Business121 Small Business Newsletter #23

In this week's Business121:

1. How to deal with rejection
2. Building website traffic - think beyond meta tags!
3. Limited Company or Sole Trader - Which is best for me?
4. National Insurance (NI) Guide for Small Businesses
5. eBay business profits may lie in the price of shipping
6. Do you Control Your Email Marketing Deliverability?
7. Anita Roddick announces "Ask an Expert" sessions
8. Businesses wanted for Channel 4 motivational series
9. Is office rage on the increase?
10. Britain’s businesses open IT security threat
11. Bosses give their verdict on the "Brown era"
12. Free Ticket for Growing Your Own Business Show

How to deal with rejection
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As long as you're in business, rejection will be part of the journey. You may be turned down for a bank loan, a major retailer may decide against stocking your product, or a potential new client may reject your proposal. The rejections you face will come in many forms but it's how you deal with them that will determine how you progress.

You're most likely to encounter rejection when you're making sales. And it's here, because of its sheer regularity, that you really need to learn how to handle rejection. If you don't learn to cope with the knock-backs, you can soon find yourself shying from trying to make those all-important sales. But closing yourself off from the inevitable rejections is not the answer.

To overcome the fear of rejection, one of the first things you need to do is to change your attitude to what you perceive as rejection. As a small business owner, you're intimately entwined with with your business. This can often lead to a business rejection being taken personally. If you're to stay sane, and in business, it's crucial that you break this link immediately.

As perverse as it may seem, you should learn to embrace rejection. If you're keen to grow your business, you'll need to make more sales, and rejection is part of the sales process. So let's look at the positives of being rejected;

1. It's better than a maybe. With a "no", you can move on and focus more time and energy on your next prospect.

2. It's an opportunity to learn. A rejection is a great chance to learn more about potential objections to your proposal/product/service. A few well-structured questions will give you valuable feedback and help you to make improvements.

3. You're one step closer to the next sale. Calculate the number of rejections you receive, on average, for every successful sale. When you know this figure, you can be confident that each rejection is taking you one step closer to your next sale.

In an early sales job, I once received 54 consecutive "rejections" in a single day. Although it wasn't an enjoyable day, I knew that I'd make one sale in thirty. Knowing that I was due to make two sales in the next handful of calls helped me to retain a positive attitude and to pick up the phone the following morning.

Finally, on a related note, we're busy putting together our Sales Workshop. If you're a small business and could do with making more sales it will be just what you need. Full details will be revealed next week. In the meantime, to go onto a priority list please email emyr@Business121.co.uk

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Building website traffic - think beyond meta tags!
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Optimising your web site code is just one part of the battle to gain site traffic. There are a number of other onsite and offsite activities we'd highly recommend looking at if you want to increase your website traffic. Here's our guide to attracting more visitors to your website;
http://snipurl.com/_More_web_visitors

Limited Company or Sole Trader - Which is best for me?
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The accountancy and tax implications of setting up in business as a sole trader or limited company.
http://snipurl.com/_LtdCo_v_Sole_Trader

National Insurance (NI) Guide for Small Businesses
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Our National Insurance guide for self employed people and limited company directors. In this article we look at how NI works, and what your liabilities will be as a small business person. Includes an overview of the NIC classes and current rates.
http://snipurl.com/_Guide_to_NI

eBay business profits may lie in the price of shipping
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New research suggests that there is money to be made on eBay business auctions by lowering the bid on items whilst increasing the shipping charges.
http://snipurl.com/eBay_shipping_charge

Do you Control Your Email Marketing Deliverability?
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If you send email newsletters or group messages for your business, an important point to remember is that deliverability is an important aspect of email marketing. If ISPs aren't delivering your messages, you're wasting your valuable time.
http://snipurl.com/email_deliverability

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TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS WITH PRACTICAL, PROVEN IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS
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The March issue of Better Business magazine is packed with tips,
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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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Anita Roddick announces "Ask an Expert" sessions
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Dame Anita Roddick has announced a series of one-to-one ‘Ask an Expert' sessions to take place in the British Library's newly launched Business & IP Centre. Having just sold her business for £652 million her advice is probably worth following!
http://snipurl.com/Ask_Anita_Roddick

Businesses wanted for Channel 4 motivational series
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Betty television, is looking for a business to take part in a brand new series which will air on Channel 4 later this year. A renowned motivational expert will be sent into the chosen company with the main aim of increasing staff motivation and improving communication between staff members.
http://snipurl.com/_Channel4_show

Is office rage on the increase?
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Everyone has the odd bad day at work. But what happens when every day is a bad one and your frustration is escalating out of control.
http://snipurl.com/_Office_rage

Britain’s businesses open IT security threat
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37% of UK SMEs admit they either do not have, or are unsure of the level of their IT protection, according to new research out published earlier this month.
http://snipurl.com/_IT_security_threat

Bosses give their verdict on the "Brown era"
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An interesting article in The Observer this Sunday collates the views of various business heavyweights on the successfulness (or otherwise) of the Chancellor's past 9 years in power.
http://snipurl.com/Bosses_Brown_verdict

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://snipurl.com/Bytestart_News **

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WHAT'S ON
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Free Ticket to Growing Your Own Business - 24 & 25 March
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The Growing Your Own Business Exhibition & Conference (GYOB) gives you a great chance to access a wide range of advice and services to help you grow your business. You can learn from successful business owners as they reveal the secrets of their success and gain inspiration from entrepreneurs like James Murray Wells (founder of GlassesDirect.co.uk).

You'll also find a dedicated BUSINESS ADVICE ZONE where you can get personalised advice on a host of topics, from marketing to taxation, and personal development to law. And if you think you've got a winning business plan, then you should head to the Dragons' Den stand (GYOB810) where the team behind the program will advise you on how you can apply to be featured on the show.

As a reader of Business121 you can claim a free ticket to attend this week's GYOB (normally £13). To get your complimentary ticket just print off this page and bring it with you to the event (Code GB122). Find out more about GYOB at their website: http://snipurl.com/_GYOB

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Business121 is read by over 12,000 small business owners every
week. Advertise in our newsletter from just £45+vat per issue.
Please email Classified@Business121.co.uk for details
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(c) Business121.co.uk 2006