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In this episode of smallbusinessadvice.tv, Mark Borkowski, one of the UK’s most successful PR practitioners, will explain how simple, low-cost PR and marketing activity can help your business through economic crisis and strengthen your brand and reputation.
Mark is the founder and head of Borkowski PR. With his lengthy experience of working with names like Sony UK, American Express, Vodafone and Virgin Mobile, Mark is perfectly placed to advise on how you can make your Marketing and PR budget stretch further, reach your audience more effectively and the tools you can use to achieve this.
Sean will also be joined by Dan Matthews – business owner and journalist with around 10 years experience editing and writing for the likes of the Financial Times, Guardian and his own online title LaunchLab.co.uk, which has seen him interview such notable public figures as Gordon Brown, Alan Sugar, William Hague and Duncan Bannatyne.
As always, we will also have our regular round up of all the latest small business news from the British Chambers of Commerce.
Sean Walsh is joined live by Mark and Dan Matthews to discuss how simple, low-cost PR and marketing can help your business.
Build Your Business OverseasIn this episode of www.smallbusinessadvice.tv presenter Sean Walsh has encouraging news for small businesses that are looking to expand into new markets over the next 12 months. With the pound at its lowest level for years, highly attractive opportunities are opening up for companies who want to develop their business overseas.
Joining Sean in the studio to analyse these opportunities, will be Ian Campbell OBE, Consulting Editor of International Trade Today and entrepreneur Rob Law, founder of independent design studio Magmatic.
Some of us will remember Rob from his appearance on Dragon’s Den. Rob had spent 11 years and £17,000 of his own money developing his Trunki range of ride-on children’s luggage. But when he pitched it to the Dragons, they gave him a scathingly rough ride. They flatly refused to invest in Trunki, going so far as to tell him his company was “worthless”. Suffice it to say, they’re probably regretting it now. Just two years later Trunki is a runaway international success, with 150,000 units sold and distribution secured in more than 40 countries.
Rob will be discussing how best to prepare your company for any planned venture into the overseas marketplace. Complementary to that, Ian will be offering his expert advice on how best to manage your plans for exporting operations in 2009.
And as always, we will have our regular round up of all the latest small business news from the British Chambers of Commerce.
If you have any questions for Sean, Ian or Rob, please use the form to send them in early and we will do our best to answer them live during the show.
Join Sean, Ian and Rob live online to discuss opportunities for small businesses looking to expand overseas in the next 12 months.
Motivating and managing your peopleIn Episode 5 of www.smallbusinessadvice.tv we turn our attention to what is commonly regarded as a company's No.1 asset and its people. With an economic backdrop of rising unemployment and headline-grabbing company layoffs, it's a crucial time to be looking at best practice management skills and motivation techniques to help protect, motivate and inspire your staff.
Presenter Sean Walsh will be joined in the studio by Martha Lane Fox and Sian Harrington. Martha co-founded lastminute.com in 1998 and remained on the company's board until its sale in 2005. She has since founded Lucky Voice which currently has four bars and a growing online application and she is also a Non-Executive Director at Marks and Spencer plc, Channel 4 Television and Mydeco. Sian has been Editor of Human Resources (HR) magazine since the end of 2006 and is regular commentator on HR for radio, television and the national press. They will discuss how small businesses can help inspire and motivate their staff. We'll also be looking at important HR and Employment legislation to keep you in the right. Plus, we'll have our weekly round-up of the latest business news from the British Chambers of Commerce.
It can be easy being greenAll businesses now need to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Yet as the economic climate chills, every company also has to focus on their bottom line.
In this episode of smallbusinessadvice.tv presenter, Sean Walsh, welcomes to the studio James Murray, Editor of BusinessGreen - the multimedia publication for firms intent on improving their environmental credentials and Kathryn Vardy from the Carbon Trust. They will offer their top tips for how small companies can make environmental practices work for them by reducing costs and enhancing sales.
Additionally, we will hear from Jon Woodward, Sales Director at NCE Europe in Wiltshire, where they are reaping the benefits of "going green". We have also talked to Debbie Chatting at NetRegs, who provide free environmental guidance for small and medium-sized businesses, so they can make sure they comply with environmental law.
We will also have our regular round up of all the latest small business news from the British Chambers of Commerce, including their response to the MPC's interest rate decision less than an hour before our live programme.
If you have any questions for Sean, James or Kathryn about how "going green" can help your business, please use the form to send them in early and we will do our best to answer them live during the show.
Sean Walsh is joined live by James Murray, Editor of BusinessGreen and Kathryn Vardy, Head of Client Engagement at the Carbon Trust to discuss how small businesses can "go green" and save money.
For James Murray's top tips for making your office greener for no or minimal cost, click here.
For more information visit www.smallbusinessadvice.tv
Using Social Networking for Small BusinessesInvaluable insights into how social networking is changing the face of small business is at hand, as host Sean Walsh welcomes Robin Grant, MD of We Are Social, to the studio. As well as advice on social media marketing from Robin, we will also hear from Heather Gorringe, founder and director of Wiggly Wigglers. The rural England based natural gardening company recently won the inaugural Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award. Using tools such as Facebook, podcasting and blogging, it serves 90,000 customers worldwide and delivers its products across Europe.
By electing to use social media instead of traditional advertising, the company managed to cut its advertising budget by 80 per cent. Wiggly Wigglers currently boasts 898 fans on Facebook, with over 170 discussion topics. The company developed its catalogue from Wiki ideas generated on its Facebook page by experts and customers, and it presents its own podcasts from the 'Wiggly sofa', which reach thousands of people every week.
If you have any questions for Robin about how social networking tools can help your business, please use the form to send them in early and we will do our best to answer them live during the show.
We will also have our regular round up of all the latest small business news from the British Chambers of Commerce.
Sean Walsh is joined live online by Robin Grant, MD of We Are Social to discuss social media marketing and how it can help your business.
