Tag Archives: social media

Chris Daems on AE in a Box and The Power of Three – MPAF29

MPAF Podcast, , , , , , ,

Spotting the needs of niche customers and developing a specific product makes good business sense.

My guest today realised that his consultancy business model wasn’t suited to smaller companies looking to comply with Auto Enrolment.

So he built his own online solution for that niche called “AE in a Box”.

This is the inspiring story of how Chris used digital technology to simplify a complex process.

Hear how Chris built “AE in a Box” and the challenges he faced on the way. Listen to how he took the concept to market and the lessons he learned. Chris’s experience proves that anyone can develop their own products thanks to tools available online.

Don’t miss this fascinating story from a real expert on Auto Enrolment.

A slightly longer than usual episode with some useful tangents about new Social Media Platform – Natter, and internet design wholesaler, Fiverr.com

Chris Daems on AE in a Box and The Power of Three

Click here to TWEET this episode.

Who is Chris Daems?

Chris is the director of both Principal Financial Solutions and The Auto Enrolment Advisory Group as well as being an experienced financial planner.

The majority of his clients are directors of owner managed businesses and Chris considers this to be his particular area of expertise.

However, more recently Chris has specialised in helping firms of all sizes (ranging from 1500 through to 30 employees) with the challenges they face whilst meeting the employer duties relating to automatic enrolment regulation.

Chris won “Bluebook Newcomer” and “Pensions Adviser of the year award” at the Unbiased adviser awards 2014 and was runner-up (for most innovative business) and finalist (for ‘Real Life Entrepreneur’) in last years London FSB Awards and won “Group Pension Adviser of the Year” and was commended for “SIPP Adviser of the Year” at the 2014 FT Adviser Life and Pension Awards.

Over the past few months Chris has been instrumental in launching AE in a Box – a software tool designed to empower small employers comply with Auto Enrolment regulation in the most straightforward way possible.

Chris is married to Cassie and has two daughters, Charlotte and Sophie.

One thing you might not know about Chris is his cousin was the first “Ronseal Man” and the first person to use the phrase ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ on primetime TV.

AE in a Box information:

Things Chris and I discussed:

Chris’s favourite Apps:

Chris’s Contact links:

Chris’s favourite books:

Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B Cialdini.

Thinking Fast and Slow – by Daniel Kahneman.

Getting Things Done – by David Allen.

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You Cannot Be Serious! 48 Hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet Approval

Content & Social, Marketing, , , , , ,

Do you think a company with a 48 hour turn around on Tweet Approval really “gets” social.

Social media is spontaneous. It’s one of the reasons for the name “social”.

48 Hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet Approval

I’ve described Twitter as chatting in a gigantic and crowded virtual pub. In a social setting you have spontaneous conversations in real-time.

Imagine for a moment you were in a real pub enjoying a pint. Someone approaches you and asks you a factual question about your product or your company. Would you reply straight away assuming you knew the answer?

Or would you say you’ll get back to them in 48 hours once the marketing, compliance and legal teams approve your answer.

Most would reply straight away. Why should social media be any different?

Chatting to a colleague from another financial services provider recently we got talking about marketing and social media. He told me his company operated a 48 hour Service Level Agreement on tweet approval.

I had to ask him to repeat himself.

Again he said his company operated a 48 hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet approval.

First the marketing team would check out the language making sure it was “on brand”. Then someone from legal gives it the once over. Finally compliance ensures adherence to the FCA rules and signed off  the Tweet along with documentation.

Processes like this exist for marketing literature with good reason. But for a Tweet? Couldn’t they have at least introduced a fast track lane?

The SLA means they can plan Tweets for a specific time, say for a product launch. But the process cripples spontaneity.

Is this risk aversion or good business sense? I would argue they should replace the Marketing and Legal checks for good old-fashioned common sense. Then simply be aware of the implications of the FCA rules to make sure you don’t promote a product or give advice.

Tweeting the benefits of a specific product without being able to consider the downside or include risk warnings is against the rules. So don’t tweet these with less regard for compliance issues than you would with your website.

This doesn’t stop you from commenting on issues. Warning about deadlines. Or suggesting that it’s wise to insure your sources of income as part of financial planning.

Let’s not use “regulation” as an excuse not to engage in social media. Don’t use it as a cover for not being on social media. Use the FCA compliance guidelines as far as possible and then use your intuition and common sense.

Now it’s your turn:

You can find more information about Compliance and Twitter in my Twitter Guide for Financial Services Professionals. For a copy just use the subscription form above. Do you agree with my views on this subject? Please leave a comment or a link to your own article.

 

Find Related Hashtags Instantly Without Having to Experiment

Content & Social, , , , ,

Do you use hashtags in your social media posts?

Hashtags let you tag your posts with keywords, making them easier for social networks to organize and other users to search.

For example: #Marketing #Business #BusinessStrategy

So when you add a hashtag to a post or tweet, the social media immediately indexes the keyword so it’s searchable by other users. If someone clicks on that hashtag, they’ll find a page that lists all the posts with the same hashtagged keyword. If a keyword becomes popular it’s known as “trending.”

Including hashtags in your social media means more people can see your content and might follow or interact with you.

If you use one or two related hashtags you might find your “reach” extends even further. But it’s time-consuming searching and experimenting with related hashtags. Which is why I was delighted to find this invaluable resource.

http://hashtagify.me finds related hashtag keywords without having to experiment.

All you do enter in a keyword and the site will tell you the top ten related keywords. Then you can include the most related in your posts or tweets.

hashtags data by hashtagify.me

So now you can find related hashtags instantly. Give it a try. Add in a few related keywords (though don’t over do it and become a hashtag spammer) and see your social media interactions increase.

Now it’s your turn:

If you liked this Social Media Friday tip please share it. If you have any other ideas or tips please leave a comment or share a link to your own content.