When an email popped into my inbox inviting me to a entrepreneurial workshop event in conjunction with Hiscox it sounded like something I just had to attend! Being a business owner and blogger I am always looking for ways to learn how I can be better.
The event itself was in Manchester at the Victoria Warehouse. I drove over and had a great day! Hiscox are great supporters of small businesses and provide insurance for business owners.
There were a number of other bloggers there and the day was mainly focused on how, as bloggers, we can grow our blogs to be more business focused. For me I consider this blog to be a business and so I really got some great tips throughout the day.
We sat in the boardroom and we had an introduction from Anick of the Start Up Academy. We heard more from him later in the day.
Next was Helen Nugent who is the founder and editor of Northern Soul. Helen has created a successful blog from scratch using her knowledge of traditional media, having worked for many newspapers including The Times. Helen shared how she applied her journalistic skills plus new skills to develop Northern Soul. I picked up some great tips from her which I will certainly use to promote this blog. I think sometimes because it is a blog I don’t treat it the same as I would if it was a traditional business – This is certainly going to change. I am also in the soft launch stage of Voltage Sport and so Helen provided some great tips for when we go to the hard launch soon.
After lunch we heard more from Anick. He shared some business tips and facts which apply to both blogging and traditional start up businesses. These included applying for finance, keeping your accounts in order and what strategies you need to implement to be successful.
I took plenty of notes throughout the day and I thought it would be good to share these 5 key points which I picked up and which can be applied to all businesses:
Create a good PR campaign – Use your existing contacts, create new ones and use LinkedIn to send out press releases each time you do something new and interesting in your business.
Be ambitious – Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, never give up and work hard.
Have a vision – Know what you want your business to do and where you want to be. Use this as your benchmark for every decision.
Social Media – Interact with brands and tweet about what you do. Share photos and keep the human side to your business.
Plan ahead – Each Monday plan your week and create a weekly strategy. Using your to do list go through the most urgent things first.
Do you run a blog/business? What is your top tip for somebody starting out? Share below!
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