Whooah-Biz

With the current changes in the layout of Facebook last week. Which has caused consternation in the community. I was going to write my own post about it, but than I came across this article written by Jason Lee Miller.

Which raised the same issues that  I was thinking about. The crux of the problem is that not enough people are clicking on the advertisements on their profile page. Running Facebook is not cheap. One can only hazard a guess at the number of transactions that our carried out daily on their servers, but I would put it in the hundred million for sure.

Everybody was having a good old time on FaceBook. Posting links to their new website, project, photographs etc. Of course they  thought it was all free. Well it looks like the free lunch is over. I would personal start clicking  on the advertisements but I do not think that would solve the problem, unless one brought what was on offer.

So what are the other options? Paid subscription service might work… May be we really have started to see the decline of the social network advertising model. Facebook are unique in that both Linkedkin and Xing offer paid subscriptions model. Of the two only Linkedkin is making any money. In fact Linkedkin is the only cash postive social media site that I know off.

Below is excerpt from the blog post by Jason available here here

“What do you do?

Do you:

A.    Don’t fix something that’s not broken. And by not broken, it means that meteoric growth over the past year led your site to trounce MySpace and every sensitive person on the site is relatively happy in their social networking habitat.
B.    Ignore that a growing number of people seem to like an incomprehensible platform much like a feature you already offer. Remember that you have 175 million and growing members, and that Twitter does not, and show that you have plenty of confidence in your product. After all Google didn’t just become a portal because some people didn’t get the spare interface.
C.    A and B, and focus on Job 1, which is figure out a way to monetize so that you can rejoin the Masters of the Universe at Davos next year.
D.    None of the above. Instead, hold a press conference. Announce you’re making the website more democratic if that’s what everybody wants and call for a vote. While everybody’s busy voting on that, change everything.

If you picked D, congratulations, you’re thinking like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.”

Should societies be allowed to represent institutions when they hold ineffective elections with a low turn out?

I presume the point of any society is to represent its members and their area of interest on a wider scale. (this idea is  open to debate) . If  members feel that elections are a more a popularity contest and by this a mean that by influencing the vote and winning the competition it will make them more popular. It makes a mockery of the society and its stated aims.  A lot more could be done to insure that fair elections are held in small societies and committees.

A considerable amount of time is taken by  people standing to prepare speeches and ideas and they should be judged on their contribution to the societies and the ideas that they put forward. If they feel that the process was a ineffective and due to a number of predetermined votes that have been decided before and are able to shift the balance of the outcome these elections. The society will never attract the best calibre of candidates.

If people come there purely to vote on the basis of agreement than on what each candidate can offer. The ultimate result is  that people that can make a considerable contribution end up feeling short changed and mistrust the process which creates a negative and  ineffective society.

Something that I would like to see implemented across all societies but for certain in smaller societies is block voting clause in the constitution to safe guard against this practise.

For a example a team of 8 people that have block voted in election from a total of 27 votes. Could insure that 5 members of that particular team that may be  standing gain a place on the committee . If one mathematically breaks this down it shows that they achieved a guaranteed 25 percent of the vote. by this practise. Which is an unfair advantaged for any other candidate standing not adopting such a practise.

This link explains that theory on a bigger scale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_at_large

Constitutions of societies could also be changed so that if one considers the elections to be unfair they have some sort of readdress, ultimately decided by the current exec or an independent panel. For example, If the ballot papers were named and there appears 8 papers with the exact same voting pattern it should be easily identifiable as weather some thing is amiss considering the current election factors.  With out doing something about block voting, societies will never engage and represent all the people they are suppose to. It is important for it to be seen to be fair and just and give people the idea that are being represented by a democratic process and want to get involved in the societies activities.

Another idea is to raise the minimum percentage number that needs to be present at an election before it is binding. With out at least 40 percent of the members voting. Is it representative?

The last idea is to invoke active and non active member voting rights. Where members only gain voting rights provided that you have been present at a number of the society’s events as a whole.

The viewpoint that we create our own luck is a strong one. If one is constantly performing or over performing in what they do they build up a momentum that generates opportunities as it rides along. Whether that be through are own interactions with other people or simple generosity.  One could argue that is creating your own luck, and I would tend to go along with this. Having said all that the most remarkable thing happened to someone that I know.

A acquaintance of mine recently  won over £1200 hundred pounds from gambling machines in matter of days. He went down to the pub on three separate occasion and and won -/+ £400.  The pub owner thought that he had installed a faulty machine, it was not faulty. Fruit machines general speaking are only meant to pay when they have reached a certain amount credit.  So if you want to win on a fruit machine try it last thing at night. In the story above that was not the case. I have figured out what the odds are of that happening and they are quite remote.  A general rule of thumb  is that over a period of time such as a year the machine needs to pay back 85% of the money that has been put into it.

Last week I did How To Grow Your Business Online workshop for  Lancaster university create project run by Joseph Buglass . The university well known for its management school. Is currently ranked third in the UK and is known for  encouragement of entrepreneurship.  So much so that Lancaster University Management School has hosted the first university-based Entrepreneurial Summit last year. One which is to be followed up by Sheffield university this year.

So what do you present to a group of young entrepreneurs? Cost saving factors is always going to be appreciate. I tended to focus on some things that I had learnt the hard the way and allowed them to ask questions. With so much advice and expertise on the Internet is really is about showing them what is important. I think the advice that stuck with them the most is “if you have not got the time to build a network to market your product than you will have to question what are you doing”.  It is all about delivering above expectation so that they tell their friends and their friends. Whom naturally trust them.

The added benefit with doing this sort of presentation is that it brings you full circle so that you engage in your own projects in a more focused way.

Just got back from a presentation from four23 which is multi discipline creative studio. The presentation demonstrate the difference between corporate and creative lifestyles and how they by working together they achieve each other goals. Something that I hear constantly is how companies are looking  for the right person. It was noted  in the presentation how developing ones self is  one of the most important aspects in work/life balance.

What was also fascinating was the style with which it was delivered. I think often if you just want to explain something the best way is just talk about it. Too often people get caught up with how they think it should be rather than what it simply  is.

I can remember a time in my life when I was working for a company that appeared to have all the right rules and do all the right things. Every employee would have to spend 4 days per a year  helping the community. A lot of their products ware eco friendly etc. To the outside world it looked like a great company. I left.

It turns out years later that the MD was convicted of  false accounting from the company amongst whole list of crimes. None of the other directors saw it, nobody saw it, or they decided not to do anything about it.

Can of worms.

Sometimes you know something is wrong it is like a slight vibration on skin.

Instinct is a good thing, trust it…

No idea who it is by, just in by email.

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.

Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’

‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,’ she replies.

‘Great,’ the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.

She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.

The priest nearly had an accident.

After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’

The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, ‘Father, remember Psalm 129?’

The priest apologized ‘Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.’

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, ‘Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.’

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.

They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, ‘I’ll give each of you just one wish.’
‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk. ‘I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’
Puff! She’s gone.

‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pena Coladas and the love of my life.’

Puff! He’s gone.

‘OK, you’re up,’ the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, ‘I want those two back in the office after lunch.’
Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, ‘Can I also sit like you and do nothing?’
The eagle answered: ‘Sure, why not.’

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull.

‘I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree’ sighed the turkey, ‘but I haven’t got the energy.’
‘Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?’ replied the bull. They’re packed with nutrients.’

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:
Bull Shit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there..
Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!

THUS ENDS THE FIVE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE