When we staged our first Flying Solo LIVE! in 2008, we were aiming for 100 delegates. Boy, did we get that wrong! 225 of you turned up and we had to restrain ad man Peter from scalping tickets in the car park.
In 2009, after such brilliant community support for the launch event, we were hopeful of getting one or two more bums on seats so were once again blown away when 350 came along.
But fear not, we’re not eyeing off the Entertainment Centre. Frankly, we feel Flying Solo LIVE! is now quite big enough and are determined to keep the personal, upbeat and super friendly feel of the event.
And the feedback gave us all the warm and fuzzies.“Bloody marvellous! Best $195 I've spent on my business to date.” said one 2009 attendee.
So, with September upon us and less than two weeks to go, we’ll be closing the doors soon. Best grab your tickets now; they are still at the 2008 price, just $195 for a full day of learning, networking and all out fun.
So what's in store?
Well if you figure marketing could do with a refresh, we’ve got sessions covering both online and offline – hints, tips and strategies to keep the funnel fed.
If technology is your Achilles heel, fear not, we’ve sessions to get you up to speed or keep you at the front of the pack.
Networking gets a good airing too, both the face-to-face kind and the social online kind. Bring your notepads and iPads.
Talking of iPads, we're giving one away!
Yep, one lucky attendee will be leaving with a shiny, new iPad thanks to a neat little draw we’ll be running on the day. You’ve got to be in it to win it.
Finally, we just added some last minute goodies to all those who secure their place in the next couple of days.
Along with your ticket, scrumptious lunch and some of the coolest exhibitors and sponsors around, you’ll also get the book ‘Sustainable Growth' from Sensis, a free copy of NETT magazine and the option of a FREE 3 month trial subscription.
And if you nab one of the FS crew at the bar at beer ‘o’ clock, we’ll shout you a drink.
PS: Want some exposure for your business. We have just TWO business exhibition spaces left. Here’s the deal.
What's Flying Solo LIVE!?
Flying Solo LIVE! is our annual micro business conference. This is it's third year and it is being held on Wednesday 15 September with registration opening at 8am for an 8.30am start. The final presentation concludes at 5.30pm followed by some casual networking over drinks.
For one value-packed day, you’ll be surrounded by the tips, tools, knowledge, contacts, community and inspiration you need to build a business you love. Download the full program here.
Tickets are just $195 (inc GST) and include a choice of sessions, morning and afternoon refreshments, a networking lunch and the chance to mingle with sponsors and exhibitors.
If you have any questions about the event or registration, please use this contact form or call Fiona Toy and our team of wonderful organisers on 02 4340 8897.
Attending, speaking at and hosting events are all valuable opportunities for public relations. Here’s how to make them work for your business.
Attend them
Events, and their associated networking, are fabulous opportunities for you to not only promote your business but to also prove your personal public relations (PR).
My mantra is that PR encompasses what you say, what you do and what you are – and that includes how you conduct yourself at events.
Remember, these are not card-sharking opportunities. Focus on the person you’re talking to, create a relationship, and learn about them. Like any other form of PR, it takes time, but the relationships you build through networking can support you in years to come.
Speak at them
Speaking at events provides credibility and a profile boost. I regularly speak on PR and publicity topics at events that attract my ideal prospects, and it’s been a great way to meet people and share my message about how accessible PR can be for small business.
You may not receive payment to begin with, but event organisers will often offer other benefits, including running your articles in their newsletters, and allowing you a short promotion time at the end of your presentation.
Hosting your own event, seminar or workshop is another great way of reaching out to prospects and customers, and potentially attracting a revenue windfall.
For example, a nursery owner and a landscape gardener could run a free talk together on the ‘Sex life of plants’ and jointly promote it to their target market. It’s a great way of adding pre-qualified people to your database and could also be promoted in the local paper.
Or you could opt to share your expertise and train other people who pay to attend your workshop or seminar.
If you do decide to run a workshop, don’t get caught out paying non-refundable venue deposits or minimum catering numbers in case you don’t get the registrations you hope for. Simply promote your workshop and ask those who register to nominate their preferred geographical venues. Then as your registrations rise, book venues in the appropriate areas.
Events don’t need to be expensive, lavish affairs. They can be run online or over the phone so participants can enjoy them from the comfort of their computer chairs while wearing their pyjamas! These are great for soloists in the education, training and coaching spheres.
Another advantage of running workshops is that once you’ve prepared the content, it’s easy to re-run them throughout the year or record them as educational products to sell on your website.
Getting started
If you’re thinking about adding events to your PR and marketing mix, start by asking yourself the following questions:
What topics could I speak on?
What groups that include my target market and referral sources would be interested in those topics?
What types of seminars and workshops might be of interest to my target market and referral sources?
What other types of events would appeal to my target market and referral sources? (These might include fundraisers, sponsorships and parties).
Have you had PR success with events? We’d love to hear your tips, so please share them below.
It’s fair to say that ‘getting out there’ and networking – online or offline – is not something that comes naturally to me.
Truth be told, if left up to me I’d slouch alone in my home office all day listening to folksy music with headphones on and ignoring the telephone.
So I was obviously euphoric when Robert informed me we were off to mingle with 1000+ business owners at last week’s launch event of Energise Enterprise, Victoria’s small business festival.
I know the drill. Robert swans off to be Mr Big Shot presenter, while I’m left manning the stand.
However, the funny thing is that as much as I dodge them, I always love these events when I get there. It was great to chat with a constant stream of wonderful business owners and entrepreneurs. And the massive business benefits in terms of contacts and promotion are obvious.
For me, the challenge is simply turning up. I’ve found that once you get there, the conversations and connections just seem to happen by themselves.
It’s the same thing with networking online. Before getting involved in Flying Solo, I’d never commented on an article. And before we started the forums a few years ago, I’d never made a post on any forums, let alone helped look after one.
I’m far from alone in this. Our surveys and feedback consistently reveal an aversion to (okay, fear of) networking amongst small business owners. In fact, generally more than 95% of readers online – affectionately known as lurkers – don’t actively join in the conversation, preferring to listen and learn. Which is, of course, totally fine.
But today, I invite you to take the plunge. If you’ve never or rarely posted anything online, take the first step towards online networking and leave a comment on this article.
To make it nice and easy, simply tell us what you enjoy most about running your own ship and if there's one thing you're looking for that will make your life easier, tell us that too and let's see what the community can do to assist. If you’re a regular commenter, then by all means hop in and show us how it’s done.
Tough financial times impact overall spending and consumer sentiment, hurting many businesses and families. Hoping that circumstances will change is not enough.
In order to survive we must be realistic as well as optimistic.
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins talks about a principle he calls the Stockdale Paradox (named after the highest-ranking American prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam). In summary, the Stockdale Paradox states that we should be realistic about our current circumstances, and yet optimistic about the future.
During his years of imprisonment, General Stockdale reportedly came to believe that optimism could in fact be a liability, noticing that prisoners who were eternal optimists constantly set themselves up for disappointment, depleting their resilience and fortitude along the way.
Conversely, prisoners who looked at the painful day-to-day reality they were in and channelled their energies to the right places survived by maintaining an unwavering faith in the end game and making a commitment to themselves that they would survive whatever brutality and horror they faced.
Here’s how Stockdale put it: “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
How many of us would look back on seven years of detention and torture as an experience we wouldn’t trade?
Do you regard the greatest obstacle in your life as the challenge that shaped who you are, or do you use it as an excuse for not having achieved more?
This distinction between optimism and realism can apply to both business and life.
Is there an aspect of life in which you’re ignoring reality in favour of being optimistic? Doing so might mean you’re also missing a crucial opportunity to take action.
For example, one of my clients has an employee who doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, doesn’t pay attention to detail and is often reluctant to take direction and feedback. This employee and the drama that surrounds her affect the entire business, and yet my client procrastinates about firing her, hoping in vain that things will somehow change without any decisive action being needed.
Take a moment today to examine your relationship with optimism, pessimism and realism. The key is knowing when to accept reality and take appropriate action, and never losing faith in the end of the story.
If you can walk the delicate line between balance and responsibility, you increase your odds of making good decisions, and ultimately, of achieving success and breakthrough results.
We all experience setbacks, disappointments, loss and challenges. What separates successful people from the rest is the way they deal with those inevitable lessons from the School of Hard Knocks.
Always keep sight of your final goals, and have faith that you’ll prevail in the end. But maintain the discipline to confront the brutal facts and reality of your current situation too.
Do you consider yourself an optimist, a pessimist or a realist? What impact does your outlook have on your business?
Have you thought about what business success has cost you lately? If you don’t consider yourself successful just yet, what would you be prepared to pay for your dreams?
We tend to think of success in terms of what it gives us. Money, fancy toys, freedom, fame, respect and similar desires spring to mind immediately.
But what are you prepared to miss out on in return?
One day when I was 13 years old, my dad came to watch me play football. This was a rare event because my dad was always very busy being “successful”. I played the best game of my life that day. I scored three times, and every time, I turned to my dad to gauge his response. It was just the best!
My teammate Patrick’s dad was also a businessman in our hometown and like my own father, had a lot on his plate. Both men had plenty of reasons not to come and watch high school football on a Wednesday afternoon.
Pat’s dad Bill was a big man with thick bushy eyebrows and hairy ears, but his greatest attribute was his booming voice. Whenever Pat got the ball, Bill would yell out “GO SON!” and everyone would hear it.
As kids, we used to make fun of Bill’s antics, but now I see it in a whole different light. Firstly, Bill was there every week, while my dad seldom was. Secondly, Pat knew Bill was there every time he got the ball. And most importantly, the whole world knew that Pat was Bill’s son and that he was a very proud dad indeed.
Both these fathers were successful. They ran profitable businesses, and were well regarded in our local community. However, one paid a much bigger price for success. Which parent (and which small business owner) would you rather be?
So, what have you missed out on? What will your kids remember about their childhoods? Are your clients more important that your kids because they pay the bills?
I struggled to find balance in my life for years, and often felt torn between trying to get ahead and enjoying the ride. Now I’ve realised that without balance, results do not equate to success.
As a small business owner you’ll be very familiar with attributes like passion, enthusiasm, drive, energy, vision and focus, all of which work together to bring success your way.
But if you want your success to be meaningful, permanent and lasting, it’s important to add balance to the list of attributes you foster in yourself. Without it, you may burn out. Worse still, your family may burn out while you’re off being busy and successful.
What has your business success cost you? Or perhaps you became a soloist because it freed you up to spend your time meaningfully? Please share your stories below.
Working with a good tax accountant can be critical to the success of your business. So how do you find the one that’s right for you?
Once you’ve established a relationship with a tax accountant you’ll typically be very reluctant to switch to another, even if you’re not satisfied. There are numerous hurdles involved, including manoeuvring around the tax calendar and having your new accountant contact the old one to request all the information relevant to your business.
Changing accountants is not a decision you’ll want to make very often, so it’s best to make sure your decision is an informed one.
Why bother with an accountant?
If you run a small business, you’re not legally required to work with a tax accountant. Even as a Pty Ltd company, you can deal directly with ASIC and the ATO if you so choose.
Wisely, that’s a burden many small business owners prefer to avoid. Given that the fees are fully tax deductible, there’s little downside to working with an accountant – especially if you choose the best person for the job.
When you’re in start-up mode they’ll advise on the optimal structure for your business and assist in setting it up in the way that best suits your requirements and goals.
As your business develops, your accountant can also:
Develop tax minimisation strategies
Keep you abreast of any changes to financial legislation that affect your business
Help you identify business goals, and the targets, budgets and cash flow forecasts to achieve those goals.
In addition, many accounting practices offer assistance in setting up accounting software and record-keeping systems.
How do you find an accountant?
Good accountants are in high demand, so they can afford to be fussy about their clients. Many accountants have closed books, and only take on new clients based on qualified referrals, so if you network with people whose businesses are similar to your own, it’s worth asking around for recommendations and introductions.
Accounting and Tax Associations can provide lists of accountants that work in your area. Alternatively you can head to the Flying Solo directory for more financial experts.
Check their credentials
Visit your prospective accountant’s website, or ask for their company material to be sent to you.
How long have they been established? What are their qualifications? Do they meet your needs? Read their client testimonials to determine whether their existing clients are in a similar position to you.
Does the accountant have experience and understanding of your industry or field? If you’re involved in import, export, e-commerce, gambling or any other unique category, check whether the accountant is familiar with the idiosyncrasies of that world. If not, keep hunting until you find one who is fully aware of the opportunities and potential pitfalls your business faces.
Make sure you feel comfortable
Accountants whose books are open to new clients will usually offer a free initial meeting, which gives you the opportunity to gauge whether you’ll feel comfortable working with them.
Go to the meeting prepared to ask lots of questions. What are their fees? What services does this price include? How will they communicate with you? What software do they use?
Time invested in finding the right accountant can have enormous benefits to your business. Although I’m renowned for encouraging soloists to think very carefully about their business expenditure, this is one area where professional advice can deliver a very healthy return on investment!
Are you an accountant addict, or do you prefer the DIY approach? We’ll be interested in your comments.
Talking of iPads, we're giving one away!
