Tag: business (page 3 of 3)

Getting your book noticed online

November 25, 2014 / / 0 Comments

by Emily Pedder

Last month short courses took part in a panel event on marketing your book online as part of 2014’s Inside Out Festival. Novel Studio Course Director Emily Pedder chaired a lively panel discussion to a sell out crowd.

The panel experts included Polly Courtney, author of six novels and a regular commentator on TV and radio. Polly is famous for walking out on Harper Collins in protest at the chick lit branding assigned to her books and has been successfully self-publishing ever since.

Also on the panel were Chris McCrudden, Head of Technology and New Media at Midas PR and author of the Guardian book Digital and Social Media for Authors; and City’s very own Novel Studio alumna Justine Solomons, founder of Byte the Book, CCO at Autharium and Publisher in Residence at Kingston University.

Tips for authors trying to market their book online included the following:

  • Make sure your cover design, title and blurb all reflect your book’s genre.
  • Target your readers: find out what readers of your particular kind of book listen to, like, follow online and start communicating with that audience.
  • Develop your author brand – talk about the issues you cover in your book, or whatever it is that makes you unique, and make it newsworthy so that journalists have an angle to write about.
  • Don’t write a press release about your book. The book’s publication is the least interesting thing about your book: find a particular peg to hang it on.
  • Use social media to be a reflection of yourself and your book.
  • Build your platform BEFORE you publish.
  • Set up your own website.
  • Curate yourself – readers don’t need to know everything about you, just the bits that are relevant to your author profile.
  • Write a blog. Keep it current. Follow up quickly and courteously on comments.
  • Keep a database of contacts. Add to it whenever you meet someone new. Follow up within 24 hours.
  • Hand out business cards: professionalize yourself as a writer.
  • Use marketing in its truest and most resonant form, i.e. sharing something you’re passionate about with other people who are passionate about the same thing

Afterwards several members of the audience expressed their gratitude for the event, while one tweeted ‘brilliantly useful panel discussion’. For more events like these don’t forget to follow our updates on twitter.

City hosts inaugural CPD Forum Conference

June 8, 2014 / / 0 Comments

City, University of London hosted the CPD Forum Conference ‘Professional Best Practice: Past, Present and Future’ on 20th June, in partnership with Central Saint Martins, King’s College London and Imperial College London.

The event was a great success, with an unprecedented attendance rate of 96% and delegates coming from as far afield as Cork to listen to keynote speakers and take part in group workshops.

Speakers included Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy; Dr JoEllyn Prouty McLaren, Director of Cass Executive Education; and Professor Yvonne Hillier, Professor of Education at the University of Brighton, covering topics such as development of executive education and the future of lifelong learning.

The afternoon workshops, hosted by the conference organisers, received fantastic delegate participation, and revealed common issues faced with CPD programmes in various institutions, including marketing, administration and international CPD. The workshops aimed to find solutions to challenges highlighted by delegates, but the recurring themes illustrated the need for future CPD conferences.

The conference was “very useful from both a professional knowledge-enhancing perspective, as well as from a networking perspective,” said one delegate.

Bill Richardson, Manager of CPD Programmes at City, University of London, and one of the CPD Forum organisers, said “the forum materialised initially through a need for London higher education institutions (HEIs) to engage and share experiences and best practice for delivering CPD and short course programmes. We are delighted that our mutual interests now extend beyond London and we were extremely please to welcome a wide variety of institutions from across the UK.

“We hope that this is the start of an annual event, bringing all professionals together to transform the future delivery of CPD programmes.”

Former business student opens pet accessories shop in Covent Garden

April 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

By Taro Takeuchi

Until June 2013 I had an office job working for a theatre ticketing agency but I always knew that I wanted to start my own business.

I chose City because a friend of mine did a ‘Starting up in Business’ course here a few years ago. Since then she has opened her own cake shop called Cuckoo’s Bakery in Edinburgh and it is doing really well.

So I thought, why not, and got myself onto the same course and I wasn’t disappointed. In ten weeks I learnt a lot. The course is really condensed and focused. There is an understanding that you cannot learn everything about starting up a business in 20 hours but Kulan Mills, the course tutor, gave me the base from which to start thinking seriously about what I wanted to achieve as a business owner.

My original business idea has changed dramatically as a result of attending the course. At first, perhaps naively, I wanted to open an old-fashioned sweet shop but Kulan got me to consider profit margins and helped me realise that my sales volume would have to be huge to make any kind of profit.

So I started thinking what I am passionate about and realised that I love dogs and know a great deal about them, so I decided to open a dogs’ accessories shop.

My store is called Bow Wow London and it’s in the heart of fashionable Covent Garden.

I am still in touch with Kulan and sometime come to speak to his students as a guest lecturer. I always tell them that being a business owner is hard work. It requires bravery, passion, conviction and a lot of investment, both in terms of time and money. But it really pays off when you get it right. For the first time in my life, I feel pride and satisfaction every minute that I am in my shop. I look forward to coming to work and I don’t mind doing my accounts or tweaking the website when I get home at night. It is truly a 24/7 job but I love it.

Was I born an entrepreneur? I guess so. Was I born a successful entrepreneur? Time will tell. I think I have a natural flair for marketing but the Bow Wow London brand is still very young. I’d like to give it a year before I can say that my first business venture has really worked. So far so good though, shop has been doing really well and is certainly going in the right direction!

Starting Up in Business is one of the many business and management short courses we offer at City. For updates on all our courses and events follow us @cityshortcourses.

Business founder credits digital marketing masterclass for improved performance

April 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

By Rav Roopra

At City I took the Integrated Digital Marketing masterclass – a three-day intensive course on practical digital marketing.

Customer education is a key part of what we do at Stubble and Strife. We want to ensure that customers get access to the best advice, information and curated products in the UK. To do this we need to be easy to find on the web. I was therefore keen to learn the key components and strategies in digital marketing.

Choosing City, University of London as a short course provider was a natural decision for Stubble and Strife. The company has strong links with City: one of the co-founders is a Cass Business School alumna. We have also had the support of City graduates. We recognise that there’s a large pool of expertise at City, especially in design, marketing and technology, which complement what we are doing at Stubble and Strife.

For the masterclass City teamed up with dynamic digital marketing agency, MintTwist, who delivered the course content. I was very impressed with the expertise of the speakers, as well as the actionable insights designed to deliver results. Victoria Lennon, MintTwist’s marketing director, is an exceptional tutor, very experienced in her subject area and willing to share her up-to-the minute knowledge of digital marketing strategies and technologies.

Our study group was very diverse, with students coming from a large range of disciplines and backgrounds, which helped to bring different perspectives to the course.

I have already implemented a number of strategies we picked up at the masterclass and the business is seeing improvements in results. I have also brought this new knowledge into our technology and marketing roadmap for the future. It might be too early to measure the impact but initial returns look promising.

As a founder, I want to take Stubble and Strife from a start-up venture to a fully-fledged omni-channel retail business, tying the latest bricks and mortar retail technology together with online convenience, data analysis and digital marketing. I believe that the knowledge I gained at City will be a significant aid in this process.

Rav Roopra is the founder of Stubble and Strife, an expert retailer of shave, beard, moustache and skincare products.

For more on our business and management short courses visit our home page. Or follow our twitter updates @cityshortcourses.

 

Newer posts

Categories

© 2024 City Short Courses

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

Skip to toolbar