Debra Mann is moving on.

I suppose it’s been a difficult time and some really hard decisions had to be made.

Firstly, Maria my partner went off sick in February, although she said she can still help out, on days of events, she made the decision it was just too much to work full time.  And although I have had a couple of people working, doing the sales, unfortunately these people have not worked out.

Therefore, over the last few months, I have been doing nearly everything and I know, those of you  who work “in” their business, know what I mean and it has been tough on me as well.

So when I got speaking with HANDD regarding a marketing position based in Pangbourne, it seemed a great opportunity to concentrate on what I am best at Marketing, rather than everything else we do when running a small business.

This then presented me with an the opportunity to speak with some key people about someone developing Variety Events and Keeping Business Local.

I am not saying it’s been an easy decision, because it hasn’t, this was my baby and I had to let it go.   The new owner will be announced in the next couple of weeks, but my feeling is, they will take this baby and show it how to run!

I am now in the process of transferring everything over to the new owner, and so I had to postpone the Newbury event as we just couldn’t get everything ready in time.

The new date will be October 27^th, at Newbury College and the line-up hopefully will remain the same, but we will get this up on the website by the end of July.

I will be announcing everything shortly and I will still be on @KeepingBizLocal for the next couple of weeks, but we will be changing everything over to the new owner and so there is still a lot to be done.

In the meantime, I really want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support over the last couple of years and I look forward to your continued support with Keeping Business Local and Variety Events. And I know the new owners will really develop this business as I felt, it has the potential to do.

Protect Your Greatest Assets. The Risks, Protection and your Rights.

Latest security scares leaves us all in a bit worried about what is being shared and what is being hacked,  Sony Play Station resulted in the personal information of 77 million users being compromised at the same time Microsoft X box also had their worries too, although these stories seem to have died down there isn’t one part of me that think everything is OK using your cards on-line.

I don’t do online banking, why would I after my own security scare with Barclays only a few weeks ago, who gave me the best advice ever ” do not put your card details into a website if they don’t offer the chance to pay by Paypal”  Paypal would have checked them out and it gives you a little bit of security.

However, lets not forget that DWP also lost personal data of  25 million people  so its not just information we post on-line but companies inputting data for us.  I am not sure what the answer is as there are always going to be hackers, programs are on-line showing them “How to” so unless security tightens on-line websites and about what is shared on websites then we are always going to be at threat.

Your single biggest asset is your personal data, so why give it away so easily?

1. Refuse to give your personal information over the phone to anyone. ( Banks you will have to change your policy)

2. Refuse to give your information to any third party suppliers ( phone companies need to change their policy and stop selling OUR data)

3. Refuse to accept any call centre incoming calls who ask for personal information.

The plain truth is, banks, insurance companies, mobile phone, energy suppliers, government bodies are giving our data away and their systems is not hacker proof.

Given this and the importance of our data, here are eight quick security questions you should ask before you pass over your information to anyone.

1. Are you only storing the data for your business use?

2. Do you have an ultimate data owner for each system you support?

3. Do you have documented audit trails surrounding our data access?

4. Have you developed a data classification scheme?

5. Do you encrypt everything that leaves the secure data centre?

6. Have you recently undergone a security audit by an independent authority?

7. Do you back up our data often enough and are encrypted tapes or files stored at a remote location?

8. Have you kept your employees completely informed about policies and procedures they need to follow to protect your data

Now, firstly the call centre operative (reading from a script will not know the answer to most of these questions) but there’s a real story to think about here if they don’t know what or how your data is being looked after then they are not fulfilling their duties and following the code of practice so do not proceed with the call and change your supplier, only when we all do this will Banks, Building Societies, Energy Suppliers, Insurance Companies, Government Bodies and mobile phone companies change how they do business.

If you have any data scares name and shame them, perhaps we can then see how big this problem is.

Social CRM: Using the Social web to build and maintain customer relationships – Ian Hendry

Ian Hendry Ian has nearly 25 years experience in the software industry and uses it to great effect working with companies on use of technology to enter new markets and grow existing ones. 
CEO and founder of WeCanDo.BIZ, the online business network for sales leads and business referrals is his third start-up: his first company was ultimately acquired by a US-based e-business security software company during the Dot Com Boom days of 2000 in order to strengthen its European presence. He worked as European managing director for the company before leaving to found Entelegen, a sales consultancy, in which he still play a very active part alongside his most recent venture. 
Ian was the 51,208th user on LinkedIn (who have since tried to sue him!); is a Twitter and Facebook developer; and blogs and speaks on the Social Web in business, customer relationship management and business networking.

“Social media presents new ways to promote yourself and your business. Learn about: 

• Finding new customers on the Social Web and how the way we market online is changing
• Why your most important customer is no longer your biggest, but your most social
• How to cope when power transfers to the customer

Ian Hendry

How to harness the use of video, YouTube and webinar – Dave Griffin

It amazing that only 2 years ago I was producing videos for £10,000+ working for a digital marketing agency we were sold the benefits of a professional looking video for your website, however thisngs have moved on and not only do videos need to be shorter, they also have to have a personal feel to them nowadaya and Business Growth Co-Pilot, Dave Griffin – Co-author of ‘Wealth Accelerators’ & Mentor of The Business Wealth Club in Newbury – Has an unique mix of Business Strategy, Personal Growth, Practical takeaway ideas and infectious energy has inspired audiences all over and made him a sort after business growth consultant and speaker.

Dave is the mentor of The Business Wealth Club in Newbury; this innovative training and networking club is rapidly expanding with clubs set to open in Maidenhead and Northampton in the next few months as well as the flagship club in Oxford, which has been going for 7 years. 

David Griffin

Runs a Social Media Marketing and Business Mentoring company called Business Growth Co-Pilot. He is also the author of a book called “Navigating The Social Media Minefield” and also co-author of the book “Rev It Up!” which helps puts people in the fast lane of the wealth highway  Listen to David Griffin – Podcast  on how you can best use video in your marketing.

Barclay’s Bank it’s not rocket science

I have written a blog before about Barclay’s Bank and I didn’t imagine I’d ever have to do it again, but yes,  the wording which came out of my mouth to Barclay Bank remains fresh on my mind, least of all I ended up screaming at the idiot on the end of the phone, who refused to grasp the English Language or what I was saying on my 6^th call.

First of all it was an “automated  call“ from Barclays fraud department as I had just made a payment online and the card was refused saying the expiry date was incorrect, not thinking, I tried again and used another card to which the same problem occurred, I wrote an email to the company and looked for other ways to pay. There weren’t any.

Anyway, within 5 minute, fair play to Barclays the “automated call” came in, seriously  though in today’s criminal world, would you expect anyone to continue with the call when its saying “press any key” on your mobile to continue.  Seriously would anyone?  I didn’t, I then received an email saying £80 has been transferred from my bank account to a company in Germany, about the same time I received a text from Barclay saying call the fraud department on the number. I checked the number 08453512288

on-line to which many comments are being made

So I went on and find the number to the fraud department for Barclays

1^st call which I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.  I was then told that payment had been made to an online company that they found strange and had I authorised them.  Yes, but explained what happened.  Then 2^nd call I was transferred to the fraud office in India and again I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.   I went through the story again including all the information about accounts and security including 3 questions

Name your insurance DD?

Name the pharmacy you recently made a purchase in?

How much did you have in your account?

None of the above I could answer correctly.

3^rd call I spoke to Damien in UK who again, I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.  Damien confirmed the payments had been made and promised he would NOT put me through to India and promptly transferred me again.

4^th call Fraud department – India I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.  I could not understand this person what so ever, he did not understand that I had made the payment but there was something suspicious, he went to transfer me and cut me off.

5^th call Barclays call centre – transferred to India I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.  I asked to speak to UK and was put through to a young lady who explained that the payment to some of these sites the data can be sold on and suggested I do not authorise these payment s, but I have to go through to India and again I went through security and gave the information I had and was asked a series of security questions.  It was at this call I lost it as the girl in India would not listen and understand what I was saying and that the payment went out on both accounts,  I ended up and screamed “ You are not Listening” and she transferred me back to the girl I had spoken to who explained that India has to do it otherwise both my cards would be inactive. Until I confirm or deny these payment. She would put me to a manager in India and again. I was transferred to India

6^th call Barclay India I put the phone down and decided to take Nigel  Morgan’s advice and blog about the appalling service, my problem is still not dealt with but I put phone down and said I will go into my branch tomorrow, after all my cards have been put on hold and there is nothing I can do today.

Let’s get something clear, I am not racist but this continuing trend with call centres abroad is really beginning to make my blood boil they do not understand our English and they do not divert from the script they follow.

Barclays what could have been a call by a person in the UK to ask about this transaction would have taken 5 minutes and instead wasted over 2 hours of my time and still not dealt with.  Surely you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out where the problem lies.

Organic Growth – How Social Media Impacts on SEO – Tracy Thomas

So tell me – will Social Media really make a difference to my business?  You bet!

How organic SEO via an intelligent social media strategy can get you more traffic, more interest, more engagement, MORE CUSTOMERS!

Let’s face it, in this world of online marketing, we no longer find our customers – they find us!

Our products and services have to be “found” before those of our competitors – and that inevitably means on the web, which in turn means we need to be near the top of the search results for the keywords that people use when searching for what we are offering.

I’m always looking for ways to learn more about social media, search engine optimisation (SEO), and web analytics – and how they integrate. I spend a lot of time on these intriguing matters, working alongside our website design teams – after all, the successful marketing path for any business begins with The Message, The Audience, The Media, and that’s exactly what brings us to Social Media.

In this session we will talk about the ways in which you can bring together the free tools that the social media platforms offer with a coordinated and intelligent social media strategy (not so free…) so that you are optimising your organic SEO efforts.

What we’ll cover:

+ Taking that Twitter account and that Facebook Business Page and making some use of it! 

+ Stopping the “broadcast” and making a real connection with your customer

+ Setting up campaigns using relevant content – what is relevant content and how to get it.

+ Maximising organic SEO with content full of the right words. 

+ Getting the attention of the Search Engines with new content they will love.

+ The power of links from social-sharing websites like YouTube, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Flickr, & Digg.

+ Joining in with social media activity that the search engines are noticing – and ranking!

With experience of the ups and downs in a range of industries, Tracy can relate to the challenges faced by today’s business owners – she has started up, grown, marketed, diversified and sold businesses, and more latterly helped organisations develop innovative strategies to maximise the opportunities offered by the online marketplace – what’s clear to her is that the use of social media and video are at the forefront of today’s SEO opportunities for organic optimisation and driving of good quality and meaningful traffic to each of our websites – and she’s keen to help business owners understand and get some real value out of that for their businesses.

Tracy brings with her an extensive marketing background, beginning with Nat West and the major players in the broadcast TV industry and more latterly her portfolio of business interests which have included property companies and retail, and now include Saucy Horse – providing video production & design services for websites & online marketing. She also helps businesses who want to know how to make Social Media work for them in the marketing mix – and has immersed herself in the world of the Tweet & and the Update – “Liking” and “Friending” many business people along the way and enjoying the business benefits that it brings to be engaged and engaging!

SaucyHorse

Follow The Leader – Ant Hodges

“I thought about following you… then I decided not to.” – What is there to think about?  Well quite a lot really! Ants topic on twitter really does give us all something to think about, I get lots of clicks from USA “tweeters” and politely say that I am @KeepingBIzLocal and there is no benefit to following me as all my events are local but then Ant got me thinking, should I really being turning away these followeres.

Well that is what Ant is going to be talking about and how you should be engaging with fellow Twitterers

His seminar at the next Social Media Conference on June 17th  will give you some different ideas about how to grow your own Twitter following and get the most out of building relationships and being social with others online. weather you have a twitter account or not Ant will show you “how to”

• A Twitter account

• A mobile device or laptop with connection to tweet

• An open mind

We will dig deep into best practice techniques and also some of the deep dark secrets from the underground of Twitter ‘gurus’ and internet marketers.

What you will get out of this session:

• A strategy for gaining more followers on Twitter

• A structure to managing your time in Twitter

• Knowledge on how to use Twitter ‘Properly’ for business

Ant has a strong background of leadership in the design and marketing industry, helping organisations harness the power of online marketing and combining them with more traditional marketing strategies. Ant leads teams and individuals through digital and new media planning and strategy implementation. Firstly though, he makes sure that the activity YOU think will work, is in line with your brand and values held by your target market. His specialism is relationship based marketing online – covering Social Media, Email Marketing and Website Design/Usability. Ant works for  in Swindon – an integrated online marketing agency. He is also a founder member of The Social Media Guys, a talented trio of experienced social media enthusiasts, all of who are speaking at this event. Graham Jones will be talking about LinkedIn and Nigel Morgan will be focused on Facebook.

Visit our site http://www.varietyevents.co.uk for more detials

Introducing the Social Media Speaker Paul Allen ” 15 killer apps to manage your Social Media profile in minutes ratherher than hours

Whilst I have had no computer and no car! Both broken. My life has been somewhat slower, I realise in the age of technology, we just can’t live without it.  New technology is moving faster than any of us can keep up with and Social Media seems to have taken over the world.  I don’t profess to be an expert that’s what my speakers are, experts in their chosen profession, so I’d like to introduce them to you, starting with Paul Allen who is running a session on 15 killer apps to manage your Social Media profile in minutes rathe… and will be our host for the day

  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Four Square, Digg, Delicious, Reddit & Flickr with so many social  networking sites demanding your attention its amazing we find any time to focus on the job we really supposed to be doing! If you are not careful managing your Social Media profiles can become a full time job! If you’re serious about Social Media you’ll need to know your way around some pretty clever management tools many of which are free to use!

In this session Paul Allen will walk you through the 15 killer apps to help you manage your profiles in minutes rather than hours. He’ll also show you the tools to use to grow your network and contacts effectively and organically. Book into this session and get started on your quest for Social Media domination today!
Paul has been working in Media all his professional life. Ever since I can remember he’s been fascinated by our love affair with radio, TV, Internet and now Social Media! 

From the age of 7, the world of radio beckoned and he got his first job on air at County Sound Radio in 1989 as the Breakfast Presenter. Following extensive on air experience, Paul moved into station management and in 1998 was appointed Managing Director of 106.9 Silk FM, launching the new local station for Cheshire. During his time in radio, he launched and relaunched a number of radio stations and was instrumental in the licence application for Reading 107 and launched Kick FM in Berkshire. 

Over the last 10 years, he has developed considerable experience in radio and press, developing integrated campaigns for every type of customer from SME’s to household names, B2B and B2C. Paul Allen Media is Paul’s latest project which is dedicated to helping SME’s develop a Social Media Strategy to help build business and achieve a positive ROI. Keen football fans will perhaps also recognise him as the Match Day Host on the pitch at Reading F.C! 

Finally we will be closing the doors at 5pm but you can stay and chat in the Blue Mountain Golf Club area with some of the connections you have made in the day.

PaulAllenMedia

Q & A – exploring the benefits of twitter/facebook/linkedIn using social media – Paul Allen

Finally we will be debating Social Media and my old boss Paul Allen will be chairing the debate on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook with our panel of experts. You can ask questions via our #SMCVE hash tag throughout the day and Paul will put those questions to the experts to answer.

Paul will be MC of the event in June as well as leading a workshop session entitled “The 15 Killer Apps to Manage Your Social Media” In this podcast he talks about what attendees will learn.(Podcast recorded and made available by Paul Allen

Visit our site http://www.varietyevents.co.uk for more detials

But then how are they used?

The Podcaster

I can remember thinking initially, what is a podcast and coming from a radio background I should know, yet when I actually had to think about it I really didn’t have a clue, so how do I create a podcast?

It’s not just audio podcasts as video podcasts are also very much helping build business, especially in the sales and marketing sectors. Through video podcasts, businesses large and small can advertise their wares and services in a modern, cost-effective way. In the past, only big businesses had access to expensive studios where sophisticated advertisements were produced, but now even the smallest businesses like ours, can create high-quality media with just a camera and editing software on the Internet. Even better large budgets are needed to buy space on TV and radio. The internet is free and gives business of any size a worldwide audience of 1.5 billion people.

you watch a video podcast in much the same way, you would listen to an audio podcast.

video podcasts – also called videocasts, vidcasts and vodcasts – combine the audio component of podcasting with visual media.

Adrian Moss better known as The Podcaster is definitely is the man I needed to help me understand and says, “creating a Podcast basically means recording an audio file, and placing the file in an RSS 2.0 feed in the enclosure tag in an item.”

Adrian Moss runs his own Digital Media Communications Agency specialising in audio/video and social media for internal and external communications. Over the last 4 years he has created and managed social media campaigns especially using audio and video podcasts and webinars to maximise outreach and engagement for clients.

Social Media strategies and campaigns include audio and video production in Podcasts and webinars these days to enhance your website or help with SEO it’s all about getting your message out there in the right place at the right time.

There are a number of software tools available to assist with recording and editing an audio file. There are also tools available to create an RSS 2.0 feed, give  feedforall or try TextAloud and  RecordForAll

However it isn’t just about recording a podcast and posting it online, it does have some very tricky issues in copyright and you might want to chat it through with an expert.

Adrian understands how to deliver the content, from concept to scriptwriting, recording and editing as well as post-production graphics, music, special effects and translation either by DVD or CD, online via web sites, through iTunes or YouTube, streamed live, or in webinars, the options are endless.

And it is not just delivery via computers connected to the internet. The rise of the smartphone has seen a rapid rise in the use of applications on them. A recent Report by PEW as part of their continuing series into Internet usage found that 43% of mobile phone users had ‘apps’ on their phone but only 2/3^rds used them.

These are just some of the areas that we will be covering at our Social Media Conference in Bracknell

Many people think you need an iPod to listen to a podcast. The blending of the word iPod and broadcasting has cased some confusion because an iPod is not needed to listen to podcasts. As Adrian says ‘A podcast is a brilliant communication and customer engagement tool. Unlike a broadcast which is at a fixed time a podcast is listened to ‘on-demand’ – whenever and wherever the listener wants. Unlike other forms of marketing its cost per listen/view REDUCES the more people listen over time as it has a fixed cost of production. We have clients who have podcasts that are still been listened to years after their production with a cost per listener now measured in pennies – and reducing! If produced well a podcast can have a very long life and be part of a series helping with customer engagement and education. This makes it a perfect medium to build a long relationship with customers and fit into CRM and User Group programs.

Adrian’s tips is don’t over complicate it and yes anyone can do it, he will explain the how to, at the upcoming conference but as long as you have or can Plug in a microphone into your computer and can install an audio recorder for Windows, Mac or Linux (free software for audio recorders includes Audacity, RecordForAll and  Easy Recorder V5.

You can create an audio file by making a recording (you can talk, sing or record music) and saving it to your computer. Finally, upload the audio file to one of the podcasting sites feedforall has a tutorial on how to upload a file

But if like me, your technical side went missing somewhere in your make-up and yes Mr  Paul Allen I do know my weaknesses!… then use an expert. We have gathered some of the best to join us in Bracknell at the Social Media Conference as well as some networking and a great way to meet businesses like yours who need to have a greater understanding of all aspects of social media

 

It’s true, that not many of us like to see ourselves in front of the camera and coming from a media background and despite lots of practice, any time I’m handed a microphone or I’m in-front of a camera, I freeze.  Yet I can stand up in front of 200 plus people and deliver a polished performance, but maybe that’s a confidence issue and not what is necessary today in the world of Social Media.

With webinars being delivered to my inbox everyday its no wonder that I pick and choose which ones to watch and which ones get deleted straight away; if it’s too polished I find myself thinking, ‘I’m being sold to’.

So I need some advice and who better to ask than David Griffin the Co-Pilot of Businesses Wealth Club from Newbury and Co-author of ‘Wealth Accelerators’. I was blown away by this guy’s knowledge and expertise when I went to a recent meeting, throwing ideas out like Smarties, not just to me, but across the room. And he practices what he preaches.

Dave specialises in helping business like mine and probably yours like Richard Lock from Vizzit Group get more from their marketing efforts and is running the session at the upcoming Social Media Conference on 18^th February 2011 at Blue Mountain Golf Club, Binfield Bracknell

Social Media Conference The 7 Sins of Video Marketing” and the fundamental mistakes that most businesses are making and how you can easily correct them to create a torrent of leads from YouTube, Videos and Webinars.

What I was surprised to hear was that Dave built up his property portfolio whilst suffering ME and has only recovered in the last 12 months after spending 8 months bed-bound and 2 years in a wheelchair. Anyone who knows him personally must find that difficult to believe as his unique mix of Business Strategy, Personal Growth, practical take-away ideas and infectious energy has inspired audiences all over and made him a sought-after business growth consultant and speaker.

Dave says the best and most effective videos are only 1-2 minutes long and you can, if done right become an overnight success with the right video and whilst doing this blog I could have searched through 1000s, from some I couldn’t even mention, but keeping it professional  Dave Griffin from Business Wealth Club produced a simple 20 second video as well as business Testimonials videos such as Business Wealth Club

Just watch YouTube for half an hour to see what kind of videos do get noticed, so being totally polished isn’t always the right thing to do.

Brand such as L’Oreal, will use video as a viral campaign just to get a product noticed. Sylvi Giuliani who runs Caemho Communications a media production company in Hungerford,  has worked on many projects for L’Oreal, including some at Style Creates as well as brands such as World Duty Free and  Iiprism which is more of a corporate video and the type that can be used on websites, corporate presentations and at events.

YouTube is the 2^nd largest  search engine in the world and has over 100,000,000  videos so it’s no wonder that we no longer wait to find out what is happening in our chosen field, we go and find what we want.

People are posting personalised video recommendations about your business daily, and getting recommendations (testimonials) should be something you do automatically. What they are saying is really important, all you have to do is capture it on video; sounds easy doesn’t it

That’s why Dave is covering it in his presentation and you’ll find out:

• The simple money making mistakes that almost everyone makes through lack of experience.
• When homemade video can be more effective than slick professional versions, and get better results, for nothing.
• How to reach an audience of millions at no cost and a video distribution system that works every time if you know how to apply it

The Business Wealth Club
The Business Wealth Club is a professionally run networking and business training organisation. As the mentor Dave runs The Business Wealth Club in Newbury; clubs set to open in Northampton, Reading and Winchester in the next few months as well as the flagship club in Oxford, which has been going for 7 years and the recently opened Maidenhead Club.