Sydney Small Business Expo Seminar Program

Fire up your business - locally!

South West (Liverpool) September 16

The program is repeated each day. Except for the 9.00am Keynote Presentation, there are two 30minute seminars presented, concurrently, each hour of the Expo. Check out which seminars, below, you would like to attend, and then click on this link to register :- www.thebrew.com.au/Sydney/delegate_registration

09.00 - 09.30

Keynote Presentation: The Sling Shot Effect

David Wilson

Coming out of Recession and the “Sling Shot Effect “ to your Business

In this Expo Keynote presentation David Wilson, expert business coach, will demonstrate to you how with a little planning and knowledge you can “Sling Shot Your Business’ to the front of the pack and make up for lost opportunity in 2009

10.00 - 10.30

Managing and motivating the 8 personality types within your business

Glenn Dobson, The Kona Group

Are your people doing their best, or doing what they are best at?

All around Australia one of the greatest mistakes business owners make is that they put people into jobs and hope that they will work out. Time and time again this approach is doomed to failure. So how do you know what type of role are your people best suited to? How do you know if you are really motivating them? If you are not achieving the results you need, how do you know if you have the right balance within your team?

In this amazing workshop you will get a true insight into what makes your people 'tick'. Also, while as a business owner you have to wear several hats, what role should you be focussing on to drive and secure the business

10.00 - 10.30

Getting your customers to pay

Marianne Wichman, Attache Software Australia

This informative 30 minute presentation will explain just why it's essential in today's tough economic climate for SMEs to have a sound debtors reduction strategy. Keeping your debtor days to a minimum so that you can increase your working capital doesn't have to involve the much disliked debt collection call. We can do better than that, and maintain your customer relationship at the same time!

Included in this session will be a discussion of the many subtle ways of ensuring your customers pay their accounts in as timely a fashion as possible, by, if not before your due date. And best of all, almost all techniques discussed can be automated, meaning less stress for your business, and more money in your hands!

11.00 - 11.30

Government Assistance for you Business

Presented by Government representatives

Are you puzzled about what financial and non financial assistance is available to your business? Are you not sure where to start finding the right information to get assistance from the Government?

Well this seminar will demystify how State and Federal Governments can assist your business to grow further. You will be provided with an overview of where to start looking for assistance, what is available and how to apply. You will also be able to talk directly with representatives from the State and Federal Governments. Not only will you walk away with a clear direction of where to go for assistance but as a bonus you will also have received sound advice on growing your business.

11.00 - 11.30

Social Media for small business

Nett magazine

“Marketing is a conversation”, famously said The Cluetrain Manifesto ten years ago. The idea that businesses need to shift towards interactive two-way conversations instead of preaching promotional messages is increasingly important in a world where the users now control the web. Twitter, Facebook, blogs and more are no longer time-wasting leisure activities but are increasingly the best places to engage with consumers on their terms. This seminar presents why social media is so important to the future of online marketing and why you should care.

12.00 - 12.30

Managing your cash flow

David Wilson, Business Coach

The subject of cash flow management is misunderstood by most small business owners The purpose of this seminar is to give the individual business owner an initial understanding of the systems and processes required to affectively manage their cash flow to ensure that their business obtains the highest level of return on investment.

The presentation will address 5 common themes

1. Loans – their application and sourcing

2. Bank overdrafts and the use of this facility in comparison to loans

3. Vendor funding to include two components: (1) financing, lease, and chattel mortgages and commercial hire purchase agreements (2) Debtor and Creditor management (the most misunderstood source and application of funds for small business).

4. Self Funding – the use of funds by the proprietor and how they can safe guard the investment in their business; the advantages and disadvantages of self funding a business compared with the other options

5. Debt to Equity – this is an introduction to the use of venture capital and partnership funding in the business

12.00 - 12.30

30 Ways to Stay Afloat in challenging times

Debra Templar, The Templar Group

Times aren't necessarily tough but they are challenging. Even if you keep your business on the up and up, you are working with customers or suppliers who may be in trouble.

In this fast passed action packed session Debra Templar will take you through 30 sure fire tactics to apply to your business, now, to help you through the times ahead.

1.00 - 1.30

Positioning your business and what you sell

John Jocys, Enterprise and Training Company

Correctly positioning your business can increase sales and profits.

This practical workshop will allow participants to work on their business. You will analyse your product/service positioning relevant to your customers and your competitors. We will create clarity around your company capabilities to give you a competitive advantage. This will increase your marketing effectiveness and sales results.

This is a practical workshop. You will leave with a document that will clearly outline the positioning of your business, in the market in which you compete.

1.00 - 1.30

Best practice advertising for small business

Denise Shrivell, Consult DS & MediaScope - Reach Beyond Mainstream

The changing and fragmenting media landscape means small businesses have more advertising options than ever before. What are the best ones? Denise will help you make decisions for your business by looking at current market trends and forecasts and an overview of some traditional and emerging media channels. She will share some insights on developing an advertising strategy which can be easily applied to your business - and then how to maximise return on your advertising investment.

2.00 - 2.30

Search Engine Optimisation

Netregistry

How can you make sure that you are easily found online - and you jump to the head of your competitors? There are benign spiders at the centre of the world wide web, capable of directly influencing the success or failure of your online business. These search engine spiders can dramatically change how you appear in the search engines and therefore how many potential customers find your website. Learn how the search engines can drive vastly increased traffic to your business and how to positively influence the spiders

2.00 - 2.30

Gen Wars - restoring harmony in the workplace

Dennis Hall, Direct Dialogue

Today’s workplace often resembles a battlefield, with three different generations struggling to deal with each other – Baby Boomers, Gen X and, most recently, Gen Y - all competing with each other to be understood and to have their needs met. Unfortunately, for most businesses, this results in lost productivity and higher operating costs (to say nothing of frayed nerves and blown tempers) – but it doesn’t have to be this way!

In his “Gen Wars” presentation, Dennis Hall – a corporate communications specialist – will demonstrate how to deal with this conflict and restore harmony to your workplace. In just 30 minutes you will gain a better understanding of what contributes to these conflicts, what the different generations expect and need and how to apply this to your environment.

If you have ever been frustrated by the attitudes and behaviours of those older or younger than you in your workplace, you can’t afford to miss this information packed session!

3.00 - 3.30

Local Area Marketing

Debra Templar, The Templar Group

With times getting tougher, small businesses are finding it harder and harder to compete. Many small business owners are asking themselves "How do I 'tough-times-proof' my business?" The answer is: Make marketing your first priority!

Marketing drives your business. During tough times, it can be the difference between closing down or weathering the storm and being a super success. Your best business years could be during tough times!

It's during the difficult times that you learn how to stretch your marketing dollar, to make the most of your marketing investment. It's during times like these that you learn new and innovative marketing techniques that help your business thrive.

Join Debra for a half hour of local marketing tactics that you can immediately apply to your business.

3.00 - 3.30

Managing Change: Who moved my cheese?

Graeme Marks, Sound Training Solutions

Haven't things changed. In the past 12 months the marketplace, the economy and many of our businesses, have gone through huge changes. Change itself is not a bad thing - in fact it can uncover many new opportunities. But we need to know how to handle change and the emotions that it brins.

In this presentation Graeme will show the “Who Moved My Cheese?” movie and provide discussion around the 4 skills of change:

• Anticipating Change

• Taking Actions Now

• Moving Beyond Fear

• Imaging Real Success

4.00 - 4.30

Effective Networking

Glenn Kirkwood, BNI

"Congratulations on making the decision to join us at “The Brew”. The event promises to be action packed, lots of fun and full of opportunity.

In my work as a Referral Marketing Specialist I know that one of the most challenging aspects of running a small business is being able to get the ATTENTION of your prospective clients. Even more challenging can be developing a system that leads these prospective clients to want to do business with you. By attending this session you gain knowledge on how to

• Understand that networking is about farming than it is hunting

• The 5 different types of referral

• Learn how to become a gate keeper of referrals

• Gain an insight as to how to generate more

• How to develop and put in place a referral generating system

100% of my business comes by referral and I look forward to sharing this knowledge with you"