Dannie-Lu Carr explains how to negotiate powerful personalities and get your voice heard at business meetings, in an extract from her book ‘Brilliant Assertiveness’.
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Grow a Small Business
What happens when you venture beyond the art of successfully promoting your business, and venture into dangerous territory and risk bulldozing potential clients with sales messages?
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Shweta Jhajharia from The London Coaching Group provides answers to some frequently asked sales and marketing questions posed by start-ups, including making the most of social media, and how to retain customers.
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More and more people are setting up their own businesses from home, thanks to major advances in web technology, and the realisation that there is no such thing as a ‘permanent’ job any more.
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Quantum physics tells us that we are essentially huge clouds of atoms interacting with each other on a physical and personal level. Executive coach, Kieran Hearty, calls this ‘quarkiness‘. So, what does that mean for SMEs with growth ambitions?
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Social networks are by definition global. If you are hoping to expand your business into new international markets, social networks offer opportunities that didn’t exist before. The secret to success is regarding social networks as global channels.
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One of the main components of any small business owner’s PR armoury is the trusty press release. If used successfully, they can generate lots of free publicity for your firm. Unfortunately, most press releases are consigned to the bin within seconds. So, how do you ensure that your releases are eye-catching?
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Cloud computing has truly transformed information technology, and the way we store and access data. However, the jargon associated with this new era of computing can be confusing to many business owners.
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If your sales figures are down, and you want a quick-fix solution, offering your customers a discount may seem your only option. However, this may not be the best solution. Here we look at why discounting may be an ill-advised move.
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Many business owners dread making presentations to would-be clients and customers. Here, Dorothea Stuart from Toastmasters International answers our questions about public speaking, and how to successfully engage with an audience.
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If you make sales pitches to potential customers, you may want to read these useful tips when using visual aids during meetings / presentations, kindly provided by Nicola Cook, author of ‘The Secrets of Success in Selling’
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You made a bold decision to open a business in the first place, and you’re wondering if now’s the right time to sell. Assuming your business isn’t failing, that you haven’t been throwing good money after bad, and that selling is the only option left to you, there are a number of reasons why you might want or need to sell.
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The book “The Leadership Shadow” by Prof Erik de Haan and Dr Anthony Kasozi, contains some interesting insights into what makes a good leader, and how to identify what sort of leader you are. In this extract, we look at some specific character traits displayed by business people – from the ‘charming manipulator’ to the ‘simmering stalwart’.
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Given that more start-up businesses fail than succeed, we have compiled a list of some of the most common mistakes made by business owners.
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Simon Philips, author of an absorbing guide to professional networking, explains just how much a potential client can find out about you from your LinkedIn profile, and how you can use this to your advantage.
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When going through any change – be that changing an established organisation that is up and running or growing a business, you need to think about 4 factors that will make your change successful.
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International negotiator and author, Derek Arden, takes a look at the art of negotiation by email – how to remain business-like and courteous, whilst getting your points across in a persuasive and concise way.
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Leading business coach, Belinda Waldock, explains why traditional meetings are often unsuccessful, and how you can use agile methods to achieve far more when you meet colleagues or clients.
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The majority of small businesses now use or rely on IT to a major extent. Of course, there are tremendous benefits to be had, but how prepared are business owners to deal with the risks IT systems pose if they are not adequately secured?
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If you are setting up an eCommerce site for your own, or a client’s company, you may be interested in some useful tip on how to launch a successful eCommerce site.
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