Born in a Storm Essential tips for Start-ups in a recession
BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester are running a programme everyday this week which focuses on how some local start-ups not only set up during a recession but have also managed to survive and some of which have also thrived. I was approached by H&W Chamber of Commerce and asked if I would like to be one of the businesses interviewed for the programme - free publicity on the local radio I thought - absolutely count me in.
Kate Mundy, BBC radio newsreader and journalist, wanted to find out what a normal day for a Social Media Trainer might include, so I invited her to tag along for the day, this is what my diary looked like...
Friday 17th February
If you'd like to listen to the Radio Interview...
5. Build an audience - Help and advise people on your area of expertise
6. Get out there - get out of the house/office make yourself known
7. Grab any free marketing opportunity - radio interview, presenter slot at a networking meeting, to be on the chamber website...
8. Create some professional business cards and aim to hand them all out by the end of the year
9. Send out regular newsletters
10. Post social media updates - on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn - whichever platform best suits your target audience
BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester are running a programme everyday this week which focuses on how some local start-ups not only set up during a recession but have also managed to survive and some of which have also thrived. I was approached by H&W Chamber of Commerce and asked if I would like to be one of the businesses interviewed for the programme - free publicity on the local radio I thought - absolutely count me in.
Kate Mundy, BBC radio newsreader and journalist, wanted to find out what a normal day for a Social Media Trainer might include, so I invited her to tag along for the day, this is what my diary looked like...
Friday 17th February
- 10.30am - Meet Ben Kinnaird to record Podcasts
Ben and I hooked up about 12 months ago to deliver our joint venture Inventive Workshops. These are local, cost effective social media workshops run on a monthly basis followed by an Internet Marketing Club. The podcasts are there for anyone who wants a flavour for the type of things we discuss during our Internet Marketing Club and who is interested in learning more about online marketing.
- 12.15pm - The Lunch Club, The Vale Golf Club, Evesham
Business Networking Club 19 local business people, based in and around Evesham who are asked to bring their guests on a fortnightly basis for lunch and networking. - 3pm - Catch up with admin and email's in preparation for the following week.
If you'd like to listen to the Radio Interview...
You can catch it on Wednesday 21st March sometime between 6.00 - 9.00 am
Helen Coldicott - Director, Coldicott Freelance Training
Ben Kinnaird - Director, Rather Inventive
Rob Bell - Bank Manager - HSBC, Evesham
http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/programmes
For me there's no secret when it comes to surviving in a recession (I don't know any different, so it may just be tips for starting a business full-stop), but I know there were a few things that I did try and do fairly consistently.
1. Attend all the free networking events
2. Grab any opportunity to do a spot of public speaking
3. Network - choose 1 or 2 networking meetings that you enjoy and keep going to on a regular basis
4. Use social Media - write blogs to increase your online content
Helen Coldicott - Director, Coldicott Freelance Training
Ben Kinnaird - Director, Rather Inventive
Rob Bell - Bank Manager - HSBC, Evesham
http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/programmes
For me there's no secret when it comes to surviving in a recession (I don't know any different, so it may just be tips for starting a business full-stop), but I know there were a few things that I did try and do fairly consistently.
- Keep costs low - if I could make do with something, for example a standard phone, a free piece of software, creating my own website that's what I would do. Anything that meant I kept my costs to a minimum.
- Raise your profile - This was my aim for the first 12 months. No one knew I existed or that I offered help with using Social Media so I needed to get that message out to people anyway that I could.
- 10 x 10 marketing plan - My business coach, Simon Williams advised me to use at least 10 different marketing channels or methods of communication to get my message out there. Here are mine, what you'll notice is that a lot of these are free:
1. Attend all the free networking events
2. Grab any opportunity to do a spot of public speaking
3. Network - choose 1 or 2 networking meetings that you enjoy and keep going to on a regular basis
4. Use social Media - write blogs to increase your online content
5. Build an audience - Help and advise people on your area of expertise
6. Get out there - get out of the house/office make yourself known
7. Grab any free marketing opportunity - radio interview, presenter slot at a networking meeting, to be on the chamber website...
8. Create some professional business cards and aim to hand them all out by the end of the year
9. Send out regular newsletters
10. Post social media updates - on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn - whichever platform best suits your target audience
If your business was established during a recession and you have any hints or tips for other businesses in the same boat, it would be great to hear from you.
If you'd like to know how to generate lots of free content and get noticed online - why not attend one of our Social Media Workshops...
