SBC MARCH 2006 MEETING

A double bill for SBC members
Our March Club meeting was a double bill, very generously sponsored by Business Link Surrey at their smart fifth-floor modern offices in Woking Town Centre. Given that they offer what I have consistently found to be some of the best catering at any business networking event I attend, this was an excellent bonus for the Club. As a result, we decided to conduct the evening's initial networking session over the buffet!

Our hospitable host and main presenter was Tony Elliott, Business Link's Brokerage and Intermediaries Manager. Tony's first job was to explain exactly what his splendid job title is all about, and it turns out to be very good news for consultancy and service-provider businesses like ourselves.

Business Link could soon be bringing you new clients - for free!
The ongoing restructuring of Business Link has repurposed the organisation as a provider of free business information, free or subsidised advice services, and importantly for us, a Supplier Matching Service. In a nutshell, this means that Business Link no longer offers provides many specialist consultancy services in-house, but instead helps its client businesses to source them from local suppliers.

How it works…
The key to this is the Supplier Matching Service database, where you can register your business totally free of charge. When Business Link has a client looking for your particular skills, for example a tax specialist accountant, or an online marketing expert, they go to the database and, if appropriate, refer the client straight to you. You then deal with the client direct and apply your charges in the normal way. This looks to me like a 'no-brainer' - a classic win-win scenario, especially as the service is gradually rolling out to all the UK's Business Links. If your service is in demand, you could even be winning new clients from a much wider catchment area.

An organisation dedicated to helping you grow your business…
Tony explained many more aspects of the Business Link service than we could hope cover here. These included the hugely impressive, multi-million pound national website, www.businesslink.gov.uk where you can access hundreds of up-to-the-minute factsheets about every aspect of running your business, from marketing to legislative matters - and again, it's all free.

Find out more at the Surrey Business Link Website
Surrey Business Link itself offers a range of free and low-cost seminars, free business advice sessions, and even help with sourcing government funding to help you develop your business. So we suggest you bookmark their excellent website onto your favourites list and sign up for the regular free newsletters. Go to www.businesslinksurrey.co.uk and register for the Supplier Matching Service today - it's absolutely free!

Marketing Make-over
The second part of the evening was a marketing 'make-over' workshop run by myself, Keith Grover (fortified by a second stab at the copious buffet!) This consisted of a whirlwind 'marketing refresher' presentation to remind us all of the key questions to ask about any marketing initiative we take. For a copy of the Powerpoint slides, please email me keith@freelancecopy.co.uk - but please note that for reasons of propriety, this will not include the 'saucy'one (those present will know what I'm talking about!)

Peer group reviews
We then broke into workshop groups to look at marketing materials we had brought along ourselves, and give each other objective feedback and positive suggestions for making them even more powerful. Several participants said they would be implementing the ideas which emerged from this exercise straight away, which always happens when I run these sessions. Constructive criticism is invaluable!

Beverage Circle
After the meeting, half a dozen stalwarts of SBC's informal beverage circle adjourned to the nearby Wetherspoons pub for a bargain-priced pint of ale, and a cosy chat.