March 2011 | On Our Bikes

Ageism, realism and working life in the twenty-first century

Written on March 31, 2011 by Jon Stow in productivity, Start-up

Since I started my businesses I have ploughed the furrow which many others have to do or will in the future. Realistically, the bureaucratic burdens on employers and their prejudices over age will need them to be more interested in taking people on short-term ad hoc contracts where there is no long term commitment on either side. The current employment laws both on the HR side and in relation to tax do not match up.

0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Did you miss the boat?

Written on March 28, 2011 by Jon Stow in Business planning, Social media

Don’t rue your luck Recently I have witnessed people publicly regretting that they did not manage to create a worldwide on-line network before Facebook appeared. Why didn’t their big idea grow the way Facebook did? The fact is that hard though they worked, and entrepreneurial though they were, Messrs Zuckerberg and co were very lucky…

0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Fifteen ways to get unfollowed and disconnected from my network

Written on March 24, 2011 by Jon Stow in Social, Social media

Or just not followed in the first place Tweet advertising the whole time Tweet other peoples quotations Tweet religious tracts Tweet political comments and unkind comments about politicians. Tweet every meal you have (occasional food comments or pictures of dishes you are pleased with are OK). Send a request to connect on Linked In to…

3 Comments - Leave a comment!

The Daily Culture Shock

Written on March 21, 2011 by Jon Stow in marketing, Social media

If we use social media in our marketing, we can easily get distracted by the latest fashion or the latest scare story. It can all get very confusing. You know what I think of Klout and its ilk. I think Klout is a fun toy, but as a measure of how much noise we make…

0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Giving our time to our loved ones and ourselves

Written on March 17, 2011 by Jon Stow in Business planning, productivity, Social

The other day I talked about giving time, but it was not a lecture for anyone, but more of an observation as to how some do and some don’t. I work hard on my business mainly because I enjoy it and get real satisfaction from having satisfied clients. I enjoy nearly very aspect. I do…

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Are you a leader and giver or a follower and taker?

Written on March 14, 2011 by Jon Stow in Business planning, networking

Like many people who may read this, I am a great believer in face to face networking, by which I mean actually getting out to meet people. I run a business breakfast group, and I have been involved in running other groups too. It is great fun to be involved in organizing events, and in…

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Why we need to give our colleagues and clients a lifeboat

Written on March 10, 2011 by Jon Stow in Business planning, Customer service

Here’s a funny thing The other day I wrote about leaving our clients and prospects in the air by not getting back to them at holiday times. I had intended to follow this with a piece about longer periods of absence, such as those due to sickness or the one thing worse than sickness which…

0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Why we should avoid giving our clients and prospects the holiday blues

Written on March 7, 2011 by Jon Stow in Business planning, Customer relations, Customer service, Sales

We all need to have a holiday. Well, nearly all of us need one. If we have a small business it takes a certain amount of planning, just as it does to make sure we take leisure time during our working week. Our clients do not take holidays at the same time as we do….

2 Comments - Leave a comment!