Financially mating the google grazer with the bone idle apathetic songbird.

Going alone in the world of financial planning is no bad thing, let's face it - there is a wealth of information, knowledge and general consensus online regarding what you should or should not do and It's a fair bit cheaper doing it yourself as well! So why wouldn't you?

Well there is the old adage that a "little bit of information is dangerous", no more so than within the realms of financial planning. The times that I have sat back and inner sighed at the decisions new clients had previously made. Decisions like taking an annuity from their pension provider without looking around, like telling me that gold is the best thing since sliced bread and one of the funniest for any adviser is to be sat with a client who says that they are adverse to risk but would happily plug a large percentage of their salaries into their employers share save scheme! (Any employee of a bank would be feeling this)

Why do we do this? why do we feel that jumping in with both feet is somehow putting our best foot forward? Yet not realise we are sinking whilst standing still? In my experience recently, it's down to the apathetic songbird and the google grazer!

The apathetic songbird

It's easier to sit back on our laurels and hope for the best, to put our faith within financial institutions in that somehow they know best and not review the status quo. Yet we blame others for our own inaction. I'm flabbergasted when new clients have known they should have taken a course of action but were too lazy to make a decision, because it's easier not too. This mainly down to fear of making the wrong decision. Ironically it's always someone else's fault that they didn't review their finances.

The google grazer

It's great to scour the internet for general facts and others experiences, any information on any given financial situation is available online. We spot some other persons situation within forums and force empathy upon ourselves in that "what's right for them, must be what's right for me, I can identify with that, I'll buy into that - that's the decision for me"! We put blind faith into our decision process without even meeting the person or understanding that persons real circumstances - blind empathy! No two people are the same when it comes to financial planning, we are all unique! So following the herd, because others do is plain barmy.

In short we can all but fail in our financial decisions, blind ignorance can usually sail us through yet not to a chosen destination without solid planning!  But for those that understand that insight is the understanding of not what can be done, but what you should do given your current circumstance. For the ones that appreciate the difference between internet knowledge and the power of insight, I salute you.

Universal Broadband Delivery – Mobile Companies Role

According to Communications Minister Ed Vaizey, mobile companies have a key role in the delivery of universal broadband and that the Government is aware that the industry’s technology can help meet goals to deliver access.  The Government has to ensure a good regulatory environment and that the improvement of connectivity should not be left to the private sector alone.

According to Ofcom citizens in the UK should be guaranteed minimum broadband speeds of 8Mbps.  However, the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK is working towards minimum speeds of 2Mbps – but this is considered too low.  The difference in speeds leaves a “big gap” in usage.

There is some question as to what universal connectivity means.  Ed Richards, CEO of Ofcom was quoted “It seems to be the case if you have less than 8Mbps you just use networks less, so there is a really interesting question about what, in the longer term, we mean by universal connectivity”.  According to Ofcom to enjoy a basic internet experience 8-10Mbps is required – What is meant by “basic internet experience”?  Is it personal use down loading films etc. or business use and down loading documents and files needed to run a business?

It would appear that the figure of 2Mbps is now an inaccurate figure of the speed required.

Beta Telecoms

www.betatelcoms.co.uk

Let your company media library tell the story of your business.

One of the things that social media and digital image capture has done is to make images ever more accessible to a wider and much more discerning audience. It’s a fallacy to believe that digital has killed photography – far from it – more people take more images and are more image literate than ever before.  People, and customers, now expect to see great creative images of you and your business and so a quick headshot in the car park of the breakfast network venue isn’t going to stand up any longer. Or more importantly to you – STAND OUT.  YouTube and Facebook have introduced the concept of grab shots and footage, perhaps of a lesser quality, as long as that content needed to be shot in that way. As all of these channels open up to you as marketing opportunities – start to think about how you tell the whole story of your business in editorial images.

And so your image mix will ultimately consist of top quality professional PR, product and advertising shots and video, funky logos, graphics and vectors complimented by instinctive grabs of events, fun and news or even customer generated content. The only time this eclectic mix looks “wrong” is when you misjudge the balance for a particular media. For example, on the company website, all the imagery should conform to the web development brief, quality and theme you set out with. This is the window into your business for potential customers who don’t yet know very much about you – providing poor quality, ill conceived (creatively)and poor quality images = disaster at the first hurdle! 

But, your Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest sites will be completely different (but draw on the same library so there is no more work involved for you). On Facebook you’ll want much more of a two way conversation ideally created with clever images and a snappy caption rather than paragraphs of text. On image orientated sites like Tumblr and Pinterest you’ll want the images and video to be interesting and good enough for people to share and re-blog – you want to give them away! Never heard of these sites? Take a look as they are starting to fly now as news and editorial begin to adopt them widely, and on YouTube you’ll want your channel to be interesting, quirky and funny to attract views. All of these things have the potential to drive traffic to each other and, critically, to your website and contact page. Many image sharing portals permit post scheduling and automatic cross posting to your other platforms either within the site or via software like Hoot Suite so the workload is minimised. 

You (or your marketing) need ready access to the library to because tweets and posts just look more interesting with an image or video and it needs to be second nature to post an image so start to think in terms of image and snappy caption rather than text and accompanying picture. I manage my own image library as well as image libraries for companies and organisations (either as a service or additional off site back up) and you would be surprised at how much storage is required for full resolution images. An essential tool at this level, which is often neglected in your own image collection (even if you have them all in the same place!) is key wording, ip protection and just being able to find an image among all the rest of your stuff. 

Key wording: digital images can have data and information (called meta data) embedded in them but key wording is meant to be searchable by Google, search engines generally and you. It’s why a Google search for a picture of Elvis retrieves thousands of pictures of the “King” alongside various German Shepherds, goldfish and pianos! No reason at all then then why your website, company name, email and phone number aren’t included? 

IP Protection: if the image depicts something that is your intellectual property, a unique design or logo for instance, this should be included in the key wording and other data. The copyright (but no other rights) for the image always resides with the image creator i.e. the artist or the photographer even if it depicts ip material belonging to you and so you need to ensure that there is a level of protection embedded within the image. 

Searching: All of the above, together with a few other crucial bits of information, will help you find a particular image amongst all your stuff – you just run a search on something you know is in the keywords e.g. “factory, external”. News images all work on the IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council - www.iptc.org ) convention, which standardises this information for users and you’ll find all of their requirements already built into the meta data sheets in digital cameras or editing software. It gives news users key information such as captions, any model releases obtained times/dates/ shot and image descriptions – very useful if you want to give your images away to editorial. 

Accessibility is a crucial part of searching and if you buy in marketing services your images need to be shared, available and searchable. If you use, or are moving over to cloud and away from servers Google Drive and Office 365 still allow you to keep a folder of images available to anyone with the relevant permissions. 

David is available to demonstrate and talk about these issues to interested parties and groups.
 
David Broadbent is a professional photographer with over 30 years of editorial experience now represented worldwide by the Alamy picture agency.  As well as fully equipped location work, David also runs Summerhouse Studio, an informal small studio ideal for stills and video of people PR and products, from his home in the Forest of Dean. To see more of David’s work visit www.davidbroadbent.com or his folios on LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. Or to actually talk to another human call him on 07771 664973. 

Wave Accounting in our opinion has really turned the world of web based accounting on its head, this is a truly fantastic application for small businesses that require a complete accounting application.

The internet is awash with invoicing services and trying to find one that fits your needs can be very difficult, do you want to subscribe to a service?, host the application yourself?, do you need to tie it into your banking system? or do you just need a very basic way of issuing invoices?

In the last few years services such as Xero and Freeagent have made a massive impact on the way small businesses work, and to be honest I didn't think that this model would change until I saw Wave Accounting.

What's different about Wave, is that this service is completely Free, no subscription charge, no trial periods, no limits on the amount of invoices or customers you can create per month, it is truly free to use! The service was always designed to be free from the start and paid for by advertising other business services, these adverts are really unobtrusive and do not in any way hinder the use of the service.

Wave Accounting may not have the VAT and other tax advantages that Freeagent has, but it has all the features that small business needs, you can track payments into and out of your accounts, produce great reports that your accountant can work with, the service also links to your bank account and imports all your transactions automatically making reconciliation of your accounts really easy to do.

As the user base grows and people’s confidence in this business model increase then who knows, perhaps in a few months this may be the way that all competing applications and services will have to follow.

Would we recommend this to our customers? absolutely, the only issue that we can see is the issue of trust!, will this service have the customer base to survive? and if not what happens to all customers data?, but there again this is a question that should be asked of all hosted services free or otherwise.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’

Watching the pictures of the floods in the news recently, I kept thinking of words from the Bob Dylan song, “Admit that the waters around you have grown, and accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone”, Of course, Dylan wasn’t singing about the weather although the times certainly seem to changing in terms of our climate. More relevant, perhaps, is that for businesses of all types, the times are always changing and one has to be aware of those changes and try to stay one step ahead. That isn’t always easy. For one thing, the old maxim “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a powerful one along with “make hay while the sun shines”. If things are going well, we see no need to change and often that stops us preparing for different trading conditions that are looming on the horizon.

Another reason that we avoid change, either consciously or sub-consciously is that it is stressful. Stress is the body’s natural reaction to change and to a certain extent is a good thing, giving us the drive and clarity of thought required to deal with new challenges. However, too much stress invariably leads to health problems. In the modern world, we are not good at recognising, accepting or dealing with excess stress and it is possibly the underlying reason why we try and avoid change.

In my work as a Complementary Therapist, I regularly deal with issues surrounding change and stress. People’s lives may have been affected by worry or trauma in various degrees or they have just reached a point when they realise that they need to do something about their stress levels. Indeed, it is estimated that between 75% and 80% of visits to a GP are stress related. Regular visits to a therapist such as me can not only reduce stress and improve your health but could save the NHS millions.

On a personal note, the times certainly are a changin’ but for me. I have moved from Aberdeenshire to the Forest of Dean leaving all my clients behind and starting again from scratch. However, more words from the Dylan song give me some comfort: “For the loser now will be later to win”.  Those words could be applied to many business owners who sometimes have to take one step back to go two steps forward.

There are pearls - and then THERE ARE PEARLS!

A recent enquiry led me to find out more information about the world of pearls, and it became an investigation into a particular kind of pearl, the Tahitian Black Pearl. The only pearl in the world which is naturally dark, other kinds are coloured - something that was new to me - it comes in sizes of around 6mm up to 14mm.

And the colour can vary from pale grey through mid grey to near black. These stunning cultured pearls are only grown on Tahiti and in the South Seas.

What do these items cost? Well, anything from £10 - £3000 each! The price depends on size, evenness of shape, thickness of the nacre, which is the covering of mother of pearl the oyster puts around the impurity inside its shell, colour evenness and (lack of) blemishes.

The pearls only come from one type of oyster, the Pinctada margaritafera mollusk. It takes two years for an oyster to mature enough to produce pearls. The cultured Tahitian pearl comes in various shapes, sizes, and colors; shapes include round, semi-round, button, circle, oval, teardrop, semi-baroque and baroque. Because of their darker hues, Tahitian pearls are commonly known as "black pearls". However, Tahitian pearls have the ability to contain various undertones and overtones of green, pink, blue, silver and yellow.

It would be lovely to work with these beautiful pearls one day....

Becoming A CAP Business Club Member

It is only 5 months since I opened the doors of Kit & Caboodle Boutique in Lydney. Most days I thoroughly enjoy my work at Kit & Caboodle, but I must admit there have been a few difficult days during these last five months. These difficult days tend to be when I am working alone and the boutique is quiet. This is when there is no one to talk issues through with, or share ideas with.

This is one of the reasons that I am so pleased to have become a member of the CAP Business Clubs. Already having only attended two meetings and the fabulously inspiring and lively talk given by Dr Paul Thomas, that I feel that there are people who will help to inspire me and hopefully I can inspire and support them too.

I am looking forward to meeting more of the CAP Business Club Members over the coming weeks and months and I would therefore like to invite all members of any of the three clubs to pop into Kit & Caboodle Boutique to introduce themselves, when they are in Lydney.

It will never happen to me - will it?

Looking at the evidence, you could be forgiven for assuming that business owners never fall seriously ill or die.

Most companies make sure they have public liability insurance and cover for contents, fire and theft. And one would expect anyone running a small to medium sized company to recognise that the serious illness or death of a key person would have a potentially devastating effect on the business, not least to its value and profitability.

Yet when it comes to key people, many adopt a high risk strategy by doing absolutely nothing about cover at all.

Without question, the consequences of such inaction are potentially dire. What would happen, for example, if the business owner or major shareholder became seriously ill or died?

Let’s take the case of two shareholders, A and B. They spend all their time in the business and then suddenly, A dies. Who would acquire the shares previously owned by A? Has A made a Will? Would the shares go to A’s spouse, children – or someone else?

Shareholder B could now be in a very difficult position. Will B be able to carry on running the company as he or she wants? Who will exercise the voting rights of the shares previously held by A? Even if the person inheriting the shares wants to sell them, could B afford to buy?

It could be more bad news for A’s family as well. What if B cannot afford to buy the shares – or doesn’t want to? Where does that leave A’s family? They could be ‘locked in’ to a company with no real prospect of any income or other financial support at a time when they need it most.

Given that serious illness, such as cancer or a heart attack, affects one in four women and one in five men before retirement age*, potential scenarios like these are not uncommon. Yet the problems facing A and B could all have been perfectly ironed out if the right safeguards had already been put in place.

Share purchase and partnership protection ensures business succession as well as the safeguarding of commercial interests and family legacy. This protection provides funds to allow remaining business owners to buy the shares of the business from the outgoing or deceased owner. By putting this simple arrangement in place, capital is available to help purchase this person’s interest.

So in the cases of shareholders A and B, with these measures in place, solutions would have been found for both parties by utilising life cover, a business trust**, a legal document called a cross option agreement, and structuring Wills** correctly.

On A’s death, the shares could pass into a Will Trust, set up for the benefit of the spouse and other family members. At the same time, the monies payable on A’s death from the life policy could pass into a Business Trust for the benefit of B and family.

The cross option agreement then allows the shares to pass into the Business Trust and the money moves across into the Will Trust which can then be used to benefit A’s family.

For A, the Will Trust structure will provide Inheritance Tax savings to be made on the spouse’s death later on, and long term planning opportunities for A’s children. It also provides a useful ‘asset protection mechanism’ for the family in the future.

Meanwhile, as almost every privately owned business ends up being sold or transferred one day, B can take advantage of some useful long term tax planning opportunities for the future by holding shares previously owned by A in a Life Policy Trust.

Having all the correct protection in place and ensuring this is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect business changes is a particularly onerous and daunting task for time-hungry entrepreneurs. It is one which is best left to a wealth management specialist to help protect the business from a wide range of risks and ensure business owners meet their aims while concentrating on managing their company.

At the same time, a wealth expert can help owners with all those other neglected financial affairs such as formulating a carefully planned exit strategy,*** retirement planning, investment planning, mortgages, healthcare and other insurance.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Charlotte Poole-Graham represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of advising solely on the Group's wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Group's website www.sjp.co.uk/products. 

*This Is Money (20/9/11)
** Wills and Trusts are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Wills and the writing of Wills involves the referral to a service which is separate and distinct to those offered by St. James's Place.
*** Exit strategies may include the referral to a service which is separate and distinct to those offered by
St. James's Place.
 

Have you ever been sent on a course by your employer and thought, “I don’t want to be here”.

This happens a lot in First Aid.



Think of the situation, you are sat at home watching TV with your partner. All of a sudden you hear a funny noise, you look at your partner and they are struggling for breath, sweating, changing colour, complaining of pain and struggling to talk to you. What do you do?

First Aiders know what to do!!!

Call 999 and ask for an Ambulance! Give them your location, your partner’s details, tell them what is happening. Don’t hang up the phone!! They will help you through it.

Carry out a primary survey, DRSABC

D = Danger

R = Response

S = Shout

A = Airway

B = Breathing

C = Circulation

This is also known as Basic Life Support, this can save a loved ones life!

Don’t think of first aid as something you have to do because of work. Think how you could save someone close to you.

Eight minutes is a long time doing something on your own when you are not sure what your doing. That’s roughly how long it will take an ambulance to get to you.

Book a course place today to learn more.

Profile Pics - Are Important!

I’m still amazed by the number of LinkedIn profiles which don’t have any sort of profile image at all.

When you think about it, all of those individual business people have decided that LinkedIn, this rapidly expanding professional social media site (predicted to be a key element of your social media strategy in 2014 – Forbes) is right for them to tell their B2B story, that it’s a great channel for connecting to other businesses in your key target sectors - but somehow a picture of the person you want them to engage with doesn’t rank as a main consideration? In fact, the complete lack of images is a problem with a great many LinkedIn profiles. Think about it this way? No one would image that a Facebook profile with only reams of text and no pictures would be very interesting to read! Obviously there are different considerations for your choice of images to represent your business to anything you would use on a personal site – but it is still true to say that a picture paints a…………..

Profile headshots; all business networks, such as LinkedIn, are designed to help with those crucial first B2B approaches and to allow other people to start to engage with you. It’s a great, and personal, way to connect with many people you could ever hope to meet face to face. It follows therefore that real consideration about how you want to be seen is necessary. This is the bit where you realise that the anonymous default head silhouette, a scan of a 6x4 of yourself at some ones wedding wearing a bow tie (they are on there) or an arms-length “selfie” from your phone or tablet isn’t going to work out too well!

Your profile image needs to be genuine i.e. recent, appropriate and relevant to the target market you want to engage with but it also needs to look natural. I work with artists and performers who don’t suffer the angst and accompanying navel gazing afflicting mere mortals (myself included) when we get in front of the camera. So, unless you “do five minutes when the fridge door opens” build in some time to relax. A good portrait photographer won’t even start work on the final images until she or he can see that you are starting to relax in to it. This is not going to happen if you’re already behind schedule, your phone is vibrating constantly or you’re worrying about your latest quarter figures. Here are some of the basics 

• Think about, or discuss with your photographer, how you want to look – what’s your message/s? A good photographer will create a mental “brief” from this conversation that will help with any other work they do for you.
  

• Do you want studio, indoor (workplace) or outdoor PR shots? If you are commissioning other work at your plant or offices – make sure you specify an in-situ PR shot in the package. Ideally you’ll have a few great PR shots so you can ring the changes on your social media. 
  

• For studio shots, think about the background colour you need to blend with your website theme particularly. It’s not just about stills either – a studio is an ideal location for a video piece to camera. 
  

• Take a change of tops or jackets (headshots) so you can get a couple of different shots in the same session. Props are cool too but need to be used intelligently.
  

• Have a little bit of fun while you’re doing it and let the real you show through. 

David Broadbent is a professional photographer with over 30 years of editorial experience now represented worldwide by the Alamy picture agency.  As well as fully equipped location work, David also runs Summerhouse Studio, an informal small studio ideal for stills and video of people PR and products, from his home in the Forest of Dean. To see more of David’s work visit www.davidbroadbent.com or his folios on LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. Or to actually talk to another human call him on 07771 664973.