by Nicola Jayne Little | May 25, 2020 | Inspiration, Marketing, Planning, Public, Wellbeing
Since the Coronavirus pandemic through us all into lockdown and unknown territories, we have all be getting through it in our own way. As our member Ian McAninly said, “We have all achieved something and used our time differently to suit our needs”.
Wise words from Ian (sitting in the middle of training in our old office. Feels like a lifetime ago).
As we move into the next chapter of our new future and MINT Business Club continues to evolve, I have been reflecting on the way the MINT community has stepped up for one another at this time. Take this list of 30 training sessions that have been delivered since 24th March. Without our community pulling together, MINT may not have survived.
Before lockdown, one of our USPs was that we were a face-to-face training provider, meeting monthly across the North East delivering training topics dictated by what the members needed most.
All of that changed for us on Tuesday 18th March when we cancelled an event scheduled to take place for around 40 people in Teesside.
Our business model hasn’t been tweaked, it has absolutely fundamentally been tipped on its head and completely altered. We are now an online training organisation and for the foreseeable future, that’s what we’ll stay.
What a MINT team effort it has been. All but one of the people listed as having delivered training in the last 10 weeks are MINT Members. They stepped up and in many cases, out of their comfort zones, to focus on something positive for them, the entire community and their brands.
Everyone wins.
Even better, the videos were subtitled by another of our members, Neil Jackson from Media Arts who has been working away making sure our training is truly accessible for all and permanently available for members.
As I write this blog post on the evening of a very sunny Bank Holiday, I am immensely proud of the entire MINT Business Community for their support not just of me, but our business, their businesses and one another at this time.
I can’t wait to see what the future brings us all.
Worth A Revisit (videos from our events and training before lockdown)
Business Planning Webinar – March 2020 with Darren Glanville and Nicola Little
Pricing with Confidence – March 2020 event, with Laura Cook
Using the MINT Website – Explainer with Peter Surridge
The Start of our LOCKDOWN training on 23 March 2020!
- 30 Ideas for Social Media – Amy Purdie, Helen Bowman, Louise Heaps and Nicola Jayne Little
- To Sell or Not to Sell – Moira Barnes
- Zoom for MINT Members – Hannah Wiggins
- Content Creation – Helen Bowman
- Your brand Story – Louise Heaps
- Content Creation (Tweaking it for the Coronavirus) – Michelle Rose
- Lets Talk About Money – (different terminology we need to know) Darren Glanville and Nicola Little
- Introduction to SEO – Alan Sawyers
- Branding – Amy Purdie
- Tips for going Live in Lockdown – Mark Orr and Dean Reynolds
- Personal Branding – Lucienne Gage
- How to sell on Amazon – Liza Johnson
- Nic’s birthday styling party with personal stylist – Angela Graham
- Taking your business online – Danielle Stanley and Alan Sawyers
- Let’s Talk About Money – KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) – Darren Glanville and Nicola Little
- Google Ads (part 1) – Steven Kwan
- Google Ads (part 2) – Steven Kwan
- Improve your Time Management – Marie Stephenson
- Introduction to Podcasting – Ashleigh King
- Making the best out of Video – Mark Orr
- Introduction to CRM systems – Sarah Wilkinson
- Happy Brain on Wellbeing Wednesday – Tracey Hutchinson
- Mapping out Client Experiences – Laura Fellows
- WordPress for beginners – Alan Sawyers
- WordPress Advanced – Alan Sawyers
- Google My Business – Nic Watson
- Wellbeing and your business – Rachel Hunter
- Introduction to Instagram Stories – Emma Lamb
- Introduction to Mailchimp – Alan Sawyers
- Pilates for all levels on Wellbeing Wednesday – Vicky Smith
If you have ever thought about joining MINT Business Club, now is the perfect time to do it. We will be offering three chances per week to meet, learn, network and support one another.
It really is a business community like no other. Visit the mintbusinessclub.co.uk website for more details or drop me an email at nicola@mintbusinessclub.co.uk and I’ll give you a sneaky-peek tour around the website and the members-only FB group so you can absorb the MINT VIBE!
by Nicola Jayne Little | Mar 30, 2020 | Inspiration, Planning, Public
When COVID-19 starting kicking off, and before we were asked to remain indoors for 3 weeks, the MINT Business Club members helped me list all the activities they were going to do for their businesses whilst everything was effectively put on hold.
I started them off with 20 of my own ideas but they piled on the suggestions and now we have 66! Have a read through the list and let us know which you’ve done, you’re planning to do or other stuff you’re up to.
- Delete all the old emails you’ve ignored for months and years
- Check all the contacts in your emails are stored properly
- Check you responded to all the emails!
- Delete all the old documents and photos you no longer need on your phone and laptop/PC.
- Order and store everything that you didn’t delete
- Back up everything on your PC if you don’t already
- Sort out your online storage in the Cloud too
- Write a blog
- Plan a series of blogs
- Plan your social media
- Schedule said social media that you have planned
- Teach yourself something new – Canva, Video, something for your profession
- Check and update your website
- Check and update your LinkedIn profile
- Set some targets to extend your network on LinkedIn!
- Write and send a newsletter to your clients
- See how much of your business you can do online
- Download and learn how to use Zoom to offer 121’s to clients
- Come out of the social media groups that distract you
- Stay calm and put out the positive vibes…
- Declutter/sort your home office! Louise heaps
- Define your brand voice.
- Write your brand story.
- Complete online courses you didn’t finish yet.
- Declutter your life, clear your mind, get outside for a walk.
- Start a simple project with the kids e.g. veg patch or mud kitchen.
- Plan your next 6 months and mind map new ideas
- Read a book you have been meaning to read
- Volunteer to help others in your area
- Reflect on your business Hannah Hub
- Get your saxophone out, Pip Coley
- Revamp your product photography (use the opportunity to play with different props, lighting etc) and give your online shop an overhaul, Claire Edwin
- Form online networking groups and connect with clients, build communities – not a replacement for the real thing but will see us through, Tracey Hutchinson and Julia Murray
- Make more chickens, Sarah Ball
- Investigate alternative social media sites to advertise your product on, Katharine Norris
- Find lessons from this extreme situation, find the goodness…be the goodness. Dr Rebecca Williams Dinsdale
- Look through LinkedIn connections and have a proper conversation with key people Lara Mellor
- Write an online Masterclass
- Shred old documents you no longer need
- Daily Facebook live videos
- Stay connected with your friends, colleagues and neighbours
- Have a money diet – essentials only and reward yourself regularly with a nice spa bath, meditation, motivational, Rebecca De’Wessington
- Implement any new systems or procedures you’d been putting off, Joanne Rowland
- Mindmap ways to innovate your business and reach out to people for a chat, Paul Short
- Take some time to do some market research. It’s not just something to do before you start your business and write your business plan. Check out competitors, Leigh Trimble
- Contact old clients and ask for referrals, Karen James
- Conduct a Self-review and ask yourself – what has gone well for your business in the last 6 months, which areas are most profitable, which need issues addressing? We often don’t get time to take stock but will need to be super productive when we get back to things so where are the best places to focus our attention? Rebecca McGarvie
- Check that your insurance policy includes business interruption for public health closures and infectious diseases, Darren Glanville
- Reach out to anyone that struggles with any of those things you’re good at, Gary @ ThinkSmall
- Get the sketchbook out and do some planning /designing for future collections, Claire Edwin
- Revamp your product photography (play with different props, lighting etc) and give your online shop an overhaul, Claire Edwin
- Go into your phone contacts and reconnect with people who you haven’t spoken to in ages. This won’t last forever, so plan future coffee dates, or do online coffee using zoom. Rie Pearson
- Find things to automate. Update your contact details and FAQ page on your website, Rachel Locke
- Create a database of potential clients, Jenniflower Shields
- Create a social media schedule for the year featuring key dates in your industry, Danielle Stanley
- Learn how to use WordPress and get your website SEO optimised, Sal Jefford
- Block my day and turn off emails and deal with current inbox, Suzanne Whelan
- Find time to look up and enjoy the sunshine, Nic Watson
- Sorting out photographs and put them into files, Catherine Muir
- Admin! Make sure any paper records you have are up to date and sort and store them. Get rid of any documents you don’t need and take the time to tidy what you do have. Everyone ignores organisation because it can be tedious but it’s so satisfying when it’s done. Gemma Ryan
- Follow/unfollow on social media and do a social media audit! Tessa Budd
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
Get on top of your cash flow, do your accounts early, get your tax return done, make sure you have paid your bills and remind clients to pay theirs. Darren Glanville, Laura Cook, Michelle Rose, Lorraine Ellison
Let us know how you are now spending your time and what you’ve achieved over the last couple of weeks for your business.
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