At our recent event on Podcasts, Vlogs and talking media, Kerr Mathieson of Audio Outsource discussed the power of audio and how podcasts can be used to grow and promote businesses.
Kerr runs a production company in Dundee and has 30 years of experience in music and audio production. He helps businesses to utilise podcasting and audio branding to expand their business.
Kerr explained many aspects of podcasts, for example distinguishing between business and leisure podcasts; the construction of branding through audio and the process of monetisation and promotion. He finished with a Q&A session to answer the guest’s questions on the topics covered.
At our first Diversity in Business Event, Sumayya Usmani, Food Educator, Broadcaster and author of two award-winning cookbooks discussed the need for a changing mindset to best represent a diversity-based inclusive policy and the experiences that led her to serving as the Diversity Coordinator for The Guild of Food Writers.
Pakistani born Sumayya Usmani shared the hurdles a food writer faces when generalization and appropriation are present in everyday life and the consequent steps that any organization should consider when looking to make a more diversity-based inclusive policy.
Attendees also enjoyed an active Q&A session with Sumayya, involving topics such as transgender recruitment and diversity and inclusion policies for small organisations.
NEXT EVENT: The Club’s next event is April 21 Podcast, vlogs and talking media.
St Andrews Business Club is looking to appoint two new Marketing Communications Interns.
This is a really good opportunity to work for a local, long-established networking club where you will gain excellent business experience and communication skills.
While this is not a paid position, any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on Club duties will be reimbursed and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to enjoy the following benefits:
BENEFITS
Training and mentoring from experienced professionals.
Practical experience of real-life marketing communications with measurable results to add to your CV.
Introductions to useful career contacts and potential employers.
Opportunity to network and make useful career and personal connections at Club events, free of charge.
Enjoy the full benefits of being a member of the St Andrews Business Club, such as member discounts at Luvians, J&G Innes, etc.
Attend relevant educational talks by the business community.
Experience of working on a professional committee and the duties it entails, as well as gaining knowledge of issues such as data protection/GDPR/club finances.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The interns will assist the business club committee in certain tasks as well as organize events for the St Andrews Business Club for Students.
Attend Committee meetings with the main business club committee – once every 2 months in the evening 5.30-7 pm.
Facebook
Schedule Facebook Business page posts to promote each event
Promote member businesses by creating social posts – Opportunity for interns to devise creative original content that drives more engagement.
Create and add content to a Facebook Album for each event.
Take photographs of the event (with a club camera).
Twitter
Schedule tweets in Hootsuite – https://hootsuite.com – to promote each event using Eventbrite links and photos supplied by main Comms person/Event speaker contact.
Promote member businesses by creating social posts – Opportunity for interns to devise creative original content that drives more engagement
Optional – Retweet Members tweets and tweets by Local Fife groups we have links with and have created Twitter Lists
Website
Edit content on Club’s WordPress site – Training will be provided.
Student Club
Re-establishing the student club following a gap due to the pandemic.
Organizing committee meetings for the student club.
Increase new memberships and membership renewals
DESIRED MARKETING TASKS
Eventbrite – event creation & management – Training and content will be provided.
Campaign Monitor – marketing email creation & scheduling – Training will be provided.
Facebook – you must have your own account – Admin permissions for Club page will be granted.
Twitter – some prior experience would be useful, but training will be provided
LinkedIn – you must have a profile on this platform
Excellent communication skills
Proficient in a wide variety of IT applications
Must be professional and flexible in the way tasks are completed
Good time management skills
Desire to learn and be guided by experienced professionals
HOURS REQUIRED
See above, but once a season is launched – approximately two hours every week.
START DATE & LENGTH OF INTERNSHIP
The start date and length of the internship will be agreed upon with the successful candidates.
SUPERVISION
The interns will be supervised and trained directly by the Committee member with primary responsibility for Club communications, but also by other members of the Committee.
HOW TO APPLY
The application should be made by sending your CV via email to standrewsbusinessclubinterns@gmail.com with:
Subject Line “Marketing Communications Intern Application”
In the body of the email, you should describe why you are applying and why you feel you would be suitable for the role.
CLOSING DATE: Sunday 05/02/21, 23:59
A shortlist of candidates will be selected for a brief online interview in St Andrews.
Fife software firm’s new platform for Scottish Procurement helping public bodies kickstart Covid-19 economy response
A new platform developed by Fife software consultancy Horisk Leslie Development for Scottish Procurement is helping Scotland’s public bodies embed sustainability requirements in their procurements, kickstarting the national economic recovery post-Covid-19.
The Sustainable Procurement Tools platform
The Sustainable Procurement Tools platform brings together three tools designed to help Scotland’s public sector organisations identify and address how they can optimise the economic, social and environmental outcomes of their procurement. It makes them easier to access, reference and use – with a similar look and feel to each. It also enables better sharing of knowledge and experience within and beyond the organisations and makes them more likely to be used and deliver their benefits to the organisations, businesses and the public.
The Flexible Framework Assessment Tool is used to assess the current level of performance and actions required to embed good procurement practice to realise intended sustainable outcomes. The Prioritisation Tool assists early-stage strategic planning and brings a standard, structured approach to the assessment of spend categories. The Sustainability Test helps embed relevant and proportionate sustainability requirements in the development of frameworks and contracts. It can be used on its own or on the results of prioritisation assessment, where done.
Made live recently, the bespoke platform developed over five months by the Cupar-based consultancy replaces several offline Excel-based tools and is already being used by just under 100 procurement officials. Horisk, which specialises in bespoke software systems to simplify using organisation processes, won the £61,000 contract through a competitive tender in one of the Scottish Government’s national frameworks designed to ensure best value and quality in privately-sourced services and products.
Using the sustainable procurement tools on the new platform to assist early-stage strategic planning can form a helpful part of restarting activities, contributing to Scotland’s four-step economic plan: Response, Reset, Restart and Recover. Using the tools in the new platform can also help embed relevant and proportionate social, economic and environmental requirements in public frameworks and contracts.
Horisk’s public sector projects include work for the Historic Environment Scotland, Scotland’s Charity Regulator (OSCR), the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS), National Museums of Scotland, The Robert Gordon University, University of St Andrews, University of West of Scotland, The London School of Economics with more being created.
Director Brian Horisk.
Speaking about the new platform, Director Brian Horisk, said: “We’re delighted to have had another large public sector client – a directorate of The Scottish Government – select us to develop a key tool which will be used by many organisations throughout Scotland to help us not only recover from the social, economic and environmental damage done by Covid-19 but also rebuild in a socially-inclusive and environmentally sustainable way so the benefits are enjoyed by all and help Scotland meet its climate goals.
“As someone committed to sustainable development, this has been a very satisfying project to use our specialism in bespoke software systems which simplify using organisation processes. It’s great to see it being adopted so widely already – allowing the benefits to be realised so soon.”
Lorraine Hook, of Scottish Procurement, said: “Horisk’s experience of developing similar tools for other public sector organisations was invaluable and meant they could hit the ground running on our project. They were able to offer innovative solutions to our requirements and, despite the pandemic, continued to work with us to deliver our project on time. As a result, we now have a single platform which provides easier access to our suite of tools and supporting guidance.”
For more about Horisk Leslie Development, go to its website at https://horisk.com/
Marie Paterson, Business Club President and Christopher Trotter, Fife Food Ambassador, and one of the Committee Members hosted the Summer Social
Members and Guests enjoyed the first-ever virtual Summer Food and Wine Social.
The evening was hosted by Marie Paterson, Business Club President and Christopher Trotter, Fife Food Ambassador, and one of the Committee Members. Whilst the event was held virtually, attendees enjoyed 3 specially selected wines and some delicious food. Christopher provided the recipes and everyone prepared the food in advance. Some attendees cooked poached wild sea trout, and green bean and potato salad, while others bought poached trout and served it with mayonnaise. For dessert, Members and Guests had the choice of strawberry tart or strawberries with black pepper and this was followed by Anster cheese. He also shared some information about the wines and local food, and everyone agreed the food and wines were delicious. Whilst it would have been lovely to have been together in person, everyone agreed it was still such great fun.
Sam Forsberg, of ActionCoach Scotland, explained the importance of maintaining some kind of work-life balance as our working lives get busier at the event held by St Andrews Business Club at The Old Course Hotel.
Success in business is no good if you end up sacrificing your health or your relationships with your loved ones.
As our working lives get busier by the year, maintaining some kind of work-life balance gets harder, particularly for the self-employed.
The audience heard from Sam Forsberg, from ActionCoach Scotland, who gave attendees practical advice on organising themselves and looking after their physical health, to help with setting and achieving realistic business goals which allow them to also meet their personal goals.
For more photos, go to the Album on our Facebook page.
NEXT EVENT: The Club’s next event is Dec 11: Festive Social, where members can enjoy a festive social event and tour of the five-star Fairmont St Andrews hotel.
St Andrews Business Club has been named the Best Business Networking Club in Fife by the Content Marketing Academy (CMA).
Earlier this year Nicola Crawford at the CMA evaluated networking clubs in Fife based on criteria including membership cost, type of events, topics discussed, location of events and member attendance. After comparing our club with Fife Chamber, BNI and Fife Networking Group, it rated St Andrews Business Club as the best!
In her blog post setting out her process and the results, Nicola writes: “For consistency, flexibility, price, and opportunities to learn and network, I think St Andrews Business Club is your guy.
“They’ve done a decent job of laying it all out for you and you don’t need to be tied into their membership to attend. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, there are options there for you. And suitable when you’re already squeezed for time working hard on your business.” Thanks Nicola!
Speaking about this latest honour for the Club (we were a finalist for Best Marketing Campaign in the 2019 Fife Business Awards), President Caroline Rochford said: “I’m delighted the Club has been chosen as the best place for business networking in Fife. We’ve worked extremely hard over the last three years to create a place that provides SME owners and managers with the knowledge and networking they need to succeed. It’s great to have that recognized in this way.”
CMA founder Chris Marr is no stranger to Club members as he explained content marketing and its importance at our December 2016 event.
Chris explained how, over the years, people have become more comfortable with web purchasing and the importance of using content marketing to gain the trust of people online to drive sales.
Chris’s talk encouraged the Club to provide more explanatory content on its website use our events and social media to keep our members updated about things useful for their business.
Doing that and many other things has helped us grow the Club’s membership to more than 130 members this year – a record as we approach our 70th birthday.
Thanks to all our Committee members, members, speakers and guests for helping us achieve this accolade. We intend to continue working to keep improving!
An award-winning businesswoman will tell attendees about marketing in today’s society at the first event of St Andrews Business Club’s new season on September 4 at the Old Course Hotel.
In the event, starting 5.30pm, Eileen Cooper, owner of Limetree Consultancy, will use examples to stimulate thought on marketing in today’s society and how brands have had to
Eileen Cooper
adapt their message to a modern world. Topics will include personalisation, automation and channel selection.
Vast Experience
Eileen Cooper has been working in marketing for more than 23 years and has a degree in Business Administration with Marketing, a Diploma in Digital Marketing and is both a Fellow of The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (The IDM) and a Member of The Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Award Winner
Eileen launched Limetree, her award-winning marketing & business consultancy, in Aberdeen in 2009. It’s now based in Perth, where she lives.
She helps businesses from a range of sectors with marketing by providing support, consultancy, design and training through mixing theory with practical experience to develop marketing strategies that drive results.
Anyone wanting to learn about this important topic for business, as well as network, is asked to book via Eventbrite.
Full details of all the club’s events, most of which are open to non-members, and how to join are available on its website at www.standrewsbusinessclub.co.uk and Eventbrite.
Short presentations have proven popular around the world.
So we thought it would be fun to try it with a twist – where no-one knew who the Members speaking would be and they’d each get to present just 10 slides for a maximum of 30 seconds each.
Members who wanted to present arrived with a 10-slide presentation on a USB stick. Who got to present was drawn at random on the night.
Their topic? ‘Something you NEED to know for your business’.
On the night fortune favoured Members Duncan McIntosh, Amy Anderson, Dr Shona Dobbie, Marie Paterson, Mark Robinson, Andy Simpson, Michael Stephenson, Stephen Westwood, Mike Reynolds and Andrew Stewart. Thanks to them for taking the challenge and sharing their expertise.
Duncan McIntosh of McIntosh Interiors was first to present.
Mike Reynolds of Integris Communications spoke about PR.
Mark Robinson of St Andrews Lean Consulting explained some of the ideas behind LEAN process improvement.
Dr Shona Dobbie of Angus Economics took on the 10×30 Challenge.
Club Treasurer, Michael Stephenson of EQ, took on the 10×30 Challenge.
Andy Simpson of Angus 3D Solutions explained additive manufacturing.
Marie Paterson of Marie Paterson Development Consultancy took on the 10×30 Challenge.
Past President of the Club Stephen Westwood talked about persuasion.
Amy Anderson of DP&L talked about the companies in the DP&L Group.
Andrew Stewart of A S Wealth Management took on the 10×30 Challenge.
For more photos, go to the Albumon our Facebook page.
St Andrews Business Club is looking to appoint someone as a Marketing Communications Intern.
While this is not a paid position, any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on Club duties will be reimbursed and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to enjoy the following benefits:
Introductions to useful career contacts and potential employers if overall job performance has met an agreed standard
Opportunity to network and make useful career and personal connections at Club events
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
ESSENTIAL
Facebook
– Create Facebook Event for each Club event – about 10 minutes per event before start of season, which runs September to June.
– Schedule 3-4 Facebook Business page posts to promote each event – 20 minutes every 2 weeks through the season.
– Schedule daily Facebook posts once a week – 1.5 hours per week. Tuition and content strategy will be supplied. Opportunity for intern to devise creative original content that drives more engagement.
– Optional – ‘Social listening’ – checking Facebook notifications daily for any comments to the page which require a reply and responding accordingly or flag to Club Comms person. 10 minutes maximum per day.
– Optional – Creating and adding content to a Facebook Album for each event – 30 minutes per event.
Twitter
– Schedule 15 tweets in Hootsuite – https://hootsuite.com – to promote each event. Training will be provided. 30 minutes per event, every two weeks during the season.
– Scheduling two tweets to share the link to the Facebook Album and 4 of the photos from it after each event – 15 minutes per event every two weeks during the season.
– Schedule a weekly #MemberMonday post – 10 minutes for each. 4 a month, year-round. Intern would not be required to do this during their holidays unless they wish to maximise their experience opportunity.
– Optional – Retweet Members tweets and ones by Local and Fife groups we have friendly links with – once a day, 1pm for 10 minutes [N.B. Timing important for maximising views].
– Optional – ‘Social listening’ – checking Twitter notifications daily for any comments which require a reply and responding accordingly or flagging to Club Comms person. 10 minutes maximum per day.
Website
One-off project – writing page Titles and Meta descriptions for Club website – 2 days at most..
Editing content on Club’s WordPress site – training will be provided. Maximum of an hour every two weeks.
Attending Committee meetings – one every 2 months. Next one 29/11/17, 5.30pm.
DESIRED MARKETING TASKS
Eventbrite – event creation & management. Training and content will be provided – 30 min per event listing twice in season. 19 events this season.
MailChimp – marketing email creation & scheduling – 1 hour every 2 weeks during season. Training and content will be provided.
Optional – PR – news copywriting, researching using Cision media database, media-spec picture formatting, pitching & coverage checking training for PR undertaken every 2 weeks during season. Scope and time could be agreed with successful candidate.
Project – to increase new memberships and membership renewals – time could be agreed with successful candidate.
Interest in marketing communications, ideally targeting a career involving or related to this.
Facebook – must have own account. No prior knowledge or experience of using a Facebook Business page required – training will be provided, attitude more important.
Twitter – some prior experience would be useful, but training will be provided
Knowledge of or ability to research how web page Titles and Meta descriptions affect site SEO
Fluent written and spoken English
Candidate should ideally have access to image editing software
Must be able to read and edit documents in Microsoft Word
Should be able to access Dropbox for sharing of documents and files.
Must be professional and flexible in way tasks are completed and time is managed
Desire to learn and be guided by experienced professionals essential
For more details of the above, download the full position specification.
HOURS REQUIRED
See above, but once season launched total typically at least two hours every two weeks. Actual weekly hours will depend on how much successful candidate wants to learn and take responsibility for.
Will be more during period building up to season launch, but hours for that can be agreed with successful candidate.
START DATE & LENGTH OF INTERNSHIP
The start date and length of the internship will be agreed with the successful candidate.
SUPERVISION
The intern will be supervised and trained directly by the Committee member with primary responsibility for Club communications (currently the Vice-President, Alan S. Morrison) but also by other members of the Committee when attending events and Committee meetings.
Fife software firm’s new platform for Scottish Procurement helping public bodies kickstart Covid-19 economy response
Marketing Communications Internship