If you are exhibiting this year follow this link for some really useful information to make your event a great success http://www.fastsigns.co.uk/exhibitions-center.html

Review the adequacy of your Insurance protection. Not just a price comparison.   If your cover is inadequate or incorrect, a cheaper alternative on the same basis will still be inadequate and/or incorrect!

 Allow Marshall Wooldridge Ltd to conduct a free review of your Insurance and Risk Management requirements.

www.marshallwooldridge.co.uk

• Do your research – look at lots of photographers’ work – whose images speak to you? 
• Meet 2 or 3 – seek to look at complete albums, most only show their best work on the web 
• Do you like the presentation and design of the albums/art that the photographer shows you?
•  Will you have to handle your guests’ orders or does the photographer have capability to handle this direct with your guests who wish to purchase prints?
•  Who do you get on with? You will spend most of the most important day of your life around your photographer better make sure you feel you can get on with them.
•  What’s your budget? The photographs are your family’s first heirloom and the only thing that remains after the wedding. You should realistically set aside 10-15% of your wedding budget for photography that will do your day justice.
•  Do they have insurance? – all professional photographers should have public liability, professional indemnity and if they use anyone to help are legally required to have employers liability insurance.

For further information contact mark@markskeetphotography.co.uk

I joined BNI just over a year ago.  Not knowing a lot about it, my targets for the year were pretty low – as long as it covered its costs, I’d consider it a success. 

 I wasn’t expecting miracles – the contracts I’m looking for are high value and the people I work with as a PR consultant are mostly big businesses.  In my (limited) experience, members of the BNI groups I’d visited were small businesses. 

I quickly learned what BNI is about.  You’re not selling to the people round the table; you’re tapping into their networks.  Who do they know?  Who do they work with?  Who can they refer you to?  You’d be surprised. 

BNI is networking in its true sense – and it makes sense.  If you help someone else find new business they’ll want to help you.  Starting a conversation at any networking event with “How can I help you?” makes for a much more enjoyable chat than trying to force your business cards on people and sell to everyone in the room (we’ve all been there – it’s not nice!).  But a lot of people don’t see networking this way and then wonder why their networking isn’t working and people scatter as they walk into a room.

 So, one important thing I’ve learned from being part of BNI this year is don’t treat your fellow members as potential customers.  They might end up being customers, but that’s an added bonus.  It’s not really why you’re there. 

Why limit yourself to selling to 25 people each week, when you can spend time telling them what your business is about and the kind of people you want to work with; building strong relationships and trust so they feel confident handing your business card to the MD of that big global company you’ve always wanted to work with?  And vice versa. 

I’ve more than met my business target for my first year in BNI, so my targets for 2010 are going to be a lot more ambitious.  And I know that the relationships I’ve developed with the people in this group mean even those ambitious targets are achievable.

 www.partners-group.co.uk

• Less is more – don’t try and crowd the world and his wife into a press photo. Two or three people is ideal. If you absolutely have to include the entire company, at least make sure you’ve got two or three VIPs in focus in the foreground.
• Keep it tight – make sure your photo is tightly cropped, that it’s easy to see what’s going on in the photo and that it looks good at any size.
• Read the paper – might sound obvious, but reading the paper you’re targeting will give you a feel for the kind of photos they use.
• Use props – think laterally and don’t just go for the obvious (and clichéd) handshake shot. The business pages in particular are looking for interesting, eye-catching photos that will make people stop and read. So if you make big pipes, then photography the company MD looking through a big pipe.
• Don’t go overboard with branding – the odd logo is ok, but if your photo looks like an ad, chances are it will be spiked pretty fast!
• Send a caption – generally the papers will want to say who’s who in the photo.

In any economic climate being in business is a tough haul; when the going gets tough though it’s even harder to be successful. One of the ways to succeed is to back up your amazing customer service with making your company presentation more personal.

Simple ways to do this include having relaxed corporate portraits of staff members on your web site and in your printed material, introducing your team, the people who make your business tick. After all your people are your business.

Personally, I like to know who I’m doing business with so being able to see a picture of the person I’m transacting with is a big draw, even if I never physically meet that person. Your clients are likely the same.

A good corporate photographer can work with your company to capture the essence of its personality and show this in your photographic presence. Of course you need to do your research so that you find someone who gets you but the right photographer will create images that shine and show your staff and your business in the right light. Here are 5 tips on what to look for:

• Does the photographer have examples of previous work?
• Do the photographs speak to you?
• Is the photographer people focused?
• Can you work with the photographer?
• Does s/he get the business’s personality?

If you want to get your story published in the media, here are a few tips to help you get started from Karen Nixon at Partners PR.

1. So what?

Before you even start writing a press release, stop and think: “Is it really news?”  Buying a new photocopier might be the best thing that’s happened in your office for a while, but is it really going to interest anyone outside the business (or even anyone in it)?  News is something that is genuinely new, unique, rare or different.  Are you bucking a trend?  Is it a world or industry first?

2. What’s in it for me?

Think about who’ll be reading the story:  What’s important to them?  How much will they know about your subject and how much do they need to know?  Think about how to get them interested in what you have to say.

3. Grab attention!

Your headline and opening line are crucial.  If you don’t grab a journalist’s interest with your headline and the first line of your story, you probably never will.  Try and sum up the story in the opening sentence, then go on to give more detail.

4. Keep it concise

Don’t waffle.  Aim for around 300 words.  Write in short sentences and focus on the facts.  Think about answering the questions: what, when, who, how, where and why?  Include the most important information at the beginning of the story, less important information towards the end.

5. For more information

Always include a contact name and number in case a journalist wants to know more.

6. Before you click send…

Check your spelling, punctuation and grammar.  Then check it again.  Better still; ask someone else to double-check it.

Power Team members that we’re looking for;

Finance: Commercial Banker

Business Services: HR / Employment Law / Health & Safety specialists

Wedding Services: Florist / Cake Maker / Wedding Planner / Catering company / Entertainment company

Health & Wellbeing: Personal Trainer / Image Consultant / Health Centre

Ink On Paper: Stationary / Office Supplies / Promotional Gifts

Property: Architect / Interior Designer / Surveyor