Social Media – Some Twitter Tips

Whether you are using Twitter for business or personal purposes, are new to it or experienced, here are some tips to utilise the tool without falling into pitfalls:

Accessing Twitter

By going to www.twitter.com you will be able to sign up to the service, and will be presented with a means of posting messages (“tweets”) and seeing tweets posted by others.

Having opened an account you do not need to use Twitter itself. Popular alternatives “apps” are Tweetdeck, Twitterific, Hootsuite and a host of others. The choice is dependent on whether you are using a PC, a Mac, an iPad or which type of mobile phone. The format and way of working varies significantly, and as the apps are usually free, it is worth trying a few out.

Photos, Videos, Long Tweets and Scheduling

Tweets are short text messages, no more than 140 characters (140C), originally designed to be used in conjunction with SMS text messaging.

By including a weblink in the text, it is possible to link to photos, videos and longer text. It is also possible to pre-schedule tweets so they are made automatically at the appointed time.

Popular add-on tools include plixi.com, twitpic.com and twitlonger.com . You’ll see other people using other tools in their tweets.

Some of these tools can be used on their own, or with other tools such as Facebook. To use them with Twitter, the usual approach is:

• Log in to chosen Twitter account
• Find and log into the required add-on service using “Sign in with Twitter”
• Add photo etc to the add-on tool, which will automatically post into Twitter

Following & Consequences

There’s no need to post messages (“tweets”) to Twitter regularly. You can simply follow other people to read their tweets. These can be celebrities, friends or anyone who might be interesting.

Depending on the Twitter software tool you’re using, there is usually a “Follow” button next to their name. The consequences of following are:

• You will see their public tweets in your listing (“timeline”)
• They will be able to send you private “direct messages” (DMs) that no-one else will see
• Other people can see that you are following them
• They will usually be notified that you are following them, which usefully brings you and what you offer to their attention

Some people will follow you back, either automatically or when they see you’re following them. If this happens:

• You will be able to send private DMs to them too.
• They will see your tweets in their timeline

Conversely, you need to consider whether to follow everyone back or not, as both DMs and following can have drawbacks.

How Private are your Tweets

Unless you start a tweet “DM @recipient message” which will only go to the intended recipient you have to assume all tweets are public:

• Followers will see them
• They will appear in the list of tweets that people see if they view your account
• They will appear in the public timeline used for searches (which is how the Robin Hood airport tweet was spotted that resulted in a criminal prosecution)

If you start a tweet @recipient, this will not usually appear in followers’ timelines, but:

• Will also appear in the list of tweets that people see if they view your account
• Will appear in someone’s timeline if they are following both you and the @recipient

There are many other quirks to the way Twitter works. Further tips are in the “Twitter Away” blog.

.

Escaping Excel Hell – Automating Business Processes

Excel is a marvelous software tool. It’s pretty well standard on business PCs, and most people have at least a rudimentary knowledge of how it works.

You can list data in a simple database, and use the range of formulae to add and manipulate data. So Excel (or some other spreadsheet) is often the first tool thought of and used for a business application such as order processing or budgeting.

However it’s worth thinking of Excel as clever electronic paper, suffering from similar drawbacks:

• Excel has no automatic facilities for additions. All formulae have to be set up manually, directly or by copying, and it is easy to make errors
• Excel is a “personal productivity” tool which is not designed for use by more than one person. Whilst it is possible to share and link spreadsheets, again there is considerable possibility of error.
• Data entry does not have an audit trail. Whilst it is convenient that changes can be made easily, no changes will get logged.
• Once you’ve got a database of data, you can produce summaries by creating additional tables or pivot tables, but regular reporting is difficult
• You won’t get any workflow capabilities to automate processes

So Excel can be very useful to generate small-scale systems. But for larger systems, or a small system that has grown, a more appropriate solution is needed.

Sometimes it is possible to find a package that does exactly what’s needed, in the cloud or to buy to use on-premise, such as for a simple order processing system. In other cases a system needs to be customised to do what is required. For financial systems, it may be appropriate to bolt this onto a packaged accounting system, and share aspects such as the customer, supplier and product details.

The first stage is to document exactly what is required, including data structures, basic workflow process and automation sought, reporting needs, data volumes and other key aspects.

Then the market can be assessed, and a short list established for demonstration and/or trials. Selection is an art.

Implementation needs to be handled carefully, to ensure the software works, people know how to use it properly, and initial data is loaded correctly. Any changes to the business and how it operates need especial care.

Camwells has experience of all stages of a range of packaged and bespoke solutions to replace Excel. If you would like to talk further, please ring me on 01628 632914 or send an email.

.

Performance Management - Designing Business Metrics

When designing the metrics which you will use to monitor and control your business, it’s important to ensure they drive appropriate behaviour.

This is especially important with any metric with one figure being divided by another.

For example it is important in a B2B (business-to-business) sales team to convert quotes into orders. So how about monitoring the conversion rate of quotes to orders by salesman or region, by dividing the value of orders by the value of quotes?

Before you do so there are two main issues, manipulation and timing.

On manipulation, the conversion rate can be improved not by better conversion, but simply by only raising quotes that are likely to become orders, and not bother with others.

That’s probably not the sort of behaviour you want to encourage, as you may miss out on business. Depending on how tightly you like to qualify prospects, you may prefer to raise quotes in less likely situations. So it will also be appropriate to monitor the total value of quotes, and a ratio like quotes to first-time visits to get a better picture.

There’s then a matter of timing. There’s no point comparing the value of sales this month to the value of quotes raised this month if there is any significant delay between quote and order. If it’s possible to discover when quotes are lost and why, another approach is to look at each month’s (or week’s) quotes and establish the ratios between wins, losses, not proceeded and still in progress. This may be too complex, and "keep it simple" is a good principle. The best approach will depend on the business and its sales methods.

Similar principles apply in other areas of a business. The point is that designing a set of business metrics requires careful thought to ensure they make sense, and will drive the right behaviour.

If you’d like to discuss this further, do give me a call on 01628 632914 or contact me via email.

.

Cloud Computing - Selecting a SaaS System

When I first used an application that was provided as "Software as a Service" (SaaS), there were five clear benefits:

1. We had access to an internet-enabled system that couldn’t be afforded in-house
2. The system could be used and maintained from anywhere in the world with an internet connection
3. The provider looked after all the data security, administration and disaster recovery
4. Payment only had to be made according to the extent used.
5. We could start using the system straight away

These benefits are still applicable today with SaaS cloud systems.

However when you go looking for a cloud system, the choice is very much dependent on which sector. There’s lots of choice for bookkeeping and CRM, for example, but less for more elaborate systems.

With cloud systems, they are typically “multi-tenancy”, which means all the users share the same functional software code. It may be possible to bolt extra customised functions on, but this shouldn’t be taken for granted. Whilst customising an on-premise package itself is best avoided, there are times when the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. But with SaaS cloud packages, in-app customisation is almost always unavailable.

So when choosing software it is worth checking that the software will do the job you need of it today and as far as can be foreseen for the next few years. A concise formal specification covering the key points helps. Cloud apps can usually be trialed relatively easily, but it’s important this is done thoroughly for any app of business importance.

In practice you may need to look at cloud solutions alongside on-premise solutions. Running a selection project involving SaaS cloud solutions is therefore somewhat different from pure on-premise. Here is a selection process summary which I hope you find useful.

If you would like to discuss this further, do ring 01628 632914 or contact me by email

.

News Update - Monday 13/12/10

Here's the pick of the last week's news stories that are likely to impact your business: 

Personal Privacy: If you are operating on the web, privacy for your customers, employees and partners matters. Here’s a round-up of privacy with key players in social media and the web

Security Tips for Business: After Wikileaks, here are three simple tips for improving data security in your business

Platform as a Service: If you want to develop apps or mobile and social media, here is a cloud-based database system from the salesforce.com stable that will be launched in early 2011

In-App Purchases: Technology is now coming forward to allow purchases to be made from within an app on a mobile device, such as to run it, so it can be initially provided free.

.