KNEWSTART REPORT

Building Influence. Growing a Following. Developing Business on Twitter

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Creating Influence. Growing a Following. Developing Business in Twitter

Welcome entrepreneur and thank you for downloading my e-book on Twitter. My aim is to make this

easy for you. So often people come to me confused and overwhelmed with Twitter. This is

unfortunate as it’s an easy platform. It’s also incredibly powerful for networking, developing

relationships and increasing business.

So, what you’re going to get from this e-book is information on how to increase your online

presence, followers and business through Twitter.

A word of warning first: Identifying your target buyer from the outset is a critical first step to your

success on Twitter; so you must set aside time to include it in your marketing plan. If you don’t,

you’ll just end up spending hours on Twitter with the hope of attracting the “right” customer, client

and opportunity. When you identify your ideal buyer right at the start and really clarify your market

and message you’ll get much better results with less effort.

Now, before we get started, I just want to stress that this e-book is meant for those who’s fairly new

to social media. The content contained includes step-by-step instructions on how to get started. The

aim of it is literally to get you started and to help you banish the overwhelm. It doesn’t contain

advanced strategies as these are available through my training and consulting programmes.

Instead, you’ll get sound strategies that are tried and tested AND work.

Introduction

Twitter in a nutshell is a simple social networking website that lets you share information with your

friends, business prospects and partners to let them know what you’re doing – right now.

Created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass, the service rapidly

gained worldwide popularity, with over As of July 2014, Twitter has more than 500 million users, out

of which more than 271 million are active users. Since its launch, Twitter has become one of the top

10 most visited websites on the Internet, and has been described as "the SMS of the Internet.

Unregistered users can read tweets, while registered users can post tweets through the website

interface, SMS, or a range of apps for mobile devices. Unlike many other social networks you don’t

have to know the people you are connecting with. Like Facebook Pages, and YouTube you can

have multiple accounts/businesses.

Twitter works around a timeline, which is displayed on a single page that’s updated every second of

every minute of every hour. It’s a constantly updated stream of news from people all around the

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world. As a member, you can add your own little message to the timeline - up to 140 characters

long. This is known as a tweet. By tweeting you’re not going to be able to see every user’s tweets.

You can choose whom you want to ‘follow,’ and others can choose to ‘follow’ you. And, it’s these

followers whom you can communicate (tweet) with. You might be thinking “wow, big deal” but there

is massive potential in this mini social networking site to meet other like-minded people, share info

and increase your rankings. These factors mixed with the ability to grow your followers make it a

perfect platform for business.

You can also use Twitter to....

• Send direct messages (DMs) to users instead of broadcasting to everyone

• Send and receive tweets via SMS and email from your cellphone/mobile phone

• Search topics – find out what others users are posting about certain topics and trends

• Develop some great applications through Twitter’s API

Twitter has taken the world by storm and there’s such great potential for you to increase your

business profile and sales. So, if you’re not a member yet, sign up for a free Twitter account at

https://www.twitter.com.

Why is it important for your business?

1. Reputation management

A Twitter campaign against a brand or business is far from unusual. Disgruntled customers or

former employees can criticize a company through it. Instead of ignoring the complaints, or trying to

take down negative comments, you can use Twitter to put your side of the argument, to address

customer concerns and to ask customers and people who do rate you to share their positive

comments. If you have made a mistake then admit it, but do stay cool and don’t get involved in a

Twitter catfight.

2. Recruitment

I know so many recruitment consultants and businesses that recruit very effectively through Twitter

so make the most of it.

3. High page ranks and increased traffic to your website

Having a Twitter account for your business can increase your online visibility. A Twitter profile is

public so any links you put into it back to your website or blog are known as ‘dofollow’ and will be

picked up by search engines. By updating your page regularly with links back to your site you

should move up the rankings.

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4. Event promotion and engagement with delegates

Twitter enables you to broadcast your event, post reminders and carry on discussions with

delegates. You can see who is going to attend your event and those who are maybes. With so

many young professionals using the social network, Twitter can be an excellent way of promoting

an event to would-be delegates.

5. Networking and build relationships

Twitter is probably the most social of all the social networks and you can quickly and easily build

valuable business relationships.

6. Reaching key influencers

Twitter can help you get in front of experts and those with influence in your sector. It can also get

you connected and visible to journalists; in newspapers, magazines, on TV, radio, and even

mentions by prominent sites, such as government agencies. And remember when you’re

associated with these people your influence increases. Your market will trust you more as you’ll be

viewed as being in with the ‘in crowd.’

Learning the Basics

Hashtag or #

One of the most complex features of Twitter for new users is to understand the hashtag, Twitter

hashtags like #janefrankland help spread information on Twitter while also helping to organize it.

The hashtag is a favourite tool of conferences and event organizers, but it’s also a way for Twitter

users to organize themselves.

Although not terribly complicated, hashtags have some unwritten rules.

The primary one to remember is don’t overuse them. If every one of your tweets is a hashtag, you

dilute the usefulness of them by fragmenting the conversation. In addition, many people will shy

away from you because you’ll come across as unprofessional and spammy. Instead, if you’re

looking to create a hashtag, be sure that it adds value for yourself and your followers. The best way

to utilize them is when you need to organize information. Conferences, major events, and even

reminders (i.e. #todo) can help organize specific tweets and make life easier on you and your

followers.

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Retweet or RT

Retweeting is an integral part of the Twitter experience. The retweet (or “RT”) allows Twitter users

to share the best links, tweets, and gems they find from others using the service. Retweeting is how

Twitter users share interesting tweets from the people they are following. They copy and paste the

original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the

originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet.

Reply or @

If you see an @ (that isn’t part of an email address) on Twitter, it is typically followed by someone’s

screen name. It’s a way to hold a public conversation with that person.

Direct Messages or DM

DM stands for direct message. It’s a way to hold a private conversation with another Twitter user,

but you can only DM people who are already following you.

Overhead or OH

Overheard – usually this is something funny or profound that someone overheard while going about

their daily tasks.

Follow Friday or #FF

Usually written with a hashtag, (#FF), this stands for Follow Friday. Every Friday, users recommend

other people to follow to spread the Twitter love.

Twitter Chat

A Twitter chat happens when several people get on Twitter at once to share ideas with one another.

They do this by using a specific hashtag. For example, every Sunday, bloggers participate in

#blogchat.

Lists

Once you start following lots of people, you can put them in different lists to keep them more

organized. People can also add you to their lists to keep their own streams organized. Lists can be

public or private.

Favourite

If you want to save a Tweet for later, you can favourite it. This is being used more and more.

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Building a list of followers

Here we’ll be discussing how you can start building a large network of ‘followers’ i.e. friends, clients,

associates, and customers. Many new users of Twitter are constantly asking how they can use the

site more effectively for their business and since the site has grown into an Internet mega monster

that’s globally known and talked about, they’re right to ask. The fact is Twitter is a fantastic tool for

your business.

Internet relationships are very different from actual personal relationships. They’re based primarily

on like, know, and trust. Many people and businesses are reaching out to others through social

network websites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and many others.

If you’re new to Twitter you may not realize that you can create your personal or business brand

and virtually dominate your market, simply by building a list of followers.

Setting up your profile

Once you've set up your Twitter account you’ll want to work on setting up your profile. Twitter lets

you easily customize the look and feel of your profile page. You’ll want to pay close attention to your

one line bio.

Bio line

Besides your profile photos and tweets, this is what people will read first. They’ll judge what type of

person you are before they decide whether or not they want to follow you. You’ll only have 160

characters to describe who you are and what you do, so you need to make it good.

Photo

It’s essential that you use a real photo of you rather than your company logo or the egg that Twitter

gives you. I recommend you use a real photo because people connect with real people and trust a

user with a face. A user profile that has a business logo just screams sales and is a turn off for most

people. Also, and this is in my opinion a major deal breaker, invest in a professional photo. I know

that people connect and follow based on a photo that connects with them. So ask yourself, does

your photo represent your brand? Do you look like a professional i.e. someone your fans would

want to do business or interact with?

It’s so important to make sure that your photo is right for your target audience. Look at the example

below. Jimmy, who’s being photographed, looks suitable for a corporate market on the left. He also

looks suitable for the music business on the right. However, if he posted his right profile and was

hoping to develop business within a corporate market he might find it hard going.

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Background

You also have the option to upload a customized Twitter background to your profile. This is

something you’ll want to utilize ASAP, as this is a massive benefit and way to get free exposure for

you or your company.

There are lots of free Twitter backgrounds that you can download and edit, but I’d recommend

branding your own. If you’re not a professional, invest in a designer or at least check out

Picmonkey, http://picmonkey.com. Again it creates a much more professional image and

encourages business transactions.

Get followers

The next thing you’ll want to do after your profile is set up is to get ‘followers’. If you have business

contacts or an email list that’s already using Twitter, invite them to follow you.

Put your Twitter url in your emails, on your websites and blogs and ask people to follow you.

Consider putting your Twitter url on your business cards too, so that you can gather followers from

offline activities as well.

Don't be shy. Tell everyone you meet about your Twitter page. Make it sound exciting and let them

know that you’ll be sharing important updates, great tips and information with them if they follow

you. You may be surprised to find out that almost everyone will click the follow button just to see

what you're up too.

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Another thing that I feel that is important is to seek out and follow your competitors and the experts

in your niche. This will benefit you in more than one way. It’ll give you a bird’s eye view of what

they’re doing on Twitter, so you can learn how to improve your own results and it will also put you in

front of all the people they’re in contact with. That last part is a bit sneaky but people are curious by

nature, so use this to your advantage. They like to see who’s following who, so often they’ll click on

the links and check out the followers of people they know and follow them as well. By following the

leaders, you’ll naturally end up will new followers. By doing this, you can build your followers very

quickly.

Re-Tweeting

Now let's talk about getting your tweets spread even further and increasing the chance of meeting

even more people by using 're-tweets’. Re-tweeting is a common practice on Twitter where you’ll re-

post someone else’s tweet that you like and you think your followers will like.

With this method, you’ll take the original Twitter message someone else has posted, and

rebroadcast that message to your followers.

To do a re-tweet (RT), simply click the re-tweet button on the Twitter website which will set up the

RT function automatically.

Reasons to Re-Tweet

When broadcasting the message, you should definitely give credit to the original poster. I know at

first it may sound like this will only be good for the original tweeter poster, but re-tweeting can

actually benefit you just as much if not more. Here’s why:

1. It provides more value to your followers

When you provide value to your followers, you make them happy. You’re also more likely to attract

followers. Providing quality content is always a great way to build your business no matter what

platform you use.

2. It will benefit your brand

If you point a reader to a source of good information that is truly relevant and beneficial to them, the

amount of trust that they have in you will increase.

3. It will help you build relationships with the original posters

Re-tweeting someone else’s content is an act of kindness, and for the most part bloggers like to

return the favour. You shouldn't expect someone to re-tweet your content just because you re-tweet

his or hers. Just keep in mind that your chance of being on the other end of a re-tweet increases as

you re-tweet.

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Re-tweeting is all about providing value to your followers so if you want others to re-tweet your post

then you want to make sure that you’re providing them with quality content worth tweeting about.

The bottom line is re-tweeting is a great way to add quality and value to your Twitter platform. If

done right, re-tweeting can help you educate your followers, build your personal brand, increase

future traffic, and connect you to other great people in your niche. Just be careful; if you use it

incorrectly, re-tweeting can actually hurt your personal brand and future traffic. You want to treat

your followers like gold. Don't ever send them to inappropriate websites or spam them with one

sales pitch after another.

Tools to Make it Easier and More Effective

Here we’re going to go over some tools that you can use to make your life on Twitter easier and in

turn better for your overall business development success. There are lots of Twitter tools on the

market but the only ones I recommend are the ones I use – Hootsuite and Buffer as between them

they can do just about anything the others do.

If you’re using multiple social networks then you may find the standard Twitter.com interface quite

inefficient and sometimes very slow moving. That’s why I prefer to use Twitter through Hootsuite –

www.hootsuite.com. Hootsuite is a free downloadable application, although there is a chargeable

upgrade with more functions, that works from your desktop and connects to your Twitter account

and your other social media networks.

The main benefits of Hootsuite are that you can see the main Twitter timeline, the mentions you get

and your direct messages (DM’s) all on the one screen. You can also schedule your tweets, as you

can for all other social media activities i.e LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook.

Just make sure your message doesn’t go over 140 characters. Don’t send them straight to your

website. Instead work on building the relationship in Twitter or send them to your Facebook Page

so you can interact more. Or, go old school and Skype or meet.

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Personally I prefer not sending DMs, but just replying to the follows. I’d recommend always thanking

your followers for following you, working on engaging with them and then asking them to connect

and LIKE your Facebook Page. By doing this, you’ll also show up in their feed, which gets you more

exposure as oppose to just a private message that no one else, aside from the user can see.

Buffer, www.bufferapp.com, makes your life easier with a smarter way to schedule the great content

you find. Fill up your Buffer at one time in the day and Buffer automatically posts them for you

through the day. Simply keep that Buffer topped up to have a consistent social media presence all

day round, all week long. You can use Buffer through your website to post old blogs, through

Twitter and also Facebook. It’s so simple and really useful.

Sharing pictures and product images is now possible with Twitter by using their own service. Once

again I’d encourage you to post as much visual content as you can. We think in pictures and are

stimulated by them. They evoke emotion and can often tell a story better than words. And whatever

sector you’re in I can guarantee that your market is hungry for visual content.

Wordpress plugins

If you’re using Wordpress for your blog and don’t have a Twitter feed with it, there are quite a few

tools that you can use to automate your Twitter activities from inside your dashboard, for example:

Clicktotweet, www.clicktotweet.com - creates a custom link, which is easy to share. Literally you

simply write the message you want to share in the box, click the “Generate” button to create a

custom link and then share the link. Whoever clicks on the link will have the message automatically

added to their Twitter status box, and then they simply click to tweet! ClickToTweet can rightly be

called the easiest Twitter application to include a Retweet text in a link. I use it on my website see

the grey box with the red writing. You can add a traceable link e.g. through bit.ly so you can analyze

the results.

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Tweetily, by Flavio Martins (https://wordpress.org/plugins/tweetily-tweet-wordpress-posts-

automatically/), will randomly select a post or page and tweet it automatically to drive traffic to your

site. You set the time; number of tweets, and the type of content to share and Tweetily will do the

rest.

Promoting and sharing your old content to your audience has never been easier. Just set it and let

Tweetily do the rest. If you blog regularly it’s a godsend.

Tracking, Monitoring and Measuring

There are two tools I recommend for tracking and monitoring, aside from your Google Analytics.

The first is Cyfe is a great tool for tracking your online activities. It’s really simple. It has an all-in-

one dashboard software that helps you monitor and analyze data scattered across all your online

services, like Google Analytics, Salesforce, AdSense, Mailchimp, Facebook, WordPress and more

from one single location in real-time.

The second is SumAll, https://sumall.com. Gain Facebook and Twitter insights with all your pages

and accounts. You can connect to as many platforms as you want to access and it has the best

social media- reporting tool on the planet.

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Turning Twitter Followers into Customers

Here we’re going to look at how you can gather new customers with Twitter. I have some great tips

that will help you increase your chances of converting your regular Twitter followers into lifelong

customers.

Research your market

Let's look at how you can use Twitter to conduct your market research. Every business has a target

market, but the simple fact is that many business owners often miss the mark because they don’t

know the true needs of their market. By using Twitter, you can easily listen to the needs of your

prospects, the issues they’re currently facing and the kind of help that they want.

Whenever you meet someone new on Twitter it's a good idea to try to establish a good relationship

from the start. Think like your customer. You buy from people who you trust and like. Your target

market also behaves the same way. It’s important, especially in social marketing that you get to

know your clients and do your best to win their trust and confidence.

A good rule of thumb is to try and keep 90% of your tweets full of helpful content and try to limit your

promotional ones. By doing so, you can attract more followers and customers.

Share your expertise

In order to show off your expertise on Twitter you will want to post quality content on your blogs,

website and other sites, like the article directory EzineArticles.com. Then share them with your

followers. Remember too, you can share from Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ and

Instagram.

As we talked about in the last section, there are many tools that work with Twitter that will

automatically check the blogs you’ve posted and share them instantly on your page. Use Buffer or

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the Tweetily wordpress plugin to continue sharing former posts. But, remember to spread this out if

you do. Once a day is good. I’ve seen people (including social media experts) spam with 10 per

minute every hour and it’s annoying. Offering educational materials, seminars, video training and

networking events will also go a long way when you are trying to convert your followers into paying

customers.

There are so many different techniques that you can use to help the transition from follower to

customer by using Twitter. Just remember to keep the value of your content high and the volume of

your promotions low and you will begin to see more of your followers clicking on your promo links

and turning into customers.

Maximizing your Twitter Traffic

As someone who’s doing business online one of your main promotional goals should be to

dominate the social networks and Twitter is the easiest platform to get to grips with first. Simply by

attracting followers and making friends you can quickly build up a list of valuable leads and

prospects.

Did you know that Twitter is considered to be one of the most effective and impressive ways to

increase traffic? Gone are the days when most people were using it to simply send tweets to one

another and keep in contact with friends and family. Twitter, when used for business can drive a

serious amount of traffic to your website or Facebook page if you know how. Just imagine, with the

increased traffic to your website, you can gain more subscribers, leads and convert them into

paying customers which all leads to increased income.

Let the world know you’re on Twitter

As we talked about earlier, you need to spread the news that you’re on Twitter. You’ll want to

include your Twitter url in your email messages, post blogs and on your websites. That way,

everyone will know that you’re using Twitter.

Tweet good content often – daily not weekly

Believe it or not regularly updating your tweets will help you drive more traffic to your site. Avid

Twitter users like people who post tweets regularly. If you want to gain active followers through your

tweets you will want to set up a schedule for posting and do your best to stick to it.

You’ll also want to make sure that you reply to the tweets addressed to you. I don't recommend that

you stay on the site all day or spend long hours tweeting away your time. Just pick a good time

once or twice a day and login. As a rule of thumb spend 10 minutes on it, but be consistent. If you

have a mobile device, GREAT because you can sync it up with your Twitter account and you won't

have to worry about being away from your laptop.

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Don't worry if your followers don't become active right away. It may take some time, but they will

begin to notice the times that you are more active and after a while they will join in your

conversations, which is one of your main goals.

Just remember the basic rule we talked about earlier "keep 90% of your tweets full of helpful

content and limit your promotional ones.” This way you will keep the followers that really matter.

While some personal tweets are a must if you want to help your followers get to know you, you’ll

want to avoid sending out too many personal or unrelated tweets because it can actually cause you

to lose followers. After all there aren't too many of your business contacts that will want to hear that

you took a shower or what you had for breakfast, so keep your tweets focused!

By taking the time to build good relationships with your followers, you’ll be laying the groundwork for

converting them into lifetime customers for you business. Establishing a good relationship with your

followers is vital if you want to take advantage of the massive flow of traffic that pours through

Twitter every day.

Here’s a little checklist that you can keep handy:

• Let everyone know that you’re on Twitter

• Send tweets regularly

• Re-tweet good content

• Reply to the tweets addressed to you

• Pay attention to the kind of tweets you’re sending

• Make the tweets personal, but not too personal

• Most of all, build good relationships Using Twitter is fun and easy that is why is has such a

big draw. I'll be honest, not everyone who uses Twitter as a business development tool will

be successful because it takes time, effort, and patience to see effective results. But, if you

follow these steps regularly you should see an increase of activity and conversion. I built

my Twitter following quickly, without automation, without having a blog – just by following

these principals. I know you can too.

Common Mistakes Twitter Users Make

Over the last few sections we've talked about what an exciting, cool, and extremely profitable social

networking platform Twitter is. Although millions of people are using it to connect with each other all

over the world, there are some common mistakes that you’ll want to avoid before you start sending

tweets.

1: Not using your picture as your profile avatar

I'm sure you've seen it. Some users don’t post their real picture. Admittedly, a cartoon picture, or a

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cheaply made company logo is better than no picture at all. But, the best picture you can use if you

want to make a good impression and get people to remember you is a photo of your face. When

you post your own picture it lets others know that you are real and that you’re confident enough with

what you do to let others see you. You want people to recognize you as a leader in your market and

having a face to go with a name always helps. A nice smile never hurts either.

2: AutoDMs

Never use tools that automatically send messages to people who follow you. Direct messages are

seen as impersonal, spammy and pushy when they’re automated.

3: Trying to build a huge following before you have done some tweeting

People will not be interested in following you when they click on your Twitter page to see what

you've got, and notice you don't have much. You need to have tweeted more than, "Trying to figure

this Twitter out" and "I think I've got it figured out now." If you don't know what to say, try "re-

tweeting" (RT) some other peoples' tweets that that are related to your niche. Read what other

people are tweeting about and reply to them, this will help start up a conversation. Talk about

market related news, what you're doing on your business right now and keep it social. That will give

you several tweets to get the ball rolling.

4: Tweeting promotion after promotion

Yes, you’re using Twitter to promote your business, but posting one offer after another will only

cause people to ‘unfollow’ you. When people look at your timeline and notice that you aren't posting

anything of value to them they will quickly move on. There are millions of Twitter users to follow, so

put yourself in their shoes and think why should they follow you when you're only tweeting about

promotions. Remember this basic rule of sales "people want to know what's in it for me?” It’s the

WIIFM syndrome!

Twitter is a social network filled with real people and you have to keep that in mind before you post

a tweet. When you’re using Twitter for your business you must learn how to communicate and build

good relationships with your followers before you start sending them promotions. Even if you

already have a good list of leads, it’s still not a good idea to barrage them with promotions. As

we’ve talked about before, promotional tweets should be sent only in limited numbers.

These are just a few of the more common mistakes committed by new and old tweeters alike. Take

note of them and don’t make the same mistakes.

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Conclusion

Capitalizing on Twitter’s growing popularity can be very rewarding and profitable for your business if

you go about it with some tact and guile. As it’s still continuing to grow at an alarming rate expect

Twitter functions and features to change and improve in the future. Developers are always busy

creating new tools and applications to make the most out of Twitter so keep an eye out for them. My

best advice for you when you’re using Twitter is to use Twitter with good business sense and not to

abuse the power that it offers. Keep learning and using it, and as long as Twitter exists, I'm sure

great things will come.

Thank you, as always for reading. If you found this useful, please tell others and get them to sign up

to receive more information.

Wishing you much success!

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About the Author

Jane Frankland is a successful technology entrepreneur,

business consultant and speaker. She has built and sold her own

seven-figure business and is frequently invited to speak about

entrepreneurship, women in business, cyber security and social

media at events around the world. She has over 18 years worth of

experience in business development and has held directorships

and senior executive positions within her own companies and at

several large PLCs. She built her last business in her mid

twenties, and through her latest consultancy, KnewStart, provides

strategic business development solutions to existing or aspiring

entrepreneurs.

Jane believes passionately in entrepreneurship, empowerment and freedom. Through her work she

wants to see more businesses survive and thrive. She is particularly interested in modern business

development methods and is currently writing a book, Who The Google Are You, on how to harness

the power of the Internet for accelerated business growth.

Jane has a BA (Hons) from Loughborough University in Design, is a Nominated Young British

Designer and a Fellow of the Institute of Sales & Marketing (ISMM). She’s also a mother to three

children, has a Weimaraner dog and a black and white moggy. The question you’ll hear her ask the

most in business is ‘what’s your objective?’ The reason why is obvious. Time is precious and unless

you know why you’re doing something why do it at all. However, at home it’s always, “Shall we go?”

Jane can be contacted on:

Email: hello@jane-frankland.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneFrankland LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/JaneFrankland

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ABOUT KNEWSTART

KnewStart helps entrepreneurs and leaders start-up, scale and build profitable global businesses. We’re on a mission to empower 1,000 businesses and 1,000 professionals in the next 2-years to take full advantage of the extraordinary times we’re living in.

We offer 3 core services – coaching, consulting and training and a community for thriving entrepreneurs to take advantage of.

CONTACT US NOW To discuss this e-book or to find out how we can help you, contact us now by phoning +44 (0) 20 8123 9463 or competing the inquiry form.