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Some Fascinating Stories Category
Alicia speaks at Association of Business Psychologists Conference
I’m very excited about my next speaking engagement at the Association of Business Psychologists Conference 2012.
The ABP is a charity that represents business psychology by actively championing the benefits of the use of psychology in the workplace.
Their annual conference is a chance for practitioners and academics to share experience, insights, and maintain their professional network over three days in an informal setting.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Shaping our future: Integrity, Insight, Impact’.
For my talk, I’ll be exploring LinkedIn and in particular:
- Why everyone in business needs a LinkedIn profile, including you!
- The key ingredients for a winning profile
- Low maintenance, high return strategies for building your network in just 20 minutes a week
I’ll also be holding informal Twitter sessions throughout the day to answer questions and queries about my favourite networking tool. So expect lots of tweeting from me while at the event using the hashtag #ABP2012.
If you’re attending the conference remember to come say ‘Hi!’ and connect with me on Twitter at @AbsoluteAlicia. You can follow the @ABPsychologists too!
Alicia Travels: Farm & More Event, Edinburgh
I’m going on the road!
I’m flying to Edinburgh to present a talk on social media at Farm & More – The Farm Diversification Event – an annual get together for the farm retail and diversified farming sector.
This includes producers of fantastic local and artisan foods, owners of farm shops and the ever popular farmer’s markets, parks and ‘pick your own‘ farms who offer great family days out.
This is all as a result of my talk at The Speciality Fine Food Trade Fair at Olympia in London last year.
Farm & More is organised by FARMA – the only UK-national organisation representing farm diversification.
Farm retail plays a huge part in the UK small business sector developing into wider areas including agri-tourism, entertainment and educational aspects. It’s worth over £2 billion a year adding valuable skills and jobs to rural communities.
It’s a real privilege to be speaking at the event. I’m a big supporter of local business and often choose independent shops and cafes over supermarkets and larger high street chains.
What’s more, I’m really excited to be sharing some creative and fun ideas on how social media can help promote the products and services of the local, small retailer. Plus, I’ve never been to Scotland!
What I’ll be speaking about on the day
- The one essential ingredient you need before you even start on social media
- Oops! The most common social media mistakes and how to avoid them
- Real life examples and success stories
- Turning the tables: audience social media clinic
Farm & More are on Twitter – you can follower them here: @FarmandMore
And you can find me on Twitter here: @AbsoluteAlicia
How do you stand out from the crowd?
See this picture? Funny isn’t it.
The A board belongs to a coffee shop called The Haberdashery but I didn’t know that when I first saw the photo.
Aaron Lee (@AskAaronLee), a social media consultant based in Singapore, tweeted it. He’s passionate about humanising business using social media. He’s also got 230,000 Twitter followers.
The tweet Aaron posted contained an image, just like this one, of this exact A board. Location unknown (at the time).
The picture really tickled me. I visualised a bunch of kids racing between the tables, buzzing on espresso, squeezing kittens. Parents oblivious to the mayhem. NOT the kind of place I’d want to go for a flat white! But that’s precisely the point.
Seeing this sign actually made me want to go there. I imagined the cafe would be chilled, fun, quirky, relaxed, friendly. Which usually means quality food and coffee too.
Anyway, on with the story. After I saw Aaron tweet this photo, I decided to share it on Facebook. It wasn’t long before a friend commented
I know this place. It’s in Crouch End – I walked past it last week.
Crouch End is about 6km from where I live in London – I’ve been going there regularly to meet friends and go shopping for years. It’s also got loads of great coffee shops so it’s difficult for them to stand out. I couldn’t believe that the cafe in the photo was a local one! The tweet had originated in Singapore so I assumed the location was somewhere far, far away…
Being a coffee addict that works from home means I’m always on the look out for new places to drink coffee, work or hold business meetings.
My friend and I arranged to meet there. Funnily enough that meeting led to business for both of us. Not only that, the cafe was as I expected it to be.
The staff at The Haberdashery are friendly, food home made and delicious, and they make a mean flat white (rare around these parts!). A really nice neighbourhood cafe and far removed from the coffee shop chains along most high streets. It turns out that they pride themselves on being a hub of the local community running events, activities and charity fundraisers. It also has a thriving Facebook group (this makes me v happy).
So now I’ve got a new place to visit when I’m in the area. I’m also telling all my friends plus blogging about it here! 
This probably wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for social media, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened if the coffee shop owners hadn’t chosen to stand out and be different.
So what’s the point of this story? Twitter, Facebook, blogging – they’re not strategies, they are ways to communicate. If you stand out, dare to be different and do things that get people talking, social media can help people spread your message. Make it easy for them. What are you doing differently?