Small but Mighty.

Council cash spent with small businesses is more than half as likely again to be pumped back into the economy than money spent with larger ones, says a new report.   Research from the Federation of Small Businesses shows 58 per cent more of the money spent by councils with small firms is reinvested in the local economy.   The FSB and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies surveyed local authorities across the UK and found they spent £8.7billion buying goods and services in their local area in the last year.   For every £1 of that, 63p was spent locally by small firms, compared to 40p in every £1 spent with a larger business.   Mark Moore Co-founder of Ingenious Britain said councils should make it easier for small firms to win business.   “This report shows the power and strength of small firms to create jobs and growth in their local economies if they are given the help to do so.   “This is why we’re calling on small businesses to work with us to create an environment in which small firms can grow and prosper hence our support of The Small Business Saturday Campaign".   The FSB said if each council had spent an extra five per cent of its budget locally and committed three per cent more to small firms, £788million could have been generated for local economies.

How to suck at using Twitter...

Sister-kisser and empire-defeater, Luke Skywalker continues to be a childhood hero to many (although not so much for the sister bit). Coming from the middle of nowhere on a planet in the middle of nowhere, he goes on to become a Jedi Knight and take on the Emperor himself. He can also give you some decent pointers on running your business too.

You Don’t Need Traditional Support

Luke first loses his parents (sort of) and then goes on to lose the auntie and uncle who raised him. Eventually his support network becomes an old man living in a cave, a smuggler, a giant bear thing, a princess, two robots and a green midget living in a swamp. This isn’t even conventional in the Star Wars universe, but nevertheless, Luke still goes on to succeed.

At this time, going down your bank to get a decent loan for your business isn’t exactly likely. You need to find non-traditional ways to raise funds. Queue things like crowdfunding, which has been a great success for many startups and small businesses. Just because loans are hard to come by, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other options.

Overcoming Setbacks

Like most hero’s journeys, Luke faced a number of problems. The Millenium Falcon gets attacked and captured, stormtroopers shoot at him at every second, he’s nearly eaten by a sewage monster, he comes close to freezing to death and he even gets his hand cut off. Generally, he doesn’t have a good time of it, but either way he carries on, gets over it and finds a way to succeed.

Running a business isn’t easy, nor will it go smoothly. There will be problems along the way that could jeopardize everything you’ve worked for. Back-up plans are a necessity. If you can think of something that could go wrong, think of a way to solve it if it ever does.

Not Giving Up

Despite all that happens to him, Luke never ceases in his quest. He keeps on going right to the very end, where it nearly falls apart. Darth Vader and the Emperor try to pull him to the Dark Side and it seems to work. Luke grows angrier and angrier, but in the end he triumphs and defeats the Emperor. His quest is finally complete.

It might be very tempting at times to just pack everything in when things get hard. It might seem like an easier route, but it’s not worth it. If you’ve put a lot of effort and money into something you should do all you can to see it through. It’ll be difficult and lure of just sitting in front of the TV doing nothing will be strong, but just power on through. You’ll be stressed, but you’ll be happy you didn’t give up. 

Press Releases: Do's and Don'ts 

Social media platforms have huge potential to foster innovation in businesses of any size. They offer a space in which companies and individuals can benefit from having access to creative clusters of professionals who are willing to share their ideas.

However, this creative stock of ideas is very difficult to properly exploit, because there is also a huge level of fragmentation: the conversations are going on everywhere, all the time, and it can seem that you need significant resources to explore these virtual spaces properly.

However, small businesses can adopt some strategies learned from large corporations, in order to benefit from social media innovation.

1. Be in the right places

Big companies have the resources to invest in having a broad presence in the social media sphere. SMEs start from the opposite perspective, of working with fewer resources.

The best strategy in this case is to focus your attention on the social media spaces in which interesting content is more likely to appear, either from current and potential customers, or from other conversations. Instead of trying to be everywhere, an SME should start with cultivating a community in one or two social media channels at the most.

The company should investigate where its current and potential customers are, and design a strategy to reach them. A company which sell services to other companies, or small consultancies and professional firms, for instance, may find it is easier to connect using LinkedIn as the main social network.

2. Cultivate customer communities

In addition to sharing interesting content, it is necessary to go a step further to benefit from the innovative ideas given by customers and potential customers.

Ideas come organically in any healthy community. In addition, companies may encourage the generation of ideas, for instance, by posting questions about the areas they believe it is possible to foster development. A simple question to the community may trigger an interesting discussion, bringing innovative ideas to the fore.

Some big companies even keep track of the best contributors, and regularly call them to networking gatherings. This is a good idea: invite the best contributors to an event, to share ideas and feedback with the company and other contributors.

3. Be prepared for the downside

Big companies know very well that social media can also damage their reputation. This may also happen with SMEs. Any space of interaction can bring great ideas for innovation, which may be utilised. It may also bring to light strong criticisms. Thus companies should be prepared to cope with both, with a high level of professionalism. In addition, companies need to be very diplomatic in coping in a sensible and sensitive way with those vocal contributors who have not much to say.

Here's the scenario: you run a small business and you've decided that you'd like to boost your presence in the market.

Either you hire a public relations (PR) company to represent you, or you do your own PR in-house. Both options have their pros and cons – doing it yourself can be cheaper, but also more time consuming, while outsourcing can cost a lot and can also lead to client dissatisfaction if there isn't a clear understanding of expectations and goals between yourself and your PR company.

Let's take a look at some of the options and how they compare.

Doing your own PR

If you've decided the right option is to keep it in-house, it is important is that you do thorough groundwork. Here are some factors you will need to consider:

• Market intelligence: Do a SWOT analysis, by identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

• Strategy: What are your objectives and key messages? Who is your target audience? What do you want from your PR campaign?

• Communications: How will you reach your audience and what tactics will you use?

Media relations are essential, so take the time to do it right. You'll need well-written press releases, professional images of yourself and your products and a list of target publications, so find out what your target audience reads.

Take media training sessions to ensure you are on message when interviewed. Research relevant events and pitch yourself as a speaker. Take speaker training and get help with speech writing in order to ensure good delivery.

You can also organise events: they can be time consuming and costly, but they generate awareness and build relationships, so take the time to ensure your guest list reflects your target audience. Finally, don't underestimate the effectiveness of social media. Twitter and Facebook, for example, are a great way to engage with your audience.

Hiring a PR company

Hiring a company can be costly, but it will give you access to trained professionals, as well as their multiple skill sets and networks. Access to this range of experts within an agency will give you stronger PR results than if you do it yourself. To start, have a clear brief – you understand your business better than anyone, so present potential PR companies with your business history, current position and where you want your business to be in the future.

Once you have a brief, invite three agencies to pitch. Choose agencies that are familiar with your sector and make it clear exactly what you are expecting for your PR spend. Be realistic. Agree to a written project scope so you know exactly what activity will be carried out. Consider weekly/monthly reviews to ensure the campaign is on track, agree to what needs approval from you and then let them get on with it, using their expertise.

The middle ground

For those who neither have the time to organise their own PR nor the budget to hire a PR company, there are other options. You can hire an in-house PR person as part of your staff. Their duties can include other marketing aspects of your business and this option can therefore be cost-effective and frees you to do other things with your time.

You may, alternately, hire a PR freelancer or a PR company on a project-basis when you need a 'PR injection', perhaps for a new product launch or crisis management issues. A freelancer will be more flexible and cheaper than an agency, but an agency will have the ability to cross-fertilise ideas and connections due to their wider remit. They'll also have an outsider's view of your business, which can be helpful.

While these options are by no means exhaustive, they outline the main pros and cons of what is available when hiring a PR company or taking a 'DIY' approach. Be aware of the hidden costs for the latter, and make sure you know what you want with the former. As long as your goals are clearly defined and you've done your market research, you'll be able to work out the fit that best suits you.