We missed last weeks show and have because of increasing pressures from increasing work (a good thing)  will need to make this show fortnightly rather than weekly (a not so good thing – perhaps).

There is the desire to ensure we deliver regular shows on a clearly defined schedule rather than try to keep the weekly show going and only being able to deliver effectively on the odd occasion.

The other change we are making to the format, is rather than insist on business news presented as ‘news’ (which requires a simple presentation of information) we will move towards commenting on business news. This will hopefully make the show flow in a far more friendly and conversational way.

I must thank a Sales Director from a series of hotels in the Philippines who has been very complementary about some of the sales ideas generally and reference writings specifically. Indeed some of the material from these shows was used at a key sales conference – so many thanks and I hope all went well.

So on to this show…

As ever the full show notes can be found by following this link… Finding Your Buisness Edge No7

News and Opinion :  Conflicting news related to small business success; The Budget pros and cons for small businesses.

Business Interview : This week we talk to Rob Pickering on Alternative Energy issues in the Penwith area, but with relevant points for all.

Community Energy Plus :  Transition Penwith

Business Provocations and Thoughts: From Elevator Pitch to To Dialogue (from the book Finding Your Business Edge)

Music from Aardvark Records 

Too Precious : Benny Tetteh-Lartey

Heart Stand Still : Raising Days

See The Wonder : Benny Tetteh-Lartey

Apologies for there being no show last week. It was a case of illness and inability to get in to Penwith Radio and produce and prepare the show. Yes, despite appearances this show is planned.

I was pleased to received an email from a sales director of a chain of hotels in the Philippines about an article I wrote a couple of years ago about the changing nature (possibly) of sales and the sales mantra – people buy people. So this week we will be looking at some ideas about sales and selling which will be of specific interest to those involved in B2B as well as B2C sales.

But first, this weeks news includes : Channel Isle Tax loop-holes; a new PPI issue; Train Travel; Banking Loans; Cornish News related to beaches and an iconic pub.

Business Focus : People Buy People and The Sales Mindset; The MAGIC formula for Sales Meetings.

You can download the show notes here : Finding Your Buisness Edge No6

Music is supplied by Music Alley

Lance Lopez – Every Time I Turn Around

Crossfire – Show Me The Way

From Al Jones Music

A Touch of Funk (Live) – Alan Jones

Hop My Guitar – Alan Jones

This week we’ll be looking at the top ten social media myths and casting our business eye over Twitter… is it simply legalised stalking?

But first something you might not expect to hear on a business show.

A song called Money by the Undercover Hippy..

This somewhat cynical, anti-capitalist song can be taken as a reminder to ask all businesses to review their core values.

In some ways ‘the bottom line’ is not as simple a consideration as it once was. In a world that is in economic flux there a greater need to consider a multi-dimensional bottom line.

The often quoted TRIPLE BOTTOM line reminds us that businesses have a responsibility for not only their PROFITS but also to PEOPLE and PLANET.

A businesses attitude to the triple bottom line is seen in the values it not only publishes but behaves in accordance with.

Behaviour is the external expression of the real values within your business…

News Headlines

HSBC announce year end profits; BP in Court this Week; Peacocks rescued by Edinburgh Woollen Mills; Export Cornwall Event; HSBC support for SME’s wanting to enter export market

There’s no business interview this week. Instead we’re having the first of our special programmes on Social Media.

Today we will look at the Five Myths surrounding Social Media and focus on aspects of  TWITTER which may be of interest.

My Social Media links for your reference:

Facebook : www.facebook.com/alanjonesuk

Twitter : www.twitter.com/alanjonesuk

LinkedIn :   www.linkedin.con/in/alanbjones

YouTube : www.youtube.com/alanjonesconsulting

Other recommended platforms in this episode

Google Plus – a relatively new social media platform replacing BUZZ  …. You can find me HERE on Google Plus

Google Maps – locating your business

The show notes contain a lot more information and can be downloaded here … Finding Your Buisness Edge No5

Music from Music Alley 

The Undercover Hippy – Money

John Connolly – Unfinished Business

The Undisputed Heavyweights – Money

If the player below fails to work, you can download Finding Your Business Edge no 5 here.

Your host Alan Jones.

This Show..

News – Project Merlin misses target,  Olympics raises footfall for retail businesses, HSBC vs Osborne, UK Credit Score and Mortgages, Social Media and Employment Law

Business Interview : Pat Quayle interviews Sally Parkin from The Original Surfboard Company.

Business Improvement thoughts and provocations : Contact Databases and CRM Systems

Some cloud based solutions that might be worth your while looking at….

    GIST 

And the sponsored link to     

The transcript for this show can be downloaded here:  Finding Your Buisness Edge No4

Music comes from musicalley.com

Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion – Texas Blood

Be-Sea Surfers – Vibrations

Be-Sea Surfers – On-Freeway

Allisons Invention – Clean

Related articles

• Alan Jones’ Blogs (alanbjones.com)

Your host Alan Jones.

This Show..

News - National Skive Day; Wasting Your Money; £50m worth of contracts up for grabs; Working Mums Live!

Business Interview : Pat Quayle interviews Zoe King from The Old Dairy in Penzance.

Business Improvement thoughts Financial Planning and Alan Jones’ Success Trinity for Businesses

The transcript for this show can be downloaded here: Finding Your Buisness Edge No3

 Music from this show

From musicalley.com

Alison Crowe – Oceans

Working Girls – Hold On

AM – Stepping Stone

If the player below does not work you can listen to this episode here

Your host Alan Jones.

This Show..

News - Greece’s Financial Crisis, Burnout, China’s need to support Euro-Zone Recover

Business Interview

Business Improvement thoughts on how you might be limiting your business and the “MAGIC” formula for success.

The transcript for this show can be downloaded here: Finding Your Buisness Edge No2

IF THE PODCAST FAILS TO LOAD YOU CAN FIND IT HERE

Related articles

• Greece on ‘Razor’s Edge’ as Debt Talks Drag On (beckersbest.wordpress.com)
• Greek Bailout Hangs on ‘Razor’s Edge’ as Reforms, Cuts Sought (businessweek.com)

Your host Alan Jones.

This Show..

News about Kodak, Facebook, Charity Credit Cards, Subway and The Year of Enterprise.

Business Interview with Willy Wallers of Penzance

Business Improvement thoughts on Knowing The Mind of Your Customer and Marketing Plans

So for the first show there’s a lot to get through…

The TRANSCRIPT for this show is available for download here:  Finding Your Buisness Edge No1 and the PODCAST can be played from the media player at the foot of the page.

Comments, Thoughts, Feedback can be sent to alanjones@penwithradio.co.uk

If you are a  Businesses, Entrepreneur and Business Coach  and would like to be interviewed on the show drop me an email at Penwith Radio.

Alan Jones 

Related articles

• Overcome a Business Plateau (bjconquest.com)
• That Kodak Moment (retailfix52.wordpress.com)

IF PLAYER FAILS TO LOAD YOU CAN LINK DIRECTLY TO THE PODCAST HERE

The show will be broadcast on a Monday between 1pm and 2pm on Penwith Radio and the related notes with a podcast of the recording will be posted on the Finding Your Business Edge blog.

Show number 1 is scheduled for Monday 30th January 2012.

The show will follow a format which includes business news; an interview with a business owner, entrepreneur or expert. Each week there will be two key themes or provocations designed to get you thinking about your business.

So keep in touch, sign-up for our newsletter and listen to the show.

(source: Biz Report 20th Jan 2012)

This of course begs the question about how you and your business will choose to engage with this kind of marketing platform.

Are you already using social media?

How do you use it?

Is it part of your marketing strategy?

These are important questions.

In many business areas there is the need to position yourself as being ‘expert’ or ‘knowledgeable’ in your particular domain. ‘Blogs and other forms of social media will allow you to do this.

Brand Awareness is also part and parcel of any marketing strategy.

How do you get your ‘values’ and ‘solutions’ in front of prospective customers.

Perhaps the worst example of using social media is any attempt to ‘direct market’ your products and special offers. Of course this way of reaching customers may have an ‘immediate short term’ response – but after a while it could actually result in your audience ignoring your ‘posts’ or simply ‘deleting you’ from their contacts.

The BEST example of using social media is to engage ‘socially’ with your ‘followers’. As Seth Godin suggests, Build a Tribe, that are interested in the information you are freely sharing.

So, over to you …

How are you using social media?

If you’re not yet part of that movement, have you really investigated the potentials and pitfalls of becoming a social media marketed business?

Alan

Related articles

• What are the Benefits from Social Media Marketing? [Lawrence Perry] (ecademy.com)
• 3 Fatal Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (nancyloderick.com)
• What’s The Deal With Social Media? (kevinwmccarthy.com)
• Is It Possible For A Business To Survive Without Using Social Media? (superdoodadsblog.wordpress.com)
• Marketing And Social Media (alanjonesuk.com)

From 2012 the name Kodak may well become the the brand which reminds us all of the need to ‘keep in touch’ with consumer needs.

As many of you will have heard the photography brand leader has filed for protection against bankruptcy in order to restructure its business.

CNN – IBN Live reports that :-

Major entertainment companies are listed among Kodak’s top 50 unsecured creditors include Sony (6758.T), owed $16.7 million; Time Warner’s (TWX.N) Warner Brothers, due $14.2 million; Comcast (CMCSA.O) NBC Universal, short $9.3 million; Viacom’s (VIAB.O) Paramount Studios, owed $6.8 million; and Walt Disney (DIS.N) Studios, $4.2 million.

It is further reported that …

Two sources with knowledge of the contracts say most of these debts are related to film rebates owed to the studios who buy film from Kodak on a picture-by-picture basis. The price of film varies and often drops as a studio uses more, which is why they are often owed rebates.

(source IBN Live)

During the 80′s and 90′s Kodak led the field in film, photographic processing and related media but a failure to recognise the changing patterns of consumer requirement led to an almost ‘head in the sand’  attitude to the development of digital cameras. This in itself is odd since Kodak did develop some of the earliest digital cameras and apparently hold some of the patents for the early technology. For some reason, however, the company did not build on this lead, unlike Fuji who rode the wave of technology, and only produced ‘high end’, ‘professional cameras’.

The lesson for ALL businesses here is about finding ways to ensure that your product or service is relevant to your customers. Seems such a simple idea and one which is sometimes overlooked by the emotional hooks business people and entrepreneurs have for the products they develop.

Zeitgeist – know it, feel it, anticipate it  or suffer the consequences.

Alan

Related articles

• Kodak Files For Bankruptcy (insydetech.info)
• This Is Kodak’s Golden Age (jonburg.com)
• What Kodak teaches us about disruptive innovation (reportr.net)
• Kodak files for bankruptcy protection (oxfordschoolofphotography.wordpress.com)
• Kodak, we are sad to see you leaving… (semanticreatures.wordpress.com)
• A Snapshot in Time: the Kodak Disc Camera (rsmithing.com)
• Kodak pays the price for not re-inventing itself (wheresthesausage.typepad.com)
• A Final Kodak Moment? (stuffem.wordpress.com)