I love living in Edinburgh

The authorities in Edinburgh are very thoughtful towards woofers like me... You see, there are some really dirty pools, mostly stagnant, and streams running through Holyrood Park and I usually find me way into them when I'm taking me humans for a walk of a Saturday morning. But it don't matter becaue some thoughtful fella has built some very nice and very clean doggy baths and stuck them right outside that parliament building. I think it's a bit strange that me human Richard, when he takes a crafty look left and right and slips me collar off, shouts at the top of his voice 'no, no Barney, don't jump in the water' and then pushes me in the direction of the pool. Last week I even had an audience, so I took one look and a huge run up, leaping in as far as I could go. I got a cheer. (You're not the only one, Pudsey!) It was a bit perplexing when I came out and saw, out of the corner of me eye, a police officer walking slowly over shaking his head. I mean, the pools are clearly there for my use. I wasn't disturbing anyone and they weren't crowded. After all, there was no-one else is them. Maybe the rozzer thought that I shouldn't have been in the pool although I find that hard to believe. I suppose I could have taken the time to find out what the pools were actually for before me natural exuberance took over. We once had a fella come into our shop asking us if we could stuff his dead cat. He was most put out when we pointed we were 'TaxAssist' not 'taxidermists'. See what I mean? It's easy to make a mistake about what a business is for. Ah well, what a muppet. It's kind of the same in business. Sometimes you assume one thing but actually it's something else. It's always worth thinking things all the way through to try and work out all the potential consequences. Take the trams (and I know the the next line is: someone please take the trams), I thinks there's a marvellous opportunity for me if things don't work out as planned... I would be more than happy to use the overhead lines as a kind of doggy zip wire. Just imagine it... Me in a basket suspended above all the hustle and bustle being zipped along without effort. I like that bit the best.

Britain's Got Talent

So that little prima dona Pudsey has reached the finals of BGT!

Okay, okay... he's cute, he's talented, he's smart.  But I ask you: what's he got that I haven't got?

You can't answer that, can you?

Apart from the fact he's just slightly cuter, just a smidgeon more talented and a tiny little bit smarter.

Anyway, I was watching the box last night and having a right laugh at the furry eejit when I suddenly thought that the Queen, God bless her, would probably really love to see Pudsey in her show.  Then I thought that perhaps the Queen has downloaded the Britain's Got Talent i-phone app and has been voting away.

If that's the case, do you think her vote has a weighting... 'Oh, the Queen's voted, so that's an extra thousand points'?

No?

You're probably right.

Anyway, this got me thinking about social media and what a powerful weapon it actually is.

Me human, Richard, has been poking around the social media sites recently, putting out tweets, blogs and Facebook messages... just one a day... and people are picking up on it straight away.

Which is amazing, really.  After all, it's Richard so he doesn't talk about dogs much and who's gonna wanna talk about that?

This recent focus on social media came about when his account was attacked by a rogue app: (like I know what that means) it seemed to his followers as though he'd sent out messages that said things like:

'People are saying bad things about you'

and

'I laughed my head off at this picture of you'

Needless to say he didn't send these things, but people obviously read them because a whole load of people got in touch.  So, social media does reach people, it's just that you've got to say interesting things to get their attention.

It doesn't always work, but you just might hit on the subject that everyone has an opinion about.

I think I'm going to have to switch my allegiance from Jonathan and Charlotte to Pudsey, but only because I think he might win and I don't want anyone to accuse me of having sour grapes.

Me Human's a Winner

Despite all I've said over the passed few weeks it seems me human, Renee, isn't quite as mad as I thought.

No, she isn't quite as mad and she's an award winner.

Apparently she is the Most Successful Start Up business in the TaxAssist Accountants network.

Brilliant!

But how has she done it?

Well, apart from failing to take me for longer and longer walks, preferring to spend her time in the office I overheard me other human, Richard, explaining what it is that she does.

First of all, apparently, she has a system and sticks to it.  So, for example, when it's time for a set of accounts to be signed off by one of her clients, the easiest thing to do would be to send 'em out with a little label on them saying 'Sign Here'.

But she doesn't do that.  She talks accounts through with everyone, making sure they understand what's been going on, what the numbers mean and what they could do differently next year to get even better results.

Secondly, she has built a great team around her... not by accident but by developing, encouraging, sometimes having difficult conversations but always making sure they know why they're doing what they're doing.

Finally, marketing has been key... but networking has been the foundation of the marketing.

Renee is the queen of networking.  Like the other Thursday...  BNI at 6.45, followed by lunch with No Ties followed by The Networks between 6.30 and about 10.00 in the evening.  That's because networking is about being there, being seen and always thinking about what you can bring to the group... rather than thinking what the group can do for you.

Do the one thing and you'll get results.

Oh... and, of course, there's one thing that's more important than any of the others... ME!

Without me lying around and looking cute, none of this would have been possible.

So, there you are.

If you want to be successful in business you have to get a ME!