M & A Rainmaker

Chris Windley is a First Million Member of Linkedin and joined in 2004.

Chris has 35,000 followers and a Newsletter with 10,000 subscribers. Articles and Posts with 10’s of thousands of views.

Over 18 years Chris built his connections to the 30k connect limit organically and never bought followers or used automation.

You can find Chris on chris.windley@gmail.com or +447881 500002.

Also @cwindley on twitter and chris.windley on facebook.

You can Google Chris Windley for other elements of his digital presence.

Linked In

The clue is in the title right ?

A Linkedin Expert is one who gets leads and sales.

The more leads and sales that you get ( of the right type ) the more of an expert you are.

That’s it then ?

An expert is ” a person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area “.

To be a Linkedin Expert ( or any social media expert ) it is fundamental to understand the objective above.

It also fundamental to understand how to achieve this objective. The route to this objective.

Leads and sales don’t just happen.

There is a plan.

There is a process.

There is a strategy.

There is a system.

Here is a sketch.

To describe this a bit ….. it is mainly a digital model of what I call the Digital Marketing Ecosystem.

Out of all the people on the Internet some will become visitors of yours via social media or search.

Having found you on social media or by search they may visit your website/blog/landing page as they were led there from either one.

Some of them may subscribe for further information ( eg name and email ) and be added to a database ( right )

Some of them may go on to purchase something from you via one of your sales platforms eg an online shop.

Here is a sales funnel

You can superimpose the funnel onto the sketch.

The top of funnel says SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation ) , SMM ( Social Media Marketing ) and PPC ( Pay per click ).

Social Media and Search are your main sources of initial contact with a prospect. ( This could be organic – free – or paid ie promotion or advertising eg Google pay per click or facebook adverts ).

Please note that Linkedin ( L/I ) is just one source in Social Media.

The traffic ( flow ) goes from social media and search to a website/blogsite/landing page etc and then usually to an email sign up ( to the right ).

( In some cases email registration may kick off an automated email sequence. Check this article here for an example of how this works ).

The funnel indicates ” conversion rates “. They are particular to the example described by this funnel. What is certain is that there will always be conversion rates. So many coming in at the top, so many leaving/staying and so many becoming leads, prospects and sales.

Loads of things affect attraction rates and conversion rates.

Like … do you have a clear and ” attractive ” Brand and Story; are your adverts appealing; are your landing pages right; is your email sign up simple; is there an incentive to sign up …. etc etc etc which makes things complicated and challenging.

However, here we are just trying to understand the high level systems and processes.

A useful summary of the process ( coined by Inbound Marketing specialist Hubspot Inc. ) is:

GET FOUND, NURTURE, CONVERT and ANALYSE.

This equates to TOFU, MOFU and BOFU. ( Top, Middle and Bottom of the funnels )

What we are talking about here is called Inbound Marketing ( Attraction, Magnetic,

Pull Marketing ).

An option is to ” intervene ” in the process. Something that we often do. For example often people that like, comment, share e.g. our Linkedin posts we can chat to using Linkedin messaging. We MAY then call them by phone, skype, facebook etc. Ian Tomlinson is fabulous at doing this,

When everything is set up for Inbound Marketing you can also Outbound Market ( approach people in your target market that you want to ). Because your Attraction Marketing system is set up ( Brand, Story, System ) Outbound Marketing works really well.

In addition, when you are attracting people, intervening in the process and approaching people you can also network ( physically ) and meet people eg for coffee.

These multiple approaches have a cumulative result. The sum of opportunities is greater than the individual actions and processes.

A Linkedin Expert is only one if they also understand the systems and processes that lead to leads and sales ( conversions ) generally and on all platforms and search and paid and organic.

This article also published on Linkedin here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-linkedin-sales-expert-chris-windley/

The Silicon Crossroads Technopolis is a private High Tech. facility that supports Silicon Crossroads VCT investee companies globally. It also supports companies advised by M & A Rainmaker and the Silicon Crossroads VCT.

The Technopolis is currently supporting companies in ( for example ) London, San Francisco, Israel, New York, Costa Rica and India. the list is continually changing and evolving so this is just a sample of cities and countries supported.

The Silicon Crossroads VCT does not invest in all the companies it supports, it may simply provide advice and guidance. It is particularly interested in assisting startup and growth companies who want to expand from the U.K. to, for example, the U.S.A. and vice versa and also from other countries around the world into the U.K. and Europe. It is one of very few companies in the U.K. to provide these sort of services.

Lichfield Cathedral at night across Stowe Pool.

Managing Partner, Chris Windley, has established global networks via social media networks like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook and Chris is regarded as one of the most influential people in the world by Internet Influence measurement companies like Klout, Kred and Peer Index. These companies operate mainly from e.g. London, New York and San Francisco. Since his days at Optical Fibre Network company Fibernet, Chris noted that U.S. companies tended to lead the European market by between 6 and 18 months and therefore it is vital to maintain contacts with High Tech. industry leaders there; especially the West Coast ( Silicon Valley etc. ) which remains the frontrunner when it comes to angel and venture capital support.

It is no surprise that some of the most important High Tech. companies in the world have emerged from the Silicon Valley/San Francisco area.

Chris maintains contact with Angels, Venture Capitalists and Founders via Internet networks like Linkedin, Google + and AngelList.

The Internet Marketing Ecosystem ( I.M.E. ) has been producing some great results recently even when only partially implemented. You can find previous blogs on the I.M.E by searching on that term here. ( Use search box ). The I.M.E. is a strategy and a process rather than being absolutely rigid about the specific brand of product used. e.g. I recommend the use of WordPress for websites and blogs but websites and blogs based on other technologies and brands may also work using the strategy and process.

It should also be noted that if a website is already in place ( of whatever technology or whoever it is supplied by ) I.M.E. recommended products can be added and the strategy and process employed.

To summarise the recommended components ( products, brands etc ) are:

– A WordPress based website.

– A WordPress based blog.

– A Twylah page.

– Various Social Network pages such as Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Linkedin , Pinterest, digg etc. etc.

The WordPress website and blog and the Twylah page form the ” core ” of the I.M.E. Typically fresh, relevant ” content ” is produced on the blog and the Twylah page ( using the Twylah Power Tweet facility ) and then shared to the Social Network pages ( I use the Twylah share facility which I call Power Sharing ).

If we bear in mind that our overall objective is to get FOUND ( via Google etc. for relevant words and phrases ) to CONVERT visitors into prospects and customers and to ANALYSE how we did it ( basically noting what particular efforts produced the best results with the help of e.g. Google Analytics ).

If we also remember that producing a high ranking ( easily FOUND ) web and blogsite is dependant on ( amongst other things ) – It having relevant, frequently updated content; having on page S.E.O. and also having authoritative backlinks. Whilst conversion relies apon ” channeling ” the visitor through a sales funnel via relevant headlines, landing pages and Calls to Action.

The I.M.E. fulfills all of the above criteria. It would take a long time to explain all of the ways that it does but we can take a few  examples:

A blog posted on the WordPress Blogsite ( or page ) can then be Power Tweeted via the Twylah platform ( initially placing the Power Tweet into your Twitter community ). It can then be ( power ) shared to Facebook, Google +, Linkedin, Pinterest and Digg. This creates backlinks from all of these places to your domain ( the WordPress web/blog and Twylah page are all in your domain ).

It is worth remembering that Google is now looking at the whole picture rather than simply relevant keywords and phrases and backlinks so the fact that a piece of content is being shared ( liked, ReTweeted etc. etc. ) around multiple social networks is a powerful indicator to Google.

As you may know Klout just updated the way that it calculates your Klout score. Those of us that care about Internet Influence scores ( and there are a lot of people who a) Don’t know anything about Internet Influence scores and b) Don’t care about them ) were not looking forward to this day as all previous updates have resulted in a ( sometimes ) dramatic fall in Klout score.

Mashable describes the change in the way that Klout is now grading you here:

http://mashable.com/2012/08/14/klout-update/

The essentials are that “Klout now  puts more weight on who your followers are and how you’re engaging with them.  Klout also now takes into account more of your real-world influence.”

So, given the above and the fact that my Klout score rose from 62 to 70 I have to be pleased with this because it appears to be saying that I am connected with influential people and that we are communicating with one another which is actually what I think is happening. The ” real-world influence ” also appears to have been positive.

I also like the fact that Klout is offering  ”  a look back at your most influential tweets and posts over the past 90 days. ” This provides a summary of who engaged with me and why.

Klout is now saying that ” You’re not influential because of a number. You’re influential because of what you say ( and perhaps do ) .” This is a great way of measuring influence. Klout’s objective now is ( apparently )  “ to make you feel important, and make you feel listened to.”

If you are trying to get your Klout score up then Mashable offers a rundown of some of the factors that play into your ultimate score below:

Facebook
Mentions via tag from other people
Likes
Subscriber count
Posts on your wall
Overall friend count

Twitter
Retweets
Mentions
List memberships
Replies from you to your network
Number of followers

Google+
Comments on your content
+1s
Reshares of your content

LinkedIn
Your job title on LinkedIn
Your connections
Recommendations
Comments

Foursquare
Tips completed – the number of suggestions you’ve left at venues that people have actually completed.

+K
+K from your friends now also plays a role in your score. Previously it only influenced what categories you were thought to be influential in, not how influential you were in general.

Wikipedia
Page Importance
Inlinks to Outlinks ratio
Number of Inlinks

Apart from Wikipedia ( should I write something about myself 😉 I have a substantial presence on all of these networks ( and more ) and I always felt that this was not being taken into account. ( My Klout summary seemed to indicate that only my Twitter and Facebook networks were being analysed ).

This may all be a PR exercise but I have to declare myself  ” satisfied ” with the new measurement and also it seems to me to be taking the right factors into account.

This morning I was talking to a good Twitter friend of mine ( we have not actually known one another for very long ) and I found myself defending a social media related company to her for the SECOND time. The first time it was Twylah.com and the second time it was global professional network Brandergy.com.

She basically said that Social Media networks ( particularly Facebook and Twitter ) were full of fakes, flakes, weirdo’s, liars and creeps and that there was no room in her life for any more social networks ………UNLESS there was a clear benefit. Now, this is a straight talking lady that talks a lot of sense. There was that chink of hope .. UNLESS there was a clear benefit !!

The only network that she thought was ( relatively ) safe AND produced business was Linkedin.

It is interesting that Facebook is suffering from many rumours about ” Fake accounts ” and it’s share price is plummeting  http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/FB whilst Linkedin is seen as a much better bet http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/LNKD . Twitter is still a private company but everyone knows that you can buy Twitter followers for a relatively low price. e.g. http://www.buy-followers.org/ .

I think there is a change coming . People want to network and they want to do business – they just don’t want the hassle that comes with social networking – particularly if it does not actually produce business.

Linkedin is pretty safe but I have noticed a number of connection requests from decidedly flakey looking accounts. So far I have connected to nearly all of them as I am an Open Networker and there is an unwritten agreement that Open Networkers connect to anybody.

Personally I don’t find Linkedin very intuitive, easy to communicate with others or productive from a business point of view. Twitter is my most productive business network and well ahead of both Facebook and Linkedin. I don’t think I have had a single business conversation on Google + despite having an extensive network there and being a Google + Beta user.

Twylah and Brandergy have at least one thing in common – they both have great ” Community Managers ” ( Kelly Kim in the case of Twylah and Vincent Wright in the case of Brandergy ). Community Management does not happen in e.g. Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter – unless you are talking about Group managers. Good ” Community Management ” is a new skill and a hard one to carry out effectively.

I dream of a global, positive, supportive network that actually achieves business for it’s members. I have ” sub networks ” on Twitter and Facebook ( Twitter particularly ) which comprise of ” Internet Influencers ” who are “engaged ” with me and supportive.

However, it is one thing to have a global, positive, influential, engaged and supportive network and entirely another to have that network produce results.

Producing results requires that you step from the virtual world into the real world of actual products and services, phone calls, meetings, presentations, proposals and orders. In other words that you monetise your network.

Where most social networks are focussed on increasing numbers what is required is a social network that has ” barriers to entry ” – a Quality over Quantity network.

I actually had a conversation this afternoon with someone who had joined Brandergy and they were ” worrying ” about who they should introduce into Brandergy themselves. They wanted to maintain the ” Quality ” of the network. This ” elitism ” is what is required to contrast with the ” fakes, flakes, weirdo’s,liars and creeps ” that are on other networks. You want the ” SAS ” or ” Seal Team ” of networkers.

You know pretty instantly when you meet them on other networks. ( I always think it is amazing that people’s character comes across in 140 characters ). They slot into the ” team ” instantly and become part of a well oiled machine.

Key components of the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ” by Chris Windley are a WordPress based web or blogsite; the Twylah page ( derived automatically from Tweets on Twitter ) and the use of Digg.com. ( Alongside Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter itself, Linkedin and Google +.)

WordPress currently ranks as 18th in the worlds most ” powerful ” websites. Digg ranks 186. Twylah ranks 10,935. ( http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twylah.com ).

Google is the top website, Facebook the 2nd, Twitter the 9th and Linkedin the 12th. So, when you post something on a WordPress web/blogsite
( like this one ) then re-post on Digg, Twylah and all four Social Networks mentioned it is not particularly surprising that a search on ”  Internet Marketing Strategy Lichfield ”  reveals that the WordPress post itself is at search position  3, the Digg post at position 4 and the Twylah position 8 on the first page of a search that has some 244,000 results.

As we know getting Found for a particular search term or phrase is a function of a web or blogsite having relevant content, on page SEO, high quality links and a powerful platform. All of these ingredients are present in the ” Internet Marketing Ecosystem ”  that I have created.

The core or epicentre of the Ecosystem is the web/blogsite and the Twylah page the other websites mentioned are supporting players to the content posted on the web/blogsite. The Ecosystem is extraordinarily powerful when it comes to achieving a high ranking position for a particular word or phrase.

This is a content driven strategy – it is not an SEO driven strategy and therefore it is complimentary to Googles recent announcement that it will penalise over-SEO’d websites.

N.B. Chris Windley’s Brandyourself profile can be found >>>>>>>> HERE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Start up Wahooly starts tomorrow ( Tuesday 31st January ) having used Klout to select it’s members. I realise that this is is all about as clear as mud at the moment !

Let’s start with Klout which is a company ( one of a few that are doing this ) that essentially grades your Internet influence. Here is Klout about Klout:

http://klout.com/#/understand

” Klout was founded in 2008 to help you measure and leverage your influence. We believe influence is the ability to drive action. For example, Oprah’s opinion on literature has inspired millions to read titles from her book club. But you don’t have to be Oprah to have influence. You influence your friend when she listens to a song you recommend on Facebook. You influence your coworker when he checks out an article you posted on LinkedIn and shares it with someone else. Social actions like these are a reflection of influence. ”

Klout uses a ” secret algorithm ” to measure people and brand influence.

A few month’s ago this algorithm was ” modified ” and a lot of people’s ” Klout score ” changed ( many for the worse ) generating considerable reaction from Klout ” members “.

A lot of people say ” Who are Klout and what right do they have to rank my influence ? ” I have my own issues with Klout including the fact that they have a lot of technical bugs that impact people’s scores.

Anyway – let’s get on to Wahooly. Wahooly is a start-up that aims to help start-ups by recruiting ” influential ” people to promote start-ups that they wish to support. In return the influencers get equity ( shares ) in the start-up. So, this is like hiring an Internet Marketing Expert ( Social Media Marketer ) and PR person and paying them in equity rather than hard cash.

Will it work ?? We shall see.

To be a member of Wahooly you needed to have a Klout score of 45 or above ( mine was at the time of selection but has fallen slightly since. I have been as high as 67 in the past ).

More on Wahooly’s use of Klout here:

http://www.launch.is/blog/wahooly-uses-klout-to-add-400-influencers-daily-who-earn-equ.html

I am therefore a founder member of Wahooly and a Wahooligan ( as they call it ).

Given that it has been very hard to raise start-up capital in the last few years there have been many new initiatives to help start-ups get going. Equity for influence is just the latest of them. There have, for example , been a whole host of crowd financing ( investing small amounts of money for small amounts of equity ) initiatives.

Obviously Wahooly has a presence on the main social media platforms:

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wahooly?ref=ts&sk=wall

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wahooligans/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/TeamWahooly

Google +

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105465481469156419624/posts

Linkedin

etc

It is going to be an interesting experiment !!

In the last couple of days the news has emerged that Ireland won the race to get Twitter to site it’s European Headquarters there. Unsurprisingly this news emerged on Twitter itself – apparently after a concerted effort by Irish Tweeps  to persuade Twitter to come to the land of the Celtic Tiger.

It was interesting timing for me because a U.S. based Hi Tech company had just asked me for my opinion on where to base it’s European Headquarters and I was also reading this article here about some ” tinkering ” that the U.K. government is planning with start-up investment incentives.

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

I am sure that IDA Ireland would have been delighted to know that my recommendation was to look closer at Ireland. I don’t have any real connection with Ireland other than the fact that I love Ireland and the Irish people – well doesn’t everyone ???

As a former Royal Navy officer in the 80’s Ireland was sort of ” off limits ” to me – especially Northern Ireland – but when I left the Navy and joined the Hi Tech world ( e.g. Memorex and then Fibernet ) the magic of Ireland started to pull me.

Memorex had strong representation in Ireland and of course the Irish Memorex salespeople were ” memorable ” !! Fibernet also did a lot of business  in Ireland ( customers included Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank ) and M.D. Charles was always being ” led astray ” by the Irish – they delighted in trying to get him to miss his plane by having ” one more Guinness “.

Guinness is of course just one reason why you have to go to Ireland.

For me there followed about 3 ” Stay on a farm ” tours with the children with so many highlights it’s difficult to remember them all – being in a country pub when a  céilidh erupted; the visit to Bunratty Castle; the visit to the Irish National Stud; the visit to the Jamieson’s Distillery. An Irish wedding in Cork. A corporate event with the U.K. Sales Director of 3Com. The occasion that I took the whole of Voyager Networks staff to Dublin to celebrate the sale of Voyager. Staying in the Shelbourne Hotel when ” The Monkees ” walked in !

This is the problem with Ireland – it’s just too much fun !!!

In fairness the Irish really have their act together at a time when the U.S. Hi Tech industry is awash with venture capital investment and many U.S. firms are looking for a base for their European Operations.

According to IDA Ireland Ireland is becoming the Internet Capital of Europe

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/videos/index.xml

and I am not going to argue with them. Even if all the tinkerings with the Enterprise Investment Scheme in the U.K. happen

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

the issue is more about which country has it’s act together in terms of the whole package : Country Brand & Likability Factor, Financial Incentives, Communications infrastructure  etc etc

When I was asked my opinion on where to base I said Ireland off the top of my head. I also asked a friend of mine who has a business helping U.S. companies to establish themselves in Europe – he said the U.K. I also Googled the question and came across a Linkedin answer with a lot of recommendations for Ireland. Just trying to get back to that Linkedin answer I found this:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/international/internationalization-localization/INT_INZ/7476-1213

Reid Hoffman of Linkedin asks Linkedin where best to place Linkedin’s proposed European H.Q. !!

The answer voted best to this question summarised as follows:

” My final choices as a potential company moving there? Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland. “

Linkedin eventually went to ………………………. Ireland !!

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/press-releases/linkedin-establishment-of/

and note this:

Kevin Eyres, managing director of LinkedIn Europe commented, “We now have more than 14 million members in Europe and 60 million worldwide. As our membership continues to grow quickly, this is the right time for us to establish an international headquarters. Being based in Dublin gives us access to a highly skilled workforce and enables us to coordinate our business growth across Europe and beyond to deliver the best possible service to our members.”

But also see this ( hot off the press ) in respect of Tax:

http://www.joe.ie/news-politics/current-affairs/irish-move-to-save-twitter-53-per-cent-in-tax-0016130-1

and I quote

” That, in effect, represents a saving of €140,000 – or 53 per cent – from situating its European office in Dublin rather than London.

In actual fact, though, Twitter will probably save much more than that, if they’re clever enough to deploy tactics which exploit tax loopholes all over the globe.

It was revealed last year that accounting practices known as a Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich – owing to similarly favourable tax conditions in the Netherlands – helped Google to reduce its tax bill by €2.2bn.

The 12 per cent Irish corporation tax rate which has contributed to the relocation of so many big companies to these shores has raised the heckles of the likes of France and Germany, who are adamant that Ireland should agree to a more uniform Europe-wide tax rate as a payback for the bailout provided by the (financial terrorists) good folk at the EU, ECB and IMF.”

and the point is that you need to have ALL your ” ducks in a row ” if you are going to win the ” which country am I going to base my European Headquarters in ” game.

If London wants to win in this game it had better put the sort of effort behind it that won the Olympics for 2012.

The Irish brand and the ” Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich “ is going prove difficult to beat !!!

btw The Celtic Tiger awakening is not just about Internet companies the same is going on in the movie industry and healthcare sectors

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0923/1224304573989.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8049212/The-hi-tech-miracle-rescuing-Ireland-from-a-banking-crisis.html

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