Diary of a Social Media Virgin - Part 9:  The SS "Corporate Thinking" is sinking ...

Change is inevitable – growth is optional!!  Isn’t that what they say?  When a new way of thinking and operating in this rapidly changing world of emerging ideas comes SMACK up against  ‘established’,  ‘orthodox’,  -  the “forgive me for pointing this out to you, My Dear, but I have been doing this for so many years now I think I know what I am talking about….”  way of thinking.  And the new way is vigorously – robustly – opposed.

Saying that business isn't changing and that the web and social media isn't having a massive impact on business methods and strategies, and that we should all continue along ‘proven’ business paths is akin to the Captain of the Titanic saying, "Don't panic !  We're just stopping to take on more ice for the cocktail bar.  Everything’s gonna be fine – trust me!”

Pow-Wows

So we dropped anchor this week and spent some time on a business encampment, engaging in various pow-wows with inhabitants, old and new.  We discussed aspects of business and how to promote our specific areas more effectively.  Isn’t that what we are all about?  Achieving more awareness, expanding our markets, gaining more clients and customers, more sales?  Does anyone have a problem with that?

This was at an Ecademy Blackstar event, the first I have attended since taking on the subscription and – quite frankly – I think it will be my last!

Maybe I’m just useless at communicating the essence of what I am setting out to do – or more likely, ineffective at putting over a concept of “Givers Gain” – in an environment where hard-edged business methods still prevail.  There were nice, friendly people with whom I was able to hold nice, friendly discussions.   Some of them had heard of “The Twittering Granny” and were saying very kind things about these Diaries.  But there was also quite some hostility to the business I am in and the way it’s promoted.  And as for blogging as a way of achieving an identity in a global marketplace, raising awareness of the quality of the product and service you provide, well that was dismissed as being fanciful and almost definitely not an effective business strategy.  I felt uncomfortably close to being Gulliver in the Land of Lilliput!



Do you know what my dear Readers?   I’m SO glad that the options open to us through Social Media have evolved in the past few years, which means that I don’t have to waste time, energy, and indeed my life, building a business in that “dinosaur” way.

Do you see that rusty old hulk out there in the harbour, the pride of the fleet in its time, but now holed below the water line?   It’s the SS (Sad Ship) "Corporate Thinking" and the Captain and crew don’t seem to be aware that its ocean-going days are over.



Anyone who says that the web is not impacting how businesses must engage on-line is in denial.  The web is impacting every area of society and business on many different levels.  You cannot turn the internet off.  The paradox is that we are all are using the web now to read this (whether now is 30/11/09 or five years time).

I’ll trust my goals and my vision of making a valuable contribution to global health and wealth through the business I am in, to the speedy clipper “Twittering Granny”, and will navigate the high seas of the Web on the winds of change and optimism.

Super Troupers

That’s done with the nautical stuff for today, you’ll be relieved to know, I’m sure.  But I would just like to acknowledge some of the really friendly “natives” who truly follow the Open, Random, Supportive philosophy advocated in Penny Power’s excellent book (which I am reading and relishing) “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me”.  They are Aron Stevenson whose huge smile and whole being glows with a love for humankind and who lifted me up from a low point that day.  Aron leases cars and is one of the best in the industry, I gather.  Here’s just one of several testimonials from an impressive list of clients on his Ecademy site:

"Aron took the pain out of sourcing vehicles for both myself and my wife. The service and advice he provided was excellent from start to finish. I would not hesitate to use his services again or recommend him to others."    ~ Alastair Nuttall - Partner - Ernst & Young

I would dearly love to be commissioning a car from Aron right now. ...........Probably next year though!

Equally “in tune” people were David Shirley, a Recruitment Consultant who is sharing this new world of blogging with me, and Rupert Honeywood who helps businesses to reduce costs and improve performance.  These are some of the nicest people I’ve met through Ecademy and I will treasure the connections.  And hope that some of my connections will prove to be of benefit to them.

Thought Leaders

In a recent edition of "Networking Times", Doug Firebaugh noted that many people are not yet using Social Media as a marketing tool, because it is on the internet and they shy away from it as if it were the plague.  He tells of speaking to a small business owner who commented that she didn’t have time ……… as she needed to go and find more customers.  He goes on to say “ …… if people really understood Social Media marketing they would be running to the social media zone and staying there”.

I’m going to quote an extract from an article by Seth Godin in that same edition of Networking Times, (author of the New York Times bestsellers “The Dip” and “Tribes”) where many of the world’s thought leaders (John Assaraf  “The Secret” , Stephen Covey “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, Michael Gerber “The E-Myth” and Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, to name but a few) speak on the power of networking in a global economic downturn:

Says Seth:  “……. Here’s my dream for you: find a product and a price and a story that people choose to seek out.  Discover a niche that people would miss if it disappeared.  Offer an experience that’s about more than money, more than making a living and more than recruiting a new salesperson.  When you bring joy and utility and trust to people (at a fair price), they’ll embrace you.”

That has been my ideal for a business model.  It is one I have been following for over 10 years now and will continue to do for the rest of my natural.  As the saying goes!

Back pain

One of the most common health issues I am asked if I can help with is back problems.  Well, the first and immediate answer is “Yes, we can!”  (Who said that recently?)    We don’t claim to ‘cure’ or ‘heal’;  backs are a specialist area in every way and specialists have spent years studying their subject and honing their skills to the highest level in an age when medical and surgical resources are probably greater than ever before in history.  However, there is a lot that individuals can do to help themselves when the message is “That, I’m afraid, is the best we can do for you.  You may possibly have to live with some pain………..”

From my own personal experience,  and from those of the many, many people I have encountered in the time I have been working in this business, I know that some of the technologies developed by the company I’m associated with that relieve stress, improve circulation and reduce muscle tension work astonishingly well for those with lower back problems.

Firstly:   WATER!  If the body is dehydrated and there is not enough water in the cells, guess what happens?   The brain, which has first call on your entire system, will demand water from other parts of the body, and this demand can be made substantially on the lower spine.  Leading  to back discomfort.  So if you are suffering, try drinking an extra litre or two of water every day.

Secondly:  when muscles relax, circulation improves, oxygen and nutrients in the blood are directed to an area of discomfort and can very often help to relieve that discomfort.  The principle of stress reduction in all areas of life is, to an extent, predicated on releasing muscle tension and improving blood flowso that the body - an organism that is breathtaking in its complexity but which responds to natural solutions that restore balance and flow – can provide its own solution to some of the problems that it is experiencing.

So please, if this is something of concern to you or someone you care for, do explore some of the products that have been developed that contain these stress releasing technologies.  And ask me for testimonials …… of which there are hundreds!  No drugs, no side effects.  And very, very effective in so many cases.

The rain is sheeting down here again and I’m doing my best to feel positive about it.  And you’ve been so patient and understanding, bearing with me while I had a bit of a rant earlier on.  I was feeling slightly bruised as you can probably tell.   But I’m resilient and enjoying the wind in my hair again after being just a little becalmed in that backwater.  We’ll be moving onto more destinations next week and I will list them so that you too can decide if your business or service would benefit.

We will really be hammering my new website into shape this week with Nick & Vanessa Tadd.  It’s time to get it finalised and I’m poring through reams of stuff about directing people there to raise visibility.  "You can never learn less" is a popular saying isn’t it?  And I am so grateful to all the legions of experts who really know what they are talking about and have the generosity to reach out a hand to a stumbling beginner.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” ~ Isaac Newton

Until next week,

Joy Webber - The Twittering Granny                 

P.S.  Have decided that the weather and the television are equally dire I am off to see a screening of “Alvin and the Chipmunks II” with the little ones.  So now you know where my priorities really lie. 

“Boomchickawawa !”

DIARY OF A SOCIAL MEDIA VIRGIN - Part 8:  “First Port of Call”

We’re going ashore, folks!  It’s very exciting!  We’ve just rounded the first cape and have received radio communication that the natives are friendly and will be welcoming us with feasts and celebrations.  And it’ll be good to walk on dry land for a change after slipping and sliding on the decks of the good ship “Twittering Granny” for the last few weeks.

What I’m referring to, of course, with all this somewhat tortuous analogy is that there will be a gathering of Ecademy Blackstars this week, with 1-2-1s, something called “Boardrooms” and a party bash with real food.  That’s going to be so welcome after the diet of grog and ship's biscuits that we’ve been enduring since we launched.  Here is where Social Media moves into its real-life phase, from cyber space to face-to-face communication with members whom I’ve been connecting with since first posting the Diaries.  I will be polishing up on the profiles of those I’m scheduled to meet and sourcing connections for them – including the mighty white Chief, Thomas Power.  I hope they will be doing the same for me too.  This is where “Know Me” evolves into “Like Me”.  That’s the way I visualise it, anyway.

My whole view of Ecademy has been transformed over the past few weeks since my profile was heightened and people have been able to see me through the crowds of thousands who throng its ‘walls’.  When I first registered as a naïve Powerworker back in the early days, the benefits of membership were, to be truthful, seemingly non-existent.  It was time-consuming, irritating and – to my mind – a pointless membership which only existed because I never got around to cancelling my membership.  Neither was I really able to bestow benefits to others, no matter how I tried.  There was a barrier of what I call “suits”, i.e. formal businessmen and some women (though far fewer); they and I had little, or virtually nothing, in common.  To my mind there has been a polarisation between those who consider themselves as corporate or professional and the rest … entrepreneurs like myself.  My suit is cut from a very different kind of cloth and I don’t feel comfortable in yours.  But I think you look good in it and beneath that somewhat formal exterior there exists a human being like the rest of us.  The connectivity is genuine if we listen and learn more about each other.

Humans Being More ...

  

The company I have been associated with for the past 12 years – the visionary Japanese health and wellness company Nikken – has a philosophy that it has promoted and followed for 36 years of “Humans Being More”.  Not “having” or “doing” but simply “being”.  If every day we can focus on that as a primary driver, everyone will gain from the relationships that will result.  And there will be a lot of connecting with the REAL person behind the business façade next Thursday, I trust.

The Twittering Tax Man meets the Twittering Granny....

As an illustration of just how it is possible to be in what I call a “left brain” occupation and still manage to be a genuine, lovely, human professional, I met with James McBrearty this week to induct him into being the formal handler of my personal and property affairs.  And good luck to him, I say!  It’s difficult to think of anyone less structured, organised and more scattershot than I am and always have been.  Is it too late to change?  Probably  not……. but is there time in my life to try?    He took over the assorted bundles of paper I gave him with a nice friendly smile and an admirable lack of any kind of tut tutting.  Now that’s my kind of accountant !    And James is one of the most knowledgable people I’ve met on how to use the resources of Social Media, not just for accounts but, it seems, all aspects of business.   He’s got a special scheme on offer too, for anyone in the Network Marketing industry for an ongoing commission payment .And he flies planes too!



Find out more about James >>>> here.

Swindon declared Britain’s first WiFi town ....

I was shocked to learn this week that Swindon is set to become Britain’s first WiFi town - but I question at what cost to its inhabitants’ health?  In an article published in the Mail this week titled "Is Electro-fog causing your headaches?":

“Already there are an estimated 10,000 WiFi hotspots across the country while 80% of secondary schools and 50% or primaries are thought to have WiFi installed in the classroom.  But amid all the excitable rhetoric about our electronic future there has been precious little recognition of the downside.  For the reality is that these sprawling new grids of pulsing signals will add immeasurably to the amount of electromagnetic radiation in the air – with potentially disastrous consequences for the nation’s health.

…… Particularly at risk could be children who are more vulnerable to waves of radiation as their brains and nervous systems are still developing.”

The author of this article is Alasdair Philips the director of an organisation called Powerwatch, an independent organisation researching electromagnetic fields and health.  (Read the full article >>>> here).

This is what those of us in my business have been fully aware of for years now and what my colleagues and I get out and preach about.  “Preach” is an appropriate word here and of course, prophets are historically not heard in their own land.  There are definite dangers allied to electromagnetic stress and these are recognised in the USA, France and Germany where steps are being taken to control and even remove some of these installations.  The article states some of the side effects being diagnosed, i.e. some cancers (brain particularly),  ADHD, sleep disturbance, hearing loss, depression and more ……… The type of comment you will read at the end of the article is so typical of dismissive sneering, contempt even.  And do you know what?  Those kinds of attitudes were very much voiced in the days when the dangers of smoking and asbestos poisoning were first raised.   Have I made my point?  We need to be aware and if possible take preventative measures.

Introducing “the Healthy Office” ....

A colleague of mine who has suffered breathing issues, a lifelong problem with a streaming nose and almost constant headaches is being helped substantially with the technologies we feature in the Nikken range.

To this end, I have put together a package for office workers of a selection that I have been promoting for 12 years now, which will help to counteract some of the hazards mentioned.  This is to benefit those who spend anything from 8 to goodness-knows-how-many-hours seated at a computer, soaking up all this radiation.   I’m not sure what the latest figures are for stress-related absences in the workplace but what I am sure of is that these figures are rising and so too is the long-term risk to health.  It’s worth noting that, without good health, your performance will suffer, and that will have a potentially knock-on negative effect on your business!

The "Healthy Office" package consists of:

A magnetic seat pad to relieve muscle strain in the back and balance out some of the electro-smog;

 

A filter that I’ve spoken about before which cleans the air to a very deep level and then add negative ions to refresh and invigorate a stale environment;


 

A water filter which cleans, re-mineralises and oxygenates tap water.  This water is magnetised so that the body’s cells can absorb it most effectively:  the cells then release toxic fluid which they have been holding onto and the body is re-hydrated and becomes more alkaline - the best state for boosting the immune system, countering many of the nasties I listed above, and maintaining optimum health.

Frankly, I wouldn’t even think about settling in Swindon or anywhere else that is proposing blanket WiFi coverage for its unsuspecting and unlucky citizens.  Do they need it?  Do they want it? Have they been asked?  And I gather that Mayor Boris has vowed to make London a WiFi City by the time of the benighted 2012 Olympics.  Boris, you may well not have my vote next time if that promise is fulfilled!   I don’t care how many damsels in distress you rescue, London does not need it.

Blog Talk Radio and the Challenge!

This week’s interview with Jon Hansen was simply great!  You can listen to it via my Balanced World website.




Pictured:  Jon Hansen

Now there’s someone who really knows how to ask the right questions, listen, draw one out and get into the heart and soul of his interviewee.  We spoke for an hour, which flew by, and it was as if I was sitting together with him over a cup of coffee in the peace and privacy of my own home.  The thousands of miles between London and Canada faded away, as did the listeners and it was a private conversation.  He’s very clever.  We had another technical drama when my computer went into meltdown – why do they always have to do that at the worst possible moment? – however we managed to conquer the gremlins again.  It’s only a tool after all and human brainpower and resource will always win through.  In this case it was the “steam” telephone!

During the discussion Jon’s astute questioning allowed him to latch onto my long-term desire to publish a novel …. And he wouldn’t let it go!  He also discovered that there were four or five that had been started but were currently stashed under my bed!  And issued a challenge to me to start a new one, which he feels I am quite capable of producing, and to deliver the first two chapters the week after next.  “Now listen …..” I said, protesting.  “No buts,” came the answer, “I know you can do it.  So ….. just do it and let me have those pages in two weeks time.  Please! Nicely!”  And I don’t know what came over me.  Dear readers, I heard myself saying, “Yes of course, Jon”.  (What craziness!) “Yes, I accept your challenge and I will do it.”

But what is amazing is that I went to bed that night and everything was churning around in my mind  ….“What shall I write about?  Can’t think of a story.  How will I fit it in?  Who’s going to want to read it? ….. and Yadda, Yadda, Yadda!, you know the sort of thing.  And then, around 4am I woke with a plot in my mind.  Small, perfectly formed but -  wow -  interesting to some of us, I think. Two main characters, a time frame, a focus and an ending!  Just after about four hours sleep.  That was just so exhilarating, I’ve hardly slept since.

So, I’ll keep you up to speed with what I’ m going to be doing on that over the next few weeks.

Off now to see how the next episode in my quest to find Prince Charming works out.  Yes folks, that’s still a work in progress but I’m not going into details here.  It’s not really any concern of yours, I realise, but I appreciate your interest and will only just say that things are looking promising.  For the moment.  Under the clock at Victoria, with red rose (that’s him not me) is where we’ll start the evening, followed by a savouring of the manifold delights of the West End.  Gosh, life as a one of the older generation doesn’t seem to slow down at all. Roller coaster ride is more like it.  But I’m enjoying it so I hope it doesn’t stop.

Finally, some future oceans I will be navigating and recording in the ship's log as I build my on-line presence:

Everywoman:  apparently the largest women’s network in the U.K.

Prime Business:  Founded by the Price of Wales, PRIME is a charity that provides free information, events and training to help people over 50 start their own business or become self-employed.

Until next time ....

Joy Webber

Read the archive of my previous Diaries >>>> here.

P.S.   ‘Fess up now!  Just how many of you have been reading up on Belle de Jour’s blogs this week?  Now there’s a girl who made the most of Social Media!

P.P.S.  I will be at the Weybridge/Guildford ecademies social media and property networking event on Monday 30th November.  See you there?  Full details and registration >>>> here.

Diary of a Social Media Virgin – Part 7: Grappling with Gremlins

They’re everywhere aren’t they? Even out here on the high seas of the web. You don’t think of them as having sea legs, but gremlins seem to have stowed away and while we have been focusing on steering an exhilarating course, they crept out and quietly shinned up the mainmast. And managed to jam the radar! By which I mean that the radio interview with Jon Hansen of Blog Talk radio – known as the Piblogger – was sabotaged last week and had to be abandoned. Until today (Monday 16 November), 5.30pm so I hope some of you were able to listen . 

In my view, it’s critical to identify your core message first. I invite people to explore what it is that gives them a sense of excitement, of purpose. A part of my business is to draw people out on this – to go beyond the rudiments of everyday living and to begin to tap into deep desires that have very often been undeveloped. The self-expression will come from that. The secret is to make it something that will add value to others.

Branding

From this, you will begin to identify your personal brand and get it defined. That’s crucial. When I look at the way my personal and business identity was presented a few short weeks ago…….. and the way it is now, only a few weeks on ……… there is a world of difference. I recommend taking some advice on this. And do please look at my wonderful new Twitter background @joywebber which is lighting up my Cyberworld through the talents and inspiration of Ces and Jay Loftus. This is such a valuable part of the re-branding process I am undergoing and so much of it is due to them and their insights.

And - Get basic computer skills training if you need it. Just START! And enjoy the journey.

I wanted to create an entertaining read that flowed. I didn’t know when I started that this was what I wanted.  I listened and observed others blogging on all sorts of topics and felt lost when trying to think how to write about what mattered to me that wouldn’t sound as if I was beating the business exposure drum or delivering a sermon. When the idea of the Diary was conceived – along with the persona of The Twittering Granny– it was like being let off the lead and allowed to run. And the Voice came so easily.

The Message and the Medium

One of the world’s top thought leaders, Seth Godin says ”When you have something valuable to say or share, blog about it.”  I’m listening to the public and training myself to keep these narrative gems shorter and more frequent. I will try, I promise! (Oh, and do please get a load of the Visual Thesaurus – as recommended by Tom Evans, @thebookwright - it’s brilliant! It saves so much finger licking and page turning to give inspiration with just the most perfect word to fit the need). I love the Diaries because they are a personal journey and, it has been mentioned,  a possible book ….    "The  exploits of the Twittering Granny ...?”, “Bridget Jones on a zimmer frame?” .... “The Twittering Granny does the Web!”.

What would be great is to be known as the “go to” person with regard to achieving and maintaining natural health and energy, particularly as we get older. I want people to trust me through my on-line contribution and for them to be talking about me and advocating me into their networks, both on and off-line. As Penny Power once said, a measure of success is how much people talk about you when you are not there!

In this testimonial from Vanessa Warwick, she kindly commented on my vitality and energy.  I must say it feels so wonderful to be promoting health technologies that have brought me such great quality of life.  I love to help and advise people how to achieve optimum health, because, without that, you will not be able to perform and your business will suffer as a result.  There is no point in creating weath through business, if you do not have the health to enjoy it!  My good health and vitality has also allowed me to enjoy spending active time with my grand-children.


Photo caption:  Me with my grandson, Archie.

These blogs have given me the opportunity to express myself. The opportunity was always there – it always is ....... if you look for it. What’s happened for me is that I never had the self confidence to put myself out there, because I think I always worried about what people would say. And though I knew I had something of significance to say it was as if I anticipated rejection, disbelief, even ridicule.   This quote from Seth Godin has helped me enormously on this front:

“The secret of being remarkable is not to try to please all of the people all of the time”.

Write what feels right for YOU. And in so doing it will open up new avenues and confirm the beliefs that you have held within you and left largely unexploited. Like a goldmine waiting for you to get into it with a shovel and start digging.

Joy Webber - Director
a.k.a. "The Twittering Granny"

Balanced World Limited - Wellness Home Consultants

+44 (0) 1442 876022
+44 (0) 7970 836 937

joyce@balancedworld.com
balancedworld.com
nikkenwellbeing.co.uk

Diary of a Social Media Virgin – Part 6: “Charting our Destination” …

So here we are afloat!  Even more, we are riding the waves on the High Seas.  But have we got a clear plan for where we are going with this?  And why?  What’s the intention and why are we out there being buffeted and blown about when we could be comfortably at home, nodding by the fire?  Well, the human spirit has never conquered new frontiers by doing that, has it?  And let’s say (for the purpose of indulging me in this analogy that is receiving quite a bashing as the weeks roll on) that our destinations are the different sites where we will be posting our blogs which will hopefully result in the worldwide visibility, awareness, and credibility of my on-line brand and persona.   (Applause please!)

Some of these destinations are : Ecademy, Social Media Tribes, Linked-In, Facebook, MumsNet, Twitter, and Fab-after-fifty (a new connection made this week ) - and quite a few more.


                                     Fabafterfifty.com

Where is it best to get my message over?   And the big one - Why?   As you are possibly aware by now, I claim speaking rights on a number of soapboxes one of which is to inform and educate on matters of maintaining optimum health and energy for you and your family.  That is because children nowadays are growing up in an environment that contains considerably more hazards than we were ever exposed to.  Considerations around income for the elderly (women in particular) is another one. And the issue of what is being called - horrifically in my view - “End of Life Strategy”.  What sort of a picture does that conjure up in your mind?

More Tw-Interview news …

Last Wednesday we had the visionary Penny Power, the founder of Ecademy being interviewed by Nick Tadd on the “#theNTshow”.  These are becoming quite a feature of our working week.  Penny’s philosophy - now the fundamental principle of Ecademy -  is to be a friend, to be open,  random and supportive, and to be congruent, erudite and polite.  What inspirational guidelines these are to those of us going about the daily running of our businesses!    I found it resonated with an article that’s been absorbing me all week which I read in the online version of “Networking Times” which I have subscribed to for quite a few years.  This month’s edition is devoted to the concept of “Live to Give” - and is the essence of what we are exploring here.  Talk about a groundswell of consciousness.

"A revolution in fairness – A conversation with Duane Elgin" (who is the author of “The Living Universe”) is where he  talks of the end of the selfish, closed , controlling systems that have operated in the past, in all areas of business, politics, commerce,  and the dawning of the new era of the human, sustainable liaisons and thinking.

“….. We’re in a global transition to a more relational, more community-oriented mindset, where we look out for one another. That doesn’t mean we will all do so. There will still be plenty of folks pulling back and looking out just for themselves. But I do think a culture and consciousness of greater maturity is emerging.

This means a new relationship with the Earth that’s more sustainable, a new relationship with one another that’s more compassionate, and a new relationship with the universe that’s more aware or reverential. With that, we become new kinds of people living on the earth, not the adolescents that we have been.

….There are a growing number of businesses that are learning to give, and build relationships, and in that process build a foundation for the long haul.

We’re just growing up as a human family. We’re growing in awareness of the physical world, and growing in awareness of the emotional and spiritual dimensions of life. And as we grow in awareness, we grow in capacity for love.  This understanding is gaining real traction in the culture. Larry King and Oprah have people like Deepak Chopra on their shows, and the mainstream culture is becoming interested in consciousness, realizing that we are bigger beings, and that our happiness really grows from recognizing that.

…………….If there was ever a time in human history to step forth and freely give what we’ve got, this is it.  This is a pivotal time. We are a transitional generation. This is a time to step up and offer our true gifts to this great turning. And that doesn’t mean offering up a little bit of money, it means offering up the whole works.   ………   Small enterprise is on the cutting edge—it’s where a whole new wave of business is going.    Yet at the same time, look at the Internet. We’re also becoming globally connected.  Another delicious paradox.”

He quotes Simone de Beauvoir:  “Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself: if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.”

Read the article >>>>> here.



.... So much to write about!

And so to the practicalities of adopting Social Media to serve me in my quest?    Well, the fingers still fumble where the brain is engaged in racing ahead as I attempt to harness all the issues that are seething in my consciousness and crying out for expression.  And in a form that those on the receiving end (i.e. you my dear readers!)  will readily accept.

On that note, I’ve just added up all the views of my “Diaries” on Social Media Tribes and Ecademy, and I am astonished to find that, at the time of writing, they total approx. 5,700!  However, now I have generated all these “eyeballs”, I need to direct them to my own blog on my website.   Nonetheless, it’s great to be building an archive of content that can populate my own blog when required, and leveraging other networks in the meantime!

So am I making any progress with the mechanics?  Well …. “ish” is what my children say.  Seesmic has become quite a good little friend now, sitting there at my feet, eyes rolling and tail wagging waiting for instructions.   I’ve discovered that wonderful text-shrinking widget at the top which kind of does a lot of the thinking for you when trying to compress yards of verbiage into the equivalent of a matchbox.    Google Reader has finally opened up its pages for me and is an unending source of material to blog about….. if I needed it!  There’s so much going on in everything I’m doing currently that more material is the last thing on the wish list.  And, do you know what?  Call me old-fashioned (you are probably calling me a lot more than that!)  but ……… I do love the feeling of newsprint in my hands.  If not exactly a narcotic, it’s definitely a daily craving.

However, the technicalities of publishing the message out onto what are the most appropriate platforms is still something of a closed book to me.  I know it can be done.  I know I am probably capable of doing it.  But at the moment I need Nanny’s comforting, guiding hand (Nick & Vanessa) until I can weave my way solo through the serpentine maze that confronts me.  So tomorrow I should have more light shed on the subject and ……… I’ll keep you posted.

Health benefits of magnetic energy ....

I’m going to touch very briefly one of the core technologies I have been working with for the past 12 years or so, which helps with rest, relaxation and deep, regenerative sleep.  We retain a lot of stress in our bodies; this can of course be caused by anxiety, working too hard, lack of exercise and a number of causes.  However, it can also be substantially due to absorbing constant amounts of low-level radiation from electromagnetic fields around us.  I’m talking about computers, microwave ovens, mobiles, cordless telephones – even the electric wiring in the buildings we inhabit.  Can we live without these in our lives?  No.  Not now that our entire existence has evolved so that life is virtually centred on them, particularly if we are small businesses operating from a home base.  You may not be aware of it but you are functioning in a smog of pollution that is one of the underlying causes of fatigue, sickness and a variety of conditions that can have alarming consequences for our long-term health.   And according to some research published this week, cancer death rates here in Britain are 20% higher than in Europe, and getting worse.

The fact is that our physiology was not designed to sustain the constant impact that this is having on us.  What I have learned over the past 12 years or so, what I have spent time exploring, experiencing and talking publicly about is that it is possible to counteract some, if not pretty well all of this intrusion into our state of wellbeing.   I have seen in so many cases that if we restore natural magnetic influence, i.e. the regenerative, gentle, aligning energy of natural magnetic fields to the body while we walk, sit and sleep that it works towards balancing out the stress held in the muscles and tissues and allows the body to relax and to function as it was designed to do.

Note to all parents: I strongly advise you not to have a baby alarm in the same room as your child.  I recommend that you place it outside the door.  Also, turn your wi-fi off at night and do not keep a cordless phone near your bed as the electro-magnetic fields will disturb your sleep patterns!

I know that my lifetime, chronic insomnia was sorted out immediately I encountered all this and started using the sleep system and other products to relieve stress and help me to function at optimum level.  I do not doubt that this is where my wellbeing comes from.  Even my children say “Where does she get all that energy from?”  And I hasten to add that it is not a case of adding something “unnatural” to the body.  This is restoring what our contemporary lifestyle has eroded.  There are many testimonials to the effectiveness.  One such is from one of my mentors Nick Tadd, who sits everyday in front of a computer that could launch a space shuttle!



Nick has recently been suffering from “acute torticollis” which is a severe and painful spasm-ing of the neck and upper back muscles that make it painful for him to move.  Nick is pleased to report that my products have helped alleviate the pain.  Says Nick:  “By using a combination of Joy’s Nikken pillow and her magnetic power massager, I have gone from “Ouch to Ahhhhh ....!”.  I travel a great deal around the U.K., and I now take my pillow everywhere with me, as I find hotel pillows exacerbate my condition.  I won’t leave home without my Nikken pillow now as it supports my neck in the correct position and I find it helps me have a restorative night’s sleep”.

Eyes on the Horizon …!



Photo credit:  Cornelis de Meijer

As I write this, it’s Saturday evening and “The X-Factor” is not summoning me to watch.  Nor is “Strictly”, I’m afraid.   So it’s a movie or a good book and a glass of nice warming red. John Jochimsen, who I met on Tom and Nick’s blogging course,  has asked to read his wartime story “Three Stayed Home” and I’m really enjoying it.  I think it could make a terrific movie.  I won’t be updating you on progress in my romantic life either because I’ve had feedback that it’s not relevant to this blog.  Actually, in my view, it’s another aspect of Social Media and one that is opening up entirely different horizons, for me anyway!  However ………..!  And I shall probably have to chop these diaries in half and publish twice weekly because some say that they are too long.  Yes, they probably are. But once I get started I find there’s so much I want to get in.  What do you think??

Until next week ……..

This blog is dedicated to those who have given their lives, and still are, for our freedom, and our freedom of speech, which alas now is being taken away from us.



To access the archive of my previous diaries, please click >>>> here.

Joy Webber - Director
a.k.a. "The Twittering Granny"

Balanced World Limited - Wellness Home Consultants

+44 (0) 1442 876022
+44 (0) 7970 836 937

joyce@balancedworld.com
balancedworld.com
nikkenwellbeing.co.uk

Diary of a Social Media Virgin - Part 5:  Wind in my sails ....

“Could you tell me about hash tags again, please?” I asked.  “Again?” they replied with just the tiniest of sighs but with infinite patience and forbearing. 

They are such excellent, motivated and professional colleagues and mentors and I am finding their guidance to be invaluable in my quest to become a recognised expert in my chosen field.  If my ability to grasp some of the basics of using Social Media to achieve this goal is slow – and I find it is taking 4-5 teachings of the almost any point for it to become fixed in my head – their tolerance in going over the same ground AGAIN each time is reassuring.  I’m talking, of course, about my friends Nick & Vanessa Tadd, who are achieving a higher and higher profile as exponents in the world of Social Media both here in the U.K. and internationally.

Indeed, Olivier Blanchard @thebrandbuilder, one of the U.S.’s foremost authorities on social media, last week sent out a tweet saying “Nick and Vanessa are fast becoming national treasures in the U.K”!

I don’t think I would have received the recognition and positive feedback from posting these Diaries without their knowledge and guidance and the exposure they have given me in their network.  So - many, many thanks to them both!  And thanks to everyone who has given me so much encouragement.  I hope I can add value to everyone who has done so and possibly even provide a “leg-up” of some kind for those who might like it!

Who and what is an Expert?



Speaking of recognition, I’ve discovered by searching on tweetreach.com, that the phrase, “The Twittering Granny” had reached over 26,000 people via Twitter (at the time of searching).  And that’s in just the last 50 tweets at the time of searching; what an awesome medium it is! The outcome, I hope, is that I am beginning to become established in many different forums and hopefully as an expert in my field.

So what and who is an expert?  And is it a good thing to aspire to when you are in business?  Well, here’s an extract from the Women Unlimited newsletter where Jenny Littlejohn writes about “How to stand out as the expert in your field” and some of the pointers she lists are:

People like and are attracted to experts;

People remember experts (who do you remember for example as the expert in helping women feel GREAT about their bodies);

People are more likely to refer/recommend experts or those with a specific niche, because they remember more clearly what you do and who you do it for!;

Marketing is easier (Oh yes!!!) – many people think it limits them, but actually it positions them!;

It keeps you focused – look what happens to certain retailers when they lose or don’t have a focus.

Publicity is easier to get – journalists and the media love experts too!

Come on folks - you can all do it !   And the fundamental route to succeeding in this is by ....

Blogging – How and why we do it...

We had a terrific day yesterday with Tom Evans “The Bookwright” and Nick Tadd, hearing again about the purpose behind blogging; the nuts and bolts of how to do it; and some ways of stimulating the imagination to get the creative juices flowing.  Tom has some great ideas about how to do this.  I would urge you to take a look at his website and also to get a hold of his book “Blocks” about how to silence all those chattering monkeys in the head that tell you can’t do it and you’re out of your mind to even think about it!

There was talk of dashboards, widgets, blogging platforms and I don’t know what else. Sounds more suited to mechanical engineering that the ethereal world we are working in.  Would this be like Platform 9.3/4 at Kings Cross in the Harry Potter books?  Would I be whisked off to Hogwarts and be able to enjoy a game of Hashtags with Dumbledore and Snape?  But no, it was an extremely practical, hands-on learning of this new language and the way we make use of it in blogging out our message.

Twitter-athon Mk II

The second innovative Tw-Interview on "The Nick Tadd Show" (#theNTShow) on Twitter took place this Wednesday too, (as pioneered last week) this time with Tom Evans, the Bookwright.  The exceptional and truly hilarious aspect of the event this week was the fact that Nick & Vanessa conducted the Tw-interview from a motorway service station, as they had a tyre blow-out on the M1 and couldn’t get to their destination in time.  However, being the stalwart troupers that they are, this was no impediment to putting on a successful and very well received “show”.  Read about it >>>> here where you can “follow” the actual conversation too.  These interviews are proving to be truly groundbreaking ways of getting to know how successful people have been able to obtain a profile and a following via Social Media.  Nick himself picked up over 200 new followers during the course of the interview!

This Wednesday, 4 November, it’s Penny Power, in the hot tweet so don't forget to tune in at 10.30 on Wednesday morning on #theNTshow!

Meanwhile, Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation , which is a free resource to help you start and grow your business at home, is asking me for an interview on the subject, with particular relevance for PRIME (the people who help over 50’s start in business) about providing them with a basic website builder for their members.  More on that later …….  

And it looks as though the interview with Jon Hansen of the PI Social Media network in Canada will take place on 11 November as a live broadcast between 12:30 and 1:30 PM EDT which is between 5:30 and 6:30 PM UK time.  (Gulp!)

“Connected-ness”

Thomas Power who, together with Penny founded Ecademy eleven years ago, gave a really illuminating talk on 26 October in Weybridge. He spoke of  just how far all this Social Media “connected-ness” is going to take us, how our children are so totally in tune with it and with each other, as a natural element in their lives …….. almost as natural as food and drink.

From his blog on the subject:

"As your connections grow across multiple online platforms (and I recommend you join as many as you have time for) you become more connected. More connected with people, more connected with content, more connected with the flow of what's happening throughout the world. Your connections inform you, guide you, lead you, teach you. They act like a torch in the dark. You can see this happening in the blogs on Ecademy and the conversation threads on Friendfeed, the feed on Facebook and the flow on Twitter. We may as a generation be 100 times more informed and better connected than our parents. Our children might be 100 times better connected and informed than us once working adults.

As you become more connected over time something called connectedness kicks in. Connectedness is the art and science of being connected sometimes called Social Presence.”

It truly illustrates that we are not just seeing the dawn of a new era in communication.  The sun has actually risen and the horizons are boundless.

Bone and heart health

As you may be aware by now, my business is to promote what I am calling a “one stop answer” to most aspects of natural good health.  This incorporates air quality, clean revitalised drinking water, good sleep, supplementing your diet and some exercise.  I’m not in the slightest bit doctrinaire about it.  I am the last one to preach about giving up the good things in life which you enjoy - I certainly don’t!  Unless of course if you were to choose a daily diet of McDonalds and nothing else. And that’s just plain daft!  But I am a walking, talking case study, if you wish, of the benefits of what I’m promoting - and my family too - and I know from the past 12 years or so that the impact on achieving and maintaining optimum good health is very real.

Each week, I write about an aspect of this and today I’m highlighting the issue of bone health again as well as  heart health.  High cholesterol levels are one of the major factors in causing heart attacks;  these seem to be occurring more frequently nowadays, and in younger people too.  There are a range of solutions out there to this, many natural and many, of course, pharmaceutical.

I do believe in integrating the best of Eastern and Western medicine to achieve the “Balanced World” that is the name of my business.  To quote from Dr Joe:   “Life is to be enjoyed not endured. Optimising the health of your mind, body and soul is critical to this.  Optimal health requires the mind, physical body and spirit to be in balance.  Focus on being well. “



I have been working with a natural soy product since it was launched in Europe earlier this year which is getting substantial results for those with cholesterol problems as well as for that huge section of the female population suffering from menopausal misery (quoted as around 18 million in Europe).  It is totally reliable in its sourcing, guaranteed non-GMO and is effective, with none of the side issues that exist with statins, for instance, which are frequently prescribed for this condition.

A conclusion published in the British Journal of Nutrition 2004 says that natural soya made a significant difference to the levels of LDL and can have a significant effect in the reduction of heart disease risk.  This is especially relevant to those who cannot take high doses of statins due to liver damage and the consideration that high dose statins will compromise the liver  The FDA allowed the claim that 25g of soy daily will have noticeable health related benefits on cholesterol levels.

It is a privilege for us to be working in partnership with Dr Lars Hoie who founded Nutri Pharma ASA in 1993 in Norway and spent 20 years researching and validating the underlying principles, backed up by clinical trials,  to prove the effectiveness. Dr Hoie will be speaking at our showcase event in Milton Keynes on 14 November and I would love to welcome anyone along as my guest to find out more.  Click >>>  here for details and also >>>> here, to hear from Sonia whose life has been turned around from an intolerable hormonal condition by incorporating Nutri5 into her daily life.  It’s a compelling story.



That’s a substantial chunk of this week’s blog devoted to the health aspect.  Thank you so much for hanging in there with me – I really appreciate it and commend your stamina.

Before closing, just to touch back into the power of Social Media and how it can benefit every single one of us:  there is growth through leveraging other people’s knowledge.  And to quote Thomas Power again “Grow your connectedness and you grow yourself and thus your life.  Grow your connectedness and strengthen those around you.” That’s a great philosophy to have at the heart of everything we do, isn’t it?

Ah, now!  Wait a minute.   A friend of mine has just called to say that there’s a Rock’n’Roll dance at the local rugby club tonight and would I like to go?  Well, would I ever !!  That’s always been one of my most favourite things and it’s something I’ve let drift out of my life.  It might end up hurting a little more than it used to but that’s not going to stop me.  So, digging out the dancing shoes and dusting them off, that’s where I’m headed now.  Grannies (and this one in particular) do rock you know!

Until next tweet …………
 

Joy Webber
"The Twittering Granny"
@joywebber

P.s  You can catch up with the first four installments of my Diary >>> here.