Author: Paul Fogg

Networking is the key to business

Posted on by Paul Fogg

It may or not be for your business but as a way of progressing your business in sales as well as knowledge its a powerful method worth considering.

In my opinion I have gained so much by networking – I have learnt a lot about aspects of business from other professionals in the group to gaining new business and using the services of others around me.

I have introduced and used solicitors, promotional suppliers, legal experts, IT experts, HR experts, video experts, business coaches, photographers, office suppliers … the list goes on.

At Kehorne we have changed a lot of the processes in the business as we have learnt and taken on advice from the experts around us.

So why network? Maybe its just to get out the house as you work along! But the long term benefits are all there for the taking.

Need networking advice? Why not get in touch or come along to Cross Reference.

Last meeting with added guests

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Its been a busy time and even in the holiday season we have had a productive meeting.

Good to see our two guests, I always find it really interested to hear what other people are up to in their business lives.

I’ve also been busy getting our LinkedIn page back live – it had been looked after by someone who had left and no one who who had the access to it. I have to say LinkedIn were very helpful and we got it sorted without going through too many hoops.

I also realised we had not posted anything on the website Blog for a while, so here it is!

The next meetings are August 16, Sept 6 and 20. If anyone would like to come along just get in touch.

Christmas at Cross Reference

Posted on by Paul Fogg

With the last meeting of 2023 we had a joint meeting with the Chilterns Chamber of Commerce who we have a regular slot with every few months.

This gives both groups a chance to gain from talking to other experts and discuss other opportunities.

Our Christmas flavoured talk was from Charles Fraser who gave us an interesting take on Bingo talking about his specialist knowledge with prizes for the winner! As ever there are always some take away points that are of interest.

We look forward to our next meeting on January 5th 2024

New Member – Peter Baldacchino

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Mortgage Adviser, Director at High Street Mortgages Ltd – Peter has joined the group and is already giving us a great insight into the mortgage market – as more and more people come to the end of their fixed rates it is very important to get the advice of a professional and with Peter he really knows his area of expertise and his advice is faultless.

What is even more important in the current market is the way the financial situation is changing so quickly. It can be the difference in making a decision now or leaving it as long as possible to where the market is looking at going.

Always get proper financial advice before making any decision.

First talk by new member Sharon Mitchell

Posted on by Paul Fogg

We welcomed our newest member to the Cross Reference “Family” Sharon Mitchell from A-Plan Insurance at the meeting on Friday 6th January.

A-Plan are one of the rare companies that still has a physical presence – so its easy to actually go there and talk to a human face to face!

Whilst they cover almost every type of insurance, from personal car, motorbike or van, to home, pet, travel and pretty much every type of home and commercial insurance.

They have over 30,000 Trustpilot reviews so you know they are reliable and will work hard to find the insurance that suits you and your budget.

Sharon gave us a short insight into the company but also a very intriguing insight into her own background – I shall say no more, you will have to ask her yourself for details! But it’s pretty obvious she loves being adventurous.

Succession Planning and its importance

Posted on by Paul Fogg

At the meeting on Friday 15th July we had a very informative talk from the knowledgeable Charles Fraser on this topic. It is relevant to businesses and perhaps more than people think – why not get thinking about this before it becomes an issue!

Please note that this article is written on the very briefest of information from Charles – if you would like informed details please contact him directly.

So what’s it about?

Well if something happens to the owners of a business – it may be just an injury that takes them out the business for a while, long term issues or even an unforeseen death. There are three main people groups that have issues with succession planning:-

  1. The Sole Trader
  2. A Partnership
  3. A Limited company
  1. Sole traders – often an executive can access the account but this may not be the case. From the moment something happens to the sole trader there are issues to be dealt with from the simple paying of bills to sorting out longer term issues.
  2. Partnerships – should have a written agreement as an informal one does not help in the event of one partner wanting to walk away – it may mean the business has to be liquidated!
  3. Limited companies – these can easily carry on after an issue because there may be shareholders but key contacts need to be in a file and not in just one persons head because oftern the really important information is just held by one main person.

So plan ahead and feel free to contact Charles for detailed information .

Meeting 17th June 2022

Posted on by Paul Fogg

We had a really great meeting with a good catchup from the members and visitors today.

Steve gave us a short presentation on video with his Four “F”s – Form, Function, Finesse, Finance.

Form – make sure the video fits your brand and the message is aimed at the right audience.

Function – Ensure you plan and script out what you are trying to say so your message is clear and aimed at the correct people. Where will you be putting the video, on a website of YouTube for instance.

Finesse – make sure your video has a hook or a story. Perhaps think about live action or animation.

Finance – A better question idHow much do you want to invest in your brand?

All these 4 are interrelated as they impact on each other.

Sally gave us an exercise in vocal clarity and dicton – getting ready for that first conversation or presentation of the day. Think about being clear and undestood – do not mumble! Use tongue twisters in the car on the way so you hit the ground running! Another great example of simple ways to improve your delivery.

Case Study Videos: One theme, Two examples, Three uses

Posted on by Paul Fogg

“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”

Sherlock Holmes

One theme

An image can be evocative and eye-catching, but does it convey the necessary detail? A document can be well-written and detailed, but will it capture the imagination? A video combines the two, being visual, memorable and rich in information.

Two examples

Chesham Town Planning HouseSitMarket
ISSUE: How to encourage people to engage with a dry, technical subject?ISSUE: How to convey a unique new offering to potential customers?
Traditional video: talking heads interspersed with background shotsCoordination: one-to-one interviews can be conducted in different locations and at different timesStorytelling video: tells the story of the offering through using real customersCaptions: highlights key points and can be dubbed into different languages at a later stage
RESULT: there was a huge pick-up in engagement with local people who were previously ignorant about the Council’s development plans.RESULT: this was the most successful video the company had ever made, and subsequently can be dubbed into different languages.

Three uses: website, social media, hard copy

A video is a great source of marketing material, which can be reused and recycled:

1. Website: this is the most obvious place to put a video, enhancing the ‘stickiness’ of your Home page.

TIP: Take One load videos onto YouTube which, as well as providing an easy-to-use link, opens up another marketing avenue and helps with SEO – remember that YouTube is owned by Google!

2. Social media: snippets from the video make great teaser material on social media platforms (e.g. Facebook) and networking platforms (e.g. LinkedIn), linking back to the source video on the website

3. Hard copy: OK, the hard copy (such as a brochure or flyer) doesn’t write itself, but you can reuse stills from the video and the hard work of ‘writing’ the story has already been done for you.

Conclusion

Take One have prepared countless video Case Studies, so we know what format would work best for you and we know how to shoot your video to give you the widest usage down the line.

Ian Thomas on Phobias

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Phobia: The form -phobia comes from Greek phóbos, meaning “fear” or “panic.”, although phobias are more acute than fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated or unrealistic sense of danger about a situation or object.

Simple phobias usually stem from a stressful event in childhood (e.g. claustrophobia), whereas complex phobias (e.g. agoraphobia) are more difficult to pin down. However, no matter what the phobia, the body perceives the ‘threat’ as real, causing the release of adrenalin and the attendant symptoms of sweating, trembling and shortness of breath.

Here are three examples of common phobias which Ian has treated, usually in just one session:

Flying (Aerophobia)

Ian’s client was a gentleman who was so fearful of flying that he used to have to medicate and drink before he could even set foot on a plane. It transpired that his fear of flying actually stemmed from being restrained with a belt when having his hair cut as a child. Years later, the mere act of putting on a similar type of lap belt became the trigger for his phobia. Ironically, he was completely bald when he came to see Ian, so it wasn’t anything to do with aichmophobia (a fear of sharp, pointed objects)!

Needles (Trypanophobia)

The client here was a medical student in the first year of her course – she quickly realised that this was not a helpful phobia to have for this profession and was thinking of quitting the course, but after just one session she was cured.

Heights (Acrophobia)

Ironically, the client here was Ian himself when he took the cable car up Table Mountain in South Africa together with his wife. On the way up, Ian suddenly experienced an overwhelming fear as the well packed cable car revolved around with nowhere to hold onto. This abrupt onset of a phobia resulted a 3-hour walk back down the mountain!  

Note that acrophobia is different from vertigo which some people use when describing their fear of heights. However, vertigo, or the unpleasant sensation of spinning, is just one symptom of acrophobia. Interestingly, the word acrophobia derives from the Greek word acropolis [spoiler alert: almost all phobias are derived from Greek words!], which was traditionally the highest point in a Greek city.

Ian Marsh: Protection in a Pandemic

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Date: Friday 17th September 2021

Speaker: Ian Marsh, Partner

Business: St James’s Place Wealth Management

Topic: Personal & Family Protection

1. Think about yourself as an asset

A 30-year-old earning £30,000 pa will earn £1.125m over a lifetime.

Increasingly, there is very little by the way of a state safety net underpinning these earnings, and post-pandemic, companies have been scaling back benefits to the legal minimum.

For example, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) offers:

  • £96 per week for 28 weeks
  • Is not available to the self-employed

2. What are your chances of needing protection

Risk Reality Calculator: www.riskreality.co.uk/gen

For example, a couple who are both non-smokers aged 30-years’-old and looking to retire at 67, would have a 2-in-3 chance of requiring some form of protection before retirement:

If you change both of these individuals to smokers, the risks of requiring some form of protection jumps from from 67% to 80%, with the individual risks worsening as follows:

  • Risk of being unable to work >2m (Income protection cover): 70%
  • Serious illness (Critical illness cover): 37%
  • Risk of death (Life cover): 21%
  • Any of the above: 80%

3. The Pandemic has focused minds

Many of us consider ourselves to be immortal…that is, until something ‘bad’ happens to a relative, somebody we know, or (in the case of COVID) becomes a real and present danger.

Hence, whilst life cover (relatively cheap) is the most common form of protection undertaken (being a mortgage requirement), critical illness or income protection cover are far less commonly held (being more likely to happen and therefore more expensive).

Contact

[email protected]