You can now read our blog posts on your mobile easily.  Navigate to Sensei Learning and Performance from your smartphone and read blog posts and view pages easily.   WordPress is our CMS of choice.  If you use WordPress, you can replicate the effect on your WordPress blog by installing the WP Touch plugin.  It makes reading blogs from mobiles simple.  Scrolling is minimised and the content is customised to fit the screen of the current user.

To optimise your blog for mobiles using the WP Touch plugin:

1. Log in to your WordPress blog.
2. Click Plugins in the left hand menu bar.
3. Click Add New at the top of the window.
4. Type WPtouch and click Search.  A list of search results is displayed.
5. Click WPtouch.
6. Click Details to read more about the plugin.
7. Click Install Now.
8. You may be asked to confirm your login information.
9. Once installed the plugin will appear in a list under the Settings menu.  Customise the settings to suit.  Most options have a pop-up help screen to explain what each is for.

Add a comment to this blog post if you get lost.

Image credit: cogdog.

Last night, I attended the second meeting of the Social Media Association for Business, at UUB.  Here are my thoughts on the evening.

What is the Social Media Association for Business?

The SMAB is a grassroots organisation that spontaneously germinated in the mind of our very own Martin Gilchrist of Gilchrist & Co Accountants, to bring together those who are interested in, knowledgeable about using social media tools, to assist organisations in Northern Ireland with their understanding and employment of social media as a marketing and networking tool.

Who was there?

Come along to the next one and meet them all!  I’m currently wracking my brain to see if I can remember all the new people I met.  Watch out, I’ll be trying to make contact next!

Social Media Association for Business Facebook Page

What is the current format?

1. Registration/Free Networking over tea/coffee
2. Welcome
3. Speaker
4. Questions to a Panel
5. Open Mic
6. Free Networking

Who spoke?

Tim McKane from Navajo Talk

Who sat on the panel?

Jon Paul Bruce from BizNet IIS

Nichola Bates from Grow Sales Online

And, me.

What did I learn?

I need to get rid of one Facebook Profile I had retained for personal friends and family, as really, something I’ve known for a long time, is that it’s not really kosher to have two.  Thing is, personal friends and family have slowing been adding me as a Friend on my other professional Profile for a while, so it won’t be that difficult to close it down.  Many thanks to Jill Culbertson from Navajo Talk for pointing this out again.

Join me on Facebook

I share stuff I’m doing, things I’m interested in, what I’m reading, people I find useful, and the odd opinion or rant.

“Like” Sensei Learning and Performance on Facebook

We share tips and hints for SMEs who are interested in maximising the web for their business.  You’ll also be kept informed of new blogs and upcoming events, ones we’re running, and other useful business events across Northern Ireland.

Is there any grub?

Tea, coffee and delicious traybakes.

Vibe?

Relaxed, but structured (due to Niall McKeown‘s no doubt renowned meeting management skills) and informed.

Where can I get further information?

Ask the organisers:

Martin Gilchrist

Nichola Bates

Niall McKeown

Image credit: webtreatsetc.

I’m sure there is no such term, but I wanted to invoke a hint of “Social Networking” to get your attention.  Did it work?

So, Nepotism?  What is it?

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives or friends, with no regard to merit.^[1]

This comes from Wikipedia, natch.  Doesn’t that sound just a wee bit like what we do while collecting Friends, Followers or Connections online?

What has made me self-righteously think of “merit”?

• I was getting Facebook updates from people I have never communicated with, on or offline.  And, I had to click on their name to find out who they were.  Often, they had no website or other employer link, to help me place them.  So, I’ve begun removing them.
• Occasionally, I had someone begin a Chat session, and I’d either little or no idea who they were.  Sometimes these chats were over-familiar in the extreme, bearing in mind I’ve never met either in person, nor had an engaging conversation online.  I’ve begun removing them too.
• My RSS feeds were getting out of control.  Things had to be trimmed back, and the rest organised into sensibly-named folders.
• Increasingly, I have been getting friend requests on Facebook from people I’ve never met, who do not respond to my message saying Hi, and asking where we’ve met.  So, if they’re not willing to engage from the offset, to answer a simple request like that, is there any point in allowing them to take up room on my Friends list?
• My email inbox was becoming a morning torture ritual.  I’m unsubscribing with glee.
• Twitter followers are another story.  Many engage for a few weeks, then lose interest, as they’re not trying to connect with anyone, so tweeting one way like that will bore you very quickly indeed.  The thing is, they’re taking up space on my Followers/Following list.  So, I removed many of these inactive accounts and managed to half my list in an hour.  I didn’t do this automatically, I did it manually, as I preferred to know who I was deleting.
• Honestly, I don’t want distractions of the status updates from people in my Facebook or Twitter streams who I don’t know, some of whom are posting one game notification after another.  Yes, I’m aware you can Hide The Person or Hide This Game.  But, why give yourself the extra effort?

Willy nilly “business” connections

We connect with people willy nilly.  What criteria do we use?  I realise that I may make some enemies by saying this, but I don’t need more friends.  I have friends.  What I need is more business contacts.  I’m trying to run Sensei Learning and Performance, and so business contacts are useful to me.  Sure, some of those people can become really good friends.  I’m not a total mercenary.  But, most won’t.

We need some way of distinguishing who we connect with online, and who we don’t.  My criteria is loosely something like the following:

People who book me

I like to stay in touch with the decision-makers who book me to run workshops, or complete work for them.  I don’t generally work with people I don’t like, so I like to see what they’re up to.

Workshop/seminar attendees

This is particularly the case if we’ve had a conversation around social media during the session, or the workshop was on the topic of online marketing, or something related.

Members of my family or close personal friends

For these people, I use a separate Facebook account, and generally communicate in DMs via Twitter, or openly if they’re also business contact and it’s something others might find interesting too.

Networkers

I do as much networking as I can, structured and unstructured, self-organised, or organised by others.  Sometimes I’ll meet someone who I’d like to stay in touch with.  I often stalk look people up before or following a meeting, because I like them and what they’re doing, I like their Twitter stream or blog.  Or, sometimes, darn it, they may just be useful to me some day, because they’re well connected.  Mm-kay?

Competitors

This is what the cool cats call a no-brainer.  Easiest way to do it?  Set up a Group in Tweetdeck or Facebook, and place all your competitors in it.

Then, you can easily browse them at a glance, as part of your ongoing market research.  Or, you may want to set up some Google Alerts, just to see who’s mentioning them and in what context.  (You can set Google Alerts for anything you wish.  I find them extremely useful.)

People I admire, or who inspire me… some of the rockstars

There are a bucket-load of these.  However, I’d like to point out a few.  You may know that I’m addicted to blogging.  I’ve started a few over the last few years.  This is the only public one that has stood the test, perhaps because my soul and guts go into my business.  So, I love to stay connected with bloggers, mainly via Twitter (or RSS).  Here are the ones I can’t do without.

http://gapingvoid.com/

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

http://www.webdistortion.com/

http://www.justinparks.com/

http://idratherbewriting.com/

http://freelanceswitch.com/

http://www.creativeboom.co.uk/belfast/

And, two for Sunday afternoons…

http://littlepinkkitchen.wordpress.com/

http://welldonefillet.com/

All write with a greater or lesser degree of snark.  I like snark.

I’m not the type that says if you don’t meet offline, it’s not worth it

Don’t misunderstand me.  I have many online contacts who I’ve never met offline, and probably never will, as they live far away, or, our paths are just not likely ever to cross, unless we engineer a meeting.  And, that’s fine.  Connecting online, like with any other type of meeting, can be useful, profitable, enjoyable… one is not better than the other, just different.

So, what do you think?  Do you follow on merit?  Or, do you connect with anyone?

What are your top criteria for deciding who to follow, read or friend?

And, if you need assistance with what I’ve blogged about, get in touch!

Image credit: acme.

The Big List is a collection of useful web tools and resources, particularly for those who’re adopting social media tools for business, but feel like they may just have walked into a maze!  It will contain short descriptions of each tool and suggestions of how it might be used, to help you negotiate your way through.  It has been promised for some time, and is finally almost ready…

Initially, the first version will be made available to those who are signed up to our email newsletter, and updates will be sent periodically.  If you’d like to receive this new resource, sign up to the email newsletter here.  You will also receive emails on events and other useful articles.

Who is the big list for?

• Attendees from our social media and online marketing workshops.
• Anyone else who is new to social media and needs definitions of terminology and a simple explanation of what the online tools do.
• Anyone else who wants to learn and adopt some new tools that will help save them both time and money, in their marketing nad networking efforts.

All suggestions on good blogs, websites, Twitter tools, Facebook applications, social media tools, hints and tips, or mobile technology  are very welcome.  Add your suggestions – or questions – in a comment.

Image credit: Tim Green aka atoach.

Next week, I’ll be speaking at one of Legal Island’s Business for Breakfast seminars, at silly o’clock in the morning on the above topic.  If you are attending, please make any suggestions in a comment below.

When?  16 March 2010, 07:30 – 09:00

Where? Island Centre, Legal Island, Antrim

About what?

Twitter is celebrated as the latest online phenomenon in PR and brand-building. But what about meeting new collaborators and suppliers or developing meaningful ways of communicating with customers? Want to know more?

Click here to book your place.