Encouraging women into franchising networking events
Franchise blog Nick Strong
Encouraging Women into franchising (EWIF) networking events focus on bringing women that are interested in advancing there careers by way of the business format franchising model.
There is no cost to attend the meetings and events. They are open to women that are interested in franchising or those that wish to give encouragement
The group is made up of franchisors, franchisees, franchise service providers, franchise banks, women support groups and national support agencies, with the aim of inspiring, educating and supporting women who are looking to franchise their business or women looking to become franchisees.
EWIF was formally launched in 2008 so has now moved into its second year. The meetings are Chaired by encouraging women into franchising ambassador Clive Sawyer of Business Options.
Franchising may be the perfect fit for women looking to balance work and family life and set up their own business, yet women are still in a minority in the franchising industry.
The next networking and educational event will be held on 16th December at the offices of Munday’s Solicitors in Cobham, Surrey.
Speakers at the event will include Alun Powell, an economist at HSBC, Simon Chicken from The Franchise Show and Nick Strong, Director and web strategist of FranWeb and SelectYourFranchise.com
Alun will be speaking about economic projections and how they may affect franchising for 2011.
Simon will speak about recruiting franchisees and his exhibition which will be held at Excel, London in February 2011.
Nick will give insights into social media and how it can be used to converse with clients and grow franchise businesses.
Encouraging Women Into Franchising has got enthusiastic members, some of whom also act as ambassadors to promote women in franchising. Its ambassadors network is linked to women in business groups set up by the Government.
Tags: Business Options, Clive Sawyer, encouraging women into franchising, ewif, franchise sales, hsbc, nick strong, Simon CHicken, social media, The Franchise Exhibition
Franchise Business: How to maximise online presence
Nick Strong, MD - Select Your Franchise
Due to the rapid growth of internet dependence in society it is now vital that franchisors focus their efforts on how to maximise their on line presence.
Gone are the days when a franchise business could rely on paper advertising alone. The younger generation hardly touch paper now. I asked my nigneteen ear old daughter to bring me the Yellwo Pages and she said, “what is Yellow Pages?”.
Franchisor’s on line presence needs to be end user centric. Gone are the days when a single authority voice can call out its messages an go unchallenged. The internet is all about giving the people what they want and when they want it.
Franchise business must focus on understanding how to maximise its on line presence by first understanding what is going on online that is relevant to its brand and services.
From this position of understanding a franchise business can position its messages in the search engine to match search behaviour. Intelligence can be found on this by a franchisor using the Google Key Word Tool.
These days search engine relevance in not enough. To maximise on line presence a franchise business must also engage in conversational web. Social platforms for this conversation take place on the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space and You Tube to name only a few.
Franchise business will find it hard to gain communities round its brand. Rather than do this it is vital to join communities that are interested in the franchise brands solutions to common problems. By helping people and solving their problems loyalty and rapid referral can be enjoyed by the franchise business.
The boardroom door is always open in todays markets. Walls and distance are removed and we return to street level accountability in our trading. The Internet removes walls and open out communication at all levels.
Franchise business can maximise its on line presence by being relevant to other Internet user’s needs and interests. It’ll take some time and creativity. Those that get it right will reap the rewards.
In the technology adoption curve franchise business needs to be on board at least the ‘early majority’ of users stage across all media. We must not wait at Luggard station before we get on. Franchisors need to focus on driving the train not being stuck at the back with too little to say to late to be listened to.
Nick Strong, director of FranWeb and Select Your Franchise will be leading the discussion ‘How to Maximise on Line presence’ for the British Franchise Assocation and its members on 8th July 2010 at Wokefield park Reading , Berkshire.
Franchise Marketing: Social Networking sites are just for kids right?
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
Social networking sites are just for kids right? They are the exclusive preserve of teenagers swapping notes on alcopops and “wot 2 do on da wkd” aren’t they? All I can say to that is LOL.
The growth in recent years of Facebook, Linkedin and more importantly Twitter has been nothing short of astronomical. Whilst the traditional divide was Facebook for your social life and Linkedin for your business life it seems that Twitter crosses all boundaries. Recent figures suggest that Twitter usage is growing at a rate of 10,000 new users per day and unlike FB and Linkedin, businesses and business owners occupy the same space as random content from bored celebrities and opinionated teenagers.
If you are not familiar with Twitter the concept is elegantly simple. You sign up for a free account and you can then choose to follow whoever you wish. You can also share your thoughts with the world. The basis to the communications is a Tweet, which is a message that is limited to 140 characters and which is seen by those who follow the user that Tweets it.
If you are still with me the interesting bit comes next. You could spend time looking for the franchise that you may be interested in and following them. This will give you updates on the activity of that business and maybe even content from their franchisees. You could however choose in addition to follow subjects as well as users. If you set your Twitter account to search for #franchising you will receive details of every Tweet that has the word franchising in it. This will enable you to receive free updates on not only the businesses that you may be looking at but also the industries and franchise types that you are searching for. #whitecollarbusinesses would give details of that business type.
By following people as well as concepts and businesses you may be able to determine whether the franchisor that you are talking to is as “nice” as they appeared over the phone or when you met. This form of communication is so immediate that it can reveal quite a lot about the character of the Twitter user and the character of the Tweets could provide more insight into the nature of the franchisor.
As with many forms of the research that you will complete when you are considering franchising you cannot get it all on Twitter. It is however one of a new arsenal of research tools that the prospective franchisee can use when they are forming an opinion of which business is right for them.
One downside to Twitter though is that it is easy to miss something important and much easier still to receive lots of information which is useless. In order to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from the site the following top tips should help you syphon the cream from the Twitterati
Manage your connections
If you do not like or are not interested in the content that is coming from the people or subjects that you are following, stop following them.
Evaluate content for its worth
If the user that you are following does nothing other than sell his business or service I would question the value. This SPAM is not the original thought behind Twitter and most good users share thoughts and advice in abundance and if they do sell, do it in moderation. If all they do is sell, once you have seen the pitch, stop following them.
Look at who the Twitterer is
Businesses often use multiple Twitter accounts to send the same message and share with as many users as possible. If each user is the same organisation a subject can appear busier than it actually is.
Caveat Emptor
Buyer beware is the watchword for any franchise or business opportunity. If you follow the #franchising, in addition to the good content on genuine franchisors you will also see the get rich quick guys and the Internet millionaire club. If it seems too good to be true it probably is and the traditional good advice for franchise research still applies in this media. Meet the franchisor, speak to franchisees, do your research and check for bfa membership.
Dan Archer is Franchise Development Director for X-Press Legal Services and is a Board Member of the British Franchise Association. You can follow Dan on twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/therealdarcher
