Twitter is one of the most popular social marketing sites available today.  Millions of people and businesses use it every day, but should you?

The most important thing to ask yourself before you do anything is “Will my target market be there?”  There is no benefit to your business if you can’t reach your market.
If the answer is yes, then Twitter has a lot to offer.

Twitter is part of what we call ‘social media’ which are sites designed to encourage interaction and that is great for business.  You can:

• Talk to clients
• Ask for feedback
• Watch what is being said about your brand
• Show that you are real
• Build trust
• Do surveys
• Ask for help
• Find testers
• Get comments
• Show your expertise

It is free and easy to use so it’s a really cheap marketing tool for your business. 

Twitter has more value to offer than contact with your client.  It is a great place for connecting with your peers and with people who inspire you.  If you are looking for a mentor you will probably find one on Twitter.  If you are looking for strategic alliances, they will be there, too.

Twitter is fun, informative and useful and all within 140 characters or less

Successful people are the ones who are “doing well”.  They do everything well and may not be aware of exactly how well they use their time and resources. They just do it.

Here are some of the secrets that successful people have got hidden away:

1.  Start work early.
A few extra minutes at the start of the day lets you get organised and focused without the distractions of phone calls and visitors.

2.  Sort out your priorities.
Writing things down in order of priority is the best way to remember and keep track of them.  Start with the most important job and you will feel in control straight away.

3.  Plan some free time
Free time in your day will let you catch up with emails, phone calls and social networking. Build it into your schedule and stick to it.

4.  Reduce your working times.
Like they say, work smart not harder.  The more hours you schedule the more the work will expand to fill it.  Cut back and surprise yourself with what you can get done

5.  Delegate.
Learn to handball appropriate tasks to your staff or outsource them.

6.  Cut back on paperwork
Prepare some standard emails/letters so you don’t have to keep rewriting the ones you need regularly.  And do you really need those newsletters that you never read? 

7.  The KISS principle.
Say what you need to say in a few lines; don’t write a novel each time.  Short and simple is quicker to write and it has less chance of confusing the reader.  If you can simplify your wrok processes then do that, too.

8. Stimulate your creative energy.
Brainstorm whilst all blowing bubbles or something equally as playful, it really helps

Are you trying to decide between using a serviced office and renting vacant office space?  There can be advantages to both so you need to work out what will suit you and your clients’ best.  Let’s have a look at a few of them.

Serviced offices.

Leases in serviced premises often start from three months; you can usually move in the next day and have the advantage of a prime location for your commercial visibility.

Reception, secretarial services and meeting rooms are all charged out per usage, providing flexibility for your business. Many provide mail handling and courier services and offer fully equipped conference and meeting facilities.  

A serviced office will give you a professional look.  You might also be lucky enough to be able to find business alliances and opportunities from the other tenants in the offices.

Sounds good? Before you sign think about this.  Serviced offices can be expensive compared to a simple lease space, especially long term, and a small office in a large serviced business centre can give an impermanent or “rented” feel to your business.

You also need to look at how your business would work within a serviced unit. How easily can those generic services be incorporated into the way your company runs?

Rental space

Renting a space for your office can involve a hefty up-front cost, especially if you need to modify the layout or build in new facilities.  On the other hand, leasing an unserviced office space can give you the freedom to individualise the space to match your brand.  You can maintain continuity for your ongoing customers.  In general, ongoing rental costs are lower.

In serviced offices you use the staff employed by the facility.  When you hire your own staff you have control over your quality of service.  You are also responsible for all of your own insurance and utilities, which would normally be covered by a serviced office lease.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of accommodation.  Ultimately it comes down to what best suits you, your budget and your clients