I s s ue11•J ul y / Augus t2015
bus i ne s spa r t ne r t hema ga z i nef ors ma l l bus i ne s sowne r s
www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
Cont e nt s 0 2 MessagefromtheEditor 0 3 BookReview:YourBookistheHook 0 5 TheArtandScienceofBusinessSuccess 0 7 HowtoImplementaNewRetailManagementSystem:Part2 1 1 DefendYourBusinessfromHackers 1 5 TheImportanceofProperMarkengCampaigns 1 7 8WaystoOp mizeYourVideos&GetThemShared 2 1 BusinessGuidetoConsumerRightsAct2015
www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
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www. bus i ne s s pa r t ne r ma ga z i ne . c om
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Book Review: “Your Book Is the Hook” How to Write, Publish and Promote the Book that will Build Your Business
Author: Karen Williams
In “Your Book is the Hook” Karen Williams gives you step by step guidance on writing your book and also demonstrates how you can use your book to build credibility, stand out in a crowd and grow your business. There are many things that I like about the book. I love the structure of the book - It is clear and easy to navigate, with many tips highlighted throughout, interspersed with case studies and real life examples. As a small business owner you face many challenges. One of the biggest challenges is having market visibility. “How do you stand out in a crowded market place?”
You will also find “things to think about” and “action points” to keep you on track and thinking ahead. Throughout the book Karen allows time for self -reflection and to get clear on your objectives and
03
motivations for writing the book, and
You also have a number of useful links
knowing and understanding your
and checklists to support you and
audience.
instant access to new material as it
Along with the great structure of the book
becomes available.
is the simplicity of the language used.
I have known Karen since 2006 and it
There is no technical jargon and the tone
has been great watching both Karen and
and voice of the book allows you to
her business grow and thrive over the
instantly relate to Karen. With four books
years.
under her belt, Karen is expertly placed to
A book is a powerful way to both
share her knowledge and experience of
connect and communicate with your
writing a successful book. As well as
ideal audience and if you have a book
sharing the examples of the paths that
inside of you that is waiting to get out, I
she has taken to write and publish her
whole heartedly recommend you read
books, she offers a number of alternative
“Your Book Is Your Hook�. If you need a
options available too that may be better
little more accountability and support to
suited to you.
get the job done, you can find out more
The book also comes with access to an
about working with Karen, and her book
online resource where you can download
writing retreats here:
some beautifully illustrated mind maps.
www.selfdiscoverycoaching.com
About the Author Sandra Hinshelwood is a business coach and mentor. Drawing upon her experience as a virtual assistant and team leader in the corporate world, she works with small business owners and solopreneurs to eliminate feelings of overwhelm and empowering them to focus on their goals and visions with greater clarity. www.sandrahinshelwood.com
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The Art and Science of Business Success By Malik Muhammad
Oprah Winfrey, Lakshmi Mittal, Phillip Green,
the motion of physical objects changes.
Zhou Qunfei , Folorunsho Alakija, Liliane
Newton was able to define the integral
Bettencourt and Bill Gates are some of the
relationship between the acceleration of an
names globally associated with financial
object and the total forces acting upon it. It
wealth, great philanthropy and global
also took years of thinking, experimenting
influence. For all intents and purposes they
and analysing to produce said laws.
and others of their ilk are successful. These are people who have made ideas a reality or facilitated exponential growth on foundations already laid for them.
Approximately 7,323,177,900 people occupy this planet (source: worldometers.info) and the figure rises daily. In order to achieve something, obtain anything, create a legacy
Based on interviews, published articles and
or fulfil your ambition you must compete
their own gems of wisdom it's fair to
against many known and unknown forces
conclude that they are all acquainted with
simply to survive. Building a business is more
sacrifice - great sacrifice.
than a hobby and it will take at least everything you've got.
Being successful in business is as much an art as it is a science in that you need to be
Malcom Gladwell speaks of the 10,000hrs of
creative and trust your gut instinct yet
practice it takes to achieve mastery in your
strategic and exact in how you function. Sir
field. It will take you giving up something of
Isaac Newton developed the Three Laws of
value to get the tangible results you want for
Motion which describe basic rules about how
your life, business or project. Yes businesses
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fail within the first 3 years and yes;
it - the extent to which you strategically
globalisation takes its toll and yes; cash flow
sacrifice for it.
is challenging and yes; you desire more market share and yes; and yes; and yes. The
You'll miss a few social gatherings, special
bottom line is how much you really want to
occasions and family events. Looking after
succeed in your field. Having a plan B may
your mind, body and soul may mean diet,
subliminally set you up to fail because you
lifestyle and thought process changes in
already have doubt in your mind and doubt
pursuit of your plan. All great things in our
manifests uncertainty which lowers self-
lives require us giving up something of value
esteem and creates negativity. I'm not
in return. You have to pay the cost to be the
suggesting you should be reckless or naive as
boss of your world.
to the potential pitfalls in any course of action. I'm not saying you should allow false pride to propel when there it is clear you are non-productive. I am suggesting that one must be aware of alternatives yet focus on
You have a passion for and the potential to excel in what you do. Sacrifice is an integral part of your success. Enjoy the process.
About the Author
the matter at hand. Fully focus. Engage in total immersion and be consumed with all it takes to birth and maintain your idea. There's no need for a plan B because it takes away from the energy needed to totally commit to executing the plan/vision/project at hand. There are no conflicts of interest when one's priorities are clear. To pass an exam - one must study effectively. To build a business one must develop and respect mutually beneficial relationships. To succeed - one must sacrifice. One 'must' because establishing a successful business or
Malik Muhammad is a Self-Empowerment Specialist, radio presenter and author of 'Empower yourself to succeed'. He was raised and educated in Jamaica, read law in
becoming a master in your field is a science.
London and enjoys quad biking, vegan
A science in that there are laws/rules/codes
cooking and jazz.
to apply in order to get certain results. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity so
www.be-motiv8d.com
'luck' only exists to the extent that you create
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How To Implement a New Retail Management System: Part 2 of 2 By Andrew Gorecki of Retail Directions If you run a successful retail business, you have a good reason to feel proud. Retail is a notoriously challenging industry to work in, and only the most capable business people have succeeded. In part 2 of this report we will look at: Adapting your business processes; Managing change at your organization; Data cleansing; After implementation; Closing In part 1 we looked at: What is a retail management system and why do you need one?; Choosing the right retail system vendor; Keeping an eye on your purse If you missed it you can see it here: How to Implement a Retail Management System—Part 1
Managing change at your organisation As we have mentioned in the previous section, it is important to communicate effectively at every rung of your organisation in order to help the transition along. While the technical aspects of the new system will be handled by competent vendors, the onus of facilitating a smooth internal change falls on you. Evaluating readiness for change within a team can be notoriously difficult, but once you have made the commitment to push through with the necessary changes, don’t be afraid to engage the team with a clear end goal in mind. Waiting until you receive unanimous support from your team or hesitantly feeling out their sentiments are not the right steps to take. Instead, aim to introduce the new system to the team and implement changes smartly. Here are some ways to do so:
Have change managed by professionals – Never underestimate how well a change can be managed. Poor change management can thwart your efforts to migrate to the new system and escalate costs. As such, it is advisable to assemble a competent change management team which includes a project management professional. Define key steps in your change management plan – Change management should be conducted in an orderly fashion in accordance with a sound plan. In addition, all team
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members should be kept apprised of the timelines for each step in the change management plan. Engage senior executives to oversee change management implementation – Even if your change management team is handling most of the key areas in the plan, it is important that the entire process be overseen by key persons in the organisation who can ensure that their team members are cooperating well internally and with the vendor. Use the system to drive business change – If you’ve picked a great new system and a vendor who are right for your business, then you have created a solid base to enhance not only your systems but the business as a whole. Your task is to effectively communicate this to your team and help them to understand how they will benefit from the move and the impending changes. Remember that integrated retail platforms work best when deployed across the entire business – The more facets of the business over which you deploy the new system, the greater the benefits and the more smoothly your business processes and departments can be connected and synchronised. Bear this in mind if you encounter resistance from certain departments in your organisation. It is not uncommon for the departments to try to hold on to their old departmental tools and demand that they be integrated with the new system instead of being replaced by it.
Data Cleansing Cleansing of the existing data is one of the first challenges you’ll encounter on the road to successful implementation. As a functioning business, you are likely to have an extensive collection of records which constitute an asset and need to be retained within the new system. But, not all of the old data is valuable. Data cleansing covers the process of identifying obsolete records and correcting discrepancies, inaccuracies or corrupt information in your existing records. The importance of conducting a thorough data cleansing exercise prior to, or as part of migration to a new system cannot be overstressed. Usually it is very difficult to estimate the amount of time and resources needed for data cleansing, as unexpected issues have a habit of cropping up during the process of progressive discovery. A shoddily-completed data cleansing exercise can hamper the effectiveness of the implementation and staff training. It can also negatively impact system operations after it goes live. As such, it is crucial that data cleansing be taken seriously and solid plans put in place before it begins.
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Here are the data cleansing activities you’ll typically be required to engage in:
Discovery to identify all the existing data types, their formats and the level of consistency Data interpretation and mapping between the old and new system Selection and development of conversion tools Trial runs, data and process refinements Live conversion.
Note that you should expect the new system to be equipped with a range of tools to allow for easy import, validation and upload of the data from your legacy systems. In particular, you’ll need to take note of the following points: Never skip on planning and defining the data uptake, as hours saved at the start can result in days lost later on. Retail businesses typically deal with considerable volumes of legacy data, and this has to be worked through systematically. Some of the biggest challenges you’ll have is the need to deal with dispersed legacy systems and data and creating the requirements for an iterative data migration. Some of the data in the existing systems will be repeated and it will be inconsistent. All such inconsistencies will have to be investigated and rectified. It is possible to begin data cleansing anytime. For instance, any inconsistencies such as the absence of standard addresses can be corrected starting from today, well before the implementation of the new system starts.
After Implementation When your new system provider has given the green light that the system has been implemented, there are still a few things that must be done to ensure that the system runs as smoothly as possible. A good system should have come complete with built-in tools for auditing and consistency proofing, meaning you should not have to conduct your own general system tests after implementation. You should be able to just conduct User Acceptance Tests to satisfy yourself that the parts of the system you will use behave the way you expected. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) process requires your super users to verify their parts of the new system. Following the UAT, volume testing needs to take place as well. Once all the necessary verification has been carried out, it is time for your system to go live. While you may be tempted to immediately deploy the system in its entirety, it is worth noting that gradual deployment is preferable to making the entire system go live at once, even after multiple rehearsals, as problems invariably emerge during the cut-over. It is wise to keep the
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number of the emergent issues at a minimum, by deploying the system in stages. Remembering that a successful retail system relies on four pillars, make sure that once it runs live, all of them are managed. Whilst your software vendor needs to look after the software part, you must make sure that your organisation handles the other three on an on-going basis. Processes must be followed, people must be competent (trained or re-trained if required) and data needs to be meticulously maintained. The latter covers both: all your reference data and transactional information.
In Closing Successfully implementing a modern and proven retail system can revolutionise the way your business is operated and unleash the full potential of your retail business model and strategy. As you can see, all this doesn’t come without extensive preparation and diligent planning. If you’re up for the challenge, however, facilitating a successful implementation can be a huge achievement and a career highlight. We hope that this guide has been useful in making you aware of the challenges you and your team are likely to face prior to, during and after the implementation of a new system. We would like to emphasise that all the activities you will engage in, while demanding, are by no means impossible, and a lot of the difficulty of successfully pushing through a new system can be alleviated by proper planning and attention to detail. Any retail business, no matter how brilliant, can benefit from a sound, efficient management system. It takes courage to dive in and reap the benefits, but it needs to be done. If you are a great merchant, you still need good tools. Like with a great musician—if you have to play on a bad instrument, your performance will be ruined. Get yourself a good one! Finally, we need to state the obvious: while all the advice in this article is likely to work well for you, we don’t know your particular situation or challenges. So, before you act based on our suggestions undertake your own research and enquiries. It never hurts to seek a broad range of insights. Also, at any time, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We are very experienced in retail system implementation and may be able to help you.
About the Author Andrew Gorecki, MD of Retail Directions, is a passionate commentator on a wide range of business and management issues. He has been working with the retail industry since 1985. Living and breathing the business of retail, he also provides strategic business advice to large corporations. In June 2010 he was nominated for the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
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Defend Your Business from Hackers By Moredecai Hunter
Cybercrime is at epidemic proportions. Businesses like Sony, JP Morgan, Home Depot, even NASDAQ have been devastated by hacking attacks that have left them scrambling to recover. These are giants in the business world that were once thought indestructible. It may have been this thought that contributed to their downfall since despite the fact that the warning signs are everywhere, many organizations do nothing to protect themselves. With our dependence on interconnected devices to conduct business and with 87% of companies using social media to communicate with customers and clients as well as employees, we can’t afford to slack in our vigilance against cybercrime as every point of connection is a possible point of entry for hackers. It’s important to note that the vast majority of breaches are made possible through employee mistakes.
Here are some things you can do to protect your business online. This list is by no means exhaustive, but following this list will make you more of a nightmare for hackers: 1.Having A Strong Password You’d think this would be a no brainer, but the number one password in the world is “123456” for like the 15th year in a row. Stopping hackers is going to take more than that. Also if you have 5 different accounts you need 5 different passwords, so that in the event of a breach, criminals don’t have access to everything. According to Microsoft, a strong password:
Is at least eight characters long.
Does not contain your user name, real name, or company name.
Does not contain a complete word.
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Is significantly different from previous passwords.
Contains characters from each of the following four categories: Capitals, lowercases, numbers and symbols.
Contains characters from each of the following four categories: Capitals, lowercases, numbers and symbols.
You can even test your password by running it through a password strength checker. If that’s not enough protection for you, there are various password alternatives that you can explore, such as biometric devices that allow you to use your unique heart rate as a password, or 2 Factor Authentication which requires a user to enter a code sent to them in a text or email in addition to the password to gain access. 2. Put Up a Good Firewall A firewall protects your network by monitoring and controlling traffic coming into and flowing out of your business over the internet. There are 2 types of firewalls; client and appliance firewalls. Client firewalls are installed on the computer itself and monitors all of the network traffic on that computer. All the incoming and outgoing information gets screened for possible breaches. An appliance firewall is a device like a router that has a firewall installed and is between the Internet and your computer. If you’re using a router, make sure it has a firewall.
3. Stay Up to Date At this year’s Pwn2Own a white hat hacking contest held by Hewlett Packard and Google, every major browser (Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and others) was destroyed as hackers found vulnerabilities for each. These vulnerabilities were later patched by their vendors, but the people who haven’t updated their browsers for whatever reason, are still vulnerable to the exploits that the hackers found at the competition. Outdated, unpatched programs and systems account for 80% of attacks. In fact, the Home Depot hack that resulted in the loss of 56 million records was due to a system that was a decade out of date. Most programs have an auto-update feature that may need to be turned on. Keeping current will go a long way to making your systems secure. 4. Be Careful With Email Over the years, viruses and malware have been sent over email since almost its conception. While you may be updated and have your guard up, many others don’t, and can pass their viruses and malware on to you. Be careful of email with suspicious text, as it may even come from people you trust. Sometimes an unsuspecting employee clicks on a link or downloads an attachment that they believe is harmless that turns out to have a virus or software that steals sensitive information. Malicious links are the most common way computers get infected. Never click on a link that you
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weren't expecting or you don't know the origin of in an email or IM. 5. Install An Antivirus Program A last line of defense for when all other safeguards have failed, the antivirus program is meant to clean your computer of viruses and scan incoming files for malware and viruses. Like with everything else, it is essential that antivirus be kept updated so that you’ll be protected from all the known exploits. 6. Secure Your Laptops and Mobiles Because they connect to your network wirelessly and are portable, laptops and mobile phones are a favorite for cybercriminals to target. Because of this, extra care must be taken to secure them. Invest in encryption software for your laptops and phones, as it makes it impossible to be read without the decryption key. Apple phones come with their own encryption built in, but Androids require the installation of encryption software. Never leave your laptop in your car for the same reason you don’t leave any valuables in your car in full view of thieves. If you must, lock it in your trunk.
Today’s smartphones are almost like computers that you put in your pocket. They are just as sensitive as laptops, yet so much easier to steal or lose. Always have password protection enabled with a specific time out that locks the phone. Another good idea is to have remote wiping enabled, so that in the event your phone is stolen or lost, you can send a code to your phone that wipes the phone of sensitive information, making it useless to hackers. 7. Teach Your Employees One of the biggest sources of breaches as mentioned before, employees need to be made aware of what to do and what not to do to ensure that they are proactively preventing breaches. Proper education requires alerting them to the dangers as well as the reason for the precautions. This will take quite a bit of the burden off of IT security staff so they’re not constantly reacting to end user mistakes. Again these are not completely exhaustive, but they are good guidelines to follow when setting up or enhancing your security policies. Take a lesson from the missteps of other companies and protect yourself as best you can from Cybercrime.
About the Author Mordecai Hunter is a writer with aspirations to start his own consulting firm. He has traveled the globe and speaks 4 languages. In his spare time, he plays and repairs guitars and loves videogames. You can bug him on Twitter.
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The Importance of Proper Marketing Campaigns By John Stone
Businesses can be handled in so many ways. Sometimes business owners launch a startup and reach success at a very early stage. Some other times you have to undergo several failures until you achieve what you have planned. But at the core of every single affair your start in your business career lies the skill of presenting your work; i.e. every business needs a finely crafted marketing campaign.
It's a must to win the trust People need to get informed about your existence. It is not too probable that clients will start hiring you or buying your products out of the blue. The process of building trust between you and your clients can be a long-lasting one. It cries out for a lot of thinking and work in order to convince your target audience that your venture has what they need. And once you realize that you have earned their loyalty, always keep pushing and staying active in nurturing your mutual trust.
Beating social shells No enterprise can function on its own. That is probably why the words business and partner are so often used together. Being isolated from other businesses will slow down the pace of your own progress. On the other side, exposing your business to other similar operations will improve your business opportunities and you might even reach your career goals sooner that you have expected. Today many people use social networks for stronger bonding. However, many of us spend time on social media discussing other people's babies and political beliefs. In such an arrangement, presenting business can be interesting to social media users. Consequently, online social networking can have a beneficial effect on your business.
Enticing video hype Today everything is about moving pictures.
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Adults, teenagers, children, even older people have gone crazy about Internet clips and dynamic TV programs. Delivering a marketing message in an old-fashioned way is very hard in such surroundings. For the benefit of your business, you have to join the club and draw attention to your products through videos. Since nowadays videos are made in high resolution, such a campaign has to be constructed and accomplished in a detailed way, to attract clients and not disinterest them from what you offer. It certainly has to be realized with adequate video excellence, so as to give your brand an additional boost for better perspective in the future.
Learning for future campaigns Nobody can teach you as well as your own mistakes can. When you start a businesspromoting procedure, after a while you can already tell whether or not the procedure has been adequately prepared. If it turns out to be a real failure, you can alter it and learn from your bad moves for future campaigns. Basically, whatever you can measure in online business marketing is a great legacy for your next advertising policies, so that you get feedback for your
current marketing strategies. It also relates to non-web business advertising affairs, where it is necessary to calculate the leads and undertake some steps for more successful future operations.
Constituting a distinguished brand Once you have learnt that your products and services keep receiving accolades by your customers, you only have to carefully water the plants of trust that you have so successfully nourished. In that phase of developing a business the crucial thing is that you stay loyal to the brand and business itself. If you manage to do that, your clients will be able to feel that you care. A classy product without fine marketing is like a gifted piano player without a mentor. Only when the product has been dressed up for promotion will a business start bringing gains and earning trust of your present and future clients. This is what sells products and pushes businesses forward and every enterprise has to apply those strategies in order to succeed.
About the Author John Stone spent a better part of his life working as a business consultant. He is currently the editor of BizzmarkBlog. Always on the move and keeping up with the latest developments in technology, through years of experience he became a devout believer in the notion that form should always follow function and that developing the ability to think outside of the box is a prerequisite of being a successful entrepreneur. In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar and watching Formula 1.
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8 Ways to Optimize Your Videos and Get Them Shared By Lisa Rodriguez Marketing with videos is an important part of content marketing today. It's also a very effective form of online marketing that gets huge results. Your audience is more likely to share a video than a text blog, and much more to comment on it and interact with it too. But, if you want your videos to be found it's important to understand how to optimize them. Here's how:
1
Create KeywordRich Titles
The keywords should be within the first three words of the title and should be an accurate depiction of what is included in the video. Don't try to be clever with your choices of a title so much that it's
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confusing. Instead, just be accurate and use words that will help your audience find your video but also create something that is catchy and interesting.
2
Use Well Thought Out Descriptions
Whether your description is a blurb before you post the video on your blog or social media, or a blurb under the video on YouTube, it's important that your descriptions are well thought out. They should include what the video is about and consider exactly what the search engines will pick up from the description and display. Make sure you include keywords in the description.
3
Include Descriptive Keyword Tags
Tags are an important way that users of various video platforms can find your videos. It's important to use tags on each of your videos so that people can find you. Choose one word or two-word descriptions separated by a comma to tag the video.
4
Choose an Interesting Thumbnail
Usually you can have a choice of shots to become a thumbnail image and it doesn't have to be the first scene in your video. You can choose something that provokes the viewer to want to click-through to watch the video. It doesn't need to be salacious but it should be interesting.
5
In-Video Annotations
Annotations are a great way to actively engage with your audience. Speech bubbles, notes, titles, spotlights, interesting pauses, and linkable text are all great ways to get extra attention for your videos and make them more interesting to watch. On YouTube you can do it automatically while it plays and you can also do it using a software program like Camtasia. Here are the links: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/yt/ playbook/annotations.html Camtasia - http://www.techsmith.com/ camtasia.html
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6
Include a Call to Action
Every video you create should have some sort of reason for being. This leads to what your call to action should be for that particular video. For instance, on YouTube how your videos show up in searches has a lot to do with likes. If you want more people to see your video ask for likes, comments and shares in every video or at least in the description.
7
Keep Your Videos Short
Super long videos of ten minutes are okay to put up sometimes, such as "how to" videos, recipes and interviews. But, most of the time you want your videos to be about 90 seconds long. That doesn't seem like
much, but if you prepare and arrange things right you can make most of your videos pretty quickly. They're going to be more likely to be shared when they are succinct and to the point.
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Use Rich Snippets on Videos
If you want your video to show up in search results on Google in a particular way, it's important to learn how to use rich snippets. Even if you are using social networks, if you want your video found then rich snippets help. Take a look at this Google page on how to structure your data to get shared. Since research shows that images and videos get almost 40 percent more interaction than plain text, it's clear that you need to use videos in your marketing. Ensuring that your videos are optimized will help even more.
About the Author Much success to you, Lisa Rodriguez, CEO, Next Level Consulting & Virtual Assistant Services - "Serious Solutions for Serious Entrepreneurs" - Take a moment to CONNECT with US today! Facebook Page | LinkedIn | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest
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Business Guide to Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“the CRA�) By David McGuire The legislative approach to consumer
with consumers in practice, not least of all by
protection in the UK is widely acknowledged as
swinging consumer law in favour of the
being disjointed and ambiguous, resulting in
individual to align the gap between consumers
confusion between businesses and consumers
and businesses and their respective bargaining
as regards their respective rights and
power.
obligations when contracting for goods,
If a business deals with an individual who is
services and digital content.
purchasing goods or services outside of a
In response to this, and the recent focus on the
business, the business will need to comply
importance of protecting individual consumers,
with the Consumer Rights Act. With the
the government is set to reform and harmonise
introduction of the Consumer Rights Act fast
current consumer protection law. The
approaching on 1 October 2015, now is the
Consumer Rights Act, a supposedly single
time to consider what steps must be taken to
comprehensive legal framework governing the
proactively address consumer protection.
relationships formed between business and consumers, is expected to overhaul and
What are the key considerations of
replace existing consumer protection law.
the Consumer Rights Act?
The effect of the Consumer Rights Act will
Goods
bring significant change to how businesses deal

Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for
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purpose, match a description and correspond to a sample.
unsatisfactory/non-conforming goods within
within a reasonable time.
window, the consumer can have a repair/
services do not conform to pre-contractual
replacement. The business has one
statements, the consumer can require the
opportunity to provide a conforming
business to perform the services again. Where repeat performance is impossible or not repeated within a reasonable time,
replacement, the time limit for a right to
consumers can claim a price reduction of up
refund is paused until the goods are
to 100%.
Digital Content
Digital content includes paid for content and
minimum of 7 days.
content that comes free of charge with
If a repair/replacement is impossible/
physical goods.
defective or not completed within a
The consumer can require a repair or
reasonable time, the consumer has a final
replacement. If this is unavailable, or not
right to reject or a reduction in price.
provided within a reasonable time, the
The ‘cooling off’ period (under the
consumer has the right to a price reduction.
Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013) for
Where a consumer prefers a repair/
consumer’s right to reject is extended by a
Where the business fails to provide services with reasonable skill and care or where the
the contract upon return, then the
If there is a fault after the 30 day rejection
returned. If the item still doesn’t conform to
Services must be provided with reasonable skill and care, at a reasonable price and
product.
Consumers have the right to reject 30 days and receive a full refund.
Services
The consumer has a right to a refund if the
consumers to change their mind when
business does not have the right to provide
purchasing goods at a distance is extended
the digital content.
from 7 to 14 days.
Please see our guide for further information on
The period in which businesses must provide
the Consumer Rights Act and digital content,
a refund is 14 days, reduced from 30 days.
using gamers and developers to demonstrate
Businesses must deliver goods within 30
its application.
days, unless the consumer agrees
Miscellaneous
otherwise.
A failure to provide information (e.g. the total price) may leave the business liable to
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refunds.
Conclusion
Terms governing price and subject matter
The purpose of consumer law is to protect and
must be prominent and transparent.
give confidence to consumers and
The Consumer Rights Act increases the
consequently assist the market in which
number of terms which are likely to be
businesses operate. If a business reviews its
considered ‘unfair’.
procedures and documentation to ensure
Enforcement bodies can seek a court order to prevent a business’ failure to comply with the Consumer Rights Act. Failure to comply with such a court order may result in a
compliance with the Consumer Rights Act, it can avoid liability for breach of the Consumer Rights Act and may also reap the benefits of increased consumer confidence.
penalty of an unlimited fine and/or two
Businesses cannot contract out of the
years imprisonment.
Consumer Rights Act or restrict any liability
How do you comply with the
arising out of it. It is therefore crucial businesses start considering, and preparing
Consumer Rights Act?
for, the impending changes to ensure they are
Review/redraft sales contracts, standard
compliant on a practical level moving forward.
terms, pre-contractual information and
A failure to do so can lead not only to
refund policies.
significant fines, but also damage to business
Key terms must be prominent and transparent and not fall into the new unfair categories.
reputation. Implementing new procedures and reviewing those which already exist to ensure compliance are, compared with the enormous costs that may be incurred for non-
Customer service teams and staff must be
compliance, relatively small. Don’t fall foul of
adequately trained to understand the
the Consumer Rights Act; start making the
changes.
necessary changes now prior to its introduction on 1 October 2015.
About the Author David McGuire from the Outsourcing and Commercial Team at Wright Hassall LLP
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