In September I am co-hosting the Mediation Business Summit with Tammy Lenski . We are really looking forward to it. We have some great small business coaches and consultants lined up to help conflict resolution professionals take their business to the next level.

I'm not very technical...

Since we announced the telesummit we have had a lot of questions about how it will work over the three days and some questions about using the teleseminar format. So we have decided to run a free demo and Q&A session on Wednesday 4th August where you can try it out and ask questions about the event.

Tammy and I think it will be a great opportunity to connect with anyone attending and anyone thinking about attending.

So head over to the Mediation Business Summit site to register for the free teleseminar.

Denise Wakeman speaker at the Mediation Business Summit

If you search for “how to build a business blog” then the very first site listed on Google.com is www.buildabetterblog.com a blog hosted by Denise Wakeman. I’m not surprised because Denise has been practising what she preaches for a very long time. In fact, Denise has (at least) three blogs: Biz Tips Blog , Build a Better Blog and Denise Wakeman – The Blog Squad . Each has a different focus and each is crammed with useful content which can be easily assimilated and implemented by the newcomer and the experienced blogger alike.

I am in awe of how frequently and consistently Denise posts savvy and engaging ideas about building your online presence through blogging and how to build your blog through integration with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. When you read what she writes on any of these platforms, you soon get a sense of her energy, credibility and her personality.

I am sure these are qualities that every mediator and ADR professional would like to be known for, online and offline. Denise says that blogging is the one way you can present a public persona that is ‘congruent and authentic’ and then she tells you how to do that.

Dig a little deeper into Denise’s online presence and you will find a great ebook produced by the Personality Project called Women of Personality. A Compilation of 40 Extraordinary Women Sharing Their Stories of Success. It is now in its second edition and Denise is featured as one of the 40 extraordinary women. In the book, Denise talks about how she is naturally a ‘behind the scenes person’ and that until she started her own business, that was the way she liked it. I remembered how ‘behind the scenes’ I liked to be when I started out in my own business, and like Denise, I instinctively jumped on the internet when there were not so many people to talk to, very few had an email address and all we had was a shaky 56k modem. Like her, I just knew this internet thing was a place I wanted to be.

Looking back, I started blogging via telex in 1984, with a weekly newsletter and analysis about my industry and it allowed me to “get in front of” influential people in my organisation without the scary part. Looking back, it worked and probably because I thought it was only being read by a few people that I knew very well. I had no idea that people were distributing it much more widely and if I had I probably would have clammed up! Just occasionally, ignorance is bliss.

Today it’s different. The ‘noise’ out there is much greater and for some starting out or looking to take their business to the next level it can be overwhelming. So much so, some people just don’t know where to start. One of the challenges is personal marketing and branding.

In starting her own business Denise realised that

Being the sole person in my business put me in a new position. I had to be “out there”. And the internet helped me do that. I wasn’t shy online.

I think many of us feel shy about marketing ourselves. It is so much easier to do it for others! Marketing is the number one challenge I talk about with people who contact me wanting to know how I managed to build my practice. The good news is that the social media tools that we have today allow you to do both: market yourself and market others.

It is one thing to read what people write and to get a sense of their expertise and the effectiveness of their advice and experience. It is even better to hear them for yourself. That’s why Tammy Lenski and I have brought together our choice of the best and most relevant  business management, marketing and social media voices from inside and outside the dispute resolution world. This is our selection of people who have impressed us with their energy, credibility and personality and who know how to communicate their expertise in a way which is relevant for building a successful conflict resolution practice.

The Mediation Business Summit is accessible via web and telephone from 16 – 18 September 2010.

If you haven’t signed up yet, then you are missing out on some great free gifts to get you started. There are two from Denise: an audio chapter from her renowned programme: How Drive Quality Traffic to Your Blog ($97 value) and a bonus chapter with 19 specific tactics for driving traffic to your blog. These will be available to you as soon as you have completed the sign up process. And you can grab your badge too.

See you at the summit!

Mediation Business Summit 16 - 18 September 2010

]]> http://blog.amandabucklow.co.uk/2010/06/30/denise-wakeman-mediation-business-summit/feed/ 2 http://blog.amandabucklow.co.uk/2010/06/12/the-nature-of-isolation-as-a-solopreneur/ http://blog.amandabucklow.co.uk/2010/06/12/the-nature-of-isolation-as-a-solopreneur/#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:01:40 +0000 Amanda http://blog.amandabucklow.co.uk/?p=1218

Photo by Darwin Bell

In the latest episode of Cafe Mediate, Tammy Lenski, Jeff Thompson and I discuss the nature of isolation in our practice of mediation and dispute resolution.

It is apparent from the laughter we share and the descriptions of “isolation” that any isolation we experience is more solitude as part of independence than loneliness.  A solitude that comes from a conscious choice for our independent practice in matters that are confidential.

Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is desirable, a state of being alone where you provide yourself wonderful and sufficient company.

Solitude is a time that can be used for reflection, inner searching or growth or enjoyment of some kind. Deep reading requires solitude, so does experiencing the beauty of nature. Thinking and creativity usually do too.

Solitude suggests peacefulness stemming from a state of inner richness. It is a means of enjoying the quiet and whatever it brings that is satisfying and from which we draw sustenance. It is something we cultivate. Solitude is refreshing; an opportunity to renew ourselves. In other words, it replenishes us. Psychology Today

Our work involves being with people (often large groups) who need us to be totally focused on them , very calm with lots of energy to manage long days. Solitude is a positive part of the way we work and it seems we all have strategies for making sure that the balance is right and that we have peers and close colleagues to share important conversations.

I am sure some of our speakers at the Mediation Business Summit will be addressing the nature of isolation in being an entrepreneur.

We have just 250 tickets for the first ever business summit tailored specifically for conflict resolution professionals and registration is now open.

This is a not-to-be-missed marketing and business development event which is innovative and affordable fits the bill perfectly for those who wish to refocus or kick-start their ADR practice.

11 remarkable speakers have been carefully selected by Tammy and me for their engaging style, knowledge and experience which, from our experience, we believe is directly relevant to building a strong business in our field.

When I started my full-time mediation practice in the mid 90’s, I wish there had been this kind of resource to get me going; to challenge and support my thinking about how, what and why. It is great to be a pioneer but sometimes it is equally rewarding to build on what others have done and miss out on the not so great learning experiences!

This is a unique opportunity to hear what other pioneers have done and take the best and most relevant advice to build your own unique brand and business which speaks to your own strengths.

Do join us and register now. On completing your sign-up you will receive a fantastic collection of bonus gifts from our speakers to introduce you to their great advice and perspective on building a business in a digital world.

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has just published it’s 4th mediation audit for the UK market.

The audit confirms the trend I had sensed nearly two years ago that mediation users are increasingly appointing individual mediators directly rather than using the services of mediation providers and panels. The report says

For individual cases, we can see a continuation of the long-term trend towards clients making direct referrals to mediators rather than working through service organisations.
Nearly 65% of ad hoc cases are now being handled on this basis (as compared to 60% in 2007, 55% in 2005 and 45% in 2003).  As might be expected, direct referral activity is particularly prevalent amongst the most experienced mediator group, nearly two-thirds of whom obtained more than half of their work from direct referrals, with around 40% exceeding 80% direct referrals, and 22% claiming to be totally free of providers.

The projected size of the current civil and commercial mediation market is estimated to be around 6000 cases per annum, split 60/40 between ad hoc referrals and schemes respectively. This represents a doubling of the market over the last two years. Excluding schemes, CEDR says that mainstream and ad hoc commercial casework has risen about 30% since 2007.

The make up of the market which is still “dominated by a select few”.

A group of around 90 individuals are involved in around 85% of all non-scheme commercial cases  (2007 – 80 individuals held 80%); and within this group, some 50 individuals are involved in 70%  of all cases (2007 – 35 individuals held 57%).

Mediation Business in the UK - Published 11 May 2010

And the profile of mediators which shows an extraordinary lack of diversity.

In terms of overall diversity, the mediator group still falls well short of our usual comparator, the legal profession, where 45% of practising solicitors are women with an average age of 38, compared 44 for men, and almost 11% are drawn from ethnic minority groups.  In contrast, we have only 19% female and 5% minority representation notwithstanding that the field continues to be dominated by the legal profession, with 60%
being legally qualified, slightly up from the 57% reported in our last Audit.

As far as the success of mediation as a service the figures are encouraging:

Mediators report that around 75% of their cases settled on the day, with another 14% settling shortly thereafter so as to give an aggregate settlement rate of 89%.  This is almost identical to the performance reported in the 2007 Audit, but slightly lower than the aggregate 93% rate reported in the 2005 Audit (although we noted at the time that that figure seemed surprisingly high).

An important part of the survey addresses the issues of mediator aspirations and this deserves attention. The obstacles to developing a successful practice were cited as:

A rather smaller proportion saw the challenge in more personal terms, namely their own difficulty in obtaining sufficient mediation referrals from which to grow a reputation and, hence, a successful practice.  Some recognised a need for more pro active marketing on their part to raise their profile, but others admitted an aversion to what they regarded as self-promotion.

These mediators will be pleased to hear that help is at hand in the shape of The Mediation Business Summit specifically designed to give mediators seeking to develop a healthy practice the tools and tips they need.

Tammy Lenski and I have joined forces to bring together a superb line up of speakers to deal with issues such as promotion and marketing in a sector which has always been challenged in these activities.