Learning tricks, picking up tips, getting known

It's been a strange old week.

Seven days ago Colonel Gaddafi was still at large, the travellers at Dale Farm were defying the law and staying put and being made redundant was still at the forefront of my mind.

Since then things have progressed somewhat, Gaddafi is no more - allegedly - the travellers want to disperse with the "Great" from Great Britain and looking forward with a spring in my step has become the focus of my attention. It's funny how systems and circumstances can change.

I've been using the phone an awful lot this week, so much so that a certain company comprising of a letter and a number were delighted when I had to change my tarrif. But in this technological age it seems strange to me that the good old dog and bone is still the best way to communicate.

In a profession such as mine getting your name out there is the only way to get exposure.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be invited to a swish do at Ribby Hall in Wrea Green by the team at Huddle Media for a charity ball in aid of the Rosemere Cancer foundation. To see so many familiar faces was a joy and every one of them asking how I was getting on since the "R" word.

Whether by seeing me and knowing my expertise they can push some work my way, who knows, but the point is by getting out there you can give yourself a gentle shove in the right direction.

Picking up new talents is also going well. A week ago I had heard of Wordle but never used it, now I see it as a new acquaintance - I won't say friend, not yet anyway.

The new talents are adding strings to my bow to help me help businesses across Lancashire, and why not, it's what I have done for the past decade or so.

New projects too are coming along nicely. My work with Abbey Telecom and Excellent UK Enterprises is bearing fruit and will hopefully lead to new and different challenges. The latter of the two is gaining momentum and shall be unleashed soon, so take note.

You may think I am playing my cards rather close to my chest when it comes to Excellent UK Enterprises and there is a very good reason for that. It's a project which is building momentum by the day and will change hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses across Blackpool for the better.

I didn't like what happened to me, who would? But by cracking on with what I know I am good at, making new contacts and keeping things fresh I know the future is that bit brighter than it was seven days ago.

New projects can bring renewed hope

Just a week since the latest unemployment figures were released and the outlook for the economy seems gloomier than ever.
In my last blog I spoke about my personal experience of being made redundant and the hardship it has brought not only me, but my family.
Without a doubt, had it not been for the ongoing support of my loved ones my state of mind could be a lot different. But I am still here, battling on the best I can.
Losing a monthly wage gives you a new outlook on life, you tend to look at things differently, focus on issues you never really thought about before. Mainly because you have to.
But it can also give you renewed hope and allows you to focus on projects you have always had in the back of your mind but never really done anything about.
Unemployment is tough. Seven weeks in and I am just getting to grips with how scary the future could be. There is help out there, sure, but asking for that helps comes with having to swallow a lump of your pride and disclose the kind of information you would rather was kept under wraps.
Then there are the reasons behind unemployment and unfortunately, in the current climate, these seem all too familiar to us at the moment.
Debt is a massive factor. Small businesses are fighting a constant battle to get help from the banks and while the government is urging banks to lend on the one hand they are urging businesses to spend on the other. This leads to further debt and firms being unable to reduce their debt. This catch-22 situation has seen thousands of businesses go under before even reaching their full potential.
While debt is a major factor in small business meltdown another is the inability to market your product.
A recent report highlighting the state of UK business websites showed that almost half of the 1,000 websites analysed by Thomson Local had very little search engine optimization (SEO) and in some cases none at all.
It begs the question how can a business survive when customers do not even know they exist?
Marketing a product is all very well but potential customers have to be able to see what you are marketing on search engines or there is little or no point in going online in the first place.
This blog is by no means a guide to what small businesses should be doing and many out there will have their own thoughts on the ongoing crisis but it's just possible that with a little bit more help from independent organisations small businesses across the UK would flourish more, rather than being let down by the stranglehold of debt and other issues.
The title of this blog is "New projects can bring renewed hope" and there is a real sense at the moment, from myself and others, that a new start could be just what some people need to get on the right track to a prosperous future.
Intrigued?
Well, stick around over the coming blogs and more information might just be on its way.

Cheers for reading this. Please feel free to pass on to other people.

Nick

Just another statistic....for now

The figures make for grim reading.
Between June and August 2011, unemployment in the UK went up by 114,000.
That's 114,000 individuals, many of them with families, who are no longer bringing home the bacon to support themselves and their loved ones - I too am now one of those individuals.
One of the most shocking stats from the latest unemployment figures though is that there are almost 991,000 16 to 24-year-olds on the dole, almost a million. Just think about that for a minute.
It's the worst unemployment figures for 17 years. Back then I was listening to the debut Oasis album, Britpop was in its infancy, John Major was PM and England failed to reach the World Cup in the USA. Scary.
Seventeen years on and we have seen the boom and experienced yet another bust, only this time it feels a lot worse.
At present 2.57m people are out of work and while we have a way to go till that figure reaches three million, should unemployment continue the way it has gone we could be there in just 12 months.
Yet the Con/Dems continue on their path of economic growth and are convinced that the economy will grow if the private sector continues to take over where the public sector is cut.
Small businesses are being seen as the saviour to the ongoing crisis and we all have to hope that the more small businesses that are created the better. But where's the help for them?
David Cameron says every job lost is a "tragedy for the individual and their family." He's not wrong.
For six weeks now I have been re-inventing myself after a successful 10 years as a journalist with The Gazette in Blackpool and latterly as editor of Lancashire Business View. Every month I received a wage and thought the career path I had chosen was a pretty safe one, despite the stranglehold the recession placed on advertising revenue.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Here I am, a day before my birthday, still looking and still re-inventing myself but looking to the future with renewed hope having spoken to scores of people who are in the same boat, trying to keep their head above the water and various other cliches.
"Things will change," they say, " a person with your experience will be snapped up," say others. It hasn't happened yet but I am sure it will. I have to be sure, otherwise, I have been defeated and I cannot let that happen. Neither should the 2.57m people who are in a similar situation.
I mentioned small businesses before and a good contact of mine, Steve Pye, chairman of the Blackpool and Fylde branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, chatted to me over several brews about the current economic situation.
"It's a major concern," said Steve. "The latest announcement shows that small businesses are being unable to grow and are being forced to make cut backs when really they should be maximising what they have and marketing their products for the betterment of their business.
"Growing a small business needn't be a hardship but some bosses are failing at the first hurdle by not using the tools that are at their disposal."
Stay tuned over coming blogs for some news on how small business owners can help maximise their products and how they can be helped.
There's some exciting news on its way.
For now though, life doesn't have to stop just because someone has but a redundant obstacle in your way.
Think on and crack on with what you are good at.

New projects and forgotten dreams

Let's get some facts straight from the start. 2011 has been tough, a lot tougher than some people would have wanted it to be.
Many of us will have woken up on January 1st with a new sense of vision on what we wanted the next 12 months to be. We had plans, dreams, a new sense of belonging and a fresh drive to excel at what Him upstairs had given us.
Ten months on from there some of our dreams may have been realised, others however have been put on the back burner while others have been shattered.
While we can apportion blame for some of the things that may have happened over the past few months, we also have to take a long look at ourselves to see what we could have done better to stop what happened happening again.
Just a month ago I was made redundant. I hated it, next to my old man dying at the age of 52, it was an experience that will live long in the memory. Being told after just 10 months your position is no longer viable due to finance is something no-one wants to hear. You always think redundancy is something which happens to someone else, not you. But it has, and four weeks on I have had to re-invent myself as a writer/editor/blogger/twitterer etc for hire. Applying for jobs is a time-consuming (and sometimes a waste of time) occupation and the fear of the unknown is something which drives me to get out of bed every morning when the missus goes to work at 7.30.
I could lie in bed, thinking about what to watch on TV for the rest of the day, get lost in endless episodes of Homes Under The Hammer (or whatever) but that is not going to pay the mortgage and the bills which are constantly in the back on my mind.
So, I come up with new projects to work on, like blogging. It makes no odds to me if this gets read by people. I am doing what I was trained to do, which is write.
One project I have become involved in relates to a local business called Excellent UK, which, on the face of it if you know the area of the Fylde, is a highly successful car cleaning and valeting service. No, I have not ditched the notepad in favour of a chamois leather, but I am spreading the good word of their new project to the masses.
Excellent UK Enterprises has been formed by the owner of the car wash empire, Sam Smith, and a number of experts from across Blackpool who have a mission to get people off the dole and back into work. By offering advice, putting on workshops and offering training, we aim to give those who haven't had the chance to work, that chance. We also want to help the hundreds of small businesses in Blackpool a welcome shove in the right direction. For too long big business in the town has prospered over the small and E UK E want to help them achieve their dreams. Probably similar to the dreams we all had when we woke up for the first time this year.
A new website for E UK E will be up an running within the week, giving details of how the business can help individuals and small businesses.
While there are other organisations out there with similar aims, we, for the time being at least, want to keep this local.
I will be giving more details in future blogs but for the time being this was just a taster of things to come.
Thanks for reading. If you have enjoyed this, pass it on to other people and let's make a difference!