Normally when I talk with people about blogging I usually recommend writing roughly once a week but lately my own blogging effort has been a little lax.

In all honesty I have little excuse, I've had the time to do it, it's been in my diary to do it, I've even had in mind several topics to write on.

So what's gone wrong?

Well, it's a classic case of 'shifting priorities'.

In other words, I've had so many other things on my plate that blogging has fallen by the wayside because those other things seemed to more important at the time.

But here's where I remember that blogging is important. I had to think about how important blogging is to me and I concluded that I've dropped something important.

Blogging enables  me to share some of things I learn in my life and business and this helps other people, it helps my search engine rankings, it improves my profile as a writer and speaker, and it boosts my credibility in my sphere of influence.

Now, the question is: What am I going to do about it now that I've reaffirmed how important blogging is?

Well, I've re-committed to blogging each week. I've brought my blog back up the list of priorities.

So, the lesson from today's sermon is this: Things in life are constantly changing and your priorities will evolve with it. But when you realise that something important has been neglected it's rarely too late to pick it up again.

FREE to attend, you'll hear Top Tips for starting a business, meet other people interested in starting a business and will have the chance to receive free business advice and consider how it may affect your benefits.

Agenda for the day

10.30am  Welcome and chance to look round the exhibits

10.40am  Inspirational talk from a local businessperson

11.20am  Top Tips sessions including Thinking of launching a new business?, How to Use Social Media and Getting the attention of Local Media

11.30am  Top Tips sessions including How to improve your confidence, Tops Tips on Self Employment & Tax and How to raise finance for your startup

11.40am  Break and chance to look round the exhibits

11.55am  Business Advice Clinics - get your questions answered

12.25am  Lunch

1.00pm    Business Workshop - How to set Powerful Goals

2.00pm    End

Exhibitors Include

• B-Inspired  www.enterpriseasalife.org.uk
• HMRC www.hmrc.gov.uk
• The Prince's Trust  www.princes-trust.org.uk
  
• LCB Depot  www.lcbdepot.co.uk
• Engage Multimedia  www.engage-multimedia.co.uk
• Skills for Enterprise  www.skillsforenterprise.co.uk
• Lab3Media  www.lab3media.co.uk
• Spring to Action Ltd  www.springtoaction.co.uk
• Positive Vibrations  www.positivevibrationsuk.wordpress.com

Exhibitors include business startup funders, creative business support organisations, community and social enterprise support, business support agencies and web designers for startups.

Where is it?
The event takes place in the heart of the city at the former Library, 2 Wellington Street (please note the entrance is on Belvoir Street, opposite Fenwicks). Enter through the main door where you'll see signage, and the event takes place on the first floor in the new Leicester Photographer's Gallery.  Full disabled access is available.

Click Here to book your place to attend, which will give us an idea of how many people will be attending. But if you forget to book, do feel free to just show up.

For more information or any questions please call us on 0116 217 9250 or emailkate.cowan@springtoaction.co.uk

This event forms part of the Enterprise As a Life project, helping local people start a business.

This event is organised by Spring to Action in partnership with Positive Vibrations

During our session we discussed how much she was charging and she quickly realised that she is far too cheap, possibly by as much as 50%. So any new clients will be paying more than her current ones (sorry).

But part of the discussion was why people buy an ironing service. Why would anyone pay someone else to do their housework?

We came up with a number of reasons: some folks are short of time, others won't be very good at ironing, many will feel that they'd rather be doing something else, and some will pay to have to have it done because they hate the task.

For most people it's a case of saving time. Most of the clients will simply value their time at higher than the rate that she charges. They aren't buying the ironing, they're buying the time it saves.

So what Zoe is actually selling is time. She's giving those with the money and inclination the opportunity to pay her to take away an undesirable job and get back the time it would have taken.

And this set Zoe thinking a little more about the value of time. You see, time really is the only finite resource, when it's gone you're not getting it back. And it was at this point that she realised that she didn't value her own time highly enough. An important lesson I feel and better learned sooner than later.

But the most important lesson that Zoe has learned is that her client don't buy ironing, they buy time.

Zoe now knows why her clients really buy and she can now focus her marketing on what her clients gain from her service. She can now further emphasise the benefits of buying back time rather than just taking away an undesirable job.

So, here's a question: can you do a similar exercise  to work out what your customers really gain when they buy from your business?

Although the event was very full-on there were still little slots of time available for a relaxing 20 minutes on the beach.

I have to admit that it was a very welcome respite from the business focus that surrounded it. It would have been a travesty if I'd not taken advantage of the beautiful sunshine to roll my trousers up and freeze my toes off in the North Sea.

But there is a lesson in this: I believe that no matter how stressed and busy you are, you should always keep an eye out for an opportunity to go for a walk on a sunny day.

It's very refreshing and enables you to go back to where you were with a little more energy and also some oxygen in the lungs (assuming you're not in central London).

So, next time you're stressed, just get out for a slight change of scenery. I promise it'll help.

So when I hear people do their 60 second elevator speech at a networking event I often hear myself think "tell me why I should be interested".

Marketing gurus used to say that you need to work on your USP, your 'Unique Selling Proposition'. But if you're an accountant it's going to be very hard to show that you're much different to the other 4 accountants in the room. You're not unique and you'll struggle to develop a USP.

So what can be done about this? How can you set yourself apart from the competition at a networking event? How will you, during your 60 seconds, make your mark?

The answer is really simple (note I didn't say 'easy'): Tell me what makes you interesting or why it would be an advantage to do business with you.

Have you or your business achieved some great results for your clients? Have you won awards for your outstanding customer service? Do you have a niche that is grossly under-served by the majority of your competitors? What can you shout about that your competitors can't?

Simple but not easy. So I suggest you spend some time thinking about this.

Your business might not be unique but with a bit of thought you should be able to come up with a handful of reasons why it might be worth my while doing business with you.

But please, do us all a favour, try to avoid giving us a list of things you can do. If you do that then most of the people in the room will switch off within seconds.

Friday 9th of March between 10-2 at Linwood Community Centre Linwood Lane Leicester LE2 6QJ.  See map

This event is FREE and parking is available.

Book your FREE tickets for this event now on EventBrite.

Friendly Fridays is always a fun event, where community meets business for a friendly networking and advice session.

The Goes Large event is an opportunity for our partners, members and local groups to collaborate and showcase our products and services. The opening ceremony is being led by our special guest Councillor Elly Cutkelvin.

Come along to promote your products, services and events
where you will get the chance to address the audience over the microphone.

We have a diverse mix of guest speakers on a range of subjects, FREE multimedia workshops and a business surgery for advice and information on self employment, business start up and development.

We also have information on the WISE programme (Working in Social Enterprise)
which offers a range of development support and training for new and existing social enterprises.

Local local agencies, community groups and businesses will be holding stalls
offering information and advice, products and services.

It is set to be a great event, with lots of fun activities to get involved with.

So if you're looking to start a business in Leicester or have recently started one then book your place on Friendly Friday Goes Large here. http://friendlyfridaygoeslarge.eventbrite.co.uk/

What’s On

Refreshments, Stalls, Information & Advice, Arts & Crafts, Fun Activities, Guest Speakers, Workshops, Community & Business Networking

Business Surgery 

Come along and speak to our panel of experts for advice on business start up and development, self employment, tax, accounts and marketing.

Guest Speakers

We have 11 experts and guest speakers lined up to give talks on a range of subjects including; Self employment, Business Start Up & Development, Social Enterprise, Mulimedia, Marketing, Branding and Writing Funding Bids.

Taster Workshops 

Email Marketing, Social Media & blogging, Digital Photography, I need a website but don’t know where to start.

Book your place on the taster sessions early to avoid disappointment

Stalls 

 Engage Multimedia - Info on Engage Multimedia’s
Training Design and Consultancy services, and events
Spring to Action -  Information Advice and Guidance for self-employment and business start up
Caseda - Support and advice for Social enterprisess and Co-operatives
Fund r venture - Promoting Projects
Saff Arts - Promoting the Saff mag and local arts classes, arts, crafts and textiles
SNMB - Local Resident information and volunteering opportunities
Linwood  - Community Centre - Information about activities at the community centre
Clare Walker Consulancy - Domestic Violence trainer promoting the freedom programme
Baby Gear - Promoting projects and services, info leaflets, reconditioned baby equipment
Kaliedascope Arts / Lumiere Arts - Promoting video projects and production services
Parkwood Healthcare - Healthy Eating info and demonstrations
World of Trade – Hand made Jewellery
Woolyback books – Selling books
Forever Living - Aloe Vera products

I couldn't even begin to count the number of times that someone I know has said “I don't do politics” and it always makes me laugh.

I've worked out a number of reasons why people say it (let me know if you can think of more):

1 – they choose to remain ignorant
2 – they don't understand it and try to ignore it
3 – they really believe that politics doesn't affect them
4 – they're plain stupid and have no idea what they're saying

So le me deal with these in list order:

1 – ignorance

In my view, those who don't show any interest in politics have no room to make comments. Far too many people are politically ignorant and choose to stay that way.

The problem with this is that everyone has an opinion (and you're currently reading mine) but those who have no idea about what's happening in the political arena speak from a position of little or no knowledge.

These folks really ought to take this to heart: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”-- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

2 – Lack of understanding

I think that the majority of people fall into this category in that politics is so poorly understood. I'm not sure if the political establishment intends it this way but poor turnouts at elections tend to favour the incumbent government. So it could be argued that political education is deliberately left out of UK education.

But, just like being ignorant, there's no excuse for not understanding. It'll take a bit of study but politics is far from as complex as many people seem to think.

3 – Politics doesn't affect them

I've actually heard a few people say this, and to call the person who says it 'stupid' is really being kind.

You can't help but be affected. Politicians make decisions on loads of different things in our lives, even down to the amount and content of advertising allowed during your favourite TV shows.

4 – Stupidity

This is more common than even I expected. Far too many people have an opinion on politics but are just too stupid to stop and think about what they believe. The popular press does little to help by sensationalising the absurdities in politics (and yes there's a few of them).

But I often wonder how many people stop and think about or question whether what they're being told is actually the truth.

So next time someone says “I don't do politics” just remind them that 'politics does you”.

Whether it's through taxes, city planning, school funding (or lack of), state benefits, driving speed limits, where you can and can't smoke, the price of the sugar that goes into your chocolate (I could go on) or a large number of other things – these things affect you, it's impossible to escape.

So to say “I don't do politics” really is just dumb!

Do you have a thought on this? By all means make a comment below...

However, it's often the case that nothing could be further from the truth if you run a small business

In fact, large numbers of people who own and operate their own small business often earn much less than their employees and almost always work considerably longer hours.

The problem in a business is that despite how much money the company brings in it's usually the staff and the bills that get paid first. In today's competitive business world it can mean that after wages and other bills have been paid what's left might not be a great deal at all.

The reason this post came about is because I heard a rugby teammate of mine who runs a small business complaining about the fact that his staff have earned more than he has lately. He even went so far as to suggest that he'd earn more taking stuff out of skips and selling it for scrap or on eBay (not a bad idea, come to think of it).

So the next time someone suggests that people who run small businesses are all rolling in it, bear in mind that for many it's just not the case.

Over the last few weeks I've finally finished consolidating my pensions into my SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension). This means transferring underperforming pension funds into another pension so I can manage it myself.

But the thing that struck me about the process was this: at no time did my two old pension providers ask me why I was transferring and/or whether there was anything they could do to convince me not to switch.

In fact they'd done nothing other than send me me annual statements about how my pensions were doing, which was usually depressing news anyway.

Now it's possible that I might have stayed with them if I'd felt like a valued customer. But, just like most financial services companies, they treated me just like a number. They didn't even attempt to give me a reason not to close my accounts.

To be honest, I've never been a demanding customer. I guess I did like most folks and just expected that they'd look after my pension money and make it grow through sound investments. But they didn't even do that. Worse still is they didn't encourage me to review my pension investments, didn't invite me to consider additional services, didn't give me any idea what was going on with my money.

In contrast, my new pension provider gives me plenty of information about what's happening with my money, they give tips and help on making investment choices, provide updates on market conditions and also let me know what's happening with my pension fund. Further to that they don't bombard me with loads of paper, which I like very much.

Now I know that the features of my new pension provider are nothing technologically advanced but they do the simple stuff very well indeed. And they do it just because I'm a client and want me to stay that way.

So, don't do what Scottish Widows and NPI did, which was to completely ignore your clients.  Instead keep in touch with your customers and let them know that they're valued. It could be as simple as a monthly 'insider tips' email but it may mean a whole lot to those who buy from you.

More to the point, if you want to keep your customers then make them feel valued and informed. It's easier than you might think.