5 Tips To Make 2012 Your Best Year Yet

Greetings Dear Readers

By now you are already into the New Year and some of you might still be thinking
what should I do this year?   What are my goals for this year?

Here are 5 Tips to Get You Started.

1.  Do What You Love Doing


Sounds simple does it not.  Most of us find ourselves in a job that pays the rent
and we move from day to day, week to week and before you know it life is over.
What if you decided to start doing the work you love doing.  What do yo love doing?
Think about what kind of work you would love to do and then go and pursue it.
Pretty soon you will become a huge success and the bonus is you will never work a
day in your life because you love what you are doing.

2.  Set 12 Goals


Keep it simple this year and just try to achieve 12 goals this year.  One goal
for each month.  If the goal is a huge one like buying a house or car then break
it down into mini-goals and keep going at it till you achieve it.  Keep your eyes on the prize
and avoid all the negativity.

3.  Surround yourself with positive people


If you want have a great year this year then surround yourself with positive happy people.
No need to be around people who bring you down everyday or people who complain
or people who are negative and give you huge stress.  So just surround yourself with
positive people.

4.  Keep a journal


Get yourself a nice journal and each day write something in it.  Write down your goals in it as well.
Write anything and you will be amazed what pops up like wonderful business ideas, venting, beautiful writing, idea's for a book and the list goes on and on but keep writing in that journal.

5.  Visualize those goals


Now it does not help to just have goals you have to visualize them as well and see it
in your mind, if it's a house, where is it?  What does it look like?  If you are serious
about it then you will know exactly what the inside looks like and keep moving
towards it and one day you will be sitting in that house going Yes!


Bonus Tip For Writers


If you want to write a book this year all you have to write down is this

My goal this year is to publish one book!


Trust me it works :)


Fly high, Fly free


Fred Felton
Social Media Strategist & Speaker & Author
FalconsCove
A Digital Media Agency
email: falconscove@gmail.com
twitter: @fredfelton

What Are You Waiting For?

Good day Readers.

This week we have an interesting topic.

What Are You Waiting For?

Well, dear reader, what are you waiting for?

Are you sitting there in your boring job wondering what you are doing there?
Do you have some sort of talent, something that you are good at?
Well, what are you waiting for?  What's stopping you?
Make a plan and go to it.  Focus on your talent and start doing what you love doing.
Whether it is acting or starting up that advertising business or even writing that book.
Get cracking and work on making that dream a reality.

Here are 5 tips to get you started.

1.  What are you good at?
The first thing to work on is to discover what you are good at?
What one thing could you do for no money?  What is easy for you to do?
What comes naturally to you? What do you love doing?  Answer that and
you are on the way.

2.  Formulate a plan.
Now that you have discovered what you love doing form a plan to succeed.
Work on achieving certain goals in 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

3.  Surround yourself with positive people.
When you start out you will always find people who will say you will not succeed.
So instead only surround yourself with positive people who will help you on your way.

4.  Find a mentor.
Find a mentor who is a success in your chosen career path.  Meet with them weekly or monthly
if you can and pick their brains ask all the advice you need and bounce idea's off them and listen to
what they have to say.

5.  Focus.
Focus on your chosen path and let nothing stop you from achieving what you want to do.

Well, what are you waiting for?


Fly High, Fly Free


Fred Felton
Speaker - Social Media Consultant
Falcon's Cove
A Digital Media Agency
cell: 076-977-5788
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email or call to book Fred for a talk or seminar.

Join our Facebook Fan Page -  Mr Motivator

The Good side of Social Media

Greetings Readers this week I have an interesting blog entry on Social Media.
Enjoy.

This week has been an interesting one in the World.  In particular England.
We have seen how some people have managed to get together using social media sites
and messaging apps for the intention of causing a riot.

Not a very good use of social media.

However social media is just a implement and you can use it for good or for bad.
On the other side of the coin you have some wonderful Tweeps who have setup a twitter
account called @riotcleanup

This resulted in many people getting together to clean up the mess caused by the riots.

So do yourself a favour and use social media for good.  These people did.

Fly high, Fly free

Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
'Social Media Is Our Business'
Speaker - Social Media Marketing & Training
email: falconscove@gmail.com
cell: 076-977-5788

Call or email to book Fred for a talk or social media seminar

Book Review Coffee at Little Angels

Welcome Dear Reader

I have been asked to review a new book 'Coffee at Little Angels.'

So sit back and enjoy this review and a little info on the Author Nadine Rose Larter.

Coffee at Little Angels has possibly one of the best opening lines I have read in a long time.  Straight away it sets you up for an enjoyable read.  It is written in a fresh style and is such a wonderful book.  It's wonderful to see a new South African Writer on the scene.  Watch out for this one She is going places.

Coffee at Little Angels is set in a placeless setting so that it is suitable for any location in the world.
You are introduced to Phillip, Sarah, Kaitlyn, Caleb, Maxine, Grant, Melanie and Josh who were all school mates.  A tragedy reunites them together and they return to meet each other again.   The author examines how  they deal with death and their own ignored demons.   These friends try to rekindle their friendship and have a reunion of sorts.

Everyone has had a band of school friends so everyone will relate to this book.

Wonderfully written with a surprise around every corner.  The perfect book for any season. I can see many people curled up by the fireside reading it or sitting in a corner of the balcony enjoying a summer day.
You can be sure there will be many people taking this book with them on holiday.  The perfect beach read and the perfect holiday book.

And just what does Little Angels stand for?  Ah to find that out, you will have to read the book.

A very impressive read.

Now let's learn a bit more about the Author shall we.

Nadine Rose Larter was born in a small South African town called Molteno in the heart of the Karoo.
After High School she moved to Port Elizabeth where she stays with her son, fiance and two step children.
She describes herself as a free-spirit, she spends most of her days writing or thinking about writing.

She has always been writing from poems and short stories when she was young to diaries later on in her life.
She chose to self-publish this book simply because she felt like taking control of her own future.
Nadine wrote Coffee at Little Angels after a high school friend of her's died in a car accident.

She wrote the book with no proper nouns or full names or town names so that anybody who picks it up
can identify with it.

Nadine writes regularly on these websites:

Passing the Open Windows
http://www.passingtheopenwindows.co.za

The Katalina Playroom
http://katalina.co.za

The Poetry Project
http://www.thepoetryproject.co.za

The Writers Club
http://www.thewritersclub.co.za

Details of the book and where you can get it:

Title: Coffee at Little Angels
Author:  Nadine Rose Larter

Official launch date: Late August 2011 for print copy

Ebook copy available on The Katalina Playroom Website: http://katalina.co.za/?p=387

Ebook will also be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore and Sony Readerstore

Contact details for Nadine Rose Larter

Twitter:   @nayes1982

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/nayes


Well I hope you enjoyed that book review and a brief insight into Nadine Rose Larter.
Buy her book Coffee at Little Angels why don't you ;)


Fly high, Fly Free


Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
email: falconscove@gmail.com

Speaker - Social Media Consultant - Biz Analyst

Email if you would like to book Fred for one of his Social Media Talks or Training Sessions

One Of The Most Inspiring Videos I have seen

Hello Dear Friends

Today I was at the Hirsch Networking Breakfast and my good friend Warren put up this video which he described as the most motivational video he had seen.  I have to agree.  I'm going to just put it up here
and let you watch it.  Some inspiring stuff.

Fly high, Fly free

Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Speaker - Social Media Consultant - Business Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

call or email to book Fred for one of his Social Media Talks Countrywide.

Interview with Durban Entrepreneur Fiona Wainwright Publisher of Coffee News Bluff & Surrounds

Greetings Bloggers & Readers

Today we are starting a new section where we will be interviewing famous Business Personalities 

from all over.  Look out for some more in the next few months.

For our first one we will be interviewing Fiona Wainwright.

She is a Entrepreneur and Publisher of the Coffee News Bluff & Surrounds Publication.

We asked her 10 questions, let's see what she has to say.  

1.  Where were you born?

 I was born in Sunnyside, Pretoria and lived there for almost 8yrs before moving to sunny Durban and have been here ever since.

2.  What encouraged you to become an entrepreneur?

I was looking for a business that I would be good at, could work from home, set my own hours and still be able to go out and meet new people.  Networking is a big part of a successful business and working for myself allows me the freedom to do a lot of networking and enable me to grow my business successfully.

3.  Tell us about Coffee News?

Wow...... Coffee News has an amazing concept.  It is a free, weekly paper and is a franchise which started in Canada in 1988.  It very quickly spread to all over the world with it being published in 50 countries and in 7 different languages.  We distribute from restaurants, coffee shops, take aways and waiting areas of businesses.  It is the worlds largest restaurant publication.

 

It is printed on an A3 creamy yellow paper, is printed double sided in black only.  Coffee News is entertaining, with amazing facts, interesting trivia, comical stories, horoscopes, competitions and a special "What's Happening" column for local events..... something for everyone.

 

We also advertise solely one business per business category which means that competitors are locked out.

 

4.  Your advice to other entrepreneurs and salespeople in the world

It takes a lot of hard work to start your own business.  The trick is to persevere and stick with it, market yourself properly and widely.  Do not give up because at the end of the day you will reap the benefits of your hard work and make it all worthwhile.  

5.  What do you do for fun and to relax?

It's quite simple actually.  To relax I love going to the beach and watching the sea.  I like taking time out to go for a weekend away to a beach resort or somewhere close to the sea.  The sea is so mesmerizing and washes all ones troubles away.

 

For fun, I love to dance.  It helps to motivate the body and mind to carry on and it's good exercise to.

6. What happens in the day in the life of a publisher of Coffee News 

Each day is different but in a week, I go from putting an edition together, to meeting with prospective advertisers, to networking and compiling adverts, which plays a huge role in a successful Coffee News, as they have to be structured correctly for each business.  Delivering Coffee News to all the distribution outlets is a big part of the week too.  It is great to catch up with all the restaurant and coffee shop owners.  It is very important to have a good relationship with them.  You never know when they will through some business your way.  

7.  Are you a member of any networking groups?  If so which one's?

Yes, I belong to two different networking groups.  On a Tuesday I meet up with the members of our BNI Chapter (Business Networking International) for a breakfast networking meeting.  BNI is an international networking business which helps people grow their businesses through referrals.

I belong to another networking group which is called BBA ( Bluff Business Alliance).  There we also network and pass referrals.  We are also aimed at improving the Bluff, making our status known and helping out the charities on the Bluff.  At the same time we help each other grow their businesses.  With both groups, it is like having breakfast with your friends at the same time as giving each other business or referrals.

8. What makes a good advert?

A good advert is one that stands out and attracts the readers attention.  We do that by using eye catching graphics, a good catch phrase, a solution to their needs and if possible we offer a discount too.

9.  Do you also design adverts and business cards and if so what does that entail?

Yes, I design the adverts myself.  This is where my creative side comes into effect.  I just love being creative and in today's age of technology, it seems this is the way to do it.  It is the same for the business cards that I design as well.  It just gets the creative juices flowing.  The business cards are a side line that I provide which includes designing the business cards and having them printed all at one cost.  Of course, I put together a few drafts of both adverts and the business cards for the client to choose from and once I get the go ahead then I can proceed to complete the job.  It is all very exciting and rewarding.

10.  A little birdie told me you also do photography tell us about your love for photography, what pictures do you take?

Hahaha...... I wonder who told you that? Yes, I love photography.  It is absolutely exhilarating to see what you can capture in a single photo.  I have loved photography since my school days but never followed dream as the equipment at that time was too expensive and you needed your own to take courses in photography.  I have since been able to set myself up with a very good SLR digital camera.

My favorite topics to photograph are wildlife and still photographs.  I love the concepts you can come up with and the amazing colours one can achieve too.  I also enjoy photographing people as there are so many different expressions one can pick up and also so many different angles one can capture too.

Well that was a very interesting interview Readers.  What an inspiring lady.

Well if you need any advertising or business cards you sure know who to call.

Coffee News is also on Facebook so why not visit their Fan Page and Like It 

Just click on the link here -   Coffee News Bluff & Surrounds

Fly high, Fly free

Fred Felton

Falcon's Cove Consulting 

Keynote Speaker - IT Consultant - Biz Analyst

email: falconscove@gmail.com

cell: 076-977-5788

twitter: @fredfelton

email him for one of his Social Networking Seminars or Talks which he does countrywide 

5 Things To Do At A Networking Event

Good evening Bloggers and Readers from a chilly Umhlanga.  At the start of this month
I thought I would give you some networking tips.  I hope you will use them well.

1.  Know what you want to do before you get there


That may sound quite odd but basically what I am saying is before you go to the event you want to
have 3 or 4 people that you want to meet at that meeting.  People that might be able to benefit from your
business.  So at the meeting make sure you meet those 3 or 4 people you wanted to meet.  Don't be the person who just goes to the meeting for the coffee and donuts.

2.  Have your business cards at the ready


I have said it before and I will say it again.  Make sure you have your business cards before you head out.
Get yourself a nice business card holder so when people ask for your card it looks neat and professional.
Always ask for the other persons business card and right down some notes on their business cards.  Right down who they are, where they live, notes you have learnt about them.   How they can help you.

3.  Make sure you go to the right meetings


Over time you will discover which meetings are working for you and which meetings are not.  No point going to a meeting where you are getting no leads.  Avoid meetings that you do not enjoy.   Your aim is to find a networking meeting or group where you have fun and where you enjoy the people who are there.  Also look for one's where they have good speakers.    The best networking meetings are one's where you get referrals.  Make sure you return the favour with those in the network.

4.  Start going to conferences


Now some people are intimidated by conferences.   Some people feel there are too many people there.  However you will be amazed at the people you meet there.   So choose one that you feel might interest you and head off to it.  Start speaking to people, say hello, ask them why they are there.
You will be amazed how this pays off.

5.  Thank the host


One of the mistakes you sometimes make is after the meeting to just speed off to your next business meeting.
Wait.  Are you not forgetting something?  That's right.  The host.   Make sure when the meeting starts you greet them and when the meeting ends you thank them for the meeting.  Send them an email afterwards as well and start to build a relationship with them.


Hope those networking tips help you out when you head off to your next networking meeting.

Fly high, Fly Free

Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Keynote Speaker - IT Consultant - Biz Analyst

Book Fred for one of his Social Media Talks or Workshops Countrywide

5 Exporting Tips

Greetings Bloggers and Readers

This week I was invited to 2 seminars on exporting your product from SA to other countries.
The tips I received were so wonderful and these tips really apply to any country.
Here they are:

Take a look at Africa
All of us want to export to the big countries around the world but if you want to export somewhere why not take a look at Africa.  There are so many wonderful countries up north that are dying for your products.
So take a closer look at Africa they might just need your product.

Invest in Travel
If you want to become a exporter you need to travel.  You need to go see other countries and see exactly what products they need.  You will learn a lot.  You might also find products at a cheaper price in one country, you can bring it back to your country and export it to another country or even sell it in your country for a handsome profit.

Learn the cultural traditions of the country you want to export to.
Make sure you learn the cultures of the countries you are interested in exporting to.  You might just lose a contract because you give them the wrong handshake or take them a gift they consider a insult.

As a businesspeson when you export think about long term growth
As a businessperson try not to do just one export for a quick buck.  Look at settling in for the long term then you will make some good money.

Use your Embassies
A valuable tool out there is your Embassies.  Send the ambassadors your business profiles and what you do and what you sell.   They will in turn go to people who are interested in those services and promote you.
A really valuable tool for you.  When you get to a country they will also be able to point you in the right direction if you need the right business contacts there.

Fly high, Fly free

Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Keynote speaker - IT Consultant - Biz Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a Twitter Talk or talk on Social Media.

5 Tips For Your 30 Second Pitch

Greetings bloggers and readers.

Welcome to another entry.

Today I am focussing on something vital for every business owner.  Your 30 second pitch.

Wait I hear you shouting in the back there.  What's a 30 second pitch?
Here is the quick info.  Your 30 second pitch is basically a quick CV about who you are, the name of your company and what you do.   It's based on a elevator pitch and that is basically if you are in a elevator and a billionaire walks in you have about 30 seconds between the time they step in to the time they leave.
So what do you say to them?

Here are 5 tips to help get you started.  The rest is up to you.  Keep on working on it till it is pitch perfect and fresh and leaves people with a smile on their face.

1.  Be confident
Nothing looks worse than somebody timid and bashful who gets up and immediately looks down and fumbles for words.   Be confident, stand with confidence and look people in the eye.  Speak with a smile.  Tell people who you are, give your name clearly, tell people the name of your company and what service you do.

2. Be clear about what you do
Make sure you tell people exactly what you do.  Are you kind of like a kind of speaker who kind of talks on this and that or are you a keynote speaker who talks on various interesting topics from motivation to business tips to how to network.  Notice the difference?

3. Make sure the name of your company clearly represents what you do.
You will have to work out exactly what service you do and make sure your company name clearly states what you do so when people hear it they know what you do.  No sense having a company called
ABC Business if you do Business plans.  However ABC Business Plans tells me you do business plans.

4. Have a clever catch phrase
Work on a quirky catch phrase for your business and try work it in at the end of your 30 second pitch.
You just have to look at the big corporates to look at catchphrases that work.  Work on yours and maybe even throw in some humour.  If someone smiles they will remember you and your company.

5.  Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
Keep working on that pitch, even while driving in the car, it will give you something to do.  Record it.
How does it sound?  Improve on it so that it sounds impressive.

Now let's put this all together.
The idea is to have everything come together.

So an ideal 30 second pitch would be something like this.

Hi There, My Name is Fred Felton, I am from the company ABC Speakers.   I am a keynote speaker and do talks on interesting topics such as motivation, social networking and business tips.   That's Fred Felton from ABC Speakers.   Your speaker of choice.

Now that is just a sample but I'm sure you could improve on that.

Your homework is to work on your 30 second pitch for your business.   You can use them in networking meetings or if you happen to be in a elevator and the richest man in the world steps in.  

Fly high, Fly free.





Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Keynote Speaker & IT Consultant & Biz Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

5 Tips To Market Your Brand or Company

Greetings bloggers and readers.

Welcome to another entry in my blog.

Today I am discussing marketing your brand or company.  Ok so you have started that company or launched that brand.  What now?  How are you going to get that name out there?  Here are 5 tips to help you get started.

1.  Have a business card.
The first step is to print some business cards.  You should probably have the basics on it such as the logo of your company or brand.  The company name.  Your name and position in the company.  Your contact details.  Address, mobile number, twitter username, website, email address.  You could also add something that I saw @PlumberDurban from twitter do.  He has added his BBM pin onto his biz card.  Something new to try maybe.   Hand out those business cards at the networking meetings you go to.

2.  Have a online presence
This can include such things as a twitter page, a facebook page, a profile on linkedin.  Join the groups on linkedin and ask questions on them and respond to questions.

3.  Setup a website
You can even setup a basic website with just the major details of you business and contact details.  Perhaps add Google Places to it as well.

4.  Write a blog
You need to be active in the blogosphere and try to write a blog at least twice a week on useful topics.
Start interacting with other bloggers and building a presence in the cyberworld.

5.  Newsletters and Ads
You can even look at sending out weekly or montly email newsletters and taking out adverts in community newspapers.  Start advertising where your target market will be looking.

Well hope those tips help you out with your business.   Wish you all continued success.

Fly high, Fly free




Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker & Social Media Consultant & Biz Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for a motivational talk or Social Media talk.

5 Tips On What To Do With Business Contacts

Greetings bloggers and readers welcome to another entry.

So you have all those business cards and don't know what to do with them now what?

Here are 5 tips to help you use those contacts to get you big business.

1.  Find those business cards.
Yes we have all done it, been to the conference swopped business cards, come back to the office and dropped the business cards in the inbox or desk drawers.  Now is the time to go find them all, you might even find notes you scribbled on them for business ideas.   Sort them out and setup a business database of contacts or clients or prospects, call it what you want.   Add their names, addresses, emails, telephone numbers and schedule times to call them and setup meetings.

2.  Categorize your contacts.
Some of your contacts might not be able to help you but they may be able to help other business contacts you know.  Make sure you know who does what and remember it the next time you are at a meeting with someone.

3.  Email them newsletters.
Email your contacts and ask them if you can send them your free newsletters and add them to your database of newsletter subscribers.   Keep them in the loop with your sales or specials.

4.  Remember their important dates.
It's always a nice touch to send your contacts a card or greeting for important dates in their lives such as birthdays or anniversaries or religious days that are important to them.

5.  Keep in touch.
Stay in touch with your contacts and meet regularly with them for a coffee.  You never know they just might be able to put you in touch with that billion dollar contact.


Fly high, Fly free


Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Motivational Speaker & Biz Analyst & IT Consultant
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for a talk or to help you with your social media brand.

5 Tips On How To Run A Bank

Greetings bloggers and readers.  Welcome to another entry in my blog.
Today I am giving some advice to banks.   These are big companies and sometimes they need some help.
By the way this advice works for any company that is in the business of having queues.

Today I visited two banks back to back and noticed some interesting things.  It was the beginning of the month and after a long holiday there was a huge backlog.

Here are some tips to improve your services:

1.  Open more tellers.
The floor manager should be keeping an eye on the what is happening in the main section of the bank.  If they notice that the queue is going over 5 or 10 people new tellers should open.  Simple as that.

2.  Staff should not close when there are long queues.
Nothing irks a customer more when they have been waiting in a long queue to see one till just close.  Keep working to clear the backlog.  Simple.

3.  Have a staff member at the front to assist clients.
It helps when you have a staff member at the front of the queue who greets you with a smile and directs you to the nearest teller.

4.  Consider having different branches for different clients.
Banks should also consider having a separate branch for business clients and  a separate branch for private clients or separate sections for these two types of clients.

5.  Always remember that the customer is always right.
If a customer has to wait for long periods of time and pay huge amounts of bank charges they will very quickly close their accounts and move to banks that look after them.


Fly high, Fly free



Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Motivational Speaker & Biz Analyst & IT Consultant
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for one of his talks on Twitter or Social Networking or Blogging.

5 Tips On How To Run A Coffee Shop

Greetings bloggers and readers.

Welcome to another entry in my blog.

Today I am focusing on some tips on how to run a coffee shop.   This weekend I was up the
North Coast and was having breakfast at a fairly popular coffee shop.   It was pretty busy and I couldn't help noticing the management and how they looked after their customers.

Here are the tips I noticed.

1.  Always be watching your staff.
Keep an eye on your staff and see that they are constantly serving customers and helping customers out.
Make sure they are kept busy clearing tables and getting bills for customers.

2.  Always be watching your customers.
Make sure they are always enjoying their experience.  Check that they get their meals.  If necessary lend a hand and clear tables if your staff are busy.   Clean the tables if need be.

3.  Have a chat with your customers.
It always pays to go up to each table and chat to your customers.  Ask if everything is satisfactory.  Find out if they are on holiday.   Make sure they enjoy their experience at your coffee shop.

4.  Make sure the customer leaves happy.
If you feel that the customer has waited too long for their meal give them something free on the house such as a free slice of cake.   Make sure they leave with a smile.

5.  Check the bills.
Make sure each table gets the right bill.  Always ensure the correct amounts are billed.
Ensure your staff are kept motivated and happy.

The most important thing is that your customer leaves happy.  If they leave happy they will be telling their friends and you will be getting more and more customers.

Fly High, Fly Free


Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker & IT Consultant & Biz Consultant
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for a talk or seminar.

10 Tips For Small Business Owners

Greetings readers and bloggers.

Welcome to another entry in my blog.

Today I focuss on small business owners.   Here are some tips that can help you
become more productive with your business.

1.  Use the diary in your cellphone.
Most cellphones today have diaries in them and you can sync your main diary with it and schedule your meetings on the go. If you have a blackberry it will even tell you the time you have available during the day.  This is most valuable as a business owner because time is precious and you have to use it as best you can each day creatively.  

2.  Market your business.
When you are starting out you are going to have to shove your business name down peoples throats.
That means branding your car on the sides and even the back.   When people sit in 2 hour traffic jams and stare at the car in front of them they just might see a business they need.  

3.  Give out those business cards.
Design some catchy business cards and give them out wherever you go, at networking events, conferences, coffee shops, wherever you go.   They should clearly display your name, position, company, what you do, contact details, email, website, twitter username and maybe even your blog.

4.  Advertise your business.
You will have to start advertising your business as well.  That means advertising in publications or newspapers that your target market reads.   If you have a small budget you can even advertise on free sites on the internet and place ads on the internet.   Use your blog or website to advertise too.

5.  Start a email newsletter.
Work on a simple email newsletter that you can send out to clients and potential clients.  Get their permission and then email it to them weekly or monthly filled with tips that can help them and then offer your services.   This is a proven sales strategy.

6.  How do you answer the phone?
Well, how do you?  Is it,  Hi.  or Ya or Hello (long pause as you wait if any telemarketer is going to hit you with a sales pitch for some new mobile phone.)    Make sure that you treat each call as a potential sales call and when you answer your phone remember that you represent your business.   So something good would be 'Hello, This Is John Smith from ABC Cleaners how can I help you?'

7.  Use your invoices as sales options.
When you send out your invoices to clients don't forget to send out any new specials you have or new services you are providing.

8.  Inbox, Outbox.
Make sure you keep a clean office and that means as bills or receipts or admin comes in it is handled promptly and filed in the right folders.

9.   Email tips.
Have a good email address which represents your company name.   Make sure you also have a good email signature at the end of your email with all your contact details and maybe a special you are running.  File your emails in folders such as action, to do, next week, next month, clients.   Set up whatever folders you want but just make sure you know what your system is and clear it monthly.

10.  Network, network, network.
Attend as many networking events as you can from business meetings to conferences to exhibits.
They will help you out and meet new people, find out what they do, get interested in what they do and get a business card and give yours and in a day or two email them to set up a coffee meeting.  Take it from there.


Well hope those tips help you out in your business and it leads to making your small business a big business  :)

Contact me if you would like me to come by and show you more business tips.


Fly high, Fly Free


Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker & Biz Analyst & IT Consultant
Falcon's Cove Consulting
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email us to book Fred for a motivational talk or a talk on how to use Twitter for business.

What are you willing to do?

Welcome readers and bloggers to another entry in my blog.

Today we discuss 'What are you willing to do?'

Well dear reader what are you willing to do to succeed?
I get asked this all the time, what is the secret to success?
Well it takes long hours of working and networking.  It requires the discipline to do that extra work
or study for that other course while other people are out having a party or going for drinks.
It requires networking every week at least for 6 hours a week.

It also requires following up and setting up databases for your clients.
Then you have to make sure you send them newsletters and remind them of your specials.
Sometimes you even have to work weekends to succeed.

You have to be ready so that when somebody asks for your services you can help them instead of
going out and watching a movie.

You have to be in tune with the world so that you can see the opportunity and use it to succeed.
Surround yourself with positive people and the success will come.

It's only a matter of time.

Fly high, Fly free


Fred Felton
MC & Voice Over Artist & Motivational Speaker
Biz Analyst
IT Consultant

email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a seminar or talk.
now also taking bookings for talks on Twitter for your business.

10 Websites Worth Checking Out

Good day bloggers and readers.

Today I thought I would introduce you to 10 Websites that are worth checking out.
I have included links to them so you can click on the link from my blog.

Okay, let's get started.

1.  Crowdbooster

A wonderful site if you use social networking sites like Twitter.  It gives you fantastic stats on your
tweets and tells you when it is best to send them out.  It even sends you emails on what is working and what is not with your tweets.  Fantastic.

2.  Mediafire

A superb site for file hosting or uploading files onto the internet.   Wonderful if you can't send huge files as email attachements.  You just upload to this site and send the link in a email.  You can also share the link with social network sites.   Also a wonderful site if you want to back up important documents.  They are saved forever in your account on the site.  No more backing up every day or week or month.

3.  Garfield

Need a laugh.  It's always good to read Garfield's comic strip.  Loads of fun stuff on here and even
e-cards to send to friends and family.   a great site.

4.  Polldaddy

A good site if you need a poll or need to take a survey.  The wonderful part about it is it integrates
with your wordpress site if you are running a blog.  

5.  Fiverr

An interesting site.  People offering work and offering to do work for $5.   Lots of different work as well.
Integrates with Facebook as well.

6.  Twittervision

A wondeful site.  Someday this might replace television.  If you have nothing to do take a look at this site.  It shows you all the tweets from around the world and integrates the world map first.  Fantastic site.  It's amazing what different people from around the world tweet about and tweetpic about.

7.  Author Central From Amazon

A excellent site brought to you by Amazon.  This site is perfect for author's who have books for sale on amazon.  It helps with sales, stats and keeping in touch with fans.  A wonderful site to promote your work and upload your bio and useful info for readers.  You can also tell your fans where next you will be for book launces, events, readings etc.   A great service from Amazon.  Every writer should integrate this into their site.

8.  A word a day

A good site for you to increase your vocabulary.  Sign up for the email and you get a new word everyday and it also shows you where the word originated and interesting facts on it.  Marvellous.

9.  Poets Pages

An interesting site if you like publishing your own poetry and networking with some other poets from around the world.   Sign up and upload your poems.

10.  Tumblr

I think this site might be the next big thing.  Part blog, part messaging site, part writing site, part photo site.
A very simple site and so easy to use.  Lots of people use it as a blog, some for messages, some to show their artworks.  So what are you waiting for.  Jump right in.

Well that's 10 websites that should keep you busy.  Hope you enjoy them.

Fly high, Fly free



Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker & IT Consultant & Biz Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for a talk or seminar.

10 Writing Tips

So you want to do some writing or write that book.  Here are 10 tips designed to get you writing.

1.  Start it.

So you wanted to write that book about that idea you had in your head.  Well sit down and write it.

It's going to stay in your head till you sit down and write it.   No sense thinking and ruminating and asking others for their opinions.  Write it.

2.  Read a lot, Write a lot -  Stephen King.

Yes the master of writing gave this advice.  You have to read a great deal of books and write a lot.

Sit down and write everyday as much as you can.

3.  Set up a schedule.

Every morning try this schedule.   Wake up and do some sort of exercise like going to gym or jogging.  Have your breakfast and then write from 9am - 4pm.   With a break in between for lunch.   Keep writing till you have completed that book or poem or short story.

4.  Enter competitions.

This is a wonderful way to get noticed and get a publishing deal.  Keep your eyes open for short story competitions or competitions for novels.   These are wonderful because they have  deadlines and they force you to write towards a deadline.  

5.  Get opinions.

Once you have finished your first draft show it to your family and friends and a editor.  Get as much opinion as you can and if necessary do some changes to make it better.

6.  Get it out there.

When you have finished it send it off to as many publishers as you can.   Sometimes you might have to send it off to 100 publishers just to get your foot in the door.  Keep at it.  Persistence pays off.

7.  The self-publishing option.

You might also consider publishing it yourself and finding a printer to print it for you.   Arrange with a bookshop to have your launch there.   Advertise it in the papers, invite the press and your friends and people who might be interested in the book.   Do the same sort of launch around the country and even internationally.

8.  E-books

Another option is to publish it as an e-book.   Sites like amazon.com let you convert your book easily to be read on the kindle device.    Sites like tinypay.me are wonderful in that you can set up your own little bookshop and sell your books online 24/7.

9.  Use social networking to market it.

In this day and age of twitter, facebook, linkedin, myspace and other social networking sites you can use these to market your books and network with publishers, writers and your fans.   Market your book daily on these sites, offer writing tips and keep marketing your books.

10.  Persistence pays off.

Keep at it.   You can only write what you know.  So write about your experiences in life.   Everyone has a wonderful story in them.   Observe people, you learn a lot.    Read the great writers and keep writing.

Wishing you all the best.    

Hope to see your book on the bestseller list soon :)

Fly high, Fly Free

Fred Felton

Motivational Speaker & Author & IT Consultant & Biz Analyst

email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a talk or seminar countrywide.

What is it that drives you?

Good day bloggers and readers.

Welcome to another entry in my blog.

What is it that drives you?    Why do you get up every morning and do what you do?
Are you one of the lucky few that gets up every day and loves what they do?

Or are you one of the many who just does a job just so that you can cover the rent and expenses.
Do you sit in your office wondering what you are doing on this planet?
Are you just counting the hours till home town?

Do you remember way back to when you were in school and the teacher asked you what you
wanted  to be when you grew up?   Remember how your eyes lit up and you thought of being
a movie star or doctor or architect or whatever it is your dream was.

Perhaps it's time to sit down with yourself and see where you are in life.
Are you happy doing what you are doing for a career?

Perhaps it's time to follow your life calling and go after that dream.
Set some goals for this year, 5 years and 10 years and set about chasing your dream.

Fantastic things can happen when you do what you love doing.


Fly high, Fly Free



Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker - Biz Analyst - IT Consultant
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a talk or seminar on motivation, twitter or marketing online.

10 Ways To Give A Good Talk

Greetings readers, bloggers and guests.

Welcome to another blog entry.

Today  I was at a talk and it was quite well presented.  It reminded me of all the good ways one can present a talk.   As I do talks all over I am reminded of the best tips.   Talks are wonderful ways to get your brand or product out there.  You can get the attention of many people for about 30 minutes.   They will be focussed on you and what you have to say.    If you are thinking of giving a talk here are 10 tips that can help you.

1.  Start with a great topic.  People will be attracted to something that is popular at the moment eg networking, crm, social networks, marketing, how to topics.  

2.  Dress the part - if you represent an important brand then make sure you look neat and presentable.

3.  If you are going to have a power point presentation make sure you have a laptop and correct cables to connect to the Television and sound system.  Test it all beforehand.

4.  The week before rehearse your speech each day so that it is neat and polished.   Practice your voice so that you can be clearly heard.

5.  It's always good to throw in a joke now and again.

6.  Make sure you have some lucky giveaways and make sure your brand is on the packet.   Pop your business card in the packet.

7.  Make sure each table or chair has your business card and promo material on it.

8.  Get all the business cards of those that attended.  It's always good to email them to thank them for coming.

9.  One must always ensure that the talk is fun, insightful and leaves the people with something to remember and use in their daily lives.  Nobody likes a boring talk that goes on forever.

10.  Smile.  It's always important to smile and have fun with your talk.  Be relaxed.  If necessary do some relaxation and voice exercises before the talk.


Well all that is left is for you to get out there and get talking.  Set yourself a goal of how many talks you want to do each year and off you go.  Apporach networking groups to do some talks for them.

If you want you can even join a speaking network such as  Toastmasters.

You can also join  http://www.psasouthernafrica.co.za/

Wishing you well with it.


Fly high,  Fly Free





Fred Felton
Motivational Speaker & IT & Biz Analyst
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a motivational talk or seminar.

seminars now available for Twitter, Facebook, Email, Marketing  and Websites.

It's Out There

Good day bloggers and readers.

Welcome to another entry.

It's out there is it not?

That chance, that opportunity.   As we walk through life we always wonder how to become successful.
Many others have come before us and succeeded.  They have found some sort of niche or opening and carved billion dollar empires.

Why can't you do it?   Why can't you walk around your neighborhood or city and find a gap.
Find a niche worth filling.   What one thing do people need in your area?
What kind of business would you like running?

Which businesses in your area are always full of people   What makes them successful?
Why do they succeed where others fail?

Draw up a list of possible businesses you could run.
Narrow them down to 3 and choose one you like the best.

Write up a business plan and speak to some friends and mentors about it.
Do some market research and when you are ready start it up.

Make your billions.


Fly high, Fly Free



Fred Felton
Falcon's Cove Consulting
Motivational Speaker - Business Analyst - IT Consultant
email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred Felton for a talk or seminar.