3 Ways SMEs Can Maximise Online Marketing With no Additional Spend

There are around 58.6million internet users in the United Kingdom. Accounting for around 90 per cent of the population, it makes online marketing one of the most compelling activities to reach new customers.

With this in mind, here are three tried, tested and proven ways that any SME in any industry can reach more potential customers online without any additional spend, other than time, of course.

Embrace Twitter

Do you use Twitter? If so, how quickly is your following growing, and do you see any meaningful engagement? Popular automotive publication, Car Waffle, were able to double up on their Twitter following, hitting 31,000 followers and almost one million Tweet impressions a month in just three months, and crucially, without any spend.

In addition, their Twitter account is currently growing at rate of 5,000 followers per month, and as their audience grows, their rate of growth increases too. They also drive a whopping 10,500 link clicks every month.

What’s most interesting is the fact that if you too were able to drive this number of link clicks and the traffic only converted at a rate of 0.5 per cent – which is rather modest – it would account for 52 sales, web enquiries or email subscribers, depending on what your goal was.

That’s a fairly big deal considering Twitter is just one of many social networking platforms out there. Harness the power of others and social media alone could drive hundreds of additional conversions month in month out.

How did they do it?

Timing – Naturally it’s best to tweet when your audience is online and you can use a free tool such as Manage Flitter in order to determine this.

In addition, Twitter engagement for brands is 17 per cent higher on weekends, so if you don’t tweet on a Saturday and Sunday – which most brands don’t – you’re missing out on tons of extra engagement.

Images – Research shows that Tweets containing images will generally receive twice as much engagement. This is because the human brain can process images 60,000 times quicker than text. With Twitter’s new multi-image upload tool you can now add up to four per tweet, though one will usually suffice.

Links – Using the Bitly link shortener can make a tweet look far more visually pleasing than simply pasting in a full URL string, thus increasing the likelihood of it being retweeted. Using a link shortener also frees up more characters for you to be able to deliver your message.

Hash Tags – Use them, but use them sparingly; talking at an Expo just the other day, Georgina Parnell from Twitter said she recommends using a combination of no more than two blue elements per tweet (i.e. links, Twitter handles and hash tags).

Engage – Failing to engage with your audience by way of replying to their comments, tweets or mentions is one of the worst things you can do. Even if you don’t have time to reply to them all, you should reply to some.

Run Competitions

Let’s face it, everybody likes a good competition, right? Of course they do; however, most of us will only ever enter a competition if the prize is extremely relevant to our interests, or a lump of cash, naturally.

Although there are exceptions to the norm such as the online community of serial competition entrants, or ‘compers’ as they’ve become known. These individuals are often willing to take surveys, subscribe to mailing lists and engage via social media indiscriminately in exchange for the opportunity to win a prize.

Harnessing this community can produce an enormous boost in traffic, almost instantly. Just look at the graph below which Stoneacre Motor Group agreed to share, it shows an almost doubling of traffic to their website. Visits rose from 3,000 visits to 6,000 shortly after they announced a competition to win VIP tickets to an open air concert featuring One Direction.

However, it’s not all about traffic; a competition can be run with the aim of driving email subscribers too. Parenting blogs have proved to be particularly good at this with some adding over 10,000 email subscribers from a single competition.

Another good example is CCF, who set out to conduct a car tax disk survey and used a competition in order to drive participation, offering £100 worth of high street vouchers to one lucky winner. This resulted in 850 entries, email subscribers and completed surveys.

How do you get the most out of an online competition?

Make it simple

The more barriers you place between a visitor and your competition, the fewer entries you will receive. Competitions that perform best are those that simply require a retweet or a comment. As a general rule of thumb, try to keep the number of required actions to a maximum of two and if you ask people to enter by joining your mailing list don’t ask for too much information, a name and email address should suffice.

Harness your existing audience

If you already have a large number of email subscribers use them to drive additional engagement. The chances are they will be on social media and the average Facebook user has around 130 friends and the average Twitter user, 127 followers. By encouraging them to like, share or tweet your competition, you can very quickly spread the word to a much larger audience.

Competition Forums

There are literally dozens of online competition platforms. Most allow you to submit a competition for free. In addition, you can add a massive boost via paid competition platforms such as myukcompetitions.co.uk, who will guarantee 1,000+ genuine entries. They do this by promoting your competition to their list of 10,000 email subscribers, but a minimum prize value of £500 is required.

Here’s some of the best free to submit competition platforms:

Money Saving Expert – forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Loquax – loquax.co.uk

Twitaculous – twitaculous.com

Use Emojis

Emoji is Britain’s fastest growing language, according to Professor Evans and the research he conducted in conjunction with Talk Talk Mobile.

The research found that 8-in-10 of us use emojis when we communicate; that amounts to huge potential for businesses willing to communicate in this way, and though some may see it as unprofessional, many have already introduced its use across their digital marketing campaigns.

As far back as 2012, Experian analysed some of these businesses, 56 per cent of which reported an increase in open-rates when symbols such as emojis were included in the subject line of emails. In other research, a simple snowman symbol was shown to lift open-rates to a staggering 65.72 per cent. Considering the average email open-rate for business is 21.59 per cent and eCommerce just 16.89 per cent, that’s a pretty impressive result.

However, the use of emojis to enhance engagement stretches much further than just email campaigns. Examples of emojis being used across other marketing channels include the case of tennis player Andy Murray, who tweeted about his entire wedding day in a single tweet made up of 51 emojis; this earned him a staggering 13,848 retweets and 29,500 favourites.

In addition, some marketing executives have begun using emojis in their page titles which then show up in Google Search.

How to use emojis

Finding emojis – There are a number of online resources that list all available emojis one of the best by far is getemoji.com, as it allows you to quickly and easily copy & paste the emojis that you wish to use.

Where to use – Emojis can be used in status updates on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as well as in email subject lines and web page titles that show up in Google Search, and even in printed material.

How many – According to software engineer Thomas Dimson, almost half of all comments and captions on Instagram are made up of emojis and it seems the more you use, the more engagement you get. However, for use in email subject lines a maximum of five seems to work best. For Google Search no more than three is advised.

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Free Trips to Silicon Valley for Tech-Focused Irish Startups

DCU Ryan Academy and Welcome are looking for 7 top Irish startups to win 7 great prizes…

Free trip to Silicon Valley

First up is a FREE trip (including travel) to Silicon Valley for 2 tech-focused Irish startups followed by an EU Roadshow giving your startup the opportunity to meet investors, corporates and international media.

You’ll spend 3 weeks in Silicon Valley at the Mind the Bridge Startup School to immerse your company into the Silicon Valley tech community. And when you get back – you’ll visit 4 EU cities – Milan, Berlin, Madrid and Salamanca and pitch your startup to leading members of their tech ecosystems.

Applications are via f6s and close Sunday 5th July so apply now!

2 major European tech events

Next up we are offering Europass places to 3 lucky startups. Winning companies will attend 2 major European tech events for FREE (including travel) – events like South Summit, Madrid in September and Slush, Helsinki in November.

Applications will open soon and close before the end of July. Keep an eye on our Twitter account for more info.

Special Silicon Valley Package

Last but not least, if you are a later stage tech startup (raised €50k+) we are offering a Silicon Valley package tailored for you.

We’re looking for 2 Irish startups to join our partners Mind the Bridge for a week in Silicon Valley where you will pitch, network and attend the MTB Startup School as well as taking part in European Innovation Day – a unique event designed to expose European startups to American investors. Startups will need to fund their own travel to Silicon Valley (for this trip only) but the value of the prize is €5,000 per startup.

Applications are open now via f6s until 20th July.

All of these initiatives are supported by the Welcome Project – a Startup Europe Initiative and funded by the European Commission.

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How Well Do You Sell?

Conversions are the end product; no way, we can avoid that argument. The question though is not of how to convert: it is of how well can you convert. Converting well is an art, like any kind of well executed business process. But how does one recognize, measure or otherwise gauge how are they faring in this tricky art? If you have bones about the fact that digital marketing does work in as much complication then that’s one topic you can always research more on. The complication for marketers today is not getting conversions done, it’s knowing whether their customers are going home happy or not.

Selling online is easy, selling well is not. Selling well can mean two things really, either your products or services are being sold in tens and hundreds daily or your customer becomes happy with you and you have a constant stream of revenue from a few possible customers. The rest of the gritty details are what we can refer to as extras which can enhance or sometimes destabilize our working flows. As a marketer though, you want to be able to realize what these details are because they can further help us in optimizing the conversion part of our sales campaign.

PR campaigns

Lot of the marketers around the optimization niche recognizes PR as the kind of pivot which a business must adopt in order to establish a more concrete selling policy. PR has taken a new turn though because while readers love blogs where the writers and admins take effort to answer each individual comment, the mass of the building has gone to the social media. Answering the tweets, retweeting the important ones and updating information regularly not only promotes your written article, it also builds positive value for the audience.

Using CTAs

Calls to actions have been around since marketing itself. In fact, it’s debatable as to what came first. Digitally, your one good CTA can make quite a difference in how well you convert your leads to sales or subscription. Remember how performable increase their revenue by 21% just by changing the color of the CTA button.

What surprises people often about CTAs though is how often they can easily end up creating a lot of leads for their websites but no actual conversions, which brings me to the next part of my equation.

Feedback tools

Chat software and heat maps serve an integral part of this conversation. Each serve a different purpose in terms of the data they give and yet the data they end up presenting serves to be equally important. The key driving action behind feedback is improvement. Any feedback you get from your customers can give you a better chance to improve your site’s action. Plus, with tools like live chat and heatmaps you can literally drive your traffic to the point of active conversions. The key highlight is to always note the driving motivator behind your high performing site areas though and then work on the rest of your site according to your findings.

How do you put all this together?

Marketing is a composition game at the end of the day. I can give out a thousand tools and share insights by a thousand gurus but the key to any successful marketing campaign is composition. Your content, your collateral and your website have to make impact, period.

Impact however is only the beginning, once the traffic comes in the thousands and once the content gets read by even more that’s the stage where you need to accurately sum up what you have been doing with the traffic.

As it is though, selling is an art of common sense. Cater to the needs and requirements of the audience and that’s your branding done, go the extra step with their needs and they convert.

Rocket Science? It’s not but then the many variances and complications within it make it fascinating and determine the good marketers from the exceptional ones.

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How These 4 Companies Made a Successful Comeback

Many big companies that have filed for Chapter 11 or been the brink of bankruptcy have been able to take incredible steps to organize hugely successful comebacks. The decisions made by company leadership during times of crisis and during restructuring have been crucial to the companies’ comebacks and provide critical lessons for businesses looking to transform challenges into opportunities for growth and improvement.

Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs orchestrated one of the best-known company comebacks for Apple, Inc. He negotiated a deal with Microsoft in 1997 that saved the company from bankruptcy with a $150 million investment and updated the Mac version of Microsoft Office. Jobs studied the organization and implemented a change management strategy that propelled Apple into developing cutting-edge technology for more than a decade.

Instead of banking on the success of the late 1990s, Jobs looked ahead. He connected the iPod, iPhone, and iTunes Store to open new markets that would change the way we interact with our personal technology and media. One of the keys to his success was good project and change management strategy. Change was part of his strategy from the beginning until the end. He adopted change as part of the company’s success. With excellent organizational consulting firms like Ruota Consulting, specializing in helping companies face challenges, companies can develop and pursue successful change management strategies like what Steve Jobs put in place for Apple.

Continental and United Airlines

Continental Airlines suffered two bankruptcies, one in 1983 and the other 1990. Though it continued to operate flights, thanks to the Bankruptcy Protection Law, the airline struggled into the 2000s. In 2002, United Airlines faced bankruptcy as well. The two airlines commenced negotiations of a merger that would pool together their resources and hopefully minimize the damages of bankruptcy. This merger finally took place officially in 2010, and the two became United Continental Holdings. By 2015, United Continental Holdings had become the 345^th largest company in the world, according to Forbes Global 2000 ratings.

Marvel Worldwide, Inc.

Marvel entered bankruptcy in 1996, as it became clear that comic books were a dying medium. Though instead of allowing the company to join the ranks of forgotten heroes, the company’s leadership did a serious self-evaluation during this crisis and made critical decisions based on this assessment. Years later these good decisions paid off, with the company carrying a $4 billion price tag when Disney Company acquired it in 2009.

The key to Marvel’s comeback success was looking inward and carefully and accurately evaluating the strengths of the company. Marvel’s core business strengths included a highly loyal customer base, powerful brand, thousands of widely known characters, and even thousands more already-proven successful stories. Its executives keenly identified that profitability in a digital entertainment industry would come from proprietary content and banking on high-paying repeatable formulas for the digital medium. Today, Marvel is a movie giant, and its stories and characters are essential elements of popular culture.

Trump Entertainment Resorts

Donald Trump companies have bankrupted four times. Each bankruptcy though has provided an opportunity for Trump’s companies to restructure and improve their financial position. Trump has also lost the great majority of ownership and been forced to resign. However, this too is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s hard to fix mistakes with the same leadership. Change is not always bad, and with an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion dollars in June 2015, according to Forbes, it’s clear that Trump is not bad off after multiple bankruptcies and losing influence in his company.

Companies should always act responsibly in managing their resources. However, sometimes crises are unavoidable, and can bring on needed change. These moments provide critical opportunities for good leadership to take hold and effect changes that will put the company in a better situation down the road. A company that takes the time to recognize these opportunities, equip itself with support, and develop plans for change can actually come out of a financial challenge like bankruptcy even stronger than before.

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How Will The New Companies Act Affect Businesses In Ireland

The long awaited Consolidated Companies Bill that came into force on the 1^st June 2015 has affected huge numbers of businesses throughout Ireland. The new law essentially consolidates the existing Companies Acts of 1963-2013 into a single piece of legislation that requires business owners to make a number of changes over the next 18 months.

It’s the largest reform of company law in over 50 years and is intended to make the process of registering and operating a business in Ireland easier. Some of the key changes include:

The creation of two types of Private Limited Company

Any business currently registered as a Private Limited Company (PrC) will have to decide between one of two new options.

Private Company Limited by Shares (LTD)

Expected to be used by corporations, under the new law an LTD company requires:

Only one director as long as they’re a member of the EU and over eighteen years of age.

If a LTD company has one director it must appoint a separate company secretary that can either be an individual, or a corporate body. If you chose an individual, this cannot be the same person who fulfills the role of director.

A new LTD company will have “Limited” after its name.

Previously, businesses had to state their business objectives in the Memorandum and Articles of Association document. This will be replaced by a single document (commonly referred to as the “constitution”) and businesses will no longer be required to state their objectives to the government.

The omission of the objects clause allows the company to trade in any lawful business or activity.

Companies are no longer required to hold an Annual General Meeting.

May pass written resolutions by the relevant majority.

Designated Activity Company (DAC)

Certain companies are expected to become a DAC including charities, management companies, regulated financial institutions and companies limited by guarantee.

You must have at least 2 directors both over the age of eighteen.

All DAC companies (except charities) will require a change of title that includes Designated Activity Company at the end of the company name.

A DAC must still hold Annual General Meetings.

Companies will have a two-page constitution that states the objects for which the company is incorporated.

A DAC can claim eligibility for an audit exemption.

Codification of Directors

To clearly outline responsibilities, under the new law there are now eight principle duties that all directors must adhere to:

Act in good faith.
Act honestly and responsibly.
Act in accordance with the company’s constitution.
Not to use company property unless approved by the constitution.
Not to fetter discretion unless permitted by the constitution.
To avoid conflicts of interest.
To exercise care skill and diligence.
To have regard for the interests of members as well as employees.

For anyone found to be breaking the new laws, fines will range from €5,000 – €500,000 depending on the severity of the offence.

Loans to and from Directors

The rules surrounding loans to and from a director has also been amended. If there is no appropriate documentation surrounding the terms of the loans, the following will be presumed:

Loans to a director will be subject to interest and repayable on demand.

Loans from a director will not be considered a loan and won’t bear any interest.

Foreign Companies

For foreign companies with a presence in Ireland, the new Companies Act has abandoned the concept of “place of business” cancelling the registration numbers of any existing business.

For foreign companies that meet certain requirements you may want to consider registering the business as a branch.

There will be an 18-month transition period from the 1^st June 2015 and any company failing to act within this timeframe will automatically be deemed to be a DAC during the transition period, and a LTD after the transition deadline. Failure to convert to the appropriate company type may cause legal issues for the company, shareholders and directors.

This post was written by Open A European Company.com. Helping entrepreneurs, startups and businesses with company incorporation and formation in Ireland and the rest of Europe.

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Business Attire: Dressing Like You Mean Business

A lot of businesses tend to have dress codes for their employees. This is particularly true in industries where image-building is a necessary part of the success strategy, and jobs which involve regular face-to-face interaction with customers.

If you run a business and would like to set a dress code for your employees to adopt, then you need to ensure that it is reasonable and in keeping with the type of work involved. That should make it easy to implement.

A restrictive or an excessively detailed dress code can not only make it difficult for employees to adhere to it, it may also make them want to rebel. Also, if the dress code is unclear and vaguely defined, the employees can take undue liberties with it and conveniently transfer the blame on the lack of specificity in the details of the dress code.

It is crucial for an organization, that its employees come to work in proper business attire as it helps set the tone for the rest of the day. Studies have shown that the way employees dress at work goes a long way in determining their productivity. According to these studies, the level of alertness takes a hit when employees dress casually.

As per Dr. Karen Pine, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and fashion psychologist, “When we put on an item of clothing it is common for the wearer to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. A lot of clothing has symbolic meaning for us, whether it’s ‘professional work attire’ or ‘relaxing weekend wear’, so when we put it on we prime the brain to behave in ways consistent with that meaning.”

Most responsible organizations make it a point to bar the following type of clothing –

Garments with offensive and/or intolerant prints or words
Tank tops, halter tops and/or vests
Tattered clothes
Gym clothes or sports wear
Hats or caps, unless it is employee-issued headgear

When deciding the dress code, organizations need to ensure that it is –

In keeping with the nature of the job and not based on personal preferences. The dress code should be set in accordance with industry standards and customs.
Sensitive to gender, nationality, race, creed, etc. The dress code should not encourage the treatment of one person less or more favorably than the other.

Here’s why having set office attire is important.

1. It Conveys Company’s Expectations Accurately

It is important to set clear guidelines and policies with regards to the workplace attire will go a long way in lessening uncertainty among employees.

If your employees are inclined towards dressing casually, but you would like them to be more professionally dressed, you will do well to mention this in your workplace guidelines to set clear company expectations and leave no room for doubts. The workplace today is culturally diverse and the office attire should underpin your policies on diversity and workplace inclusion.

2. Helps Make the Right Impression

Having set guidelines about office attire can be highly instrumental in shaping the image you want your organization to project. Asking employees to dress formally can be extremely beneficial for a startup that wants to look more established and professional.

The way in which you and your employees appear to the rest of the world can help immensely in setting the kind of impression you want to make. Apart from that, you can use the workplace attire to create a more progressive image of your company.

3. Bring a Culture of Professionalism

Many a time, a company’s dress code can help increase the pride that the employees have of being a part of it. A professional appearance can give rise to more professional attitudes and behaviors, and this will reflect in every aspect of your business, thereby lending your organization a more refined demeanor. For instance, tailored suits can work well in offices occupied by male employees holding higher ranks. Formal shirts and a pair of trousers/skirts or a formal dress in a solid color could make for the perfect dress code for female staff.

4. Influence Your Customers

A set workplace dress code can help you make customers see your business in a favorable light. This can work wonders if you regularly host client meetings in the office, or conduct face-to-face interaction with your customers on a daily basis. Having an appropriate, industry-specific dress code can inspire trust and ensure that your customers view your business as the preferred organization.

5. Convenience to Employees

If you haven’t had a dress code so far, putting one in place may cause a few employees to cringe initially. But, it may actually turn out to be more convenient for them in the long term because it will make every day dressing and grooming very specific and hence, there will be less (or no) second guessing involved. They will no longer have to worry if they’re over or under-dressed for work. All they will need to do is stick to the dress code.

6. Sense of Consistency

When all your employees abide by the set standards of the dress code, it will create not only an atmosphere and a culture of professionalism, but also a sense of visual consistency. Apart from that, a dress code also acts as a familiar thread that binds the employees together and work unitedly, thereby promoting positive team dynamics. This holds particularly true if the dress code is specific about clothes in a certain color, or its different hues.

7. Steering Clear of Unnecessary Trouble

By having a set dress code, your employees can steer clear of making unsuitable dressing decisions which could eventually lead to safety hazards, cause a human resource issue, or a PR disaster. For example, if the workplace is an oil factory, it would make sense to wear anti-slip shoes, helmets and gloves to reduce the risk of slipping and injury. If the workplace is a regular office, the dress code should stipulate certain details such as the minimum hemline length for skirts, and the number of buttons which may be left open in a button-down shirt.

Conclusion

Having a dress code can be helpful, but it is also important to see to it that you convey it well in advance to your employees, so that there is ample time for feedback and modifications. Updating certain aspects of the dress code every few years will ensure easier acceptance and compliance as the code will be fresh and relevant time after time. The above recommendations should help you understand the various nuances of having a proper workplace dress code in place.

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In House Litigation: What Your Company can do to Prepare Your Case

Business in today’s world is often riddled with matters of litigation and legal crossroads. From not abiding by your own sales conditions, to law suits involving intellectual property rights, in-house corporate litigation issues will often require more legal flexibility than exists in an outside legal firm. If your company decides to hire an in house litigation team to prepare your next case, then here are some ways your team will be able to help you out in the right ways.

Proper Communication with outside Legal Entities

If you have to work with outside legal professionals, your in-house litigation team will be a valuable tool to facilitate proper communication with your outside legal interests. This is useful is because your in-house lawyers will be more aware of your corporate business strategies and interests, which is one area where an outside legal entity may be at a disadvantage or lack proper understanding of your business. In this situation, your in-house lawyers will be able to act as a go-between. This helps to ensure that any special outside legal entities you deal with will be able to better understand not only the legal issues involved with your case, but also the business-related aspects of the case as well.

Drafting and Filing Legal Documents

Another way an in-house litigation team will help your company on its next case is by drafting any specialized legal documents you may need. With more than one attorney on your team scrutinizing how things are worded and prepared, this will help any major oversights from occurring in document preparation. In addition, in-house attorneys will also be able to help your company file any legal motions through proper court channels so everything happens when it is supposed to. With your team you can directly oversee the way documents are handled and prepared and make sure all your information is correct.

Specialized Counsel

An important aspect of allowing an in-house attorney prepare your litigation case is that their perspective is obtained from inside the business itself. This means they will have enough of an insight into how your company operates to guide the legal course of action your company should take to secure its best interests. If anything out of the ordinary emerges that requires you seek outside litigation attorneys to augment your in-house team’s efforts, chances are your in-house team will know the best place to turn to obtain the specific type of legal counsel required. They should be able to anticipate where or what to do in a court of law and how your business reputation will be able to handle any blows.

When it comes to preparing for your next case, your in-house litigation team will be an integral key to your success in court. Who better to represent your company in litigation matters than attorneys who deeply grasp how your company does business? Even if things look bleak, experienced in-house attorneys will often be able to better know how to help your company mitigate any losses.

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Sun Life Enterprise & Innovation Awards

Sun Life Financial has worked alongside Waterford Institute of Technology to promote enterprise and innovation among Computing students and this was never more evident than at the fourth annual Sun Life Enterprise & Innovation Awards.

Two outstanding students picked up the annual awards. The Innovation Award for a project that demonstrated uniqueness went to Sophie Renshaw from Charleville, Co Cork for her project ‘Deploying Openstack on Small Scale Architecture’.

The Enterprise Award for a project that demonstrated commercial potential went to Samuel Haycock from Clonmel, Co Tipperary for his QRLang project, allowing for complete games to be coded into a QR code.

Competition for the two awards was fierce with 20 projects submitted from a pool of final year honours undergraduate projects. Ten finalists invited to showcase their projects at an exhibition at Sun Life’s newly refurbished office in Waterford.

Following the exhibition, David Healy, Senior Vice President Client and Technology Services, SLF, United States, presented Sophie and Samuel each with a prize of €1,000.

Commenting at the ceremony, David Healy said, “The level of innovation and application of technology I have seen here today is outstanding and it’s only through innovation and idea generation that the global economy will continue to grow. It is really important for Sun Life to maintain and develop our links w ith colleges such as WIT. I would like to congratulate WIT for the quality of students and projects we have seen here today and reiterate our commitment to nurture this type of innovation at the Institute. I’m looking forward to being part of this event again next year.”

Professor Willie Donnelly, President of WIT and founder of the globally renowned ICT research centre TSSG congratulated Sun Life on its courageous decision to set up in Waterford 16 years ago which has had immeasurable benefits for the city and the wider south east.

Prof Donnelly went on to say that “the institute and Sun Life have forged a deep relationship founded on strong synergies and mutual goals. Our two organisations have collaborated on multiple levels over the years at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The Masters in Communications developed collectively by WIT and Sun Life defines the industry-academic collaboration at the heart of what a technological university is about. At the centre of the programme is the concept of academic responsiveness building on the institute’s excellence in teaching and research to deliver regional economic impact.”

Karen Burns, General Manager Sun Life Waterford remarked on the standard and quality of the projects as ‘outstanding’.

Outside of these awards, Sun Life has a long standing relationship with the institute with 60% of the workforce having studied on undergraduate or postgraduate courses at some point in their career.

The successful finalists were: Samuel Haycock, Sophie Renshaw, Tony Finn, Stephen Long, Jamie Hegarty, David Ryan, Jamie Moore, Daniel Treyvaud, Eamonn Ryan and Seán Bray.

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Ellvena Graham is a Winner at WXN 2015

Ellvena Graham was among twenty five female business leaders who were honoured at this years WXN Most Powerful Women event in the Intercontinental Hotel, Dublin on 11^th June 2015. The award was a very fitting tribute for Ellvena who has recently retired from Ulster Bank after a 33 year career. Nominees were judged under a host of different headings: career accomplishments, vision and leadership and corporate performance. Other winners on the night included Anne O’Leary, CEO Vodafone, Siobhan Talbot Group Managing Director, Glanbia and Julie Sinnamon CEO Enterprise Ireland. Cathriona Hallahan, MD, Microsoft Ireland was inducted into the Hall of fame, having been in the Top 25 on two previous occasions. Over 400 Business Leaders from across the country attended the gala event which was preceded by a day long business summit. Ellvena was joined on the night by a number of her Ulster Bank colleagues to celebrate her success.

Ellvena Graham is a winner at WXN 2015

WXN was founded in Canada in 1997 and today is Canada’s leading organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of women in management, executive, professional and board roles. The organization has 17,500 members in Canada and Ireland has 2,500 members. WXN is launching in London in September this year and it is hoped that this chapter will generate more cross channel business and opportunity for WXN members.

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Structuring Success: Steps for Setting Up a Business Partnership

Going into business? You’ll want to know about various types of partnerships and the ways of setting up a business partnership in the UK.

Choosing a Name

Choosing a name is one of the harder aspects of setting up a business. Trade names are usually protected as intellectual property, so make sure you’re not infringing on someone else’s property rights when you name your company.

If you’re going into business with someone else, choose a nominated partner and register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The nominated partner is responsible for managing the partnerships tax returns and keeping records.

Setting Up a Business Partnership: Shop As An Entity

There are several ways to set up shop as a partnership. You can choose:

Ordinary Business Partnership

This is the most basic type of partnership which is similar to a sole trader entity. When you set up an ordinary partnership, you are responsible for any losses your business make, bills for things you or your partner buys, and any and all taxes on income.

The partnership will also have to register for VAT if you expect takings of more than £82,000 per year.

Limited Liability Partnerships

LLPs are incorporated entities that are run by 2 or more members. A member can be a company or a person. Each member pays tax on their share of any profits in the company. However, they are not personally liable for the debts of the business.

To form this type of company, you will need to designate at least two members, have a registered address which is publicly available, make an LLP agreement, and register with the Companies House.

Limited Partnerships

A limited partnership or LP has at least one general partner and one limited partner. These legal entities allow for both legal entities and persons to serve as partners, but you must have a registered address, appoint at least 2 partners, and register with the Companies House. All partners pay tax on their share of the profits and, like an LLP, liability for business debts is limited.

Dissolving The Business

No one likes to think it will happen to their company, but many businesses eventually dissolve. If your partner leaves you with a pile of debt, you may be forced to use a company like Claims Direct to recover the funds.

If you leave your partner, but you don’t pay off your share of the debts, your partner may pursue you for payment. In either case, both of you are equally responsible for the business.

You must file dissolution documents to formally end the company.

Any taxes that are due must be paid in the year that they are earned, regardless of whether the business operates for the full year or not. So, for example, if you earned money this year, but you dissolved the business before December, you must still pay tax on any shared profits you generated from business activities during the year.

If you do not, the government may pursue you for payment of those debts.

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