The Virtual Team

The move is indicative of a move towards a more tailored, skills-centric approach to communications. In the last six months, myself and my freelance / virtual colleagues have spoken to a number of large organisations looking to rationalise their approach and choose support from companies and individuals with the right skills, rather than settle for the team that their agencies provide.

For many organisations this might be a step too far – many still prefer the ‘safety’ of a traditional agency set-up but,  for an increasing number, it’s more important to ensure that the team is right and fit for purpose. In Paratus’ case, they have provided Vodafone with a team that perfectly fits its needs and won the business as a result.

This is good news for a growing number of ‘virtual agencies’ both old and new and the growing number of, what I call, IVANs (International Virtual Agency Networks). It’s also good news for freelancers who have something to offer big corporate accounts but have, until now, perhaps not been considered. There’s such a wealth of quality support and experience out there that there’s no longer any reason for pitch teams not to involve external parties – especially if the skills fit the brief.

M2M in the field

I agree that the market sits at a tipping point of sorts. M2M / Internet of Things, or data connectivity and analysis at its simplest, isn’t a new idea. Two of the companies sitting on the panel – Wireless Logic and Arkessa – have been designing, implementing and mangaging B2B M2M projects for 10 and eight years, respectively, Wireless Logic focusing on mobile data connectivity, Arkessa focusing more on Fixed Line. But what is new is the idea that embedded data connnectivity solutions have a use outside of sector applications and have a role to play in consumerland.

I can see it but I think it’ll be a while before we’ll start seeing our home appliances chatting to eachother. The final discussion around privacy and data protection identified a key concern for companies looking to extract data from consumer M2M implementations which needs to be worked through – as well as the thorny discussion around standards – that one could run and run.

This also doesn’t mean that there isn’t serious money already being made in M2M. Companies like Wireless Logic, in harmonious partnership with the four major networks, are forging ahead in the development of interesting and innovative applications, designed with a particular need in mind. Companies like Tunstall are pioneering the use of Fixed IP SIM cards in patient monitoring, online fast food outlets such as Just Eat are using Fixed IP SIMs to cut out the need for unreliable fax-printers and companies like Konica Minolta are saving thousands being able to remotely diagnose printing problems and remotely re-order consumables.

I also think that some of the tried and tested business models / management platforms / provisioning / SIM estate management and analysis tools already being used in industry provide useful benchmarks against what can be acheived. There are now ways for companies to create their own private networks, alongside the MNOs in a fully managed and guaranteed environment. I can’t help thinking that the inspiration for the growth of the maket already exists amongst the collective experience of those that are already doing good business in M2M.

If you need any evidence of the size and scale of the M2M opportunity, this is a good starting point.

If you read the article yourself, you will have noticed that David set out a number of promises, including a pledge to strike out the the criminal records of men convicted for ‘homosexuality offences’.

Today, Cameron and the Tory party issued their election manifesto and, surprise, surprise, only one of the election promises made to Pink News readers was honoured.

Take a look for yourself at the latest article posted by Pink News today. Yes, you’ve guessed it, the promise to strike the previously mentioned erroneous convictions, and a number of other pledges, were nowhere to be seen.

CamSham

This manifesto has clearly set out the further marginalisation of the community. How can you expect to be respected as a contender for the top job when you can’t even honour the promises you clearly make? It wouldn’t matter if it were any other community in society – to marginalise one is to set out a policy of overall marginalisation. You can’t be fully inclusive if you exclude one group.

It’s a massive and obvious hole which, if people take human rights seriously, should mean that overall Tory policy on inclusion and equal rights is called into question.

The worrying part is that young voters are seeing the bright, shiny lights of the Tory collective as new and fresh, and are pledging votes based on a small minority of young and thrusting Cabinet MPs that simply don’t represent the real picture within the constituencies.

Potential Tory voters should take a look at their local constituency MPs to get a really clear view as to what’s on offer. As always, the Tories will hope they will win the vote at ‘national policy’ level but, what nobody realises is, that won’t matter a fig if you’ve got some 60 year old dyed-in-the-wool, shotgun toting, braying ‘Captain’ ‘working’ for you at a local level.

I can’t see Sir Farqhuar or St-John Smythe wanting to open the doors to the surgery to a queue of disaffected gay constituents. Well, can you?

Stephen Fry

A few months ago, when I left my job, rather than finding myself with acres of time to Tweet, I spent most of my days looking for work and building my business.  What had become a daily and constant ritual was relegated to the ‘nice to have’ section of the priority list; once the need to apply myself in the hunt for work really kicked in.  At the end of the first month, I had spent (according to the stats) 60% less time Tweeting than the previous month and around 80% less than the month before.

Naturally, I lost a few followers – understandable really – why would you follow someone who never says anything?  But more interesting is how the level of interaction that I previously had with some Tweeps had changed once I started engaging properly again – and how that made me feel.  Whereas when I was most active and, possibly, a bit more interesting (redundancy can stifle your enthusiasm for most things!), my discussion and interaction was richer.  Once other priorities got in the way, I Tweeted less and, as a result, have lost some of those closer connections that I once had.

I could take it personally, and the thing with Twitter is that you do get out what you put in, but it’s important to remember that  it really isn’t easy to remain effervescent, 7 days a week, especially when life gets in the way.  I think the secret is to make every Tweet count, not to Tweet inanely (god, I am so guilty of that), and to maintain contact with your followers as often as possible and hope they remain interested.

If they don’t, and perhaps this is the point, that’s fine!  My contribution to Twitter is as much, if not more, about me learning from others as it is about others listening to what I have to say.  As my life and its challenges change, so my interaction with Twitter will change and, doubtless my interests and, therefore, followers.

Rather than feeling upset every time I lose a follower, or perhaps am not quite as interesting as I should be, I think I’ll accept that for what it is.  Life’s too short.

It’s hard enough winning business at the moment without the added stress of never being sure when you’re going to get paid.  Most companies have been understanding but some, especially big national organisations, have onerous processes to adhere to and still, despite the issues of the last 12 months, prefer to use Royal Mail than process payments in an alternative way.

Try an alternative postal service

I don’t have the answers but the damage that the postal strike must be having on businesses all over the country must be significant.  I wonder how many of you are in the same boat and whether you have any tips for those of us in the same position?

My view?  Here are a few things I am doing to try and ease the pain:

- Organise e-payments where possible with all your clients / creditors

- Build a ‘just in case’ contingency into your contracts so that you will always receive payment, even if the Mail chooses to strike further

- Encourage the companies that you interact with to look at alternative methods of dispatch – Hermes has been offering some particularly competitive deals on parcel delivery and so it’s worth looking at alternatives

- As a freelancer, the 30-day payment terms enforced by many companies can feel unmanageable – especially when you can’t always guarantee that they’ll arrive on time – negotiate a better payment term.  I usually try for 7 – 14 working days at completion

- Never be afraid to ask to be paid in person, by cheque.  If you anticipate industrial action, ask that you be paid by cheque and that you receive it in person, to avoid delay.

Tune-free zone

I have spoken to a few people, mainly by accosting people on the street, who tell the same story.  There are others that claim the service is tough to use and increases in price the more you use it.  I don’t know how representative those views are but the figures speak for themselves.  A recent article claims that, although Nokia says it sold 3 million units by end April, only 32,728 had used the service in the UK by the end of July.

It strikes me that a great many of the millions of us that bought a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic or Nokia N96 may have fallen the victim to the ‘ad campaign’ loophole.  The public new about Comes With Music a long while before the ad campaign started, in fact many of us had been waiting impatiently after Mobile World Congress.

The XpressMusic phone was sold on the basis of Comes With Music, regardless of when the marketing campaign began – removing this privilege negates the reason for buying it in the first place.  Or am I being naive?

I’d be very interested to know how many others have been affected in this way!

I’m forever enthusing about other people’s blogs and, some would argue, have plenty to say for myself.  This is a place for me to share some of the stuff I find interesting, both techy and not, and that I hope you find interesting, too.  I look forward to reading your comments!

What makes Fierce different?  Well, I offer simple but effective, results-driven consultancy and flexibility where many bigger agencies sometimes make things..well…more complicated.  I believe that a company’s requirements change all the time and so I offer a flexible service, based on individual need, at a time that suits my clients.

I offer a range of services designed to help companies and agencies of all shapes and sizes – everything from press release writing to advice on winning new business.  There’s more information about my experience over on the ‘about me’ page and, if you’d rather know what other people think about me then click here.

Thanks for visiting!

Caroline.