Setting up a Professional Business Email And Why You Must!
When you are looking to grow your business it is essential that your professional brand is mirrored throughout every aspect of your business. So if you want to sell like and to the big companies you need to act like them.
Ensuring you communicate in a professional way is essential. Here we share top tips on email professionalism with your email address.
Although email was introduced back in 1971, it wasn’t until 1993 that we saw the dawn of what was to be one of the most effective method of communication, the electronic mail!
Nowadays most people take it for granted that a business will have an email address in which to communicate at the click of a button, however as with any marketing piece, your email address needs to be consistent with your brand. So a simple personal Gmail or yahoo address may not suffice in creating that vital first impression!
So where do you start?
At this point, let’s make an assumption that you have bought yourself a web domain name, you know that bit you type at the top of your Internet window. At the top of this page you are reading it will say old.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk
When you purchase a domain name from one of many online traders, they will give you the opportunity, sometimes at an additional cost, to purchase a business email address; so ours are things like this: Lisa@thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk
Seems simple enough, you now have an email address purchased and ready to use, but what on earth do you do next?
There will normally be two options for you; to purchase simple email forwarding, not advisable in most cases as this is a simple forward to an email account and will not allow you to send from your domain. The second is a mailbox, with this option you should be able to view your account from a web page, via an email client is a desktop application such as Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, Eudora or Apple Mail. Or finally to sync with your mobile device so you can always access your emails when you are on the go.
Your DNS changes
So when once you have purchased your email address, the domain name needs to have some rules set in order for the email account to become active. This is done via the DNS (or Domain Name Server) settings. This can seem pretty scary as this is the information that shows your website where to look in order to be live on the world wide web, so changes to this can break the site if the are done incorrectly. So let’s take a look at what the DNS dashboard will look like…
| DNS Entry | Type | Priority | Destination/Target | |
| @ | MX | 10 | mx0.123-reg.co.uk. | |
| @ | MX | 20 | mx1.123-reg.co.uk. | |
The priority settings are a simple back up for the email servers, so if at any one time Priority 10 is not functioning then your email will automatically swap to Priority 20. This is ideal to minimize downtime for your business through lack of email communication!
The type MX refers to the Mail Exchange and the Destination Target is the mail server address of the company that you have purchased the email from. At this point I am assuming you are not asking someone else to host the emails for you.
So now let’s take a look at how you can set up your email on your computer, and in this example we are looking at a domain purchased through 123reg but most are very similar in their workings.
First of all, you will need to open your email client for example Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, Eudora or Apple Mail. Then you need to add a new account to your email program. The exact way of doing this will vary depending on which program you use, but you usually need to find the add new email account option.
You will need to check on the site you purchased your domain from for specific instructions for a variety of email clients, although armed with the information below you might be able to set things up yourself.
Whatever Email client you are using you will need to add a new email account and you’ll be asked to supply some details. This is the information you are likely to be prompted for by your email client are as follows:
Username: This is the full email address (e.g. yourname@yourdomain.co.uk)
Password: The password for the mailbox
For POP3:
Mail account type: POP3
Incoming mail server (POP): pop.123-reg.co.uk
Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.123-reg.co.uk
For IMAP:
Mail account type: IMAP
Incoming mail server (IMAP): imap.123-reg.co.uk
Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.123-reg.co.uk
So what is POP3 and IMAP?
Post Office Protocol version 3
By default, POP3 stores your email on the mail server until it is downloaded by your email client or mobile device. When the email is downloaded onto your computer it is deleted from the server and you cannot view them using webmail or other clients.
Internet Message Access Protocol
IMAP is the more advanced email choice for today’s modern world. It allows you to download your emails using webmail, your email client and your mobile device, where each will show all of your emails concurrently, deleting an email from one will delete from all.
So what is a catch-all account?
A catch-all will ensure that all email sent to your domain name will be forwarded to your mailbox or chosen forward email address – it literally “catches-all” email.
In short, when you buy your domain, make sure the company has a decent online support to help you set this up, just in case there are any problems! Most reputable providers should have simple instructions to help achieve the set up without too much difficulty or better still if you ask nicely, they may well reconfigure your DNS for you!
We hope this article helps you consider your email set up. If you are having any problems or would like further advice, just get in touch via info@thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk or post to our confidential mastermind group where we will add additional learning.
Our mastermind group is only £5 a month and is packed with advice and resources to grow your business. Best of all because it is confidential it means you can ask anything and get treated with respect and have business owners like you share advice. Due to the way that the Insiders work together it is a powerful way to grow your business with high quality advice and great market research opportunities too. You can join here.
Charity of The Year – Why We Bother – And Why You Should Too
Every year the BWN year is choosing a charity to give a little extra love to.
If you are a charity that we haven’t chosen this year, that doesn’t mean we don’t love you. As a charity you will always get to attend our events for a discounted rate (even on the day on the door!)
We will retweet, like and share all of your content that you share with us.
(All of our social media is accessible via our website – top right.)
And when we have room we will happily let you bring your banner along to our events.
You can also write for our blog whenever you wish.
(Just ping us the details)
Got an event coming up? We are happy to mention it in our business ops slot. Just email it to your local coordinator.
(Because we really do love everything local!)
However we want to do more (well that’s typical us!) and so we thought how great it would be if we could make every business woman from across a whole county talk about one charity. One charity that works tirelessly to make a difference. As founder of the BWN Mandie Holgate has worked with lots of third sector organisations and so knows first hand the obstacles that they face. And the pots of cash are not so easy to get to any more.
But fear not, charities don’t want just your money. Here’s our top ways to support our charity of the year. If you attend our events we would adore it, love it, and thank you forever if you would do the following for our charity of the year in your county;
Retweet, like share and talk about the charity of the year on line. That way we can like your comments, and share them too. That way your followers and your brand awareness goes up too!
Want to get in the local press? (The answer to that one is yes you do!) Raise a few quid for our charity of the year, mention us and together with the charity there is good chance your smiley face and your bit for charity could get your business in the press. And that is not just good for them, its good for you too. Charities aren’t daft, they know why businesses get involved. Yes we love the warm fuzzy feeling that it gives us, but its also good for business, stands your business a part from the rest, shows you care, and a ton of other things. All good. All worth doing. So fancy sitting in a bath of beans? Giving a £1 for every sale next month? Doing a nude calendar? (We’ve done that…twice!) then go for it!
And its worth remembering your gestures don’t need to be huge. Just talking about the charity, really does help them.
Attending an event? Could you carry a few fliers for our charity of the year?
What about having a 1 2 1 with a member of the charities team, so you could understand what they do, what they need, who the would love to talk to. Knowledge is power and big powerful networks are very good for charities. Could your network be helping our charity of the year?
Add a logo to your website? Remember for charities if you knew the extent of the work that they did you would probably want to be able to do more. Could you add a logo, a mention of The BWN’s charity of the year to your website, social media, business literature. Help us, help our charity of the year.
Write a blog article? Could you write an article sharing what you know, care about? Anything. Remember a charity is not just after money. It’s after staying power. Charities are created all the time, which means that the ones that are already here have to work twice as hard. What could you write about to support our charity of the year? Raise their profile and give them staying power and ensure their future? Charities live on a knife’s edge, never knowing how they will fund the following year. Scary right?
Every £1 spent on a charity in the UK is being fought fiercely over, so if you can raise the profile of a local organisation that is helping in your community you just became a really nice person. Good feeling right?
And here are our loved up Charites of the year;
Essex – Colchester Community Voluntary Services – CCVS
The title may suggest they only work in North Essex, however their work supports groups 
and organisations across Essex. So by supporting them it means Essex business women really are supporting community groups. And get to attend events meeting third sector, public sector and private sector. Their Banking on business events are proving a great success and Dawn Moss our Saturday Essex events coordinator is already signed up as a Volunteer. And with over 600 volunteers, that’s a lot of good happening in Essex. Can you feel how good that is!
Shirley is the business woman from CCVS that you can expect to see at our Marks Tey Hotel 
events. Get in touch with us to share your ideas to raise money, raise their profile and get your warm fuzzy feeling that makes Essex that much better.
Suffolk – Age UK Suffolk
Our Bury St Edmunds events are hosted at Age UK Suffolk’s HQ and so how perfect to support them.
Kinsey Foster and Susan Pope host our Suffolk events and would be happy to talk about how you could get involved to support Suffolk’s charity of the year
Learn more about Age UK Suffolk here and please do let them know that we said they were awesome and deserve your support. You can contact your local Suffolk coordinator direct via your page. However feel free to contact us if you wish to.
Put on a proper suit, do up your tie
David Cameron found himself pulled into a childish game of who had the last laugh in parliament on Wednesday while debating the reforms to the NHS. A heckle from a Labour MP prompted the PM to say
“I know what my mother would say. I think she’d look across the dispatch box and she’d say: ‘Put on a proper suit, do up your tie”
But does wearing a suit and tie make you better at your job?
If we are dressing ‘for the job you want’ Cameron would probably argue that Corbyn is striving to be a Geography Teacher.
Joking aside, does the idea of having a strict work dress code , and only being seen as professional if you are wearing a suit still apply in 2016?
The Telegraph published an article last year entitled ‘why men who wear suites are more successful’, based on a study by the California State University, which analysed the psychological effect dressing sharply has on people.
The outcome of the study showed that those who dressed ‘formally’ to complete a set of tests were more able to see the bigger picture, rather than focusing on the smaller details, and were more able to make good financial decisions and avoid impulse purchases.
So I should be wearing a suit when I’m online shopping at 1am?!?
The idea of a suit and tie being a ‘professional uniform’ may be seen as something from the 80’s and 90’s, with movies such as Working Girl and The Secrets of My Success, emphasising the impact power dressing can have. However in 2015 we heard how Lewis Hamilton, world championship British racing driver, was turned away from the Royal Box at Wimbledon because he was not wearing a jacket and tie. Lewis chose not to accept the offer to borrow the relevant clothing, and watched the proceedings from an altogether less exclusive seat, albeit his stylish outfit remained intact.
Can the way you dress impact on other people’s perception of your success?
Read more about office dress code here.. N J D People Consulting
13 steps to turn LinkedIn into a lead generator from Lesley Morrissey
1. Optimise your profile to attract your ideal client – that means you need to know who they are. Download the Perfect Client Worksheet here.
2. Create a professional headline that makes it easy for your ideal client to recognise themselves. Include a couple of your keywords and eye hooks. Copy these ★ ♦ to save spending hours searching for them!
3. Invest in a good headshot – ideally get a professional to do it. A profile picture should be head and shoulders only and you are aiming for a friendly and approachable look. You must be looking straight into the camera; nobody trusts someone who won’t make eye-contact – even in a picture.
4. Add interesting contact information – your professional email (not gmail, aol, yahoo or btinternet – it should feature your domain name), the phone number you want to receive business calls on, more interesting web links than Company website. Remember you can have three different pages on the same website.
5. As a business owner you should approach your summary from a marketing perspective. Add headlines and sub-headlines to break up the text. Ensure there is a line space between every paragraph. Use those eye hooks to make your headlines stand out.
6. Include your keywords in your summary and, where possible, in your current and previous experience.
7. Ask your clients (and former clients) to write recommendations on your profile. Don’t be shy – people expect this on LinkedIn. If they don’t know what to write ask them to say what you did for them, what it was like working with you and what the results were.
8. Arrange your profile so that the summary comes immediately after the top box (with your name/contact info in), then your experience, then any books you’ve published or awards you’ve won. The endorsements can safely be pushed to the bottom – recommendations are much better to have.
9. Share your expertise by writing articles (like blogs), LinkedIn calls them ‘posts’. Always include a relevant image (don’t use Google images you can run into copyright fines – try www.freeimages.com).
10. Create a series of short tips and share them as updates daily. If you write 14 you have enough for 2 weeks – then you can recycle them (nobody will notice).
11. Use the advanced search filters to find the people you want to reach and start a conversation with them.
12. Find the groups where your target audience hangs out and be helpful, share your expertise and you’ll have a whole group of people who fit your ideal client profile paying attention!
13. Tag your contacts and follow up regularly.
For more information contact: Lesley Morrissey / lesley@insidenews.co.uk
Meet Essex Business Woman Raphaelle Cox & Her Business Passions
Meet our new member Raphaelle Cox who will be attending our Marks Tey Hotel events in Colchester Essex. Check out Raphaelle’s love for her business and how Raphaelle feels the BWN could be good for her business, thanks for sharing Raphaelle
What made you set up your business?
I set up my business because I am really passionate about empowering women to feel confident in who they are and what they do. I love design and authentic soulful branding, balanced alongside a healthy approach to the work/life balance. It is too easy in the modern western world to feel overwhelmed, over commit and lack self esteem. With an authentic brand style that truly reflects you and your business, increased energy and vibrant health, you can feel so empowered and confident. There are so many amazing women out they with great stories to share and I feel blessed to be able to support them to be seen and heard whilst living a healthy life along the way.
How many years have you been in business?
I have been in business 16 years.
What do you love most about running your own business?
I love watching the transformation when a woman reaches that point where she starts to trust & believe in herself again.
What do you hate most about running your own business?
The part of being in my business that I like the least is when you realise that you have not see or heard from anyone all day. In an office there are always people wondering around, but working from home can be lonely at times, there is no one to bounce an idea off, share a success, or talk about a challenge.
What would you say your greatest skill is? (Be honest you have lots!)
My greatest skill is I am a great listener, I am empathetic to the modern business womens’ challenges because I live through them too. I am unwavering in my honesty and I have an ability to seek out the root cause of the imbalance as it presents itself. I work on a very intuitive soulful level.
What was the reason that you decided to be a member at The BWN?
When I arrived at the BWN I felt really welcome, there was a strong energy of support before anything else, they really want to help you be the best you can be. Mandie is a great leader in sharing her genuine interest in your journey as a business women. It was more of a family rather than a group.
What do you see the future holding for your business?
I see my business being a platform for awakening, helping women remember how amazing they are. By stepping out from behind the shadows of out dated beliefs. To stand confidently remembering their true essence, no longer a projection of what they believe the world wants them to be.
Project Baby – Putting together your dream team
Many of the women who are currently pregnant or have recently given birth are highly educated, high flying managers. We are after all being blamed/credited with the recent baby boom, a whole generation of women who put off having children until their late thirties or early forties in order to have a career. We know how to manage people, lead teams and meet deadlines. We know that having the right team in place is crucial to getting a job done.
Why then, when told – this is how you’re going to give birth and these are the resources you get – do we simply say “oh, ok then”?
As a woman in a position of responsibility at work we would have already answered some pretty big emotional questions before even getting pregnant, do I really want children being the biggest. Having made that decision and conceived there’s then the whole battery of testing and deciding if you’re going to test for Down’s and all the stress and further questions that brings with it. Having made it halfway it is quite easy just to throw your hands up and say “yeah, whatever just tell me when to turn up” but this is the time when we need our business heads screwed on.
Whether you have worked in a large corporate environment or for yourself, you can appreciate the skills and professionalism other people bring to the team. You are a whizz at what you do and have probably felt out of your comfort zone when trying to deal with areas outside your expertise. Be it finance or marketing or computer design, we’ve all felt that sense of relief when someone comes on board who has that as their expertise and we can happily hand that over knowing it’s no longer going to be our headache. We can focus on what we do best.
So who is going to be on your baby dream team? Well conventional wisdom says you’ll be in a hospital, with a midwife and your partner, but who wants to be conventional!
Find out more here… http://consciousbirth.co.uk/blog/entry/project-baby-putting-together-your-dream-team
How to create a successful YouTube Channel
Elene Marsden rocked it at our Marks Tey Hotel event in Colchester this January with 50+ business women left wanting more. And 2 lucky business women will be featuring in Elene’s YouTube TV Show very soon. 
Well done Melanie Winning and Sandra Sparrowhawk! Sandra will be presenting a 10 minute how to use scarves to make a statement and Melanie (award winninng Make Up Artist) will be sharing how to create the Audrey Hepburn look!
(Well done ladies and we look forward to seeing more!)
Elene loves the BWN so much, that Elene has signed up to be a member too! Here Elene shares how to create a successful YouTube Channel, thank you Elene!
With over 1 billion users on YouTube and viewers spending on average 40 minutes a day watching videos, isn’t it time you looked at using YouTube in your business?
What are the benefits?
- Educate customers and prospects
- Entertain your viewers
- Demonstrate your professionalism
- Be a leader in your field and inspire others
Once you decide to use YouTube you’ll need to create your own channel. Follow this link to set things up https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1646861?hl=en-GB
It’s also important to set goals, e.g. how many subscribers do you want, by when?
Follow these steps once you’ve created your YouTube channel
- Fill out the About section
- Upload channel art
- Add social and blog links
Creating the channel art can be tricky, here’s a link to create a template using the correct dimensions
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2972003?hl=en-GB
Now it’s time to OPTIMISE YOUR CHANNEL
- Add a channel trailer
- Add sections
- Consider using Featured Channels
- Create playlists
Divide your own content into playlists and also create playlists using videos that you’ve curated from other channels that complement your own content.
Follow these steps to upload your videos to YouTube
- Edit video before uploading
- Add title
- Add description
- Include links to websites and other videos
- Add keywords
- Watch and like your own video
- Share on social media
Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our Preloved Chica Channel where you’ll see these recommendations being put into practice
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBZVyOE7BSpCFaBkoRJDoVg
Best Wishes
“Share our Passion for Fashion.”
Why The BWN Likes Competition (And Yes We Know That’s Scary!)
As scary as it may feel having your competitors in the same room as you is not bad for business. It can actually seriously improve your business success.
It’s all very well to walk into a networking event and be the only person in the room that does what you do, however real life is not like that. And we don’t want to sugar coat business, we want to help you make it really work.
And to do that, you need to be able to effectively deal with the competition.
(We also think its important that you know that we care about ALL women in business
and as such although we are known as a very proactive environment to gain new business we are also about business growth and don’t want to exclude someone from the opportunity to hear one of our master class speakers just because they were not first through the door with a fat membership fee – hence the no membership ever policy!)
So how can you effectively deal with completion?
Firstly as much as Tescos or Sainsburys would love to be the only supermarket in your town they are not. And the profits rise and fall as they respect and care for their customers, suppliers and staff. (Worth noting right?)
Years ago when I lived in a one street of shops town , there was one clothes shop for ladies, Dorothy Perkins. When we heard that they were building a row of shops opposite this and one of them would be New Look, the local Chamber Commerce said it would doom the town centre.
How could a town support 2 ladies fashion stores?
The fact is it had the opposite effect. Instead of people leaving our tiny town to shop elsewhere, suddenly there was choice. It didn’t damage the town, it enhanced it and caused more shops to be built. The town, grew. (Something else worth noting right?)
Lots of business women make the mistake of assuming that because there is competition in the room, they will lose out on business opportunities, on the contrary its your chance to shine. To showcase why you.
So tell me, Why you?
What do you give your customers that no one else can or does?
How do you make your clients feel truly loved?
Knowing this and getting it across in your marketing strategy is imperative. And when networking the same language, words, and attitude should shine through everything you say too. Remember people buy from people, not businesses, so in the words of your happiest favourite customers why you?
How do you fix peoples woes, worries, stresses and problems?
Power up your success rate by talking about real time solutions, happy customers and top tips for a happier life and/or business.
When it comes to Value Added Marketing the end goal is not just a sale. How do you make people feel special? Do you keep in touch effectively so that they naturally only want to work with you?
The lovely Di Gilbranch (The Doggy Dinner Lady from Trophy Pet Food Colchester)
makes a point of getting in touch by text (because she knows that’s easy for me) and checks up on our dog food supply. I don’t ever have to place an order. Di does the leg work and even delivers to my door. Now that is service that I am happy to pay for and I recommend. So a national store could have my custom, but you can guess who gets it!
Tell me are Mick Jagger & Madonna the best singers in the world?
Sorry Madge but there are better, however Mick and Madge are still making records (and money) because they keep up to date and in touch with their target audience. The biggest brands in the world don’t just advertise to get your business, they advertise to keep it.
If you want to deal with the competition, you accept they exist, raise your game and keep visual. And that’s not just turning up at an event. How do you keep on peoples radar between events?
Is it consistent?
Do you go on about your products and services or are you useful, relevant and interesting?
Be confident.
The hardest thing to deal with, when you see competition in the same room is that overwhelming thing that us women are so good at, and that is to convince yourself that they are better than you, and everyone will love them more. It’s just not true. Be really confident about your price, products and services and remember that people have already chosen you. Why shouldn’t they again? (Unless your competition is offering free Ferraris with every purchase!)
I accept that I’m not the right business coach for everyone. As I like to say there are over 66 million people in the UK and I’m not coaching all of them. Horses for courses right? So accept you are the perfect horse for the perfect client.
Meeting compeititon is also good for you in the sense that it makes you raise your game. Are you doing all you could for your clients? Do you use the latest marketing technques to ensure client retention? Do you know the state of the art technologies for your industry? By meeting my competition I get to hear what other people are doing. What they are learning about. What new techniques they’ve tried. How they deal with their business problems. I don’t see competition as a problem I see competition as an opportunity. To learn and share.
If competition was so bad for business, why does every professional body have a yearly conference? Makes you think right?
If you are really confident in the person you are, the company you own and the 
abilities you and you company have to be just perfect for your customers, then you could really freak the competition out and work with them. What about a joint event or venture? Some of the best opportunities and most fun I’ve had in business is when I’ve worked with someone who is considered as direct competition. I get to have a great time, learn and share. And support even more people to success. So could you go so far as to work with your competition?
Could your competition lead to new opportunities? When you have too much work on (what a lovely problem to have!) could you pass on work and take a % cut? Could you work with someone prepared to be white labelled to your company because they had to do no work to gain that client?
I get it, I understand that scary “gosh did my heart just stop moment” when you meet someone networking who does what you do. However instead of hiding your head in the sand pretending you are the only person in your county that does what you do your competition is your chance to really shine.
Get known as the thought leader.
And really get known for all the right reasons.
If there are a hundred suited business men and women in the room it is not by accident that I will wear a bright colour. I’m prepared to stand out and accept horses for courses, and boy does the competition teach me so much. Especially how to prove to customers old, new and potential that I’ m right for them and more than anyone else on the planet I genuinely care about their success.
So don’t hide from the competition, accept they exist and use The BWN events to showcase that you are ready for anything. Because let’s be honest in business you need to be.
My name is Mandie Holgate and I’m the founder of The BWN. I always want to do my very best for women in business, so if you think I’ve lost the plot by inviting the competition to events, and not having block outs, I’m very happy to hear your viewpoint (negative or positive) And of course support you to effectively deal with the competition too. See you at a BWN soon!
Meet Essex Business Woman Michelle Taylor with an unusual goal…
Meet Michelle Taylor, Essex Marks Tey Hotel member. Michelle has changed careers and you could never guess her career choice! And we do hope Michelle gets her big wish. You can meet Michelle at our Essex events, and get to know her now and hear her big ambitions! WHAT MADE YOU SET UP YOUR BUSINESS? My husband Kev, is a retired Essex Police Sgt and when he first retired he was thumb twiddling for some time, not knowing what to do with himself…He all but fell into Wedding Photography 7 years ago and is now making great inroads into the business locally. Not wanting to be in the same position when I retired from the police, I started to think about what I wanted to do post retirement, it was still over 5 years away at the time, but I knew I did not want to be one of those retired officers that took up a Civvy post just to stay employed or focused. Kev suggested I picked up a camera and followed in his footsteps, I could not think of 
anything worse….Just like my cake decorating skills , I could picture in my minds eye a fantastic finished product, but lacked the skills to create said product from scratch…..I said ‘Id rather marry people’……So began my research. I had heard of Humanists, but I believe in something rather than nothing so ruled them out of my equation…I stumbled by chance across the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants a small but upcoming organization, the cost of training was reasonable, so I took the plunge. I completed my Wedding and Family Celebrancy training in July 2011 and have not looked back since. I love spreading the love and joy that abounds at any family celebration and I was finally able to put my skills and creativity to good use, I can write a good story and what better story to tell of how two people met, fell in love and decided to get married. As well as Weddings I also write and conduct, Naming Ceremonies, Vow Renewals, Commitment Ceremonies and have (on one occasion only, I hasten to add) conducted a Doggy Wedding as a publicity stunt for the dogs owners. WHAT WAS THE REASON THAT YOU DECIDED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE BWN? In a word…… NETWORKING!!! I know someone who had attended a couple of meetings at the beginning of 2015
and she told me that the BWN was a great way to get myself ‘out there’ …Meet likeminded business women and to pick up some tips and contacts along the way. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOUR BUSINESS? GROWTH & MORE GROWTH! I retired from the day job in October 2015 after a very hectic year, all of my spare time that year had been spent writing and conducting ceremonies. I always knew 2015 was going to be a tough year, two jobs and NO spare time, but it has been worth it. In my 1st 12 months I conducted just one ceremony, last year I did 16, this year I already have 20 booked in! I don’t want to be flat out like I was last year, I want to grow but at my pace, allowing me more time for family and friends, socializing etc, something that is very hard as a shift worker. I think I will find my work/ life balance…Finally…. As a self employed and very fulfilled Wedding Celebrant. I want to spread the word about Celebrants, not many have heard of us, I want the whole of Essex and beyond to learn that there is more to a good wedding than just the party after the ceremony. The ceremony itself should reflect each couple, their unique quirks and should be fun and laughter filled, not JUST a formality so we can say ‘We’re married’. I have had some cracking venues over the past few years, with more to come this year. I have worked and will be working with some awesome couples and families, and there is nothing the puts a cheesy grin on my face like saying at the end of a wedding ceremony, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen please make some noise and be upstanding as I introduce to you Mr and Mrs………’ WHAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU TO KNOW? ‘HOW, WHY, WHAT, WHEN, WHO’ We all need a helping hand to get our businesses seen and I want to learn it all….OK that may be a bit unrealistic, but each meeting is about learning
HOW to expand your business WHY you should do certain things to make your business grow WHAT you need to know to make a success of your business WHEN is the best time to do it……NOW !! WHO’S going to do it….ME!!
I’m always on the lookout for couples who want to step outside of the ‘normal’ box . I want venues to realise the worth of a Celebrant and I want to know how best to promote myself in this expanding industry… I want to be a cut above the rest and being a member of the BWN helps me to achieve all of the above. I’m up for any challenge, and the one I’ve set for this year? …Well, that’s to find a couple as mad as me who really, really want a Harry Potter themed ceremony… I have the wand, the cape and even some props…..I just need the couple now.
The BWN is a brand of excellence as far as I am concerned, and being a member shows to the outside world that I am wanting to expand my horizons, mix with some awesome women and LEARN.
Wow! Thanks Michelle, we are so pleased to hear of the benefits you get from our events and we hope you get your dream wedding!
Meet Essex Business Woman Genevieve McAllister
We like to know our members really well. And we like you all to know our memberes too. Today meet Genevieve McAllister from Crocus Connect. Who tells us why she became a member of the BWN and what her business is all about. You can meet Genevieve at our Essex events.
What made you set up your business?
Running my own business had always been at the back of my mind even whilst 
I was building my career first in the City and then in Corporate Communications. As my children were growing up I had progressed from working part-time to almost full-time, but I was constantly juggling childcare and trying to put the hours in at work – and feeling guilty a lot of the time. I remember going for a walk with my dog through the fields a couple of years ago and having an intense moment of clarity where I realised things needed to change. And very soon after I’d thought this, an opportunity came up at work which meant I could leave and start realising my dream.
How many years have you been in business?
I’ve been self employed for about 18 months, but it was only last summer that I decided to focus more on becoming a VA (virtual assistant). It made sense to me because the people I was meeting through networking were mainly owners of small businesses who don’t necessarily want to employ other people directly, but sometimes need to outsource office support or marketing.
What do you love most about running your own business?
I like the feeling that I’m the one who makes the decisions and can focus on whatever is most productive for me at any given moment. I don’t have to wait around on other people telling me what I can and can’t do. And the feeling I get when someone wants to hire me to do some work is brilliant!
What do you hate most about running your own business?
My tax return, definitely. I’ve been grappling with HMRC only today.
What benefits do you get from networking?
I’ve picked up work from networking and it’s a great way to get yourself in front of 
people and find out which of their work problems you can help solve. Also, as I spend a lot of time on my own working at home, it’s good to meet people and talk through day to day issues the way I would if I worked in a more conventional office with lots of colleagues.
What would you say your greatest skill is? (Be honest you have lots!)
I recently read a blog which resonated with me and it was asking people to identify what is their ‘thing’. It’s usually something that comes to you so naturally you barely even realise you can do it. After a bit of thought (and asking my husband, my mum, my friends…) I realised that my ‘thing’ is proofreading – I can look at a page of text and immediately pick up the typo. It shouldn’t have been news to me – after all, I’d been project managing communications and publications for several years so it was always part of my job, but like I said, often your ‘thing’ is something you find easy and don’t believe it’s a skill.
What was the reason that you decided to be a member at The BWN?
I’d heard good things about the BWN (and Mandie!) from others and decided to come along and try it for myself. I’m just finding that the women who do attend are really supportive and interested in what everybody else is doing. I always come away fired up with enthusiasm and that’s a great motivator once a month.
What do you see the future holding for your business?
I see the VA side of my business growing this year as I continue to focus my networking activity around that. There’s a direct correlation between the work I put in and how my business grows, so it’s important to keep up the momentum.
Longer term, I’d like to develop a balance between my VA work and my copywriting and proofreading. And if I can throw a little voiceover work into the mix too, that would tick all my boxes nicely!
Who would it be good to for you to know?
I’d like to meet people who run small to medium-sized businesses who need extra support but don’t want the formality of hiring extra people. Because I’m quite patient and organised I’m a good foil for whirlwind creative types – and I like working with them too.
I’d also like to meet someone who would get satisfaction from acting as a mentor. I think that having someone to act as a sounding board is invaluable and of course, it’s a two-way relationship.
Thank you Genieveve for sharing your business growth plans for 2016, who you would like to know and how you can help us. If you would like to answer these questions and get your business talked about on our blog, learn more about being a member here. It costs less than the early bird ticket!