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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 248
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| Thought for the week: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?" Robert Schuller |
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In this week's issue:
Tips to make your small business newsworthy
The key to getting publicity for your business is to make yourself newsworthy. Now, the person at the agency or newspaper publishers in charge of reviewing incoming news releases will sift through them like you go through your mail - that is, typically, over the bin.
If a news release doesn't catch their eye they will bin it. So how do you ensure your press release makes it through the mounting pile of scrap paper? Here are some tips to help your business sound newsworthy:
1. Do a customer survey and include controversial questions. Write articles about the results of the survey. The media loves survey results.
2. Create a top ten list about something in your business. For example, if you're a beautician, write an article about the top ten most popular hairstyles for women.
3. Offer surprising facts about your sector or business. For instance, if you're a recruitment firm, you could write an article titled 'The average starting salary for an MBA graduate is 40% higher than their pre-MBA earnings'.
4. Tie your business in with holidays or special days. For example, tell the media how your massage therapy business helps to reduce stress during the Christmas season and provides gift vouchers to aid welcome relief.
5. Give a rags-to-riches story about yourself as a high school nobody that started your own business and became successful. Remember, the media loves human interest stories.
6. Tie your business in with something that took place in the past. Go to your local library and find articles from 50 years ago that somehow fit in with the product or service you provide.
7. Sponsor a local community service project. Or, close your business down for one day a year and have your entire staff do a day of charity work.
8. Has your business survived a tragic incident, such as flooding or fire, and have you built it up again, better and stronger than before? Tell someone about it.
9. Write a general interest story about the problem your product or service solves. If you sell websites, write about hosting problems or the effects of poor website design and how to solve them.
10. Why did you start your business? If you started your business because you were dissatisfied with the provider you were using (or the employer you worked for), let the press know. For instance, you opened an Italian restaurant because you thought the Italian food in the local area wasn't authentic.
Keep an eye on your business costs
Cost control is an essential, and often overlooked, ingredient in making a business profitable. Here are some useful pointers.
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Review costs and prices. Look for better deals. Contact your existing suppliers and see if you can negotiate better rates with them. If not, and you think that you are paying a premium, then it might be time to find a new supplier. Some suppliers will offer a discount if you settle your bill early - there is no harm in asking. Consider whether or not buying in bulk would be cost-effective for you.
Agree costs in advance and use purchase orders to confirm the details with your supplier. This way you know exactly what you are expected to pay and there should not be any nasty surprises.
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Communicate with staff. Cost control should be the responsibility of everyone. Your staff will have many opportunities during the normal working day to save the business money; this could be something as simple as recycling paper that has been printed on one side and using it as scrap paper, or sending empty ink cartridges to be refilled rather than buying brand new ones every time, or even turning off the lights.
Businesses often find that involving staff in coming up with ideas to reduce costs is beneficial and has better results than just imposing cost control measures.
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Control utility costs. Nowadays most people are aware that there are choices to be made in the domestic utility market and have no qualms about switching gas, electricity or phone supplier in search of a better deal. The same choices apply in the business market.
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Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
- Fruit on Demand for businesses. A London-based business is helping business owners and office workers alike get a daily helping of fruit. Fruit on Demand delivers boxes of fruit to offices in the capital. Workers can specify the types of fruit they want delivered.
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.
Do you know the meaning of the word 'unctuous'?
a) the ability to deal with different situations
b) expressing praise in a false manner
c) unpleasantly confident or arrogant
d) unfriendly
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?
1) A recent survey of small business owners found nearly 90% were irritated by cold calls from telesales people as it wasted their time. Over half of the respondents said the most irritating calls were made by whom?
a) utilities companies
b) pr agencies
c) awkward customers
d) mobile phone companies
2) The Government has said it will increase the number of apprenticeships in the UK. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) is concerned that small firms won't be able to handle the costs of training apprentices and is urging the Government to do what, to help ease the financial strain?
a) provide tax relief on train to gain schemes
b) provide up to £50 for the purchase of training manuals
c) offer a travel bursary scheme for employees
d) provide funding for mentors
3) Freelancers with certain skills and qualifications were in demand in 2007, according to a skills report from recruitment site Chinwag. Firms in the travel, marketing and technical sectors, in particular, reported taking on more freelancers with which particular skill types?
a) second language skills
b) digital skills
c) project management skills
d) copywriting skills
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
Top ten small business website marketing tips
PawPrint has devised a list of top ten website marketing tips for small business owners wanting to get more from their e-commerce sites. The tips are succinct and focused, and you should find them fairly easy to take on board. The tips are subjects we've covered before in EnterQuest, so there's nothing scarily new here. They're practical and should help you get more out of your online selling.
BootStrapMe blog
The BootStrapMe blog is packed with news, information, hints and tips to help inspire you to become a business success without forking out a shedload of cash. There's a how-to section to help you figure out bootstrapping ideas for your own business, and sections on entrepreneurship and useful tools.
Free driver risk assessment for new Act
The Rock Consultants website provides useful guidance for business owners concerned about the impending Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act and how it could affect driving for business purposes, as the Act will take into account occupational road risk. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) offers businesses a free compliance assessment for occupational road risk and there is more advice on the subject on the RoSPA website.
Business continuity management toolkit
The Government has launched a business continuity management toolkit for businesses and voluntary organisations to help them keep functioning during difficult times. The toolkit is available to download from the Preparing for Emergencies website and covers issues such as loss of staff and technology.
This book helps the reader start and grow a profitable Internet business. The author, who is head of a marketing consulting firm, provides the reader with expert advice on selecting a niche, building a site and managing a business. It draws on the experiences of others in the field and includes website resources. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is b).
Unctuous means expressing praise or interest in a false manner.
The salesman had an unctuous interest in the business owner's current supplier. |
How's your business radar? The answers
1) The answer is d) - Sales calls from mobile phone companies annoy half the respondents who said they were irritated by cold callers.
2) The answer is a) - The CIPD has called on the Government to introduce tax breaks to employers prepared to take on apprentices. It says an employer spends thousands to support an apprentice.
3) The answer is b) - According to Chinwag's survey, digital skills are in short supply. Freelance UK reported that contract and freelance professionals benefited from the shortfall, as firms hired freelancers to plug their digital skills gaps. |
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Good luck
The EnterQuest Team
This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate. |
