March 6, 2010
Filed under: Business Tools — Alan @ 6:07 am
The three-way fold brochure is one of the most popular setups, especially with regards to promotional material.
These folds can be configured in a variety of ways such as the z-setup or the gate fold. There are other variations but those are the two most popular ones.
The best fold entirely depends on the individual design and purpose of your brochure but the most common type is the three-way fold. One of the reasons for this is that this configuration is easiest to print and most uniform. Since it is basically the industry standard, these types of brochures are often the cheapest to print.
If you want something a little more unique and noticeable, then going for something a bit different such as the gate-fold setup may be advisable. Z-folds can also be good, but the way they read in their progression of content can be confusing to the reader and they are more suited to having different topics on each page.
The three most common layouts are the standard tri-fold and the slightly rarer z-fold and gate-folds; however, these are all fairly cheap and easy to produce.
Tri-folded brochures are most popular in the service industries; businesses such as hotels and restaurants etc. These brochures are also used for more informational purposes such as for banks to explain to their client’s particular procedures etc. However, this standard design can be suitable for almost any type of business.
Brochures are a great way to get your business off the ground since they are one of the cheapest ways of getting known and there are many different options out there to help you find the best deal.
Although they are not as cheap as printing flyers, they can contain a lot more information and images and almost certainly work out to be a better option in most cases.
Brochures are easy to customize and the more you have printed, the cheaper the price per unit is. They are easily distributable too (although perhaps not as easy as flyers).
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 4, 2010
Filed under: Business Tools, Business equipment, IT — admin @ 12:47 pm
The stage is set, you have that fateful interview with Van Morrison. You know fine well that he’s a grumpy and does not suffer fools gladly, if there is any issues he will probably hang up. So how do you make the call go as smooth as possible?
1. Remember the ‘holy couplet’ of conference calling. Dial the right number and be on time/early! Furthermore remember to familiarise yourself with the phone conferencing system you will be using beforehand.
2. Introduce yourself and encourage others to do the same. Participating in a meeting on the phone is a little un-natural to some people and a little introduction will help them get involved from that start.
3. Names are extremely important in a conference call. Learn everyone’s name beforehand and use them regularly. This will help to prevent callers answering the same question at the same time and talking over one another.
4. Use a quiet, undisturbed room with no background noise. A quiet room is exactly what it says. The only thing that should have the capacity to make unrestrained audible noise is you. In an ideal world your audience will find it amusing to hear you tussle with Fido screaming expletives at him. However in reality your audience would find it much more amusing to watch Hamsters surfing on You Tube but can’t because their boss said they have to talk to you.
5. If at all possible do not use mobile or cordless phones. Remember when the 3G network was being touted about with people proclaiming that everyone would have crystal clear connection wherever we were. It didn’t happen. If your goal is to trick your fellow callers into thinking you are Stephen Hawking in the midst of a sneezing fit go ahead, otherwise use a land-line.
6. Be cautious with the mute button. If you must use mute in order to make a private comment to the people in the room for your sake be careful. The reality is that a conference call, like everything else we encounter in our lives, follows sod’s law. You may be well versed when it comes to how to mute conference calls effectively and you may even have done it before. But you know as well as I do that when you use it in order to have a moan about one of your callers it won’t work. So, if you must use it be careful.
7. If you must nip out to relieve yourself during a conference call make sure that using your hold button does not commence your novelty on hold music. Everyone loves a novelty jingle but it may be distract Dave from accounts in his final year financial analysis. He doesn’t participate in much human interaction, so be nice and don’t ruin his time in the sun.
Take these tips on board and go forth and conquer phone conferencing in all its glory.
January 29, 2010
Filed under: Business Software, Business Tools — admin @ 1:14 pm
Online publishing has been around for a decade, since people first started putting their text files on the Internet to share. Of course, publisher software has come a long way since then, and digital magazine versions are now increasingly sophisticated.
If you’ve not considered the advantages of online publishing, or thought about using self publishing software to create an online magazine, book or other product, including music and images, now could be the time to consider doing so.
Digital publishing can help you to reach an almost unlimited global audience. You may well find that, if you also have a printed version, paper magazine subscriptions go up as a result of the increased exposure. A digital magazine gives a reader a chance to view the product in detail before committing to long-term magazine subscriptions.
Digital publishing is also much cheaper, with almost nothing in the way of start-up, type-setting or delivery costs.
Using publishing software to self publish your own digital magazine or other product means deadlines can be self-imposed rather than dictated by printing press or advertising deadlines. If your online magazine does carry adverts, your advertisers will love the extra exposure, and the way your product can potentially reach billions of people much more cheaply than paper magazine subscriptions.
Unlike bookshops or newsagents’, the Internet is always open for business, with people able to view the digital magazine of their choice whenever they like.
If you thought self publishing a digital magazine or book using publisher software required vast amounts of technical expertise, think again. Modern publishing software makes it easier than ever to experiment, and the room for creativity is just about endless. Digital publishing also means there is never really a final version of your digital magazine, since you can use the publishing software to change your online magazine as often as you want.
Publisher software also allows you to control administration and all costings electronically, saving you time and money. At the same time, publishing software means you can track crucial reader statistics and see exactly how your readers are behaving at the push of a few buttons.
The other thing about digital publishing, whether you’re self publishing a digital magazine, a web-based novel or anything else, is that it’s the environmentally friendly option, No paper means no trees are cut down for wood pulp, and no road deliveries, so no carbon emissions from delivery vehicles.
Self publishing online is also great for you readers. Many people just love the chance to be able to enjoy a digital magazine for free. They’ll also love the chance to give you instant feedback on your online magazine or novel, and to interact with each other by discussing your online magazine on one of the many online publishing forums around.
If you’re serious about looking into publisher software, think about Yudu Publishing Pro. This software allows you to self publish an online magazine with your own branding. It includes a system for full and close monitoring of reader behaviour, and a magazine subscriptions management system, among many other features.
Take a closer a look at how digital publishing could transform your product today, and reach a new worldwide audience, by seeing what Yudu Publishing Pro has to offer.
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.
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For more information visit www.vodafone.co.uk/suresignal
January 27, 2010
Filed under: Business Tools — admin @ 9:36 am
BT Business has launched its new fibre broadband service, BT Business Total Broadband Fibre. The product will be offering download speeds of up to 40Mb/s, from £30 per month, and provides business traffic priority at times of contention .
It is claimed that it will provide the UK’s fastest upstream speeds of up to 10Mb/s which business allows to benefit from services such as VOIP, high-definition vidoe conferencing and business-grade cloud applications. In addition it will also make home and remote working a reality, allowing staff to remain connected to the office at all times.
A dedicated broadband “fast lane” also puts business user traffic first at times of contention to help firms continue to work faster, do more, reduce operational costs and boost productivity.
Businesses in Muswell Hill, Whitchurch and Glasgow Halfway have already been enjoying the faster 40Mb/s broadband service through a BT trial. The service will now be made available to approximately 500,000 homes and businesses from 31-enabled exchanges by late February. A further two million homes and businesses will be able to access the services by late summer following the roll out of the technology by Openreach, BT’s local access division. By 2012, some 10 million premises – are expected to have access.
From 26 January, new and existing BT Business customers in an enabled exchange area will automatically be eligible for the fibre service. 50 per cent of UK businesses can currently also receive ADSL 2+ broadband speeds of up to 20Mb/s at no extra cost to copper services.
Further information available at http://business.bt.com/broadband-and-internet/internet-access/broadband/next-generation-broadband
January 14, 2010
Filed under: Business Tools, IT, Sales — admin @ 9:10 am
m62 visualcommunications, a specialist company in presentation effectiveness, has offered some useful tips to ensure that presenters are using their PowerPoint slides as effective visual aids in ssales presentations, by using relevant images and diagrams to illustrate points.
Although millions of PowerPoint presentations are delivered each day, many presenters still do not use slides effectively. According to m62,l two common mistakes are for the presenter to use the slides as cue cards by including too much text; or to include one large image per slide that does not help to explain the point being made.
The danger with using text on a slide is that the audience will read it instead of listening to the presenter, thus disengaging as they do not feel the need to pay attention. This remains true if the text is reduced to bullet points; the audience will still be able to understand each point before it is made, and thus may not deem it necessary to listen to the explanation.
While using a large background image to convey an idea is an improvement from using bullet points, it still does not guarantee audience attention. Unless the picture chosen is strictly relevant to the point being made, there is a risk that the audience will begin to think about the image rather than the message, and thus become lost in their own thoughts.
Instead, presenters should use diagrams, graphs and relevant images to illustrate their points, especially when the presentation is data heavy. PowerPoint slides can be designed to build on each point made, to ensure that emphasis is drawn to the correct point at the right time.
Nicholas Oulton, Founder of m62, commented: “There has been a shift in the way PowerPoint slides are used, and it has definitely been a shift for the better – yet the majority of presenters could still improve further. It is important for presenters to really think about their visual aids: why are they being used? How should the audience feel? If these questions are understood, a presenter’s slides will prove much more effective.”
m62 visualcommunications operates from offices in the UK, US and Singapore, and has produced almost 10,000 presentations for clients in a wide range of sectors, from medicine and education to finance and IT. For more information about m62 visualcommunications, call +44 (0)151 259 6262 or visit m62.net.
January 11, 2010
Filed under: Business Finance, Business Tools — admin @ 1:25 pm
Chipsworld Ltd had to enter into a company voluntary arrangement or CVA because of its debts with HMRC. However, there are no signs of panic as the company’s 18 franchised outlets as well as its website remains safe. Chips’ joint MD Don McCabe said, “We were hoping to avoid the CVA, but we had to go into it in the end. It means we are having to prepare ourselves and trim a few things down”.
CVA is one of the most important business tools that companies can use in UK. Many companies in UK are not aware of this arrangement. The fact is whenever we are talking about debt; we get a picture of measures that can help only individuals. Just as an IVA is essential for a debtor, a CVA is also equally important for a company that is stuck in debts.
A CVA is like a debt management plan for companies in UK to deal with debts. The company in debt reaches a formal binding agreement with its creditors for paying them back over a certain period of time. A CVA is a formal route out of debts for businesses in UK. For this an application has to be made to the court for a moratorium period which means that the creditors would not take any more action against the company concerned. This time period is for 28 days. After this, a meeting of creditors and shareholders is arranged for the approval of CVA. If 75% of the creditors agree to this, the CVA becomes binding on the creditors. A CVA is safe because it is more of a private affair and does not involve any kind of public flash of the company’s state.
Similarly Chipsworld Ltd also has resorted to a CVA to protect its customers, suppliers, employers as well as itself. It has thrown a positive light on the company and serves as a protective shield thus giving it time to recover from this financial crunch. The good factor is that this CVA has not affected the internal or external customer base. It is good to see that Don McCabe and Nik Agar still continue with their business administration and take all the necessary commercial decisions within the CVA framework.
Stores which NOT linked to this in anyway are: CHIPS Stockton, Stafford, Skipton, Hartlepool, Arnold, Lytham St Anne’s, Yeovil, Consett, Chester-Le-Street, Guisborough, Chorlton, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Woodley, Ashford, Ormskirk, Dudley, Longton & Market Harborough.
For tips and advice on other simple debt solutions, visit www.yesdebtfree.co.uk.
November 12, 2009
Filed under: Business Tools — admin @ 6:01 pm
If there is one thing you should do this year, it is upgrade your old and outdated CRM system to become a whole shiny new system. Choosing a system with a helpful CRM trial will be a good place to start, and will demonstrate to you just how many benefits a decent CRM system can give you. From exciting integrate systems through to easy and simple usability; there is something to tempt everyone in a good program.
Star CRM
Choosing your CRM system is consequently one of the biggest decisions you can make for your company. With the right system on your side, you should be able to integrate all your business components to work together efficiently and effectively. With so many businesses trapped in inefficient processes and with departments working on their own rather than together, a decent CRM trial has the chance to introduce you to a whole new world of technology.
That technology is quite incredible. As a CRM customer, you will be able to discover areas of customer relationship management that you probably haven’t though of before. In particular, professional CRM systems can work with Microsoft, one of the most popular computer systems on the marketplace today. During your CRM trial, you will be able to witness the synchronisation between your CRM system and Microsoft dynamics, tying together your database with Outlook, for example. Having done this, your company will be able to have everything working together, meaning that the maximum amount of useful information, including diaries and sales reports, are available to your sales teams.
Of course, being a CRM customer is useful for more than just your sales team. Your warehouse can manage sales and distribution, customer services can access relevant customer information, and marketing can access sales history and identify trends in order of effectively target their campaigns. Even better, a CRM trial will show you just how easy this technology is to understand, with the emphasis being place of CRM solutions that are logical, user-friendly and easy to learn. Keeping your training costs down because of this allows you to save money to use where it really counts, and even potentially allowing you to develop your business further through money saving efforts.
Not only does being a CRM customer keep your training costs down, but the new state of the art systems no longer require expensive installation and hardware costs. In fact, models like Star CRM, who offer free 14 day trials, don’t even come with any software to install, keeping your costs down to the bare minimum. Choosing a system like this that lets you meet your customer relationship management needs on a pay as you go basis immediately makes you life easier and your customer management better.
Taking action and realising the vast array of benefits on offer to CRM customers is probably enough to persuade you to take action and get involved in a CRM trial yourself, testing out the systems and understand the benefits they will offer you. After, the option to integrate customer relationship management seamlessly with your existing process isn’t one to be passed up.
A CRM system shouldn’t be just yet another complicated program to add to your business portfolio. No, a CRM trial should be the chance you need to give you business a new lease of life.
The three-way fold brochure is one of the most popular setups, especially with regards to promotional material.