Gaining Control Over Social Media

Tonight I want to address an issue I am seeing on an continued basis. Your personal online content. I read a terrible Facebook rant over the weekend and I’m sickened that a business professional would put her hateful opinions for clients and peers to read on her personal Facebook page.

Now, some of you might say that it is her personal page. Sure it is, it is just archived onto Google’s search engine for the world to read. She is entitled to her hateful opinion but she is going to have business lost to it. Peers will soon catch on and stop referring her too. I will not repeat what she said, only that it is filled with hate and aimed at a certain demographic of sexually orientated people.

I can’t stress enough that nothing you write is personal anymore. Friends can quickly become enemies and take screen shots of your “private” social media accounts for all the world to see. Don’t ever write anything on your personal pages that you wouldn’t want to proudly read- out-loud- in front of a client or potential client.

As a business professional, you don’t have a personal life. Your clients’ lives are your obligation- both personally and professionally when it comes to branding and visibility. Voicing your own opinions online (even via a personal account) will harm your own reputation- right or wrong, this is the culture we live in.

Keep it professional and keep those negative or opinionated posts off of social media!

Twyla Garrett

What to do during a national crisis.

I've been discussing emergency management for citizens on this blog over the past two weeks. Today, however, I want to talk about national crisis and terrorist activity. Do you know how to handle yourself and what information to rely upon?

There are 7 key services you need to be in contact with to know exactly what you can and can't do while the country is processing a crisis or disaster. Does this mean you call each one up? No, but you should follow these resources on social media and have your local office numbers written down (not just in your phone) in case of a true emergency. Typically, these agencies will reach out to citizens on the news, but if you don't know something or have to report an incident- you can call them during a disaster.

Mayor
The mayor is responsible at the administrative level for the smooth running of the response effort.

Fire service
The fire service is the linchpin in disaster response. The fire chief is charged with the operational management of the response effort. Everything that occurs in the disaster area falls under his/her authority.

Regional accident and disaster medical teams
Anyone injured in a disaster will require medical assistance as soon as possible.

Police
The police will ensure that the fire and ambulance services can do their job. They will cordon off the disaster area, manage the traffic, and sometimes set up a safety zone around the disaster area.

Army
The Ministry of Defence can deploy military personnel to respond to a disaster.

Municipal services
Behind the scenes, several municipal services play an important role in disaster response, especially when it comes to the after-effects.

Other services
Which services take part in the response effort will depend on the type of disaster. In the case of flooding caused by burst dykes or heavy rainfall, the water authorities will play a role. If a disaster occurs off the coast, the Coastguard will be involved. But other services will also often take part. The Red Cross cares for the injured in disasters.

Until tomorrow,
Twyla N. Garrett

The Best Time Management Tip EVER!

Yes, I am bold enough to say it. I have the best time management tip ever. Keep reading because this tip will solve all of your time management problems and you will never, ever have to study up on the topic again. What is it?

Alright, here it is- the big, big- big secret to managing your time effectively. Say goodbye to your ‘to do’ list. No, I am not crazy. I swear this works. You see, the lists we create for ourselves put pressure on ourselves and we fill them up with tasks that aren’t immediate. We have items on these lists that read like a shopping list. You need to create your own schedule and block of times for certain areas of business, but not for specific items.

Example, if you book your own meetings- and you should- only schedule two hours a day to fit in all your meetings. Call this block “meetings” but don’t write anything further down. Only schedule meetings during this block of time. If it doesn’t work for someone else, let them move their day around. So, every day you walk into your office- let’s say from 11 to 1 – you know you have meetings. You may have one meeting, you may have four meetings. However, the meetings don’t start any sooner than 11 and go no later than 1pm. This gets the meeting elements into a concise block of time and you can move on to the next block of action items right away without worrying about a long list of tasks.

Try removing yourself from a ‘to do’ list business formula. Try my formula for a week and I swear you will be hooked because it simply is effective!

Until tomorrow,

Twyla N. Garrett

Data Is Great ; Instincts Are Better

You’re either born a business person or you’re not. It is this simple. I’ve encountered two types of entrepreneurs in my life. Those who know business and those who know how to repeat facts and review data.

While data and facts are great, they will not help you when it comes to the instinctual decision making skills needed to survive in business. You have to know how to read people, read between the lines when considering business trends, and understand the profit potential associated with gut instinct.

Allowing data to navigate your company’s operation is like driving drunk. You’re somewhat aware of what is going on, but you’re not fully capable of operating a vehicle. In fact, operating a vehicle while impaired is dangerous (often fatal) for so many reasons. The applies to using data to pivot your business or business ideas. It’s fatal if not dangerous.

So, this Monday ask yourself if you run your business relying solely on data or mixing statistics with personal feelings. If you’re doing the later then you are in good shape. If you rely only on numbers and figures then ask yourself how business is. I’m willing to bet not as great as it can be.

Until next time,

Twyla Garrett