Thursday 25 February 2010

Negativity and how to deal with it.

As most of you know I have run my blog for a little while now, I have to confess that it hasn’t been added to in a while and as those of you who know me realise I have had rather a lot on lately, but there it is none the less. One of the things I like to do is help people when I can but what can you do when someone who doesn’t really know you or what you do make comments about how you earn you’re living, well part of it at least?

To give you a little background I run workshops and seminars for the Chamber of Commerce on getting the best out of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook here in the West and sometimes out in Furness and so far its been a mixed bag, Cumbrian businesses seem to be taking a little to catch on what its about and how it can help, whereas some of the talks I have given in other parts of the country have been seized on and lots of the advice I have give has been acted upon and I still have regular contact with attendees and give them help and advice.

Now one of the things I say to them is if you get negative feedback or comments on something you do or have said don’t worry as it’s usually a mixture of jealousy and ignorance of what you do or what you have achieved.

But if this does happen here are a few tips to deal with it:
  • Take it offline – don’t play this out in public as there is never anything to gain by this as either they or more importantly you look foolish or amateurish.
  • Find out what you have said or done to warrant this negativity and if you can’t then the best thing to do is either stop following or block them. I have to say I don’t really like this approach as I feel everyone has the right to their opinion.
  • If there is no other way to sort the negativity out then block them and move on as some people are there just for controversy and to create a reaction and lets be honest life is too short to get involved in this, or maybe you enjoy it, make up your own mind.
  • Life is for sharing but negativity is not!
There you have it just a couple of tips to get you started, remember jealousy and ignorance are a terrible affliction and best avoided at all costs.

Have you experienced this on any of the big three platforms, if so let me know.

Photo credit: pasukaru76

Thursday 4 February 2010

Social Networking and how fantastic it really is

I am going to start off with a story of a great dad who was, as all siblings know, the best dad in the world, well mine was!
He died on Tuesday leaving a large hole in all the remaining families’ lives but what really astonished me, unlike when my mum died about six years ago, how the likes of Facebook and blogging have played such a major part in his death and letting people know.

Facebook
After dad died I put a message on Facebook and I was astonished by the response from friends, and they are friends, and sympathy I and the family received, this wasn’t possible six years ago as these types of websites were all still in their infancy or even thought of and letting large group of friends and family was virtually impossible.

Whether you think it should be used for this is obviously your opinion but just looking around Facebook and seeing how many pages there are for people who lose their lives either too soon, suddenly, in tragic or horrific circumstances or our brave service men and women give me hope that the world is better for these platforms.

Blogging
Obviously as you are reading this it is something that we couldn’t have done a few years ago, well that’s not strictly true I know but getting your message out was really difficult as early bloggers found.

Social Networking is a powerful tool so use it wisely.

Anyway if this post has spurred you to write your story, or part of it at least, then set up your blog and let the world know through FB and Twitter, let me know how you go?