Newsletter #118 - Learning from an internet entrepreneur, Top marketing tips for Direct Mail success, Complete guide to mobile broadband, Choosing the best business bank deposit account...

In this week's Business121 Newsletter:

1. Learning from an internet entrepreneur
2. Top marketing tips for Direct Mail success
3. Complete guide to mobile broadband
4. An Inconvenient Truth - lessons in pitching for entrepreneurs
5. Maintain accurate records to reduce threat of litigation by employees
6. Choosing the best business bank deposit account

Small Business News

7. Small businesses still not keen to charge interest on overdue invoices
8. VAT Update - Claiming back VAT from 1973-1997
9. Going green has cost entrepreneurs £3.1billion over the past year
10. SME's defiant over 'credit crunch', but late payment problems persist

Learning from an internet entrepreneur

This month's issue of Better Business has a revealing article on William Berry. William has been in business since the age of 10 when he first showed his entrepreneurial streak by selling books from his parents' garage.

Over the past 20 years he's been involved with a good few businesses, including a financial advice call centre which he set up with a business partner, James Falla in 2004.

They recently sold the business for £12.5 million and put much of their success down to the fact that they were an ideal partnership. James was the financial services expert, while William stuck to his area of expertise, web marketing. Together, they had the key skills to succeed in that market.

William also revealed that he's a big believer in the power of pay-per-click advertising,

"Pay-per-click (PPC), pound for pound, is probably the most effective advertising method available today. There is a bit of an art to it, but it is relatively easy to understand and every business should have some sort of PPC campaign going on."

"Don't outsource it to a marketing agency - you should do it in-house. It's not very complicated. If you do it in-house you learn a lot about the market, and that learning is lost if you outsource it."

William has recently started two new businesses; a website to act as a marketplace for conference venues and a commercial film company. With his track record to date, the odds are that the businesses will succeed.

You can find out more about Better Business magazine here. Business121 and Bytestart readers enjoy a 20% discount on the annual subscription.

Pay per click advertising guides

If you'd like to learn more about pay per click advertising, we have a selection of guides to help you to make the most of the opportunity. Including;

1. Pay per click advertising for small businesses
2. How to set up your first pay per click advertising campaign
3. How to write a killer pay-per-click advert
4. Choosing keywords for your pay-per-click campaign

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Top marketing tips for Direct Mail success
Some say direct mail is an old fashioned way of trying to drum up business. Others believe it's a waste of cash and the returns are too low to make it a viable marketing method. But whatever you may think about direct mail, there's no ignoring the fact that done properly, it can be a predictable and cost effective way to generate sales for your business.

Complete guide to mobile broadband
Broadband access on the move has become an affordable reality. For a small fee each month – you can use your laptop for fast internet access anywhere you can get a mobile phone signal. Here's our guide to mobile broadband.

An Inconvenient Truth - lessons in pitching for entrepreneurs
Al Gore's climate change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, provides a number of valuable lessons for anybody thinking of pitching a business plan. Unlike most business plan pitches, the purpose of Gore's presentation was not to secure investment, but he did seek to persuade, to gain mind share and to influence those watching his 'pitch'.

Maintain accurate records to reduce threat of litigation by employees
The average award for unfair dismissal in 2006 was £8,670. This is a huge cost for a business to pay especially when some of these cases could have been avoided in the first place if the correct employment procedures were followed and the right documentation kept. Failure to keep accurate records can cost employers heavily, so here are the key points to remember.

Choosing the best business bank deposit account
If you're likely to have a significant amount of money sitting in your business current account on a regular basis, it's worthwhile opening a business deposit account. Deposit accounts pay far higher levels of interest, so will enable you to earn much more interest on your money. Here's a guide to your options, and the best business deposit accounts currently available.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Small businesses still not keen to charge interest on overdue invoices
According to research published this week, an incredible 83% of small businesses are not exercising their right to charge interest on late payment, despite ten year old legislation designed for that very purpose.

VAT Update - Claiming back VAT from 1973-1997
Following the 2008 Budget, and a number of Court cases, the door has opened for many businesses and charities to recover VAT overpaid from 1973 to 1997.

Going green has cost entrepreneurs £3.1billion over the past year
According to new research, high costs are dampening businesses' appetite for going green with nearly half of UK small companies polled failing to implement any environmental measures to date and a fifth having no plans to do so in the future.

SME's defiant over 'credit crunch', but late payment problems persist
Despite the 'credit crunch', a new survey suggests that small businesses are defiant in the face of less favourable economic conditions, with many determined to continue with their expansion plans in 2008. However, late payment remains an issue for many companies.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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