Crowdfunding. An introduction.

Crowdfunding is a great way to get projects up and running. Some of the greatest business ideas have used crowdfunding to progress their business - and local ones too! The likes of Brewdog with their 'equity for punks' share scheme is a great example. For some this is a scary unknown area but for others it's a exciting new fundraising platform. Over the next few months I'm going to be sharing more information on crowdfunding and what it can do for your business. But to start with here's a semi local project for you to have a look at. I've promised to support this project. Maybe you'd consider it too

http://bloomvc.com/project/The-Guid-Cheese-Shop

My reasons for supporting a crowdfunding venture vary from it being a project I'm interested in to a new start business that could use a wee lift up to something as simple as brilliantly simple rewards (and there are some amazing ones out there)

It only takes a few minutes to help these projects but be warned it's addictive looking through them all! There are various platforms that these can be found. From Bloom VC to Kickstarter. But go have a look you'll be amazed what you can find. 

And if you are considering crowdfunding but don't know where to start. Give me a shout for a chat and we'll soon have you on the path to funding your first project. 

Day 12- what do you do when you are ill?

Todays post is very topical here right now as I'm currently wrapped up on the sofa trying to get warm and get rid of the aches. 

My question to you is do you work through an illness or stop and get better? 

I've done both in the past as as long as I keep up to date with doses of medicines. I was fine. May have taken slightly longer to get better but I kept going. 

Or I've stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself and better in a day or so. 

What do you think your clients expect? What do you do? 

I'm thinking the way these shivers are I'm going down the bed route!!

Day 11 something a little different

Apologies for the lateness of this post but it's been one of those days!

I thought I'd so something a little different and post a film review. Reviewing is something I'd like to get into more of so I would love your honest opinion. 

Last Vegas

A batchelor party for one of a group of old friends finds this life long 70 something group of men hitting Las Vegas for the weekend. 

The friends played by Morgan Freeman (Archie) , Robert De Niro (Paddy), Michael Douglas (Billy) and Kevin Kline (Sam) share a lot of laughter, fun and frolics on Billy's last weekend before he marries his 30 something girlfriend. 

With lots of truely laugh out loud moments and very true to life portrayal by all four men this is definitely a great feel good film. 

But will they see it through the weekend? Will they stop arguing long enough to make it to the wedding? And will what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas?

A highly recommended feel good comedy that will having you laughing louder and longer than most films or recent time. 

Day 10 - What do you want to achieve with your business this year?

Well here we are the first full week of the year is drawing to a close.  How's it been for you?  Its been busy here putting plans in place for the months and year ahead both for my own business and for clients.

So what are you looking to improve?

Do you want more sales?

Do you want to improve your customer relationships?

Do you want to expand?

Do you want to make sure that you have some more time to yourself?

We all want one or more of these I'm sure.  How are you going to achieve it? Is there only you in your business? Do you feel that you will never get out of the bit?

2014 is the year of outsourcing! (yes everyone else can make up days or years so I've made up this one!!) but it sums up one of the sayings I find myself repeating since the year turned - Action not Fear! 

Action can only be taken if you have the time and bravery to do so.  A lot of us, me included, have put things off in the past through fear.  Be it the unknown or fear of failure or whatever.  We've all done it at some point in our lives.

Small businesses can grow, they can build, they can improve but not if the owner is trying to do everything themselves.  

There are hundreds of tasks that we outsource from the weekly shop, to the ironing, laundry, book-keeping, insurance, financial matters etc

But what about that annoying filing pile you have? Or that marketing campaign that you've never gotten around to implementing? Or the project you've had on the back burner for ages as you don't have time to do the research? Or maybe you're losing customers as you don't have time to follow up with them? 

Well how about employing a secretary? Oh but I don't have enough work for someone full time I hear you say.  Or the thought of employing someone strikes fear into your heart?

Well how about employing some support services?  There are many reasons to employ support these include

• cost effective (you only pay for the hours worked - no lunch breaks, personal calls, sick days etc)
• fully flexible (you can have someone on site or the work done virtually and the results returned to you. And you can have as little as a few hours a month or a few days a week dependent on your needs)
• You have no recruiting hassles, no advertising, no interviews no time constraints. 
• Less investment intensive.  You don't need to fork out for a desk, computer, chair etc and all the other associated expenses.
• You have no NI, sick pay, tax, pensions, other benefits to pay for.
• You are accessing a wide and varied skill set including a preferred supplier list with discounted services available to your business
• You are getting some of your time back
• You are able to drive your business not just run your business.

So if you would like to find out more please do not hesitate to get in touch.  With rates starting from as little as £20 can you afford not to find out more.

Drop me an email on hiya@karinmcgivern.co.uk

I look forward to hearing from you and having a no obligation chat with you over coffee sometime soon

Day 9- Excellent Customer Service!

I was really struggling to find an inspirational post for today.  Nothing was jumping out at me to write about.  I was sitting doing some work for clients at my desk when the door bell rang.  It was the postie!
In her hand she had the most gorgeous smelling packet from Pact Coffee

I had totally forgotten that yesterday I snapped up their coffee for £1 deal using the code COFFEETWEET.  They promise next day delivery but living in Aberdeenshire which according to most delivery agents is "the highlands" I certainly was not expecting it next day!  I was even more astonished when I clocked that it was a Royal Mail consigned package!! They NEVER deliver next day!!  So this was great impression number one!

Great impression number two was when I opened the package and the smell was amazing! The coffee sachet had a lovely happy new year label on it and at this point I'm smiling to myself.  Being involved with training clients to improve their customer service and preaching the virtues of making your customer feel special I was getting more and more impressed by the minute.  And you can ask any of my clients or colleagues this is no mean feat!!

So impressed was I that I instagrammed my package! http://instagram.com/p/i81xLYr3vj/ This is something that has really impressed me if it gets this level of promotion!! (it simultaneously went out on my twitter and FB page feed)  And all this before even tasting it!!!

So I filled and switched on the kettle and was secretly preparing to be disappointed! In my experience it is rare to find such great customer service tied into a great product!  So as I've been weaning myself off caffeine (it was 10 cups a day at one point!!) I dug my old faithful cafetiere mug out of the cupboard and began to brew.

I was halfway through the brewing stage when I realised that I just made it the way I always made fresh coffee three heaped teaspoons in the mug.  So I decided to check for the next mug just in case Pact recommended differently (although this info on the packet could be useful!)

Well boy was I impressed!! Within 3 minutes I had an email from Callum Stevenson of Pact telling me that they recommend 60g of coffee to 1 litre of water, brewed for 4 minutes!
So I did what I usually do and tweet about great customer service!!

By this time my coffee had brewed, I'd pushed the plunger and added my milk.  I have to be honest the smell was divine but I was still prepared for disappointment.

My brain is so programmed to believe that all good things must have a down side well I can honestly say that with Pact Coffee this just isn't the case!! The coffee was amazing!! Just the way I like it.

Meanwhile whilst sipping away my twitter alert goes off and here's a tweet back from Pact, thanking me for my tweet and custom.  I then had my epiphany and decided that this experience would be todays blog!

So there you have it.  Great customer service, product delivered when they said it would be, Amazing product, and all from a great team in London!  I tell you the big corporations could learn a lot from yourselves regarding customer service.

And on that note I think its time to switch the kettle on again!

P.S. My Culinare cafetiere mug holds 330mls of water so 20g of coffee (approx three heaped teaspoons) is perfect for it!

P.P.S. I'll be posting my 'love it' pic soon


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Day 8- Expanding your knowledge

For a long time now I've been considering doing a college course or a night class or something to challenge my brain but I could never settle on what I wanted to learn.

The list is so long! From gaining some more knowledge into coding (not to be able to code!) to HR, Cake decorating, Yoga, etc

As you can see the list is varied.  So with part of my goal setting for this year I decided to schedule in some "training" time.  2 hours a week where I can teach myself a new skill or read up on some business journals etc.

So tonight was it.  Wednesday 7-9pm is my training night.  This will take many forms from reading to viewing to listening to going to seminars etc.  I've scheduled it in for a Wednesday at the moment but it can be flexible.  My aim is to complete 48 weeks this year with a two hour slot in or 96 hours of training time this year!

This will refocus my brain but will also improve the service I can deliver to my clients too.  Hopefully by this time next year I'll have a greater skills set!!

So what are you adding to this year? Are you looking to improve anything? Why not share it and let me know?

Day 7- down time is as important as up time or is it??

Well it's Tuesday evening and it's my scheduled down time. Time for me to sit down undisturbed with a cuppa and chill. Tonight it's courtesy of Marie Claire. 

I look forward to this as much as I look forward to my Friday afternoon planning session. 

It's important to schedule in the important things in life. Yes this can seem a little over the top but if you schedule in work why not schedule in play? 

If you live by your diary then put everything in it. Too many people complain they haven't time for x,y & z. When in reality they have the time they just aren't organised enough. 

Try it for yourself. Schedule in now your leisure/family time that you want before the end of the month and see if you get to enjoy it. I'd put money on the fact that you have a better chance to. 

Go on strike that work life balance you want 

Day 6 - Improve your energy and enthusiasm for the week!

Hi all!

Bit late in writing today but I've been busy working through my to do list.

Having set myself goals for the year one of them being to "eat my frogs on a Monday Morning" Eat your frogs I hear you say? Yes all those little slimy tasks that you keep putting off. 



I've done it this morning! All this weeks frogs are gone!! Well the ones I know about. And the week instantly looked brighter (not that it needed to!)

So what about your frogs? What are you struggling with? What do you keep putting off?
Share them with me - lets see what we all struggle with.

I'll start my biggest frog this morning was doing my filing!! I hate doing my own filing!! Ironically I love doing filing for others!

How about giving those frogs to other people to eat??  Outsourcing is a great way to not have to eat your frogs, whether its employing a book keeper to keep your accounts up to date, or an ironing lady to keep that pile from touching the ceiling or a cleaner to stop your dog leaving home because of the mess.

Have you considered outsourcing? Well think about it this way.  If you didn't have to eat all those frogs you'd have so much more time to focus on your customers or your loved ones or just you!!

Day 5- it's never too late to change your path or is it?

Today's post is inspired by a visit to the cinema yesterday. My best friends and I went to see the Mandela film yesterday and it was a truly inspirational and emotional story that I could relate to on both a business and personal level. 

The main thread of the story was his life story and to sum that up he started out on a path to follow his passion but he became influenced by life events and started handling things in the wrong way. He paid the price for this but then chose to deal with things in the correct manner to great achievement and influence. 

How many of us have found ourselves on the wrong path for whatever reason? I personally can hold my hands up to that. But can you change it? Is it too late? 

The answer is it is never too late to change onto your true path. Whether it's on a personal level or a business/career level you can change it. 

I've personally changed my path many times on both a personal and career level. 

The biggest thing that holds us back is fear. And convincing ourselves it's easier to leave things as is. When in reality when you bite that bullet it's so much easier than staying on a path you aren't happy with. 

Action not fear seems to be the theme of the month if not the year. It's easy to talk about things but lets make action and do them. I promise you'll not regret it. And even if it doesn't work out you can still say you tried. 

I had to put a project on the back burner last year that I had been working on for a long time. But I finally realised that it wasn't working not because of anything I was or wasn't doing but due to others not being as invested in it as I was. But I truly believe that it's time will be in the future. 

I've been helping clients this month to realise their goals and help to facilitate them. My business specialises in helping small businesses and individuals to fill needs in their situation. If you want to find  out more contact me on hiya@karinmcgivern.co.uk

Day 4- Do you want to revolutionise the way your customers interact? Find out how within 2 minutes!

Following on from the positivity and goal setting posts lets see how you can use both of these techniques in your business to drive more business your way!

The bottom line for any sales process is that people buy from people!  You cannot get away from this.  You have to build a rapport with your customers.  This can be achieved in many ways but if you were to try and speak to every customer face to face you would spend hours building relationships and for very little return.

So how are you going to engage more people?  Why online of course! Whether it is through your website, blog, social media etc. let your personality shine through on these platforms and your customers/potential customers will build an attachment to you and your company.  Maybe you don't do your own online materials - make sure you employ someone who can project their personality in the same way that you do.

The words must ring true, they must be positive, they must include a call to action.  You are selling to these people there is no way to dress that up but the way you do it makes a massive difference.

Here are two sample offers which one would you prefer?

Corporation A is looking to expand its client base and are offering free reviews to the first twenty people to reply to this post

OR

Good morning all, How are we today? Here at Corporation A we have some really exciting news.  We've got some space that has come available to new clients!  And the boss has decided that we can make space for twenty new clients! So what are you waiting for? Get in touch for a no obligation chat over coffee to see what we can do to help you succeed and grow in 2014

Its exactly the same offer but pull the positivity and goal into it and you will get much more response to your post.  This lets the customer feel that you are speaking directly to them.  Lets them see that they are important and that this is an exciting limited time offer!

So remember when you are writing,
Be Positive
Sell the goal
Make the customer feel like they are your exclusive audience.

Day 3- back to work

For many of us today is the first day back after the festive break for others it will be Monday. Regardless of when you go back why not do a little goal setting and planning before you do? 

There's always a great hype on 1st January around New Years resolutions and what you are going to change. And to be honest a huge percentage will have forgotten about them already. 

Why not then use the 3rd of January as your planning day? What would you like to achieve this year? Let focus on the positive and the achievable. 

Resolutions can be notoriously negative in that you want to stop doing something or lose something. These are very negative connotations. So why not look at what you can do? 

Whether it's becoming smoke free, or raising the profile of your business and engaging with more people or improving fitness levels I think these all sound much more achievable that stopping smoking, selling more and losing weight. 

The important thing though is how you manage it too. Break it down into daily chunks that you know you can achieve. Then tell someone. Accountability will make you more likely to succeed by over 50%!!  See the image below for more info on goal setting 

And as you can see from what you have just read. The language you use to sell something is important. Tomorrow I'll be talking a bit about copy writing and language use. 

Day 2- Promoting Positivity

I've never been one of those pro women all women together type of business owner or person. I'm a big believer in being great because you are great. And not making the almost excuses, in my opinion, such as oh I'm a mumprenuer (I hate this term) or oh I'm going to women in business (if men were to set up a men in business group they'd be run out of town) are almost like making an apology for yourself. 

What ever happened to I'm an entrepreneur or I'm going to the local business group?? 

Yes I'm a woman, yes I'm a business owner, yes I have other life commitments but why should any of these be excuses. 

Yes you may be a mum (or dad) that runs a business but why does that give you any priority over anyone who doesn't have children? If you want to be in business be in business on equal footing. It's not acceptable for me to cancel a meeting at short notice because my dog is sick so why should it be for you because of your children? 

And yes before you take my head off I understand that children and animals are different (in some people's eyes) but the point I'm making is YOU are great, YOU are a business owner, why give yourself a label that may deter people from doing business with you. 

It's not that I won't/don't do business with parents but on the whole they get this concept that they are great people and great at what they do. 

The point I am trying to make is we are all different, we are all great at something so why do we need the protection of a label or group that may exclude. I love empowerment but why should I be excluded from sharing that joy because I don't have children. Or because I'm the wrong sex, ethnic group, sexuality, physicality etc. The list is limitless. 

Let's empower together, everyone, regardless of age, sex, finances, ethnicity. We are all the same we can all support each other. Lets not build barriers in a world where there are already too many restrictions. 

I saw this video http://youtu.be/qOz0DHoMsq8 this morning and it's amazing. It's part of a project by Karen Waldron (http://www.chookooloonks.com) 

I love it. But again it's aimed at women. I was watching it and thinking wow this is amazing but wouldn't it be great if there was one with men and women in it. To promote self esteem to all!!  Men have self esteem issues too. 

Let's remember we are all beautiful, we are all brilliant because that's the way The Lord made us! (Feel free to enter the name of your higher power here) 

A big part of what I do with my business is helping to empower my clients to achieve their goals and dreams. So if you would like to be part of my empowerment circle get in touch today and see what we can achieve together. 

Together we are stronger. 

Blogging challenge day 1

Hi there

I did a blogging challenge this time last year but had guest posts too. This year I'm aiming to do every post myself. 

Today's aim is to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about me and what I do. 

I'm 32 years old and have been in business for 8 years past September. I have just come full cycle in a series of life events that have had both a positive and negative impact on my life. But as of midnight last night those ten years are over and a new phase has begun. 

My background is Agriculture having a BSc hons in Animal Science from Aberdeen Uni. I was an Animal welfare officer for  three years before embarking on the self employment path. I started as an Agricultural Advisor and quickly learned my skills were transferrable over many industries. 

I now work with clients from all sectors from retailers to financial advisors to photographer, publishers, personal trainers etc. I provide support onsite  or virtually to fill a gap or need in a business. This may be short term or long term. Regularly or ad hoc. From as little as once a quarter to as often as once a week. This fully flexible service is ideally suited to small/medium businesses as it allows them to plug a skills gap or need in their business without the commitment of employing someone permanently. This is also more cost effective too. 

Tasks can range from general admin, to marketing, sourcing suppliers, PR,  project management to event management. The list is endless. 

I look forward to sharing more with you over the month and look forward to reading your blogs too. 

If you would like to find out more about what I can do for your business drop me an email to hiya@karinmcgivern.co.uk

Take care speak tomorrow.