Category: Blog

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 Matt

“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 Matt

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 Matt

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]

This mornings presentations

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Todays meeting had three guests attending – Marie Massaquoi, Damaris Sende and Justin Megawarne – so good to hear what you are all up to .

We had Steve Groves from Take One Business Communications going a little off his usual topic but giving us hints and tips on how to put a presentation together. Some great tips that translate well to use on websites as well, from keeping things simple in text size, font and colours and of course remembering what your key takeaway point of the presentation is!

Tim Brooker at Beyond Numbers was talking about using your company values to get involved in adding value and impact to the outside world. Signing up to b1g1.com for instant to use the values you hold to help others and promote this to potential clients and the benefits of doing that.

Really good fun meeting as usual – what a great group of people who genuinely make me laugh, add value to my work and the business.

Next meeting is July 2nd so why not come along!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/morning-zoom-networking-for-local-businesses-gerrards-cross-tickets-160178824175

Next meeting and who is talking

Posted on by Paul Fogg

On April 16th we have our next Zoom meeting with the usual format giving everyone the opportunity of having a 1 minute pitch to tell us what they do, what they are up to and maybe who they are looking to do business with.

Then we have our short presentations from Olly and Matt – always useful and informative. I’m looking forward to finding out and reporting back later on what is being discussed.

Networking locally – probably better than you think!

Posted on by Paul Fogg

Cross Reference is a group meeting in Gerrards Cross but currently online with Zoom.

We have a laugh, chew the fat and discuss issues as well as pass business and experiences around the group.

Today we had a short talks from Emma and Matt.

Matt is into writing…. copyrighting amongst his many talents – “less is more” should be his tagline.

He gave us an insight into Creative Writing today:-

  1. Start somewhere – don’t over think it
  2. You never have to start from scratch – use a “swipe file” and store away bits you find to use later
  3. Keep to the “why” and not the “what” in your writing
  4. Think laterally – think around the problems/topics rather than through them
  5. solve it when you walk, easier than watching a blank screen.

Emma is an award winning local photographer who has International clients as well as local ones.

She gave us yet another inspirational chat on what she has been up to in these difficult days… Does she ever sit still!

One thing she has done is diversify her business and take it online with these strategies:-

  1. Pre book online
  2. Sell vouchers
  3. Webinars
  4. Online courses

Through her online marketing of her Personal Brand and her Business Brand she takes these messages out there.

Her final thought was “Start NOW – feel the fear but move beyond it”

Excellent meeting and I personally learnt something, passed on a lead to another member and had a laugh!

Do you want to come along to find out how we can help you and your business? Drop me a message or email [email protected]

Isobel Dwyer on charities during COVID

Posted on by Matt

Date: Friday 2nd October 2020

Speaker: Isobel Dwyer, Appeal Coordinator

Business: Rennie Grove Hospice Care (RGHC)

Topic: 2020 update & overview

1. COVID IMPACT – £1.5m and rising…

  • RGHC has projected operating costs of £9m (£25,000 per day) which it needs to raise during 2020.
  • Of this, roughly 40% (£3.8m) was budgeted revenue from its charity shops.
  • However, with all shops closing during lockdown, as at Sep-20 RGHC had a £1.5m shortfall to make up.

2. WHY do RGCH need £9m per annum?

Rennie Grove Hospice Care (RGHC) is a charity providing specialist care and support for adults and children with life-limiting illnesses in Bucks and west Herts.

It relies on public support for 89% of its £9m per annum running costs.

Isobel’s presentation [see below] details all the work that RGCH does, but to summarise:

Cross-Reference-Rennie-Grove-Hospice-CareDownload
  • Grove House – Living well services
  • 24/7 Hospice & Home care
  • Family support – bereavements
  • Supporting the NHS

3. HOW to make up this shortfall?

SHOPS

  • 25 of the 28 shops have now reopened, but with quarantine restrictions on donations (72 hours) and limited space + public generosity post-lockdown, it is proving to be a challenge.
  • Ebay – RGHC has a site on Ebay now, to help move the mountain of donations
  • DEPOP – an Instagram-style app for the best designer clothing we receive in donations, for people to but online.

EVENTS