tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47032109192543860702024-02-18T20:47:12.349-08:00Resource Planning and Manpower PlanningScottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-1612919185418753302013-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:002013-10-28T14:40:03.962-07:00Recognising Value - Customer Perception Change<div style="text-align: center;">
As a child my father said to me "You know the price of everything and the value of nothing" at the time I thought he was just being stingy and not getting me what I asked for Christmas. As I grew older and entered the tough market of having my own business I realised that in consumerism this is so true. People often value items on the price tag, they think because something is "reassuringly expensive" then of course it is worth that. </div>
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There are industries where this is more true than others, art being the perfect example where price is king and the higher the price the more desirable the artwork. But with something so personal as art it is a funny business, I would much rather adorn my walls with the work of Mondo who create retro and unusual movie poster art than a Van Gogh, but if I had a Van Gogh then I would be looking to turn it over for a profit. So it no longer becomes art it is simply a commodity. Take for example the recent exploits of the famous Banksy, who sold his original art on the streets of New York for as little as $30 for the buyer to discover in fact the work was an original and worth $20k. It was an experiment in art that he performed but you can be sure that the majority of those buyers will no doubt cash that cheque by selling it and turning a profit. The buyers of that art will assume value will increase until they can in turn make a profit. </div>
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Comics would be another example of this where people buy them, do not remove them from the packaging instead reading it on an online download, because they know the price will increase. It's a different form of investment from share ownership but works on the same principles, perception of price (not value) is key.</div>
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<u><b>Price Comparison Not an exact science</b></u><br />
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Back to the high street, I often find that consumers now value the price of items based on competition, but do not understand fully the service they are being provided with. If a consumer was to purchase a t-shirt with a slogan on from Primark it would cost them less than £4, should they purchase a t-shirt with a slogan from myself they would pay three times this. Why you may ask? Well simply because freedom of choice, they can have any slogan they like and complete and utter control over it, creative freedom to make a one off item specifically for them. But what if the customer wants exactly the same as an example I have produced, does that make the process any less laborious, the labour any less intensive? No. So the price remains the same. This subtle difference in understanding of a shop is lost on many and the proliferation of multi nationals into our conscience has resulted in a mass price war. Fear not this price war because there are weapons that the little guy has much better than the big guy!</div>
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<b><u>Bartering the last Bastion of the Small Guy</u></b><br />
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The art of bartering has been lost, seen by many as cheeky or awkward, but this is a weapon that most small retailers retain which their larger counterparts cannot. An employee at Tesco will not give you a discount on a TV, or a yoghurt but the local retailer might. How would you go about advertising this unique selling point? First you must ask yourself if you want to, by advertising this fact are you not simply saying "My price tags are indicative only". The best way to achieve this is by closing the sale on an individual basis, reading customers is a fine art but there are obvious signs when someone is interested in a product. If you see them about to decide against it a quick price drop may sway them into your order book. The trick is always to engage customers, by doing it this way you can clearly dictate this a special offer for them, and not an open invitation to get discounts every time. You may find this one act of generosity actually makes you turn a would be browser into a long term customer. </div>
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In Spite of this potential price competition you may find that the reverse is also the case. Whilst many people want you to be price competitive others will value the aspects that you can provide ahead of the big guys:<br />
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- Your brand, shop local and other initatives actively encourage people to shop with the small guys<br />
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I often see a customer paying more than I will charge, because they value the item beyond the price I am charging and they are rewarding the work and effort I have executed. A situation I am sure doesn't happen in your faceless multi nationals. This often restores my faith that not all consumers know the price of everything and the value of nothing. </div>
Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-82934156461738307272013-09-17T03:04:00.003-07:002013-09-17T03:04:33.573-07:00Small Business - Fear of Competition?<div style="text-align: center;">
On high streets across the Uk we see a collection of shops and services for offer, often these services and shops are repeated a few paces further down leading many to believe that High street lacks the imagination of the Internet. With charity shops, cafes and hairdressers littering our high streets the downward spiral of a local thriving shopping area is plain for all to see.</div>
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These tough times can often lead many small business to fear competition, perhaps a similar shop has opened nearby and you are worried about vital custom being taken away. These fears are valid, however there are ways which you can actually turn this competition into a positive.</div>
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1 - More shops attract more customers</div>
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Many people avoid the high street because they think there will be nothing of value there, they would rather shop in large out of town super stores or the Internet. By having an increased number of shops you may actually find your footflow increases.People who cannot find what they want in your competition may approach you leading to direct sales from their customers. Don't be tempted to get into a price war, the damage that will do to your business cannot be reversed, by having low prices the reputational damage of reverting them back to original price will leave you suffering in the long term.</div>
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2 - Collaborative working</div>
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People are generally friendly and as a new business your competition may appreciate a friendly visit. Perhaps discuss new product ideas, agree boundaries and support each other through website growth and custome referrals. Unless the business is a franchise then they will be open to this kind of approach, and if not you have not lost anything in trying. </div>
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3 - Areas of expertise</div>
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A lot of high streets across the Uk have become known for a particular specialism, perhaps your local high street has an abundance of sports shops due to local facilities, or a large amount of galleries and art supply shops. These high streets grow in reputation as more competition enters the market and to be known for a specialism will attract customers from further afield. </div>
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4 - If all else fails diversify</div>
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If you have exhausted all other opportunities and your customer footflow has dropped then perhaps its time to branch out. Try new products and change away from your existing business model. The cheapest way to do this is by having other local suppliers provide you stock on sale or return basis. Or acting as an agent for a larger business, this will mean litle to no capital outlay to bring in that new stuff and if it works then you can begin to purchase direct from suppliers and increase your profit. </div>
Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-22435151926100846422013-08-05T11:33:00.001-07:002013-08-05T11:33:33.455-07:00Promotional Items - Give a gift, grow a brand!Giving gifts may seem like an expensive way to promote your brand but if you are clever it can be the most effective advertising you have ever undertaken. People like to get free stuff, even if the items are only small the gesture of getting something for free is a great way to build advocacy with your potential customers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/25-gifts">Personalisation of gifts</a> is huge, large businesses like Moonpig allow customers to give a gift tailored specifically to the individual recipient. The opportunity to grow your brand can be done via competitions or other prize giveaways but having larger volumes to give away can be much better way to reach a wider audience. Here are some tips to help you decide if this is a venture for you.</div>
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<u><b>Consider your audience</b></u></div>
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Firstly think who you want to give free gifts to. Of course if your business has a specific demographic of customer then this will limit your potential targets. You may think the easiest way is to have a give away in store, or on the local street, but this is unlikely to attract anyone who does not already know you exist. Some other potential ideas would be:</div>
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<b>Local Office Block</b> - A local large employer will have a captive audience and providing them with mouse mats or mugs for their staff may be a great way to pick up new customers. Not only will you get direct sales but those staff will be staring at your logo and details daily and will act as an advocate when others discuss requiring your services. Items; Mug, Mouse Mats, Pens or Stress balls</div>
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<b>Social Clubs - </b>Social clubs are used by the community in many different ways, this means you have the opportunity to have many different types of groups become aware of your services. The main risk with this is that many of the products are simply taken or forgotten about, ensure you agree the placement with the organisors or owners of the social club. Items; Hats, Bibs(for team activity), Glasses, mugs or aprons.<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Pubs - </b>Pubs may not be as busy as they were but a lot of potential customers still use them. The best type of establishment would be a Gastro Pub as these are more likely to have affluent and family patrons. Items; Mats, Mugs, Plates, Kids jigsaw or stickers<b>.</b></div>
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<b>Cafe - </b>Coffee shops are the boom industry in the UK and USA, with no signs of decline. As more cultural awareness about excessive drinking becomes known people turn to cafe's for their social meeting places. High foot-flow and large cross section of customers will help reach a good section of your target audience. Items; <a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/customisable-products/95-custom-mug.html">Mugs</a>, Mats or kids <a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/home/103-custom-jigsaw-80-pieces.html">jigsaw</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9_9NqDPVqLvIf7BK6g-hTGXIq0HzDSJZgbPCjbtLK6LjehY3LhtRt03C__pi8p4SJtvcaPPf5eaUg7xuB-2Y7T44eknRJX0pWDR2G21QxPyFiRgf_MJ3BJmH-PD3OWUB42-GcimhuG0/s1600/Full+Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9_9NqDPVqLvIf7BK6g-hTGXIq0HzDSJZgbPCjbtLK6LjehY3LhtRt03C__pi8p4SJtvcaPPf5eaUg7xuB-2Y7T44eknRJX0pWDR2G21QxPyFiRgf_MJ3BJmH-PD3OWUB42-GcimhuG0/s1600/Full+Church.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Churches</b> - Churches are registered charities and often require products to help run fundraising events, a coffee morning sponsored by your business would be a great way to show your care in the local community. This does not need to mean your business is religiously affiliated so it may be worth working across the denominations to ensure this is understood. Items ; Mugs, t-shirts, <a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/home/121-custom-vneck-unisex-tunic.html">tabards</a> or hoodies.</div>
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The model for this type of giveaway is that you provide a need for these establishments but with your own branding, or perhaps joint branding to help your business identity grow. In the current climate businesses are always looking for opportunities to help support and grow their brand, doing this type of joint venture is a great way to do this.</div>
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Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-5530117894774484262013-07-21T13:04:00.005-07:002013-07-21T13:04:44.461-07:00Mitigating risk of Holidays<div style="text-align: center;">
The summer for many businesses can be seen as a nightmare of juggling staffing with the increased demands of expenditure. For small business this can prove a bigger headache than medium and large who have the staff size to cover holidays and can work on a rota system to handle the time off. For sole traders or small business this may simply not be an option.</div>
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Some tips which may help:</div>
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Know your customer behaviour</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkj0Fw5Azmsn3lNSdfZYY3cbjOY48mj50uXQM3lyUhBNg4_i7SWLfHQDBUBfn1xnhkpsVqg-LJBd1f8NhsRRT9-fi7vkbTf6QLCQ-nzY1QH0LvQNBwwnhnnxgruJ9FU0cIRl8epeLBtD4/s1600/customers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkj0Fw5Azmsn3lNSdfZYY3cbjOY48mj50uXQM3lyUhBNg4_i7SWLfHQDBUBfn1xnhkpsVqg-LJBd1f8NhsRRT9-fi7vkbTf6QLCQ-nzY1QH0LvQNBwwnhnnxgruJ9FU0cIRl8epeLBtD4/s1600/customers.jpg" /></a></div>
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Knowing your customer demand pattern is key to assessing peaks and troughs in your business. If you have a naturally quiet period then using this time as your main holiday may be a better plan, however if you have other responsibilities such as a family the summer and school holidays may be the only time you can have a family get away. By first understanding your customer behaviour you may be able to work with clients to change there demand which would allow a slower fulfillment, meaning you can take a well deserved break. The issue with taking any time off and closing down your business is that you will not get paid, unlike a salaried position where you have holiday entitlement. Depending on your cash flow accepting a holiday may not be possible is one of the harsh realities of being a business person. </div>
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Stay-cation</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHe1HxGoxzii0gPD8jtQR-2vSsuc5jr4YgFUQClAwElhi7hYokkhe8IPQhRkeS3KtET3X_DyJvNFW_6LlUBVDEIYOyWn-7IfY9WaEUBuOZG7nTva_ueRqppiM19L2BiH3DdVmHoM8a9o/s1600/holiday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifHe1HxGoxzii0gPD8jtQR-2vSsuc5jr4YgFUQClAwElhi7hYokkhe8IPQhRkeS3KtET3X_DyJvNFW_6LlUBVDEIYOyWn-7IfY9WaEUBuOZG7nTva_ueRqppiM19L2BiH3DdVmHoM8a9o/s1600/holiday.jpg" /></a></div>
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Working less is an effective way to have fun days out with the family or friends. With technology accessible all over the UK you can stay connected and don't have to venture too far. This will ensure overall control is not lost and should anything untoward occur you are able to hurry back to address the issue. Many people are quick to leave the country for foreign holidays forgetting the wealth of entertainment on their doorstep, not to mention the cost saving that may be necessary during this prolonged recession. </div>
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Rely on friends or family</div>
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Trust no one, is sound advice if you want to work 24 hours a day but there comes a time when you will need to trust somebody. Having a friend or family cover may mean not all services are available but it will at least allow you a break knowing that they will do their upmost to keep your business ticking over.</div>
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Hire the professionals</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6dnrnh9c_DChJDDBtLpD2TWNamXlMBtsR2QLgc0fbf-l6oe-ZoJqQa4L3cKMb1wJzmprO-aF3EdebSBdOLoSxw-j_hTDYONHo8l7CxSrwD-YWVqSNmFHzI6GMlrWdNzTXi36fwtyPTc/s1600/professionals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6dnrnh9c_DChJDDBtLpD2TWNamXlMBtsR2QLgc0fbf-l6oe-ZoJqQa4L3cKMb1wJzmprO-aF3EdebSBdOLoSxw-j_hTDYONHo8l7CxSrwD-YWVqSNmFHzI6GMlrWdNzTXi36fwtyPTc/s1600/professionals.jpg" /></a></div>
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There are agencies which will help, many offering staff and management to help run the business in your absence. Rather than rely on individuals by outsourcing your cover needs to an agency you can hold them to account and demand the expertise that may not be readily available in your local recruitment pool. There is always a premium to be paid for this type of service but may be worth the cost to ensure piece of mind</div>
<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-58528419123076300002013-07-03T06:19:00.000-07:002013-07-03T06:19:32.095-07:00Promotional Branding and Giveaways<div style="text-align: center;">
Businesses can use a wide array of advertising techniques to gain leverage in their chosen market, from TV, press, Internet and other techniques. Building an affinity with your brand is difficult depending on the niche industry you operate in, why would customers feel any loyalty to you after coming across your advert? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4FOe3oybi-1xDbERA340p2hskwQGbWlgTXkoSXkZm0iLWbYTK-qIHRECs8HVYTdpmjEUgMRE_PFdbh5BPGV4HOnvyiKD9oFaEZjex2LNbmv-7pKPjVmfM8qvhCNEbC-_wt_1TYmketY/s488/coca-cola-coke-classic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4FOe3oybi-1xDbERA340p2hskwQGbWlgTXkoSXkZm0iLWbYTK-qIHRECs8HVYTdpmjEUgMRE_PFdbh5BPGV4HOnvyiKD9oFaEZjex2LNbmv-7pKPjVmfM8qvhCNEbC-_wt_1TYmketY/s488/coca-cola-coke-classic.jpg" height="320" width="304" /></a></div>
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Perhaps a good solution here is to not only advertise your business but offer something to your customers, during the 90's there was a surge in the number of personalised products offered to customers, remember the drawer full of branded goods you had, pens, notepads, glasses, t-shirts and much more?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7WAv49nkxq3cSrqeX-UpuY-saRRp3BMpUR23Au5KGPn3VmEd3PrLk7beB3QBnbWP3LkJaUnLwSOuTx8XlwHw87Dw_n1kgOvRiONNxBKTYinzmJRKBHPAoO9qZRw4xZUKWrsHu6BLZAM/s500/6a0105355ba1e3970c0168eb13cf24970c-500wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7WAv49nkxq3cSrqeX-UpuY-saRRp3BMpUR23Au5KGPn3VmEd3PrLk7beB3QBnbWP3LkJaUnLwSOuTx8XlwHw87Dw_n1kgOvRiONNxBKTYinzmJRKBHPAoO9qZRw4xZUKWrsHu6BLZAM/s500/6a0105355ba1e3970c0168eb13cf24970c-500wi.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well the boom in personalised goods may have subsided as big corporates move towards a more internet savvy marketing strategy but the technique of producing personalised goods for free giveaways has not ceased. In fact it provides a great way to introduce many customers to your brand. A message that they may even promote by wearing or using your product. This cheap way of producing huge coverage in marketing may seem like an expensive way to market but when you consider the price comparison to other forms of advertising you may be surprised:</div>
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100 T-shirts giveaway - £650</div>
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Local radio Advert 1 Month - £350</div>
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Local Press Advert - £400</div>
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Local Tv Advert - £1000</div>
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Niche Internet Advertising Campaign - £500 pcm</div>
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Niche Social media Advertising Campaign - £500 pcm</div>
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When you consider the life-cycle of a t-shirt you can see that the advert will be working for longer than 1 month and the goodwill and buzz created from a giveaway may even attract you free local press and radio advertising, not to mention the potential for virility of social media advertising of the giveaway. In today's marketing you need to fire across many different areas, not concentrate solely on one aspect, this type of promotional giveaway can cover those different areas needed and people love free stuff.</div>
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<b>Uniforms and Work-wear</b></div>
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Even small traders, tradesmen and crafters can now get good quality designed work-wear to ensure that they are walking adverts for their business. With a huge selection of different items, from T-Shirts and Hoodies to Vests and Tabards there is something to suit every type of industry.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWePFrAPqn_CP28DCl-wWCZuBQ1wPsNAdjOmEIxV3e14SQSZ9UcaqFN_tAFHpvJ8ADYCsYvH6O-o8rA0Bp02ifMkL3I9Mx3OwpVrwUpvA9FgjOlrpvdvnpYrRYozO0pIRYM0W2xJHC_CU/s280/tabard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWePFrAPqn_CP28DCl-wWCZuBQ1wPsNAdjOmEIxV3e14SQSZ9UcaqFN_tAFHpvJ8ADYCsYvH6O-o8rA0Bp02ifMkL3I9Mx3OwpVrwUpvA9FgjOlrpvdvnpYrRYozO0pIRYM0W2xJHC_CU/s280/tabard.jpg" /></a></div>
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Why not check out Dunbar T-shirt Shop a custom garment and gift company which can offer you both professional uniform printing and promotional items.</div>
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<a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWubXf5iBDpbbaHmc9tBL0A-Hbb5OA_NCHYn9cQedRKkTfFlSHvrXsv79xxJB3fuWMA0d4RFqbrqWIn2i4qp9wcalennWUwOIsBudHmZG_9zdkNMBm1lwwz947vixc-5A7U1ZvsfT-inw/s852/DTS+Logo.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-21655906126606753082013-06-27T11:19:00.003-07:002013-06-28T04:15:06.201-07:00Websites - Are you being ripped off?<div style="text-align: center;">
How much do you value your time? This is a question all business people should ask, having to make choices about which area to invest their time on is difficult, especially when your to do list is longer than the capacity that you have. Outsourcing work is perhaps an efficient way to make the gap between capacity and workload smaller. There are a myriad of services offered, many are provided by excellent professionals who could certainly improve aspect of your business. However like any industry that grows rapidly online, you find more and more that scams begin to creep into your email, with promises of much with little or no track history or CV. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvX00mi6r2Omh2LvfjvvFoHYAE1QEtFxfJCDBfzdFJsIVtVVipbe1jFBIXo48d-d95rBjF7CORyDY5A9d7LOS9WbqsPtOI5wnKlf0oBL1Mg9JOzhZf7f0rfEXCrQI2P_Kn9ZreGd7nI4A/s300/Website-Building-300x214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvX00mi6r2Omh2LvfjvvFoHYAE1QEtFxfJCDBfzdFJsIVtVVipbe1jFBIXo48d-d95rBjF7CORyDY5A9d7LOS9WbqsPtOI5wnKlf0oBL1Mg9JOzhZf7f0rfEXCrQI2P_Kn9ZreGd7nI4A/s300/Website-Building-300x214.jpg" /></a></div>
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The terminology of the entire industry is wrong, with building and growth often touted as the terms on offer. But had a company approach you to build your house there would be clear milestones, a contract and of course that all important warranty. With online service building your website it is clear they may work, but they are far less inclined to give you any type of guarantee with so much of the techniques used to grow an online presence built in quicksand, only one Google update away from falling over completely. </div>
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So these companies target the weak of the heard, the old fashioned retailer who knows little about this new fangled web and can be confused. </div>
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<b>When is a Website cost effective</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN4kzoEmkXcw0UoTkswQA9ruqasbqttEyBT13Z3PBZIovGwQus0yK6LCyFKCXvkDPNw-TISQOfMCxHff3pUskuLBsPkkV3AzBrtSXCDVaKN9WU6PPqCqzGQwlvzsWfLZsoLoyWFErlEQ/s319/scam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuN4kzoEmkXcw0UoTkswQA9ruqasbqttEyBT13Z3PBZIovGwQus0yK6LCyFKCXvkDPNw-TISQOfMCxHff3pUskuLBsPkkV3AzBrtSXCDVaKN9WU6PPqCqzGQwlvzsWfLZsoLoyWFErlEQ/s319/scam.jpg" /></a></div>
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A website is a cheap thing to build, with so many free to use open source templates you would be amazed at how great it can look on a cost of nothing more than a web domain registration and hosting account (around £50 per annum max). Even in the minefield of eCommerce you will find great free to use software to make it an easy to update back office and professional front end that will be sufficient to satisfy customers. </div>
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A lot of these free to use templates are idiot proof, with step by step guides to making the best of the chosen package. So how long would it really take you to get up and running, well that would depend on your amount of effort, but it could easily be achieved within a day. For those with some web experienced this would be a lot less. </div>
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<b>Why outsource SEO</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnsnBqirCOLI3PyKQIYi-j8YRhz-CpnOnQfYtuplbQuYzEByM-7ycygqebp4wSKJLPdpY0R-LlrAS0Lc0zyDsfoEGVSJSeSXIcv12HtXKeLsDfTkN_ByZniBv5zhY5Lc18K8wBkkcetc/s975/SEO-Company1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnsnBqirCOLI3PyKQIYi-j8YRhz-CpnOnQfYtuplbQuYzEByM-7ycygqebp4wSKJLPdpY0R-LlrAS0Lc0zyDsfoEGVSJSeSXIcv12HtXKeLsDfTkN_ByZniBv5zhY5Lc18K8wBkkcetc/s975/SEO-Company1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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SEO is an entirely different kettle of fish from simple web site building, getting your website to have traffic can be a long term plan which won't bear fruit for months or years. So you need to start improving your online presence now. The best reason to outsource this work is because it is time consuming, but I would suggest outsourcing elements of this work, don't be tempted to get a one strategy company to work on this as the negative affect long term will outweigh any short term gains.</div>
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Below are some items you could outsource and what you may wish to consider:</div>
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- <b>Content Marketing</b> - the writing and placing of articles with links to your website. This can be done cheaply, but remember cheap price will mean cheap quality. Guest blogging is an established technique now so you can commission articles to be placed on RELEVANT websites to help grow your search rankings. Articles can be as little as £2 up to £500 for the top end of the market. The low end will likely never get you real organic traffic but simply act as a link.</div>
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<b>- Social media - </b>updating Facebook, twitter, pinterest, Google+ and all the other social media platforms is perhaps the most time consuming and difficult. Making sure your content is engaging and keeping track of what works and what doesn't is a laborious task. But many businesses prefer to keep this in house as you then have a better finger on the pulse of those engaging with your business, which can feed product purchasing, pricing, and promotions.</div>
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<b>- Directory listing - </b>You've got to be in it to win it, so the saying goes. Getting your company details listed on directories is a one off job, that can easily be outsourced to an individual at a low cost rate. Its a standard template of brief description, picture and opening hours with contact details.<b></b></div>
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<b>- Press releases</b> - Any new product launches or promotions should have a press release, which may sound very grand but if you have a good relationship with your local paper and radio it needn't be difficult. There will also be numerous niche and local community groups that would be interested in this information. Getting the wording right can be the most challenging part.</div>
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You should also be ensuring that you are actively engaged with other local companies, and grow your online presence with any help given to local charities etc advertised online. <b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What to watch out for?</b></div>
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I am completely sick of watching businesses exploited by the techniques used by some online professionals, with no accountability for the longevity of the website and the relative success of any online venture. It would be a far greater investment for your company to either improve training (many councils even offer this free of charge, just visit your local business gateway advice centre) or take on an employee with the skills needed. A long term relationship is the biggest requirement of any outsourcing to ensure that any techniques used to help now, will not fall foul of any Google updates which can take upto a year to really hit your traffic noticeably. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkD_3oqaxVqxjUazcnxQx0AjGp7y0CRYWrYNNq9shBgUUzigvu0_8MEjOI3TlrjVDrEF6_IRWcrfDY4dXW9oJ22MRDprGVdlSO8YC-2xEerT864Uuc9XAM9zAax6-D0JbraFQYqhBcio/s400/Is-Network-Marketing-A-Scam.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkD_3oqaxVqxjUazcnxQx0AjGp7y0CRYWrYNNq9shBgUUzigvu0_8MEjOI3TlrjVDrEF6_IRWcrfDY4dXW9oJ22MRDprGVdlSO8YC-2xEerT864Uuc9XAM9zAax6-D0JbraFQYqhBcio/s400/Is-Network-Marketing-A-Scam.gif" height="316" width="320" /></a></div>
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- Don't ever sign up without a contract</div>
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- Don't ever pay up front</div>
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- Do ensure you have clearly defined milestones</div>
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- Try to negotiate an incentive based payment term for any online work</div>
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- Avoid any foriegn based companies offering services</div>
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- Try to work with local people, at least you can go round to their house should it all go wrong</div>
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- Perhaps use your contacts to find a reliable company</div>
Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-65784871799043009392013-06-27T09:41:00.002-07:002013-06-27T09:41:28.629-07:00Marketing - Piggy Back a Success<div style="text-align: center;">
Companies spend millions on Marketing, with the barrier to entry for smaller business so high many do not even attempt to enter the world of marketing, instead relying on good customer service and word of mouth to grow their customer base. As a company grows the expectation and demand becomes large that often the only way to better those corporate behemoths is to rely on better customer service. But often businesses will piggy back marketing onto the back of a specifically clever concept. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAVa_X0v1lQ7Fl6D0j1UdVI2ULVirYoj7cyFDcQqjRFZo-dDeZEQAtm7OuT77SQ8Uuw7XxjJrpa0YlKEvMx-EDAHcUHD-Gp96ZPaPvHLDPTY-4PWwsLVEOdnVc56yyGEJY0bwROdREYY/s600/Ireland-5-Contour-Bottles_LOW-RES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAVa_X0v1lQ7Fl6D0j1UdVI2ULVirYoj7cyFDcQqjRFZo-dDeZEQAtm7OuT77SQ8Uuw7XxjJrpa0YlKEvMx-EDAHcUHD-Gp96ZPaPvHLDPTY-4PWwsLVEOdnVc56yyGEJY0bwROdREYY/s600/Ireland-5-Contour-Bottles_LOW-RES.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Take for example the recent campaign by coca cola to promote bottles with names, crowds of school kids rumagging through display stands at local shops was surely an accident of planning that perhaps they had not considered but such is the public imagination that this clever but simple idea really took off.</div>
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Personalisation of goods has long been popular, with <a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/">personalised gifts and garments</a> booming as that extra little effort is clearly able to set the giver apart from the rest. Cleverely Irn Bru the viral advertising guru's piggy backed their campaign with a series of funny Scottish names on the bottles, names associated with perhaps the more chav-tastic elements of society.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hr3_MQF2RfbygmK3RX4rjm9D_xlCm9uAHWmHshMiljYcLV3oPAsh7ARxtSqz036jEgdB0oYIZ5Rvur_0iXPC07bEPd1MeyHUbQL2fwn5DD4TBB8fBgiO6Pqjl_7mnSJsNypkGAdD8PI/s1600/023_0.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hr3_MQF2RfbygmK3RX4rjm9D_xlCm9uAHWmHshMiljYcLV3oPAsh7ARxtSqz036jEgdB0oYIZ5Rvur_0iXPC07bEPd1MeyHUbQL2fwn5DD4TBB8fBgiO6Pqjl_7mnSJsNypkGAdD8PI/s1600/023_0.JPG" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
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The secret to the success of this campaign by Irn Bru on a limited budget in comparitive terms was that they used the annoyance that this advertising had caused. Capturing all the people who were sick of the constant tweeting of bottles of coke with peoples name, or facebook picture of their personalised bottle. This anti sentiiment that grows on the back of any large advertising campaign is often a great way of getting a clever and witty response to go viral with little effort. A large social media platform shared, and engaged with this advert boosting the sales of the Scottish firms orange nectar.</div>
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This just goes to show that an advertising response is often just as influential as the original advertising concept, and can give smaller companies a foothold in advertising they may not have otherwise had.</div>
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-53850140691100421502013-06-22T01:27:00.002-07:002013-06-22T01:27:28.713-07:00Dropshipping - Is it worth doing?<div style="text-align: center;">
The term drop shipping is like the online equivalent of saying sales agents. Basically you sell other peoples products for a cut of the profits, often the cut is small if the product is a top seller, the better the return the more likely it is to be difficult to sell. </div>
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<b>Why has Drop Shipping Grown?</b></div>
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The internet is a complex place, often real world retail and online retail don't go hand in hand. The techniques and skills involved are completely different, with the best sales people in a physical environment not often the best at online sales conversions. This is why having others with the online skills promote and sell your goods for a fee is worthy of considering. </div>
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<b>What are the potential issues with Drop Shipping?</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOzBKvNA_mTqRBPFrPDfDPpLmhi0zGzF9w6G5WRWCU4QQI9n7Rv3UoKOcEahU1SSCKqNEvCHcldhSecLrcerXHwrTwcCfpg1xvNAA9aKO6pHlIRxi068XwWVrPTOdm7kNT98GuW8BPhk/s1600/2-way-radio-distributor-trade-sales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOzBKvNA_mTqRBPFrPDfDPpLmhi0zGzF9w6G5WRWCU4QQI9n7Rv3UoKOcEahU1SSCKqNEvCHcldhSecLrcerXHwrTwcCfpg1xvNAA9aKO6pHlIRxi068XwWVrPTOdm7kNT98GuW8BPhk/s1600/2-way-radio-distributor-trade-sales.jpg" height="320" width="304" /></a></div>
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As with any deal you enter, due diligence is key. A foreign based drop shipping company may be bad news for customer feedback with long delays and issues with carriage fees. Some drop shippers have even had customers receive invoices for duty to be paid, a surprise bill after the goods arrive is no way to treat a customer. This is the main concern is that you are essentially vesting your interest in the professionalism of the order fulfilling company. </div>
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<b> Potential uses for drop shipping</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXsQoNhSFhsPtiLXBj5707AjxaunuO6_4UGtQ8kILk-hLLqysL6ZrjIw9DZcGyziReGev9Vt_4meAqrEb-IJ9K2LLXkQnZach-y2-hzk1xdHrXfUeVXjRnrt1WZXJSc_8aIld2OUzHb8/s1600/dropshipping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXsQoNhSFhsPtiLXBj5707AjxaunuO6_4UGtQ8kILk-hLLqysL6ZrjIw9DZcGyziReGev9Vt_4meAqrEb-IJ9K2LLXkQnZach-y2-hzk1xdHrXfUeVXjRnrt1WZXJSc_8aIld2OUzHb8/s1600/dropshipping.jpg" height="183" width="320" /></a></div>
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Existing E-commerce sites, you may find that you have a small business and take the step of building an online shop, adding content consistently can be difficult if you are limited by the stock levels you have in store. Drop shipping could compliment your existing products well, and worth considering </div>
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Start up business<br />
To help you boost the level of products you have available </div>
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Addition to Info website<br />
If you have a well performing information site, having relative products for sale is a nice side earner. Without outlay on stock this can be a great way to increase your income. </div>
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Gaining traction in overseas markets<br />
To expand into other areas, having a reliable stockist in those countries would be a great way to expand.</div>
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-49365507264176062332013-06-13T01:48:00.002-07:002013-06-13T01:48:33.600-07:00Shocking state of our High Streets<div style="text-align: center;">
It is a shocking indictment of our strategy for town planning and our inability to provide a marketplace that can have sustainability for smaller retailers, that we have turned to producing fake shops. The idea, coincidentally implemented before the G8 summit, presumably is to ensure any news coverage shows a backdrop of a thriving local economy. But the real situation could not be further from the truth. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QywBdi-IJijRohk5O1TItzfUfaxpoYwiYnICkR_tKttJnWIwMGqKJ58h0A1VC4UBQ38GJphNcc0EEIiDohng939v4VLBLzZb80cuu4TH-wGL8oj25OPsuJAmtRVGwMLQ4F01OPNdR_A/s1600/_68048463_butchers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QywBdi-IJijRohk5O1TItzfUfaxpoYwiYnICkR_tKttJnWIwMGqKJ58h0A1VC4UBQ38GJphNcc0EEIiDohng939v4VLBLzZb80cuu4TH-wGL8oj25OPsuJAmtRVGwMLQ4F01OPNdR_A/s1600/_68048463_butchers.jpg" height="185" width="320" /></a></div>
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The main shopping centre of most towns used to be known as the high street, a collection of small shops on one or two handy streets in the centre of the village or town. The locals would all use the shops, daily, which supported a number of families and provided much needed jobs in more rural areas, with many younger residents having their first opportunity of employment on a saturday job or part time position. A bustling high street would attract tourists, generate pride, provide greater local investment for charities and social groups, ensure the town was free from litter and criminal damage. But where did it all go wrong? How did we lose this widely valuable asset?</div>
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<b>Lack of Planning</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLSnCoC0wO1hNhmHOCaFor6DFoW4IWvZWImZ5VHD86kwaBix8Aiv5FYArpx7uVm7_R0EHvt22_eP4eUEu8Gr3FfJo4OpLXzHPahK3cb_wuvlehYJ6ou8waH_rRTugEeTtDz91MpiwVAc/s1600/bad_planning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLSnCoC0wO1hNhmHOCaFor6DFoW4IWvZWImZ5VHD86kwaBix8Aiv5FYArpx7uVm7_R0EHvt22_eP4eUEu8Gr3FfJo4OpLXzHPahK3cb_wuvlehYJ6ou8waH_rRTugEeTtDz91MpiwVAc/s1600/bad_planning.jpg" height="266" width="320" /></a></div>
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The main problem with most Western countries is democracy, this might sound like a ridiculous claim but if you consider the relatively small time each local councilor has in office they are barely able to create a coherent plan for any local town. This chopping and changing of local government means that planning becomes a jumbled mess of ideas which often produces plans which are at direct odds with each other.</div>
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<b>Pursuit of Profits </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlL-UcKUn8XJ3Az4mLSCcLjhrOzYIxyZWJ5eCkqSHJu-SPXShohqC9DgEsZU5sTKANQDy5xwQj8AVV7k3vVNxO6MK914BfmuVfZV9nUAgPer0VhOs0bql_QBrFJ0eDDIkG4Q7rU3RcaM/s1600/0x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlL-UcKUn8XJ3Az4mLSCcLjhrOzYIxyZWJ5eCkqSHJu-SPXShohqC9DgEsZU5sTKANQDy5xwQj8AVV7k3vVNxO6MK914BfmuVfZV9nUAgPer0VhOs0bql_QBrFJ0eDDIkG4Q7rU3RcaM/s1600/0x600.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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They say that capitalism is good for consumers as they are able to get the cheapest price for goods they want, demand is king. However, what this pursuit of low cost entails is larger retailers, outsourcing manufacturing, production and sourcing to developing nations, often using immoral labour practices. They also reduce the number of staff required to run their business, making it </div>
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<b>Lack of Investment</b></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Y-y3zgfJDiy8lVhRo_cZi3Dz7TOi2YALnaqeaTR67-9Ne8Kmmifk-4mHfZHdHYyb4YUsvjKMnChhc-Tjt2C8pyzNvYcxWKS5qbihyiw9EG2mEFArMD1jzGXl6nLkwwYAnv4NTrEXaDg/s1600/loan-denied.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Y-y3zgfJDiy8lVhRo_cZi3Dz7TOi2YALnaqeaTR67-9Ne8Kmmifk-4mHfZHdHYyb4YUsvjKMnChhc-Tjt2C8pyzNvYcxWKS5qbihyiw9EG2mEFArMD1jzGXl6nLkwwYAnv4NTrEXaDg/s1600/loan-denied.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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Small business finds it hard to get off the ground, most new businesses will fail in the first year, unable and unprepared to deal with the financial loss most businesses incur on opening. Navigating a minefield of stock buying, marketing and fixtures and fittings means that you are often either using savings or having to borrow to get off the ground. Not to mention the mistakes you make along the way, most business will invest in stock or marketing that doesn't provide a return and this is all part of the steep learning curve, but when borrowing from a bank, they may not be so happy to take that risk. </div>
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<b>Risk too high</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Pq2f5gSHZxCaycJ2gYOYDlYKk0-Iv_3f0GCFPtnshL2ico2kfwEAxFtNcInZx9vRHVWWnLBJqRNNOGbINtbDwuGxw0lUScHNQIdmvbs9Qds8pE-RMV-B2-HD1_Y4NY1cymaalq8c4w/s1600/risk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6Pq2f5gSHZxCaycJ2gYOYDlYKk0-Iv_3f0GCFPtnshL2ico2kfwEAxFtNcInZx9vRHVWWnLBJqRNNOGbINtbDwuGxw0lUScHNQIdmvbs9Qds8pE-RMV-B2-HD1_Y4NY1cymaalq8c4w/s1600/risk.jpg" /></a></div>
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Many people need a catalyst to open a business, even although in any local economy there will be numerous people who have great sustainable business ideas, but there is no way to bridge the gap from idea to reality without taking a huge personal gamble. The age demographic of new business is often weighted towards either younger generations or older generations, those without the financial burdens that a young family bring. By mitigating the risk you would stimulate new business quickly, and at little cost in comparison to the benefits brought to the local economy. </div>
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<b>Lack of Pride</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqxag0xfKmicsQqj0sf47vk5RzkFsNfSuWIBf9y4bk8CWnhvEdMBnIx_XAeUfRp2GZHSyTYhGFL89qrK0vvxfKNd4-abSp6bZrfFTc869hGPPq_gizhshF3ffRFg8KArgKrPf4qi5vxI/s1600/londonbunting_2236708b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqxag0xfKmicsQqj0sf47vk5RzkFsNfSuWIBf9y4bk8CWnhvEdMBnIx_XAeUfRp2GZHSyTYhGFL89qrK0vvxfKNd4-abSp6bZrfFTc869hGPPq_gizhshF3ffRFg8KArgKrPf4qi5vxI/s1600/londonbunting_2236708b.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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Thatcher once said that society no longer exists, and sadly for many towns this rings true to this day. Society needs to have many interested parties, pushing towards creating a safer, friendlier and more sustainable place to live. Business plays a massive role in this, by providing support, advertising and financial payments to local groups that promote, tidy, invest and love the local town. This partnership of local groups with business is a sad loss with the current empty high streets that litter so many towns. A high street can quickly turn into a wasteland of charity shops and bookmakers giving the image of a town which has no pride.</div>
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The negative effect of allowing large out of town developments, poor transport planning and lack of promotion by our government has left us with towns where house prices will lower, due to the lack of attraction to our town, and lack of job opportunities for the residents. This continued race to the bottom in pursuit of profit and cheap prices is a false economy, because those cheap products may save you money now but cost you dear in the future.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLxv1O3vcQrk4Fce5jutNVZhVFdrJrJW_5uBCMlYG6LSyQ7-bFSvnevrcIN8ZSsIEdRior9gvP2DCnlfm2TNcWRiigDMfvVxWP0PgkDMm-lh6aqHGLff_qjagDrJh_YjfW9DDolD-op0/s1600/_68048464_cellini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLxv1O3vcQrk4Fce5jutNVZhVFdrJrJW_5uBCMlYG6LSyQ7-bFSvnevrcIN8ZSsIEdRior9gvP2DCnlfm2TNcWRiigDMfvVxWP0PgkDMm-lh6aqHGLff_qjagDrJh_YjfW9DDolD-op0/s1600/_68048464_cellini.jpg" height="203" width="320" /></a></div>
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Instead of using taxpayer money to produce fake shops, they could perhaps offer grants to residents to begin their own business, not only improving the local economy but also making a profit on that investment should the business succeed. Which with the right planning and marketing there would be no reason it shouldn't.</div>
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You can read the BBC news coverage of this <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-22819331">here</a></div>
Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-76940696349491413262013-06-03T01:08:00.002-07:002013-06-03T01:08:39.795-07:00In Store and Online Layout - Tips<div style="text-align: center;">
The purpose of any retail business is to maximise the conversion rate of your in store footflow or online visitor count. To do this there are some ways you can improve your chances, simple techniques to help your customers find the most attractive products.</div>
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<u><b>Online Store</b></u></h4>
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Driving traffic to your website is only stage one of the game of online retailing, by getting them to click on your link does not generate you any income, and you may find your conversion rate is very low. Even some of the best traffic driving campaigns have proven fruitless for web stores because of the poor layout of their shop, a landing page full of text, with no clear links to products will turn off a large proportion of your audience, you can understand the behaviour of your visitors by looking at your web stats, number of pages visited and length of time will indicate if your landing page is perhaps not capturing the imagination.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZd51Klhutnh6Bs81-fB3LsGyi8BElts88mXBKTHKC7EBquf4shYcj_nzeM1pRrQbJtgwpD-z9UUuGMyrIbX1hocbHmP4zFsCj_68OcDdgMavR4czSzD5629PlKyCtG_FptFq0OqgG4s4/s1600/online+layout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZd51Klhutnh6Bs81-fB3LsGyi8BElts88mXBKTHKC7EBquf4shYcj_nzeM1pRrQbJtgwpD-z9UUuGMyrIbX1hocbHmP4zFsCj_68OcDdgMavR4czSzD5629PlKyCtG_FptFq0OqgG4s4/s1600/online+layout.jpg" height="262" width="400" /></a></div>
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<li> <b>Banner</b> - Your top bar should be the graphic and slogan for your business, this will mainly be to let those who visit know what it is your shop is doing. Avoid flash designs with moving parts as these are proven to be bad for eccomerce. </li>
<li><b>Top Left</b> - The top left is the next place visitors will look, their eyes drawn automatically to this space. It is the area you want to ensure that the customers are captured. Whether you have an amazing deal, sale or some great selling products, this is where they should be placed. </li>
<li><b>Centre</b> - The central area should be a showcase for both some product graphics and information about your company. The Text ration for an online shop is not the same as a blog and you should not be tempted to overload the text area with repeated information. Include links to relevant CMS pages if you wish to provide more details. </li>
<li><b>Top Right</b> - If they are still on your page by the time they analyse this information then firstly, well done. This should be a section about reassurance, if you have a physical premises then showcase it here, contact details for more info or alternatively some of your last items you sold. </li>
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<u><b>Window Display</b></u></h4>
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Your shop front window is a great way to showcase your products, showing a variety of each item you stock in store. There are two schools of thought when it comes to window display and both can be productive depending on your inventory. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXZCsc6SAFtg1uhU4xsEpgDEb4igSKWH993ImUEDcBXtpPrq6b05ndgWN6iBnNahjfnHvZ3Wma9h3U4qMz6f50Z3wctNx_0BeCVNtPxz1M4FxLrNm0cKiTfx-CawY6Fga2WCVGGhiSNI/s1600/window+display+of+hat+store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXZCsc6SAFtg1uhU4xsEpgDEb4igSKWH993ImUEDcBXtpPrq6b05ndgWN6iBnNahjfnHvZ3Wma9h3U4qMz6f50Z3wctNx_0BeCVNtPxz1M4FxLrNm0cKiTfx-CawY6Fga2WCVGGhiSNI/s1600/window+display+of+hat+store.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Showcase Everything</b> - This is the most popular method, a little of every type of product, changed on a monthly basis to keep those who frequent your shop to continue to be interested. Ensuring you have the right display stands is key, to fit all your inventory into a small space without looking cluttered can prove difficult if you do not have display cases, wall fittings or Mannequins.</div>
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<b>Entice them to come inside</b> - This method is becoming more popular, it is a teaser of what is in store. Many people cannot process too much information in the 3 second interval it takes them to pass your store, so with the showcase everything strategy you are relying on something catching their eye to make them stop. With this technique you would place an unusual or high end item in the window, targeted at those you wish to come inside to satisfy their curiosity. For Instance if you are a gents clothing boutique you may avoid putting simple jeans and a T-Shirt in your window, instead opting for the most expensive Jacket with bright vibrant colours and unusual design, this will make more people stop and look, even if it is something they wouldn't buy. Unusual is good, the window is facilitating them coming inside your store and should be a showcase for your best items, but don't forget to ensure it is in keeping with the theme of your store, a book store with a Framed Painting in the window is simply misleading. </div>
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<b>Themes</b>- Themes are a great idea, if your local community has events coming up why not come up with that theme for your shop window. A local sporting tournament may be a great way to showcase some sporting theme, and you can be sure the local visitors and any tourists will be caught as they walk past. Keeping up to date with your local communities and societies ensures you will hear about these events well in advance and by doing this, you may even have those societies work to promote your business.</div>
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<u><b>Store Layout</b></u></h4>
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The layout of any shop is of course partially dictated by the size and space of your premises but there are standard practices that would help you with conversion rates.</div>
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<b>Floor Layout</b> - On Entrance the customer should be greeted by a sale, this will also be visible from outside, which will attract customers in to browse. The other items visible from the entrance should all be your top selling items and general stock. Any items which are slow selling should be put into areas not visible from the shop entrance.</div>
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<b>Unusual Display Stands</b> - You can also attract interest with your fitting, having an unusual display stand, perhaps a reconditions boat or recovered drift wood would really make customers interest peak. </div>
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<b>Till Placement</b> - Around your till should be small items, impulse purchases which are low in value but attractive, this will generate those last minute panic buys when they come to checkout.</div>
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Remember this is only a small part of successful commerce, you should not ignore the importance of customer service, pricing, trends and advertising. </div>
<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-61669550648433785342013-05-29T14:07:00.001-07:002013-05-29T14:07:18.426-07:00Merchant Payment Terminals - What to Look Out ForAs a retailer it is difficult to run a cash only business, everyone expects to be able to pay by credit or debit card. When considering the move into accepting card payments there is a minefield of information to look out for, luckily for you I have created a small checklist to ensure you get the best price. I will also outline what a typical price you can expect to pay is, if you pay higher then shop around and change supplier.<br />
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But before we get into what to look out for we should first point out some reasons a card terminal will be good for business, and why it isn't always neccessarily just making life easier for customers.<br />
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<b>Benefits to Card Terminals:</b><br />
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- Customer Satisfaction - Your customers will be happy about being able to pay in card, no more quick runs across the road to pick up cash from the ATM. A customer that can use card payment will always be more popular than a cash only business, as cheques have been phased out of existence we can also expect to see a bigger reduction in cash usage.<br />
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- Less Banking runs - Banking can be expensive, ordering your float each week and doing the daily bank run can become a chore, you will be able to reduce this frequency by moving to card acceptance. Depending on the average selling price in your shop you will find most transactions over £10 will be done by card, leaving you with only the small change float required.<br />
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- Less fraud - Millions of pounds of fraudulant money is in circulation, passing from customer to shopkeeper unwittingly for years. Most commonly this is in the form of £1 coins. If you ever try to bank these there is no compensation, you can't expect to ever see that money returned. With the invention of Chip and Pin you won't have that concern, with any fraud being covered by your insurance.<br />
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- Increase revenue - People spend more when using card, they more likely to make multiple purchases and having impulse buy products at the till is a good way to encourage this. A lot of small businesses begin by having a sign that charges for card use under a certain value, this also encourages impulse buys, but also will likely offset the cost of card usage on small profit margin products.<br />
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- Improve Trust - A card machine presents a level of trust, a person is more likely to know you are not some dodgy organisation that operates outside the system. Having a card terminal proves you have a bank account and a decent credit history.<br />
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<b>Considerations when choosing Payment Terminal</b><br />
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Debit Card Charge - This is always a flat fee regardless of the value of the transaction. Offered in pence you can expect to pay between 10p and 20p per transaction. If you mainly do this type of transaction which is likely for a business moving from cash only to card payments I would suggest you negotiate this down to around 11p.<br />
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Credit Card Charge - This varies widely with a decent rate being around 1%, although in recession you can expect to take more of this type of card than you would during growth in the economy. I would say that to negotiate a lower debit charge you can allow this to go up to around 1.3%.<br />
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Corporate Card Charge - If you deal with business customers then it is imperative you get the rate for this. Businesses often mistake this for being the same as credit cards, but you will find this rate is likely to be pre set much higher. Ensure that you ask and negotiate although if you don't sell to business customers then it will not be a problem.<br />
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Monthly Fee - There will be a monthly fee attached to the rental of the equipment, this can vary from £10 to £40 and will depend on the type you need. I would always expect to pay below £20, and ensure that prices quoted are including VAT, an oft forgotten item when discussing prices. You need to understand the actual cost to yourself.<br />
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PCI Compliance - This is a term they try to confuse you with. Read <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard">here</a> and understand what it means.<br />
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Minimum Usage Fee - This is one of the hidden costs you may not consider but if you work on the assumption of how many card payments you would need to cover this each month it is a good basis to start. If they want to apply a £20 minimum usage fee then at 14p per transaction this would mean 142 transactions each month. If you envisage lower number of transactions then it would be worth accepting a higher individual charge but lower monthly usage fee. For instance if you average 50 transactions 20p with mimum usage of £7 is better than 11p with minimum usage of £15, the former costing you £10 and the latter costing you £15.<br />
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Contract Length - Do not get tied into a contract that is likely to expire and cost you for reinstating this, ensure there are no hidden costs when this contract expires.<br />
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Service and Reliability - It may seem a risk worth taking to go with a lesser known brand, however you may find support not available when you need it. It could also mean that equipment isn't replaced quickly and you are left with the problems of angry customers. Ask what their support facilities are, and also their replacement guarantee.<br />
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Equipment right for you - You can run your payment terminal through the phone line or the internet connection, if your business needs to operate quick then the internet connection is best, however this can present problems depending on the speed and reliability of your internet connection. Phone lines are stable and reliable.<br />
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<b>Mobile Card Readers</b><br />
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You may be tempted to try one of these mobile phone attachment options as there is little set up costs with only transaction fees payable. Before you do ensure that you have researched the product and are happy with the limitations. Many do not offer full coverage of different cards, have temperamental technology issues, poor customer service and present an image to the customer they may not be happy with. Plugging their pin number into your mobile phone is not a great way to make a customer feel safe, so although it may work out cheaper, cheap is both applicable to price and image.Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-2001259951278111552013-05-21T12:58:00.000-07:002013-05-21T12:58:30.721-07:00Moving to A 7 Day Week - Small BusinessA big consideration for business today is to utilise their resources to the full capacity, this not only includes staff but also physical assets; Buildings, Equipment and Stock. Having a traditional 9am till 5pm five days a week means your assets are being utilised for only 24% of the time you are paying for them. It also demonstrates that you are probably not reaching as many customers as you could, those who wish to use your services outside traditional office hours. In retail the idea of working around the clock is old hat, most towns now have a 24 hour shopping centre, staffed by part timers of varying degrees, with shift managers there to ensure everything is done correctly. <br />
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How would a small company compete, given that the initial likely return will be a lot less than a large organisation. The transition to longer working hours has to have some tangible benefit for you to move in that direction, there are a number of different ideas to consider, some will be pull techniques (increasing your customers) and some are push techniques (moving workload to those other periods).<br />
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<b>Pull Techniques</b><br />
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Move Demand - Advertise the convenience of operating at these increased hours. Show customers how they can benefit from using your services, moving the existing customer base to new hours. This will facilitate the reduction of staff at peak times to pay for the staff to be available at the new increased hours. The graphs below demonstrates this point<br />
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.Attract New Business - Attracting new business that was previously unable or unwilling to use your service due to the operating hours is another good option. This would mean that they would need to know your new operating times, so consider a launch event, an advertising campaign or even a direct mailshot to previous enquirers. <br />
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Incentivise New Business - If you find new business slow on the uptake stack the cards in your favour, take a drop in your margin to help boost the demand. A perfect example of this is the Orange Wednesday campaign that is one of the most successful initiatives to get movie goers to the cinema on a Wednesday, a traditionally slow day.<br />
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<b>Push Techniques</b><br />
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Move Non Essential Work- Paperwork, accounts, office admin, performance reviews, meetings and all other non customer generated workload can be moved to these additional operating times, making it easier for you to not feel like you are simply losing money by operating longer. Reducing the workload at peak times will also mean you could make workforce savings.<br />
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Add New Services - If you wish to expand then diversification is never a bad idea, taking on new projects, products or services will help to boost your income and it will also attract cross sales from new customers. Ensuring the offering is easily bolted on to your existing operation is essential.<br />
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Train Workforce - Utilise the first few months to train staff, working on their development during these quieter periods, either learning new skills or furthering existing ones. This helps both improve morale and encourage longevity as employees feel more loyalty to your business. <br />
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-46975131814266435362013-05-17T12:47:00.000-07:002013-05-17T12:47:05.875-07:00Collaboration - Why Today's Business need to work TogetherCollaboration has been around since medieval businesses models first hit our villages. In today's world partnerships, collaborations, Networks, Friends or the myriad of other terms are used to describe when people help each other. These terms are often dressed up as fancy and elaborate schemes that promise to give you hundreds of pounds of business.<br />
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The idea is simple, I have a business selling something your customers may want, but you don't provide, therefore that customer is referred to use my services and in turn I would recommend your services to my customers who may be in need. Clear and easy to understand at it's base level. This collaborative approach to working, is immeasurably easier to do if you have a physical location, becoming a big fish in a small pond is easy to do, being a big fish in a national, international or global pond is far more challenging. The main difference is that to break into the scene, the higher up you go, becomes exponentially more difficult.<br />
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An illustration as to why this is both neccessary and frustrating; If Amazon was run by one person, and you called them on the phone and arranged a lunch to discuss your business. Agreeing at the end of the lunch they would help to promote your small seaside town gift shop and in turn you would recommend your customers use their online services two things would occur. Firstly you would not even register on their books in terms of referrals, it would be so miniscule to them in turns of sales that they wouldn't waste time in meeting you for lunch. Secondly your business would fall over within minutes, you would sell out of all your products and you would probably have a website downtime lasting weeks. This is because their power is far superior to your own, their influence and reach is millions every day, which shows why there is a Network for each different level.<br />
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Whilst this advice is based mainly towards a business with physical location you may still find some of the advice transferable to your online or non domiciled business. This advice also assumes you are already utilising your own Network, which consists of friends, family and previous colleagues.<br />
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<b>The five stage attack to Networks:</b><br />
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- Social Media groups - these are the bedrock of any supportive campaigns for marketing. To not be part of the local community, and be prepared there will be more than you originally thought, is business suicide. You must get involved, keep up to date and ensure that at every opportunity people are talking about your service or products.<br />
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- Local Traders Association - There will be a local association, set up mainly to represent the traders interests when discussing items with local authorities and to do some collaborative marketing. If there isn't one then set it up, this is a vital part of any town. You may be put off by meeting the competition but remember competition is not always bad for business, it can in fact improve your foot flow and subsequently your sales.<br />
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- National Traders Association - There are organisations like the BNI which run collaborative Networks across the UK to help business market collaboratively and generate direct sales for other members. With over £1billion worth of business handed off through these groups it is well worth considering.<br />
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- Professional Body Membership - To become a global player you must be recognised as the pinnacle of your area of expertise. There are officially sanctioned organisations for all niche markets, to become a member may involve many checks and you may not already qualify, but once in you can be assured that it will not only boost your business trust level, it will also improve your Networks.<br />
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- Working Partners - Once you are at a very good level you may find business approach you to do partnership schemes, to bundles packages together of products from different businesses, to cross brand promote and also to incorporate your services into an offering they retail. This would all be a good way to expand sales, but be wary of doing your homework, a good partner will boost business but a bad partner will tarnish your own brand.<br />
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<b>The Benefits</b><br />
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- Increased sales - Direct sales handed off from other people in your Network.<br />
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- Increased sales - Indirect sales from increased brand awareness<br />
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- Improved reputation - A mark of trust to be in company of other traders who have loyal customers.<br />
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- Improved business process - Identification of any areas of improvement by having someone in your Network can be helpful. They may come across something that benefits you greatly, a new type of equipment or new way of operating, and they consider telling you because there is an open dialogue.<br />
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- Information - Local information is hugely important for planning, perhaps new construction activity is being conducted, a local celebration is to happen or a new shop is opening.<br />
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- Support - When times are tough it can feel very difficult to be the sole bearer of the stress, having a close Network can help to solutionise those problems and ease the burden.<br />
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- Identifying Opportunity - When someone is new to an idea they instantly have lots of greats thoughts about different ways of doing things, this freshness can really invigorate your own offering.<br />
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<b>How to Assess the best Network</b><br />
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- Do your homework - Ensure the time spent building the Network will be sufficient to see a return. Dont force a Network that does not compliment your own.<br />
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- If its free then join - Free is the best price because there is no risk.<br />
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- If it costs money research - like anything if you are spending cash ensure you know what your getting, ask to see copies of accounts to see where the money goes when it is provided to a central organisor. A profitable Network is not necessarily a bad one, however it does leave you open to scams, of which there are many.<br />
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- Look for proliferation of competition - If your competitors are doing something it's worth checking out, even if just to identify the idea is not right for you.<br />
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- Look for signs of Age - An older Network is better in the sense that they will have experience, but you may find there are barriers to engagement, for instance established members may not want you to come up with any new ideas, at least until you have served your time.<br />
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- Don't waste your time - Meetings need to have a purpose, it is all very nice to have meal and discuss business with new potential friends, however there must be a purpose or end goal.<br />
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In the end as business owners we all want the same thing, which is to have a profitable market share that provides you with a secure and stable lifestyle. You ambition is only hampered by your own lack of knowledge, there are literally thousands of people making ridiculous sums of money selling goods and services that are completely useless, much poorer quality than your product or service and this is because they know how to gain market share. The most powerful way of growing is to rely on the support of others, to build friendships that can provide you with support. Starting a business is a lonely process, growing it needn't be.<br />
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Articles submitted by <a href="http://www.dunbartshirt.com/">Dunbar T-Shirt Shop</a>; a Garment printing business that provides work-wear and printed gifts for all occasions.<br />
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Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-84961821018615154372013-05-08T13:20:00.001-07:002013-05-08T13:20:50.835-07:00Charitable Giving - Marketing with EthicsPaying for advertising on TV allows companies to generate more dumbed down reality talent shows, Advertising in newspaper allow for more phone hacking and photo's of the latest celeb putting their garbage out, advertising on the radio funds multi million pound record companies to generate more profit by exploiting artists, see the trend here? Well basically all worthwhile marketing channels have been monopolised and account for multi billions pound companies to increase their shareholder wealth.<br />
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So if you wish to take a different approach to marketing why not try charitable giving?<br />
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There are ways in which you can garner both exposure and trust from potential customer, without having to hand over your cold hard cash to a private organisation. Here are the steps to consider when looking for ethical advertising.<br />
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<b>Think about your cause</b><br />
Choosing a good cause may sound easy, but you need to look beyond the natural big charity choices, local charities or causes may in fact be much better idea. You may even wish to choose more than one, say 12 and then give them a month each year for the charitable donations. If you link it to sales then you are linking the donation to your success. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Contact them </b><br />
Having a dialogue is important, charities promote a lot in the media and they may be a way of improving your own coverage. Newsletters and press releases happen often for events, so why not agree to provide goods or services for a fundraiser to get the ball rolling. <br />
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<b>Promote the fact</b><br />
Don't be shy, you are doing something really worthwhile. Having the fact promoted will not only raise the awareness of the charity with your customers but it will also attract other interested parties. A poster in the window, a notice on the back of the reciepts are all valid ways to promote the policy of donating.<br />
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<b>Support fundraisers</b><br />
Always try to get involved with fundraisers, it may not get you direct sales but it can really help to promote your brand and attract new customers. Fundraisers often take form of market stalls, so this would even give you an opportunity of making sales.<br />
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The end goal of all advertising is to increase brand awareness and increase sales, charitable giving will put you at the forefront of peoples mind, attract business you haven't reached and also boost your standing in the local community.Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-48291804283114234202013-05-08T02:55:00.001-07:002013-05-08T02:55:47.590-07:00Shift Planning and Productivity - Get the Right Pattern for Your BusinessOften in business we are at the mercy of the workload, whether that be direct from customer or via project milestones. Human nature dictates that we tend to work faster towards the finishing point, or when busy which would indicate a preference for some stress in the working day.<br />
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If we examine two aspects of shift, the productivity affected by day of the week and the risk association with shift work then we can get a picture of what the optimum looks like.<br />
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<u><b>Productivity </b></u><br />
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The performance efficiency can be measured across the day, showing the relative impact on performance at differing times of the 24 hour day.<br />
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As you would expect performance drops during early hours of the morning from 11pm till the traditional morning start time of 8am. There is also a post lunch dip in productivity, this is the reason most business would stagger their lunch to offset the performance dip. It may also be an area that could be looked to improve, for instance some larger organisations have began to look into the idea of split breaks. A morning 30 minute break and afternoon 30 minute break not only helps to stagger the time away, but it can also provide you with less loss of productivity as staff returning from shorter breaks are able to get back to pace quicker. Of course the counter argument to that is, having two breaks double the disruption in the office, as employees discuss where to go, speak to colleagues or return and update colleagues as to where they have been.<br />
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The working week has changed from the ordinary Monday through Friday, with a large number of businesses now operating across 6 or even 7 days per week. This has meant that productivity levels have changed and the natural curve of productivity has changed. Reacting to changes in your workload is key, but there are ways to also improve the distribution of workload, incentives on quiet days to customers or changing key deliverable dates to Thursday or Wednesday may improve this.<br />
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Absence continues to be highest on a Monday and Friday, providing employees with a longer weekend, although this has shifted slightly since the change away from the traditional working week.<br />
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<u><b>Relative Risk </b></u><br />
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Although productivity is the key factor to business, we must also look at the risk association. A typical night shift would carry 20% more health and safety risk than the equivalent daytime shift, this may seem like a reasonable risk if the workload completed in the night is giving you a greater return, but it may mean you require to add additional safety checks into any night time processes. A health and safety accident can bankrupt a business so should not be ignored.<br />
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On the theme of risk, we can also see a direct correlation of the increased level of risk linked to the amount of time someone has been working. Beyond the 9 hour on shift mark we would see a 25% jump in the relative risk, this increased risk can be mitigated:<br />
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- Split shift into two blocks giving larger time away for rest and recouperation<br />
- Stagger start times and finish times to give coverage<br />
- Have increased Part time workers to ensure shifts can be shortened and staff present at peak times.<br />
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<u><b>Part Time Working</b></u><br />
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It is often the case that part time working is seen as bad, the productivity levels and expertise is such that part time working is inefficient. By the time an employee does the review process, learning, meetings and huddles, catching up with communications and the natural idle time (around 10 minutes per hour) it is seen their window of opportunity to be productive is so short it makes it ineconomical to employ them.<br />
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Part time working needs to be assessed on the relative strengths of the employee, the complexity of the role and also the workload demand. if the workload demand increases in short periods (for instance two hour peak during the day) the part timers can be used effectively to mitigate this, full time working in a traditional 9 to 5 operation will not provide you with the flexibility you require, on the other hand an 8 to 6 six day week operation allows you to flex your full time working patterns to accomodate workload fluctuations.<br />
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Part time workers tend to have a greater desire to remain at the current level, often this can mean you have a constant well trained bedrock of staff that have a good length of service, something to be considered should you suffer a high turnover in employees.<br />
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Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-51671518183774112542013-05-07T14:31:00.001-07:002013-05-07T14:31:09.998-07:00Sale or Return - The Rise and Rise of CraftingAs a retailer we offer sale or return to a number of local crafters. Doing this ensure that we become a more integreated part of the community, but it also presents a great opportunity to help other business develop and perhaps become part of the High street one day.<br />
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Small businesses need all the support they get, often they are so busy trying to compete with each other they end up allowing larger out of town options to destroy them both. Competition on a high street today is not something which should be feared, but positvely encouraged. If a high street is attractive to shoppers it will no doubt keep your foot flow from falling, as seen by many towns across the country. A wealth of charity shops, fast food and bookies now make up what once was the heart of a town, many people blame the out of town options, given such subsidies to build on green belt, creating minimum wage jobs to replace the businesses on the high street.<br />
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There is a way to compete but it does not come naturally to many businesses, you need to differentiate and collaborate. A strong traders association is vital to the health of a high street, ensuring the interest of the traders are heard on councils, committees and projects plans. Of course there is also the small matter of what to offer, after all ASDA have everything cheap? Well our approach is quality, hand picking our stock allows us to ensure that our clothing is on point for trends, comfortable and stylish to wear but also not going to be economically unattainable for the majority of your local area.<br />
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One of the best ways of differentiating is to network with local crafters, people who make things locally. Crafting has seen a boom for two main reasons, people are more conscious about not just dwindling time away in front of the idiot box and want to learn new hobbies. Secondly, times are hard, people need money and they use their spare time to create a small income. That covers why the supply of crafts are there for you to collaborate with, now let's look at the consumer, why would they want to buy crafts from a local supplier and not a £2.50 alternative made in a sweat shop in China sold in nice bright packaging at the local Tesco? Firstly, because most people have a conscious and are all too aware about the appalling ways big business make money, of course it's easier to have morals when your buying a one off purchase like a birthday card or new handbag, but when your buying milk and bread you may use Asda because morals cost a lot of money. Secondly, you will find crafting not only gives you a better finished product, but it also gives you a local presence to discuss, design and customise the products. A gift should always be made with love, it shows a much bigger consideration for the recipient.<br />
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So how to get sale or return items for your shop? Well we simply spoke to people, learned what our customers were doing and offered them the opportunity to bring us some along to sell. We agree a commission (usually around 50/50 split of final sale price), and then give the product a time period to sell, no point in us having it if it doesn't make them any money. We have found that this has helped a couple of local crafters start a market stall for themselves, turn a tiny profit into a second income and given them huge confidence. <br />
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<b>Couple of Things to do:</b><br />
- Check the products out, if you like them then stock them, if not don't.<br />
- Don't be tempted to pay up front thinking you can get good margin, this defeats the purpose also leaves you open to be undercut.<br />
- Make sure the crafter is promoting the work, after all they stand to make profit too.<br />
- Ensure if selling in certain areas (especially anything to do with babies, food or cosmetics) they have all the neccessary safety checks or clearly labelled as not being toys etc.<br />
- Dont be afraid to be different, the products don't have to be exactly the same as the ones you have, cross sales happen often and the wider the range the better.<br />
- Ensure you agree time-frame and target before taking more, otherwise you may find your store over run by crafting goods, distracting from your original purpose.<br />
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<b>Couple of things to avoid:</b><br />
<br />- Don't stand a rental space fee, this is a barrier for many of the best crafters.<br />
- Don't set up strict exclusivity deals, barring them for sale in a 100 mile radius, this is ridiculous<br />
- Don't assume you won't get any returns. Ensure contact Facebook page or number for complaints or issues, is provided to customers.<br />
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Good Luck<br />
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Written by <a href="http://www.loveeyecandy.com/">LEC Boutique</a>: A ladies fashion boutique in the coastal town of Dunbar in Scotland. Offering a wide range of clothing, handbags, jewellery and gifts.Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-77483521989264594662013-05-02T11:41:00.001-07:002013-05-02T11:41:38.283-07:00What does Page Authority tell you about potential PageRank?<br />
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Two of the most common questions considered by any new website owner is:<br />
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Question 1 - What will my PageRank be?<br />
Question 2 - When the hell are Google doing their next update?<br />
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The reason you should stop yourself before getting into either of these issues is simple, It doesn't matter and it really doesn't matter.<br />
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If you engage in a lot of writing and you have followed sound advice, to begin guest posting to build quality links to your website, you will have no doubt come across an ad for Guest Posting which goes something like this:<br />
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<b>Technology article available entitled "Top 7 things you have read before no doubt" must be PageRank 3+</b><br />
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This annoys me for a lot of reasons. Here are 5 of my top pet hates about this kind of Guest Posting offer:<br />
<ol>
<li>PageRank is like a snapshot in time, taken at the last Google update and bears no relevance to a websites value, in terms of traffic or link value. The reason for this is because you have no idea what has happened on that website between the last update and now. Websites change hands for good money and it may be a new owner, therefore will have a page rank in decline. </li>
<li>If you are going to pretend like you know SEO by stating a required PageRank you should probably already know that Page Authority is a much better indicator of strength. </li>
<li>Why the hell would you exclude all those websites which will be ranked highly in the future but may be new, much better to check Domain Authority and see if the website is a good one, than relying on an update that happened 6 months ago.</li>
<li>Websites with huge volumes of traffic, don't need or want your free content with links. They make lots of revenue and can generate quality content by paying writers. There are a select few who will offer Guest Posts but you may have trouble finding these in the usual Google Groups, Forums or Email subscriptions.</li>
<li>My final thought on this is, if you are going to the effort of writing content, and your not just some fly-by-night spammer. Then why would you not invest the time to read the website you are posting on, its relatively easy to see if a website is good, read a few of the articles and if you like it, chances are others will, which means traffic will happen.</li>
</ol>
<b>Answer 1 </b><br />
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So to the question of what will my PageRank be at the next update? Firstly ask yourself the following questions:<br />
<ul>
<li>Do you have lot's of content?</li>
<li>Is your content good?</li>
<li>Do you use Social Media well?</li>
<li>Do you get good traffic?</li>
</ul>
If you answer Yes to all the above points then you can expect a deserved PageRank. However that doesn't really answer your question does it? So here is some amazingly good stats which will confuse you further<br />
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Keyworddatabse did a huge study looking at websites with Page Authority and Page-rank to determine the correlation between the two. Below shows the most likely Page Authority against a PageRank as found by their extensive study.<br />
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PageRank 0 = Page Authority 20</div>
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PageRank 1 = Page Authority 29 </div>
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PageRank 2 = Page Authority 46</div>
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PageRank 3 = Page Authority 46</div>
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PageRank 4 = Page Authority 46</div>
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PageRank 5 = Page Authority 46</div>
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PageRank 6 = Page Authority 73</div>
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PageRank 7 = Page Authority 84</div>
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PageRank 8 = Page Authority 89</div>
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PageRank 9 = Page Authority 94</div>
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PageRank 10 = Page Authority 97</div>
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As you can imagine the correlation gets stronger as you move to the higher end of websites, but also does not take into account age of the website. Stats can be useful and this is probably the most useful stat I have found on the subject, but remember nothing is an exact science, as Google say if it was then everyone would have a formula to manipulate their search engine.<br />
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You can find their interactive chart <a href="http://keyworddatabase.net/pagerank-vs-pageauthority/">here</a> <br />
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<b>Answer 2 </b><br />
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If you knew the exact date or even month of the next update, I would suggest you go to the bookies and get decent odds betting on your sure thing. In essence nobody knows, people already think it has been too long, and the old adage of being quarterly has been shot to shit. What you can expect is an update that will rock the Net and hammer bad practices just as hard as the last one did.<br />
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At the end of the day, your main concern will be whatever the purpose of your website is for. Blog owners are most worried about traffic, so use Google Analytics and figure out what works and what doesn't rather than panic about numbers and rankings. If your a business trying to reach customers then try to capture your audience, don't go for a numbers game you will find conversion rates can be really low. Social media and the like are the best for targeted traffic. <br />
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Good luck with it all.<br />
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-91279874548515376902013-05-01T08:36:00.000-07:002013-05-01T08:36:02.783-07:00Top 7 Innovations to improve efficiency and reduce costs<div style="text-align: center;">
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During a recession all business must do two things to survive, reduce costs and improve efficiency. Unfortunately many businesses tend to grow fat during boom times, leaving them with a large task of cost reduction during lean times. Implementing the culture of lean, allowing staff to take ownership for this is a good way to improve engagement which can be threatened by cost reduction programmes. There are 7 common ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency highlighted below, these are applicable to all sizes of business:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Reduce travel costs</b> - whether it is changing from flights to trains, reducing need for commuting with technology or reducing the number of locations you operate across there is always opportunity to improve this area.</li>
<ol>
<li>Allowing remote working has two fold benefits, its reduces your costs of equipment as workers use their own computers, it also improves effifiency as home workers tend to work longer, wasting no time on the daily commute.</li>
<li>Changing from flying to rail is a good idea both for environmental reasons, but also cost reasons.</li>
<li>Webcams and conferencing technology is cheap, if you don't have any them you really should get some. You can even get software to share your desktop; <a href="http://smarttech.com/bridgit">Bridgit</a> software is easy to use and can help do remote presentations and enable to track users engagement with it, often the interactivity is easier to assess than a live audience. </li>
<li>Centralising staff can seem like a good strategy if you are a larger operation, of course doing this may involve <a href="http://rpandmp.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/impact-of-redundancy-on-workforce.html">redundancy programmes</a> that can be harmful to engagement, doing this well is key. </li>
</ol>
<li><b>Reducing hours of your staff</b>, this is a great way to reduce risk of talent drain and keep engagement high. Allowing job shares and the like may facilitate and enable current staff to stay in the organisation, with future possibility of increasing their hours.</li>
<li><b>Go paperless</b>, this is both environmentally sound and can save on stationary cost, and often ignored expense in business. With emails, shared documents, flash drives and intranets there really is no need for paper in the modern world. Invoicing can be done via email, sales and service can be conducted on tablets and reviews can be interactive using online forms.</li>
<li><b>Stop emails and Meetings</b> for two weeks. This excercise is a great way to really understand your business. Human nature dictates a desire for interaction, as such companies often get laden with meetings and communications often uneccessary. This technique is used to demonstrate two things. Firstly that you waste a lot of time composing and generating emails which are often ignored or simply repeated verbally later. But also if you have a lot of one to one interactions you will find that more ideas are generated and issues are resolved quicker. This is a huge boost to efficiency and doing this a couple of times a year will help people adopt the techniques and culture longer term.</li>
<li><b> Renegotiate with your suppliers</b>; Like personal customers many businesses tend to forget that they are not the only business suffering during a recession. It is the best time to negotiate hard with suppliers for a cheaper deal. Increase your margins by putting contracts out for tender, reducing offers for stock or having your suppliers give you better value for money. You will be surprised with just how much you can save.</li>
<li><b>Improve sales on your quietest day</b>. No doubt in any business there are trends, cyclical trends of busy and quiet periods. The busy periods often subsidise your quiet ones. A technique to reduce this down time, improve your image and increase the return from your employees is to boost your business on these days. If, for instance, your business has a slow day on a Tuesday, why not introduce Crazy Tuesday where you offers services or products at really small margins. You may find this can even out your workload but it will also attract new business. Doing this on a limited scale, for instance first 12 customers on Tuesday, or first 8 slots on a Tuesday will get 40% discount will be a great incentive and boost income. Many businesses are afraid it won't increase overall trade just simply reduce the margins on that particular day, but remember your not making money on that day anyways so there is no loss involved only gain!</li>
<li>Innovate. This cannot be stressed enough, in order to stay alive in business you need to forget failure, stop negativity and roll with the punches. Expand your offering, try new things, improve your processes and grow. Recession is a great time to expand your offering, because prices are low and competition is literally dying out. Cornering the market in a recession is how big business see triple figure growth in tough times. Research the areas that are perhaps in growth, low cost essentials, or high end luxuries are both areas of growth because most people want more for their money and rich people are getting richer. An example of this would be: A Gardner experiences a loss of 30% customers due to cutting back of household expenses. To differentiate himself and win a larger market share he introduces teaching to his role. Approaching local school he runs an after school club one night a week open to parents and pupils using some of the school grounds to plant seeds and gain interest from the local kids. This is a great idea and he also offers packages of started kits to would be home growers. Without making direct income from the after school club he increases his market share by attracting new customers, he also innovates by selling packs to start ups. Bought from local garden centre with small mark up he is also supporting other local business.</li>
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Having had experience of Resource Planning for the fifth largest financial institution in the world and also owning three small busineses I have experience cost cutting and efficiency at both ends of the spectrum, remarkably the principles remain the same. Do not fear tough times, use them to redefine your approach and if you successfully negotiate the recession you will find your growth will be exponential during periods of boom.<br />
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Feel free to leave comments and ask questions if you like. <br />
Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-83143892729637344282013-04-29T07:39:00.000-07:002013-04-29T07:39:04.630-07:00Infographic - Successfully managing Failure!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-29056169430576001032013-04-22T04:37:00.002-07:002013-04-22T04:37:57.262-07:00Why you MUST pay your taxes!<br />
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As a business, of any format, it is key you keep up to date with your tax expenses. Death and taxes are the two certainties of life, ignoring them does not make them go away and just like your health being on top of taxes means surprise bills are less likely. <br />
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<u><b>Reputation Damage </b></u><br />
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Much has been made since the global financial crisis about companies avoiding taxes, Starbucks, Google and Amazon are all mutli-national corporations which have suffered from reputation damage due to their inability to pay what is deemed fair taxes in their countries of business. Being global company means that profit redistribution is common place to pay lower taxes. The drive for paying lower taxes is to boost profits and provide shareholders with further growth. With countries across the world setting different tax regimes it is easy to be tempted into paying as little as possible by transferring profit to these low tax economies. Of course being caught doing so will cause you harm from the residents of the country you are avoiding paying taxes in.<br />
There are many campaigns aimed at highlighting tax avoidance and bringing those people responsible to account, this can have a real impact on sales. <a href="http://www.waronwant.org/news/latest-news/17757-avoiding-avoidance-government-tax-plans-wont-tackle-amazon-google-a-starbucks">War on Want</a> is an example of how the rise in Internet usage can really fuel insights into companies tax avoidance schemes. You do not want to end up with campaigners at your place of work, especially if you're a retail business, Starbucks recently discovered this first hand with <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/08/starbucks-uk-stores-protests-tax">UK uncut protests</a>. <br />
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<u><b>Cash-flow problems</b></u><br />
For smaller and medium sized business the option of offshore tax havens is not there so they need to ensure that cash-flow issues do not arise. Paying tax annually may be a good way of using cash-flow to boost stock, but with that practice comes risk. Using tax cash to invest in business growth may work out well for some business but should your tax become due and cash-flow not present then the outcome can be catastrophic. Do not rely on new business to pay your tax bill, ensure that existing business has sufficient cash-flow to meet your tax requirement. Of course as a new business it is unlikely you will have made much profit, being able to offset any profit with the costs associated with setting up is possible if you keep good records of outgoing payments. Be sure to keep valid receipts of purchases, there is some leniency in the receipts needed with certain values being acceptable to have no receipt for. <br />
<a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/">HMRC</a> provide comprehensive checklists and advice for Corporation tax receipts, payment due dates and proof required.<br />
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<u><b>Employee Taxes</b></u><br />
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If you have paid employees then monthly payments of both tax and national insurance will be deemed necessary, called PAYE tax. This system is very straightforward, with reporting of hours and pay reported monthly and calculations provided as to tax liabilities. It is vital to keep up to date with employee taxes and national insurance, integrating this into your payroll system will reduce time spent on payments and calculations.<br />
SAGE offer integrated systems to manage this real time and ability to keep up to date with your outgoing payroll and tax liabilities. <a href="http://www.sage.co.uk/business-resources/real-time-information/rti-ready-payroll-software.html?gclid=CJntj5GT3rYCFWfItAodhRoAFA">SAGE</a> offer systems to all sizes of business. <br />
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<u><b>Sole trader and freelance taxes</b></u><br />
If you are a small business it may be more appropriate for
you to pay corporation tax on profits if you are the sole worker in the
organisation. This is likely to be less than the tax payment needed for
personal tax. Also you may wish to hire people on freelance terms,
meaning they are responsible for their own tax, whilst freelance workers
may be more difficult to manage and train it will reduce your tax responsibilities, important if you lack the structure and logistics needed to have a payroll department and do not wish to pay for accountant services.<br />
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As a freelances it is imperative that you keep some money aside to pay taxes, keep a log of all income earned, on a basic spreadsheet with receipts. Using a system like PayPal helps to keep all your records in one place or an income account which has record of all payments received. You may also have to provide invoices to companies for them to pay you, ensure you do so in a copy book so you retain a record of the invoices. National insurance is a key requirement to keep up to date with as this will ensure you receive a state pension in future. The tax process may feel cumbersome and difficult to submit, but if you keep clear records then it should not be difficult or time consuming. Some accountants will offer flat fee rate for this service, but the <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/">HMRC</a> have a very comprehensive guide to this process which if you can familiarise yourself with negates the need to pay someone else to do the job for you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0e0wKidi42Zxd8ytV7rxN_rqX-wPCpaLv9MxUR6L0jBzM6Ja3YZnhygQLGHZ-3lXpLu5H2_xeKw9oJLA08wDtKFOMd-aNybikYFLM2hyxbpeW5jQyTM_B4qu4wB1FSlbjil5SQmodfo/s1600/gavel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0e0wKidi42Zxd8ytV7rxN_rqX-wPCpaLv9MxUR6L0jBzM6Ja3YZnhygQLGHZ-3lXpLu5H2_xeKw9oJLA08wDtKFOMd-aNybikYFLM2hyxbpeW5jQyTM_B4qu4wB1FSlbjil5SQmodfo/s1600/gavel.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Winding up Order</b><br />
As a company, not paying your taxes can result in a winding up order from HMRC. Thinking they won't will not solve the issue as they have issued these on some very large companies. This means they will stop your company from trading, sell your assets and you may be banned from having your own company in the future.<br />
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<b>Bankruptcy</b><br />
As an individual not paying your tax liabilities could end up in court proceedings, and eventual bankruptcy. This would cause many future problems in sourcing credit, getting a job or starting your own business. Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-28205048084335148522013-04-18T13:47:00.003-07:002013-04-18T13:47:28.770-07:00Manager Skills - Emotional Intelligence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueQn4Q2x1e8vUb8RGco0C6bhuAHpKT1pRSp2lyYSQ6OdvyX91DkbJEjUqX1EpbMwPDLV74qwuBgliV_RT1tZOxtXc4G0KVrrBjbYUA729TIXKdWs7FCV5siCQKWcbqgZBOP5P1LaEbfo/s1600/neuroscience-of-resilience-empathy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueQn4Q2x1e8vUb8RGco0C6bhuAHpKT1pRSp2lyYSQ6OdvyX91DkbJEjUqX1EpbMwPDLV74qwuBgliV_RT1tZOxtXc4G0KVrrBjbYUA729TIXKdWs7FCV5siCQKWcbqgZBOP5P1LaEbfo/s1600/neuroscience-of-resilience-empathy.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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A good manager needs a myriad of different skills to be effective. Getting the most from individuals cannot always be delivered using the same methodology, different individuals in a team will have many different drivers to behaviour. Identifying and understanding these motivations can only come about by a manager that has emotional intelligence. Often hearing what employees is saying is not enough, employees will be reluctant to clearly state all their motivations. Understanding an individual requires a huge amount of emotional intelligence to find not only the driver but also the personality of individuals under their leadership.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjama9RnQ0q4er1RgmAoRYXZXHZrxBh1VB6t79WUkIgbL0GxA1ZvlY8dxVSmApCtRosTmvpmwbyzOADEtgbOV8YyXAIH4axwesxvMy_RMpYrJDBpv_GULgZ-6lntXf-lL6Rqk2IVrTQlMA/s1600/emotional-intelligence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjama9RnQ0q4er1RgmAoRYXZXHZrxBh1VB6t79WUkIgbL0GxA1ZvlY8dxVSmApCtRosTmvpmwbyzOADEtgbOV8YyXAIH4axwesxvMy_RMpYrJDBpv_GULgZ-6lntXf-lL6Rqk2IVrTQlMA/s1600/emotional-intelligence.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Managing staff can be a minefield of difficulty as each individual will at some point have some issues which impacts their ability to undertake given tasks, identifying and empathising to these needs is a vital skill. There is two extremes to this, being overly empathetic can lead to employees taking advantage of the trust and care. The other extreme may result in your employees feeling under-valued and will lead to a culture of hidden resentment.<br />
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There are three main models of emotional intelligence:<br />
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Ability Model: - Salovey and Mayer's conception is based around Perceiving, using, understanding and Managing emotions. <br />
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Mixed Model: - The model is based around components for good leadership developed by Daniel Goleman. The competencies are Self-awareness, Self-Regulation, Social Skill, Empathy and Motivation.<br />
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Trait Model - based on the ability model but the determination of this is about self-awareness of the skills, leading to an easier recognition by testing. Developed by Konstantin Vasily Petrides this form of emotional intelligence is deemed as being personality based and not skill based, meaning it is harder to train.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V0Sz9a3LhHU24g6drZut5ObrNmeqDbA23ZugGORg_BSYEaB4R-HBKJn_rtI3_PSykMbWPZcv_kcc0LoVHQnUpLugMVFIZ9Z9BnYDYPi-jQGbzo3J1PRrvXYBcV2JGh0AUuFnfOgu3s4/s1600/EI0201.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0V0Sz9a3LhHU24g6drZut5ObrNmeqDbA23ZugGORg_BSYEaB4R-HBKJn_rtI3_PSykMbWPZcv_kcc0LoVHQnUpLugMVFIZ9Z9BnYDYPi-jQGbzo3J1PRrvXYBcV2JGh0AUuFnfOgu3s4/s1600/EI0201.gif" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
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The value of emotional intelligence is difficult to ascertain as many companies fail to assess candidates on this criteria. The culture of an organisation frequently dictates the level of emotional intelligence that is perceived as being acceptable and leading from the top is vital. If empathy is shown to employees engagement levels may be higher and productivity improved, absence levels can also be lowered by ensuring employees are not having to hide any issues they have and able to speak openly about problems they have in personal life. <br />
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There are many online tests to determine your emotional intelligence ability here are two:<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1758620574"><br /></a>
<a href="http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl_eq_quiz.htm">http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl_eq_quiz.htm</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3037">http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3037 </a><br />
<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-72239692726488577862013-04-12T12:09:00.002-07:002013-04-12T12:12:19.115-07:00Write Content - Get PaidReading this article I will presume you are interested in how to make money from your writing. Well interestingly its a far more complex question than it was 5 years ago. In that time the internet has changed, demand for content has changed and more importantly search engine rankings have changed. It used to be the case you could sign up to a website get $10 per article and commision payments for their popularity, being a regular contributor and with good social media following you could expect not only your nominal up front fee but also earnings in perpetuity. Unfortunately Google updates destroyed the earning potential of many of these sites and overnight you saw the collapse of an entire industry. So what happened to all those people who wrote content for money?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4OqtFtXcQC_rtSOOIGJuzeSiDmcgs569n0Ud-hkEB1-gkhFt4-it4PFl_AzkC6k6RNfpsR9g_II7z7ZdVMRzGfC2zzOZch6alG7R4_6NedW56snoLLfol6b9FKDvZjdGALhSCyPui98/s1600/pay-per-click-300x287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4OqtFtXcQC_rtSOOIGJuzeSiDmcgs569n0Ud-hkEB1-gkhFt4-it4PFl_AzkC6k6RNfpsR9g_II7z7ZdVMRzGfC2zzOZch6alG7R4_6NedW56snoLLfol6b9FKDvZjdGALhSCyPui98/s1600/pay-per-click-300x287.jpg" /></a></div>
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Well some went on to find out how the new updates would play out and discovered in fact there were far better opportunities that existed, others returned to their day job and gave up. The purpose of all search engines are to find relevant content for the user, they care little about keeping the websites happy as they are not the ones who are using the search service. They also found that the internet was becoming a game that many black hat operators had found the rule book to so they needed to rewrite the rules.<br />
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The best chance to make money from writing online is to have a good website with plenty of interesting content. Placing ads on the site will drive you income directly associated with your number of page views. However if you are bored of this approach because you suffer from ADHD or you need to earn money now, or simply you would like to boost your income then perhaps there are some opportunities that exist.<br />
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Here are some examples for you:<br />
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<a href="http://jobs.problogger.net/">ProBlogger Jobs board </a><br />
This job board is a heavily used board of paid article writing work that usually has some very easy to apply for positions. Unfortunately you will find its a bit like buying a lottery ticket, due to the number of other people applying you won't get all the jobs you want. A good writing portfolio is essential and the ability to communicate coherently with the employer. The jobs vary in price but you can find some well paid writing jobs if you know your stuff. Remember not to apply to everything, you can't possibly claim to be proficient in writing on any topic so stick to your niche.<br />
<a href="http://www.wish.ca/your-life/regulararticle/138/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.wish.ca/your-life/regulararticle/138/">Wish Magazine</a><br />
If your niche is perhaps lifestyle or fashion and you can write to an audience of Canadian women then this is the place for you. Because not only does it give you great exposure but it also pays $1 per word. That is a huge sum in the online writing game but like anything you have to be amazingly good at what you do. Perfect English is standard for any of the jobs here, but you will also have to view the tone from their readerships point of view.<a href="http://www.academicwritersonline.com/faq#maincontent"> </a><br />
<a href="http://www.academicwritersonline.com/faq#maincontent"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.academicwritersonline.com/faq#maincontent">Academic Writers</a><br />
This is the place to be if you are looking for longer term work. Obviously the trick to online writing jobs is having enough scheduled to pay your bills so a site like this may be a perfect match. The payments may be less than the one off commissioned work but of course that is a trade of with the constant stream of jobs you could be doing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.asiawriters.com/pricing.php">AsiaWriters</a><br />
Much like Academic writers this is a site that offers more than simply one commissioned article. This website has an entrance exam, yes an exam. So get comfortable and make sure you can write perfect English before you even attempt the exam. It will give you examples of sentence structure and word replacement to assess your competency.<br />
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<a href="http://bloggingpro.com/jobs/">BlogginPro</a><br />
Another simple to use job board that can provide you with immediate work to fill any scheduling gaps you may have in your work stack. This site again has a lot of competition so make sure your applications are impeccable.<br />
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So why would I be sharing this with you and not just keeping it to myself and getting all the best jobs? Well my personal view on content writing is that you have to be in a niche and there are lots of jobs on their I wouldn't even attempt. People are all too ready on the internet to stab each other in the back to get an hours pay but this defeats the purpose of the internet which is based on the fundamental principle of sharing. It's a huge society of people that all share ideas and opinions to enrich each others lives, if you get some paid work out of this then that's brilliant more power to you, just remember where you read it.<br />
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<b>Build up your Portfolio</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkD1lGgvG2ZS0VSF9BS_vLIOnS2o5z3xBsFvLhmDr8w0oeOi5VIC9YMSFpEBt9Csv8HzDrr5VJ35pUEe7Y0B5Qts13PTCSuvZELRl1BLUmxNR-WCrkGwV-Ip-THlBsjaGvjxiCKawZPQc/s1600/man_question_mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkD1lGgvG2ZS0VSF9BS_vLIOnS2o5z3xBsFvLhmDr8w0oeOi5VIC9YMSFpEBt9Csv8HzDrr5VJ35pUEe7Y0B5Qts13PTCSuvZELRl1BLUmxNR-WCrkGwV-Ip-THlBsjaGvjxiCKawZPQc/s1600/man_question_mark.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></div>
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Of course your own writing CV needs to have some good content for it to be taken seriously so ensure you have done some very good Guest Postings to showcase your talent. OK I know its hard to get motivated to do research and site for 3 hours writing an article for a Page Rank 2 blog but it will be worth it to help showcase yourself. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLBFnhYMk9CfxowmzGXMnSZWxGtjt0VSUxY-rzXeLlAzaJh4xwtAfWj0mzuZjpN9pWf36cdEMUujX9UJWfxKnaN_PHXSajhXQ4QqVRHTZwtMVZz-JlhyE61PCupz6K7i4LPFucGr55bM/s1600/hire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLBFnhYMk9CfxowmzGXMnSZWxGtjt0VSUxY-rzXeLlAzaJh4xwtAfWj0mzuZjpN9pWf36cdEMUujX9UJWfxKnaN_PHXSajhXQ4QqVRHTZwtMVZz-JlhyE61PCupz6K7i4LPFucGr55bM/s1600/hire.jpg" /></a></div>
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I happily accept guest posts of good quality, feel free to contact me on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/108139030458954390590">Google+</a> for a list of my blogs or if you would like to commission some content from me. If you have enjoyed reading ensure you leave a comment and share to help others.Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-18972164001721176692013-04-12T05:55:00.003-07:002013-04-12T05:55:43.352-07:00Is you age Important when Job Hunting?Age discrimination is an ever growing topic due to the relative health of older generations. With less manual labour undertaken it is unlikely that by the age of 60 you could not continue with the duties of your and if you live to 80 then you will have only worked for half your life. How can you ensure that your age does not become a factor when you are seeking employment later in life or as the result of a redundancy?<br />
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<b>Change and Adapt</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQqP02rE8HPgrKw096uQ3BBSNZmfl-lNUWQxSzLw3mpNvr7fUhxW6LPKB-8KCG78uzFtc_UxQLPksKT3ktUENGxLfA3i1CJ1XdtPzxSlsgLPTIhhqDZYkoWSEmc63VtQNzxGyG5KFVs8/s1600/hlg_older_workers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiQqP02rE8HPgrKw096uQ3BBSNZmfl-lNUWQxSzLw3mpNvr7fUhxW6LPKB-8KCG78uzFtc_UxQLPksKT3ktUENGxLfA3i1CJ1XdtPzxSlsgLPTIhhqDZYkoWSEmc63VtQNzxGyG5KFVs8/s1600/hlg_older_workers.jpg" height="186" width="320" /></a></div>
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One of the biggest complaints of older generations in the workplace is their inability to adapt to change, perhaps having been in the company so long they believe they know everything or know what's best but often they are much more likely to progress if they change and adapt with the role they are in. The older generation of today grew up in a time without technology, they are in competition for jobs with people who had computer lessons at school and new technology to them is simply like changing your clothes daily. This is a worry for the older generation who take longer to learn the necessary skills when technology is involved but with good training it needn't present a problem. There is a wealth of free to use computer courses and you may find your local area has drop in centers to help you get more in touch with technology, it is well worth investing the time as everything becomes more and more digital. Even if you know the basics there are shortcuts, tips and tricks which can really boost your productivity.<br />
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<b>Set realistic earning expectations</b><br />
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When looking for a job later in life it is easy to expect that your experience will get you some kind of premium, in most cases it will get you a higher starting wage but not by much. The recruitment market is a buyers market so the employer will have cost at the forefront of their mind, with such varied competition you may need to accept a lower starting wage. If you ensure they have a good progression plan to move up the salary bandings then this should not worry you as proving your worth you will quickly gain higher pay.<br />
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<b>Do not hide your age</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtvAElUmnPTOV4wxioSvcEDLEOmOdWnbwfPYfhUDOLfU0ko7QQHFctxTLUhWFv9UgrFV2wsZS4vx7_gU5NVMNWBsB6V0AuXGNR4F1x-gs1Vla1BeXugKmqjye8X3qlgtc9wXm_v2t0IA/s1600/old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtvAElUmnPTOV4wxioSvcEDLEOmOdWnbwfPYfhUDOLfU0ko7QQHFctxTLUhWFv9UgrFV2wsZS4vx7_gU5NVMNWBsB6V0AuXGNR4F1x-gs1Vla1BeXugKmqjye8X3qlgtc9wXm_v2t0IA/s1600/old.jpg" /></a></div>
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In many industries its common place to lie about your age. Take for example the case of the actress Huong Hoang who tried to sue IMDB for publishing her age, which eventually ended in the case being dismissed as there was no proof she had been the victim of age discimination. Of course the irony of that story is that by making an issue of her age she probably simply publicised it more than it would have been noticed had she not bothered. Age should not be something you have to hide so do not be tempted to chop a few years off in the hope it will help, be up front about your longeviety of career, there is no reason that if you are 50 that you will not be at the company just as long as someone who is 20, the average length of time in any role is around 3 years and within a company is now below 10 years. The days of career for life are long gone and this has helped the older job hunters enourmosly.<br />
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Most companies when recruiting have to appear to not discriminate based on age, however certain aspects of your ability may be questioned and you need to be able to prove you can do the job advertised. The biggest barrier to employment in old age is not your age it's your skills so go out there and learn something new it will help.Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-12630620867175406512013-04-09T13:14:00.001-07:002013-04-09T13:14:26.784-07:00Google+ - Grow your profileSo Google+ is a growing social media platform that is mainly taken up by people who know a little bit about SEO or marketing. There is a much heavier usage of businesses on Google+ than on other social media platforms as it allows quick integration with listings on Google maps and other Google products.<br />
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<b>Google+ Power to Your Content</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXXEtAWeC-bODadL-bGA3QcTYps36li06EzeooD96bqrkFOwnyPgof5fbOTkQVvtEo2Z4OSmrXcXyrJz91IYDfYKV2poFzINh6Ko1LqzkgpIzf9Cqv90lGf1KGh38giGhWio0xL2ca5A/s1600/power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXXEtAWeC-bODadL-bGA3QcTYps36li06EzeooD96bqrkFOwnyPgof5fbOTkQVvtEo2Z4OSmrXcXyrJz91IYDfYKV2poFzINh6Ko1LqzkgpIzf9Cqv90lGf1KGh38giGhWio0xL2ca5A/s1600/power.jpg" /></a></div>
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But one aspect you may not know is that your Google profile can act as a great advert for your content. Google want to use the platform to find what the best content is on the net and a great indicator is those interactions with the content, and the people who are generating that great content.<br />
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If you set up your profile correctly you should have listed all the blogs you contribute too, this is part of the standard process of setting up authorship mark up so will help your search rankings aswell. The other thing is to include your links in your introduction to add weight to your blog or website. <br />
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<b>Did You Know? </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmKc4mIsVuERsS4J2Ia_2rrMREXgRnapLO4MraAKXAhLH-Y2Yi9W8lkM9k4CvoOLUIZ7eFNwQhzbmfR2vfbN4uh1vcUp5BKOgSOj2JANUM9gq42iuffNyXpBHLYNAYw-q-_RKFwEvmmc/s1600/man_question_mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmKc4mIsVuERsS4J2Ia_2rrMREXgRnapLO4MraAKXAhLH-Y2Yi9W8lkM9k4CvoOLUIZ7eFNwQhzbmfR2vfbN4uh1vcUp5BKOgSOj2JANUM9gq42iuffNyXpBHLYNAYw-q-_RKFwEvmmc/s1600/man_question_mark.jpg" height="320" width="254" /></a></div>
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Many people claim that Google will automatically index any content that is shared on their social media platform, which would make sense as they want the fastest and best content to be on their search engine for users. This means any content you post you should automatically get in the habit of posting on Google+ and communities are a great way of getting real organic traffic of engaged users in your niche. <br />
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A good tool to discover how you rank against other users is <a href="http://www.circlecount.com/">Circlecount </a><br />
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<b>No Substitute for Quality</b><br />
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There is no quick fix to this. There is not black hat techniques to buy followers that will generate you any better results for your content you will only improve by adding quality and the communities and followers your connected with will make the final judgement as to whether you are worthy of a +1 share or comment. Google+ like twitter doesn't have a reciprocal add logic to it, so you won't find that even if thousands of people follow you that you need to follow them back, I mean after all your feed would look like a sushi bar on warp speed. What you need to do is engage with people you like who generate content you enjoy, don't be tempted to add people just for the sake of attempting to get a follow back it's a pointless endevaour.<br />
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<b>Other Social Media</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZQsDBCn0xROyuukYh-wehXcgxIYpxA2mMrPDHj8g-fALBUYNu3ewhbHaccyDABDSPZONxMhogbr862wNBN_yfTjoEWF-XIiFnxnvXiwXdmCizzf0VkwKtAlBFzC_vgncgLyX9HltbSg/s1600/asteroid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ZQsDBCn0xROyuukYh-wehXcgxIYpxA2mMrPDHj8g-fALBUYNu3ewhbHaccyDABDSPZONxMhogbr862wNBN_yfTjoEWF-XIiFnxnvXiwXdmCizzf0VkwKtAlBFzC_vgncgLyX9HltbSg/s1600/asteroid.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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So while twitter and Facebook are currently trying desperately to monetise their systems with product advertisement at a cost (paid messaging to celebs, sponsored posts, ads, Sponsored tweets etc) Google+ can happily generate a social media platform which does what it says on the tin and makes it a platform for people to socialise and share ideas......for now. <br />
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If you wish to discuss anything or would like to commission any articles feel free to contact me on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/108139030458954390590">Google+</a>Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4703210919254386070.post-51682314248912623952013-04-09T08:51:00.003-07:002013-04-09T08:51:56.410-07:00Online Privacy - EU LawThe internet has given risen to a wealth of opportunity and ability of users to find anything, buy anything and do anything they like. People can connect to other like minded individuals and they can express their own views easily to the world. This may seem like the ultimate freedom but with any freedom comes responsibility. To ensure everything you put onto the internet is the kind of information you want to be associated with your life is important, your views may change but if you have expressed opinions online it may still exist for people to see.<br />
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<b>Job prospects</b><br />
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Recruiters are well aware of facebook and other social media, in fact most companies have a privacy agreement in their terms of employment (you know that document you signed when you took the job). To ensure they have recourse when an employee tarnishes their companies name. With the rapid increase in employee misbehaviour online it has been deemed more neccessary to establish background checks that incorporate an internet search to ensure the person is fit for purpose. This may throw up all kinds of antics from a persons past and reveal a lot about their personality. For instance an employee may come across as tempremental or opinionated which could be off putting from an employes perspective.<br />
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There have been some high profile cases of employees being sacked, as well as some rather comedic ones. Using a two year old picture as an excuse to claim you are snowed in, claiming to be ill then revealing on social media you are hungover and slating your boss are all ways in which people are caught out. So ensure that firstly you know who you are speaking to when posting on social media, your profile may not be as hidden as you think. <br />
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<b>Nudity</b><br />
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There is a huge amount of nudity on the internet, from the porn sites to the car enthusiast forums there is naked pictures everywhere. People have really taken to 'Sexting' the practice of sending rude pictures to people using smartphones. Partly this is due to the ease of use of digital cameras now with most phones having a great resolution camera built in. It is also something attractive to younger people, often they regret this decision later in life as that person is no longer their partner or friend. Sending naked pictures is no neccessarily something you should be sacked for, in fact often managers will not ever see these pictures unless they themselves are using adult websites, which simply creates that awkward scenario of them knowing but unable to say without giving away their own sordid internet history.<br />
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But if you do partake in internet nudity, whether it be a picture on a RATE ME website or some other forum or a video you did at college for some beer money you should always know it is permanent and should never be done in a uniform. Companies do not want their brand tarnished by porn. Another example would be considering your chosen career, if you are working in the public arena, with children or other vulnerable people having a sordid past can be grounds for dismissal and will certainly be something that parents or interested parties will frown upon. It is easy to have images removed from most larger websites by simply putting in a copyright request which states the model has not given permission, this is something you should definitely consider doing.<br />
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<b>Relationships</b><br />
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People who meet in bars or in social settings used to have this process called dating that took a few weeks to learn all about their personality, likes and dislikes. Now you can download the information to a handy summary using social media. This is the first port of call for most prospective daters so making sure you remove all the pictures of ex's from your profile can turn into a full time job, and all those ones you didn't put up but have to untag yourself from. The dating landscape may seem like great fun but it is decidely more complicated now than in previous generations.<br />
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Attracting the right people is about ensuring you portray your personality well, often difficult in short hand status updates or tweets. Angry ex's and spurned lovers may also see what your up to and attempt to sabotage so being honest is something you may need to consider. <br />
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<b>Sudden Fame</b><br />
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The argument for not doing everything to hide your history is because lets face it who cares your just a normal person yea? Well that may be true at the moment but there is a myriad of ways the press may take an interest in your life. For instance winning the lottery is a sure fire way of someone finding out who you are and doing an internet search using any found images (usually the worst) to print your great news. Even if you do not go public the chances of keeping it secret are slim as a neighbour or friend is surely to reveal your identity. You may become embroiled in a political or social story, victim of crime, inventor or even just internet sensation. All these are ways in which someone out there may start to dig up your past and publish what they find. The sudden fame aspect is also unfortunately a sure fire way to have individuals from your past come out and either speak about you or blackmail you. Be careful who you trust and do not ever fall victim to blackmail, the law will protect you.<br />
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If your wondering who the bloke with all that gold is try a Google search on Michael Carroll, you will be astonished at the stories they have on this lotto winner.<br />
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<b>EU Law</b><br />
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So the EU have come up with a nice law that allows you to ask a company to delete all your history relating to yourself from their servers. They oblige of course but what may be more of a worry is where that information went, other websites that have copied the text or images or even individuals who have kept a record. In the case of Paris Brown the Kent Youth PCC, who was in her £17,000 per year role for a total of a week before the media managed to create such a fuss about her past rants that she resigned, is now facing investigation for alleged racism and homophobia. This shows you that the world waits for no one, is a week long enough to get everything in order or should you start now?<br />
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In essence you can never keep all your opinions sensible but you must ensure that anything you share is not going to damage your reputation. It may also be good to check the privacy settings of any social media, picture content is something that should always be set to private. So spend some time searching for yourself and clean up any profiles or old commentary that you no longer want associated with yourself. It may also be a good idea to set up new email accounts and completely remove any reference to old ones.<br />
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<br />Scottish Stehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05632729104205606827noreply@blogger.com0