Professional development
Most large companies provide professional development support to their staff, but for solo business owners professional development is an area that is often neglected. This section provides general information on creating a professional development plan, and also discusses topics such as how to improve your memory and which small business blogs you should read every day. Many soloists find having a business coach useful for their professional development, so this section also covers how to choose a business coach and the benefits of business coaching. Check out our step-by-step course to solo success.
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Professional development
All you need to know about Google Reviews
Reviews are powerful because they help a business stand out in the Google Maps and search results. More than 90% of people value reviews since the majority of them are likely to not trust advertising.
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Professional development
Podcast: How to rebuild your confidence after a loss (or several)
Erika Kramer went from not even being able to afford a loaf of bread to making over half a million dollars in 2020 from her business as a confidence coach. The solo business owner also hosts a super popular podcast and written a book ‘Confidence feels like Sh*T” all while raising her two young children. In this episode of the podcast she shares some incredible insights into how overcoming our confidence issues can propel us forward in life, love and work.
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Professional development
Why being in business just to make money isn’t enough anymore
COVID-19 has forced a lot of organisations to be much more in tune with their client communities and stakeholders. It moves the focus of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that many corporations have pursued for some time into a new age of empathy, kindness and understanding. Hooray! This means organisations of all sizes have the opportunity to ponder and then take action around what social license they have to operate in our market. Being in business just to make money is probably not enough anymore.
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Professional development
How to deal with the business ghoster
We’ve all been there. The emails, texts, and calls just stop from a promising business lead. We’ve been professionally “ghosted.” How can we cope and how can we prevent it from happening again?
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Professional development
The essential opt-in offer guide
If you are a business who does business online (quick check, take down your website and turn off your email – if you still have a business after 1 month, you probably don’t need to read this ;-), and you don’t have an opt-in and you’re not harvesting new subscribers, you are passing up a huge value-add.
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Professional development
Podcast: 4 free Facebook tools that boost small business performance
Given the challenges of this year, we’re all looking for ways to maximise the performance of our business without spending a fortune. Facebook have a range of terrific free business tools to help us perform at our best. Melinda Petrunoff, Facebook director of small and medium business for ANZ talks us through the 4 most crucial.
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FROM THE FORUMS
Delegate, delegate, delegate. How true is it though?
Hi everyone, I have started a new business 3 weeks ago. It's a cafe and I am very happy about how it is going. Now, I am stuck in the kitchen and I feel like I…
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Professional development
How to avoid costly technology mistakes
Building a successful software/app product is challenging, and several vital mistakes are shared among those that have been interviewed by Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis, the DevReady Podcast Co-hosts. Aimed at non-techie businesses owners, DevReady Podcast speaks to startup founders about the struggles, uncertainty and challenges when building their technology from the ground up. All have experienced costly false starts when getting their business ideas off the ground.
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Professional development
Podcast 249: Women in business: This is what you need to know about superannuation
Christina Hobbs, founder of Verve Superannuation, the first superannuation fund founded by women FOR women in Australia talks us through the basics of making informed decisions about our superannuation and financial life when we’re running a small business.
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Professional development
3 simple ways to connect with your audience
All business owners right now are facing issues that we have never had to deal with and face in our lifetimes. We’ve had Covid-19, some states having to wear masks, live through different stages of lockdowns. The common thing that almost every Australian is feeling, however, is a distinct lack of connection with people.
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Professional development
How to use the featured section on your LinkedIn profile
The LinkedIn profile featured section enables you to showcase posts, LinkedIn articles, links and documents on your LinkedIn Profile. This is one of my favourite LinkedIn Profile features because of how it allows you to feature content. And while it’s true that you could previously publish LinkedIn articles and add links and photos to the About, experience and some other sections of your profiles, the featured section changes the prominence a LinkedIn article now has on your LinkedIn Profile, lets you feature posts and does a better job of showcasing external website link imagery.
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Professional development
How to identify and manage uncertainties
On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) learned of several cases of severe pneumonia in the Chinese city of Wuhan. This strain of coronavirus has since spread through China and into other countries. WHO later named COVID-19.
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Professional development
5 simple practices that anyone can use for better writing
Editing helps you to organise and enhance written material – to make information clear, engaging and easy to read. It’s a process to check that what you’ve intended to say is well conveyed. This is especially pertinent when you have multiple authors, complex information or challenging ideas.
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FROM THE FORUMS
2016. I'll Show Your Mine If You Show Me Yours
2016 has been a year to remember for me. My cleaning business has more than doubled through the year so pretty soon we won't be able to call ourselves the little…
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Professional development
The top 12 marketing hacks to promote your cafe locally
Over the last few months, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to small business owners so I could understand their biggest challenges better. Interestingly, one of the top problems listed by cafe owners, was attracting more customers. Specifically, local ones. You know what was the most common thing cafe owners had to say?
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Professional development
How to start winning government business
There’s a lot to be said for strength in numbers - especially when small businesses face off against big when trying to win potentially life-changing Government contracts. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
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Professional development
How to work in your flow
Working in your 'zone' or 'flow' means you're doing your best work. Without having distractions buzzing and interrupting we perform better and work more efficiently. Making small changes can add up to huge compounding results. If you are continuously losing a couple of minutes here and there, it might add up to an entire work day a month - or worse!
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Professional development
A creative collaboration turned Into a business success story
A creative collaboration between a cabinetmaker Anthony Woodford and an interior designer Polina Radchenko was born out of a site visit to Anthony’s home in March 2020. Having seen Anthony’s beautifully crafted products, Polina realised the potential value to be added to Anthony’s work whilst making his home emotive and inspiring. The design concept was built around the beauty of natural timber, in its pure and raw form. Timber’s unique quality and its ability to compliment any interior scheme, from paired-back scandi to rustic wood cabin, helped create versatility within Anthony’s home and truly showcase the diversity of his work.
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Professional development
5 ways to supercharge your marketing post lockdown
One thing everyone is aware of, is that the world has changed. It has changed economically and socially. In different countries and regions, we are starting to emerge from our bubbles to a different normality. Most people are also aware that in the last big economic downturn, the GFC, those who invested in their brand and marketing activities came out of it stronger than their competitors.
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Professional development
The big opportunity for regional Australia in a post-coronavirus world
“I had 25 phone calls in the first week of COVID with people asking ‘how do I take my business online?’ It was the biggest influx I had ever seen in my business.” That's a quote from Tori Kopke, the founder of 20 20 Marketing Solutions, a business she runs from Cunderdin, a remote corner of the West Australian wheatbelt. She's an expert when it comes to working remotely and juggling lots of balls.
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Professional development
How service is the key to lure back customers after COVID-19
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented, with us being forced to live and behave in certain ways. One of the biggest changes has been how we shop and serve people, writes Jaquie Scammell, coach, business mentor and best selling author of Service Habits.
