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2010 Year of Health & Wellbeing in Liverpool: But how does this effect your business?

Sep 2 | by Laura Allen | Inspiration!
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2010 is the Year of Health and Wellbeing in Liverpool.  To celebrate, Liverpool is providing many community and health opportunities to show people those small changes can make a big difference in your life.

The Foresight project Mental Capital and Wellbeing published in October 2008 conducted a tremendous amount of research and as a result came up with 5 ways to improve your wellbeing; connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give.  If built into your daily routine these 5 small changes can increase your life span by 7.5 years!

So, if making such small health changes in your daily routine can add years to your life imagine what 5 small changes in your daily work routine could do for your business…

We have created our own business-style wellbeing changes to contribute to Liverpool’s 2010 Year of Health & Wellbeing.  Over the next several months, up until the end of 2010, we will be blogging about each of the 5 ways to improve your business wellbeing.

Until then check out the actual 5 ways of improving your health and wellbeing and the different events being held around Liverpool.

http://www.2010healthandwellbeing.org.uk

 

 

Marketing Tip #23: Make sure you have a business plan

Sep 2 | by Laura Allen | Marketing Tips
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A business plan is not the same as a marketing plan as a marketing plan helps to identify your target customers and so on.  Whereas, a business plan is something you can do at home with a cuppa! 

Ok, so there are different types of business plans depending on what type of business you run and also what type of person you are.  By creating a business plan you are able to focus on the business year ahead; how much profit you expect to make as well as organising your budget and so on. 

However, it can also be aimed at how you see your business in a year’s time; how many customers you expect to have, the new office you’ll be able to move into etc.  

Business plans are a great way to keep focused on what you want out of your business and where you envision yourself as an entrepreneur.

 

Marketing Tip #22: Maintain your Marketing

Aug 24 | by Laura Allen | Marketing Tips
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Maintaining your marketing campaigns is fundamental to any business.  It doesn’t matter how busy you are or how tight your budget is, you should always have some degree of marketing within your company.

This is especially important as we are still not out of the recession.  Many businesses will reduce their marketing budget when times are hard or completely cut it and try and maintain the clients they have already.  However, many studies show that by cutting the budget on your marketing your business may not resume its normal sales figures for at least 18 months – 2 years.  Can you afford to do this?

The businesses that survive recessions are the ones that continue business as normal.  You should not increase your budget as this may prove self-destructive, but you should definitely maintain it. 

A good example of this takes us back in time to 1920s America, where, after the Wall Street Crash many businesses were suffering.  However, there were two businesses in particular who chose completely different ways to handle the imminent recession.  One continued its marketing and started to explore new ways to build up its brand image and awareness, ensuring they stuck to their budget, which was fairly minimal.  The other decided to cut back and completely scrap its marketing altogether.  80 years on and the company that continued its marketing is still around today and recognised worldwide.  However, the company who gave up completely on their marketing are no longer around. 

We are always reviewing our marketing campaigns and coming up with new ways we can increase our brand awareness without it costing the earth.   There are so many different ways to market your company economically nowadays such as viral marketing; social media in all its forms.

You too could find different ways to maintain your marketing and in doing so ensure your company moves with the times and increases its brand awareness.

Oh and the company who survived the recession way back in the 1920s was…Kellogg’s!

E Crime, can you afford to ignore it?

Aug 23 | by Laura Allen | Business Forum
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Okay. You’ve submitted your business plan, bought your domain name, hired the services of a web designer, purchased the latest flashy IT kit and maybe found some office premises to rent. Life is good; business will be great!

But wait, have you thought about everything? Can I suggest that the flashy IT kit might actually need some protection, your web site might not be secure and your web server may not be protected?  Did they mention to you in your free business start up classes that computers are attacked on a very regular basis?

Attorney General Baroness Scotland said; “It is widely recognised that e-Crime is the most rapidly expanding form of criminality and knows no borders.”

What exactly are we talking about here? Well a study carried out last year placed a number of “ordinary” computers on business networks that had access to the Internet.  In a period of five days there were approximately 25,000 attacks on these computers.

Hey that’s okay; my computer only has details of people I trade with, customer accounts and the latest design of my ground breaking invention. Oh thanks said the “hacker.”  I’ll start with the latest design because I can sell your Intellectual Property and as we all know first past the post gets the money. Have you registered it?

Now let’s take the customer accounts, personal information, bank details etc. Should be enough there to take out some loans, maybe a mortgage, oh and buy the latest Flashy IT kit.  Great this person has actually made a document of CSV (Three Digit) numbers they write down when use certain online payment facilities. (It does happen)

What about the people you trade with. Well they are trusted. I have their bank and email details. They have mine and are part of the company’s electronic supply chain.

They are two or three tiers down and may not have the security you have or expect of your suppliers. So they now become the weakest link and I can either disrupt your business or work my way up to attack your IT Infrastructure.  If I disrupt your business in any manner then your competitors may gain, as they fill the orders you could not meet.

I’ll discuss the various threats to your business systems in the future but let’s get a few basics in place.

Is your software updated?  Everyone shouts “yes” which is why Microsoft released a patch for the Conficker Virus in October 2008 before the first reports of attack in November 2008. By January 2009 at least 30% of computers were still vulnerable.  So does everyone really patch their computers?

Of course you have the latest anti-virus products, which get updated on a frequent basis. Did I hear somebody say I got mine off a car boot or downloaded it from a file sharing network? Bless – shall I mention the manufacturers IP or even code put into the AV software by the file sharers to open up ports on your computer, to be used as methods of attack.

I know that everyone has a secure password such as “Bill” “Bill1” etc.  My password is mangled which means I’ve changed the E for a 3 and I for a 1.  They will never guess “Legolas” will they?  Actually brute force attacks on Bill will find it very quickly as will the dictionary attack on E for 3, or the Lord of the Rings dictionary.  Don’t become part of the estimated £500 million plus a year loss to UK businesses. Create secure passwords.

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams of a successful business. Update your operating system software and your anti-virus software on a daily basis and make sure your passwords are strong.  Remember over 1700 attacks a day, in a five day period, happen to people like you.

I will go on to discuss the different types of attack that may impact on your business and suggest strategies to deal with them including getting your business back online as soon as is practicable.

Chris has certainly given us a lot to think about!  I, as I’m sure many of you, was not aware of just how many attacks can take place DAILY on a computer and am therefore really looking forward to Chris’ next blog where he’ll talk us through some strategies to combat this from happening.
Please feel free to comment on the blog or if you would like to discuss anything with Chris, please follow the link below.
  http://www.ecrimesolutions.co.uk

And August’s guest blogger is…

Aug 23 | by Laura Allen | Business Forum
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Chris Sullivan: Director of E Crime Solutions – E Crime, can you afford to ignore it? 

Chris is the director of as well as a consultant at E Crime Solutions; A leading provider of computer forensics in Merseyside.  E Crime Solutions have worked with clients both nationally and internationally from the UK to Europe and Thailand to the USA providing  data recovery and investigations into E Crimes and offering expert testimony for both law enforcement and commercial cases.

Chris’ blog outlines the misconceptions and perhaps the naivety that we all have when it comes to protecting our computer.  We can sometimes forget that the data held by our computers can include our client’s personal details as well as our own.  Even our choice in passwords can be predictable.

Chris highlights areas that are frighteningly true in this day and age and are areas that we all should consider seriously.  Please feel free to comment on the blog as Chris is the best person to help with any problems you’re having or queries you need answering.

So, without further ado, I’ll let you read through the blog and hopefully it will make you rethink the way you back up and protect your data.

 

 http://www.ecrimesolutions.co.uk

Koogar on the radio???

Aug 20 | by Laura Allen | Koogar HQ
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Hi there!

Yesterday was a tremendously exciting day for us as we found ourselves in Crewe at 12 o’clock discussing a new radio venture taking place.

The internet radio station, RedShiftRadio.co.uk (Internet Radio), will be launching on the 6th September and has a fantastic variety of shows for its listeners.  From gardening to business start ups, music to the news and everything in between RedShiftRadio.co.uk is bound to have something you’ll enjoy.

Now for the exciting news…we have been asked if we would like to co-host a show!  How exciting is that?  We haven’t set out a schedule as of yet, but we’ll be talking about various areas of business that you need to pay particular attention to, so it’s definitely worth a listen!

Internet radio is a fantastic way to reach people on a global scale and it allows you to listen to a show after being aired, so you’ll never miss out on your favourite one.  At the office, we regularly play a pod cast, or something equivalent, in the background whilst we work a.k.a when we’re supposedly having our lunch.  It’s a great way to learn a bit more about a topic you’re not familiar with and in helping you to relax after a stressful morning or get motivated for your next job through playing music.

Even though RedShiftRadio.co.uk is an internet station at the moment, it still functions like a digital/FM station in that it will play music, have the news on the hour and have sponsors of shows as well as adverts in between.  They’re still on the look out for sponsors and welcome any ideas for future shows.  This is a brilliant opportunity to meet new people and we are thrilled to have been asked to take part.

We wish the RedShiftRadio.co.uk team the best of luck as we’re sure the next two weeks, before they launch, are going to be stressful yet filled with excitement.

Marketing Tip #21: What is the value you give to your customers?

Aug 17 | by Laura Allen | Marketing Tips
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Now don’t get value confused with your USP.  They may seem similar, but there is a subtle difference…  You’re USP is, obviously, you’re unique selling point, meaning why your customers would choose you over your competitors.  The value you give your customers, on the other hand, is what you do for your customers that they may not know about.  The ‘behind the scenes’ work if you like.

We, for instance, keep up to date with the latest technologies.  Once we have created a web site for you and it has gone LIVE we don’t just leave it there with you never hearing from us again.  We will contact our clients with any updates they should be aware of or new technology that will make their web site stand out from its competition.

So, what value do you give to your customers? 

Please feel free to comment as we’d love to know how different companies interpret value and see how they provide it.

Bought a domain name, now what?

Aug 11 | by Laura Allen | Domain names
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Now that you have bought your domain name you have secured your online address so your competitors cannot have the same domain name as you, which is great!

The next step is to find a web design company who you are comfortable with and knowing who to go with is something you should take your time over.  What you should be looking for is someone who is going to help you get what you need and not necessarily what you want.

One of your main responsibilities as a company with an online presence is to help users of the internet have the opportunity to view your site.  Therefore, accessibility should be your main concern when it comes to your web site as you don’t want a complicated site, which takes forever to load each page as people will become impatient and abandon your site.

You also need a site that matches and conveys your company’s brand, morals, ethics and ethos.  For example, we have the domain name www.koogar.co.uk which is simple and easily recognisable to our clients as it has the company name in it.  When users visit our web site they are immediately greeted by blue, black and white- our company brand colours as well as an image of a cougar.  Once users delve a little bit deeper into our site they get an insight into what kind of company we are- professional yet approachable.

So remember, take your time when choosing a web design company, know exactly what you want to get out of your web site and relax…your domain name is yours and yours alone now!

If you need any information or advice regarding domain names or help on taking the next step, please feel free to contact us.

Marketing Tip #20: Offers your clients can’t refuse

Aug 10 | by Laura Allen | Marketing Tips
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It may seem like a small thing to do and some may find it trivial, but offering potential clients something they may not get from their competitors can make all the difference. 

It could be something as simple as a free trial of a product so a person can test your product, but also your company.  If they like the product they will like your company and may recommend you to friends and family.

It’s all about giving clients that little bit extra.  For example, when you stay at a hotel and they have prepared the room for you; turned back the duvet, put a mint on your pillow (if you’re lucky) and so on, it makes you feel special and that they’ve gone out of their way to make you feel so.

We offer a FREE 1 hour consultation for every client with no strings attached.  This way a potential client can voice all their concerns and questions before paying for any of the services we offer and, of course, deciding if we’re the company for them.  We can then get a good idea of what the client wants and needs to make sure we get the concept right first time.

So remember, a little can go a long way…

How many of us are missing opportunities?

Aug 5 | by Laura Allen | Koogar HQ
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How many opportunities escape our attention daily?

Whether the opportunity is reaching out to potential customers, acknowledging a new customer, welcoming someone to your network circle or helping them out; the keyword is ENGAGEMENT.

Engaging other people takes:

  • Forethought to know about a contact’s needs, what a potential customer wants and what a new member can gain from a network circle.
  • Awareness of situations, who you are meeting and how these can benefit your new or potential customers.
  • Effort to find out about others and follow up with them.

A good example is networking as this provides plently of opportunities to engage with others, making new contacts and establishing business connections. 

When networking you need to put forethought into what type of event it is, what businesses will be there and who you are looking to meet.  It is always a benefit to know exactly what you want to get out of a networking event. 

You need to be aware of networking circles- who is having a closed, private conversation and who is open and approachable.  It is good to be aware of what people are saying to you as although they may not be a useful contact for yourself they might be perfect for one of your contacts. 

Finally, you need to make an effort.  It’s no good standing in the corner and waiting for people to come to you.  You must be motivated to go up to people and introduce yourself!

So, remember the rules of engagement; Forethought, Awareness and Effort to prevent missed opportunities.

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