Small Business MOB with Bree James & Andrew Griffiths.

10/08/2018

Change Happens

Change happens to all of us; how we engage in change is what defines it. Gain some form of control over the change, and you will feel more secure.

In the past year, I have experienced a lot of changes in my life. Recently I have had a number of these in a short period of time. These recent changes have been smooth, and for the most part, they have been about transitioning from one good thing to another good thing. This is not always the case t...

10/08/2018

3 Simple Steps to Stand Out From the Competition as a Public Speaker

Allow yourself to be the most amazing version of you and as a public speaker a world of new opportunities, collaborations and new audiences will open up.

Have you ever worried about competition as a public speaker? If you have, then hopefully this is great news that you no longer should feel the need to do that. There’s one thing, one big reason why you should not be in the slightest worried about the competition. It’s because when you do this on...

09/08/2018

No, Email Marketing Is Not Dead

Email marketing is definitely a cost-effective, convenient, and efficient way for businesses to reach a wider customer base and gain more clients.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective methods for small and medium-sized businesses to increase revenue and build their customer base, according to recent research. While some have tried to argue that email marketing is 'dead', there are many who disagree! Given that over 3.7 billion pe...

09/08/2018

If You Want to Tell Great Stories You Need to Do This

Tell great stories with these few tips that will get you going and keep you growing with your writing and the time to start is now.

“Oh, I’d love to write a book, but I can’t write.” I don’t think I’ve heard that sentence said more often than in the weeks since my business book was released. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of drive, or confidence, or the genuine belief that writing is some kind of unreachable skill, ...

08/08/2018

Self-Publishing a Book for your Small Business

Self-publishing a book for your Small Business is not something many do, which is why it is such a great way to stand out and boost your business. -publishing

One of the never-ending problems of being a Small Business owner is setting yourself apart from your competitors in a crowded marketplace. You’ve probably tried advertising, social media, publicity, and many of the other usual suspects. But there is one option that is more accessible today than ev...

08/08/2018

smallville.com.au

If you’ve been feeling burnt out by your content creation demands and are tempted to fall into a 'content coma' then try these five tricks of the trade.

07/08/2018

Puppies, Pets and Pounding the Pavement – the PAWGUST Triple Win

Creating a Triple Win can be easy, get behind whatever is happening and harness the energy, like Guide Dogs Australia have with their PAWGUST campaign.. -Liu

Win-win is good, but a Triple Win is better. PAWGUST is a campaign that understands this. Guide Dogs Australia are simply combining the love of pets, the need to exercise them and ourselves, and the importance of raising funds for Guide Dogs puppies. Voila! They have a Triple Win campaign. Whether....

07/08/2018

At Your Age? What's Holding You Back From Sharing Your Experience?

Are you holding back from sharing your experience because you don't know what to write, where to start or what medium to use?

You’d think we may have learnt a thing or two over six, seven, eight or more decades living on this earth wouldn’t you? Still, so many of us don’t have the confidence to share the stories of our experience, and all that’s in our heads will be lost once we are gone. Personally, I’ve had a p...

07/08/2018

The Real Cost of Asking for Freebies

Asking outright for a freebie seems to be a growing trend, these are just some of the costs of asking for freebies for those 'favour askers' to be aware of.

I’m a good person. It feels awkward putting that in writing, but this article is set to be confronting, so let’s consider it a good start. I’ve done lots of free or low-cost work for people over the years and have truly enjoyed doing it. But I’m also a Small Business owner, with my own overh...

06/08/2018

Are You Passionate About Your Business?

Passion is a powerful word, and a powerful energy to have in a business; it will make your business life enjoyable and possibly your business more valuable.

People talk a lot about passion. Possibly the word is overused in society in general, but one thing is for certain, it’s hard to run a successful business for long without it. 5 reasons why you can’t do without passion in a modern business: 1. Some days are going to be tough. Running a business ...

06/08/2018

The Confidentiality Dilemma of a Great Marketing Angle

I have a great marketing angle that I can not use due to a confidentiality dilemma; everyone wants their 'business numbers' kept well hidden from the world.

There are times when I wish I didn’t work in a world surrounded by privacy, where secrecy about who I work for and what I’m doing has to be kept, well, secret. It’s almost as though I’m working undercover or for ASIO or similar. I’ve recently been delving back into the world of identifying...

06/08/2018

Where’s My Cheat Sheet?

Help your customers to embrace and utilise your products to the fullest extent by providing them with a cheat sheet that will save them and you time.

It’s taken me a very long time, but I have finally upgraded my iPhone 4S to a newer iPhone 7 model, and my iPad 2 to a 6th Gen iPad. Yes, I know many of you are probably saying, 'Why did it take you so long?', and 'I wouldn’t have thought a 4S still worked?' To which I would reply, 'Yes, well, I...

03/08/2018

Breakthrough Your Fears

Breakthrough your fears, whatever is holding you stuck, and give yourself the opportunity to live to the full potential of yourself and your business.

What is that invisible force that prevents you from breaking through to where you want to be in your life and your business? Every time I realise I am not quite where I want to be with my business, I seek guidance from one of my mentors. Two heads are definitely better than one when it comes to loca...

02/08/2018

A Scrappy Way to Get Around Procrastination

Our days are filled with scraps of time that are enough to sideswipe procrastination if we just get started instead of jumping on social media.

I am the world champion of ‘procrastacleaning’! I mainly work from a home office, and it is easy to decide that a load of washing needs to go on or be hung out, the kitchen needs a tidy or the shower a clean. Any of this is easier than knuckling down to do that ‘thing’ that, for whatever rea...

02/08/2018

Why We All Need to Learn to Take Our Own Advice!

Most Small Business owners are really good at giving advice but we need to learn to take our own advice and apply it to ourselves.

I spent the whole of last weekend away with my in-laws. We’d planned it so we could focus on our family, and that’s all, no work. I’d cleared my calendar in preparation, so while our kids caught up with their grandparents, I had not much to do but sit. It was rare, and it was relaxing, really ...

01/08/2018

The Power of Giving Clients Options

There is power in giving clients options, offering more than one option increases your chances of them saying "Yes", to one of your services.

Here's something you might like to test in your business; when you give your client a proposal for your service, give them at least two options. These options can be priced differently or priced the same. However, there should be clear and easy to understand differences, in each option that you offe...

01/08/2018

Why Simple Marketing Works

Simple marketing works, stop bombarding your clients with unnecessary information and instead gently toss them one relevant idea at a time.

Every marketer parades around this idea 'simple is better, and less is more'. But why is that and how can you achieve this simple, effective marketing for your Small Business? I once read something really interesting about marketing in a magazine at the hairdressers, of all places (who says going t...

31/07/2018

Two Sides to the Small Business Coin

There are two sides to the Small Business coin, as most of your commercial dealings will be with other Small Businesses where you are the customer.

When Small Business owners get together, it’s only a matter of time before conversations shift to customer service war-stories and the most challenging client of the week. Not all Small Business owners work in customer service, but they have clients just the same. Some work with other businesses o...

31/07/2018

Invest in Yourself First to Get Your Business Ahead

Invest in yourself first and manage your stress, so you are working at your potential then your business can reach its potential too.

'Chill out' is often easier said than done. When the pressure is on, real or perceived, our bodies react and often not in our best interests. For a lot of business owners, this stress reaction is often and unrelenting. We have continual deadlines, cash-flow worries and are time-poor to name but a fe...

30/07/2018

Business Financials: Look to the Future, Not Over Your Shoulder

With our business financials, we should be looking into the future whilst using the historical, past financial reports to guide us.

We have eyes that look forward to where we’re going and whilst some people may say they have eyes in the back of the head, the reality is they don’t. So why is it then, that when we’re looking at finances, we are continually looking backwards and not looking to the future? Pilots are at the fr...

30/07/2018

The Effect on Customers of Doing Good in Business

There are many ways of doing good in business and many motivations for doing so, in the end, the customer decides if it affects their buying decision.

There are many ways to do good in business, just as there are many motivations for doing so. So, what qualifies as a good motive, a bad motive or just a nice idea? The problem of perfection. I like things to be perfect, and it irritates me when they're not. I like ideas to be perfect; complete, clea...

30/07/2018

Turn Your Accountant Fee into Valuable Taxation Advice

Small Business owners, turn your accountant fee into valuable taxation advice by utilising cloud accounting solutions for your business.

As you know, we are now in the new (Australian) financial year 2018/2019 (FY19), and you should have executed your tax planning strategies prepared from February to April (with or without advice). These strategies would include at least three financial years over 14 months (June 2018, July 2018 to J...

27/07/2018

Make This Financial Year Your Best Year Yet

Make this new financial year the best one yet by managing your finances, debts, and taxation and pave the way for your business's success.

Every year brings new challenges for business, but it is also an opportunity. Numerous pitfalls could trip you up as you march towards your aspirations. Being aware of grey areas and tackling problems such as cash flow issues, debt management problems, and taxation could help you steer your business...

27/07/2018

A Little Discipline Never Hurts

Business owners are stuck in the day to day because they don't discipline themselves enough to work their way out and above the problem.

One of the biggest and most common complaints we hear from business owners is they don’t have time. No time to get organised. No time to do the things they want to do. No time to work on strategy. Stuck in the day-to-day. The reason for this is obvious, but only when you get some distance from the...

27/07/2018

My Personal Trainer’s Winning Formula Also Works in Small Business

How my personal trainer's winning formula for training clients can assist Small Business owners to thrive in their business. -Liu

Twice a week I replace my early morning walk with a personal training session at the gym. Now here’s the thing: I don’t like the gym, I love walking. But as a woman tipping mid-50, my muscles aren’t what they used to be when I was a dancer, and my hormones aren’t what they were when I was yo...

26/07/2018

Trusting Me, Trusting You, Is the Foundation for What We Do

Learning to embrace trust can lead to improvements in many aspects of our lives, from our personal interactions to our work activities.

In the past few months as I have been writing for Smallville a few times our editor has gotten in touch with me and made some helpful suggestions that improved my articles. This reminded me of how the editor I used to help me with the final edit of my book really assisted me with bringing out my wri...

26/07/2018

How to Stay Motivated When Your Foundation is Set

When your foundation is set, these three things will help you to stay motivated so that you can really grow your Small Business.

Picture this; you’ve slaved away building a business for the last five years or so. You’re exhausted, most likely running on adrenaline or coffee, or both. Money has been more than tight; at times it’s been downright scary, and you’ve probably questioned why you’re doing this more than you...

25/07/2018

Where to Start With Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is simply about automating those menial day-to-day tasks so that you can focus your time and attention or more important things.

'Automation' is definitely a buzzword in the marketing community. Some marketers absolutely love it; while others seem scared even to dip a toe in the water. The thought of automating aspects of your marketing might feel akin to letting a robot handle your customer relations, but the fact is marketi...

25/07/2018

Skyrocket Your Confidence in Public Speaking

Confidence in public speaking can be learned; follow these four steps, be conscious of them, and your confidence in public speaking will skyrocket.

'Anna, do you have any tips on how I can be more confident when I am public speaking?' The big 'C', confidence, is without a doubt, one of the topics I am asked about most as a public speaking coach for business owners. I’ve noticed in my public speaking journey, and as a professional speaker, tha...

25/07/2018

13 Tips to Make Sure Your Clients Are Happy

These 13 tips will help you ensure you keep your business's clients happy; remember without your clients, you don't have a business.

The title says it all, so here are my happy client tips: 1. Say what you’re going to do and then do it. It’s not that hard, but so many businesses can’t reach even this simple standard. 2. Do a great job. Again, this is the minimum standard for running a thriving business. And, reread this poi...

24/07/2018

Why Policies Are Your Ticket to Utopia

Policies and procedures help everyone understand what’s expected of them; picture your business utopia and use policies to create your dynamic business.

When someone starts to talk about policies and procedures, their audience generally struggles to pay attention. If they’re not looking for the nearest exit, checking their watch or hoping for an urgent message, they’re planning their shopping list or annual leave. Policies aren’t a terribly ex...

24/07/2018

At Your Age? Putting Your Affairs in Order

There is only a finite length of time left to 'put our affairs in order’; who will take over the responsibility for your personal and business affairs?

We small business owners are entrepreneurs; that means we are risk takers. Statistically, the vast majority of us will fail; we all know this. Yet, we still dig our heels in and have a go. It’s more than the money or the hope of it that motivates us. We are the eternal optimists. As we age, though...

24/07/2018

3 Reasons to Change That Will Improve Your Future

Making changes to how you do jobs or processes that improve your business are changes that are important and worth making for your future. James

Being comfortable in business may well be an elusive dream to you, but if you’ve been in business for a few years, I’m willing to bet that you have developed your own way of doing things that you’ve become comfortable with. The classic case I used to see, though not so much anymore, was busine...

23/07/2018

Don’t Spend a Training Cent Until You Read This

If you are seeking group training as professional development, don’t’ just focus on the content, consider the training environment too.

Recently I went to a group training event as an attendee. I was really looking forward to this event as the content was relevant, the location was nearby, and I was suffering from 'locked-in syndrome’; too much time spent in my own head and my home office. It was time for me to get around other bu...

23/07/2018

How to Overcome the Busyness Epidemic

Free yourself from the busyness epidemic by focusing on what you truly want to achieve, in business and life, and only do the tasks which serve that.

How many times a day do you hear someone say they’re busy? How many times a day do you say it? I bet you $100 if you go and ask someone how they’re doing at work or in business, nine times out of ten their response will be, “Busy.” What’s the problem with this you may ask, isn’t it good ...