There are so many ways of reaching a wide audience it is almost impossible to choose where to go.

Video is a great method of getting across a strong message quickly and powerfully, and producing a short film is now cost-effective thanks to technological advancement and innovation.

If you commission a video about your business it probably makes sense to host it on your own website, but there are plenty of other places it can be shown as well.  And it doesn’t have to cost a penny.

For example, you can upload your video to YouTube.  You can subscribe to your own channel to which you can add contacts these are people you would like to notify about your new video.  You can also add keywords so it comes up in search engines.  If you have Facebook, Twitter and Google accounts you can connect these accounts to your newly uploaded video automatically.

YouTube offers HD content as an option as does Vimeo, another free hosting site which describes itself as a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make.  This is not a business service but it may offer business opportunities.

Blip.tv is a kind of video blog site and also has a facility to upload videos.  Again it is not a business service but businesses do use it.

Vzaar is more corporate but the quality isn’t so good, but still another opportunity to get your message out to a new audience.

When it comes to encoding your video for websites, it is worth visiting Easy Web Video and also KickApps. They both offer information on how to create a custom video player.

Those are the free options but you could decide to pay for an externally hosted service such as the one offered by StreamingVideoProvider. They have a range of products available which are easy to set up and can be paid for on a flexible basis.

Best Bits Media Ltd offers professional advice on different methods to get business film seen in the online media. They offer organisations the opportunity to record film clips from at incredibly low prices, making the option of going online in film exceptionally good value.

Owner, Donald Bousted, said: “There are many ways of getting online and many of them are free to the user.   The web community is huge and getting to large numbers of people at any one time is becoming easier than ever, as long as the message to them is clear and simple, and in a format they want to view.”

To find out more about getting your own film made for the web visit  Best Bits Media or call them on 0208 549 6744.

With almost one million people renting out their homes today, private landlords are enjoying the financial rewards, but some overlook legal health and safety requirements that can cost them and their tenants dear.

Unsafe electrics cause around 12,500 house fires, 750 serious injuries and 10 deaths each year. People living in rented properties are most at risk due to heavy wear and tear and tenants carrying out work without informing their landlord.

An accident could be waiting to happen so it’s vital that every landlord has checks carried out by an NICEIC registered electrician to ensure the electrics are maintained in a safe condition.

Private landlords are legally responsible for maintaining and checking electrical installations such as fire alarm systems, wiring, lighting and sockets as well as appliances, such as kettles, televisions, microwaves and washing machines and they can end up in court if a tenant is injured by an unsafe appliance or fitting that they have provided.

Jim Speirs, chief executive of electrical regulatory body NICEIC, said: NICEIC strongly advises landlords to have thorough, annual checks of both fixed installations and portable appliances on rented property. With 40% of homes in Britain built before 1945, electrical problems are a common occurrence and rented properties are more at risk than owner-occupied homes due to wear and tear. An NICEIC electrician should be the first stop for landlords wanting to make sure properties are safe for their tenants. Information courtesy of the NICEIC.

For more information on Electrical Engineers please contact Raphael Magnus (Magnus Services) on 02073 724323

The theory is fine – create a high performing team and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to give of their best. Customers are happy, employees are motivated, profit is made simple! But is it? Just how do you create that high performing team and the business environment to go with it that releases potential in everyone?

Sadly, no single person can create a high performing team in which everyone gives their best for the benefit of the team, but as a leader you can be entirely responsible for preventing a team from performing. Society puts immense pressure on leaders who are supposed to know everything, make instant decisions, be incisive and bold yet caring and empathetic on the other, so it easy to understand how don’t make a mistake can become a leader’s mantra ‘ and that will limit any team that you have. What you can do though is create the conditions to ensure that the team can really perform.

So how? Firstly align company, team and personal values and make sure people know what you stand for. Ensure that everyone know what the purpose of the business/enterprise/team is (you’d be surprised how often people don’t know!). Then make sure everyone knows how WE intend to achieve it, with the emphasis on engaging and involving the team. Take time out on a regular basis to review both the business performance and how the team is operating. Have blue sky thinking days and ask the team what could be done better. Ditch your ego and position and reward people for outstanding customer service and for innovation (even if they make a mistake!). Finally communicate, communicate and communicate.

It isn’t easy, and it takes time but research from a survey of 200 Companies from 20 Industries showed that companies with a strong corporate culture based on shared vision and values had: revenue growth 400% greater than the average; job creation rate of 700%; a share price growth 1200% faster; and profit 750% higher. Set the parameters and then step back to allow all that potential to be released and you can have some of that too!

For more information on Personal Development in Taunton please contact Simon Hollington (Leading Edge Personal Development Ltd) on 07811 332280

Taunton is the county town of Somerset and lies on the river Tone in the Vale of Taunton Deane. The Vale of Taunton runs from the Quantock Hills to the north and the Blackdown Hills to the south.

Featured Companies  for Training Consultants in Taunton:

Leading Edge Personal Development Ltd
C2 Safety Ltd
Leadership Management UK
Brenell Training Consultants

A consultant is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide knowledge of the subject matter. A consultant usually works for a consultancy firm or is self-employed, and engages with multiple and changing clients. Thus, clients have access to deeper levels of expertise than would be feasible for them to retain in-house, and may purchase only as much service from the outside consultant as desired. It is generally accepted good corporate governance to hire consultants as a check to the Principal-Agent problem.

Congratulations to Lets Go for Growth who recently won. Most Promising New Business Award 2009 in the Gosport borough.

Find out why they won at http://www.gosportbusinessawards.co.uk/

Lets Go for Growth are also running for Best Small Business 2010, with the Portsmouth News Business Excellence awards. As a thank you for supporting them this year and in celebration of their recent award success they would like to extend a special offer…

(continue reading…)

So you rent out property on behalf of a landlord, and you think your safe from prosecution WRONG.

Corporate manslaughter is reality, not fiction, a recent case of a letting agent who rented out 30 properties for one landlord who refused to get a FULL electrical test and inspection done on his properties.

The ruling was the Landlord was guilty for not carrying out his due diligence and protecting the safety of his tenants by not getting a FULL electrical inspection carried out on his properties; he was fined £,750,000.00 and given a 2 year prison sentence.

What has this got to do with letting agents! As far as the Judge was concerned, the letting agent had a duty of care to the tenant, to ensure the property he was letting was safe, and that all measures had been carried out by the landlord to ensure this had been done, before letting the property.

The letting agent was fined £100,000.00 and given a 1 year suspended sentence, his defence was, I did not know! the Judges answer, ignorance of the law is no excuse, you had a duty to protect the tenants and as far as possible ensure there safety, by letting the landlord refuse to carry out a full Electrical test by an approved body you failed in that duty of care, you put money before safety that is unacceptable.

His insurance will not pay out to cover him as he did not in the eyes of the law act professionally.

For more information on Electrical Engineers please contact Raphael Magnus (Magnus Services) on 02073 724323

A Business Directory is a website or printed media listing of information which lists all businesses within some category. Businesses can be categorised by business, location, activity, or size. Business may be compiled either manually or through an automated online search software.

The details provided in a business directory will vary. They may include the business name, addresses, telephone numbers, location, type of service or products the business provides, number of employees, the service region and any professional associations. Some directories include a section for user reviews, comments, and feedback.

Many business directories offer complimentary listings in addition to the premium options. There are many business directories and some of these have moved over to the internet and away from printed format. Whilst not being search engines, business directories often have a search facility.

Online Business Directories can receive a bad press, and they vary in quality and content. There is a balance between professional advertising, value for money and quality of service. Business owners are looking for ROI, web traffic, exposure for their business, plus Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) benefits of backlinks.

There are multitudes of online directories, and plenty will also give free links. The major search engines such as Google and Yahoo add more value to one way links from human edited directories, as they are seen as trusted resources.

Information courtesy of wikipedia.

The Benefits mentioned above can be found on The National Pages, we pride ourselves on our website’s SEO, It’s an essential obligation for any business directory.

For example please have a look at this link. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&hs=8HQ&q=bookkeeping+and+accountants+taunton&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=It searches Google for Bookkeeping and Accountancy in Taunton. As you can see we are page one, rank one, we are always trying to improve the way we advertise companies that list with us and you can be sure that we won’t stop until we are happy.

As you can see, we have the search for Bookkeeping and Accountancy in Taunton, then the Gold profile page indented underneath.

Advertising online is the ‘done thing’ for businesses in the UK. A major benefit of online advertising on the Internet is that you are not limited by geography or time. Another is that online advertising can be immediate which allows you to check and adjust the information or images to suit.

Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

Online Advertising in 2009 – How popular is it?

Our experience have shown us a lot of people are asking us to advertise their business this year. Half the problem is that most advertising agencies are very expensive and can seem to offer little.

Advertising spending on the internet has overtaken television expenditure in the UK for the first time, according to a report today.

A record £1.75bn – nearly a quarter of the total ad market – was spent online in the first half of this year, compared with £1.64bn for TV, the study said.

Quote taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

So why not get your business advertised and receive all the benefits that come with advertising on the internet!

Sources:

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/6245277/Online-advertising-overtakes-television-for-the-first-time.html – Text and images © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising – Business Directories

Article submitted by Barry Jackson of BWJ Enterprise

A paradox faces parents and employers alike. Schools are doing more than at any previous time to prepare students for employment. Yet employers still complain that candidates are woefully lacking in “employability skills. Why? Because Schools are measured on exam results so guess where they invest most of their time and money. Mock interview programs are excellent; but the student is never going to see that person again.

What is the likelihood that the tips shared are going to be remembered when a real job interview will be months or years afterwards? That’s like giving a student a 20 minute maths lesson, and expecting that this alone will be sufficient to get him a good G.C.S.E. grade the following year! What is being offered may be excellent but there is too little of it and no continuity.

Working in partnership, schools, employers and training providers can ensure these that these two issues are addressed. If we don’t, we are short changing our young people, and to our own cost.

Please contact Barry on 07795 288490 for more information on Interview Training

Article submitted by Richard Isaac of Convallis Software, Devon

As a species the vast majority of us are compelled to communicate with other members, both within our family unit and without. The very first humans would have used hand signals and maybe grunts (much as chimpanzees do now) which would have been followed by the evolution of language, which was probably the single biggest technical advancement in the field.

This would have been followed over 5000 years ago by the invention of writing, which for the first time allowed knowledge to be recorded. No doubt this would have quickly led to the invention of some form of postal service so that communications could be relayed across vast distances without relying on a messengers memory. Then came the invention of paper which would have made the carrying of these messages a lot easier and allowed for more information to be carried in any one trip, there’s no doubt lugging stone tablets around would have severly limited how much and how far that data could be carried.

Other forms of long distance communication were also invented, from smoke signals to beacon fires and the ringing of bells to warn of invasion. Eventually, the need to communicate over distance led to the invention of the telegraph which for the first time allowed people to communicate instantly across many miles, while trains overtook the horse as the method of conveying post. Inevitably the telegraph lead to the invention of the telephone which provided the means of actually talking to someone many miles away.

Until the telegraph was invented communication technology hadn’t changed much for thousands of years, except for the invention of the printing press which would have made the reproduction of the information much easier. But the telegraph seems to have been a catalyst which started an ever accelerating advance of communications technology. The telephone was followed by radio, which in turn was followed by television. While the invention of the computer has fundamentally changed the nature of the data being broadcast in the first place, with analogue transmissions now being replaced with digital.

Computers have allowed ordinary people to communicate in ever more creative ways, the invention of email started the ball rolling while the world wide web made communicating, searching for and sharing information far easier than it had ever been before. Which in recent years has led to the invention of web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, allowing ever vaster numbers of people to communicate and share their lives with others.

This reminds me of those early humans who, being a social herding animal, would have been driven by a fundamental need to communicate. You see I don’t think we are so different from them, we are still compelled to communicate with others, the only difference is that in our time we can communicate with not just our family unit or our ‘herd’ but the entire species across the entire planet.

For more information on the specialist IT Consultants Devon, Software Development in Devon and CRM Systems please contact Richard at Convallis Software