I recently came across some interesting research which if you are based in the UK you might find of interest.

Earlier this year, insurers Hiscox published the Hiscox Wealth Review for 2008 and identified that some 10% of the UK population, nearly 2.5 million households can now be  identified as wealthy.The report states that:

An average ‘Working Wealthy’ household in Britain earns £88,000 (close to triple the average household income of £33,000), takes two foreign holidays a year and has over £20,000 worth of disposable annual income.  Despite this over 90% of them do not consider themselves at all wealthy. 

However, this population described as the ‘Working Wealthy’ say they would need to earn around £150,000 per household, have paid off their mortgage, own more than one property or a holiday home and send their children to private school before saying they are well off. 

The report uncovers that:

• Four in ten go on more than one foreign holiday a year (38%)
• Almost a third own a luxury home entertainment system (29%)
• Almost a quarter have savings of more than £25,000 (23%)
• 15% own a piece of art work
• 14% own more than one property.

Here are the persona’s for the ‘Working Wealthy’ as defined in the report:

The Home County Happies

• A wealthy mature professional couple in their 40s and 50s, living in a 4-bedroom house in the Home Counties
• They are likely to have more than two cars, go on more than two foreign holidays a year, and are interested in golf, arts and charity
• Often with a second home, their children will have expensive possessions, such as laptops, and they spend a lot on private education
• Women likely to shop in Waitrose; men most likely to own an Audi  

The Shire Squires

• A wealthy professional living in a small village with his/her partner but commuting into a city for work
• Likely to be over 45, they live in a detached four-bedroom home in a small village, with two or more cars to help them with their hobbies of antiques, arts and nature
• They may have benefited from dramatic rises in the property market of the 90s
•  They spend their money on home entertainment, household appliances, restaurants, hotels and clothes, in that order
• They lead a comfortable lifestyle

The Urbanite Professionals

• Often categorised as the ‘late to start a family’ earner, the young professional has a high income but won’t necessarily think so, as they compare themselves to higher ‘city-esque’ earners
• Regularly drinking lattés, they can afford to indulge in expensive disposables, from fashion, wine, electronics to art
• They may also have benefited from an inheritance of antiques, art or jewellery, and are likely to go on annual ski-ing and/or diving holidays abroad
• Women shop in Whistles; men shop in Reiss

So if you are considering your target market for your products and services, consider how you might want to include the information from the Working Wealthy report to support you developing the persona’s for your core clients, customers and patients - does it give you a better understanding of what motivates them to spend and what their priorities are?

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This week we have started to plan for PodCamp Ireland 2008 which will take place on Saturday 27 September 2008.

However if you can not wait that long to connect with colleagues about social media in a virtual world, then head on over to the website for 3Dcamp, a non-conference focusing on virtual worlds (Second Life, the Metaverse), mirror worlds (Google Earth and Virtual Earth), mapping mashups, GPS, Location based Services (LBSs), haptics (eg. Wiimote hacks), 3D modelling (Blender, Sketchup) and all things 3D.

And if you don’t understand what all these terms are (I certainly don’t), then it’s a good reason to attend 3Dcamp!

Here are the details:

DATE: Saturday 24th May 2008

VENUE: Engineering Research Building, University of Limerick

TIME: 10am start, 5pm finish

SPEAKERS: Go here for the curriculum and line up of speakers

REGISTER: Register to attend 3Dcamp online

What’s interesting about the registration process too is that 3Dcamp are integrating social media into their registration page asking for the following information:

• Your Twitter username: For notices and discussion on 3Dcamp
• Your Jaiku username: For notices and discussion on 3Dcamp

In addition, you’ll be asked where you are travelling from so that they can calculate the carbon-offset calculation and plan carpooling.

So if you are interested in learning more about virtual worlds, 3D modelling, mirror worlds and mashups and what benefit they can bring your business, head on down to Limerick for 3Dcamp later this month.

Remember, like all non-conferences, it’s FREE to attend.

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One of the strategies I encourage attendees of my workshops or programmes to adopt is the creation of audio tutorials, special reports, white papers or e-books which they can use on their business blog or website to attract people to register for their ezine or newsletter.

E-books continue to be a popular marketing tool to attract more leads and more clients as the investment you need to create them is minimal - you can use Word or PowerPoint (or the equivalent if you are using a Mac) to create the document and then use a PDF creator to create the copy you make available on your website or business blog.

Many people decide to create their e-book themselves without employing a designer to format the final version and create a professional layout and that’s not a problem.

 However if you are going to layout and format your ebook yourself here are five keys to remember to ensure that your e-book will look professional and be on-brand:

1. Colourful Pages - use colour sparingly when formatting your e-book. Absolutely make sure that the colours you use connect with your corporate brand so that it looks consistent.However your readers will not thank you when you have lots of colour in your e-book, and even worse if whole of the background of your ebook in a solid colour. Many people print e-books and they don’t like the expense or time that it takes to print a document in colour.
2. Let Your Copy Breath - as we continue to be bombarded with information, increasingly as readers and consumers of information we scan information.

   Format your e-book so that it is easy on the eye with lots of white space, perhaps using ‘call outs’ to focus your e-book readers on key points you want to make or quotes and use bulleted lists to help your copy breath.

3. Add Page Numbers - as your e-book streams off the printer, it’s easy for the pages to get muddled up.

   An often forgotten tip is the adding of page numbers to the header or footer of your e-book, making it easy for your reader to put them back in order when they drop the pages of your e-book.

4. Check Your Links - one of the benefits of writing an ebook versus a traditional book is that you can easily create active links to web pages in your e-book.Many e-book authors use this as an opportunity to include links to pages on their website or business blog for more information or even to affiliate programmes they participate in that provide resources and products or programmes the readers of their ebook will find of benefit.

   If you do decide to create links in your e-book, before you publish it online, be sure to check that the links still work to maximise the opportunity of people being able to click through to your links and eliminate the customer service emails you will receive from readers of your e-book advising you that your links in your e-book do not work.

5. Promote Your Brand - if your e-book is printed and then people come back to review it in several months or even years time, are you confident that they will know how to find you if they want to connect with you the ebook author for more information, advice or tips?

   Don’t forget to add your web address to the footer of your e-book and in the back pages of your e-book, use the opportunity to provide people with information on how to find our more about your programmes, products or services.

Apply these tips and your e-book will look professional and on-brand. Of course the copy in your e-book needs to be top class, expressing your expertise and thought leadership in your field. But remember that people often judge a book by it’s cover. Don’t let your e-book, special report or white paper readers be put off reading the quality content due to poor formatting of your e-book.

What tips do you have for others for formating e-books so they are professional and on-brand?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you are an e-book author or an author of a traditional book, don’t forget to check out the details of the forthcoming workshop taking place in Dublin on the 7 June 2008, hosted by Font Literary Agency about Online Marketing, Publicity and Promotion for your book or e-book. Readers of Biz Growth News and my Biz Growth Community can register to access a discount - you can find all the details here.

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With the increase in interest in Corporate Social Responsibility here in Ireland, I was delighted to hear about the forthcoming conference specifically for SME’s.

Corporate Social Responsibility has been on the agenda of many corporates for several year - in fact for generations in the case of some organisations. However it’s not been an area that many SME’s have taken not of as they often have not known where to stand and it has not been seen as a priority.

One of the organisations I am working with has recently introduced a CSR strategy and interestingly a tender that they have just received is asking them to provide details of their CSR policy.

Corporate Social Responsibility is also becoming increasingly important both in terms of attracting talent where many studies are now indicating that particularly if you are looking to recruit and retain the Generation Y workforce, they are taking note of an employers commitment to CSR.

It is also critical in relation to maintaining a licence to operate, building an effective relationship with the community you are based in and can impact on the reputation of your brand if not taken seriously.

The event is taking place on the 13 May 2008 at the Castlenock Hotel and Country Club, Castlenock, Dublin and is free to attend.

The conference is calles CSR4U and will provide insights into how SME’s can integrate social and environmental concerns into their business.

CSR4U has EU funding hence it is free to attend - however do register ahead of time to secure a place.

The conference will cover the business case and the business benefits of CSR.

You can find the details of the CSR4U conference here and a registration form for the CSR4U conference here.

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One of the most popular speakers on the subject of personal development and success is Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles and Co-Founder of the Chicken Soup For The Soul series of books. This summer we have the opportunity to meet Jack Canfield live in Dublin. 

The details of the Jack Canfield Dublin event are as follows:

Date: Sunday, May 18th

Time:  9am - 6pm

Venue: The Mansion House, Dawson St., Dublin 2

Event Organisers: Horizon Speakers

Registration: To book your place at Jack Canfield Success Principles event in Dublin, contact Horizon Speakers on 086 122 1359 0r 01 443 3326, info@horizonspeakers.com

Brochure for the event: Access more details about the Jack Canfield Success Principles Event in Dublin here

Investment: €445

At the live event, Jack will share the strategies, activities and exercises he teaches in his Success Principles book

• How to change the outcome of any event simply by changing your response to it
• How to access powerful mentors and friends who’ll open doors for you
• How to complete past projects, heal past relationships and process old hurts, so you can embrace the future
• How to prepare and be instantly ready when opportunity comes knocking
• How to implement the unique time management system that insures you’ll have time to focus on success
• How to say “no” to the good, so you’ll have room in your life to say “yes” to the great
• How to ask for and get everything you want…from people who can give it to you
• How to maximize your success with money, your finances and your future.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

You can subscribe to Jack Canfield’s free newsletter and access his free e-course and audio programme here

You can get a taste of what Jack Canfield has in store for the Dublin Success Principles event by watching the video below.

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