GUEST POST BY NABEHA LATIF

Ever since Twitter hit the internet in 2006, it evolved from a punny remark about your meal snaps to an integral part of online communication as a whole. With its simple ideology and a tweet (message) consistent with a set amount of characters, you witness an ever-growing set of to-the-point remarks and comments alike. However, Twitter isn’t only for some fun pastime. It can be utilized as a significant component of managing your business online. So here’s our guide to keeping your business up to the digital standard.

Why Twitter for Business?
There are many motivations to make Twitter a piece of your business’s digital media plan in an undeniably jam-packed online media scene.

Marketing and getting the word out on Twitter is particularly appealing because the platform fights at a surprisingly high level as far as reach is concerned. The complete number of individuals going on Twitter is more than the number of registered accounts!

This implies that you’re not simply getting your content to users when you tweet. Instead, you’re likewise contacting a more extensive crowd who additionally reads Twitter.

The Basics:
Assuming you’re completely new to Twitter, the initial steps are similar whether you’re making a profile for a business or individual use.

Whether you already have an account or not, utilizing these tips will keep your basics solid.

Creating a Profile

1. Profile Photo: The profile photo represents your account everywhere on Twitter. It should be recognizable and shouldn’t change too often. Most companies include their logo in their profile image.
2. Header/Cover Photo: This is where you can share the latest updates in a visually striking format. It is often replaced, unlike the profile picture.
3. Username: Your @name is the name of your account. It doesn’t change. You can change your display name, but it’s best to set it as your organization’s name and leave it at that.
4. Bio: Your bio is your brand’s elevator pitch. A concise introduction for your brand, Link your website!
5. Pinned Tweet: A pinned Tweet is the first piece of content users see when coming across your profile. It isn’t required, but it’s a great place to highlight content.

Twitter Slang/Terminology:
I’m sure we’re all familiar with what a “tweet” is by now, but when it comes to Twitter, that’s only a starter! Here’s some terminology you should understand before heading on in the circle:

1. Hashtag: A word preceded by a # symbol. It acts as a tag to content to categorize or relate to a particular topic.
2. Mentions: A tweet with the @ symbol followed by a person or brand’s username. This helps you tag people and monitor them to see what others say about you.
3. Retweet: Sharing someone else’s tweet is known as a retweet.
4. Quote: Similar to a retweet, but with an added comment about the original tweet.
5. DMs: Also known as Direct Messages, they are private messages between accounts. If a non-follower contacts you, they will be sent to your requests folder. This can be changed in settings.
6. Topics: These are headings and tags an account can follow in order to see content related to a subject of interest.

Verification:
Verification on Twitter means having a recognized account by Twitter and being granted a blue tick in front of your username. 

For a brand, you’ll need to provide your Official Website and Official Email. For a brand celebrity, an extra piece of information is required, which will be a form of Official Identification.

How to run your business on Twitter:
Once you’ve nailed down the basics and prepped your account for expansion, consider going through the following tips to grow your business.

• Create a Marketing Strategy:
  Creating, posting, and monitoring your Tweets is a key aspect of your business. So It’s best to be consistent and orderly about it all. A Twitter marketing strategy will help you bring your brand on track and help you achieve your set goals. Your Twitter strategy will tie into your overall Social Media Strategy and should be on your content calendar. Having a global view of your social media marketing will allow you to take advantage of each platform’s specific strengths.
• Finding a Brand Voice:
  Twitter is covered with the graves of accounts that didn’t think before tweeting. It pays to have your brand’s voice designed for the platform. Having a consistent voice on social media makes it simpler to interface with your audience. It likewise assists your brand with standing apart among the organizations battling a portion of the 1.9 billion hours that clients spend on Twitter every month.
• Use Twitter Lists:
  When you get active on Twitter and your channel begins to top off, Twitter Lists can diminish the clamor by sorting your channel into targeted topics. Making a Twitter List resembles making a timeline that just has content from the accounts you pick. There is an assortment of topics you should make a list about for your business. You can utilize them to monitor accomplices, contenders, or the accounts that draw in with you the most.
• Twitter Spaces: Twitter Spaces is another component that permits you to have live audio discussions with different clients. With Spaces incorporated into the Twitter platform, it’s not difficult to spread the news about your audio sessions. Joining is pretty much as simple as clicking a link in a Tweet. Announcing your Spaces talk with a Tweet allows you to use the span of your current Twitter brand into engagement on Spaces.
• Using Ads to Promote: Twitter’s millions of clients are a major piece of what makes it an alluring platform for brands. In any case, the volume of the content presented on Twitter consistently can likewise imply that your brand’s Tweets become mixed up in the conflict. Twitter advertising is the response to this issue. You can promote anything from a solitary Tweet to a whole account. With no base financial plan, there’s a Twitter advertising choice that will assist any brand in getting noticed.
• Utilize Advanced Search: For thousands of Tweets each moment about movies and memes, Twitter’s search bar generally isn’t to the point of observing the content you’re searching for. Twitter’s advanced option is an all the more integral asset for filtering through Tweets, with many capacities to assist with advancing your brand. You can look by account notices to observe clients drawing in with you. Commitment channels permit you to track down the most famous Tweets about a topic.
• Monitor with Twitter Analytics: Twitter Analytics is a robust platform that utilizes diagrams and reports to give experiences to your Twitter usage. This instrument gives data on everything from your top Tweet to ad transformation rates. Knowing how to utilize Twitter Analytics gives many advantages to your business. For example, you can use it to decide the days and times your audience is generally dynamic or analyze your ads’ profit from speculation.
• Twitter API: The Twitter API (computerized programming connection point) permits you to cause programs that collaborate straightforwardly with Twitter. There are numerous ways that this instrument can help your business. You can make your own channels to get constant data on just the most essential Tweets or make custom audiences. Not every person with a Twitter account approaches the API. To utilize it, you initially need to apply for a developer account.

A Tweet is a 280-character fresh slate. It isn’t always simple to know how to impart your brand’s message on Twitter. These tips and tricks will guide you to make Twitter content that gets results.

1. Keep it Concise: Simple, Short, and Clear. That’s how your tweets should be! Remember, you’ve got limited characters.
2. Keep It Organic: People don’t really talk to brands, do they? So why talk like one? Keep engagement on a high by toning down on the formal end.
3. Engage with People: If you’re just broadcasting out into the Twitterverse, it’s easy for your audience to tune you out. And you don’t want a passive audience. The more engagement you get, the more visible you are.
4. CTAs: Good business Twitter use strikes a balance between conversational Tweets and advertorial content. The traditional best practices of ad copy still apply on Twitter. And knowing how to write a good CTA never goes out of style.
5. Use the Emojis: Emojis help you cut down on long words with little emoticons to help get your points across. Tweets with emojis generate more engagement than those without!
6. Trending Hashtags: Hashtags cut through the noise of Twitter to get your Tweets seen by people who are interested in a specific topic.
7. Add Some Visuals: Twitter isn’t a picture-based platform, so that’ll help you cut through the crowd with more visuals paired with a fresh tweet. Tweets that include a visual element (an image or a video) generate more engagement than those that don’t.
8. Time Your Tweets: Don’t waste your perfectly crafted content by tweeting it when no one’s around to see it. Use Twitter Analytics to track when your Tweets get the most engagement.
9. Frequency of Tweets: In most cases, it’s best to tweet more than one or two and fewer than three to five times per day. There are several ways to schedule your Tweets so that they come out at the right frequency. Twitter has a built-in scheduling feature to ease your burden.

Request: Please follow @angieweinberger on Twitter too.

Guest post by Lucie Koch

I have been in Zürich for a few weeks now and I am starting to adjust to Swiss city life. I am amazed every day by how cosmopolitan Zürich is with all the languages heard in the tram. It’s wonderful.

In my last blog post, I wrote about how entry into professional life was one kind of culture shock. I have started to adapt to the professional and Swiss cultural frame. Working for Global People Transitions is a very interesting experience, especially since I get to be involved in very diverse tasks, from administrative paperwork to exciting business development projects. I am discovering how many gearwheels must be activated and maintained for the business machine to work properly.

While I expected to have to adjust to the professional culture, I wasn’t quite prepared for the general culture shock that I experienced in Switzerland. As a child who grew up in France with parents from the cantons of Zurich and Luzern, and many family ties in Switzerland, I have been exposed to Swiss culture throughout my upbringing. I spent a few holidays in Switzerland when I was younger and identified quite strongly as Swiss. But then this month, I found myself suddenly confronted with cultural and structural enigmas: What is the deal with these expensive trash bags? Why do people eat so early? I also found myself confused about how to greet new people properly – do I offer a handshake? Should I do the ‘bise’ (kiss)? – which resulted in some awkward moments of hesitation and embarrassed smiles. It turns out, I might be more French than I thought.

These experiences made me think about the topic of mixed cultural identities, especially in the case of expatriation and specifically about the children of expatriates who grow up abroad.

Indeed, when you grow up in a country as a foreigner, especially in an area of low cultural diversity as it is the case for the French countryside where I grew up, the Swiss identity makes one stand out, especially for children. You don’t understand the other kids’ popular culture references and you speak another language with your family. The scarcity of Swiss items like cervela, landjäger, and swiss chips or mayonnaise turn them into ‘precious’ objects for the expat parents and to expat children, they appear as relics of Swiss-ness that you get to share once every other month in a kind of family tradition.

In the end, as a ‘born-expat’, one gets a reflected image of the parent’s culture. Indeed, a born-expat’s understanding of the ‘culture-of-origin’ is imagined (through the information absorbed from the media, short stays in the country or from the family’s opinions and stories) and not experienced. Therefore, young expats born abroad have an incomplete picture of a culture with which they strongly identify. The resulting culture shock, when the born-expat realizes how different reality is, can be very difficult, especially since it touches the perception of one’s own identity.

Children of expatriates are a very interesting focus of study when it comes to intercultural competence and how culture affects one’s identity and life. We are quite aware of how being an expatriate family is complicated logistically, emotionally and mentally on all members during the first years of immigration or how tricky it can be to raise children in a country in which we are not completely familiar with the education system. It is, however, important to consider that expat-children may face identity struggles when they grow up and to actively address the issues of identity and nationality during the upbringing.

Have you experienced any issues related to identity as an expat? Do you know a good way to address the question of identity with expat children?

I hope you enjoyed the read, I’ll write again next month.

Until then, have a great day!

Lucie

Lucie Koch was an intern at Global People Transitions GmbH in Zurich, Switzerland. She graduated with an Intercultural Management Master study, which led her to study in Dijon, France, a city she was already familiar with and in unfamiliar Finland (for one semester). Previously, she studied one year at Durham University (UK) as part of a Bachelor Erasmus Mobility program. She was born in 1994 to a Swiss expat couple in France. She grew up in the French countryside, around horses. She’s a self-confessed introvert, fascinated by different languages, cultures, science (especially astronomy and biology) and philosophy. She also likes to spend time drawing, painting or in cinemas.

Guest Post by Balakirthika Jayakumar

Switzerland is considered a paradise on earth. Every human aspires to set his/her foot on the land of Switzerland. Why is it that one aspires to visit this place? It is the bounty of nature in this country that attracts people. Also, the high standard and quality of living.

The people of India are fortunate enough to have a glimpse of Switzerland through movies. It is a cliché to have a song shot in this country to add richness to the movie. Either personally or virtually people have ideas about this country that is exuding “excellence” on all levels (including but not limited to chocolate and cuckoo clocks).

These days, thanks to social media, we find resources on the net. Your search for any insignificant or significant details and you get them on the Internet. Thanks to the encouragement given by YouTube monetarily and/or intangible recognition that motivates one to share their knowledge and resources. It is up to the person looking out for the information to decide what he/she wants to look at.

I am a fortunate few who did not just read and virtually visit Switzerland but have been blessed to stay in Switzerland that too with a work permit. My husband works for a Switzerland-based company and after years of service in due recognition of his contribution to his company, he was asked to relocate to Switzerland and execute the responsibility globally from the headquarters. My husband is a self-made man with high aspirations felt blessed by the opportunity and with the most difficult dream becoming reality came a series of expectations to make this blessed life more blessed. 

The first thing was to give wonderful education to children. To our surprise, the education consultants in India never suggested Switzerland. They supported Germany, but not Switzerland. With determination, my husband put us all on our toes, and the whole family was geared up to find a way. The process looked tedious as we did apply to colleges, but got rejections from many. We did not know the reason though it was clearly stated. The simple reason was the requirement of Work Experience for entering college.  In India, we would work only after the completion of the first degree. This difference was not obvious to us in the beginning. Now anybody asks us, we would guide them.

One of the challenges to studying here as per our understanding was the high cost of living. The expense of education was affordable as the government supported the funding for all students. It was the living cost that one had to plan and be equipped with to pursue the education.

Another challenge was the immigration process. The country gets approval from the student that he/she will not demand employment in the country upon completion of studies. A country that readily extended its helping hand to accommodate the student to empower through education unbiased does not assure employment. Unlike the USA, Canada, and the UK, which charge their students a huge amount, but paves way for their employment, here was a country that did not assure the same. Unless the student has the thirst to acquire knowledge and the willpower to sustain the knowledge, he/she would choose the easier destination of the USA and like countries.

If the family relocates to Switzerland these challenges are nullified for the family bears the expenses of stay which is anyhow a necessity. Such was the case for us. The first add-on dream of educating our children abroad got fulfilled. The education system is highly commendable with passionate, unbiased teachers willing to impart knowledge genuinely. 

Here the challenge was the pattern of examination. The examination was based on the understanding of the concepts learned. It was never reproducing the concepts. This was a part of the assessment in the education system studied by our children. Now when the whole assessment module revolved around assessing the understanding, it did look challenging in the beginning, but later children knew that the effort required was more and in a new direction and they accommodated themselves for the new system and started learning and implementing the same.

Life in Switzerland is fantastic if you have all the needed money. One had the potential to earn and equally had to shell money for a living. One cannot just casually lead a life. Things have to be planned. Certain commitments like insurance, tax, travel and accommodation are inevitable. A major portion of the earnings is spent on these inevitable. Like any expat, who relocates to Switzerland, we too have landed upon dreams to earn, spend and save for the future. This is an opportunity to create savings. With one person’s earnings, it is not possible to save as per the expectation.

The standard of living raises, the quality of life exceeds the expectation, and self-development increases. One tends to be more systematic and accountable. The trust one has in others is another marvel. The fitness quotient is another dimension that calls for appreciation and motivates one to be so. The dignity of labor is the culture of Switzerland that every country needs to acquire.  The discipline inculcated into one from childhood requires a standing ovation. The concern for the environment, the patriotism ingrained in each, and the support they extend for local produce is something amazing.

Having seen all these wonderful aspects of this country as an expat wife with years of experience in my home country, I aspired to render my services to this holistic country. I landed in this country with high hopes of fitting into the job market and doing wonders in this already magical country. With almost score years of experience, I was very confident that I will be quickly absorbed into a renowned company and that there will be great learning as well as a contribution from my side. I took a month’s time to settle and with great enthusiasm started applying for the jobs that were suggested by well-known job portals. There was a rejection the first time, then the second, and then the third. And when the 10th consecutive rejection came, I was shattered. 

Every rejection came with a sweet note saying that your experiences are highly appreciable but sorry to share that they do not fit our company requirements. My confidence was reduced and I was literally groping as to what to do next. I had no clue where I went wrong. All these years of experience I had created a mark for myself in my job domain and where did I go wrong? I was not even short-listed. How do I prove myself when not called for personal interaction?

This was when Ms. Sonia Meier, Managing Director / Immigration & Relocation Specialist, BECOMELOCAL GmbH who helped in getting settled in the country shared the details of a series of 3 free workshops to be conducted by Ms. Angie Weinberger, Female Founder, and Managing Director at Global People Transitions Ltd. This was what I was looking for. A helping hand to assist me. It came as a boon. I was a bit apprehensive. With an open mind, I attended the workshop. That was mind-blowing. It was organized so systematically with no strings attached that with no second thought, I enrolled myself in HireMeExpress.  This program was for 12 weeks interspersed with one-on-one sessions with Ms. Weinberger. There were many other people like me who were looking for scaffolding. I deem that we were a blessed lot to be part of the group.

I could understand the system that worked in Switzerland. I knew what I had to work on. Never did Ms. Weinberger judge me. She was and is always there to guide me. She seems to understand what goes on inside of me. She understands my state of mind. I have understood how to proceed and what is that I am looking for. With great confidence and determination, my search is on. I am getting a few leads. It is not easy for a locale here also to switch jobs or get into a new job. The same applies to me. But I have got a path now with the destination. Soon I will be there.

I feel instead of being on a mission not knowing how to proceed when we know that there is someone to lend their helping hands, bringing in the human touch to global mobility not merely by words, but from heart, one has to utilize the service and follow the process religiously to embark on the best for you.

I am getting to know the culture of Switzerland. I value their space. I value their beliefs a lot more now. With conviction, I am all set to become the Digital Learning Specialist who would create a mark for herself in the industry as a trainer touching the lives of many. I started working as a Freelance Editor, pulled together several anthologies, and organized a club of writers and my days are busier than ever. While I still look for a full-time job, I cannot stress enough the importance of freelancing to expand my skills and enhance my personal brand and portfolio. I am on my path and look forward to meeting you anywhere in Winterthur, Zurich or Delhi.

If you want to contact me please reach out via LinkedIn or contact me through angela@globalpeopletransitions.com. 

Have you returned from your Christmas holiday full of new spirit and New Year’s resolutions and do you already feel a shift in energy as days are getting a bit longer and there is more sunlight. My plants outside thought it was spring already and I did not dare to tell them yet that winter is coming back. I remember the slight optimism of last January when I was hoping for a “back to normal” and only six weeks later the world was in turmoil again. 

This year I made a change and started the New Year in South India at 30 degrees Celsius and with an amazing vacation that feels like a trip to paradise. And while it’s cold and snowing now in Switzerland the warmth and happiness I took with me lightened up my heart for most of the last two weeks. I hope you understand that I also have moments of self-doubt and fear and that I’m not always the calm and relaxed coach that you might know. I can also get stressed and deal with similar issues you might experience. This year though I have not (yet) felt the “post-holiday” blues. I even feel elated as I write this, in a rather festive spirit as I complete the second work week of this new year.

My desire and ambition is to be fresh, energetic, focused and emotionally stable. I want to create and find the atmosphere for creativity whether I’m in an office or in a fancy hotel room. I want to be up for networking with prospects and clients all the time. I want to get up in the morning with a big smile and fulfill my purpose whether we have a pandemic, a war, or a snowstorm. And this is why I’m practicing how to manage my energy better constantly. And in India I was even more motivated to learn more about meditating and yoga.

The Magic of Rituals 

6 January marks the last day of the holiday season in Germany and Switzerland. In some parts of Europe, it is the most important day of the holiday season. For us, it means that the next day we really need to throw out the Christmas tree and all the decorations. It’s a nice ritual and the cleaning-up exercise means that I can get back into full steam. As often rituals help me with transitions and change I thought I’d share mine to get back into my creative mode again. I also think someone needs to tell my neighbor that it is definitely high time to take down the Christmas decorations especially as we are approaching New Year this weekend (again). I asked my colleagues in Singapore if it was okay to wish them Happy New Year (ahead of time) as in the German culture wishing ahead is often considered bad luck but they loved it. So from one Happy New Year to another Happy New Year I believe we should all take vacation, work-from-anywhere and really re-energize before getting back into the hustle and bustle of our self-imposed modern lifestyles. Yesterday, I even managed to close the books for 2023 and discard old case files. 

1 – Decoration Boxing

Allow yourself one last look at your Christmas cards and decorations. Then box all of them into the Christmas box where you keep them until after Thanksgiving or the first advent weekend. Say goodbye to Christmas movies too..

2 – Calendar Planning

Get an annual calendar for your wall and mark all the important dates such as holidays, vacation or downtime, birthdays, weddings, launch dates, workshop days, lectures and other important events that you already committed to. Plan one long weekend every month for either self-care, your partnership or a strategic offsite. Book all your travel ahead with enough cancellation options and dive into the feeling of pre-travel excitement way before it is happening. Did you book your summer holiday yet?

3 – Routine Prepping

Prepare everything that you usually need to have ready to get into your weekly routines such as lunches, dinners, grocery shopping, and other regular Sunday activities to start into a good week ahead. Get your hair, nails, shoes, suits back in work look. (I know those bra’s are starting to feel uncomfortable.).

4 – Workspace Enhancing

Clean your workspace at home and consider at least one enhancement such as upgrading your software, buying colorful pens, post-it notes or a new journal. Buy a few colorful physical folders for your creative ideas and pimp up your filing system. Get yourself an orchid or a beautiful flower that you can add to your “home office.”. 

5 – Purpose Reminiscing

Remember why you are where you are today in your professional life and as an entrepreneur, digital nomad or expat and connect with your mission statement. Read it out to yourself. Does it still fit? Check your resume and other brand messages. Is there anything you feel needs an upgrade? Visualize your life in 2023, add photos to your vision board and pick your word for 2023 if you haven’t done so yet.

I wish you all a wonderful start in the New Year.

Angie

PS: If you haven’t received a Global People Club Sandwich from us yet this year please make sure that you subscribe as we will continue to deliver these blog posts to your inbox.

https://globalpeopletransitions.com/become-a-reader-of-the-global-people-club-sandwich/

Recently I went to the ballet. They showed Nutcracker and Mouseking. If you know the story of the nutcracker you might be able to relate to his feeling. He is a prince trapped in a wooden statue. Maybe you feel more like “Aschenbroedel”? A princess trapped in a gray suit who sorts out the beans or the dollars on a spreadsheet.

You are well-traveled and fascinated by traveling outside the shores of your country. You are presumed to have the same bubbly experience as an expat sent on an international assignment to another country. You thought your experience would be like the adventure that you had on your previous vacation trips. Your first day in the foreign land was laden with a lot of exuberance and effervescence. But you had barely spent one month before all your hopes disappeared into the thin air.  Now, the only rhetorical question you keep asking yourself is “Can I get relief from being trapped in this figure, please?” or “Where is that prince in shiny armor that will find a shoe that only fits me? When will I be invited to dance at the ball?”.

There are many moments when you feel overwhelmed and frustrated that you can’t do it all.  And you don’t want to add to the stress of your spouse who’s busy searching job boards and tweaking their resume every time.

Your days are busy. Sometimes you leave work at the end of the week feeling unfulfilled, longing for a sense of purpose.

Sometimes you lie in bed missing your parents, friends, and loved ones so much that you often wonder if this was all a big mistake. In the middle of all these, you receive your line manager’s email that the presentation you made was a wreck.

The longer this goes on you notice that feelings of resentment creep up, toward your partner, your job, your young kids, or even your host country.

This does not have to be your story or case. I want to help you gain control of your life and live with a sense of purpose again. If you are feeling frustrated, crave a sense of purpose, or wish you are doing more to make the most of your life abroad, we have the answer you have been looking for.

Our program addresses, head-on, the biggest challenges that globally mobile individuals face, it is based on methods tested for over a decade with individuals just like you.

We teach you powerful strategies to give you immediate relief to your immediate challenges and help you take over the driver’s seat of your life’s vehicle. All of this, in short, easy-to-apply lessons – right when you need it. It has everything you need to:

● Develop and keep the right mindset to cherish your experience abroad

● Identify your purpose abroad (beyond work or the family)

● Stop letting stress get between you and the ones you care for

● Feel close to loved ones, even if they are thousands of miles (or kilometers) away

Imagine a life where you feel in control and spend your time and energy on things that resonate with your higher self.

● You are taking real steps to reduce the strains of your life abroad

● You have your confidence back

● You feel competent in your intercultural interactions

● You are fueled by a sense of purpose

● You have a community of people who understood you, and whom you could rely on for support

 You can start today and then rise from the physical and mental exhaustion in which circumstances have kept you. Yes, you can rise to a new life of purpose and relevance.

I am not just going to propose some hypothetical ideas, but time-tested, hands-on ideas that would immediately get you back on track. Having lived abroad and moved several times in my life, I had to deal with adapting to a different intercultural climate myself. I have been able to weather even the most complex challenges and it would be my pleasure to take you by the hand and help you navigate this new terrain.

If you want to make some important changes, anywhere from feeling less overwhelmed, finding purpose, or creating better connections with your loved ones from afar, book a meeting with me here. I want to learn more about you and the challenges you are currently facing.

Kind regards,

Angie Weinberger