We had a real drive to engage with the business community last year and as a result we have managed to bring another nine teams of young entrepreneurs on board this year (schools and colleges enter teams for the Company Programme competition – sadly though it isn’t free, which means they either have to find the money themselves or link up with a local business).

That’s a great result – we had 11 teams in 2010-11 so we have almost doubled that for 2011-12 – and we have to thank the local business community for really getting behind us!

You’ll be able to see the results tomorrow, at our annual trade fair at the Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley (we’ve had to organise two actually – one tomorrow and one next Saturday – to accommodate everyone!).

Six teams of young entrepreneurs will be promoting their wares from trade stands dotted around the centre, and for many it will be the first time they have ever had to sell direct to members of the public (rather than to their friends and family).

Although we have doubled the numbers this year, we can always improve, and our ultimate goal is to have a team from every school and college in North Staffs in the competition. To reach our goal though, we will need more volunteers and more sponsors.

So if you’re interested in the next generation of entrepreneurs in our area, here are three reasons why you should get involved with Young Enterprise:

1. It’s a unique experience: taking part in the Company Programme gives young people practical experience of running a business. They have to come up with an idea, raise their own capital, keep accounts, pay tax, market and sell their product/service, and write company reports (similar to business plans). This is something they can’t pick up from a book!

But it’s not just a unique experience for the students – we give local businesspeople the rare opportunity to mentor the young people through the process, and see them grow as people and as businesspeople. Many of our volunteers love being involved and are truly inspired by the process.

2. It improves career prospects: universities look favourably on participation in Company Programme, so our students are more likely to reach the uni of their choice by taking part. The skills they pick up have an impact on their results in maths, English and other subjects too.

Not only that, the Company Programme shows young people that setting up their own business is a real option for them – so they have alternatives if they don’t want to continue in education when they leave school. And they will also have business contacts which could be useful later on.

Companies have been so impressed with some YE students that they have offered them jobs, and helped to fund their university studies.

3. It raises young people’s self-esteem: running their own business, and doing it successfully, makes young people more confident and raises their aspirations. The trade fairs are a great example of this - many are meek and retiring at the beginning of the day, but by the end of it they are almost unrecognisable! Some have to be restrained from running after shoppers to tell them about their products!

North Staffordshire suffers from many issues, such as low levels of attainment in schools, and high levels of unemployment, teenage pregnancy and benefit dependence. I often think this is mainly down to low self-esteem – not thinking we are worthy or capable of any better – so anything that can make young people value themselves more highly has got to be a good thing, surely?

So, if you really want to make a difference in North Staffordshire, and inspire young people to consider setting up their own business, or to greater heights in their careers, then maybe Young Enterprise is the charity for you!

By all means give me a shout on 01782 472035 or 07880 733138 if you’d like to know more. Or come along to our event at The M Club, Festival Park on Tuesday 7th February (6pm-8.30pm), where we will be talking more about the Company Programme and what’s involved – both from a volunteer perspective and from a sponsor perspective.

Let’s drive Young Enterprise forward in North Staffordshire and make the area a beacon of positivity for once!

We’ve seen some great presentations over the past couple of weeks, from six of North Staffordshire’s newest businesses. The three ‘lucky’ winners will receive three months’ of mentoring with me, Mark and Caroline, as well as some great coverage and free advertising in The Sentinel. And one of those will go forward to the national finals, with a chance to be mentored by Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden!

It’s good to see such enthusiasm and passion in our local business community, and they all have growth potential.

So thanks to Optimise Automotive, Lucy Goodwin Designs, MOJO Maker, Dimbleby Ceramics, For Tyres and Barewall for the time and effort they put into their presentations – and to all of the businesses who entered but unfortunately didn’t make it to this stage.

Louise will notify the three winners today and announce them to the wider world in The Sentinel’s Business pages on Monday.

Tomorrow (Wed) there will be a major online protest against some anti-piracy proposals the US Govt is thinking of bringing in.

All English language content on some pretty big sites like Reddit, WordPress.org, and Wikipedia will be shutdown for the day (here’s a list), between 8am and 8pm Eastern Standard Time – or from 3am to 3pm in the UK. As far as we know Facebook will not be part of the protest, as had been claimed.

The issue is sharing content, and two bills heading for Congress on illegal file-sharing – SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). They would make it a crime to stream copyrighted content on a website without permission.

Not a bad idea, you might think. But some high profile opponents, like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, believe it would cripple the internet by making them responsible for policing the content of all the sites they link to.

Some sites, they argue, could be blocked by ISPs for sharing music, movies etc. And others, like Google, could be stopped from linking to sites which share files. They claim this could reduce freedom of expression, and leave the door open for internet censorship.

Personally, I don’t really understand their argument. They say they want to help prevent illegal file-sharing, but I don’t see any other way of preventing it than taking down the sites responsible. And I don’t really see how this restricts freedom of speech. The only thing which is restricting freedom of speech is the strike, isn’t it?

Perhaps someone would care to enlighten me?

There’s some more info here for those of you who want to know more:

Wikipedia Blackout, SOPA and PIPA explained, ABC News

Stop Online Piracy Act, Wikipedia

10 big sites that will blackout tomorrow and four possible false alarms, The Wall

Stopped they must be; on this all depends, Reddit

So why should you consider PR, instead of advertising, networking, SEO, telesales, direct mail and the myriad of other options?

Here’s a quick run-down of the 10 biggest reasons:

1. You can bring in more enquiries – PR is a proven lead generator, and the longer your campaign, the more likely you are to bring in enquiries.

2. Media coverage has more impact than adverts – people buy newspapers and magazines, visit websites, listen to the radio and watch the telly not for the ads, but for the information they convey. Few people pay attention to the ads for that reason.

3. Reach the biggest possible audience – with each media title you get into, you are adding their audience to the overall total. In Stoke-on-Trent alone, you could reach more than 230000 potential customers by just getting into one local paper (The Sentinel), one magazine (Staffordshire Life) and one radio station (Radio Stoke).

4. Or target a niche market – alternatively, you can filter your list of target media right down, to reach the people most likely to buy your products/services. For example, if your company supplies adhesives, you can narrow the field down to eight target publications in the UK, with a combined readership of under 50000. It’s a much smaller market but, because they are in your industry, are more likely to buy from you.

5. Spread your investment – because you are getting into lots of different media, you are getting a better return on your investment. If you were to advertise in each one, you’d have to pay for each title you went into. An expensive business. With PR, you would get into the same places for a one-off price, if you’re using an agency – or free if you do it yourself.

6. Become the industry expert – if you become known as the local expert on pensions (for example) through radio phone-ins and/or newspaper columns, people will respect your opinion and will probably look you up when they want some help.

7. Extra credibility – we all crave third party endorsements in business, usually in the form of client testimonials. If someone else says you’re great, it carries more weight than if you say it yourself. With PR, that endorsement is coming from a respected, independent media organisation, like your local paper or industry journal.

8. Improve your reputation – you can use PR to give away information, such as advice on new legislation, and become highly-regarded as you are helping people, rather than selling to them.

9. Approach prospects from different angles – if you are using PR as part of a marketing mix, it improves your chances because people will be hearing about you in many different ways. Your name will stick in their mind.

10. Improve your search engine rankings – you can use press releases to reach page one of Google, by refreshing content, and using keywords and backlinks.

Hope that’s cleared things up a bit for you! There are plenty of resources on this blog and our website should you want to have a go yourself.

Here’s a good place to start - it’s our free e-book on writing press releases.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for a few days, here’s the film, which has been watched almost 90000 times since Wednesday.

It’s generated lots of negative media coverage for Clarkson and the BBC over the past couple of days, and it’s still coming. Today’s line is the comments were approved by The One Show’s producers before Clarkson made them.

So who are the main winners and losers from the gaffe?

Winner

Clarkson will do pretty well out of this. Let’s face it, he’s no stranger to controversial comments, and it’s almost expected of him these days. My first thought on hearing the news was how cliched and hackneyed his opinions are beginning to sound. He’s got a Christmas DVD to plug and he’s done a very good job of it – and as Brand Republic says here, his publishers are rubbing their hands.

Perhaps we should stop giving his ‘gaffes’ the publicity he’s so obviously looking for?

Loser

As of 9.30 this morning, more than 21000 people had complained about the comments! 21000! In two days! Only Sachsgate – the prank calls to Andrew Sachs from Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, which drew 27000 complaints in 2008 – has brought in more complaints, and they came in over two or three weeks. 

While I can appreciate the offence this broadcast caused to the strikers – surely the 21000 could find something better to do with their time?

Winner

The One Show, quite rightly, doesn’t get much media coverage and only hits the headlines about once a year, like when Jason Manford quit as presenter in 2010, and the controversy about dog trainer Jordan Shelley in September seemingly used up their quota for 2011.

So they’ve massively increased their coverage in one fell swoop, and will probably see an initial ratings boost too.

Loser

Unison, the UK’s biggest trade union, has lead the complaints this week, with general secretary Dave Prentis calling for Clarkson to be sacked and even seeking legal advice on whether to sue and/or involve the police!

Wouldn’t they be much better off concentrating on negotiating with the Government to stop another general strike happening?

And one final loser…

David Cameron. Does anyone really want to be ousted as a friend of Jeremy Clarkson’s?

My own personal view of my competition is we are all good at what we do, but all have something different to offer, and if a prospect decides to use a competitor instead then that is no slight on us. They’ve made that decision because it’s a better fit, or the other firm has other skills/experiences which are more relevant.

Thankfully that doesn’t happen often (I can think of one example in the seven years we’ve been trading), but there’s room for all of us.

I can appreciate that some industries are more cut-throat than the PR industry though, so if you’re in one of those dog-eat-dog sectors these tips will be helpful to you:

BECOME AN INDUSTRY EXPERT

Set yourself apart by turning your experience and/or knowledge to your advantage. Think about blogging on your subject, writing for a local/trade magazine, or organising a radio phone-in with your local station. Giving information away will help you because you’re trying to help people and not selling to them.

BE CREATIVE

Innovate. You need to think laterally and come up with a new idea, or a new way of doing things. You might try viral marketing, or a publicity stunt. Eg if your company is celebrating its 5th birthday, why not throw a 5th birthday party, with Musical Chairs, Pass the Parcel and jelly and ice cream? It will make your company more approachable, and fun to deal with.

ADD VALUE

Never sell on price. It’s just not sustainable, and we’re in business to make a profit, right? Instead offer better value by providing more information, like e-books on your website, or more one-to-one support, or better after-sale service. It will encourage people to use you again, or recommend you to others – even if you are more expensive than the competition.

STUDY THE COMPETITION

Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, and what they’re doing well. It’s ok to borrow ideas! Just make sure you develop them, or add your own twist. Or if they’re doing something badly, learn from their experience.

OFFER MONEY-BACK GUARANTEES

You have experience and knowledge. You have a track record. But what exactly does that mean for your prospects? Put your money where your mouth is, and give them the power. If you have to guarantee customer satisfaction before getting paid, it certainly focusses the mind! And it gives your customer confidence.

We should never be scared of the competition, or obsessed with what they are doing. Focus on what you can offer, and what makes you different, and we can become thrivalists, not survivalists!

Have a great day!

Coming in at three, it’s the 2009 fail from Domino’s Pizza.

When employees Kristy Hammonds and Michael Setzer filmed themselves doing vile stuff while they prepared their orders – none of which can be mentioned on a family blog – Domino’s management were so slow to respond it did untold damage to their brand in the States.

The video was posted on YouTube, and you can guess the rest – within days, it had been viewed over a million times, and by the time bosses had caught up with the puerile pair – who were subsequently fired and arrested – and posted their own reply on YouTube, the damage had been done.

Their mistake was to ignore what was being said about them on social media. Or perhaps they just didn’t know about it.

Make sure you are paying attention to what the world is saying about you online – it will help you nip a crisis in the bud and show how effective you are at dealing with customer service issues.

My second favourite is the complete failure of Nestle to deal with a Greenpeace campaign to save orang-utans in Borneo last year.

Greenpeace had put together a mock KitKat ad, substituting the chocolate fingers for orang-utan ones, and posted it on YouTube. The idea was to force Nestle to change suppliers of a key KitKat ingredient (palm oil), which had been sourced from the rainforests of Borneo – thus contributing to mass deforestation in the area and threatening the orang-utan habitat.

Nestle responded with aggression, making YouTube remove the film, and when people complained on Nestle’s Facebook and Twitter pages, they were dealt with rudely – making the situation ten times worse.

Eventually Nestle came to an agreement with Greenpeace, and changed their palm oil supplier, so all that fuss was for nothing.

My tip here is to be professional and courteous should someone be saying negative things about you on social media. Imagine how you would deal with a customer face-to-face if they had a problem – and then times it by ten, because the world is watching how you respond.

And finally, my Number One social media gaffe is courtesy of United Airlines, which caused irreparable damage to some guitars belonging to Canadian band Sons of Maxwell in 2008.

Instead of offering compensation, some free flights, or even an apology, the airline ignored the issue. As a response, the band wrote a song called United Breaks Guitars and posted it on YouTube. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo.

It has since become one of the most popular viral videos, being watched more than 11m times, and supposedly wiped $180m from UA’s share price. Cue some very unhappy shareholders! And all for the sake of an apology.

It’s easy for simple accidents to turn into a crisis – PR people deal with this all the time. The best response is always to be honest and face things head on – offer sincere apologies, and promise to launch thorough investigations. Don’t run away from it, because it will come back and bite you!

With that in mind, I thought one company dealt with a crisis very well this week. They probably won’t thank me for mentioning it, but a welder died of severe burns after an incident at the John Pointon & Sons animal rendering plant in Cheddleton, Staffordshire.

With the HSE investigating the incident, the firm clearly had to be circumspect about their comments, but here was their response…

A company spokesman said: “All at John Pointon and Sons, including directors and employees, are devastated by the tragic death of Mark Bullock, who was a highly valued member of the workforce.

“Our thoughts go out to his family and we are determined to find out how this tragic accident occurred.

“The company is co-operating with the investigation and as such cannot make any further comment.”

It remains to be seen what the HSE will make of what happened. And they may have another crisis to deal with when the findings are announced.

But saying nothing is not an option – it implies whatever has been said or written was correct, and in this case would’ve been seen as a tacit admission of guilt on the company’s part.

Compare that to Ryan Giggs’ response to the media stories about his private life (and Tiger Woods’ response last year).

They will have learnt to their cost that keeping a low profile/your mouth shut does not make the story go away.

We’ve teamed up with The Sentinel on a new competition for local small businesses, backed by Dragon’s Den’s Deborah Meaden.

If your business is between one and three years old, and you believe it’s full of potential, you can take part in the Local Business Accelerators campaign, which has been set up by the Newspaper Society and has £15m worth of free advertising on offer for UK firms.

One lucky winner will be mentored by Deborah for a full year in 2012!

Three winners in North Staffordshire will win three months of free advertising in The Sentinel, and will be mentored by Mark Warren, MD of Lister Trade Frames; marketing strategist Caroline Law; and my good self.

We will also be judging the entries, alongside The Sentinel’s Business Editor Louise Psyllides.

All you have to do is describe how three months of free advertising would help your business – easy really!

You can enter the competition here: www.accelerateme.co.uk.

You’ll have to move fast though – the deadline is November 21st.

Further information is also available here:

Young start-ups offered chance of expert mentoring from TV Dragon Deborah Meaden

Competition will give small firms a boost

‘Important to drive awareness’

Businesses happy to share advice

Once again, we’ve lined up an impressive array of speakers, who can give you a unique insight into all aspects of social media, and generating coverage for your business which creates a buzz and potentially brings in enquiries.

Our venue for the Manchester course is The Waterside Hotel and Galleon Leisure Club, in Didsbury, a fabulous and convenient location near to the M60/M56/A34, and just across the road from East Didsbury train station.

Here are those all-important dates and speakers:

July 11th: how to write an effective press release (with me)

Aug 8th: how to find public speaking opportunities (with public speaking veteran Tony Altham)

Sept 12th: getting into the Manchester Evening News (with former editor Robert Ridley)

Oct 10th: how to get business from your blog (with expert blogger Quinton Watton-Smith)

Nov 14th: how to use PR to get your website to #1 on Google (with SEO specialist Peter Brough)

Dec 12th: how to set up a radio phone-in (with radio expert Karen Gabay)

Jan 9th: LinkedIn for Business (with Beacon 4 Business’ Karen Cotton)

Feb 13th: using Twitter to make a splash (with Twitter afficionado Louise Bolotin)

Mar 12th: how publicity stunts can help your business (with former Saatchi & Saatchi expert Richard Grisdale)

Apr 9th: generating leads through Facebook (with Ariadne’s Thread’s Liz Thursfield)

May 14th: getting into the national media (with former Times journalist Nick Booth)

Jun 6th: writing a winning award application (with ex-Trinity Mirror events organiser Jo Bailey)

Once again, get in touch with us for more information, or to book your place. You’ll need to act fast though because places on each programme are limited to just 20.

You can contact us on 01782 472035, 07880 733138 or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

Here’s another update on the coaching programme for those of you who are not in North Staffs but would still like to get involved. As I mentioned last time, following the success of the 2010-11 programme, we are also running courses in Manchester and Birmingham this year.

We are excited about all the sessions and particularly our October 3rd event with Guy Clapperton. Guy has worked extensively with the national media, and is also a social media expert and best-selling author.

His book, This is Social Media, covers the basics of setting up and maintaining profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, as well as the things you need to know about blogging and podcasting.

So here are those all important dates and speakers!

July 4th: how to write an effective press release (with me)

Aug 1st: writing a winning award application (with Midlands Business Awards’ Jo Bailey)

Sept 5th: how to find public speaking opportunities (with public speaking veteran Tony Altham)

Oct 3rd: an introduction to social media (with best-selling author Guy Clapperton)

Nov 7th: using Twitter to raise your profile (with Market Avenue’s Anna Woolliscroft)

Dec 5th: how to get business from your blog (with expert blogger Quinton Watton-Smith)

Jan 3rd: how to use PR to get your website to #1 on Google (with SEO specialist Peter Brough)

Feb 6th: reach business decision makers in Birmingham (with Birmingham Post Deputy Business Editor Anna Blackaby)

Mar 5th: generating leads through Facebook (with Ariadne’s Thread’s Liz Thursfield)

Apr 2nd: how publicity stunts can help your business (with former Saatchi & Saatchi expert Richard Grisdale)

May 8th: LinkedIn for Business (with social media expert Len Foster)

Jun 6th: getting into the national media (with former Times journalist Nick Booth)

We will be meeting at The Fairlawns Hotel and Spa in Walsall.

Give us a shout if you have any questions or would like to book your place: 01782 472035/07880 733138 or richard@richardswancottassociates.co.uk. There are only 20 places on each programme so act fast if you want to get involved!

I’ll post the Manchester dates later on this week.