So Chuffed! So much success already!
It’s been great to hear so many good news stories at CAP Business Clubs recently regarding our new website, especially considering it’s only officially six weeks old. The traffic is rising weekly which is awesome in itself, mainly due to members taking advantage of our blogging facility. The articles have been covering a range of topics from business to wild boar encounters, from advice to observations. Yes we really are acquiring a good mix of reading for everyone. I guess that’s the power of networking....so much expertise combined can achieve many multiples of one alone. Even better, our members are getting found by potential clients who may not have known about their services before, and we know this will escalate going forward as we are still very much in the early stages. Social Media is of course the key. Building a huge audience takes time, but we have made a good start and continue to grow weekly, and I have to say it’s nothing short of a pleasure discovering new businesses out there excelling in their respective industries. We are looking for some help with our “Likes” on face book if you feel kind enough.....and of course we will always return the favour........just mail your link to paul@main-place.org.uk . Here’s ours https://www.facebook.com/CAPBusinessClubs
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What do hallmarks mean?
When you buy or, even better, are given an item of jewellery, it's always a good idea to look for a hallmark stamp. Since January 2009 it is law that any silver item over the weight of 7.78grams has to carry a hallmark, otherwise it has to be called 'white metal'. The weight for gold is just 1 gram. In the case of silver, most hallmarks will have the number 925, in other words, Sterling Silver, this means it is 925 grams silver and 75 grams of copper, the copper makes the silver a bit tougher. There is also 999, which is Fine Silver, no copper added. 835 or 800 you will find mostly on silver coming from Mexico and India. This is a lower quality silver. Gold comes in 9, 14, 18 or 22 carat. The corresponding numbers are 375, 585, 750 and 916. The other marks are either a lions head, an anchor, a rose or a castle. These symbols represent the assay offices in (respectively) London, Birmingham, Sheffield or Edinburgh In addition to these two marks you will normally have a makers mark, usually the initials of the silver or goldsmith. What’s in a name?
Your name is an essential part of your identity and helps to define who you are and often where your roots are too. This is topical; given the much publicised interview recently on This Morning when a guest, Katie Hopkins began to deliver her firmly held views that you can and indeed should judge someone (even a child in this case) on the strength of their name. Her view is that a Chardonnay or Tyler would not make suitable playmates for her children, as their names conjure up images of the wrong sort of family or background. Anyway, I digress. What’s in a name? In my own experience, I have throughout my life been referred to by the name that my parents chose for me – Andrew. Not Andy, And, Drew – just Andrew. At boarding school, the first name was rarely used and as I was the second brother to attend this particular school (St Johns on the Hill in Tutshill) I was simply known as Long 2. I was never particularly tall, so Long 2 was often dispensed with and replaced with Stumpy instead – an affectionate sort of nickname which I really didn’t object to. Fast forward over 30 years, and I began to be referred to as Drew by our close-knit group of friends when we first moved to Longhope. It was a form of acceptance for me, and, whilst I’ll probably never be truly accepted as a Forester, it made be feel at least part of the community somehow. Since moving to the Forest, I have become quite involved in local amateur dramatics (very amateur at times) within Longhope and May Hill. This has often lead to me playing a character with an awkward name or simply embarrassing. Many of these names have disappeared into the distant past, until recently. I decided to deliver a Talk called a 4Sight to the local Ross on Wye meeting of 4Networking a couple of months ago on my life on the stage (sounds more grand than the reality). During the talk, I gave an overview of the different roles which I have played – including Hump. Hump was a very camp Holiday Rep and apparently I played the part very convincingly…. This nickname then circulated around the 4 N circuit, but hopefully has now disappeared. When I moved to Cass Stephens in August last year, I responded to a colleague’s rather risqué comment by stating that I was actually a Methodist Minister, which was the first thing that I thought of. This then earned me another nickname of The Rev – which I quite like, and, for internal communications still gets used to this day. Networking seems to have a habit of bringing out new names, and again this morning I mentioned that I see myself as a Nice Guy, and as such this may be at odds with the role of a salesman. Everyone agreed this was not the case, but that they would be the judge of whether I was nice! Returning to my original question – what’s in a name? From a business perspective it is vital. Whether you simply need to differentiate yourself from a competitor with a similar name, or you want to make a bold statement, then getting the name right is essential. From an Insurance angle, getting the name right is essential. If your name or trading title is not accurate on your policy, this could lead to difficulties when a claim arises or even to the point that you’re not insured because your trading title is not noted. Whatever you’re called, just make sure your name is yours, and you get it right. Andrew Long AKA Stumpy, Drew, Hump, The Rev and overall Nice Guy. Looking after our day to day money, long term wealth and assets where the goal posts frequently change can be a perplexing and daunting task. Yet there is no reason why it should be!
Robust financial planning based on informed choices and sound decisions is imperative, but by far the most important decision is choosing an independent partner who will guide you through the process and work with you to protect your financial security and wealth. At Abacus, I am committed to understanding what your money truly means to you and then offering the best possible solutions to safeguard and enhance it. Many people think that financial advice is only required by the very rich. However, everyone can benefit from it. Not only can it help you protect and build your assets, it can assist you in making the most of your and your family's long-term future. 1. To protect your family 2. To help plan your spending - and saving 3. To help you build a retirement plan 4. To secure your house 5. To save money 6. To help meet your investment goals 7. To find the right combination of assets 8. To obtain an objective assessment 9. To keep you on track 10. For peace of mind An initial chat is always free, my role as an adviser is to give insight not just knowledge, after all anyone can find knowledge by looking on the internet!!! But it’s what you do with that knowledge and the consequences of your decisions that count. This is where a wholly independent financial adviser such as myself comes into our own. For those of us who grew up in a less than digital age, where TVs were still mostly black and white, telephones had round dials and were certainly not mobile, discos and LPs were trendy and petrol was available in 2, 3 or 4 star, the digital age has been quite an eye opener. In those dark and distant days if you wanted to advertise your products or services you had to place an advert in the local newspaper. In those days everyone read newspapers so you had a good chance of getting in front of an audience. Another great way of getting the word around about your business was to do a good job and get recommended, that will always be the case. In fact that is where social media can now step in and you can use your online social network and your customers network to promote your business and to get recommended to new potential customers. Without spending money you can gain followers for your business and generate interest in and enquiries for your business via Facebook, Twitter etc. With millions of users nationally and internationally it is now possible to reach people globally through clever use of these mediums. You can also target potential customers by location, gender and age as well as targeting special interest groups that contain your prospective customers. As an addition to more traditional methods of advertising social media can be a great tool, to some it is the only way they advertise their services. Surely as business owners we cannot afford to ignore any medium that has so many potential customers on it and even better, perhaps that is free to use. If dinosaurs like me can get to grips with social media, then so can you, whoever you are and whatever your background so go on have a bash. The digital age is not as frightening as it looks and is well worth getting to grips with. Get your head round social media and you will be surprised how much business it can attract. Ian Whitburn Getters Consultancy |
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