October 31, 2012

Social media: How to be an authority in your niche using social media

By JaneFrankland | Marketing, social media | One Comment

Social media to establish your brand

Whether you’re a suit-wearing city clad type, a designer fashion label lover, or a dressed-down, cool, arty type you can establish your brand as an authority in your niche and community very easily using social media. And, as there are only a few key elements to creating an authoritative online presence, as oppose to an active brand I've listed them here:

1. Know who your customers are
Starbucks has a killer reputation within the coffee retail industry because they know exactly who their consumer is. They know their customers’ culture, workout routines, concerns, interests, passions and goals. Reaching that ground where you know who your customer is on an emotional level will give you a huge upper hand in establishing your authority. Social media gives you the power to get familiar with your fans.

2. Build a quality network
Surround yourself with the best, including your influential customers, prospects who fit your demographic and even your competition. You can locate brands, users and relevant conversations happening within your niche by searching via traditional methods or by using networking tools. You can also crowdsource, which is an excellent way to see how people feel about a product, to measure overall sentiment about an industry or brand, and to jump into the conversation – further establishing yourself as the authority and expert.

3. Ensure quality control
Just as you wouldn't compromise the quality of your product, you can’t present a half baked social media effort. So, create an editorial calendar to ensure that you’re focusing on all aspects of your brand and maintaining consistency. Have a process for peer reviews and checking of content. Being a professional brand means going the extra mile. It means looks the part. It means delivering upon expectations, and more. In terms of consistency, you need to be posting between 3 to 5 times per day.

4. Unique social media campaigns
To be an authority in your niche you have to distinguish yourself from your competition and stand out to your customers. Once upon a time just having a social media presence was enough. Now though, as more brands are catching on, the pressure to present dynamic and creative social media campaigns is evident.

Check out lifestyle brand, POE, and the campaign, #NameHer. This was developed to incentivize users to share the name of the woman who had most shaped their life for a chance to have a signature shoe named after her. This touched consumers on an emotional level, established a unique voice, and made it a place of community. It established POE’s authority among users.

Leveraging social media to become an authority in your industry makes a full circle back to your fans. If you’ve taken these steps above, you’ve created credibility, trust, and value for your consumers. That is the name of the game when striving to be the authority.

Please let me know which social media platform you prefer for establishing your brand and authority. Tell me how you're getting on with creating a new brand or revising an existing one as I'd love to hear. If you have any more advice, please just add a comment. Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 26, 2012

Finding your perfect brand colour

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Marketing, New business, Sales | 3 Comments

Colour as a sales tool – well I never!

Being a creative and visual person, whenever I see these statistics like the ones I'm going to share with you it brings a smile to my face. I like being a pro and to me getting your branding right so that it supports your sales means incorporating all of these key elements.

The Institute of Colour Research says that 92.6% of people when surveyed put MOST IMPORTANCE on visual factors when purchasing products or services. As colour plays such a huge role in what the visuals look like, and the impact the visual creates in the minds of both prospects and customers, it's imperative not to play down this phase. Statistics show that colour matters for these reasons:

92% Believe colour presents an image of impressive quality
90% Feel colour can assist in attracting new customers
90% Believe customers remember presentations and documents better when color is used
83% Believe colour makes them appear more successful
81% Think colour gives them a competitive edge
76% Believe that the use of colour makes their business appear larger to clients

*2003 survey conducted by Xerox Corporation and International Communications Research

Research also highlights that people make a subconscious judgement about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing, and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on colour alone (Source: CCICOLOR – Institute for Color Research). Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80% (Source: University of Loyola, Maryland study) and it can improve readership by 40%, learning from 55% to 78%, and comprehension by 73% (Sources: “Business Papers in Color. Just a Shade Better”, Modern Office Technology, Embry, David, “The Persuasive Properties of Color”, Marketing Communications, Johnson, Virginia, “The Power of Color”, Successful Meetings).

So if colour matters so much to a brand or products success it's right to understand the psychology behind it, right? The answer is hell YES!

The importance of colour in branding

Have you ever considered the importance of colour in branding? Probably not! But, think about it for just one moment. Coke is red, UPS is brown and IBM is blue. Corporations such as these have spent millions on their branding and they understand that the proper use of colour is vital to creating a positive image of their brand amongst their consumers. Colour also plays such a huge role because of memory recall. It stimulates all the senses, instantly conveying a message like no other communication method. And, when the customers feels good about a brand or product – they buy!

Choosing the right dominant colour for your brand is crucial. This colour should appear on all your promotional materials, including your logo, product packaging and potentially the clothes you wear to meetings or in front of your customers. As much as possible, the colour you choose should set you apart, make you stand out, work with your industry and image, and tie to your brand promise. It should also take into account colour psychology, as colour can convey different things depending on the culture, situation and industry.

Here's a fairly universal guide to help you decipher their meaning.

Colour psychology – what are your values?

Blue: Cool blue is perceived as trustworthy, intelligent, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure. Strongly associated with the sky and sea, blue is serene and universally well-liked. Blue is an especially popular colour with financial institutions, as its message of stability inspires trust.

Red: Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly. This visceral response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, albeit not always a favourable one. For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness. One of the most powerful, attention grabbing. Associated with ACTION. Creative, energy but also good for familiarity. Pushing boundaries.

Green: In general, green connotes health, freshness and serenity. However, green's meaning varies with its many shades. Deeper greens are associated with wealth or prestige, while light greens are calming. New beginnings.

Yellow: In every society, yellow is associated with the sun. Thus, it communicates optimism, positivism, light and warmth. Certain shades seem to motivate and stimulate creative thought and energy. The eye sees bright yellows before any other colour, making this a great colour for point-of-purchase displays.

Purple: Purple is a colour favoured by creative types. With its blend of passionate red and tranquil blue, it evokes mystery, sophistication, spirituality and royalty. Lavender evokes nostalgia and sentimentality.

Pink: Pink's message varies by intensity. Hot pinks convey energy, youthfulness, fun and excitement and are recommended for less expensive or trendy products for women or girls. Dusty pinks appear sentimental. Lighter pinks are more romantic. Calming and feminine.

Orange: Cheerful orange evokes exuberance, fun and vitality. With the drama of red plus the cheer of yellow, orange is viewed as gregarious and often childlike. Research indicates its lighter shades appeal to an upmarket. Peach tones work well with healthcare, restaurants and beauty salons. As it inherits some of the traits of red it inspires action but it is also about learning. It's great for information products.

Brown: This earthy colour conveys simplicity, durability, credibility and stability. It can also elicit a negative response from consumers who relate to it as dirty. From a functional perspective, brown tends to hide dirt, making it a logical choice for some trucking and industrial companies.

Black: Black is serious, bold, powerful and classic. It creates drama, elegance and connotes sophistication. Black works well for expensive products, but can also make a product look heavy.

White: White connotes simplicity, cleanliness and purity. The human eye views white as a brilliant colour, so it immediately catches the eye in signage. White is often used with infant and health-related products.

Grey: Grey or silver is a conservative colour and conveys reliability, an established brand and security.

All the colours above can be categorized into two basic categories: warm and cold. In general, warm colours, like red and yellow, send an outgoing, energetic message, while cool colours, like blue, are calmer and more reserved. However, brightening a cool colour increases its vibrancy and reduces its reserve.

So before you begin work on your next campaign, consider the information on colour psychology listed above and share it with your creative team if you have one, to ensure colour is used effectively and supports your branding.

Please let me know which colours you are using in your branding, and how you're getting on with creating a new brand or revising an existing one as I'd love to hear. If you have any more advice, please just add a comment. Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 24, 2012

Have a brand you can be proud of

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments

Brand look, voice and messaging

What kind of brand do you need to create in order to attract your ideal target customers? This is a question I hear frequently and an exercise in business I just love. I’m a HUGE fan of brands and branding, and being a creative at heart and people lover it’s of no surprise. It’s something that comes very naturally to me and I'm a raving fan of aligning your key messages (or brand voice) with your brand identity in order to attract your ideal customer and achieve your business goals.

You see brands are a lot like people, so we tend to use some of the same techniques we use for defining ourselves when creating and defining our company’s brand. Throughout time too, many of the same characters appear in the stories we read. So it’s of no surprise to find that over time, companies have adopted the qualities of these characters. By doing so, it’s made it easier for employees to assimilate the company culture, and also for customers to quickly get what they’re all about.

So instead of creating a brand out of thin air, I suggest you consider the archetypes below to develop visuals, messaging, and experiences that evoke certain feelings for your customers. Remember too that whilst brands are stories, archetypes are the characters.

1.Explorer – crossing boundaries
Explorer brands are all about learning. They understand that there are no limits to becoming and no end to learning. They cultivate experiences to stretch and grow and they seek opportunities to step out of life and into living. They are independent and self-directed; explorers who enjoy individualist pursuits. Inherently non-conformist, they value freedom and innovation. They seek out a better world and the ability to align inner needs with outer realities. Explorers are ahead of their time and often appeal to youthfulness. Explorer communication is active; these brands are on the go, learning through experience. Their look is rugged and individual. Starbucks is an example of an Explorer brand.

2. Ruler – take control and lead
Ruler brands are all about knowing how to get things done. They enjoy leadership roles and act in a commanding, authoritative manner. Relationships are defined, as are policies and procedures. Politically savvy and often patriotic, they appeal to the desire to be successful and important. Ruler communication is authoritative. Their image is well defined, solid, and polished. Budweiser is an example of a ruler brand.

3. Creator – order from chaos
Creator brands are again non-conformist. They see the big picture and rearranging disparate pieces to craft something meaningful. Authenticity is important as is trust of the creative process and belief in imagination. Creators are passionate and capable of real innovation. Creators are open to new ideas and their communication is expressive, symbolic and full of meaning. Creators have a look that is original, artistic or interpretative. Martha Stewart is an example of a creator brand.

4. Innocent – life as it should be
Innocent brands are simple, uncomplicated and good. There are many levels of this archetype, from the childlike to the mystical. However, they all encourage us to get out of the fast lane and find happiness through a return to simple pleasures and basic values. Innocents provide sanctuary and help us find or renew our faith. Innocent brands communicate in a straightforward or poetic way. The look is optimistic or tranquil. McDonalds is an example of an innocent brand.

5. Sage – to know is to grow
The Sage brand has faith is humankind’s ability to learn and grow and to make smarter decisions. It is dedicated to discovering the truth or spreading knowledge. It is the thinking brand, the brand that takes pride in intelligence and information. Sage brand communication is thoughtful and can challenge. Word choice can be higher level. Their look might be solid and grounded, or historic and classic. Harvard is an example of a sage brand.

6. Revolutionary – conventions were made to be broken
Revolutionary brands are radicals. They are energetic and challenge the status quo. They channel frustrations constructively, giving people the freedom the do and think outside the box which in turn allows for creative breakthroughs that often lead to real innovation and new growth. Revolutionary brand communication is bold and confident. It can question or have multiple meanings. The Revolutionary look can be surprising, provocative, and innovative. Apple and Harley Davidson are examples of revolutionary brands.

7. Magicians – making the vision a reality
Magician brands are visionary organizations. As catalysts for change, they work to change situations and influence people. Magician brands values transformational experiences and help others turn ideas into action. Magician brand communication is inspiring, symbolic and spirited. The look is less structured and more fluid, flowing and malleable. Walt Disney is an example of a magician brand.

8. Hero – where there's a will, there's a way
Hero brands are all about who they are, not what they do. Interestingly, heroes don’t think of themselves as heroes at all. However, through their determination and perseverance, they heighten the awareness of those around them. They are competent, courageous and responsive, inspiring others to triumph over challenge. Hero communication is direct and hard-hitting as they have no time to over explain. The Hero’s look is strong, bold and functional. Nike is an example of a hero brand.

9. Jester – the passion to perform
Jester brands bend the rules and so see things from a fresh perspective and engage out-of-the box thinking. Playful and spontaneous, they believe it’s not work if you enjoy it. Jesters remind us to lighten up and live in the moment. Jesters communicate in the present tense and are often funny. They enjoy bright colors, playful typography and outrageous imagery. Ben and Jerry is an example of a jester brand.

10. Everyperson – all for one and one for all
Everyperson brands is the archetype of the common man and woman and everyone fits in. The Everyperson is put off by elitism, and happy just they way they are – real, honest and hard working. The everyperson brand communicates in a voice that’s easy to understand and inclusive. Everyperson graphics and fonts are simple and often rounded. Asda’s George is an example of everyone brand.

11. Caregiver – making people a priority
The Caregiver brand is compassionate and generous. Consistent and trustworthy, they offer a high level of customer service. Caregiver brand communication is warm and welcoming and their words are often instructive. Imagery may focus on people and graphics and fonts may have softer edges. Volvo is an example of a caregiver brand.

12. Lover – follow your bliss
The Lover brand is connected by something deeper and that could be parental, spiritual, friendship or romantic. The lover expresses affection and the feeling dimension. It can also be a pleasure seeker with an appreciation of real beauty and aesthetic value. Lover brand comunicaiton is inviting, beautiful and poetic. The look can be ultra rich and sensuous, or warm and inviting. The Lover is often found in cosmetics, jewelry, fashion, food and travel. Hallmark greeting cards is an example of a lover brand.

Understanding which archetypes are active in your organization can help you measure the values that capture the real commitments of your team; create a positive future vision that resonates with your employees; and discover and maintain a compelling brand identity.

Please let me know which archetypes are active in your organization? And, how you're getting on with creating a new brand or revising an existing one as I'd love to hear. Let me know what your markets reaction has been to it as I'd love to hear. If you have any more advice, please just add a comment. Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 20, 2012

Google penalizes websites with Exact Match Domains (EDMs)

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Marketing | 2 Comments

Do you have a website with an EMD?

If you use Exact Match Domains as part of your marketing strategy then read on. A couple of weeks ago I posted a comment on my Facebook Page about Google's latest update which penalizes website owners for relying on Exact Match Domains (EMDs) as a key marketing tactic.

For a long time, many were advised to use EMDs as a method of ranking for long-tail keyword phrases i.e. research your business idea and a profitable related keyword phrase; register a domain name that matches this phrase, and then build content until you hit the first page of Google. It was a great strategy and an easy way to get ranked quickly.

Now what's happened is that Google has taken a real aversion to this method of “gaming” the search engines and is now punishing websites that use long-tail keywords in their domain. Their aim really is simply to weed out “low quality” sites that use EMDs to artificially inflate the rankings of the site for a particular keyword. Unfortunately, however, some high quality sites have been affected.

So, how can you mitigate your risks and what can you do right now if you’re affected?

Continue to add quality content to your website. Remember that Google loves unique, well-written content that offers lots of value to your readers.
Build your social presence i.e Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram etc. By building up a strong social presence you’ll show Google that you’re serious about building a community and about getting REAL people involved in your brand and website experience.
Reduce your reliance on Google i.e. don’t have too many eggs in one basket. Obtaining high search engine rankings and relying purely on Google as your main source of traffic is a risky strategy.

Ways to reduce your reliance of Google

If you’re not building a list – start to now! I cannot stress this enough. Remember to build up your relationships with awesome content and interactivity. By building a list, you have some assurance and you could probably even argue that to some extent it’s a business continuity strategy!
Experiment with advertisements to build traffic and opt-ins to your list, whether that’s through Google, YouTube, Linkedin or Facebook.
Look for external traffic sources. Find relevant groups and forums in your niche. Comment on relevant blogs and add value. Guest blogging and cross blogging are also great tactics along with creating high-quality YouTube videos and linking these to your site.
Build a branded authority site. Google is continually showing a preference towards authority websites and this I believe is their real objective with targeting the EDMs.

Good luck with this and let me know what you think to these changes. Personally, whilst I think it's unfortunate that genuine businesses have been affected, I do see these changes as being a good thing in the long run. Please let me know how you're getting on though and whether you've been affected. And, if you need help or more advice, just drop me a message. Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 12, 2012

Discover the number one reason you lose sales

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Marketing, Sales | 8 Comments

Do you know what your prospects look like?

Being bland, vague and generic in your marketing is a problem. It’s boring, it’s dull and it’s NOT serving you well! Sorry to be blunt!

[box]I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone – Bill Cosby TWEET THIS[/box]

Identifying your ideal customer or target audience from the outset is a critical first step to your success in business and you must set aside time to include it in your marketing plan. Whether you’re writing your own copy or you’re outsourcing it, it's vital. Regrettably I've been witness to many who are simply casting their nets too far and wide with the hope of catching something – anything! And, it reminds me of the old saying “if you throw enough mud at the wall – some of it will stick.”

So, if you want to increase your sales please stop spreading yourself too thin! I’ve seen too many of you spending hours on social media, listening to webinar after webinar, or attending multiple workshops, conferences and events, with the hope of attracting the “right” customer. However, when you identify your ideal customer right at the start and really clarify your market you get much better results with less effort.

It's time to get strategic!

Selling is so much easier when you know who your target audience is and specifically who your ideal customer is. What I mean by this is you’ll need to be explicit about your ideal customer by creating a picture of this person. By having an example of your ideal customer in your head it makes it easier for you to find them because you can better convey this person when you're out networking and when you're writing your marketing copy. It also helps you to screen out those who are just not right too!

If you’re selling to individuals, think about their profession, income bracket, age group, gender, ethnicity, marital status, interests and hobbies, where they live, where they hang out, what they like to read, watch, and even what their personality traits are. If you’re selling to companies, consider the nature of the business, the sector, size of company, geographic area, whether they are established or a start-up, where they like to hang out and network.

You may find that you'll come up with several ideal customer profiles, and that’s ok. Just as we all have different types of friends, you may choose to work with different types of customers but make sure they’re a great fit for your business.

Describe your ideal customer with as much detail as possible. For example, Apple’s marketing team has my picture up on their walls as one of their ideal customers so their description is: female, 35-45yrs, high earner, creative background, mother, likes fashion, shoes, travel, loves music – motown, jazz, blues, disco, reading classics, Seth Godin blogs, watching Marie-Forleo, TED talks, Downton Abbey, Top Gear, film junkie, animal lover, vegetarian, environmentalist, conservationist, organic food, adrenaline junki etc. Armed with this kind of information, Apple can now market to me in all sorts of ways, and they do!

Market to one person

Once you’ve identified your ideal customer, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get dirty so delve deeper and give them a name. Then communicate only to that person in all of your marketing. Address only the problems that person has that you can help solve them. As you already know where they spend their time, what they read and so on, you also know how and where to engage with them and market to them.

I hope by now you're getting the picture and understanding that the power of defining your target market and specifically your ideal customer in detail is IMMENSE. Niche marketing is where the money is so I'd encourage you to spend time on this rather than trying to sell to the whole world. In the comments below, tell me whether you've identified your ideal customer and target audience and what your biggest frustration or challenge with it is. Let me know what action you'll take as a result of reading this post too. I'd love to hear.

Access Free Resources for social media guides.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 8, 2012

My hour with Donald Trump

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business | One Comment

Donald Trump on rolling the dice!

This year Donald Trump is being showcased at the NAC, London 2012, and thousands of people have stayed to hear him speak, including me. The atmosphere at the ExCeL Centre is excitable. He's filled the same spot as Richard Branson did last year – the finale.

Everyone knows the man. He's an American real-estate billionaire, a television personality and author. He's also the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. He's known for his hair, extravagant lifestyle, beautiful wives, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice.

Anyway, I have to say, having seen him in the flesh and heard him speak – I like the guy. With anecdotes and stories, he came across as being down-to-earth yet rather ruthless, which always makes for an interesting combination.

Right from the offset, he's straight talking. He takes no prisoners and launches into mocking some of the weekend's speakers i.e. all those people who're selling books on how to be successful – who've only ever made money by selling how to be successful from the stage. Having spent a year in Internet Marketing, I know exactly what he means, and I chuckle.

Anyway, here are Trump's top 10 tips for business success:

1.Love what you do. If you don't love what you do, you'll resent every working day. Furthermore you won't actually be very good at whatever it is you'll be doing. For me, it's interesting that he places so much value on this as it's something I've heard time and time again. And, I know it to be true from my own personal experience.

2. Always be mistrusting, and prepare for the worst. He elaborates more during point 3.

3. Hire the best people. Gone are the days when he proclaimed, ‘hire the best people and trust them.' Now, he advocates ‘hire the best people and don't trust them.' His reason being that if they're exposed to your weaknesses they'll want to take over your company, your wife or even your dog! He highlights managers of athletes and entertainment artists as an example – sadly.

4. Be focused. If you're not focused learn to be. He's talks about the fact that there's some truth behind the old saying, ‘the harder you work, the luckier you'll get.' He gives a dinner meeting and event with 2,000 bankers, when he was on the point of business failure as another example. Had he not said yes to this, his business would have gone under.

5. Don't quit. There's only one way to fail in business and that's by quitting. So many people, in his opinion, don't have the drive and quit far too soon. They might have a good plan, or even a bad plan, but who knows – as they quit half way through – shame!

6. Go with your gut and trust your instinct. He uses how he came to sign for The Apprentice as his next example. The story goes that his agent (Jim) had instructed him not sign as 96% of TV shows in the US fail; no business show had ever worked on prime-time TV, and no American woman in their right mind would want to watch him! He ignored his agent's advice and went on to reap the harvest of one of the most successful shows in America and the UK.

7.When someone hits you, hit back and five times as hard. His reasoning is simply on account of the onlookers. He argues you need to show them that you're a force to be reckoned with.

8. Believe in yourself, love who you are, and understand your subject. Do all of these and you'll get what you want – fact!

9.Sign a prenuptial. In his opinion too many great businesses have been destroyed through marriage breakups so be prepared from the start as you need to be able to work it out. From my own personal experience I couldn't agree more and I know that there are always ways to take a company or ruin one even if you have legals in place.

10. Create certainty – in your business and life. To be successful, you have to be a warrior and confident in yourself and your ideas.

So that's it, and he ends by saying, ‘now go make Trump look like a small-timer!”

So, my question to you is, what positive success rituals do you use in your business? What would you advise someone else who's thinking of starting a business? Let me know your thoughts on this subject as I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 6, 2012

The power of full engagement as demonstrated by Tony Robbins

By JaneFrankland | business start ups, Established business, Lifestyle, Mindset | 5 Comments

Energy is the currency of high performance

Fast forward a year and I'm back at the National Achievers Congress in London, watching the big man – Tony Robbins. So much has happened this past year. I've studied Internet Marketing (and implemented), started a new job – earning another six figure salary, resigned from the job choosing passion over pay check, sold my IT company and started a new business – in a new sector! I've grown and challenged myself – expanded my comfort zones and am well and truly on my way! Now that I'm feeling far more in tune with myself I'm happy.

Anyway, as I'm listening to Tony, and watching a man filled with charisma, passion and unlimited energy, I'm reminded of one of the most important factors in business and leadership success: Managing energy, not time is key to high performance and personal renewal.

Energy not time is one of most precious resources. It is the currency of high performance. Performance, psychological health, emotional fitness and happiness are grounded in the skilful management of energy.

Leaders are the principals of organisational energy – or at least they should be! They inspire others first by how effectively they manage their own energy. Then they use this to inspire, lead, invest, mobilize, focus and renew the energy of others they lead. Their skilful management of energy, at the individual and organisational level enables full engagement. It results in a team that is totally behind their leader – and in sync.

Tony Robbins talks a lot about being ‘in state.' And, full engagement is the energy state that best serves performance. Full engagement requires drawing on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy. As energy reduces with over-use and under-use, it's important to balance energy expenditure with renewal. This is where the work hard, play hard rule comes into effect.

To build up our energy levels, we have to push beyond our normal limits. We have to get into training. The work is hard, but the results make the yield worth it. Training in this way, means training in the same systematic way as supreme athletes. It means turning energy training into a habit and a routine.

A note of caution too – if the intensity of the training is increased, it's necessary to balance that with the same amount of energy renewal i.e. time off. If you fail to do this you'll run the risk of burn out and breakdown, and your performance will obviously deteriorate. Equally – too much recovery without sufficient stress will lead to weakness. So the lesson here is clearly use it or lose it!

[box]Without time for recovery, our lives become a blur of DOING unbalanced by much opportunity for BEING – Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz TWEET THIS[/box]

We live in a world that promotes an insatiable work ethic and ignores downtime. Whilst we work longer hours in the UK than the rest of Europe, I've seen nothing that compares to the work ethic of the USA, Asia and the Middle East. And that's a worry for the global economy as intermittent disengagement is what allows us to passionately re-engage. Ignore time for renewal, or time off, or recovery and it will backfire. Without a doubt the secret for high performance is in creating a balance between the two and countries that encourage people to seek intermittent renewal not only encourage greater commitment, but interestingly also more productivity.

So, my question to you is, how are you coping with your energy levels? Are you out of sync and at risk of burn-out or are you not putting enough effort in? Let me know what techniques you use to balance the two, plus also your thoughts on this subject. I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,

October 3, 2012

The real truth about women and multi-tasking

By JaneFrankland | Established business, Mindset | No Comments

Is it fact or fiction?

I love technology; especially social media, but unfortunately I’m like most people – I find it incredibly distracting. And, as it advances, my attention seems to be spread amongst tasks more thinly. Whilst I wasn’t especially worried by this, I’ve just read a piece of research that says that the way we work can be just as important as distractions from it.

To elaborate, research conducted by Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College London University monitored the impact of multitasking on workers' performances. The results showed that when test participants were interrupted by lots of emails and phone calls whilst trying to work on other things, their IQ dropped by 10 points. Alarmingly, this equals the effect of missing a whole night's sleep and more than doubles that of smoking marijuana! Oh golly!!!

As most of us know (or we think we do), women are great at multi-tasking so I decided to investigate whether this actually affected both sexes in the same way as the research that came my way was non-gender specific.

Are women really better at multi-tasking?

Thankfully a team of British (go team GB) researchers decided to answer the question once and for all! They concluded (officially) that women really are better than men at juggling more than one task at-a-time. British psychologist Keith Laws, a professor at the University of Hertfordshire led the study and here’s a quick summary as to what they did and found.

The test: They gathered 100 students — 50 men and 50 women — and gave them 8 minutes to perform 3 tasks at the same time. They all got the same tasks, which included solving simple maths problems, finding restaurants on a map, and devising a strategy for finding a lost key in an imaginary field. Then, while they were juggling those assignments, the subjects received a telephone call, which they could answer or ignore. If they answered, they were asked some general knowledge questions while they continued the original tasks.

The result: The women had few problems handling everything at once. In fact, 70% of them performed better than their average male counterparts. The men handled the maths questions without many problems and did OK pinpointing the map locations. However, the women put them to shame when it came to the most complicated task – developing a plan for finding the lost key.

What was the big difference?

Men didn't approach the job logically. They just jumped into the middle of the field and dashed around looking for the key, never managing to cover the entire area. Women, however, tended to start in one corner, and methodically searched the whole field moving out in concentric circles or lines

Why might women be better at multi-tasking?

CNN’s Dr Sanjay Gupta suggested it might be on account of evolution. “While ancient men were responsible primarily for hunting and gathering, women had to tend to the children, the house and all the other activities of daily living,” he said. “Over the years, women may have retained this ability, translating into an improved ability to multi-task.”

So if I'm a woman, does multi-tasking make me more efficient?

Unfortunately the answer is probably not. There is evidence that multi-tasking is a drag on productivity for pretty much everyone, regardless of gender. The reason for that relates to the basic structure of brain says Dr. Etienne Koechlin of France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research. “The right and left hemispheres cooperate when working on a single task, but in two tasks, one hemisphere covers the reward of one task, and the other hemisphere covers the reward of the other.” That, unfortunately, applies to both genders.

So my question to you is, what do you think based on your experience? As a woman do you feel that you can multi-task effortlessly without it being a drain on productivity? Do you feel this is instinctive or man-made? I have to say, that I personally think that most women can do this instinctively without it being a drain as I've certainly been running a home, managing children and a business for a long time! Let me know your thoughts as I'd love to hear.

Thank you, as always for reading and contributing here. If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!

With love and gratitude – as always,