A few months back I took up a challenge known as NikkiP 30 Day Blogging Challenge over at Ethnic Supplies blog I took longer than the 30 days the challenge was supposed to last. But I did finish and this post is all about what I learned from the experience.

The challenge was interesting, fun and a great way to learn about blogging as well as being disciplined.

What I learned from the challenge

1. how to use and apply key words in a post
2. constructing a killer headline
3. where to look for inspiration- things to blog about
4. using social media to promote posts
5. how to write posts for the benefit of the readers
6. and how to use tags in a post

I found the 30 day blogging challenge an easy way to grow my blog and it meant I often didn’t have an excuse not post something.

I am now psyching myself for the next change which is the 30 day facebook challenge

You too can take part in these challenges by signing up at http://www.30daychallenges.nikkipilkington.com/

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Spring is here and one of the things that most of us do at this time of the year is spring clean. So armed with with a feather a duster I set about dusting down my book shelf.

This exercise revealed that I have two copies of a book called  HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE by Dale Carnegie. One of the books had an old BA boarding pass for a flight from Stockholm in 2007! I used it to bookmark a page.

I decided to forget the dusting and reading that page again and before I knew I had read the whole chapter. The gist of it is that we are all interested in what interests us and if you want to arouse one’s interest you have to talk to them in terms of their interest.

Having read this chapter I put the book back , continued dusting and rearranging the books and when I was done I logged into my account over at Ecademy to catch up with what was going on. My in box had the greatest surprise of all.

It contained two messages and I nearly fell off the chair whilst reading one of them. It was from someone that I regularly communicate with on line and is familiar with my work over at Ethnic Supplies . Here is what it said word for word

How are things in China? Do you know anyone who produces reasonably quality solar panel components for shipping? A colleague of mine is looking at a large infrastructure project to provide power to homes and schools in rural areas in third world countries. As well as obtaining help with sourcing the components, we would need help with checking any cargo before it is shipped in respect of quality and other risks. I should add that this is at the germ of an idea stage, so please do not invest too much of your time for the moment. Sometimes these projects do not get past the funding stages in which case we would struggle to reimburse any costs.

I sat back and said out loud WOW! Suddenly the chapter I had just read in Dale Carnegie’s  made a whole lot of sense.  Although this is someone that I already know he gave me no reason at all to be interested in his business venture because, let alone help him even if I could

• dispensed with the  usual pleasantries or hello, how are you!
• As someone that knows me and I have spoken to a few times he is aware that I work in Africa, why was he asking me about China?
• why did he assume that I know about solar power components
• but this is the sentence that left me dumb founded I should add that this is at the germ of an idea stage, so please do not invest too much of your time for the moment.

He left me feeling  WHAT DOES ALL THIS GOT TO DO WITH ME? Does that sound familiar?

If you were advising this person to rewrite his email so that he didn’t leave the reader asking what it’s all got to do with them, what would that look like?

I would be interested in your views on this.

This is a question that is usually asked at the end of a formal meeting. This question is useful at the end of meetings to draw out anything that may have been left off the agenda in the first place.

But my  good friend Jackie Groundsell over at the 12:30 The Women’s company has adopted this as the tag line for this year’s annual conference.  I have been thinking about this tag line in relation to women’s networks.

As I pondered this I did wonder whether women are better at networking and if so why? I can’t provide you with a logical answer to this question but I believe that women are fabulous  at networking and I have been at the receiving end of  this .

I had a problem recently when a parcel I needed for a meeting with John Lewis was stuck at Stansted Airport. You guessed it I put out a private message to my fellow bloggers over at Birds on the Blog and before I knew it my parcel had arrived and I made the meeting. What was interesting about this was,  I tagged my question on a thread that was to do with the Birds on the Blog, but ladies took up my “Any other Business” question and dealt with it. I also felt confident to ask this question in such an environment and did not feel that I would be ticked off sidetracking the discussion.

Something else that has been on my mind; the notion of connectedness and I wrote about this a little while ago. The idea of not having to look for work if you are well connected may seem far fetched but Jackie and I tested this out since my post.

Here is what I happened. Whilst I was in Rwanda last December Jackie sent me an email introducing me to Julia a jewellery designer.

When I got back Julia and I exchanged a few emails and phone calls. I discovered that Julia had previously  lived in Ireland where she specialized in Ethnic jewellery but her suppliers had dropped off the face of the  earth  so to so say, leaving her high and dry. She was keen to restart her business here  in the UK and through  a quick conversation with Jackie she learned that Jackie knew someone that might help her and that someone is Me. I gained a new customer and Julia’s problem with suppliers was resolved. That dear readers is the value of being well connected!

So if you are  looking to kick start your networking this year don’t the  Any other Business event on 16 March 2010

Aren’t those the reserve of the great and good.. Super stars, Barrack Obama and such like??

I can’t remember when or how, but I stumbled across this website and I learned that even I could have a fan page. I downloaded their free book and read it cover to cover in under 20 minutes, and hour later I had set up a fan page for Ethnic Supplies Ltd!

I invited a few friends/contacts to join and some did. I then asked myself a question that some of you reading this may be  asking themselves. How do I keep my fans interested so they stay and how do I get new fans?

Enter Nikki Pilkington with a blog on 10 things to post on a fan page, I don’t kid you when I tell you what a God sent this list of things was. I followed this list religiously and the fans grew from 72 to 274 today.

I have found having a fan page useful for another reason, I have not gotten round to putting together a newsletter for those folk interested in my work. I have therefore used the fan page to bring them up to date with what is happening at Ethnic Supplies. I do like the idea as fans can join or leave as they see  fit. In addition the fan page allows  for a two way   interaction between the readers and I on anything I have posted and i use this as feedback from the fans.

One thing that I had not counted on when I set up the  fan page was that a Senior producer at BBC Radio 4 and BBC World service would turn to Ethnic supplies Fan page for research for content of a programme about Rwanda.

But that is what happened last week. An email came through and here it is word for word

I’ve noticed from your Facebook pages that you’re in negotiations to do business in Rwanda. I’m travelling to the country in a few weeks to make programmes from BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service and as part of my research would be very interested to hear how you’re getting on. If you’d be interested in having a chat please give me a call or drop me a note.

Well you can guess my reaction to that, and several conversations later and the BBC man has agreed to include the co-op we are working  with in rwanda in his week long programme and also give us a slot to present a UK perspective.

Something else happened too, we were struggling to get infront of buyers with our wares but when my colleague mentioned that our artisans are due to be part of a BBC documentary, the  doors started to open, quite literary!

So have you got a fan page or do you think it is a waste of time? If you don’t know how to set one up Nikki Pilkington and her team offer such a service and in fact they will maintain it for you, if you are too busy to do it yourself and here is how you can contact them http://www.nikkipilkington.com/contact-us

As usual I would be interested in your views on anything raised here

I don’t know when or how I got into Twitter but frankly it doesn’t matter. However what does is the ability to connect with others that Twitter provides. I have no doubt folk will debate the inns and out of Twitter for some time to come of as we say in Africa until the cows come home but I would urge you not to dismiss it.

My Twitter story starts with a post sent by Ed whose Twitter handle is chiefmoamba . Ed posted a Tweet in which he mentioned an Africa gathering in London.

This is someone I didn’t know nor he and I can’t even remember how he became my “Follower” nor me his. He politely answered my questions one of which was how could I get hold of tickets to the event in London.

He informed me that the tickets were sold out and asked if I would mind leading on one the seminars! Phew! all of this in just a few minutes of exchanging what is technically text messages!

Having reviewed the details I asked him what on earth I would talk about as the whole gathering appeared to be about ICT. Well those who know me will not be surprised by this.
He suggested that I could talk about my work at Ethnic Supplies

That is easy enough I thought, so I agreed to join them. Here is how the actual day went. I sincerely had no idea how much I relied on ICT in the running of Ethnic Supplies.

What happened next following my appearance at the Africa Gathering knocked me for six. An email arrived in my in box, I along with the other speakers at that event were invited to submit a paper for a conference on Ethics, Roles and Relationships in Interaction Design in Develop and given a deadline of May 10 2009.

I had the usual doubts, will I come up with a good enough paper to submit and even if I do, will it be good enough to be selected etc..

One thing was certain if I didn’t submit a paper I will never know what the outcome would have been or would be. I therefore sat down and wrote a paper and sent it off and waited for the results that were promised on 24 May.

And right on time the results were in on 24 May my paper had been accepted and this is what they said

Reviewer 1
Accept. This author, who is not a part of the traditional ‘community’ of HCI4D, brings similar insights about listening to people impacted by development is critical to success. I think that her perspective would be very interesting – that we could learn from her experiences and vice versa. I also think that there is a potential for interesting collaboration as well. Although she does not explicitly mention ethical issues, they are implicit in what she has written.

Reviewer 2
Accepted, The author has clearly has done some serious thinking about the relevant work. I agree that we can learn by engaging with this person.

I could not believe my eyes and was glad that I had taken the time to submit the paper. I started to reflect on the power on Twitter as well as that following leads through

Have you had an usual experience or amazing results as a result of being on Twitter?

Women possess the potential to create an extra 150,000 new companies every year and hold the key to recovery

By Helen Loveless
Last updated at 12:13 PM on 09th March 2009

Today is International Women’s Day, when the economic, political and social achievements of women are celebrated.

Yet many still face barriers preventing them from setting up in business, even though entrepreneurs are widely seen as the driving force behind any economic recovery. Experts are keen to encourage women to take a more active entrepreneurial role to help the UK out of recession.

Female entrepreneurs contribute an estimated £130billion a year to the UK economy, yet figures show that if as many women as men launched businesses there would be an extra 150,000 start-up firms every year.

In the bag: Ida Horner says women are good networkers

Glenda Stone is co-chairwoman of the Women’s Enterprise Task Force, which was set up by Gordon Brown to increase the number of successful, female-run businesses. She believes lack of confidence is a key factor deterring many women.

‘The majority of women-owned firms are micro-businesses and this is partly because many women don’t have the confidence or knowledge about where to go for finance, or how to take their business to the next level,’ she says. ‘Women’s enterprise is vital in helping the economy to move forward.’

The natural caution of many businesswomen may also be holding them back, says Stone. ‘Women often achieve more than men with less money because they are less inclined to borrow,’ she says. ‘However, this can lead to them not being properly resourced, which can hold them back.’

But one area where women shine is social enterprise. According to the Social Enterprise Coalition, while men are twice as likely as women to set up a ‘ conventional’ business, women are more likely to launch a social enterprise.

Uganda-born Ida Horner started Ethnic Supplies, a social enterprise specialising in handicrafts, textiles and arts and crafts from east Africa, in 2007.

Ida, 43, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, had been a housing manager for a London borough, but after visiting Uganda and witnessing the extreme poverty there, she decided to set up her business. Ida imports Fairtrade textiles from Madagascar and baskets and jewellery from east African states including Uganda and Kenya.

‘A key motivation for starting my business was to support women in east Africa and enable them to work,’ she says.

So far Ida has financed the business through the equity in her home and from savings. She has also received help from advice service Business Link. Family and friends help out, too.

‘Women are good at networking and mentoring, and having access to this has helped me to see where I can develop,’ she says.

To contact Business Link, go to businesslink.gov.uk. Women can also approach Addidi Business Angels, which invests in SMEs run by women (addidi.com).

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