All Blog Posts (746)

Autumn has arrived, the days are getting shorter and the nights longer. You may be preparing the garden for winter and arranging any rubbish for a seasonal bonfire. And, at this time of year, where there's a bonfire there could be fireworks.

Keep your distance

Bonfires and fireworks can be a good excuse to bring together family and friends to enjoy the autumn nights, but they do require a bit of caution as many people, including children, are at risk of injury.…

I had a client who was looking to grow his Business. We discussed various options and decided that a loan over 5 years would be the way forward. 

I informed my customer that this would take time and I would keep him updated of the progress.

Having spent time putting the application together and addressing the Pros & Cons I submitted the application. 

I informed the customer that it had been submitted and that there would be a 48/72 hour answer back from the funder.…

The benefits to having a motivated team are enormous. Someone who will go above and beyond might be particularly critical in a small company where you need everyone to contribute. Employees who put in extra effort for your company can make a huge difference to the success of your company. In addition, engaged employees are usually happier, healthier and more fulfilled, which means they’re likely to stay with your company longer. And while they’re working for you they’re likely to be off sick…

Greetings,

Welcome to the third weekly e mail instalment of Marketing for Professionals.

I hope that you are all still awake out…

Greetings,

Welcome to my second BLOG on the subject of marketing for professional companies.  I hope that you find it useful.

In my first BLOG, I talked about the…

Before selling my business to Aston Scott in 2014, I spent the previous six years trying to fill in the gaps in my Sales and Marketing knowledge.

In Insurance industry terms, I am a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, and therefore at the apex…

So, you’ve decided to see a clinical hypnotherapist to get help with the problem that’s been bothering you for some time. It’s a big step…..in fact deciding to see a therapist is one of the most important steps you’ll take in fixing that…

I was having lunch with a good friend at the weekend and we were discussing the virtues and pitfalls of running our own businesses. My friend, a successful, self-made woman, was sharing how some business owners in her industry (creative design) are falling out of love with their job due to an overwhelming and ever-increasing workload of operational matters that people have neither the time nor a clue, how to deal with.

I could see where she was coming from. I regularly speak with…

Ask the right question and you'll get the information you need. Communication is key to all aspects of managing people. The questions you ask in interview when recruiting. Making sure an individual has understood a request you have made of them once they are working for you. Coaching them to improve. And a whole lot more. There are, however, different ways to ask a question, so let’s look at some of them and find out when to use them.…

Since turning up for my first job in my dad’s cast-off pinstripe suit, which fitted me like an unzipped sleeping bag, long out of fashion before my dad had even bought it, I have been privileged to work for and with some brilliant people. I have also had the misfortune of working with some not so brilliant people. This is, of course, not unique to me. Most of us have experienced the best and worst type of management at some point in our lives.

 …

“Businesses are 67% better at closing deals when sales and marketing work together”

Align sales and marketing with technology to boost sales...

Increasing sales, retaining customers, and improving productivity is the key to driving a successful business. The increasing capability of many CRM (customer relationship manager) systems has meant that this is now possible, not just in big business, but within the…

Do you use hot or cold water when you wash your hands?

Well, new research suggests that cold water might be just as good as warm water!

US scientists studied a group of volunteers and found that washing with cold water (15C) instead of hot water (38C) didn’t make a big difference to how much bacteria was…

Goals should not be set in stone. Periodically check what goals you are working towards, and update them whenever required. If something changes in your business (or life), don’t forget to update any related goals to make sure they are still relevant. Periodically check that all the goals your team are working towards are the right ones to move your business forwards. If any of their goals need updating, then update them. Drop goals that are no longer relevant at all, and write new relevant…

[See my original Blog post here...]

In this article, I tackle the question "How does technology make my company more profitable?" and share 5 steps to understand how you can unlock the value from…

Let’s face it, most of us try to separate our personal lives from our work lives. In the office, we are expected to conduct ourselves professionally and that includes being respectful of co-workers. Most importantly, we should always try to be clean and clutter-free – particularly in shared environments. However, in the real world, there will always be instances where our optimistic and energetic approach to doing tasks is marred by annoying habits caused by colleagues and…

My cousin Laura told me when we caught up recently that she’d left her job with nothing else to go to, and she was sure she’d made the right decision. I was surprised: Laura has always been a very solid and responsible woman, and has worked continuously since the children were in their teens. Perhaps she had taken early retirement? No, despite being 62 years of age, that wasn’t it. She’d left because she’d been bullied at work for about six months, and had…

Exit interviews are a great way to unearth trends that might otherwise go unnoticed. Consider this example where three of your team have quit in the past few months. Let’s look at each scenario in turn:

Jane, one of your best employees has just handed in her resignation. You have a chat with her to see if you can get her to change her mind. You really don’t want her to leave. She says it’s not about money, she’s just found something else she’s more interested in. It’s clear…

If you are contractor, freelancer and small business owner in the UK, it's staggeringly vital to monitor your filing and payment due dates, as well as changing tax rates and thresholds.

HMRC has two categories of …

Almost every week we visit a customer where these things happen:

• No security on the network – routers,  printers, wireless devices left on default passwords, so any hacker can walk straight in
• No anti-virus or firewall
• No staff usage policy – So many customers have experienced the internal attack. Data theft, unhappy employee etc. Without an user policy how can you take legal action ?
• Important security updates and patches to software – Often these…