Generation Gap

BRIDGING THE GENERATION DIVIDE – Two FREE events from the NSW Department of State & Regional Development.

Two workshops dealing with how different generations view business, are being held in Sydney and Newcastle and are coming up this week.

The aim of the workshops is to develop the business knowledge and skills of up-and-coming entrepreneurs in a changing business environment.

The bulk of business leaders come from an ageing generation, with emerging leaders coming from the much younger Generation Y.

This means generational differences need to be properly understood by both sides of the divide.

There are thousands of business operators aged under 30 in NSW, and its vital young business people gain traction in a competitive business environment.

It is not enough for employers to have a cursory understanding and nominal engagement with a new generation of employees.

Up-and-coming entrepreneurs need to know the attitudes and expectations of older workers and customers.

Social researcher and best selling author Michael McQueen discusses the impacts of an ageing population at a workshop at the Hunter Business Centre,v265 King Street Newcastle West on 30 March. He explains how young business people can bridge the gap between generations to help create new business opportunities.

Social researcher and demographer Mark McCrindle describes the demographic trends of an ageing society, and the potential impact on business owners of the future at a workshop in the MLC Centre in Sydney on 2 April.

Both workshops can help today’s emerging leaders see the viewpoint of other generations so that each can work effectively, communicate productively and develop leadership skills.

For further information or to register contact Bryan Pirie on 9338 6616 or email: bryan.pirie@business.nsw.gov.au or see the NSW DSRD site for more information.

Ten Secrets to Great Email Marketing

The debate about snailmail versus email rages on between the old timer marketers and the new age digital marketers. Here we get the inside word from a digital marketer’s perspective, Fred Schebesta, on how to increase your response rates and generate a multitude of leads.

As young entrepreneurs you often start with little to no money, and using the internet and emarketing smartly is vital as it doesn’t carry to cost of other more traditional marketing methods.

1. No mistakes!
Broken links and images in your emails are an instant detraction from what you’re offering. Not only does it damage the image of your company it also disables the customer from accepting your offer.

2. Make it a quick message for a quick medium.
You have 3 seconds to grab your customer’s attention otherwise they can just press delete or move onto the next email. Make sure your message is transferred quickly as people tend to read and discard email quickly.

3. Send more than one email in the campaign.
After you’ve sent your initial email with its offer send another one a week later saying that the offer has almost expired. This creates urgency for the reader.

4. Email link to websites.
You’ll receive much faster response rates if you link to a website instead of asking the buyer to pick up a telephone and call you. Ensure that your offer is clearly displayed on your website and it’s clearly understood how to accept the offer.

5. Reply to your responses.
Unlike with other mediums, the time between when your offer is delivered and when it can be acted upon is very short. As a rule, your response time should not be longer than 12 hours.

6. Give customers a reason to refer.
At the bottom of your email put a small blurb. “If you know of anyone else who would be interested in this offer please forward them this email.” Give your customers a reason to refer a friend and you’ll see an even better response rate.

7. Layout of the email.
Understand how your audience is going to read their email. In general people only view the email in a small box. What that means for your email is that it needs to convey its message in that little box and give them a reason to scroll down.

8. Tune into WIIFM.
The WIIFM (Whats in it for me?) station is a favourite station when it comes to accepting special sales offers. Ensure that your buyer has a clear and simple way of accepting your offer. ‘Click here to receive a free case study’ – ‘ Reply to this email to receive a free copy’ – ‘Place your name in the form to begin
your registration process’.

9. Flashy images vs Text.
There must be a balance between images and text in email marketing. Preferably more text than images. One image plus a single link with a call to action in actual text is ideal.

10. Clean Subjects.
Ensure that you have a subject line that is catchy enough for your email to be opened and relevant enough for the email to be read all the way through. Try using questions (e.g. Are you struggling to find clients?) or great adjectives (e.g. Exclusive unveiling of new product).

For more info and tips from Fred, check out his blog.

Being HIGHLY effective

We know that young entrepreneurs are always looking for ANYTHING that will help them work more effectively – to be able to get everything done that needs to be done! So try these….

‘What we are’ communicates more effectively than what we say or do. According to author Stephen Covey, the key to becoming effective is developing a good character, and the way to do that is through developing these seven behavioural habits…

1) Be Proactive –
Take the initiative! Avoid the less effective, but more common “reactive” approach. Our behaviour is based on our decisions, not our conditions – and we all have the initiative and responsibility to make things happen. In laymans, it’s up to you!

2) Begin with the End in Mind –
Where do you want to go? When we set long term goals we better understand where we are now and take steps in the right direction.
Visualisation and creating a ‘personal mission statement’ can help you get where you want to go. Make sure your business’ mission statement truly reflects the shared vision and values of everyone within your biz – to create unity and awesome commitment.

3) Put First Things First -
Prioritise work that’s aimed at long-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear to be urgent, but are in fact less important. Delegation is an important part of this.

4) Think Win-Win –
Develop an attitude that looks for solutions that benefit yourself as well as others, or, in the case of a conflict, people on both sides of that conflict.

5) Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood –
Have you ever felt like no-one understands you?
They probably weren’t listening! Most of the time we seek to be understood and do not listen with the intent to understand. We are either speaking or waiting to speak! Have you ever given advice before
having understood a person and their situation? More than likely your advice was rejected. Next time
you’re listening to someone, listen to their concerns and you’ll be more likely to increase the chance
of them listening to you.

6) Synergise when you work in teams –
Valuing the mental, emotional and psychological differences between people is the essence of synergy. When synergy is pursued as a habit, the result of team work exceeds the sum of what each individual can achieve on their own. Work is a team game.

7) Sharpen the saw –
Ever felt burnt out? To be effective we need to recognise the importance of taking time regularly to ‘sharpen the saw’ in four ways – physical, mental, social/emotional, spiritual.

In 2004 Covey added this 8th habit…

From Effectiveness to Greatness –
Today’s world is challenging and complex and to thrive, innovate, excel, and lead, we must reach beyond effectiveness toward fulfillment, contribution, and greatness.

Research is showing, however, that the majority of people are not thriving. They are neither fulfilled nor excited. This habit is about finding your own daily fulfillment and excitement.

‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, first published in 1990, is a self-help book written by
Stephen Covey. You can also check out his later book ‘The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness’. We recommend them both.

Releasing Potential through Leadership

When you run your own business or social enterprise leadership skills are vital. Whether it is leading yourself, your volunteer team, your staff or your customers. And often as a young person you are taking on a leadership position for the first time, so you are just building your own leadership skills.

Great leaders make things happen by releasing the energy of others.

Traditionally the role of leadership consisted of controlling your subordinates. An effective leader was seen as someone who was able to get others to follow their orders with the results achieved limited to the vision and ability of the leader.

In an attempt to better understand the role of leadership and its ability to influence performance, leadership
guru Malcolm Knowles from the Uni of QLD business school looked at organisations as though they were
a system of human energy. Here’s what he discovered about what makes great leaders.

1. Leaders offer challenges and share responsibility
Creative leaders make a different set of assumptions (essentially positive) about human nature from the
assumptions (essentially negative) made by controlling leaders.
Creative leaders have faith in people, offer them challenges, and delegate responsibility. When people are given an opportunity to contribute, they’re more creative and productive. The more they feel their unique potential is being used, the greater their achievement.

2. Leaders involve their staff
Creative leaders know that people’s level of commitment to a decision is equal to the extent that they feel they have participated in making it. Creative leaders therefore involve their employees in every step of the planning process.

3. Leaders believe in self-fulfilment
Creative leaders understand that people tend to rise up to other people’s expectations of them. The sports
coach conveys to his team that he knows they’re capable of winning, the good supervisor displays faith in
her employees that they will produce superior work. There’s a positive relationship between positive
self-concept and superior performance.

4. Leaders value individuality
Creative leaders realise that people perform at a higher level when they’re using their unique strengths, talents and goals rather than trying to conform to an imposed stereotype. Team arrangements are therefore encouraged in which each member works at what they’re best at and enjoys most.

5. Leaders stimulate & reward creativity
Creative leaders understand that creativity is a basic requirement for the survival of individuals, organisations
and societies. Leaders exemplify creativity in their own behaviour and build an environment that encourages
and rewards innovation in others. ‘Failures’ are treated as opportunities to learn, which encourages
experimentation and growth.

6. Leaders love change
Creative leaders aspire to make their organisations innovative rather than static. They understand the theory of change and are skilled in strategies to cause it and deal with it.

7. Leaders emphasise internal motivators
Creative leaders focus on building achievement, recognition, fulfilling work, responsibility, advancement
and growth, and try to minimise dissatisfiers like organisational policy and admin, supervision and status.

8. Leaders encourage self-direction
Creative leaders understand that we all move toward states of increasing self-directedness and that we
look to leaders for guidance through this process.

What could you achieve today by releasing the energy of others?

Building a Great TEAM – First Steps

Finding the right people to work with – whether for your own business or the various projects you’re running – is less about warm and fuzzy feelings of ‘teamwork’ and more about generating productivity and values alignment.
Let me explain.

It’s one thing to get a group of volunteers or staff together to participate in a team building adventure course that identifies the leaders and followers of your team. It’s a whole other story to take serious time out to really investigate the skill gaps of your team and then fill those gaps with people who share the same
values and business vision.

So STEP ONE to building a great team is to conduct a ‘skills audit’ of your existing team (which may only
consist of one person so far – you!). Do you and your team have all the vital business roles like accounting,
marketing, strategy, IT etc, covered? If it’s time to expand then it’s time to fill some of those gaps.
Start
plugging the holes where your business or project will most benefit – either in terms of sales/income or
productivity/delivery/service. No use hiring a web guru to build a funky new website if your main product is
denture cream for over 60′s!

STEP TWO – don’t choose staff based on their skills alone. You need to create a ‘values match’. Not unlike
the perfect match of dating, you need to hire people who value the same things as you and your biz/project.

So think about your biz/project’s vision … can this potential new person help you to reach that goal? Are
their dreams and ambitions aligned with yours – both personal career goals and the goals of the biz? There’s
no use hiring a great finance guy who could care less about animal rights if you’re trying to find homes for
stray pets.

On a less obvious level, if you value integrity, freedom and creativity, you want to find teammates who share
those similar philosophies. A clash of values is one of the key reasons people quit their jobs or become
de-motivated and unproductive.

The other key to building a great team around you to help you achieve your goals – and this applies in
business as well as life – is the value of networking.
Networking is still a bit of a dirty word, implying
endless sessions of Friday night drinks and self-absorbed schmoozing. Not so. Effective networking is
about accepting invitations to events and opportunities that directly help you to build your own skill set and
mix with like-minded people who you can learn from and share experiences with.

The more people you meet and genuinely share your experiences and contacts with, the more business
opportunities naturally come your way. The key word there of course, is ‘genuine’. If you’re just attending
networking events to plug your own biz people will quickly lose interest. If you’re interested in learning new
skills, swapping ‘war’ stories, and helping others out, ‘biz karma’ brings it right back to ya.

So before you draw up contracts and job descriptions, think about what you need and what values you are looking for.

Savvy Networking Tactics

So you’re into business networking? Here’s some savvy tactics to make the most of your time and develop your new-found relationships.

Be Strategic

By now you should have the confidence and basic networking skills for you to enjoy and benefit from every one of your networking experiences. You’ve got some key contacts, and a thirst for more.

It’s time to get strategic. You should now know which type of networking experiences you typically get the most out of. Perhaps you find your professional association contacts a bit dry and boring but love attending a particular event or regular group meeting? Don’t cut the old ties, just focus more on the ones you can see yourself benefiting from (and enjoying!).

Start by planning your year (or what remains of it). Be strategic about the events and groups that you will frequent. Decide on your level of involvement with each of them as well (will you volunteer more time with any of them, perhaps write their newsletter or organise a fundraiser?), and weigh up what spending more time and energy on each will actually achieve. Of course, as well as penciling in these ‘must-go’ networking opportunities, you also need to leave time for those that you may not have heard about yet, such as one-off events or launches.

As well as making these choices and scheduling them into your business and social life, it can be a good idea to start a networking budget. This should include money for events and membership fees, extra money for unplanned or unexpected opportunities that come up, and a small portion of money to spend on your networking ‘weapons’ to make an impact (see below). A budget will naturally make you more strategic in your approach to networking as not only is it a self-allocated source of funds for your activities, but it also makes you think carefully about what you do and don’t want to attend.

Weaponry

Business cards, conversation starters and the ability to quickly identify relationship possibilities are the three pillars of networking basics. But these things are also expected of business people. Go the extra mile by arming yourself with some extra weapons to develop existing relationships and establish some great new ones. These things will also ensure that you’re remembered by the people that you meet!

Here’s some ideas:

Networking cards

* Get some business-card size cards created that explain what you do. This is especially suitable for businesses that often have complicated terms or concepts. Provide definitions of those terms as well as a way to find out more information.
* This is also great if you are a member of a networking group/club looking for members, as it can explain what the group does and provide contact details.

Mini-Newsletters

* Print a small newsletter about your activities to hand out to people who you end up in deep conversations with, especially if they appear genuinely interested in more information about what you do, on the spot. The newsletter should be just that, news. Don’t ever try to sell anything at a networking event.

Referral business cards

* Carry the cards of other people’s businesses you know and trust. If you meet someone and end up recommending one of the businesses you have a card for, hand them a card! It’s a good idea to write on the back of each card, “Referred by your name” so that the person remembers you and mentions you to the business. You always get back what you give out, so make sure you refer professional, ethical colleagues who deserve the promotion and who you either use or would use yourself.

A funky business card holder/case

* Many networkers (and women in particular) carry a slim, small business card case. Turn it into a conversation starter and talking point by choosing a funniy shaped or brightly coloured one. Of course, make sure the case isn’t rude!

Your diary

* This is absolutely essential incase you need to schedule a time for further discussion with a new colleague. They are much more likely to follow up on your discussion if you set up a time right away, rather than if you contact them later (which should be doing with all your contacts anyway!).

Name tag

* Get a name tag made that has your business logo on it. Carry it everywhere. This means you can easily deal with events that do not provide name tags or ones where they may have spelt your name wrong. It also means people remember your tag, especially if its bright and attractive. Wear your tag on the left hand side so as not to block it when you shake hands with people.

Somewhere to put collected cards

* Where do you put the cards you collect at an event? Whatever you do, don’t put them in your own business card case or, especially in the case of men, in the same jacket pocket that has your own cards. It doesn’t look that good to a new contact if you have to shuffle through ten cards before finding your own, so decide ahead of time where to put them.
* Ladies, if you have no hand baggage or pockets, then put them at the back of your card case, and keep your own cards at the front.

The ladies room

* Women shouldn’t underestimate the power of the ladies room! We all know how much gossip and chit chat goes on in there, so use the time spent refreshing your lipstick or washing your hands to casually chat with others. Keep the conversation casual and non-business oriented if you are the one starting it up.

Record Important Dates and Facts

There are many ways to keep in touch with your network (emails, newsletters, etc) but it’s often useful to note down specific dates and facts about each person. An email on each person’s Birthday is a nice idea, as well as Christmas or Easter cards from your business. You may even like to post or email to your database an amusing or exciting snapshot of something you have achieved or done recently (collecting your business award onstage?).

Write down important facts about the people you meet on the back of their cards, and review these regularly.

For example, you might write: “James lives with his brother Mike, a construction worker who is renovating their home. James loves motor cycles and rides every other weekend, and has bought a new bike.”

Next time you meet or contacts James you have some great conversation starters, like “How are the renovations coming along?” and “How have you been finding the new bike?”

Think Outside the Square

Almost every experience you have in your life is a networking opportunity. Of course, you don’t want to become too obsessed with that fact, but nevertheless, take your cards everywhere! After all, how many times have you bumped into someone at the shopping center, in the queue at the bank, at a friend’s place or at social engagement (party, BBQ)?

‘Networking’ events and regular group meetings (professional associations etc) aren’t the only places to network. Be prepared to meet new people (including possible clients and suppliers) at professional development events (conferences, workshops, training sessions) as well as at exhibitions, trade fairs, in foyers and elevators, and at social functions.

And remember, practice makes perfect!

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