It’s been a busy week for the blog, with the most views so far to date. Below are the top 3 posts by view count:

1. How Much Money Do I Need To Start My Own Business – This one always seems to be popular
2. Do You Close The Door – A post from earlier in the week about home working
3. Turn Your Talent into A Business (review) – A review of one of the latest books from Brightword Publishing. Lots of helpful advice for new businesses

As ever, if you would like me to write about anything in particular or would like to write a guest post for the site, please get in touch.

A short while ago I wrote a review about The Small Business Guide to Apps which is an e-book available from Brightword Publishing. Shortly after they asked me if I would like to read and review another one of their books; Turn Your Talent into a Business by Emma Jones, which I was more than happy to do….

I didn’t really know what to expect with this book; I’ve read other books by Emma Jones and found them very helpful and to-the-point. What I was not expecting was a 260 page book to land on the doormat (it is also available as an e-book). The book has 10 chapters which walk you through all aspects of earning a living from your hobby:

1. Making the move from hobby to business
2. I’m Off
3. The must-dos
4. Create the perfect work environment & top tech tips
5. Starting on a budget and basic financial planning
6. Selling
7. Make some noise!
8. Putting on a professional face
9. Happy customers and a balanced business – a recipe for success
10. Grow the business without outgrowing home

As you would expect some topics are covered in a lot more detail that others, but all of that detail is relevant. The book includes a lot of case studies on people who have turned their hobby into a successful business, whilst these are all craft-type hobbies (the book has been written in partnership with Country Living Magazine) the content can be applied to almost every business. Each case study will give you valuable tips about how to start out in business from people who have been there and done it.

Sometimes business books can be hard to read, but this one is very easy and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can read through it. If you are thinking of starting your own business this book will be a very enjoyable read for you. All the information you need to be able to start on your own is included within the 260 pages, along with some fantastic advice about how to conduct your business affairs and what to do if you need any help.

Whilst it is more geared towards craft hobbies the content does not focus too strongly on crafts, which makes the book ideal for anyone. There is a lot of content about how to sell your product/service and promote your business to let people know that you exist, which is vital for small businesses – chapters 6 and 7 make up nearly half of the book.

The book costs £12.99 (£9.74 at the time of writing this) and the e-book is available for £5.00 (£4.25 at the time of writing this) and both represent excellent value for money. If you don’t mind not having a real book to flick through the e-book is a bargain.

Whilst this book gives you all the information and knowledge to successfully make the leap from hobby to business, it won’t make profits for you. You will still have to do the hard work and make your business a success. Fortunately there is a lot of help on hand for start-ups at the moment, meaning it has never been easier to turn your talent into a business.

What are you waiting for?

 

Today’s blog topic was to write about a good book that I have read recently. Whilst I could list endless fiction books that I’ve read, most people probably wont care for them and will lose interest! So below is the link to another blog post I made over the Xmas period about a great book aimed at giving you some advice and guidance should you decide that your business needs an App.

The Small Business Guide to Apps

It’s a book well worth buying as it gives you a great insight into what you can expect and need to think about, and if at the end of it an App isn’t what your business needs you’ve only wasted a small sum compared to the costs you would incur developing an App.

 

I am a massive fan of Twitter and find it very useful for keeping up to date with all the latest news and events, but more importantly, connecting and engaging with other twitter users.

What is the point of signing up to twitter and not communicate with other people who are using it?

From hashtags, @replies, lists, searches, feeds there is so much you can do with twitter and get a lot out of it…if you know how to maximise it’s potential.

Someone who has maximised it’s potential is Mark Shaw. If you want to know how to use Twitter effectively follow him at all costs.

He has also written a book called ‘Twitter Your Business‘ which guides you through all the various aspects of Twitter to get you up and running. You can purchase this book fby clicking on the below image. If you are serious about using Twitter, this book is worth every penny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a world which is becoming more and more dominated by smartphones and tablet PC’s many businesses are turning to Apps to enhance their brand image and also gain/retain more customers in the process.

There are many questions and problems which are associated with developing and creating an app, some of which you may not even have thought of. This new e-book written by David Howell and published by Brightword Publishing is aimed at arming you with more information about the process involved with creating an app. Be aware that this IS NOT a book that will tell you how to create an app.

The E-book is availble from the Brightword Publishing website for the very reasonable price of £5 (currently on offer at £4.25 as of 28/12/11) and covers several topics from the birth of Apps right through to how to price your app once it has been created. The book is 74 pages long and broken down into 8 chapters (below) and will take a couple of hours to read through. I found that it was better to split my reading time over a couple of sessions to enable me to take in all the information.

CHAPTERS

1. There’s an App for That
2. The Business of Apps
3. Mobile Payments and M-Commerce
4. How to Create and App for Your Business
5. Choosing Your Platform(s) and Building Your App
6. Building and App – Case Study
7. Marketing Your App
8. How to Price Your App

Each chapter gives you plenty of facts and information to enable you to decide whether your business really needs an App. There isn’t any ‘waffle’ to pad out the book, you can be sure that when you buy the book it is worth the money. If you decide that an App isn’t what your business needs right now, the £5 spent on the book is better than hundreds or thousands spent on developing a redundant app.

From my own point of view I never realised how much goes into creating an App and this book has been a real eye opener for me. The case studies in the book just go to show that if your business does need an app, it can benefit massively.

If after reading the book you decide that your business will benefit from an App there are lots of links within the text of websites/companies that will be able to help you. One thing that is crystal clear from this book is that, unless your App is very specialised or very niche, it is very difficult to make a lot of money from it when the development costs are taken into consideration. The developer of Angry Birds (Rovio) had made over 50 failed games before they struck gold.

In my opinion, if you are even remotely considering creating an App for your business this book is well worth the small investment and time taken to read it. You are left in no doubt about what is needed to create an App.