Bees Creative Content
Blogs
rants, theories etc
Keeping going when business isn’t booming

Are you running your own business? If so, why?
It’s a serious question, especially if you’re just getting started or just about to.
It’s a serious question because when, not if, but when you encounter difficulties with your business, your reasons for getting started in the first place will be part of what keeps you going.
For me it wasn’t as much about why I started my business as why I took voluntary redundancy from my previous one.
I used to work for the Liverpool Echo and for much of the time I really enjoyed it. I was a reasonably senior figure and my departure came as a shock to my bosses.
I didn’t leave to start my business – that came later – but I did leave because the job was having a hugely negative effect on my family and anybody who knows me knows that I simply won’t stand for that.
When I started going back to the Echo to do occasional shifts it was easy to wonder if I’d made a huge mistake, if going back meant my business was failing.
It didn’t and my business wasn’t. Fact is, I love being a journalist and going back enables me to do that without the late shifts, weekend working and constant concerns about compulsory redundancy that are every journalist’s lot.
When I allowed myself to think my business might be failing, I was falling into the age old trap of seeing the grass as always being greener on the other side.
If your business is struggling, try to remember how you felt before you started it and how far you’ve come. Speak to friends, family and other business owners and ask for their advice before making any big decisions.
If you’re thinking of getting into business, write down all the reasons you have for doing it, and how you’re feeling about your current situation, and make several copies. It might not be the worst idea to pin up a list of”reasons I’m starting my business” up on your office wall to refer to in times of need.
As is often the case, the most important rule of all is the simplest, too. Don’t give up.
more blogs
Website design best practice: The milkman test
Does your business website pass the milkman test?
Read this post to find out what milkmen have got to do with business website design and whether your business website passes the test.
Copywriting Case Study: Claire House
Claire House is a Wirral-based children’s hospice which helps seriously and terminally ill children live life to the full by creating wonderful experiences and bringing back a sense of normality to family life, offering specialist nursing care and emotional support to families in the toughest of circumstances.
How to spot your stories
Whoever you are and whatever you do, chances are there is an organisation you know which would benefit from some extra publicity.
That could be a business you run, a group you are a part of – from the local Brownies troupe to the pub darts team – or a cafe or shop you like to frequent.
Social media for business: How to get started
Do you have a love/hate relationship with Twitter and Facebook?
If you’re a business owner, then at some point you have undoubtedly been told that you need to be on Twitter and Facebook and probably LinkedIn too. You may well be heartily sick of being told it and be stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that there is any such thing as social media.
Blog on blogging. Contains hints and tips
I am a professional writer and blogger.
I web design too but much of what business advisers call my “offer” or my “USP” (ie what I can do for you and your business) revolves around the fact that I have lots of experience as a writer.
Five things schools must remember about their websites
Let’s get one thing out of the way immediately: I build school websites, so a blog on what school websites should be like could be interpreted by some as a blog about Why Schools Should Use Me To Build Their Websites.
Five things I’ve learned in business
I’m no business expert but I have learned several things since being in business and I thought it would be helpful to others starting their own businesses. I’ve limited it to five because nobody wants War and Peace from a blog entry and because I don’t want to overwhelm anyone.
Graphic Design tips: Simple is best
Graphic design tips don’t come much more basic than keep it simple. In this blog I’ll be explaining why that is my golden rule for any kind of graphic design.
Flamingo Land: Being a freelance copywriter has never been so much fun
Copywriting jobs don’t come much more enjoyable than going away to a zoo/theme park/holiday resort for a family weekend.
That was where I ended up recently when I was asked to do some freelance travel writing for Trinity Mirror.