Podcasting | Sherie Griffiths

October 5, 2011

Sound connections

Filed under: Business, Business Startup, Communication, Marketing, Media, The Enterprise Gateway — Tags: audio, Basildon, Business, Business Sector, Businesspeople, Cd Distribution, Competitor, East Thurrock, First Clue, Focus, Gateway 97.8, Heathcote, how to podcast, Job, listen, Networking Event, Networking Group, New Business, Open Networking, Paper Mountain Solutions, Paul Smalley, People, Phone Ringing, pod cast, Podcast, Podcasting, Podcasts, Productive Collaboration, Professional Studio, Radio, record, recording, Richard Heathcote, Scope, Sherie Griffiths, Sound Connections, speak, speaking, Startup Revolution, studio, The Enterprise Gateway, Travels, Voicemail Greeting, voiceover, voiceover artist — sheriegriffiths.com @ 8:14 am

I meet a lot of people on my travels who are really afraid of anyone who looks remotely like a competitor. I’m not knocking anybody who networks via groups which only allow one member per business sector. I know they work extremely well for thousands of businesses – and anything that gets the phone ringing can’t be sniffed at!

I have to say, though, they don’t work for me. Well, they might, in terms of bringing in new business – but I don’t enjoy them. I much prefer what I think of as ‘natural’ networking – walking into a room, whether it’s a networking event or not, and not having the first clue who I’m going to meet. Yes, in theory in that situation you could run across someone who does exactly the same job as you – but it’s highly unlikely. Even two people doing apparently the same job in the same industry will have different approaches, slightly different focuses – and so often, there’s scope for very productive collaboration.

I first ran across Richard Heathcote through a more open networking group. On the face of it, our activities could have looked very similar. We both work in sound; we both produce podcasts, for ourselves and others – but to be honest, that’s about it.

Whilst my focus, where audio is concerned, is on helping businesses to create professional-sounding, compelling content for download or cd distribution, Richard is primarily a voiceover artist. So while I attempt to teach businesspeople to present their own messages, Richard can speak for them.

He’s more than a mouth for hire, though. Some voiceover artistss need the backup of a professional studio to produce anything; but Richard has the technical skills and setup to allow him to be self-sufficient.

Not so long ago, he opened an online ‘audio shop’, providing a range of ‘off-the-shelf’ audio which people can download to use on their phone systems etc – perfect if you hate recording your own voicemail greeting and the like.

He’s just helped me out with a little editing issue I was having – and he’ll be heard on at least one of my upcoming online courses. If either of us had taken a more restrictive approach to networking and the whole competition issue, we would probably have avoided each other like the plague – and missed out on the potential for some interesting and exciting collaborations.

Speaking of ‘interesting and exciting collaborations’: I have the challenge of interviewing my long-standing colleague and friend, Paul Smalley of Paper Mountain Solutions, on tomorrow’s radio show. Paul is heavily involved in the launch of a brand new business, designed to help brand new businesses. I can’t say any more until tomorrow. You can catch the show at 3PM, on 97.8 FM in the Basildon & East Thurrock area, or at gateway978.com.

If you don’t manage to listen, I’ll tell you more on Friday.

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April 27, 2010

The Right Connections take us Onwards & Upwards

Filed under: Book, Business, Marketing — Tags: Bea, Big Picture, Board Meeting, Chapter 8, Cold Calls, Direct Marketing Services, Few Days, First Job, Global Research, Launch, Media Trends, Memory, Networking Event, Podcasting, Rejection, Savvy Business, Sound Foundations, Specifics, Statistics, Usp, Woman — sheriegriffiths.com @ 8:27 am

I often think that, important as it is to know what we’re good at in business, it’s at least as important, if not more, to know what we’re not good at.

Exploration of the concept which would grow up to be Savvy Business got the go-ahead at the May ’07 board meeting of the company I was then running, Griffiths Legal. My first job was to talk to USP Content (where I already had links) about taking on the studio production.

Then, after the American trip, came the research – and lots of it.

Extract From The Upcoming Book, ‘On Sound Foundations’ – Chapter 8: ‘Onwards And Upwards’

“I needed to understand the big picture, which meant getting to grips with lots of statistics about media trends generally, on- and off-line, and then drilling down into the specifics of podcasting.

“I also needed to approach the kind of professionals we would need to help us make the programmes, to see what they thought of the idea and – all-importantly – how willing they would be to buy into it.

“In the event, although I dreaded trying to process all the numbers, the global research was easier because I could do most of it on the web.

“The individual side, on the other hand, proved a little trickier logistically.

“First – and for me most feared – were the cold calls. Within a few days of rejection after rejection, I soon realised I wasn’t the woman for that particular job. It needed a professional.

“When Rob introduced Sue Ellen, of Direct Marketing Services, at the Savvy launch in May ’09, he described her as ‘a lady who lunches’, because I’d told him we’d met at an all-female networking event. Actually, I was wrong. Sue had called to invite me on behalf of the network, but she didn’t make it to the meeting herself. It just shows how the memory can play tricks, doesn’t it?

“Fortunately, I kept hold of her name and number and in September ’07, I called her for help.

“By October, Sue was beavering away in the background, setting up phone appointments and meetings for me with potential expert panellists. I spent a lot of my time whizzing all over the country.

“I was so keen to grab every opportunity that I must admit I wasn’t terribly time-efficient over that period. I spent a whole day travelling up to York to have lunch with someone and did an overnighter in Liverpool for two meetings. It was worthwhile, though, perhaps not always financially, but in the chances it gave me to meet people I would never otherwise have made contact with, and to discuss the project and get their feedback.”

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April 1, 2010

The Things We Do For Love!

Filed under: Business, Events, Marketing, Podcasts, Presentations — Tags: Audience, Baby Shoes, Brasserie, Crooks, Email, First Trip, Game, Great Tey, Job, O Clock, Podcasting, Presentation, Props, Shoestring, Surprise, Things We Do For Love — sheriegriffiths.com @ 12:43 pm

As you may know, I love my job. Why else would I get up at 5 AM – aka ‘Stupid O’Clock’ – in the dark, to go up to Colchester to deliver a presentation this morning?

It was my first trip to the Business Café, at the Barn Brasserie in Great Tey – and it was well worth the early start. They were a great audience, who responded brilliantly to the weird and wonderful props I chose to illustrate my talk about ‘Podcasting on a Shoestring’ – everything from a pair of baby shoes to a cushion. No, don’t ask – well, you can – but I won’t tell you where they fit in. I might get the chance to deliver the presentation for a group you’re involved in and if I gave the game away in advance, I’d spoil the surprise, wouldn’t I?

Anyway, I just wanted to thank this morning’s group, especially Jill Crooks of Room 105, who has liaised with me over the last month or so and has just sent me a lovely email. I’m really hoping to get back up to The Barn very soon, as an ordinary visitor – and if you’re in the area (even if you’re not) I recommend you give it a go.

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March 19, 2010

“REAL” Complements

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Podcasts — Tags: 24 Carat, Acronym, Business Book, Common Ground, Common Sense, Complements, Different Ways, Dimensional Person, Gibbins, Human Voice, Longevity, Mindy, Neatness, Personal Meetings, Podcasting, Strengths And Weaknesses, Thought Leader, Thought Leaders, Uncommon Sense, Writing A Book — sheriegriffiths.com @ 10:22 am

When I finished writing – for the moment anyway – I found I had time to read. I used some of it to read “24 Carat BOLD – The Standard For Real Thought Leaders” by Mindy Gibbins-Klein.

She uses the acronym “REAL” to explain the four main attributes which she says turn a person into a “Real Thought Leader” – not just an expert in their field, but “the expert” in their field – the “go-to person”.

R – reach

E – engagement

A – authority and

L – longevity,

but if the neatness of that makes you think “Here comes another trite business book by an ‘expert’ in the blindingly obvious!”, think again. It’s solid stuff – but not stolid. Yes, there’s a lot of business common sense in there – but there’s also a lot of uncommon sense.

Mindy and I have met a few times on the networking circuit, but I didn’t realise how much common ground we have until I read the book. She recommends getting “REAL” by writing a book, because that’s her specialism and there’s still no substitute for giving someone something tangible to remember you by. I recommend getting “REAL” through podcasting, because that’s my specialism and there’s no substitute for the human voice. Every aspect of that acronym applies to using sound as it does to print. I’m not anti-print by any means, as you know – I’m about to go into it myself! As an obsessive communicator, I’m not anti any medium. A couple of weeks ago, when I was having a go at the BBC Strategy Review, I said I was a “multi-dimensional person” whose needs couldn’t all be met by one product. All the different ways of touching people – personal meetings, phone, email, the printed word, audio, video, online interaction –have their respective strengths and weaknesses. So they all have a place and work best when they work together – like people really.

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