Social media offers the perfect way to build a relationship with the person you’re sending a pitch to, before you even hit send. Do a bit of digging and learn about the recipient’s background in as much detail as possible. If you’re a connection across a social channel they may be more likely to respond to your email when it lands in their inbox.
Use your research skills to find the right person in the organisation to send your email to rather than simply sending it to a generic contact mailbox. There really is no need for the middle man, do your research and hopefully you will get a response from the person you are really after.
Personalised pitch emails are the only pitch emails you should be sending! Make sure you address the person you’re sending the pitch to by name, customise your copy to make sure it’s noticeable that you have done your research and know about their background and field of work. This will show that attention has been made which will show the recipient that you have selected them to pitch to rather than sent out a mass of emails.
See if the organisation you’re pitching to have any guidelines on how they expect pitches to be submitted. Make sure you adhere to any guidelines and follow the advice they give you. This shows you’ve researched the organisation and listened to what they have to say.
Do the 10 second test. If the recipient has only 10 seconds to read this email are they going to be drawn in straight away? Make the information you’re providing as brief as possible without missing out any key information. Your aim is to make a big impact with few words. Cut straight to the facts and make sure you link to any research or significant data.
Whilst you want to share as much information as possible, hold a few things back. What you don’t want is for someone to read your pitch and take your key ideas then claim them for themselves without giving you the credit you deserve. If you leave them wanting to know more, they are more likely to reply to your email.
Explain the ways that the person receiving the pitch will benefit from the collaboration as well as yourself. If there is no benefit for the recipient, they’re not likely to go forward with what you’re pitching (no matter how good it is). A good pitch is always mutually beneficial.
As tempting as it may be to make things sound even better than they already are, don’t over exaggerate any of your points. Stick to the facts and let your writing win you the pitch, rather than promises that can’t be kept.
Following on from the previous point, if you’re stating any facts such as “first in the market” make sure your claims can be substantiated so that your pitch is credible.
If you haven’t heard back in a couple of days, send a follow up email to see if the email was received. If you haven’t done so already, connect with the recipient of your pitch email on social media, seeing this connection request may prompt them to address your unopened email, and keeps your name fresh in their mind. Cautionary note: following up is always a good idea, harassing a response out of the recipient is never a good idea!
5 questions to ask yourself before you quit the day jobWe all have, what we consider to be, good ideas; however very few of us have actually looked into how successful those ideas would be if put into practise and built into a business plan. What evidence have you found that your idea will be a success? Do your research, seek the opinion of others and make sure you have evidence that will back your idea up. This is especially important if you are going to look for investors to help fund your venture.
Whilst it is true that if you deliberate for long enough, you’ll conclude that the timing will never be right; you also need to consider timings that will impact the success of your business. Consider the market you will be selling your business in, is there a best time to launch? Will you be burning bridges in your current role if you left? Have you had the time to create enough capital to get your new business up and running and still pay your daily bills? On the flip side of this, don’t leave it too long before you start. Trust your judgement and find a middle ground.
Before you hand in your notice look into how much money will be needed to build your business. Create a realistic projection of the cash flow needed to put your business plan into action, compare it against the money you have saved and consider the funding you would have left to live on whilst you build your business. It could take numerous years before your business begins to turn a profit, or simply break even, is there enough money in your account for this?
No person, no matter how fantastic they think they are, can build a business by themselves. Do you know the people who you would like to hire? Have you considered how many people you would need to hire? If you need investors have you spoken to them? Using the connections you’ve already made from networking, get in touch with people who will able to help you in your process of beginning a business. A few people to consider are those who might be able to build you a website, develop your brand or set you up with the relevant software packages.
Whilst it’s always advisable to have a positive outlook, are you realistically prepared for the worst case scenarios? If your business doesn’t succeed or you hit a bump in the road that delays your plans for the foreseeable future, do you have a plan to see you through? Whilst it may seem futile planning for failure, when beginning a business, you need to prepare for all eventualities!
Time management lessions for the entrepreneurBlock out time in your day to concentrate on a given task and continue to schedule your time until each task is complete. As far as is possible schedule any meetings that need to happen outside of this time. Allocating time appropriately for completing projects or meetings will give you peace of mind.
To-do lists are all well and good but only if you use them effectively. Constantly adding to your to do list will do nothing but overwhelm you, which more often than not will put you off completing the tasks on the list. How do you write up a worthwhile to do list? First off separate your work, personal and other tasks into categories. Where there are big projects listen, break them down, clearly showing actionable tasks. Under each project task, list the information you need in order to complete that task. Finally prioritise your tasks, each item will not be of equal importance, if you’re wanting to write the most effective to do list you need it to be ordered by priority. As your most effective in the first two hours of the day (link back to previous article) you should consider checking off high priority items first thing in the morning.
By this we don’t mean mentally, that won’t get anyone anywhere. What we mean is to try switching off your phone, close down your emails and shut the door. If you really need to knuckle down and get things done then do yourself a favour and switch off from the world for a while where no distractions can take place.
You may want to be the person who is everything to everyone but frankly that’s just not possible, at least it isn’t if you want to work on your own work projects at the same time. If distractions occur when you are working on an important task, defer the need to act until a later point in time.
If you have a team around you, utilise them and their time. All too often we can think that we can bear the brunt of the majority of work, but ease up some of the pressure and delegate to the wider team. This doesn’t mean you are shying away from responsibility, in actual fact is shows that you understand the importance of the task and appreciate that it will be better managed by someone who has the time and energy to put towards it, rather than simply ‘fitting it in’ to your already busy schedule.
Don’t waste your precious time hitting the snooze button, however tempting it can be. Most successful business men and women appreciate the fact that the first couple of hours after waking can be some of our most productive so why waste them? Most often we wake, refreshed, calm and clear headed. As the day progresses, energy levels drop, stress levels rise and we find ourselves multitasking. Get high priority jobs complete early, and leave smaller tasks for when you have less head space in the afternoons.
Remember that on average it’s only 20% of the time we take talking, thinking or doing which produces 80% of our results.
Why do some start-up businesses fail, while others go on to establish themselves as saleable prospects? The factors that make up a successful entrepreneur are many and varied, but there’s one that will affect you no matter who you are, or where you take the leap into self-employment. Where you work! Your small business can thrive or die on the strength of its surroundings: and recently, it seems many have been growing healthily in a new kind of workspace.
The coworking environment is getting bigger. More start-ups and entrepreneurs are turning to these versatile commune-style offices to keep costs down and stay agile. But are they for you? I’ve taken a look at the benefits of coworking, and they certainly seem to stack up. Yes, you’ll hear plenty of claims in the next few months about the one business decision you make that could change your life. But coworking might really be a step in the right direction.
An entrepreneur and their idea are inseparable. You walk, talk, and breathe your small business. In a coworking environment, you’re given the space to be you, without any pressure to edit your personality or your idea to fit a corporate ethos. In fact, coworking environments create a stronger version of you (and by extension a stronger version of your brand), because they are filled with other entrepreneurs doing other things. In this multicultural small business environment, you’re frequently required to tell other professionals what you do, which helps to refine your ideas and strengthen your sense of business personality.
Good feedback is like gold dust for an entrepreneur. Working alone at home, the only thing you can bounce your ideas off is the wall. And the only voice you’ll hear commenting on your thoughts is your own. But in a coworking space, where entrepreneurs and freelancers are thrown together, there are other viewpoints to hear and other skill-sets to tap into.
So, why would an uninterested freelancer take time to comment on your project? Because someday their going to need someone to give constructive thoughts on their project. Practice your big pitch on a handful of small business owners today, and they’ll ask you to spare 10 minutes to knock an idea around tomorrow.
The key to coworking feedback is that no-one’s competing with you. In a corporate environment, feedback is often tinged with a personal agenda. But when you share a coworking space with other small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, all of whom are in the same boat as you, there’s more support and less politicking. In other words: people who offer their help are really there to give it. What goes around comes around, and if you play by the unwritten ‘rules’ of the coworking setup, you’ll get as much back as you give out.
Coworking is about more than just putting a few entrepreneurs in a room. Running a start-up can be a lonely enterprise, dogged with second thoughts. Should I really be doing this? What if I’m risking my family’s income on a crazy idea?
The support of a community is a vital asset for an entrepreneur, and in a coworking space there’s a sense of shared vitality that transcends the individual businesses in the building. Suddenly, you’re working in a place where the concept of starting a business isn’t seen as crazy or unusual. And that’s vital soil, which the fragile plant of your idea needs if it’s going to grow. The bottom line: when you surround yourself with people who believe that a start-up can work, you create a positive atmosphere in which to develop your concept.
Coworking is not only for the single entrepreneur looking for a communal space to expose ideas. A small business with several employees can also benefit from the shared environment of the coworking office. And not only because of its easier costs and shorter commitments (see below). Coworking for a small business is about balancing the requirements of a growing company with the realities of workflow.
Evolving small businesses, whose ranks swell and dwindle with every project, benefit from the ability to occupy more or less of a coworking space as their needs demand. In the stages prior to taking on a number of full-time staff, when subcontractors are pulled in to get your company through the busy times, the ability to shift the boundaries of your office is a welcome one.
It’s possible to run a thriving small business entirely from a coworking space, or even a subsection of a large, globally-recognised one. UK newspaper The Guardian, for example, has installed its USA newsroom in a coworking office.
The space you hire in a coworking environment is likely to be cheaper than renting a completely independent office of your own – not least because coworking spaces don’t tie you into multiple-year contracts. And while the temptation to completely control your environment may eventually be too much, it’s handy to be able to make the choice at leisure rather than be forced into a lease that lasts several years. Until you’re ready to step out on your own, coworking spaces can grow with your company–even to the extent of providing separate offices, useful for brands that need to develop and retain a specific culture.
Affordable, nourishing, encouraging, flexible–coworking spaces take some of the pain out of starting a small business. They provide an environment in which contacts can be made and skills shared. If you’re serious about your start-up, move it out of the garage. You won’t do a healthier thing than making ‘going to work’ feel more professional, and exposing your new brand to valuable resources.
The best free apps to get you from a to b in londonGetting around London can often be tricky and frustrating, whether it’s for work or for leisure, none of us want to be held up. To help make travelling across the city as hassle free as possible, we’ve compiled a list of the best apps to get you from A to B.
Top Feature: Offline maps
Brought to you by VisitLondon.com, this app helps you find the best attractions in London no matter where you are. It provides you with full offline access to maps, guides and travel directions, along with helping you find restaurant recommendations and interesting things to do in London. Their travel directions include every method of transport from tube to foot and buses too, making it easy for you to plan your perfect commute.
Top Feature: Price comparisons for taxi companies
Citymapper app is often described as the only app you need to get you from A to B. With real time transport disruption updates covering all methods of travel, the ability to book a taxi through their integration with Uber and Hailo; this app has it covered. With users most impressed with the reliability of the app and the frequency in which it’s updated, you’d be foolish not to install this one stop travel app on your device.
Top Feature: Live travel information
If you find yourself all too often standing quizzically in front of the Tube map at each station you visit; this is the app for you. The London Underground can be a complicated system when you haven’t used it before, but Tube Map London Underground aims to make your commute that little bit easier. Their tube by tube directions help you get from one station to the other with minimal stress. It will tell you which direction you need to travel along with any changes you will need to make during the journey. A truly fool proof way to navigate the underground.
Top Feature: Get Me Home
Due to the rising number of tube strikes occurring in London, Busmapper is a very useful tool to keep installed on your phone. Type in where you need to go and Busmapper will provide you with up to four different routes, allowing you to choose the perfect route for your commute. If time is tight the live TFL countdown will keep you aware of how far away your bus is, allowing you to give updates on your ETA to whoever might be relying on you. This super user friendly app also allows you to save your favourite stops and can even “get you home”, should you wish to do so.
Top Feature: Plan journey based on cycling ability
If you’re a multitasker wanting to kill two birds with one stone, this app’s the one for you. Not only will it help you beat the traffic London’s famous for, it also helps you fit in your exercise for the day during your commute. The app will help you find the nearest location of bikes for hire, along with helping you plan your route based on your cycling ability. Forgetful? No problem. The app will send you a reminder of when you need to get your bike back by.
So there you have it, we’re not promising that you’ll never get lost in London again but if you’re using these apps then chances are you won’t be turning up late for a meeting any time soon.