small business advice

You are exactly where you need to be!

You are exactly where you need to be!

Happy New Year! At the beginning of this New Year, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit this video I made from last year.

I wanted to think about how we can manage the pressure that we need to be further along in our business, that we’re not far enough ahead, that we should be doing more things - just because we’ve had a bit of a break over the festive season. (And I hope you did have a bit of break too?)

Let's talk about fear

Let's talk about fear

Let’s talk about fear..

I wanted to say thank you. I had so many responses to my post about my experience with cancer and I had so many private messages, so many emails.Now, one in two of us is going to have cancer, which means it's either you or somebody that you love, and I'm acutely aware of how beautiful and short life could be, and how we really need to grab it with both hands. 

Grab the bull by the horns. Life is short. All those kinds of cliches. They're actually real. 

If you’re under 40, run your own business and don’t have a pension – you may be interested in this.

If you’re under 40, run your own business and don’t have a pension – you may be interested in this.

If you run your own business, one of the top things that we can do is learn to love money, get in contact with the money we've got, know what's coming in and out of our bank and get on top of those debts. It's really difficult to bring more money in if we're ignoring parts of our money story.

Are you stuck and unable to move forward?

Are you stuck and unable to move forward?

I'm talking to you about feeling stuck - in your business mostly - and the feeling that you're not able to take any action. I've been talking about this with a number of clients that I've been working with and there's a common thread, a common mistake that many of us entrepreneurs are making; I have made it and I'm sure that you will have as well. 

Stop! You might be the one thing getting in the way!

Stop! You might be the one thing getting in the way!

Does it sometimes feel that you’re not getting anywhere? That you can take 2 steps forward and 3 back? That when you check out your bank balance it’s not really where you want it to be?

Could it be that no matter how hard you try, how many experts you listen to, how many webinars you sign up to, you’re still left in the same place?

20 ways to get more clients

20 ways to get more clients

If you provide a service to people, one of the things you’ll be spending most of your time focusing on is how to get more clients. Especially when you’re at the start of your journey and haven’t yet built up your reputation.

Not having enough clients and feeling like you’re constantly hustling to get them is the main thing that gives my clients anxiety. After all if you’re not bringing in money, your business isn’t really working and anxiety about where next months money is coming in breaks even the best of us.

I've just entered my 7th year in business - this is what I've learned!

I've just entered my 7th year in business - this is what I've learned!

This month my business journey tips into it’s 7th year – which I’m pretty excited about because it’s my favourite number. And given that word on the street (the internet) says that 30% of businesses fail in the first 2 years and 55% during the first 5 years, I reckon it’s a good reason to celebrate.

However, it has not all been flowers and sunshine along that way, so I wanted to share with you my learning. So that if you’re somewhere along the way and wondering if you’re going to make it, I can give you hope. Because if I can do it, you can do it.

6 ways to make the most of your best reviews

6 ways to make the most of your best reviews

I had a fabulous Facebook review pop-up today that made me think how can you make the most of your customers testimonials?

This is what Rob Moore said:

Debbie has been my mentor for the past 7 months while I've been growing my business Cookie - I can't recommend her enough! She has given me so many useful tips and tricks to grow my business on social media as well as being completely honest with me if I'm just doing something wrong. One of the points being that it's fine to stop working sometimes! Her advice and support has not only made me a happier person in myself but has resulted in a quadruple in turnover since we first started working together. What more could you ask for! An absolute pleasure working with her!

The real basics of a good social media strategy

The real basics of a good social media strategy

I’m off to Edinburgh this weekend to run a workshop on Facebook and how best to use it, and while I was writing this new workshop specific to the client it occurred to me I could do this stuff in my sleep, so why don’t I share it with you.

Here are the basics you need to create your own social media strategy!

8 things I learnt from MarketEdLive

8 things I learnt from MarketEdLive

This week I had the pleasure to attend MarketEdLive, a fab one day conference held in my home town of Nottingham – always nice not to have to go far, and even more amazed at the variety of people who made it all the way to the Midlands!

But alongside the meeting of new and old friends I got to hear from some amazing speakers and they got me thinking about how I do things and ultimately how I could do things better, so I wanted to share them with you.