Results on training/seminar survey carried out by Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

Results on training/seminar survey carried out by DEC

We would just like to thank everyone that took the time to fill out our survey, it is very much appreciated. A new series of training workshops and seminars will now be developed around these needs for our local businesses.

Q1. Do you feel your business could benefit from training in digital tools?

Businesses in our survey feel they could benefit from training in digital tools with 95.1% saying yes and 4.9% saying no.

  Q2. What digital skills would you be interested in developing? (Tick all that apply)

Businesses in our survey predominantly showed an interest in Social networking for their business and online marketing 63.2%.

Other:
LinkedIn x 1
Photoshop x 1
College-studies x 1

Q3. Do you feel your business could benefit from business skills training?

100% of businesses surveyed believed they could benefit from business skills training.

 Q4. What business skills would you be interested in developing? (Tick all that apply)

Time Management and Building Brand Recognition were the most popular business skills amongst the businesses surveyed 47.5%.

Other:
Models for how community/creative orientated projects can be nurtured and interwoven through a profit driven endeavor/business x 1

 Q5. What (Irish based) speaker would you most like to see deliver a seminar?

Doug Richard was the most popular choice amongst businesses 34.0%.

Other:
Michael O’Leary x 1
Richard Branson x 1
Mark Breen x 1
A speaker associated with the organisation business and arts x 1
Hands on Speaker who shows how to apply what they are talking about x 1
A speaker who will talk about a topic that is relavent to our business where we can bring something back to our own business to utilise and benefit from x 1
A speaker with experience of taking an idea from concept through patent to product on shelves x 1

Q6. What areas of business would you most like to see a speaker talk about? (Tick all that apply)

Innovation was the most popular 52.6%

Other:
Any of the above x 1
Getting more local business x 1
Sustainable / eco packaging and green business models x 1
Making room for creativity and ethics within a company x 1

 Q7. How long would you expect these workshops to run for?

Half a day workshops were the most popular with the businesses that we surveyed 57.4%.

Other:
Full Day x 1
Anytime x 1
Main work shop 1/2 day and evening time for lighter topics x 1

Dungarvan Enterprise Centre’s “Lunch with Bill Liao” deemed a huge success

Dungarvan Enterprise Centre’s “Lunch with Bill Liao” deemed a huge success

Last Thursday marked the arrival of Dungarvan Enterprise Centre’s most ambitious event to date. The lunch time seminar with entrepreneur Bill Liao proved to be a huge success amongst all attendees and Dungarvan’s local businesses.

Our guest speaker Bill Liao delivered what was described by many attendees as an “Inspiring” and “Thought Provoking” seminar. Bill touched on a number of subjects such as his own background and rise to prominence in the business world, getting investment, value creation, the key aspects to being a successful entrepreneur and the importance of networking. The speech itself was preceded by an informal buffet lunch where the participants in the seminar could network and we are pleased to announce that a number of exciting new business contacts were created.

The topic of entrepreneurship was something that Bill Liao was keen to discuss as he explained the importance of learning from ones mistakes, “Failure is the number one aspect of entrepreneurialism, it is all about how you handle and learn from failure.” A particularly interesting piece Bill spoke about was a concept that he learnt form Daniel Pink called “The ABC’s of Enterprise and Selling.” In this Bill explained that in order to increase sales one must adopt:

•  Atunement – “Be friendly, polite and increase your listening skills…atunement with investors is very important.”

• Buoyancy – “You want opinions of and interactions with your product to be resilient and positive.”

• Clarity – “More Simple instructions or brand will be chosen over all other cheaper alternatives.”

Bill went on to say that he became the man he is today because of a single question “Imagine handing over fifty grand without suffering any pain or loss. Imagine who you would have to become.” His understanding of the power of networking is something that really shined through in his visit. He made various new contacts and connected the seminars participants with his own contacts. Even during the seminar he promoted a number of businesses he was working with such as Sunzu and Task Messenger. This showed his extraordinary ability to constantly make introductions.

We couldn't be more pleased with the turnout to this event and would like to thank you everyone who came or helped out. Hopefully all our seminars in the future will be as successful as this one!

A Shot of Mags Durand O' Connor, Bill Liao and Anike Tyrell.

A group shot of entrepreneurs networking.

Who is Bill Liao? The entrepreneur and self-made millionaire comes to Dungarvan.

The 16^th of May 2013 marks a very important date in Dungarvan Enterprise Centre’s calendar as Bill Liao, investor, author and member of the entrepreneur hall of fame will be visiting us to give a once off seminar on the digital world.

So who is Bill Liao? Aside from his full time role as venture partner with the highly successful firm SOSventures, Bill Liao is also a founder of charity WeForest.org and co-founder of the innovative business social network XING. In 2011 Bill Liao co-founded the ground breaking Coder Dojo movement in an attempt to teach children how to write computer codes and programs. In relation to the movement he has stated that “Computer programming is a language skill and it needs to be learned young.” At this time Coder Dojo is operating in 22 countries and teaches 10,000 children every week. Bill Liao is also known for his involvement as investor and director in such companies as Silicon Republic, Storyful and many more and from his best-selling book “Stone Soup: The Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing.”

Having Bill Liao come to our Centre is an absolute privilege. Especially as DEC Coder Dojo has been such a success with the young people of Dungarvan. Anike Tyrrell, CEO of Waterford County Enterprise Board noted that “Dungarvan has one of the best fibre optics networks in Ireland and Bill Liao is a huge name in the digital world, his presence in Dungarvan only further pushes the notion that we could transform our town into the digital centre of the south-east.”

Upcoming Workshops

Upcoming Digital Workshops at Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

Online Advertising & Understanding Google AnalyticsHow important is online advertising to my business? Is there a link between advertising online and actual in-store sales? How can I increase the effectiveness and traffic flow to my website? These are key questions for any business from start ups to prehistoric firms, and small local business's to corporate giants. All of these questions will be answered in the first of our upcoming digital workshops. In this workshop you will learn how to understand the mechanics of your website and the power it has to help increase your sales, improve your traffic flow and understand your customer needs, all from their usage of your site. This workshop will be delivered by Darach Cawley of Darock media, an IT expert and programmer who founded bundlebee.ie.
http://darockmedia.com/

Wednesday 10th April, 9:00 - 13:00. Price: €40. To book call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

Getting Sales from the Web

Sales. What could be more important to a business? The customer comes into your place of business, cash is exchanged for your product or service and everyone is happy. But what if there was a way in which you could sell your product or service without your customers seeing the physical product or even setting foot in the door? What would you think if I told you your website could become an interactive shop and not just a dissociated shop front? This idea is not as strange as it sounds. In response to a recent survey completed by local business's we are offering you a chance to learn from the best how you can use your website to generate sales! Online selling is a continuously growing trend and so we wish to use this workshop to teach you how you can get the most out of your website. The following workshop, presented by the founder of bundlebee.ie and IT expert and developer Darach Cawley, will give you the know how to make sales online and transform your website into a professional e-commerce centre.
http://darockmedia.com/

Wednesday 17th April, 9:00 - 13:00. Price: €40. To book call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

Getting Sales from Facebook

Facebook is just another way to promote my business, right? Facebook can never actually make me any money, right? So therefore I should invest little time into running it, right? Wrong! Your business's Facebook page can be so much more than a simple tool to promote your latest offer. Today it has become another weapon in your arsenal of sales devices. Generating actual sales and sending people from your Facebook page to your shop has become a real possibility. Ask yourself, are you using your Facebook to its max? In the third of our upcoming digital workshops you will learn how to make your page profitable, be seen online, and most importantly generate sales for your business. This workshop will be presented by sales professional and social media afficionado Shane Morrisey of Munster Social Media.
https://www.facebook.com/MunsterSocialMedia

Friday 27th April, 9:00 - 13:00. Price: €40. To book call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

Introduction to Video Production with Adobe Premiere and After Effects

Picture this: you are a business planning on increasing your sales or perhaps your market share or maybe you want to diversify your target audience. This is when you decide you need an effective way to market yourself to your new audience or gain a wider reach. You've learnt about the importance and the global effect of viral and video marketing and want to reap these benefits, but where do you begin? This is where Colm Williamson of Waterford Whisper News comes in. In this workshop Colm will teach you how to create your own videos and add effects. By the end of this workshop your business will be capable of releasing your own viral videos. Don't worry if you are not a Steven Spielberg, this is a workshop completely for beginners!
http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/

Wednesday 1st May, 9:00 - 13:00. Price: €40. To book call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

Writing Content for Web Blogging and Online Communication

I know what you're thinking: why should my business get involved in content writing? Blogs just seem like a waste of time, don't they? How can blogging benefit my type of business? These are queries which will be covered thoroughly in our writing content for blogging workshop. The importance of creation of strong content has become more and more relevant to all business's in recent years. A blog is a simple means of getting across your relevant information to customers and fuels SEO. It doesn't have to be time consuming and it isn't relevant to only one type of business over another. As well as this, it creates free PR and is a cost effective marketing strategy, its benefits to a business can be huge! This workshop teaches users how to create high quality content and generate ideas with relative ease. This workshop will be delivered by Colm Williamson of Waterford Whispers News, a content creator and online satirical writer who specialises in generating viral content.

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/

Wednesday 8th May, 9:00 - 13:00. Price: €40. To book call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

To book your place in any of the above workshops call Mags at 058 23598 or email: dungarvanec@gmail.com.

Research on Digital Marketing carried out by Dungarvan Enterprise Centre

Research on Digital Marketing carried out by DEC

Q.1 Businesses in our survey were predominantly Professional Services at 30.6%, followed by retail at 24.5% and Manufacturing and Business Services at 14.3%.  IT businesses had very low representation at 6.1%. This would be a fair representation of businesses in Dungarvan. 

Other (26.5%) included:

Auctioneers & Valuers x 1

Art & Print/Art tutoring x 1

Chiropractic x 1

Accomodation & Training x 2

Letting Property for Regeneration Centre x 1

Sports/Leisure x 2

Tourism(Ralley School) x 1

Online Training x 1

Social Enterprise x 1

Holistic Therapies x 1

Construction x 1

Q.2 Businesses in our survey could benefit from training workshops in the use of digital tools with 89.6% giving a yes response and a 10.4% no response.

Q.3 Businesses in our survey would like training in the following areas with online advertising being the most sought after course requirement followed by getting sales from your wesite 55.3%, understanding google analytics and facebook 46.8%, using apps to get sales 44.7% and building a word press 42.6%.

Other:-
What are cookies What is best system to use Apple/iPhone vs Google / Android x 1
Upskillingin in eMarketing and running a business availing of software packages x 1
MediaTraining/Merchandising			x  1
Choosing the right CRM and implementation x 1
Project Management / SIGMA course FETAG 5/6

Q. 4 There are services we could offer which would make businesses online activity more effective 51% with a yes response and 49% no response.

21 Social Marketing Tips from the Pros

Came across this great article today on socialmediaexaminer.com and had to share.  Here is what they had to say.

1. Attract Leads with Facebook Offers
Amy Porterfield - If your looking for a new way to attract quality leads using social media, try Facebook Offers.

2. Use Social Media To Engage With Your Email Subscribers
Melanie Duncan - The best social media marketing tip I have for businesses is to use social media to engage with your email subscribers.

3. Combine Your Marketing Channels
Brian Carter - My biggest tip is strategic: combine all the best of digital marketing for what I call your "Perpetual (Pro)motion Machine."

4. Create A LinkedIn Company Page
Viveka Von Rosen - If you don't have a company Page up on LinkedIn yet, what are you waiting for?  LinkedIn Company Pages are not only a great way to get more branding for your business, but they are also an excellent way to reach your target market on LinkedIn.

5. Identify your Outcomes
Ric Dragon - When we talk about the best thing to do in social media marketing for any given business, we have to begin with what that business is trying to achieve - its "desired outcomes."

6. Become The Wikipedia of Your Industry
Marcus Sheridan: We have all grown incredibly impatient online and it's for this reason that the best social media strategy any company can take in 2013 and beyond is to become a true teacher (Wikipedia) within their industry.  The golden rule of marketing is this:- 

They ask, you answer.

7. Meet In Person or "Virtually Connect"

Andrea Vahl - Either by organizing a "Meetup" of "Tweetup" with a group, going to be a conference (such as Social Media Marketing World) where I know the people I wanted to meet would be or even just connecting one-on-one through Skype.  I highly recommend you take some of these online connections offline to make a deeper connection.

8.Ask Your Audience Anything
Pat Flynn - Ask.  Plain and simple - just ask.  Ask anything. Why?  Because when you ask the audience something, you give them permission to speak.  When it comes to social media, you want to do two things: engage and get people involved.

9.Like Your Customers On Facebook
Instead of asking your consumers to like your brand on Facebook, why don't you start liking them?

10. Listen First and Never Stop Listening
Dave Kerpen - Listening to your customers across social media is most important.

11. Move from Social Like to Social Trust
John Jantsch - Create and Share valuable content with no gate or requirement.  Then offer those readers even more content when they like your page or visit a landing page to sign up for more updates.

12. Secure Your Brand & Product Names
Justin Levy - Its critical that you secure your brand and product names on all major social media channels.  This is as important as the deomain name you choose for your company.

13. Find Your Content Marketing Mission
Joe Pulizzi - If you can get your mission statement straight, you'll make social media marketing that much easier for yourself.

14. Listen 100% Of The Time
Sarah Robinson - The best social media marketing advice I can offer is this: Talk about yourself 10% of the time, engage with others about what matters to them 90% of the time and listen 100% of the time.

15. Create A Systematic Approach
Stephanie Sammons - Developing a system that is focused on high-impact social media marketing activities while spending the least amount of time possible allows you to be a consistent and efficient marketer.  Consistency builds trust and efficiency lowers your marketing costs.

16. Create Your Voice
Niall Schaffer - Of all the companies I consult with, the one social media marketing tip this is always part of my advice is the importance of blogging.

17. Share Content That Resonates With Your Audience
Jesse Stay - The best tip I have to offer for social media marketing is to stick to your passions!

18. Exchange Contact Information
Paul Colligan: Just as you exchange phone numbers or email addresses (with some people) at any social event, you should, and want to, consider doing the same thing on any social network you want to be part of.

19. Distribute Your Blog Content to the Most Popular Groups on Linkedin
Michael Crosson - It is easy to gain very valuable distribution of your content to some of the 200,000,000 members of LinkedIn.

20. Integrate Social Media Best Practices
Carrie Kerpen - The most important social media marketing tip for business is to integrate, integrate, integrate. Social media can't exist in a silo.  Instead it should be a core part of your strategy.

21. Focus On Getting Attention First
Aaron Kahlow - If I had to boil it down to one social marketing tip, it is to focus on the marketing element.  We are marketers, we need to get some movement beyond buzz and really drive progress.  In that vein, my tip is to focus on getting attention FIRST.

Read the full article here http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/21-social-media-marketing-tips-from-the-pros/

Video Killed the Radio Star - Is Your Business Communicating Effectively?

Video Killed the Radio Star - Is Your Business Communicating Effectively?

As part of its drive to promote and encourage digital advancement in Co. Waterford, Dungarvan Enterprise Centre is embracing online video.  The centre is offering professional video production for businesses in Co Waterford who wish to take the next step in online communication.

"There are several benefits to using online video", says mags Durand O'Connor, "you can build instant rapport with your audience, you put a face to your business, you can demonstrate your creativity, your product and your expertise. Moreover, you can build your brand, create virality for your communications and ultimately increase traffic to your website".

According to research conducted by Online Publishers Assoiation (OPA), around 46% of people who watch online video take some action.  Roughly 22% of viewers visited the website relating to the add, while 26% looked for more information, 15% visited the company and 12% purchased that specific product.  Other online research demonstrates that 52% of consumers say that product videos help them to make purchase decisions, while 66% of consumers watch videos twice or more.  Website and blog visitors who view online vidoes are 85% more likely to buy and videos have been proven to boost website sales conversion rates by 9%.  With proper optimisation, a web video increases the chance of a front page Google position by 53%.

"These stats speak volumes for themselves", states Mags, "so we feel it is important that local businesses reap the benefits of online video."  Dungarvan Enterprise Centre is currently gathering names of interested businesses for their online video offering, if there is sufficient interest, the centre in association with Waterford County Enterprise Board, will offer subsidised filming days at the centre.  If you are a local business and think you could benefit from online video give Mags a call at 058 23598.