The first ever radio program in Australia for the business woman has been launched on Alive 90.5 FM. The Business Woman is co-hosted by Amanda Rose and Hazel Jane and features high profile business women along with a range of other women in business.

“I could see a gap in the market and a need for a business woman radio program, especially with the growth of women running their own businesses and climbing the corporate ladder” said Amanda Rose, founder and co-host of The Business Woman.

“The idea behind the show is to share pragmatic advice and share experiences about what works and what doesn’t work in business” said Ms Rose.

“Already, the concept and the show has been extremely popular with women all around Australia and even some from overseas jumping on board as a follower” said Hazel Jane, co-host of The Business Woman.

With guests lined up including Deborah Thomas, Felicity Harley Editor of Women’s Health Magazine, Melissah Hoyer and Amanda Gome of Smartcompany.com.au, this show is set up to be one of the most successful business radio programs in Australia.

The Business Women is on Wednesdays 12pm-2pm on Alive 90.5FM and can be listened live online at http://alive905.com.au/listen/listenonline/

Amanda Rose spends her day coming up with brilliant strategic ideas then linking/connecting the right people and businesses together to make it happen.
Web site: http://www.amandarose.com.au/

Hazel Jane creates more time for business owners on a daily basis by educating them in the areas of outsourcing and time management, whilst assisting them with the professional admin of their business.
Web site: http://www.assistinguvirtually.com.au/

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For those of you who didn't hear my VA Biz News today on My Business Help's radio program, here are some tips to get you ready for 2012 in your business and to stop panicking should you need to take time out of your business over the upcoming Festive Season and school holidays.

As a Mum and business owner I know the importance of spending time in your business, as well as on it but also importantly to take time out to spend with our children and family.

Tips for items you can do during the quieter festive season to gear up and prepare for 2012:

• Sort through your business cards, if you don't know the person and you have not made
  any notes, do not keep the business card any longer.
• If you have made a note on the card and you feel that this person may be someone you can network with, connect with or possibly receive business from, keep these business cards to the side ready to input and follow up.
• Now, if you don't already have a database, now is the perfect time to find one to suit you,
  create it and now enter these business cards ready to create follow ups.
• Sort out your marketing schedule, blogs, articles, media etc for 2012 - make a plan ready.
• Sort your filing (yes, we all have this!).

Are you thinking of going on leave over the break - make sure you work out how your business may run in your absence.

Items such as:

- email management
- phone answering
- mail collection
- blog and social media updates,

may seem like something which can wait until you get back, but you may miss out on clients without realising it.  What if you get an enquiry which you do not act on until you get back - in that timeframe, they have already sourced someone else to do it!

We have already started receiving calls from business owners asking how we can help them over this coming school holidays (a) to help them gear up for 2012, and (b) to assist with their business whilst they go on leave...

Now is the time to GEAR UP for 2012 and the Festive Season!

Hazel Theocharous
Assisting U Virtually
www.assistinguvirtually.com.au

Hazel has been operating her Virtual Assistance business for 4 years now and enjoys watching her clients' businesses grow because they have learnt the assets of outsourcing their admin.  She offers a personalised service to all of her clients and follows the work/life balance which she offers her clients.

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Most business owners would relate to the endless tasks of business administration, managing social media and the importance of an online presence. But how much time do you waste on this? Many business owners are spending far too much time working ON their business instead of IN their business.

That’s where a Virtual Assistant is becoming an important part of any business. VAs can handle a number of these tasks for you, don’t charge the earth, don’t take up your office space and pay their own holiday leave, superannuation, taxes...

So how do you find a ‘super’ VA? Unfortunately, there are not many VAs who can handle every single aspect of your business requirements – from book keeping to reception to social media to website maintenance.

That’s where the VA Portal comes into play. Here you will discover a team of Virtual Businesses who have come together to provide you with a one-stop portal for all your virtual business management needs.

With one phone call, you can have assistance with:

• Personal Assistant/Business Administration work
• Website design, set up and maintenance
• Copywriting for your website, blogs, articles, brochures...
• Social Media profiles – set up and maintenance
• Graphic Design
• Reception/Phone Answering
• Book keeping

Colleen Amos (Owner of Your Virtual PA) and Debbie Corlet (Owner of Deb-e-Secretarial) are successful virtual business owners who have banded together to Co-Found this fabulous idea. They have sourced other niche VAs so your whole business administration side can be taken care of with one phone call.

They are your experts when it comes to building your much needed online presence with well designed websites, social media presence, copywriting and all general administration duties. You’ll never become lost in the cyber world with this team on your side.

If you want to learn of 101 ways that you can use a VA, you should visit the VA Portal today and subscribe for your free copy. Simply click here and grab your copy. While you’re there, please join them online by ‘liking’ their facebook page and joining them on Twitter and LinkedIn. Remember, the more connections you make in business, the more your customers will notice you!

So if you’re looking to streamline your business, gain back your spare time and perhaps take that well earned holiday, have a chat to the team at the VA Portal and see how this team of VAs can practically run your business for you.

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At the end of the financial year many business owners scramble to ensure they are maximising their deductions and therefore minimising the tax they have to pay.

These days, it is common for business owners to operate from home to save costs, but they often overlook the biggest tax deduction available to them – the cost of running a home office!

There are two types of home based businesses:

1. A business that is run at home – You do most of your work from home and clients also visit you at your home, e.g. an accountant;

OR

2. A business that is run from home – You perform most of your services at clients’ sites, but administer your business from home and do not have an alternate business site, e.g. a plumber.

No matter what type you fall into, or if you simply have a home office that you use when you bring work home, you may be able to claim a portion of the running costs.

Home based business running costs usually include two different categories:

a)    Occupancy costs, such as:

• rent/interest on your mortgage
• council rates
• water rates
• insurance premiums

b)    Running costs, such as:

• electricity
• gas
• telephone
• depreciation on office furniture and home furnishings
• cleaning
• repair
• internet access
• stationery

Typically, when you have an area or room that is specifically used for running your business, you calculate the percentage of floor space that the room occupies of the house. You then use this percentage to claim a portion of the above home expenses as a tax deduction.

If you do not have an area that is used exclusively for business, you need to find an alternative way to measure what portion of your home expenses you can claim as business costs. The most common way to do this is to compare your costs prior to commencing business with your costs after commencing business, and identify what increases are as a result of running your business from home. Other alternatives may include keeping a diary or using the ATO’s predetermined annual rate, which is currently $0.26/hour of work performed.

But what about capital gains tax?

Many business owners are led to believe that if they don’t claim any of the occupancy or running costs in their home business, then they will not have to pay any capital gains tax. Unfortunately for those business owners, that is not the case.

A capital gain arises when you sell an asset, e.g. your home, for a greater amount than you purchased it for. Capital gains tax is therefore the tax on this gain. Normally, your home is exempt from capital gains tax. However, if you are running a business either at or from home, you may have to pay capital gains tax on a portion of the gain.

There are a number of specific exemptions from capital gains tax, or small business CGT concessions, that may apply which can help to minimise or eliminate any potential tax liability. You should ask your Accountant for tax advice specific to your personal situation. However, be wary if you get the old, ‘if you don’t claim the costs in your tax return you won’t have to pay capital gains tax’ answer, and consider getting a second opinion.

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If you missed the launch of the My Business Help Radio Program on FM90.5  or would like to hear them again you can by visiting our PODCASTS page.

Also, you can check out the pictures from the inside of the "studio" at FM90.5 in our Gallery.

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Go for Growth Review and Tips (20 September 2011)

I had the wonderful opportunity to represent My Business Help at the Go for Growth Seminar with Verne Harmish providing practical advice on various aspects of business, including small businesses.

So let’s take you through a series of blog posts which will hopefully give you an insight into how Verne’s experience and advice can assist businesses across the board from small to large business.

Verne says “Routine Sets YOU Free!”.  What does he mean by this?

Well, my understanding from listening to him is that you need to set aside time each day for a face to face meeting with your senior executives – the same time every day.

Why would you do this? 

Well, it is a time for you (the CEO) and your senior management to specify specific issues each individual is having and to get it sorted straightaway.  It is also a time to ensure you know where your business is at, where your competition is at and get ahead of it.

What your team can sort through in 15 minutes by being face to face is much more effective than any email communication or adhoc meeting you may feel is necessary.

Verne provided so much practical advice but his suggestion was to put all of his ideas through a filter and then pick or choose the ideas which suit your company but you must make sure that you implement them – not just choose them.

Learning is important in the growth of a business.  Why?  What I learnt from Verne is that you should never stop learning.  His comment, “if you don’t read then you barely have an advantage over someone who can’t read”, really stuck in my mind.  How often do we take time out to sit back and read a business book to give us great insight into how and what we could do better.  On the weekend, switch off your blackberry or iPhone and read a book.

What type of book may depend on your business but he gave quite a few examples which I would like to share in this blog:

‘Where Good Ideas Come From’ – Steven Johnson

‘Hidden Champions’ – Hermann Simon

‘How Companies Win’ – Rick Kash and David Calhoun

You can also obtain free advice by clicking through to Verne’s website: http://www.gazelles.com/index.html.  There is an amazing amount of downloadable forms, articles and more for a small business owner to download and learn from.

Hazel, Assisting U Virtually
For
My Business Help

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Too many clients are wasting their precious design budgets by not starting the design process correctly.

The first and most vital step in the design process is to produce a well thought out brief and give it to your designer at the beginning of a project. Doing this will produce a win-win result for both client and designer, as clear guidelines are in place before a project commences.

Just as a builder needs architectural plans to build a house, a creative designer requires an informative brief to produce an effective visual solution.

 What is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is a written plan of the objectives, outcomes and influences that shape a design. A creative brief is not a list of instructions, nor is it a checklist for designers. A creative brief is a well-mapped document, supplied by the client to the designer.

 What things should a client consider when putting together a brief for their creative designer?

Things to include:

1. Job description – Clearly state what you actually want the creative designer to produce for you.
2. Target audience – It is important to do some market research before starting the design process. An effective, advertising campaign cannot be produced without knowledge of the target audience.
3. What are your objectives? What is the desired response of your campaign? ?What’s the call to action, e.g. do you want the client to call you, enquire online etc.)
4. What is your goal?
5. Are there any influencing factors that need to be considered? E.g. a particular colour that needs to be used, style guides that must be adhered to.
6. Is there any artwork to be supplied for inclusion?
7. Discuss a practical timeframe

So basically with a little time spent initially before you approach a designer, can help save you money in the long run.

You don’t need to have marketing degree or have completed a marketing analysis before any design job, it doesn’t need to be that in depth. Just some basic information, a bit of brain storming about what you want the particular design project to achieve, explained in your words, can end up saving you lots of time, money and distress at the time of production.

Save time - business owners are time poor, so spending time initially with save you an enormous amount of time during the proofing process - who wants to waste time going thru 15 sets of changes because the designer isn’t getting the message across because you didn’t explain it thoroughly in the first place

Save Money - if a thorough brief is given, then as the client you will very quickly be able to see if the designer you have chosen is capable and talented enough to actually produce an effective design solution for you.

A talented, professional graphic designer will:

1)     ask you to write a brief for them or go through a series of questions that will establish the guidelines for the brief before the job starts

2)   be able to produce a viable solution or range of possible solutions within the first round of proofs.

Contact Tanzie on:

m 0414 611 851  .  creative@kaleidoscopedesign.com.au  .  kaleidoscopedesignmanagement.com.au

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Market research myths for SMEs:

(1)    Think of market research in terms of what large corporations do; a mixed quant and qual approach, ending up with a large report that requires in-house researchers to absorb and develop strategy. They are big budget and require time to act on the results – two things SMEs don’t generally have.

(2)    Think it is easy to whip up a survey and invite people on social media and then change their business according to those results.

The best ways for SMEs to do market research to grow their business:

(1)    Do something small to get started and have time to absorb the results and act on them.
(2)    Utilise your existing tribe. Existing contacts already have a wealth of information that can help you grow and are waiting for you to ask them.
(3)    Put research into your business calendar like you include a marketing and sales strategy. Make sure you complete a whole feedback cycle, communicating back the results so participants know that you’ve listened.

3 Questions that SMEs can ask to get started:

(1)    A question that allows you to benchmark your business, such as the Net Promoter. How likely are you to recommend us to friends or colleagues on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely. The 9s and 10s are promoters, 7 & 8 neutrals or passives, 6 and below are detractors.

(2)    A question you can put into word cloud software, such as Wordle or CloudMaker. Word cloud software will make words with a higher frequency bigger and a lower frequency smaller. It is a great way to see if the words you use to describe your business are the same as the ones your tribe uses. If there is a disconnect, then you need to take action to change that. When you think about My Business Help, what are the first 3 words that come to mind. Lara Solomon blogged about word clouds recently: http://www.socialrabbit.net/2011/08/it-looks-cloudy-online/

(3)    An open response question to get ideas. Ending a survey with just ‘Other comments’ doesn’t help participants give you ideas, but if you end with a question that is more specific you will get more useful information. If there was one thing we could do differently to improve your experience, what is it?

Distributing your survey on social media:

It can be a great way to get participants, but they could be the wrong ones.
If you’re going to make business decisions based on the results you need to know that your target market have done the survey, so either ask questions in the survey so you can find out who have done it and if they are your target market, or distribute the survey in another way.

You can also listen to a PODCAST of this interview.

Article by: Tribe Research: www.triberesearch.com.au

We hold Survey Design Masterclasses and have a Survey Design Review service so you can submit your survey and have it inexpensively reviewed by research professionals.
Our software www.tribaltoolkit.com has two tools: CloudMaker (word cloud generator) and ActionMap (shows you what you should be prioritising for marketing and business improvement).

Tribe Research: Explore | Uncover | Drive Change
office :: p | +61 2 8096 2546 f | +61 2 8028 9884
email ask@triberesearch.com.au

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Attract customers and ensure the ongoing success if your small business with this no-nonsense guide. Whether you own a bakery or a boutique, a plumbing or a finance business, this book gives you straightforward strategies to find more prospects, build your customer base and secure market share.

Small-business guru, Carolyn Tate empowers you to apply hundreds of high-impact and creative ways to market your business without breaking the bank.

You can purchase Small Business Marketing for Dummies here.

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Team at My Business Help on FM90.5

My Business Help hits the airwaves with a new radio program launching Wednesday August 3 2011 on FM90.5

A special 3 hour launch will run from 4pm-7pm with the normal time being 4pm-5pm thereafter.

Amanda Rose, a connection specialist and strategic alliance builder is the resident interviewer. Amanda brings with her over 10 years experience in a range of disciplines including marketing, branding and social media although her true specialty is to bring businesses together for joint success.

The rest of the My Business Help team includes the one and only Jeffro and the lovely Nic Baines.

Confirmed guests for the launch include:

Ian Jacob - EeZee Web

Lara Solomon – Social Rabbit (Facebook)

Theo Fotopoulos – FOS Group Australia

Graham Jenkins – Director http://www.beilby.com.au/

Scott Howe – Commando Experience (team building)

Kate Tribe – Tribe Research (market research)

Nicole Baines – Sydney Hills Business Chamber

With more to come!

Tune in to FM90.5 on Wednesday August 3 4pm-7pm and then check out the blog afterwards for podcasts and blog posts.

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