free!
● Work anytime, anywhere with mobile push email, calendar and contacts
● Reduce Microsoft Office costs
● Increase productivity through secure, enterprise instant messaging
● A social corporate directory to find people based on expertise
● Secure file sharing
● Provide a VPN to access corporate apps remotely
● Synchronise information across many repositories quickly and efficiently
Dates and Locations
Sessions start at 09:30 and end at 14:00
To register, contact your IBM Sales Representative or email: icsevent@uk.ibm.com
(please state which date you would like to attend)
Or even tweet me @Social_Ben or leave a comment here.
Small to medium business’s are now looking beyond the cost and resource efficiencies that can be delivered from a cloud environment, they are now focused on how a cloud deployment can improve business outcomes and bring strategic value. In a recent study by IBM two thirds of senior managers surveyed had either implemented or intend to implement a cloud service here, with over 45% of UK business looking to do so over the next two years.
The most popular reasons identified for doing this are:
As cloud and DR Solutions continue to rise in popularity, businesses will be looking to technology providers known as Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The emergence of such MSPs is in response to a significant market shift as SMBs move their business applications to the cloud in order to increase their ability to work in a more mobile and flexible fashion. With limited IT resources, many are looking to a new kind of partner, to help them do this as they seek to off load the management of their IT infrastructure.
“Midsize firms are under increasing pressure to become more efficient and continue to identify new opportunities to grow their business,” explains Lubomir Cheytanov, director of midmarket sales at IBM in the UK and Ireland. “They are looking to local technology providers or MSPs with deep expertise and innovative cloud portfolio to move their business applications to the cloud.”
About the Cloud Research Study:
For the independent study, conducted by YouGov, the opinions of 530 senior managers at small and medium-sized companies in the United Kingdom were surveyed. It was conducted in the second quarter of 2012 to capture current and upcoming business and IT priorities for cloud computing and Cloud Readiness Assessment. 
If you are looking to transform your business with cloud capabilities why not see this helpful resource for more information.
I work for a company that for many years sold typewiters, it staggers me sometimes at some of the things we actually do. Have a read and let me know what you think.
A collaboration between the Royal Society of Chemistry, the University of Warwick and IBM has allowed scientists to bring a single 5-ringed molecule to life in a picture, using a combination of clever synthetic chemistry and state-of-the-art imaging techniques.
Once just a doodle on a piece of paper by an RSC scientist, the molecule has been imaged for the first time at an unprecedented resolution using a complex technique known as non-contact atomic force microscopy.
Known as olympicene it is related to single-layer graphite, also known as graphene, and is one of a number of related compounds which potentially have interesting electronic and optical properties, potentially for the next generation of solar cells and high-tech lighting sources such as LEDs.
Take a look at this previous post too.
