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www.meetup.com/Im-An-Entrepreneur-Essex-Meet-Up

The UK’s Premier Not Networking: Networking Event!

WELCOME... It was only last October that we had the first meet and its already March. Time does really fly. That is so true when you are running your own business. It’s quite amazing when I was in a corporate job, there were days that seem to drag on forever and all you were focused on was Friday afternoon. Now working for yourself and living the entrepreneurs way, you start the week with good intentions and before you know it its Wednesday afternoon and you haven’t got half the stuff you planned to do, get done.

This is where you need to not only have a good plan, but set systems in place that do some of the doing for you. One way is blogging. Blogging allows you to communicate to the masses and generate opportunities for you without you being there. This month you will hear from Chris Daeams about how he got into the media by just blogging. I am really excited about how this meet-up is growing, heres to many more.www.meetup.com/Im-An-Entrepreneur-Essex-Meet-Up/

NEWSLETTER / MARCH 2013

I’M ANENTREPRENEUR

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ESSEX PRINT & PUBLICATIONS LTD

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TOTAL INK & OFFICE (inkandoffice.com)

David Diak, Chris Deams,Rob Keating, Phil Tozer,

Rich With

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Getting the best from your web site3 Easy Ways to Make your Website Work Harder for your Business.1.Understand what your visitors are looking for – and give it to them. New visitors to your website don’t know you yet – so make sure it’s absolutely clear from your home page what your company does, and why they should use you - instead of the 3 other websites they visited.2. Don’t use industry jargon. You might call them ‘adjustables’ – but if your customers call them spanners, make sure you describe them that way!3. Always give users something to do. At the bottom of each page, make sure there is a link or a phone number – always give visitors something to do.

The Challenges of Building Websites in Multiple LanguagesOver the years we’ve been asked to build websites in many different languages. The easy ones are French, Spanish, Italian – the çhárãctérs áré róughlÿ thê sámé. German gets trickier as the direct translation from English is often 50% longer or more – and the Germans have a habit of sticking their words together to make one big word, which can mess up layout. We’re doing a number of websites at the moment in Chinese, and that presents a completely new set of challenges; it’s impossible to tell which words correspond to the English equivalents, but then, we do love a challenge.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – what really works?Many businesses have been burnt by SEO companies selling magical fixes to boost you in Google. The problem is that most of us don’t understand what these so called ‘experts’ do. Another danger is that they offer to promote obscure keywords for you – which won’t make any real difference to the number of visitors your website receives.When picking a company to help you with boosting your website, make sure they will tell you exactly what they do for the money – and what sort of results you should expect. Ideally, they should be able to achieve results without making your website look horrible too!

Phil Thomas, Revive Media www.revivedigitalmedia.com

Try video with a difference.If the idea of short looping videos seems new, it isn’t.Blipverts are great new way to transmit an idea or a thought in just 6 seconds Years ago Blipverts, were a combination of a blip, a brief sound and adverts, these were high-speed, high-intensity video commercials lasting a few seconds, their purpose was to stop channel-hopping during commercials. These high-intensity commercials also had the ability to overload brains, but we’re 25 years on and we can cope with the intensity now. What’s being overloaded these days is the downloads of apps like Vine (mobile service from Twitter). Vine, for example, is a simple creative and fun tool to share life in motion in short looping video clips, on a variety of social networking services, such as Twitter or Facebook.What a great new way to use video, give it a try...

Dave McDonald - SilverIsland.tv

The good news!! SMS is busy. I’ve appointed a senior AV Technician who is overseeing several projects, including Crestron installations in London, Surrey and Essex, and we’ve also, been nominated for at least one project for this years prestigious CEDIA Awards. I’m currently working on a marine based contract supplied to ‘Super Yachts’ (the smaller ones being 50m up-to and over 100m in length!) I’ve had to get familiar with how they all work as I’m on board a 60m vessel winter docked in Monaco! This is serious stuff, every inch a masterpiece beautifully bespoke made. As for the vessel itself… I hear figures between £1m - £2m per meter ! Either way… a lovely job to be working on!!

Vince McAtamney, SMS Home Cinema, www.smshomecinema.com

All aboard!

Group News

www.meetup.com/Im-An-Entrepreneur-Essex-Meet-Up

ENTREPRENEURS’ WISDOM

It’s not enough to have customers these days. Our brands need to have raving fans who willing to bellow how amazing we are to everyone they come across. We want our brands to have the equivalent of a herd of Bieberettes standing outside our premises chanting our name to the world at large. But whatever your view on the likes of Justin Bieber or the Kardashians, (and I’m still trying to figure that one out) brands are super-charging their fans emotions to compel their audience to froth at the mouth at a mere hint of a new record or product line.

As consumers we emotionally connect with a brand due to a number of reasons. Perhaps we want to emulate its characteristics, or maybe it’s the way it never disappoints or stands for something important that connects both our heart and mind to it.

So how do brands emotionally connect with their audience? In his book The Dream Society, Rolf Jensen believes we will evolve from an information society to one that focus on dreams and aspirations. Where creativity and storytelling behind the brand have shifted to become the emotional drivers. We want to be shown tales of success so we too, can enjoy it. As Clark Gable once said “The only reason they come to see me is that I know that life is great - and they know I know it”.

Jensen believes there are six criteria that brands need to adopt to get raving fans.By adopting a sense of adventure brands as diverse as Go-Ape and Call of Duty video games give their fans an ideal of fun, adventure and cool attitude (even

violence) that others want to be a part of. To give them an experience they won’t get anywhere else.

The second trait is togetherness. If your brand comes with it’s own tribe - advocates who see being part of your brand as an exclusive club, then this is a powerful tool for growth. Owners of VW Beetles and Harley Davidsons have long had a sense of community. Having this community gives the impression that they know something the rest of the world doesn’t - that they are privy to a secret that only the enlightened will discover.

The third criteria is care. We long to be cared for whether it’s in a state-of-the-art private hospital or in an all-inclusive hotel resort. If we get the first rate service and attention to detail we wish for our dreams are realised and our sense of experience is dramatically improved.

To define ourselves is the fourth criteria. Several years ago the Jaguar cars corporate hyperbole would bang-on about the benefits of a vehicle that adopts similar technology from lesser Ford makes. Gradually sales dropped because

the people that want to buy a Jaguar don’t want the same spec as a Mondeo. They want glamour, excitement (the sense of adventure) but the also want to define themselves as the epitome of a Jaguar owner. It’s interesting to note that Tata, the current owner of Jaguar has shifted its marketing back to a more aspirational state.

Peace of mind is the fifth criteria- creating the reassurance that buying from a certain brand means everything will be alright. From insurance plans to the Disney corporation there’s a multitude of story-telling to inspire consumers. From tales of pets that survived procedures due to a good vet an ample insurance, to the knowledge that we can take our children to the cinema and they’ll have a good time means we’ll be happy to advertise your brand to our friends and family.

The final criteria - convictions means creating the reassurance that they’re doing the right thing. From energy companies charging higher tariffs to those on green energy plans to paying more for organic produce we long for companies that have the same convictions as us.

To create these emotional connections to our brands we need to instill the message from the top down. Every member of your team has to believe in your product or service. That what they do makes a difference to people lives. It doesn’t matter whether its something important like healthcare or simply swinging from a wooden frame with their kids, only by having that conviction and empathising with your clients will a you maintain a solid brand.

It makes perfect sense that clients and customers need to feel an emotional connection with your brand - but just how do you achieve that? Rich With has a few ideas...

It’s beenEmotional...

As consumers we emotionally connect with a brand due to a number of reasons. Perhaps we want to emulate its characteristics, or maybe it’s the way it never disappoints or stands for something important that connects both our heart and mind to it.

Chris is the director of Principal Financial Solutions and also an experienced financial planner with over 13 years experience in helping clients achieve their financial goals. In October 2009 and after years of working in a corporate environment Chris decided to start his own business. Chris is regularly featured in a number of publications including FT Adviser (A Financial Times publication), Moneywise

Magazine, IFA Online and GAAPWEB. Chris is also in the process of writing his first book.

Adam is passionate about the world of social media, what it can do for business and mankind. Adam work’s with companies to help them understand what Social Media is and how they can harness its power to have more and better relationships with their prospects and customers. Adam helps clients integrate social media with their existing marketing and ensure that they get the best possible return on their investment.

SPEAKER’S CORNER

I’M AN ENTREPRENEURMEET-UP CALENDARN.B. ALL MEET-UPS FROM 7pm-9pmMonday 11th March 2013 How to use Blogging to Get into the Media - Chris DeamsMonday 8th April 2013 Serious Social Media - Adam GrayMonday 13th May 2013 How To Increase The Value Of Your Business For Exit - Erkan AliMonday 10th June 2013 Speaker TBCMonday 8th July 2013 Speaker TBCAugust HOLIDAY: NO MEETING Monday 9th September 2013 Speaker TBCMonday 14th October 2013 Speaker TBCMonday 11th November 2013 Speaker TBCMonday 9th December 2013 Speaker TBC

FACTS AROUND SOCIAL MEDIA

You and your business in 60 seconds:Phil TozerWhat is your company? Cloud Support

What do you do? We are a Boutique IT Consultancy, providing SMEs day to day support for their IT and assisting them to migrate business services to the cloud.

When did you start?I took voluntary redundancy from CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) in August 2008 and set-up my own business in September of the same year.

How did you get started?I began building PCs as a hobby in the early ‘90’s and realised I really enjoyed it, I turned it into a full time career in ‘97 working for a global Consultancy in London.

Most Important Lesson You Have Learnt About Doing Business? It’s hard. Seriously though, identify your strengths and surround yourself with the right people, don’t be afraid to say No.

Biggest Mistake you have made? Treating my business like my job instead of my business and trying to do too much.

Who are your best customers? We live in exciting times and I enjoy working with businesses that embrace new technologies for their advantage.

Advice you would give a 16 yr old about starting a business?Use your energies in the right way, think smarter and don’t be

afraid of saying No to people.

Advice you wold give a 50 yr old about starting a business? Be fearless and don’t be afraid to experiment with new technologies and get your presence out there through advertising, social media and networking.

What is your philosophy in life? Live healthy and never be afraid to try something new.

1. Facebook’s 1 billion members makes it the third largest country in the world (behind China and India). 2. Each day, 20% of Google searches have never been searched before. 3. Every second, 2 new mem-bers join LinkedIn. 4. That is the equivalent of the entire enrollment of the Ivy League joining LinkedIn every day.

5. Social gamers will buy $6 billion in virtual goods by the end of 2013, while mov-iegoers will buy only $2.5 billion in real goods. 6. Every minute, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. 7. YouTube is the second larg-est search engine in the world. 8. 53% of people on Twit-ter recommend products in their tweets.

Chris Daems

Next Month...Adam Gray

www.baijusolanki.com