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Archive for April, 2009

IFAs Urged To Get Themselves Online

Thursday, April 16th, 2009
IFA Life are urging their members to get a website for their business

IFA Life are urging their members to get a website for their business

IFA Life, the leading social network for financial advisors worldwide, is urging its members to capitalize on the benefits offered by the Internet. They believe (quite rightly) that a decent looking, up-to-date website, with useful information, could make all the difference to generating new business in the coming year. In their business website article, they say that having a decent website is as essential to a business as having a logo, business card and letterhead.

The easiest solution they suggest to IFAs is what they’re calling a “brochure website” - a straightforward, five page site that provides relevant information about your business to your current and potential clients. This includes your services, process, information about your advisors and your contact details.

You know what’s coming now, right? Yeah, you guessed it. The websites we provide are absolutely perfect for this. They’re very affordable, and easy to use. There’s a wide range of professional, business-oriented templates to choose from, which can then be customised with your company’s logo and imagery, and you have the ability to change and update the information on there whenever you like, for free. You don’t need any special software or expertise, either.

In your PJs at 3am? Not a problem. Just grab your laptop and get stuck in. Spare 20 minutes between meetings? Fine, fine, fine. Just login, choose the page and start typing. Just staggered in from the pub, with a brilliant new vision for your company involving wild lions and a fleet of bendi-buses? To be honest, it might be best to write that one down and have another look in the morning, but at the end of the day, if you want to put it on your website, you’re the boss. It does sound like a fairly spectacular idea, after all.

While the IFA Life article does say that such “brochure websites” are fairly low maintenance in that they only need to be updated occasionally, it does still pay to keep things fresh. There’s no need to re-write your entire site every few weeks, but keeping an eye on your content and making sure fresh information appears fairly regularly does still pay dividends - it keeps your clients interested, and can also help with your search engine rankings, too. In these financially turbulent times, IFAs should be keeping their finger tightly on the pulse, and what better way to reflect your awareness than through your website?

Like we said in our last blog, more and more people are turning to Internet websites for information and advice, including older people with money to invest, which is also highlighted in another article on IFA Life’s site, so the decision to get a website for your company is definitely a smart one.

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WWW: Why The Web Is Worth It

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

In their Social Trends publication, released today, the UK’s National Office for Statistics paints a convincing picture for the virtues of promoting your business online. Among a lot of other interesting facts and staggeringly large figures (in 2007, British people collectively travelled 508 billion miles by road, rail and air), there are some very clear indications of the growth of the World Wide Web.

Social Trends publication '09

Social Trends publication '09

In the past decade, household ownership of a computer has almost doubled, going from around 29% to 70%. The number of households with an Internet connection has risen even more sharply - in the late 90s, only 10% of people had an Internet connection, whereas in 2007, over 60% were online.

On the other hand, in 2008, well under half the population bothered to read newspapers, compared to 72% of people in the late 70s. With growing concerns about global warming, this trend looks set to continue, as the benefit of publishing news stories online as opposed to printing millions of copies of newspapers every day is blatantly obvious. Especially as it’s now getting easier and easier to pull up websites on your mobile phone to check out the news.

Speaking of which…

Around a quarter of people had a mobile phone in 1999, whereas now it’s more like 80% of us, so that pushes up Internet access numbers, too. Interestingly, a household land line is beginning to become less common - 89% now, down from 94% in the late 90s. I wonder if BT are panicking yet?

Either way, if you’re running a business and don’t have one yet, it might be a good idea to start thinking about starting a website.

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Future Looks Promising For Startups

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

A recent research study by Barclays Commercial has shown that, despite the recession, the general feeling among startups and small businesses in the UK is a positive one.

Of the companies questioned, 60% said that they were taking advantage of the recession as a time to restructure their business practices, expecting to emerge stronger than before. A further 25% said that they had not seen fit to alter their business model, despite the financial upheaval.

The study showed that many business owners were just anxious about late payments from clients and cashflow issues as people tighten their purse strings, rather than a lack of work itself.

So there you go, yet more proof that the times are as good as, if not better than ever to start your own business.

Owners of smaller businesses also pointed out the opportunity to “leapfrog” competitors that has been presented by the economic downturn - as larger companies are forced to spend time and money altering their large-scale operations, smaller businesses are able to adapt infinitely more quickly to the swiftly changing economic climate. We ourselves noticed many smaller businesses advertising “credit-crunch busting” deals and “beat the credit crunch” offers months before larger chains even seemed to acknowledge the situation. Indeed, our clever little websites themselves exactly fit this growing startup market.

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Entrepreneurs Agree: Start A Business Now

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

In an article I read this morning on the BBC website, entrepreneurs were quoted airing their views on the virtues of starting a business during a recession. Rachel Armitage, co-founder of Zoombu, an Internet-based travel search service, was quoted to say:

The Open Coffee Club say that now is the time to start a business

The Open Coffee Club say that now is the time to start a business

“It’s the best time, I would argue, because business models are changing, consumers are now thinking differently about the way in which they spend their money. Large-scale incumbents don’t really have the cash to innovate in the same way that start-ups do, so it really allows us to get ahead in ways that they can’t.”

The business start-ups were gathered at the latest London meeting of the Open Coffee Club, an organisation that arranges weekly networking meetings for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, all over the UK and Europe. The idea is to mirror the California melting pot of ideas, innovators and investors that gave rise to the Silicon Valley dot com boom in the 1990s.

Saul Klein, who originally set up the organisation two years ago, is also quoted in the article.

“Often the best ideas and the best businesses emerge out of recessionary times. If you look at when Microsoft was created, if you look at when Google was created, Facebook, Skype, all these household names, the titans of technology were created in recessionary times.”

You can read the article on the BBC, and then, once you feel sufficiently encouraged and inspired, you can start your own business. Today is going to be a productive day for you.

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From Little Acorns: Branching Out Into Ecommerce

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Warning: Please be prepared for more tree-related jokes and puns in the following blog post.

Make yourself a home in the forest of Ecommerce with a clever little site

Make yourself a home in the forest of Ecommerce with a clever little site

Yes, it’s important to remember that age-old proverb: “From little acorns, mighty oaks grow.”

For an established business, it can be difficult to take the first steps into Internet business, the cornerstone of which is, of course, a great website. Many businesses try to throw themselves in at the deep end of Ecommerce, with a large, comprehensive online shop.

There’s a lot for a business to think about in this scenario. “How do we take payments online? Should we list all our products and services, or just the most popular ones? Should we be managing stock through the website?” etc. We often find that people end up not being able to see the wood for the trees (boom boom).

Instead, allow me suggest a much more manageable approach. Until you’re sure people will use your website and buy online from you, don’t worry about an online shop. You can use a clever little site to establish your company’s online presence, list your products and services, and allow people to call or email you to place an order.

For many businesses, communicating with clients is pretty much essential when doing business with them, so this shouldn’t be a major issue anyway. Indeed, many people don’t like to part with money until they have spoken to a representative of a company they’re looking at.

If you’ve got a special deal going on, or some important piece of company news, you can always thicket (haha) on your website too.

So, in this way, you can use a clever little site as a tool to generate business for a fraction of the price of a full blown Ecommerce site. Then, when it starts generating more work than your staff can handle, or all your clients start clamouring for online payment facilities, you can think about upgrading your current site.

When that time comes, you will be able to draw on the experiences you’ve already accumulated, and make much more informed decisions on how your Ecommerce roots should spread (there was another). And you may find that money does indeed start growing on your Ecommerce trees (and another).

Don’t worry about losing your website address either - you’ll be able to take that with you too, whenever you want. Just let us know - we won’t mind. So there’s no need to call the copse (hahaha).

Okay. No more tree jokes. I’m done. Sorry everyone.

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Start Your Own Business

Monday, April 6th, 2009

… with an easy start-up website. Why not? Here’s a bunch of reasons why right now might be a really good time to give that entrepreneurial idea some serious consideration, and maybe think about starting your own business.

  • People are looking for work. In the current economic climate, a lot of people are already finding it hard to find work, so if you’re able to create jobs for them, you should find it easy to find people to fill the vacancies.
  • Banks are looking for worthwhile investments. While banks are no longer carelessly lending out money they may not see again, it is still in their interest to be lending out and investing money in viable businesses. If you can present a solid business plan and valid market research to back it up, the banks should still be listening.
  • You may already be out of work yourself. A lot of people put off starting their own business as they are busy with their current job, working for another employer. However, with recent job losses and redundancies from large corporations who are “slimming down” their operations, many people are no longer in this situation.
  • You can do something you love, instead of “working”. The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This is exactly what starting your own business can allow you to do. By running a business that focuses on something you’re passionate about, you can indulge that passion whilst earning a living. Also, it won’t feel so much like hard work, and you’ll find that your enthusiasm for what you’re doing is infectious, and people will be interested in what you have to say.
  • You stand to gain a great deal. If your new business grows and is successful, you’ll be the owner of a valuable financial asset, that keeps on giving. You could be the next Richard Branson. He started off selling Christmas trees in his hometown. Then he sold records out of a room above a Doc Marten’s outlet, which, as he had no money, he managed to rent for free, after persuading the shop owner that the extra foot traffic through the store would help sell more boots (which apparently it didn’t). And look where he is now. So we’ll see you in the pits of the next season’s Formula 1 championship, right?

Richard Branson gets some pretty good VIP treatment in the pits

From humble beginnings, Richard Branson is now a player in the world of F1 racing

So what are you waiting for? If you have an idea, develop it into something you can run really with.

New businesses are starting up at a rate of thousands and thousands each month - there’s no reason you can’t be one of these have-a-go entrepreneurs too.

In these challenging times it’s important to remember one thing - in every difficulty, there is an opportunity.

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Being Seen: Promoting Your Website

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

This is an important one, so let’s get straight to the point: Sometimes a business will have a website set up, and then assume that’s that, and leave it well alone. This is, I think, a bit too laid back an approach to what can potentially be a great tool for your business. If you keep your website up to date and make sure your clients and contacts are aware of it’s existance, it can carry a lot of extra promotional power for your business.

Stationery Promoting Website

Our business stationery promotes the company's website, so the web address is seen often by people we meet and correspond with. Click to enlarge.

One of the best (and most cost effective) ways to get people to remember that you have a website is to show them the address a lot. But in a subtle way. People hate having things shoved down their throats every 5 minutes. This doesn’t sound like the easiest thing to do, but actually it’s really quite simple. Just make sure you include your web address on all your company materials. Here’s a quick list to get you thinking - don’t just stop there though! There are no-end of opportunites to get your company’s website address out there.

Business Stationery

Include your website address on…

  • your company’s headed paper.
  • compliment slips.
  • business cards.
  • presentational folders (this works well on the inside pocket, with your other contact details).
These<br /> merchandising materials advertise the company's website too

These merchandising materials advertise the company's website too

Merchandising Materials

You can also include it on any promotional gifts and things your company has, such as…

  • ballpoint pens.
  • notepads and Post-It pads.
  • stickers and transfers.
  • clothing (baseball caps, t-shirts, etc).
  • mugs.
  • usb drives (this one’s great, because chances are people will be near a computer when they see it!)

It doesn’t stop there though. There are a few other places you can put the address too:

  • When making comments on people’s blogs, and setting up profiles on networking sites or online forums, there is often the option to add a website address. You know what to do. This is also a good one for helping with your search engine rankings, as links back to your site from others will improve your website’s credability.
  • You can also add the address to your business email signature, so it automatically appears at the bottom of your emails with your name and other contact details.
  • If you have any company vehicles, such as vans or trucks, you may already have decals with the company name and phone number - this is another great place to put your business website address.

All these ideas are great for getting your website into people’s consciousness, without annoying them. Your site then allows people to get some information about your company at their own convenience.

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