TenUp

You may have heard of Fiverr, the site where you can buy or sell a service for five American dollars. Services range from graphics & design to advertising and business. For five American dollars, you can buy the gig that a service provider offers, such as drawing your ideas in a cartoon style or optimising your website. Fiverr is what is known as a quick task site, where services providers do small jobs for a fixed sum, and Fiverr is one of the biggest quick task sites in the world. I have bought a gig there myself at one point, and I know a contact who has bought several there too.

Fiverr is so big, in fact, that it has now spawned a New Zealand equivalent, TenUp:
 
"TenUp works by people offering their services for a fixed price of $10. These services could be as simple as proofreading an essay for someone or as crazy as shaving your head for a fundraising".

So if you want a task done quick and if you don't have much money, or if you want a new avenue to expand your services in, TenUp could be one place for you. And it is home grown, so you are supporting New Zealand economy.

September Showdown: A political junkie's guide to the upcoming election

September Showdown: A political junkie's guide to the upcoming election by John Terris is the latest publication where I have been part of the proofreading and editing team. September Showdown will be launched on 17 July at Naenae Boxing Academy, cnr Treadwell and Sladden Streets, Naenae at 6pm.

Told in the form of letters to John's nephew Basil, it provides insights, tricks of the trade, experiences and advice on the road to Parliament and how to sit your best in a Parliamentary seat while navigating the tricky river of politics. This book is intended to be useful for election hopefuls, particularly as this is election year,  be a very fun tongue-in-cheek read, even for people who are not into politics, and give all readers insights into the operation of NZ politics.

September Showdown retails at $24.95 from bookshops.

Coverblurb: A new writing website

I received an email from The Writers' Cooperative, a writing group I subscribe to. There is going to be a whole new site for freelance writers! The message reads as follows:

"Our Writers’ Co-operative, Writer’s Choice, is putting together – actually our brilliant Sharon Robards is doing it – a rather special website. We’d like to invite writers’ groups like RWNZ or freelance writers to consider using it.

"CoverBlurb is a multi-media social site for readers, authors, and anyone interested in entertainment related to books. We’re interested in anything to do with books and writing presented via various media.

"Our aim is to extend beyond the book and the blurb and to include all media related to any individual title and provide a more personal experience for readers in regards to how books are created, their inspiration, settings and more.

Authors can feature new book trailers, covers, interviews, audio only interviews, and even hold a live video conference with their readers, and if you’re a reader or blogger you can upload video book reviews - or perhaps even your own book trailer for a book you have read if that book is in the public domain and no longer under copyright. You might have a picture with your favourite author or a signed copy of their book. Share the images with others on CoverBlurb.

"Everyone can watch book trailers, reviews, interviews and much more on CoverBlurb. People can see first-hand newly released book trailers, find videos about their favourite books, find books they have never heard of, and gain a more personal insight into each title by authors and their readers interacting with photos and video. The use of CoverBlurb is only limited by your imagination.

Register at the site first, then Sharon will manually approve the registration. In the next few days they will be able to link up their blogs, like happens on Goodreads, and the groups will have more functions added and the galleries etc… promotions and PR will be pushed to coverblurbs Googleplus, Facebook, and twitters pages, and of course on our special Writers’ Choice website."

The Hutt Valley Hub

Today I went to check out The Hutt Valley Hub. The Hub is a shared premises in Lower Hutt where you can find a professional environment for co-working and collaboration. If you have a business but can't afford an office, you can run your business at The Hub. Or, if you are not a business person, The Hub is also a place where you can work with other people who can support and encourage you. The Hub provides you with Wifi, tea/coffee, meeting rooms, hot desks, training room areas and a shared reception. During March it will be free for you to use, but afterwards there will be charges. Well, that's what the brochure says.


I myself went down to the Hub to see what it was like and what contacts I could find. It was pretty quiet, and the atmosphere reflected how new and clean it was, but it was pretty nice. The contacts I did find were Citizens Advice Bureau, and I had a jolly good natter with them. I think CAB is taking advantage of the Hub facilitities after being forced to leave the Community Centre and shunted into Apex House. I think I will go to the Hub again and see what else it can offer. It is still pretty new, and open for more discussion on how it can benefit the people and businesses of the Hutt Valley. In the meantime, it looks like one place where you can find a meeting room or place to work and you're pressed for time.

The Hub can be found at
8 Margaret Street
Lower Hutt
Phone: 586 3255
10-2pm Monday to Friday. Other times by arrangement.
Email hub@huttvalleyhub.org.nz
Website www.huttvalleyhub.org.nz

Hutt Valley Business Expo 2013

The Hutt Valley Business Expo is something I look forward to each year. Every year the business expo is held at the horticultural hall. Businesses, charities, community organisations, medical organisations, even local councils and government organisations can run a stall where they promote their goods and services, make new networks, and inform people what is going or what is new in the business world and community. And there are plenty of business seminars. 

 For everyone who comes, there are opportunities to enter draws for prizes, make new contacts, networks, find the service they need, whether it’s for business, the home, travel or personal health, or get extra business training. Stallholders can range from accountants and legal experts to gyms and survival kits. This year I found Les Mills, Totally Pink (where you can stop for an espresso break from all the stalls), the Hutt City Council, and a new, upcoming outfit called the Hutt Valley Hub. It is going to be a hub for work-at-homers, sole traders, community workers, or anyone who wants to join.

This year had a new twist – you are given a passport for collecting stamps from each stall. At the end you put your passport into a draw for prizes. What sort of prizes? It depends on whether you collected under fifty stamps or over. Now, that is a great incentive to go around as many stalls as you can, and pause at some that you might otherwise pass over. And a few stalls had spin the wheel, throw the dart, or have a lucky dip for prizes – which means everyone who goes is guaranteed a prize of some sort. Which makes it all the more fun to go! But still take a big stack of your business cards because you will still need them for draws at every stall – and maybe make some new contacts.

Low-cost Advertising: The Compelling Elevator Pitch

The topic for the June meeting of the Microfocus group was ‘Advertising on a Shoestring’. But instead of the usual round table of brainstorming, suggestions and personal experiences, Rob McTague treated us to a powerpoint presentation on the Compelling Elevator Pitch – a 10-30 second mini commercial that sells you and your business. I’ve googled and links, advice and suggestions on the compelling elevator pitch are everywhere.

Rob gave us three strategies for applying your compelling elevator pitch:

1.    Networking.

You’re at, say, a business function and someone asks what you do. You might say “I sell real estate.”

Yawn. 

How about you do it like this: “I work for XXX real estate company. And if I don’t sell your home in 29 days, I do it for free!”

And what do they say now? “Wow! How do you do that?”

And you might say, “That’s the guarantee of our company because we take such pride in selling homes fast!" 

That’s the guarantee of your company, and you’ve turned it into a compelling elevator pitch. But it doesn’t have to be the guarantee. It could be simply what you do that you take to a compelling elevation:

“I’m a masseur and people say my fingers have a magic touch.”

“I’m an accountant and I’m very popular with business people who hate doing their tax returns.”

“I’m a beautician and people say I make them look ten years younger!”

That’s the 10-second pitch and the person is interested. So what’s the next step? They might ask for more details, in which case you have another compelling elevator pitch. All down pat of course, so you have it at the ready whenever anyone asks. Or they ask for your business card. But what happens to most business cards? They end up in the rubbish bin. And that brings us to:

2.    Business Cards

Most business cards just give your name, your occupation and your contact details, and have nice little graphics to make them eye-catching. They don’t sell you, so they end up in the rubbish bin. So what do you do? You rework your business card so it has a compelling elevator pitch. But it has to be a very short one as business cards are very small, and it could be something like ‘No results – No fee’, ‘Want to Know How to Make $10,000 in 7 days?’ or ‘Feel Chicken about the Dentist?’

Your business card can also have links to where you promote your other compelling elevator pitches. It could be the link to your web page. Your blog. YouTube, where you have posted a video of your compelling elevator pitch.

3.    Landing Page

This is, of course, the first point of call where you promote your business. And the first thing people must see on your landing page is what is most relevant. So it is here that you have your compelling elevator pitch. The compelling elevator pitch must start with the heading, and then the sub heading. Then you might have special offers, guarantees, anything that elevates the pitch. Then finally, the Call to Action, such as filling in the Offer Box on the right hand side of the page or the Query Box where you fill in your query and post it off.

Right, so how do you get started with your compelling elevator pitch? Rob was telling us about one outfit called Leader Publishing Worldwide at www.marketingforsuccess.co.nz. From as little as $97.00 a month you have access to all their e-learning business courses and resources, including writing compelling elevator pitches, headline banks, elevator pitch templates and libraries, and quick start programs. There are even membership grants, of which Rob had two. 

Whether or not we sign up, we certainly came away with elevated ideas for our own compelling elevator pitches.