August, 2013 | BizSieve.com

3 Reasons Why Your Business Shouldn’t Be Without PR

The world of public relations is one that is sometimes misconstrued and some people struggle to differentiate between this and marketing. However, both departments fulfil distinct roles and are equally important to the plight of a business. Whilst marketing concerns itself with trying to sell, and make people aware of, your products and services; public relations overseas the whole company and is tasked with building bridges with the people that will be interacting with your brand.

Any small business will be wondering if they really need to fund and grow this area of their company or whether they can do without PR altogether. However, there are many reasons why you should look to either form your own department for this area of business or, better yet, outsource it to an agency that could really get things moving in the right direction. So why should you not be without PR?

You’re Practically Invisible If The Public Have Never Heard Of You –

It’s great if you have the best products and services around but if nobody knows about your business then this is largely futile. It’s so important to let your consumer base get to know the brand behind your products so that you can begin to build relationships with them for the future. Unless you really connect with them through your PR you will struggle to have them coming back time and time again to the products you sell.

PR can build brand loyalty and put your business at the forefront of the market in which you operate. You want your customers to immediately think of you in relation to anything which you sell.

Your Reputation Could Take a Serious Hit –

Another job of public relations is to manage the reputation of the company so that any potential disasters are dealt with swiftly and effectively without damaging the business’s name. If you don’t have the procedures in place for this then your brand’s reputation could take a serious hit and the future of your company could be put in doubt. At times when disaster has struck there is the need for a measured and tactile approach as well as a timely response and these things can only come from prior planning.

Having an experienced and knowledgeable PR company to advise you in situations like this will be invaluable in your attempts to rebuild or keep intact the opinion that the public has of your business. And with the rise of social media there are increased risks of misadventure meaning every company needs to be prepared for the worst.

You Will Struggle To Grow As A Business –

The ultimate goal for any business is likely to be to make a profit and grow into a bigger company. However it’s very difficult to do this if nobody is working at building relationships with the general public. When it comes down to it; it is going to be your customers who decide how much you can expand and just how successful you can be, and so failing to address them directly through your PR is missing out on a great opportunity.

The more that people can learn about and relate to your brand the more likely they are to continue using it and fund your growth. The relationships that you have with your clients and consumers should be some of the strongest your business forms, and without doubt the best way to do this is through a well thought-out and consistent PR strategy.

About the Author: Chris Mayhew knows the importance of PR from his time working in the marketing industry. He would recommend that anyone looking for an agency to outsource their public relations to looks not further than Eclat Marketing.

Do You Really Know The Rules Of Business Etiquette?

You may know the rules when it comes to working in an office, but this doesn’t really mean that you know the common business etiquette you need to follow in your workplace. Knowing the business etiquette well means making yourself look serious and responsible enough, and also straightforward when it comes to doing your duties. This will make you feel more comfortable in your work environment and won’t lead to any misunderstandings.

First, business etiquette must not be mistaken with office policy that every company has. Unlike the requirements that apply to some specific behaviour you need to follow when in your workplace, business etiquette is a whole system of common rules that are required in any work environment. These rules help you deal with the awkward situations with some tact and diplomacy that can really make your elegant and sophisticated part of your personality stand out.

Second, unlike most people’s beliefs, business etiquette is not related to being perfect and pedantic but to behaving intelligently and diplomatically in your work environment. And this means saying the right things in the perfect timing, picking the right clothes and making the right decisions when necessary. If we need to put that in other words, this means that you need to behave in the best way you possibly can. That is the reason why many people, often without even realizing it, show some disrespect towards their job and their position and become a pain in the back for their colleagues and bosses.

Here are a couple of several mandatory rules you need to follow in order to fit in a normal business environment. These rules always impress professionals and are a religion to all proven careerists. Check on how well you know business etiquette and what you need to change in order to have greater success in your job:

Going on time for a business appointment means you are late. What do we mean by that? If you have an appointment with a potential customer, you are the one, who is supposed to be waiting for the other person to arrive, because you are actually depending on that person on becoming a regular customer of your company. This also applies to all cases when you get a certain fee for this appointment or are supposed to provide your partner with certain resources.
You are supposed to use your cell phone or other mobile devices when you are out of the reach of the person next to you. Otherwise you break their privacy and concentration on what they are doing. In addition, you are also supposed to turn your cell phone off when you have a business meeting or another appointment. If you are expecting an important call, find a way to redirect your calls or ask somebody to take a message for you.
Avoid making friends. Business environment is primarily formal, which means that you are not supposed to become too close with your business partners or other co-workers. Any emotional attachments and engagements in your job can be risky to your career, so you better think twice before starting a relationship with a colleague or a business partner. Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to ignore any friendly contacts with your colleagues but you better stick to the rule “do not mix business with pleasure” when communicating in your work place.
Avoid using your social network accounts when in the office. This includes avoiding surfing on the Internet for purposes not connected to your job, using your Facebook and Tweeter accounts and your other messengers while working. Every big company has some technical supports specialists whose task is to monitor the efficiency of the employees. Which means that you don’t need to put yourself in trouble just because you are risking being caught. Leave social networks and surfing on the Internet for your leisure time and do your job the way you are supposed in order to have success.
Be careful what you wear. The truth is that your outfit is very important when it comes to business environment. Neat and strictly business appearance will make a tremendously positive impression. So, keep to more standard business clothing in neutral colours and you won’t have to be worried about anything.

About the Author: Morgan Johnes is a manager in BinaryTribune. He really knows how to behave in the office. Here are few simple tips taken from his practice.

Eight Things To Remember When Relocating Your Business

Relocating your office or business can be a tricky process that requires a lot of careful thought and planning. There are many aspects that can be easily overlooked or that you may not even think to consider. Preparation is essential when moving from one location to another, so here is a list of eight important things to remember when relocating your business.

1. Set up a time frame

Staying organized and on schedule will reduce a lot of stresses of moving. Make a timetable of when you want to be out of your old location and into your new and have a schedule of tasks you wish to complete by what day for the move. Being well prepared for moving day will allow you to dive right into your new location so you won’t lose business.

2. Inform and involve your employees

Your employees should be up to date on your relocation plans and understand any responsibilities they may have regarding the move, such as packing up their own office.

3. Inform your customers

It is also important to keep your customers in the know about your move. There are many simple ways to do this depending on what type of business you are running: hang up signs in the front of your store with details of your relocation, send out an informative email, or update your social media letting followers know where your new location is, when it will be open, and how the move is going.

4. Update information

You will want to update any and all information regarding your location across many platforms. Your website, business cards, social media, email signatures, etc. will all have information based on your old location. Preorder business cards with updated contact information so you have them once your business is relocated and be sure to update your virtual information with your new address, phone number, fax, etc.

5. Packing

Packing is one of the more time consuming aspects of moving. To make this part a little less stressful, take a look and see what things you can pack up in advance to get them out of the way and determine what needs to be packed last. Make sure you have proper packing supplies, including the appropriate boxes. Labeling boxes with where they will go in the office and what it contains will also make your move go much smoother.

6. Forward your mail

Don’t let your bills and fan mail get sent to your old address! USPS offers a free change of address service that you can fill out online or in paper form from your mail deliverer.

7. Contact service providers

Ensure that you contact all of your service providers and inform them of your relocation. You should also be sure that new service providers are aware of installation dates.

8. Inform surrounding businesses

During your move, at the new location and old, you will most likely be blocking entrances or taking up extra parking spaces. Let other businesses around you know and if you can, give them a time frame of when your move will take place so they can be prepared and inform their employees.

About the Author: This article is by a contributor from Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), a coalition dedicated to helping new businesses start and existing businesses grow.

How To Boost Productivity By Changing Your Office Layout

For a lot of us worker bees, our Mondays to Fridays look like this:

7am brings a dawn chorus of alarm clocks followed by the communal battering of the snooze button. Generally, we like to avoid the puffy-eyed glares of our fellow disenchanted colleagues on our well-trodden route to work. It can often feel like we’re all putting on a variation of the same suit and sloping of to trudge through another day, another inbox full of gubbins we’re only pretending to understand. Poorly-planned office spaces only emphasise the mundane existence of 9 to 5; nothing kills inspiration like a generic space. Then thank heavens it’s Friday; see you later, I’m off to the pub. Paycheque, please.

This is the challenge facing office-job employers. How unenviable. But, of course, there are ways to pull your workforce out of the mill, motivate them to achieve and, as a result, boost your profit.

Know Thine Enemy: Open Plan Problems.

Aside from often being a decidedly uninspiring place to work, open plan offices can create their own little unhappy ecosystems, breeding apathy and discontentment in a workplace Petri dish. If colleagues are getting along, the noise of chatter and babble can distract those trying to focus. If chalk and cheese happen to be seated near each other, sparks can fly where nobody wants them.

If an office is deathly quiet, it can be very difficult to pass confidential information. Add in bad personal habits, powerful lunchtime odours, and personal preferences (air-con, music, light levels…) and it’s little wonder that productivity is the first casualty of a malfunctioning office space. So what to do about it?

Love thy neighbour: Open Plan Solutions

Open plan offices can tick all the boxes for an employer if laid out correctly. They’re significantly cheaper than individual offices, communication is easier across the board and team working is all but unavoidable (unless you build yourself a desk fort out of stationary and, let’s face it, that’s not the adult response to workplace challenges!).

Divide and Conquer

Draw up an office floor-plan, dividing up the space based on which teams complement each other. Your analytics team may need good access to peace and quiet, so best not to place them near the sales team. You’ve noticed two teams who need to talk to each other simply aren’t: make sure they need to pass each other to get anywhere! Mapping out space and communicating it to everyone ensures everyone knows what’s going on in the whole office, not just at their desk.

Often, people gravitate towards people they work really well with. If you spot people who work fantastically in a team, seat them near each other. It’s extremely motivating to be surrounded by positive, proactive teams – although there’s a definite, and distracting, difference between excellent teamwork and best mates getting along like a house on fire!

Creating shared spaces appropriate to all needs is a winning trick and doesn’t have to cost the earth or isolate your workers. Glass partitions and be used to build a transparent meeting place for sharing confidential information or providing a quiet space for analytical tasks. Combination working, whereby workers are empowered to change their environment depending on their need, allows people to concentrate for longer by varying their surroundings. A big concern about cubicle working has always been the limitation of light, but with clear partitions, privacy, peace and natural light are entirely possible.

Ctrl+P

A central printer in a large office can create discord: nobody takes responsibility when the toner needs replacing and there’s always a print queue and of stuff that always seem far less important than your own. Invest in equipment to be shared by fewer people, thereby creating an opportunity to catch up as well as diffusing bust-ups before they have a chance to happen.

Be creative

If a desk is wall-facing then add some inspiration by mounting a colourful picture with some depth perspective. You don’t need to spend thousands to brighten up the wall space and inspire more thought than a bland, blank wall.

Even a visually-appealing desk layout can serve to improve productivity. Curves, levels and organised space are aesthetically much nicer to look at than cluttered, overcrowded rectangles laid out like a chicken farm. Given that it’s easy to rent desk furniture by the month, it doesn’t have to break the bank to inspire a team with a visually pleasing, clever layout. Clever you.

Do you have any tips for boosting productivity through creating a better workspace? Share your suggestions with us!

About the Author: Claire Hovey is a marketing freelancer who has seen her fair share of nightmare office environments as well as one or two impressive and inspired layout designs. She recommends Applied Workplace for affordable office solutions.

Which Disaster Can Your Business Plan For?

Disasters can take many forms but their common element is that they are sudden and unpredictable. How do you know what type of disaster to insure for? You can get liability and disaster insurance for your business from most companies, but not all policies cover all potential disasters. Paying for a policy that covers all of them may not fit your company budget, or be necessary.

The European Commission recently issued a green paper on the insurability rates of natural and man-made disasters that looks to clear up the understanding of what you can insure for specifically, and what a general policy would be your best hope.

Can you predict the future?

Having insurance for your business beyond liability, health and worker’s compensation is very much like trying to foretell the future. How can you know what will happen? A “disaster” policy isn’t offered by insurance companies, but based on your market, you can predict what other types of business insurance will be most helpful to you. The European Commission looked not at the rate of incidences to try and project what may happen in the future, but a different set of criteria.

The green paper reports on which businesses and markets would recover the swiftest if their damage had been covered by insurance, rather than relying on government aid and intervention to rebuild. From there, they have made certain recommendations about the best types of insurance to have in place that will allow for disaster coverage.

Here are a few types of business insurances that can keep you covered in the event of a disaster.

Business Interruption/Loss of Earnings:

This insurance is an option offered on most Property Insurances for businesses. It doesn’t look to specify why the business was interrupted except that it was out of reasonable control. This can help immediately in assuming payments in wages, bills and coverages necessary to be continued even if the business itself has lost its physical location.

Business Owner’s Policy (BOP):

This is the closest to an umbrella policy that is offered to businesses that includes vehicle, property and business interruption insurance. It is not suitable for every business, however, because it may cover too much. If you don’t have a fleet of commercial vehicles, you may not be able to opt out of that addition in coverage.

Commercial Property/Vehicle Coverage:

Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that their rental or lease agreements and insurances will be enough to cover their equipment in the event of a disaster. If you lease, it is wise to carry a separate policy from what the leasing company offers to protect your business should a disaster interrupt your earnings or damage the equipment. For those who own property and equipment, a policy addition that specifically addresses their coverage is wise.

As seen on Confia Insurance Agency, Business Insurance is not a single commodity that you can purchase and have all your bases covered. By thinking through what potential problems your type of business, and market, may encounter you will be prepared.

About the Author: As the asst. administrator for an search engine marketing business, Daniel toils as a visiting poster to assist corporations from the Mother Land. He lives in SoCal, and is drinking in these times along with his pleasant wife and three munchkins. D-to-the-H requests sightseers to look at his Google society when they can.