March 4, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Business Tools, Marketing, Small business — admin @ 11:27 am
Daryl Willcox Publishing, has released a useful free guide to help small businesses and startups with DIY marketing and PR.
The guide is aimed at businesses who promote themselves in the press. It defines why PR is beneficial, provides a step by step ‘how to’ guide to writing a press release and details how small businesses should go about contacting members of the media with their news.
Additionally, the guide describes how companies can apply social media strategies and use other PR tools such as blogging to connect with customers. It also shows how to use audio and visual formats to present messages in different ways.
The free PR for Small Businesses Guide is available here.
February 26, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice — Alan @ 4:05 am
It seems that a lot of people, including those directly involved in the industry, don’t understand the nature of public relations, or PR as it is known. Ultimately, the goal of PR (as in this link and the logo to the left) is to get the attention of the public in a favourable light.
The same is true of advertising, but there are some crucial differences in the approach. For an SME (acronym for small and medium enterprises) the differences can make or break the company. The reason comes down to relative cost and return on investment.
While advertising and PR both fall into the ‘marketing’ category, the former is paid for by the agency that is trying to sell the product, while the latter involves getting free (and favourable) publicity for that product.
This applies to anything from politics to chewing gum. With advertising you can say just about anything you want to make your product sound attractive, or look attractive in the case of visuals. With PR, the idea is to get a neutral third party to endorse the product for you.
Even the most unsophisticated consumer knows that an ad is trying to sell something. The attraction may be low cost, convenience, durability, curlier hair, better petrol mileage, whatever it takes to convince the consumer that he or she needs that product.
Good PR, on the other hand, is the unbiased report on the product from a customer or from a known and trusted public figure or company. In essence, SMEs need specifically directed media coverage, and PR is generally the most effective means to this end.
February 25, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice — Alan @ 4:08 am
While the yearbook market in the U.S. declines, the trend in the U.K. is going the other way. AllYearbooks is the brainchild of Jake Gordon, a Bromley-born and raised entrepreneur who seems to have a handle on the yearbook situation.
Gordon has travelled extensively, has a sociology background from the University of Nottingham and he also has considerable experience in setting up websites. His interests, plus his dissatisfaction with the yearbook at Nottingham, gave him the impetus to start up his own small company, now three years old and thriving.
According to Jake, the large companies in the U.S. that have gone all-out with training classes and specialized staff are just not adapting to the changing market, with the result that their products are more limited in scope. They are also very expensive to produce, and simply not affordable for a large percentage of the potential consumers.
The idea, says Mr. Gordon, is that small companies like AllYearbooks are able to change right along with the changing times, in this case the advent of numerous social networks established on the Internet. Gordon’s company is designed so that everyone can easily get involved and contribute as an individual. The results have already proven that this sort of collaboration works remarkably well.
The conclusion would seem to be that the U.S. publishers are letting sites such as Facebook and MySpace undermine their customer base, while AllYearbooks and others like it are taking advantage of the ease and speed of communication that is available on the worldwide web.
January 30, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, CBI — admin @ 2:36 pm
Small businesses will be looking to capitalise on the anticipated market upturn this year. In this special webTV show, Lord Digby Jones will be offering his unparalleled expert advice and invaluable entrepreneurial insights and experiences to help business owners, entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs ensure they are in the strongest position possible.
Lord Jones has had a lifetime in business – travelling to over 70 markets across the world gaining a unique breadth of knowledge and experience. He spent 6 years as the Director General of the CBI, held the position of Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment and has unrivalled heritage in advising a multitude of businesses around the world.
To coincide with the new Vodafone ‘Business First’ store, based in Cheapside, London, join this webTV show with Lord Digby Jones who will be offering his unparalleled expert advice on the key priorities to ensure small business growth in 2010.
The exclusive Business Clinic featuring Lord Digby Jones and Rob Shardlow from Vodafone will be shown at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 2 February. You can ask your questions in advance by entering them via the form below. Following the broadcast, the show will be available ‘on demand’. Last submission for questions is 3pm on 2nd February.
For more information on Vodafone business services, visit http://online.vodafone.co.uk/business/virtual-home
January 29, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Business Tools, Employees — admin @ 8:07 am
Three in four UK employees claim to have been affected by the recent bad weather, with just over one in ten not able to work at all. This disruption to UK businesses, as well as the wider economic climate, has emphasised the need for companies to develop a robust business continuity strategy.
Developing solutions involving an adaptable workforce that can function with equal efficiency both inside and outside the office is one way of ensuring customer service isn’t compromised, come rain or shine. This is especially important considering the majority of employees – 55% according to a survey – now expect to work from home more frequently.
But there are wide-ranging issues when it comes to flexible working, like trying to monitor staff away from the office and ensuring employees are available to managers, clients or customers throughout the working day, no matter where they are. Accessibility is especially important for small businesses with high standards when it comes to efficiency, service and personal contact.
You might find this ‘onnectivity clinic’ with Dr Rob Matthews, of Vodafone UK, who will be offering advice and top tips on how best to incorporate flexible working plans and digital technology into small businesses.
It begins live at 2pm on Friday 29th January at 2pm when you can discuss staying connected to a mobile workforce by submitting your questions in advance. Don’t worry if you miss it as it will be streamed live on demand following the live showing.
frameborder=0>
For more information visit www.vodafone.co.uk/suresignal
January 21, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice — Alan @ 6:17 am
Although it is hard for any SME from the UK to break into the sales field of the US, ExportAction Ltd is attempting to help struggling businesses by publishing ten free tip sheets that help out small businesses that have larger dreams.
The sheets will not be available to purview as a large batch, but instead will be emailed to interested businesses throughout ten working days in a row. They will be written in simple English and kept brief but poignant.
There are ten major points that will be covered on each of the tips sheets including frequently asked questions such as LLC or Inc for the US, ROI, the US market in general, and how to use telephone and fax lines appropriately to reach the US.
ExportAction has plenty of credentials behind their new effort given the fact that the company president and co-founder Roger Frampton has assisted hundreds of companies across the UK develop sales and business strategies for breaking into the US. He also has spent time employed with several US companies and working with the UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) for the last ten years.
The company additionally has headquarters in London and Florida, US plus satellite offices that operate out of New York and California. Additionally, at the moment the company despite its expansion is debt free and earning a profit each year while continuing to fund its own efforts without help from any other financial institutions.
January 18, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Small business — admin @ 6:25 pm
New rules intended to simplify electricity and gas contracts for businesses have created confusion and a ‘spaghetti junction of red tape’, according to business price comparison service Make It Cheaper.
From today (18.1.10) – following a two year investigation by Ofgem – two million businesses should be benefitting from greater consumer protection in relation to their electricity and gas contracts. However not only does each supplier have a different ‘interpretation’ of the new rules but they only have to apply them to business energy contracts entered into from today. Whilst one of the Big 6 suppliers has indicated that it will apply the rules retrospectively on all existing contracts, this still, leaves the vast majority of business energy customers at the mercy of their existing terms and conditions.
Business energy suppliers each have different T&Cs that can run to over 10,000 words in length and only allow customers to serve notice in narrow renewal windows that quietly open and close with months left to run on the contract. Anyone missing the renewal window is automatically denied the right to switch to the cheapest electricity supplier for at least another year. Our research shows that this ‘rollover’ technique catches out over 80% of businesses and is commonly used by energy suppliers to lock customers into much higher rates than those available to new customers/switchers.
A further area of confusion is the size of business to which the new rules are restricted, should they wish to compare electricity prices. Ofgem uses the description ‘microbusiness’ but then offers several definitions. These include: businesses employing fewer than ten people, with an annual turnover of less than 2 million euros, or energy use of less than 200,000 kWh of gas a year or 55,000 kWh of electricity a year. Again, some suppliers are rigidly applying these definitions whilst others will consider SMEs of all shapes and sizes as qualifying for the new rules.
Jonathan Elliott, managing director of Make It Cheaper, commented: “As a price comparison and switching service specifically for businesses, it is our job to understand the market inside out and make sure that our customers are eligible for the prices we quote from the 11,000 tariffs we have in our system. We are getting very mixed responses from suppliers, many of whom are still trying to fathom out the new rules themselves. It would be so much simpler if, rather than just guidelines, these new rules were set out more clearly and more strictly imposed.”
Business electricity prices currently range threefold from around 7p/kWh to 21p/kWh and 2p/kWh to 6p/kWh for business gas prices but anyone looking to stay on the lowest prices has to be prepared to switch regularly. For a free and independent downloadable guide to finding the cheapest electricity suplpiers for your business see http://www.makeitcheaper.com/media/13832212/mic-printable-gu… – or register for Make It Cheaper’s ‘Business Energy Contract Checking Service’ by calling 0800 970 0077. One quick phone call is all it takes to take advantage of this free, no-obligation service, which will tell you earliest switching dates and the cheapest gas prices or cheapest electricity prices available.
January 15, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, IT, Small business — admin @ 1:29 pm
Over half (58%) of senior decision makers in small businesses in Britain admit their business suffered as a result of the winter weather last week, despite 78% saying they thought their company was prepared to cope with the snow chaos, according to a survey of over 500 senior decision makers in small businesses, commissioned by Citrix GoToMyPC and carried out by YouGov.
Some small businesses did take steps to combat the weather conditions and ensure business as usual though, by enabling more staff to work from home (25%) and holding more online meetings (10%). The research does suggest however some small businesses could have done more to prepare for the unexpected, as only 42% said they have a business continuity plan in place.
The impact on small businesses has been widespread, with businesses across Britain reporting problems. A quarter of small businesses decision makers say some staff were late into work, while 26% reported that some staff couldn’t make it into the workplace at all. In addition, 21% found that key suppliers and contacts were not available and 26% had to cancel or postpone business meetings.
However, small businesses also suffered as a result of unexpected disruption caused by widespread school closures and a lack of road salt, with the Federation of Small Business (FSB) this week claiming the government could have helped by being better prepared for the conditions. As many as 74% of British workers were affected by last week’s winter conditions, with 8% forced to stay home due to school closures and 12% not able to work at all, according to a related GoToMyPC study of more than 2,000 adults. When asked about the most annoying aspects of the winter weather, a massive 71% voiced the lack of grit on roads as by far the biggest issue.
For the week beginning 4th January 2009, almost a quarter (24%) of British workers claimed they lost more than five working hours, with the survey showing that as much as 124 million working hours could have been lost last week alone as a result of the weather. This equals £1.35bn in lost productivity.
Andrew Millard, Director of eCommerce, EMEA for Citrix Online’s GoToMyPC, said: “The weather in the first week of 2010 has had a catastrophic effect on UK business, with the FSB estimating the cost to the UK economy to be at least £600m a day. Many businesses thought they were sufficiently prepared to handle the snow, but the sheer scale of the disruption and a lack of planning from the government has taken its toll. With more snow on the way, now is the time to revisit or put in place business continuity plans, but it remains to be seen whether the government will be able to act to protect smaller businesses should the bad weather continue.”
Top Tips
Andrew Millard of Citrix GoToMyPC sets out his top five tips for businesses to stand them in good stead for handling the unexpected:
1. Communicate clearly in advance – with your workers so that they know what they need to do if they can’t get into the office.
2. Equip employees with remote access and Web conferencing technology – which will help them to remain productive even if they can’t get into the office.
3. Communicate with your customers – Phone redirects and remote access software will allow you to work productively away from the office. But if clients or customers are likely to be affected, let them know as early as possible and keep communication channels open.
4. Consider alternatives – Travel to the office or to client meetings may be impossible, but instead of cancelling, conduct the meetings online instead.
5. Put in place a business continuity leader – if the unexpected happens, it’s wise to have one person in your organisation responsible for coordinating efforts and informing all staff of the potential impacts and company policies.
Citrix Online is offering businesses and individuals a 30-day free trial for GoToMyPC, which enables fast, easy and secure access to a desktop from any remote location: www.gotomypc.co.uk ; and a 30-day trial for GoToMeeting, to host online meetings anywhere, anytime: www.gotomeeting.co.uk . Just visit the websites and enter SNOW in the promo code option.
