Top 5 Tips for Small Business Networking

Networking is a relatively new thing for me. When I ran my holistic health business, I worked five days and two evenings a week, so any spare time I had I divided between family, friends, and my writing. Attending any of the networking groups in my local area was an impossibility. Once I closed that business and focused on my books and blog content, I discovered a necessity to get out from the home office and speak to another human being.

Working from home, in any capacity, has a host of benefits, from holding a conference call in your pyjamas, to saving hours on a long commute. Many mums are starting small businesses from their kitchen table to enable them to keep childcare costs to a minimum and reap the advantages of being around for their child’s early years.

With the influx of mumpreneurs, the need for friendly and supportive networking groups is more important than ever. Women empower women; it’s a beautiful thing to witness and an even more satisfying thing to do, or indeed, receive.

The groups I attend primarily are targeted

Annual Blogger Bash 2016 #BloggersBash

I've been blogging for three years now and I love it! I write this blog as well as a book/writing related blog over on Word Press - you can find it HERE.

The blogging and writing community is fabulous, and I’ve made many new friends through sharing, interacting and commenting on the incredible blogs that are out there.

To celebrate the best bloggers around, Sacha Black and her awesome team launched the Annual Blogger Bash back in 2015, and I’ve very pleased to say that it’s returning this year and looks to be bigger and better than before.

The physical event takes place on 11^th June 2016 in London and tickets can be found HERE. Regular blog readers who are unable to make the event can follow all the fun and frivolity via Twitter or Facebook.

Finding Your Feet in the Blogging World

Friends come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  Some are small and perfectly formed; some are tall and can help you pop the star on top of your Christmas tree.  Other friends are a collage of pixels crammed into a postage stamp sized photograph – yes, I’m talking about our online friends.  Tweeters, bloggers and our Facebook friends are just as important as our face to face contacts.

This blog will celebrate its second birthday on the 1^st January 2015, and its success is thanks to a mixture of people.  My holistic health spa clients who enjoy my ramblings, my family who gets to find out what I’ve been up to and my friends who support me in everything I do.  Then there are my fellow bloggers; the army of online buddies I have made along my journey.  A ‘like’ here, a ‘comment’ there, a re-blog, a Facebook share and a tweet.  The blogging community is one of the most supportive groups I have ever had the privilege to be a part of.  If you were contemplating starting a blog as a New Year Resolution – don’t think, just do!

Guest Author Interview - Stephan Myers

Today I am pleased to introduce children's author and illustrator, Stephan Myers. 

 

 

The Fun Five:

 

1.  What part of the world do you come from?

 

I was actually born in Hull.  A Yorkshire man born, but not bred.  I come from a service family and we moved on a regular basis both in the UK and Europe.

 

2.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

 

I wish I could say I had a particular ambition.  I was very much into athletics and it wasn't until later years that I chose a corporate career.

5 Days of Mayhem

Have you ever had one of those weeks where all your best laid plans get thrown out of the window due to something out of your control?  Welcome to my week!

I am an uber organised individual, I live by the mantra 'if it isn't in the diary, it doesn't happen'.  Then one week comes along that throws life into a spin that would put any tornado to shame, however, if I've learnt anything from this week, it's to go with the flow!

Day 1

Great start to the week as I took part in twitter's #indiebooksbeseen promotion.  All indie authors were given the opportunity to post a photograph of themselves holding a poster of their book/s (or a copy of their book). 

The promotion was very well attended and retweets were phenomenal.  It was so lovely to see such a great variety of indie authors taking part and it was a perfect opportunity to connect with such a supportive community.

Read it? Loved it? Then Review It!

The support and feedback I've received this week for the release of my new book How I Changed My Life in a Year has been sensational.  My twitter feed, Facebook page and email account have been inundated with positive comments.

As I basked in my five minutes of fame, I thanked everyone for taking the time to get in touch and let me know how much they enjoyed it, I then asked if they had posted their comments on Amazon.

I was met with a host of glazed expressions, 'what do you mean by post a comment on Amazon?'

Reviews are an authors life line.  We crave the golden stars and words of encouragement as much as a child craves ice-cream.  I was surprised at how many of the people I spoke to didn't know about the importance of reviews.

If you buy a new camera or other expensive piece of equipment, invariably you will log on to 'Which' to find out what other purchasers thought of the product and then you can make your informed choice - books are just the same.

Everyone is Raving About Rave Reviews Book Club

Gimme an 'R'

Gimme an 'A'

Gimme a 'V'

Gimme an 'E'

 

 

I am a member of quite a few clubs, but none shake their pom poms quite like Rave Review Book Club!

 

It was through the power of twitter that I first connected with Nonnie, author of Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend.  She mentioned her aim to start a review club and I was happy to add my name, and debut book, to the list.

 

That member list is now 400+ strong, with new recruits joining daily - that's a lot of pom poms!

 

The RRBC is not a place to park your latest novel, sit back and wait for reviews and sales to roll in.  It's a proactive club, members retweet members, they buy and review each others books on Amazon, Goodreads and other platforms.  They support each other like no other club does via twitter and Facebook.

A Picture of Happiness

The school holidays have started for us, and we were greeted this morning with blue skies and sunshine.

Unfortunately I am fighting a viral infection which means I am not at my best and able to enjoy this spring sunshine.  It's on days like this I'm so glad I don't run a YouTube Channel, at least when I write my blog posts I can type in my pyjama's!

So with a week of doctor visits, blood tests, skin rashes and an overflowing pile of tissues, I thought I would share a few pictures with you instead of trying to engage my brain and connect words or sentences.

The Importance of Human Contact

Growing up in a tactile family meant I was a compulsive hugger and my three children can testify to that.  I need sufficient hugs on a daily basis to survive! 

As a holistic health practitioner I understand the importance and power of a simple touch.  This kind of healing touch is non-sexual and supportive and is vital for wellbeing.  Think back to when you were a child, you may have fallen and cut your knee, your instinct is to press your hand to the wound and then find your mum who would do the same, with the added benefit of a cuddle.

A simple touch can affect your mood, your wellbeing, your emotions and your confidence.

Feel That Fear - Then Step Forward

How many opportunities have you passed up because you were too fearful to try?  I've done this more times than I care to remember and in a way, writing my blog became my unique way of feeling that fear and then taking the next step.

freedigitalphotos.net

I committed to journaling my story as I took on fifty-two challenges last year and knowing I had an audience who would laugh and cry along with me, made facing those fears less overwhelming.

One of my favourite self-help authors, Peter Jones, put fear in to perspective for me very neatly in his book 'How to do Everything and Be Happy.'  He said that if we have those funny, tummy turning feelings then it means something in our life is about to change - it's your choice if you want to step forward and accept that change.  This was all I needed to hear to understand that I was reasonably normal and it was okay to 'feel the fear.'  After reading his book, I began to take more of those forward steps.

How To Have 100 Happy Days

My regular readers know how much I enjoy a good challenge.  After successfully completing my fifty-two challenges last year I was excited about the prospect of finding a few new and unusual 'projects' for this year.

In January I took part in Cancer Research's Dryathlete challenge.  I am looking at a number of personal challenges over the coming months which will help me to evolve at home and work.  All very worthwhile but where is the fun? 

I then stumbled across a Twitter revolution - the #100HappyDays challenge, now THIS was more like it. 

The concept is to take one photograph every day for a hundred days, of something that makes you happy.  You add the hashtag #100HappyDays and post your photo on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (or on all three if you are that talented with social media!)