WLCM 14/9/12

Quote of Note: WLCM 14/9/12
With the introduction of 4G wifi this week and iPhone 5 @Gilgillies was over heard to remark "we want it bigger, faster, stronger, better and we want it now". I think I have to agree.

Federation of Small Business FSB

The FSB is a true friend to SME’s, sole traders and all small business. It is a sleeping giant in the back ground of your day to day activities, but working tirelessly on your behalf at a political and administrative level. Then when you wake it up and invite it in to your business you will be protected by a wealth of expertise and service including:

Business Advice:
Tax, Insurance, Employment.
Personal Service.
Health & Medical, telecom, insurance.
Financial Service.
Credit, Factoring, IFS, Banking.

If you run a small Business this is the best £150.00* per year you will ever spend.
If you are in West Lothian and would like further information give me a call.

Bruce.

Before you build it . . .Plan-It.

* all information is subject to change and is provided here as General Information.

Search Engine Optimisation. SEO

At this morning’s WLCM (16.10.09) I had a good long chat with Paul Doffman on SEO. Paul is advising that whist keywords, key phrases and content are extremely important for the correct working of your web site you can not stop there if your site is to be truly effective. For this you MUST form links with the web sites of relevant external sources. For instance the content of your pages has to include key words and phrases but also read as an expert source of information. You must then provide that information to other experts in your field to refer to. By doing this the other experts will send people from their site to yours via a link, Google will then reward your expertise and make you easier to find.
It does require relationship building and time, but THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT.

Good Luck,

Bruce.

Before you build it . . .Plan-It.

Marketing and Public Relations.

At this morning’s WLCM (16.10.09) I had a good long chat with Nigel Duncan and Mark Eyre on the principals of Marketing and Public Relations. Nigel is the Editor of FSB Publications and explained that Marketing on its own is a restrictive and expensive process. When coupled with Public Relations it is vastly more effective and far better value for money. He sited the example of a small add in a paper may cost £50 for 3cm x 3cm advert. However a story and better yet a picture will yield far better coverage and will serve to get your advert noticed. This needs to be worked on and relationships formed with editors/journalists but the time invested will be far more effective than any advertising campaign.
If you are not Public relations savvy then take professional advise but you MUST consider this in conjunction with your marketing campaign.
Remember “its not what it costs, but what its worth” that counts.

Good Luck,

Bruce.

Before you build it . . . Plan-It.

Bankruptcy and Receivership.

At this mornings WLCM (9.10.09) Peter Wilson divulged some of the intricacies and even less well know facts of going into receivership and bankruptcy. I am not going to pretend that by listening in I have become any kind of authority on the matter but suffice to say there is a correct and methodical way for a business to go into receivership.

You may have thought it unlikely for any business to want to go into receivership but in fact it can (for big business) be used as a tool for negotiation. For small business I think it is sufficient to know there is a proper way to do it. So if you are considering receivership or bankruptcy seek professional advice, as it will save you a lot of money.

Quote of note “its not what something costs you should be asking rather, What is it worth.”

Good Luck,
Bruce.

Before you build it . . . Plan-It

West Lothian Coffee Morning WLCM

This is a gathering of Small Business Owners and organisations with a Small Business interest in West Lothian. If this is YOU this is a must attend event. It is held each Friday morning at the Winter Garden in the Centre, Livingston. The brain child of Neo Recruitment (Claire Hammond) and Simple HR (Paul Hunter) the WLCM now regularly attracts between 30 – 50 people with such diverse business interests from high finance to knitting, architecture and magic.

The format is very informal, just a chat over a cup of coffee however the benefits are immense for small business and include:
 Development of ideas with like minded people.
 Ad hoc but invaluable mentoring in a diverse range of subjects.
 Free advice and simply blethering.

Its free and open to anyone so if you are interested just come along and join in. If you would prefer an introduction just give me a call.

For an idea of the great topics I have discussed have a look at the WLCM labels on my posts.

Good Luck,
Bruce.

Before you build it . . .Plan-It.