How to sell outside of your comfort zone

Being in business allows you to push the boundaries of what you think can be achieved. But can you honestly say you sell outside of your comfort zone?

What could happen if you did?

Think it through….if your current marketing strategy allows you to create your current supply of customers what could happen if you pushed yourself outside of your comfort zone?

(Here’s a clue, it will definitely involve more time creating invoices and less time chatting on social media !)

So How Do You Do It?

1. If it feels big and scary….keep going. Things feel scary and out of our ability range when we feel there is something to lose. We feel like there is a lot to be missed out on if it goes wrong….so polarise that thought. If there is a lot that could be lost there is just as much (if not more) that could be gained.
2. Keep doing what works but ask yourself what would take you so far out of your comfort zone when it comes to selling? If you normally choose to sell over the phone or via word of mouth, would picking up the phone panic you? Networking a No No? Media work moves you in all the wrong ways? Do it anyway!
3. Don’t ask Don’t get. Asking is the scary part. Men traditionally are great at closing the deal but lack the nuances of relationship building that women do and so go straight for the sale and risk scaring the buyer off. Women on the other hand can be brilliant at creating great relationships but can lack the ability to close the sale. So ask for what you want.
4. Believe in better. If you think something is likely to go wrong, your brain will be as considerate as possible to create as many reminders of previous failure and plenty of hints on how to recreate it, undermining your ability to achieve. So believe in what you do. Believe in your course of action, your ability and visualise the end goal. That’s right, more invoices created, more money banked and less time to play procrastinating!

Really want to get out of your comfort zone?

Tell the INsiders what action you intend to take, and let us support you to achieve it.

Is Invoice Finance a Credible Alternative to Bank Loans?

Invoice finance (IF) is not considered a credible source of finance among some business owners because of its relatively high cost and onerous terms. Is this perception justified? Dr P Singh of Cash for Invoices Limited investigates.

What is invoice finance? It is the sale of a company’s sales ledger for cash providing an ongoing source of cash as invoices are issued to customers by the company. The company might retain the collection of cash or transfer this and the associated credit risk, to the funder.
Some conventional IF facilities can impose numerous types of fees and charges, and require security and a commitment from the company to sell its entire sales ledger to the finance company. Some companies offer a refreshing financial alternative, offering to buy just a single invoice and charging as few as just one fee and generally offering a more flexible funding alternative.

What is single invoice finance? As its name suggests, it is the purchase of one invoice for cash from a company. The company does not need to sell any further invoices so single invoice finance can be used by companies to raise cash as they need it. Also, they might not need to provide security such as a debenture or a personal guarantee. Single or multiple IF are effective tools for cash management because they liquidate illiquid assets i.e., they convert debtors into cash. The cash realised can be reinvested by the company in profitable projects or used to pay back expensive debt.

Some borrowers might argue that on an annualised basis, the cost of invoice finance is high compared to a conventional loan. That comparison is like comparing apples to oranges because the two financing instruments work differently. A loan is a continuous source of finance whereas single invoice finance is discrete – providing finance for up to 90 days or less. Annualisation of the cost of invoice finance is not therefore consistent with its use. Though the interest rate on a loan might look relatively attractive, the cost of arranging and administering it must also be factored in, such as the arrangement, commitment, non-utilisation, and exit fees, plus servicing charges and legal costs of documentation. There might also be costs to pursue and recover bad debts, or to pay for credit protection. Invoice finance has its own arrangement and administration costs that might be more or less than a bank loan.

Invoice finance is therefore a credible alternative to a loan because:

 it converts a company’s debtors into cash that may then be reinvested to potentially generate positive return for the company.

 the company can transfer debtor credit risk.

 it avoids using up a bank’s limited credit capacity for a company  

 it diversifies the company’s sources of funds so reducing its reliance on the banking sector.

 companies can use it to raise cash as needed

 security might not be needed

Is invoice finance for you?

Dr P Singh of Cash for Invoices Limited finds out.
Invoice finance is a form of asset-backed finance –finance where your company uses a valuable asset as a source of finance.
Instead of waiting for the company’s customer to pay your invoice in 30, 60, or 90 days or longer, you can sell your invoice immediately so receive cash now.
Time is money however, so the amount you receive on sale will be less than the invoice amount. This reduction is not a loss, because you could invest the cash received and earn as much as the invoice amount by the time it is due to be paid.
In addition to having cash sooner, another advantage of invoice finance is the transfer of the risk that your debtor will fail to pay. A bad debt could mean you lose the money you were owed by the debtor and a lot more money paying debt collectors and solicitors to recover the invoice amount.
Many invoice buyers will want you to provide security for the money they give you, in case the invoices they buy become bad debts. Instead, they will charge you for bad debt protection.
Some buyers of invoices take on the responsibility and credit risk of collecting debts from debtors, but others will (if you can show you are competent) allow you to continue to undertake this key task.
Some buyers will not disclose to the debtor that the invoice has been sold nor interfere in the relationship you have with your customer (the debtor). The invoice finance is kept confidential rather than being disclosed.
Many invoice buyers will force you to commit to selling all your invoices to them. In addition to being inflexible, you will have to pay several other fees because the arrangement is similar to having a loan facility from a bank. Some companies, however, allow you to sell single invoices and when you choose, which removes the commitment and reduces costs substantially.
When buying a single invoice, the buyer will usually keep a retention in case the debtor fails to pay. They might for example buy your £1000 invoice for £950 but pay you £800 immediately, less their fee, and the balance of £150, when (if) the debtor pays.
There are many varieties of invoice finance, and corresponding costs, terms and conditions. It is attractive as a source of cash, a means of credit risk transfer, and it diversifies your company’s sources of finance. This last feature can be the difference between your company surviving and failing if your usual lender (your bank usually) withdraws its funding.
Is invoice finance for you?
 Do you send customers invoices?

 Do you need cash?

 Have you supplied a good or service?

 Do you have an invoice to sell?

If you tick all the boxes, then invoice finance might be right for you.

To learn more, have a chat or claim your Insiders discount click here.

Wake up to good cash management

Invoice finance, debt factoring, invoice discounting or single invoice finance, are all variations of a theme: good cash management and not always a sign of desperation. Companies should choose to hold cash rather than illiquid invoices because cash can be reinvested in the business to generate high positive net present value, or can be used to pay off expensive debt. Both increase the company’s profit & loss. Invoices do not. Invoices are a drain on the business, generating no return yet costing money to fund outstanding debtors, either because of interest on debt or because of an opportunity cost, plus they represent a credit risk.

Factoring and invoice discounting have tarnished reputations because many of the firms that offer them take a multitude of fees off of the company selling its invoices and they often commit the company to selling more invoices than it would like to.

Single invoice finance is similar to conventional factoring but it can have several key advantages:

• No security (such as a debenture or guarantee) from the business.
• No commitment from you the business to sell any invoices, so there is no facility established
• Sell small value invoices (from £500) can be sold. Many factoring firms would baulk at buying such a small invoice as it would cost them more to process the purchase than the fee they would earn
• One fee only to pay, meaning the business saves on many fees that conventional firms charge such as: arrangement, servicing, renewal, and exit fees.

  An illustrative quote: A single invoice finance company would buy a £100 30-day customer invoice off a company for up to £87.50 paid upfront less the buyer’s fee, and a retention of up to £10 when (if) the debtor pays the invoice, so £97.50 in total (less VAT on the fee). No further fees and no commitment to sell further invoices.

As an affiliate to the Insiders we are able to offer a discount to you, check out this page to learn more and if you would like advice on a particular area relating to cash flow, getting paid and invoicing please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will create content for The Insiders The Knowledge. Contact us here.

Do you have to put your freelancers into your pension scheme?

Freelance workers based in the UK have a lot of rights but did you know they have a right to join your workplace pension scheme and must be included in your auto-enrolment?

It sounds a bit daft on the face of it, but here is how it goes for workers based in the UK:

My freelancers are self employed

If you’re thinking – what has this got to do with me as my freelancers are all self-employed? – then you could be in for a shock.

Freelancers can be running their own business, but they can also be categorised as workers (or even employees).   Your label on the relationship does not define their status.  Nor does the fact they invoice you, or have other clients, always help. 

If they don’t have a company and are invoicing you in person  there is a risk your freelancer will be categorized as a worker and this may trigger their entitlements.

How to handle freelancers and workplace pensions

Are school holidays hurting your business?

Should I tell my customers I don’t answer the phone during school holidays?

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Like so many women she was balancing building a business with taking care of her family.  She hadn’t been able to find herself a term time only job, so had started a business that would work around her family.   She was a ‘mumpreneur’.

Term time only working keeps you poor

Term time only employment contracts can trap women into lower paid roles.    Part time employees (red in the bar chart) in small businesses earn the least of all.

No wonder so many women chose self-employment.   Be your own boss.  Set your own rates.   Result.  What could be better?

Can you earn enough in your business?

Self-employed earnings have been steadily falling for some years.   A  lot of people are struggling on the lower hourly rates.   Far too many of those are women.   Despite being able to set our own pay rates many ‘mumpreneurs’ earn below the National Living Wage.   Term time only working only emphasises the problem.

UK schools shut for around 13 weeks a year.  If you are take all of that time off you have to earn your income in 39 weeks.   Allow another 4 weeks for when the children are ill (or you are) and you are trying to earn a living in 35 weeks a year.

How much can you earn?

Weekly hours           Hourly rate          Annual Turnover

30                                                       £10                                 £10,500

30                                                       £20                                 £21,000

Most business owners will tell you that they can’t earn during every hour they give to the business.   There are all sorts of things like sales and marketing, administration, dealing with customer queries that have to be fitted it.

Being self-employed means that your annual turnover is not your pay.  You will have expenses from equipment, bad debts, insurance, tax, national insurance etc.

Childcare costs can take 50% or more of your gross hourly earnings. If you have more than one child you can find yourself earning less than the cost of childcare since childminders and nurseries charge per child.

Working family child care credits

The ever changing working family childcare tax credits scheme may help.   You need to be available to work for at least 16 hours a week – even if you are not able to charge someone for them.  So keep a careful record of how you spend your time as well as your income or you will fall between the gaps in the scheme.  If you are not working school holidays these will show up as zero hours for almost one third of the year!

School holidays hurt your business

Not only do parents trying to create a business around school holidays lose revenue, but there is a massive effect on the business of this ‘stop-start’ policy.   Not only are you not earning during a substantial part of the year, but you are not selling, marketing, learning, developing during this massive gap.

What ‘s the alternative?

You can’t go letting all your clients go at the beginning of each school holiday.

Nor can you let them down by simply disappearing.  

What can you do?

After 37 years in business and two children here are my top tips for growing a business that makes you money and doesn’t stop for holidays.

1. Time shift your working time during school holidays.   Do as much as you can in the evenings and weekends.
2. Make sure your phone is properly covered and you never answer it to clients with noisy kids in the background.  It’s OK to put a message on your voicemail to say I will pick up my voicemail at 9am, 1pm and 5pm. And make sure you are somewhere quiet when you do.
3. Find other parents in the same situation and arrange a ‘gang’.  I found other Mums in a similar situation and we arranged that each Mum would have all the kids for one week.   I sent sandwiches and drinks – it wasn’t an expensive week and the kids loved being taken to the local rec to play games and being part of a crowd.
4. Find yourself an associate you can send work to when you are not available.   Make sure you manage them properly – don’t just dump work on them at no notice.   If you are not available during school holidays consider whether a student (studying business) might be a great associate – as they will only be available during holidays.  
5. Make sure you take some annual leave for yourself – don’t just work all year round.  You need time to recover and time to enjoy your children – even if it is not a third of the year!
6. Automate your social media during school holidays and create ‘lead magnets’ and campaigns that work for you when you are not working. Even if your customers don’t buy during term time you need to have them planning to buy from you as soon as school goes back.  If you wait till schools are back they may have decided to buy from someone else.
7. Create ‘products’ that people can buy from you online when you are not personally available.
8. Invest in a great VA who does not need the same time off as you.  Have that conversation before you get started.

With planning, resourcefulness and a little bit of luck you can create a business that makes money all year round.   You don’t have to stop your business cold every time the schools break up.

As your business grows learn to outsource your work to freelancers who can work when you are not available.  You can have a 52 week business without working 52 weeks a year – but you have to plan it, and set it up that way.

Share your top tips for keeping your business going – add a comment and let us know.

CONTRACT PROPERLY WITH YOUR VA 

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 About the Author Annabel Kaye

5 ways to get more out of being an affiliate

It’s great that you’ve joined the Insiders but are you getting the most out of The Insiders? Here are 5 ideas to help. Remember this group has helped business owners achieve more, sell more, appear in international publications, choose the next step in their business growth, redesigned websites, helped with exhibitions, and overcome some big obstacles to success, what will we achieve together next!

Comment

When someone posts on the Insiders share your views. Help the other Insider’s with their needs. In doing this you get to show case your knowledge and experience and help others. And we all know that building good relationships is very important to business success.

Ask

If you need something ask for it. So often in business, we struggle on alone, not sure who we can turn to for help and advice. On The Insiders you will get more out of the Insiders if you tell us what you need. Do you need advice on an idea? Do you need to work out what is next? Should you get a press release or blog out and are worried that it’s no good? Use the Insiders as a place to ask anything. It’s confidential and we will do all we can to support your success.

Share

So you don’t know whether your next idea is any good, share it with us and let us share our ideas. And that means you need to share your ideas for others too. Maybe pop by once or twice a week if you are busy and just see what posts people have added and share your ways to help them. It’s not easy to ask for help, so providing a non-judgemental zone to challenge yourself in a kind and supporting way is important when making those big decisions.

Challenge

Just as we are slow to ask for help, we are never that keen to challenge ideas either. Here it is safe to do so. It doesn’t mean you have to be mean about it, but sharing the opposite view or challenging ideas can be really helpful. Ever noticed how you suffer from shiny syndrome disease? Shy Syndrome is where you are working towards a business goal then something else comes along and before you know it you’ve changed direction. Challenging others shows you are up to being challenged too. And that is going to be good for business as we become an extension of your business. Your very own sounding board!

Affiliates

The affiliates list is growing and you can now get at least a 10% discount on things from web sites, and holidays, to policy documentation and training on social media. Even my courses are reduced for Insiders, and they were inexpensive in the first place! Have you checked out who you could be doing business with for a discount? The other great thing about the affiliates is if you see one that you would love some advise for they are happy to deliver personalised webinars just for our group! ££££ of training on top of everything else, for free!

Don’t see what you want or need? Got an idea for us? Then you know you can always talk to us. The Insiders is here to help you grow personally and professionally to create a business you love, to sustain and grow it. So if you think we could help in another way, just say.

Professional Power – Are you risking yours?

I’ve thought often about writing this article, and always shied away from being a bit controversial. (If you read my articles before either here or on www.mandieholgate.co.uk you will know I tend to be about empowering, sharing top tips to make life, business, success and confidence just that be easier.) However I felt that I’d seen this happening too many times not to say something.

And the reason I say something now is because I can’t believe something that I thought was a given, an obvious expected standard, just doesn’t always exist, and not only is it not particularly pleasant to work in that environment, if you are doing this, then you could be damaging your success too! (So this article does come back to what I normally write about after all!)

The more I get asked to speak at events the more I naturally end up attending a variety of events aimed at personal and professional development and business success. And whether I’m attending a local business show a national one or a special all day event it really shocks me how many people that just don’t turn up!

What’s the big deal you say? It’s a free event, there’s no cost, so?

The big deal is that I personally think it impacts on your professional brand and what people think of you.

Think about it. You posted all over social media you were attending. You said you will be there. And then something came up, right? No big deal. But although there’s 500 – 2000 people at that event and you figure no one will miss you right?

They will, because there in reception when we all arrive is your lanyard with your name and business on, and then at the end of the day its still there!

Sorry did something better come up than what you thought was going to be an awesome day?

A client maybe?

I have a real issue with this, because firstly it shows a high level of disrespect to the organisers. It may seem like just a lanyard to you, but it’s not for the organisers. An organiser of an event need to ensure for every name that turns up there is adequate parking, adequate refreshments, adequate seating, someone has to take the time to print off and make your lanyard. As the numbers for the event increases the organisers think “wowsers we’ve got xxxx people booked for this, we should slow down on marketing, we may have to turn people away, our maximum capacity for safety is xxxx” So you greatly impact on the organisers.

Secondly if you’ve posted you are attending and don’t show, what does that say to those that do turn up? Is it a bad event we shouldn’t be at? Have we wasted our time? It can create unease in the delegates (I do not jest! I’ve seen it across social media damaging the reputation of events for years to come!)

More worryingly those that do turn up know who hasn’t arrived and think “Do they ever turn up to what they say they will?” What does that say about you, your professionalism and your business?

Can someone be trusted if they can’t even turn up to what they say they are going to?

Can they not organise their time to be able to have a day out of the office?

If you don’t know if you will be too pressurised to attend then don’t fill in the form saying you are going. Leave your status as interested.

And if you worry about giving up a day to this event top tips here are our top tips to get the most out of your day and double the usages of your time;

Tell everyone you are attending. This is good for the organiser (you are promoting their event. This may seem like its non beneficial to you, however getting yourself known for all the right reasons is a good way to get remembered. And remember in business its about the quality of relationships you build). By telling everyone you are attending before you even arrive you are getting to digitally network with potential customers and opportunities. It’s a great way to create brand awareness with very little effort.

Organise meetings and 1 2 1’s at the event. We all appreciate the need to know other people, and build good relationships however ultimately sorry to get tough here, those meetings quite from day one don’t always deliver business, and if you are very busy it can be very enticing to not bother with them. If you have been building rapport and getting to know people online, a big event is a great opportunity to spare half an hour and extend that potential opportunity. (And word of caution here, that’s build opportunity for them too, not just you!)

Talk about the event in the run up to the event. This is a great way to get you and your business known before you even walk through the door. There will be companies that can’t make the day, however if you have talked about the event in your own marketing, at events you are attending and to your current customers then you are helping to raise awareness of the calibre of events you attend and how your business is operated. People like professionalism. And to feel that they can trust and know the businesses that they work with. This helps.

Power up your PR! When it comes to trade press and relevant publications to your business, talking about the events you are involved with can be a great way to get your business seen for the right reasons, and raise your name above your competitors. Just remember if your attendtion is to send in a press release saying “SL Products attended this expo” the journalist is likely to say “big deal!” on the other hand if you are saying that your company was awarded the only trade stand for your industry at a UK wide event with over 200 exhibitors for the third year running. That says something about your company doesn’t it?

Don’t create a headache afterwards. One of the reasons people don’t turn up to events I feel is because they worry about the follow up and additional work load that it can create afterwards. Firstly reframe the way you word this. Instead of saying “I’m going to need at least 4 hours to process that event to get maximum benefit from that day and justify the costs.” Reframe this to; “In one day I will be able to generate enough leads to grow our business as planned this quarter, which could substantially reduce my marketing requirements this month and thus further increase our sales this year.” Your mind will happily create belief in what you say. So if you assume it’s going to be hard work, increase your work load and be a hassle enducing process, get what you are going to get? On the day ensure you are getting potential time wasters (you know the types, I call them Likers. They like everything you do, but are never going to follow up, get involved, support you or buy from you. They just take everyone’s freebies and tell everyone about their business and clear off!) So get the time wasters to do the work, ie “That sounds interesting, if you email/phone me next week when I’m back in the office we can investigate that in more detail.” It’s a great way of finding out who is there to do business and who is there to restock their stationery cupboard.

If a conversation is going really well, don’t leave it to the following day (when let’s be honest you are still exhausted from the show!) to get in touch, get it sorted there and then. Have your diary it and show your intent. “That’s great, lets Skype and move this along”. If you want something don’t hang about. There are so many opportunities and so many people talking at an event, you can find that in 2 days time your conversation is getting lost in their minds to a bucket load of work. Don’t let that happen by sorting things on the day.

Create a structure to how you process events. By doing this, you can learn the science of what works for you. Trial different things, until you find a style that works for you. Time how long it takes to process it. This is a great way for you Procrastinators to see an end to the job. Procrastinators stop procrastinating when they can see it’s not as hard, scary or boring as they thought it was going to be. So think about the results you want and how fast you can process it!

I hope you have found this a useful addition to your learning over here on the Insiders and if you have comments and ideas to share, please do! You know the Insiders is awesome because of you, your views, ideas and support for each others success. Awesome isn’t it?

How to deal with perceived threat

I shared this video of a bird attacking itself in the mirror and spoke about how he was perceiving non existent threat, and it made me think how many business owners do this too. Here are 4 quick top tips to help you deal with the threats that aren’t even there that attack your mind and stop you from achieving more, because this is important to remember, if you don’t deal with these threats, even the non existent ones they will hang out in your subconscious, and that enables damage to the quality of the actions you take, your thoughts, your beliefs and your results. Ready to deal with them?

1. Is it a real threat? So often what we think is an issue when analysed we can see that it is being blown out of proportion in our heads and is in actual fact a rather silly thing to fear. But hey I wrote a whole book about fear, don’t dismiss fear. Fear will attack your success every chance it gets. So first things first does this threat really exist? Or is it something you think could happen? What are the reasons that you think this could happen? (It is often a light bulb moment for a client when I suggest that they have decided on the outcome and it’s never a good outcome, and who says that this is the outcome you will get? Who say’s that this is fact and it’s already happened?)
2. Why does it feel real? If you can’t help but feel like this is a real threat. Ask yourself what the reasons why could be? Let the threat feel like it’s happening right now, what do you notice? Do you feel like you are lacking in a skill set or a mindset? By understanding your perception of the threat you are able to break it down into small parts and tackle it.
3. What proof do you have that you can get through this? If you know it’s not a real threat, or even a perceived one that felt real! What evidence do you have that you can get the results you want? In your experience and past there will be examples of how you have overcome adversity, gained results when no one else could (or thought you could!) and succeeded. So although you may sit there scratching your head thinking “aaa I can’t think of any Mandie” I bet you the moon on a stick you could find the evidence if you needed to. And here is the thing….you do need to! Because if you don’t you are agreeing to enabling that perceived threat to turn into a fear that will damage your success. So it’s suddenly seems easier to list the occasions that you overcome threats in the past right?
4. If it is a real threat, then how will you ensure you don’t encounter it again? Threats real or perceived need to be understood. By doing this you have skills for the future that make your chances of success higher (why do you think people work with coach’s for years? It’s so they can ensure they are always working on the real threats and extinguishing the imagined ones!) What procedures do you need to put into place to ensure you don’t encounter this threat to your success again? This can be anything from scheduling time to deal with X to ensuring I network twice a month to stop myself from becoming isolated.  Remember no one need know what actions you plan, however your success will appreciate the helping hand in dealing with the negativity that aims to damage your success. So plan today!

Facebook Freshen Up For Success

Here Katie Ives from On The Button shares her top tips for cleaning up your Facebook to make it more streamlined, easier to use and get results. Katie is an Affiliate so you can also access discounts to work with Katie because you are an Insider. Just make sure you let her know. Learn more here – I asked a panel of volunteers what their biggest frustration on Facebook was.  
They all had the same reply… 

“cutting through all the noise and drama and just seeing what interests me”.

So if you fancy a good ol’ fashioned spring clean, here are 10 things you can do right now!

1.   Put your friends into lists

Interest Lists are a simple organisational tool to keep everyone in a more effective order, giving you speedy access to only the posts you want to see.Set them up by scrolling down the left side of your home page and clicking on “Interests”. Here you can name them and set them to private. When you want to engage with a certain group or person, going to that list gives you access to JUST their posts, saving you the time of scrolling through your busy newsfeed to find them. HERE are some ways we use them on Twitter.

2.   Use groups

Join groups of like-minded people to get involved and have meaningful discussions that interest you. Groups are a great way to show your expertise and add value but also find people like you.Search for groups by subject in the top search bar and then, to narrow down your search, click the “Group” tab across the top.If you have a group that you don’t like, sucks your energy or nothing happens in, delete it and replace with a new one. 

3.   Unfollow, Unfriend, Categorise

Unfollow people to NOT see their posts in your feed. Why unfollow and not unfriend you ask? Some of these may be your family or close friends. People who would notice if you unfriended them, but whose posts…..well…..let’s just say we all have relatives.

Unfriend people you don’t like or don’t interact with. Every now and then you need a good clear out.

Categorise friends into close friends or acquaintances for neat and tidy lists

 You can do all of the above by visiting the person’s profile and clicking the drop down arrow next to the “Friends” button OR click on the drop-down arrow in the top right corner of someone’s post and click “Unfollow”.

4.   Prioritise news feed preferences

Yes, it’s an actual thing!

Click the teeny tiny arrow in the top-right corner of your Facebook.

Click “News Feed Preferences”

Here you can “Prioritise who to see first” and “Unfollow people to hide their posts” and more.

5.   Don’t let Facebook decide for you

Facebook uses an algorithm to learn your likes, dislikes and behaviours. They then use this to tailor the content they show you and present it to you in the format of “Top Stories”. To change this newsfeed default setting, find the “News Feed” drop down arrow in the top left corner of your home page and click “Most Recent”.

6.   See your favourite people first

As well as weeding out the bad you can also fill your newsfeed with all of your favourite positive peeps. To do this go to their profile and click the “Follow” button. Then click “Show in newsfeed first”. This person’s posts will now be at the top of your feed when you log in.

7.   Tell Facebook when something annoys you. Grrrrr.

Facebook are always tailoring your experience for you. Don’t resist it, give them a helping hand. When you see a post you don’t like simply click the drop down arrow in the top right and click “Hide post”. Facebook will now show you fewer posts like this. Be careful not to click “Report” though. Unless it is offensive or against Facebook terms you may just start upsetting people unnecessarily.

8.   Annoying requests? Block them!

Hate the super annoying game and event requests? Have a friend that constantly adds you to groups or group messages?  Simply go to your settings, click “Blocking” and you can block pretty much anything you want from whomever you want.

9.   Don’t interact with them

See point 5. Use the power of the Facebook algorithm to fill your feed with people you like and not the rest.Do not interact with the annoying people, only click Like, Share and Comment on the uplifting and interesting posts.

10.   Get told about your faves

If after all this you find newsfeeds are just too annoying in general, and you have a very select few you follow, then simply ask for a notification from Facebook when that person posts. To do this go the person’s profile and from the drop-down arrow next to “Friends” click “Get Notifications”. Facebook will now tell you when your favourite people post. 

So, there you have it. Ten different ways to get that newsfeed cleaned up and tailored to your taste.       Go ahead and have a good spring clean, I’m off to do mine.