July 24, 2015
A number people have actually asked me why I wrote my book Online Business Startup. So I just wanted to do a relatively short video just to explain kind of when I started it, how I started it, and how the book came about really. So about this time last year I was in the middle of doing a course and as part of that course they encouraged us to, in order to raise your profile, to actually start thinking about writing a book. So, that's where Online Business Startup started from. The actual content of the book it was split down into three major components and those three components are basically business strategy, online strategy and social strategy.
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The reason why I went for those three was because having spent 10 years in the web design industry I'd sat down in front 1,000 clients during pitch meetings and what used to tend to happen, a majority time, we'd spent about 10 minutes talking about their website and what the specific details about the website. Then actually we'd spend about two hours drilling down into their business strategy and what their ultimate aims and objectives were for their business.
My background as a Systems Analyst and my education, I qualified with a degree in Business Management. It used to really frustrate me for two reasons. First and foremost we used to get a lot of businesses who would come in with...there would just be elements of their business strategy that just didn't exist, perhaps they'd done something like they'd knocked up their own logo using Word Art or clipart. Or they didn't have a business plan in place, they had no, no idea about why they wanted the website or what purpose they were marketing for. They had no idea about how much they wanted to grow or scale their business. It used to just really frustrate me and, hand in hand with that, the second reason for that frustration was because as a web design outfit, I don't know why, but it seems to be one of those industries whereby people would come to us and say, "Just build us a website." And not expect that you were going to add any value. They always wanted it done on the cheap. Then they would have great expectations of, "Now we're online the whole world can see us." And we're going to sell thousands of products.
Of course you know you can do your best but when people have low expectations in terms of budget but high expectations in terms of added value; it's very difficult to actually get results. So, what I started to see more and more was that actually the more work and time that we spent on building a business' core business strategy and getting their business assets in order first before then embarking on the process of building a website and promoting it, the better chance they had of success. Not only that but also the more added value we could actually create for those clients. They could see it, they could see that their business is growing and scaling as a result of the hard work that we were putting into not just their website, but their business strategy and then at the other end their social and marketing strategies as well. Essentially that's the 3 main section of the book broken down into a nutshell and why I'm so passionate about what I do.
I wanted to give an awful lot of value in the book. For the sake of £14.00 or £3.99 for the Kindle I wanted somebody to have a book full of top tips and guidance and help and tools to use. Tools that they could use help grow their business and because it was really important to me to get across the message about all of the stuff I wish I'd known ten years ago, you know, when I set up my own business. I wanted to share that with everybody. Because I feel it could help an awful lot of businesses. Wide Range of Readers Not only that, I know it say Online Business Startup which makes you think about smaller businesses, such as SMEs. Whereas actually the reviews and feedback which I've had so far from many people is that they feel that actually anybody at any stage; such as middle managers, corporate executives, C-Suite executives, Owners of blue chip companies and tech companies and such like can get and something out Online Business Startup. That's really quite pleasing; I did have a specific target audience in mind when I wrote it. I'm glad that the content I created has an awful lot of value which can be used by a variety of different people.
Ultimately, when I launched the book it went live on Amazon towards the end of April and I did an official book launch in May. I've been absolutely overwhelmed by the feedback. I've got fifty-plus reviews posted already. Wonderful feedback from existing clients, family and friends. I hope that's not just because they're biased. The whole writing process has been thoroughly enjoyable as well. The Writing and Editing Process I actually managed to get most of the content written in June last year so, thirty thousand words I wrote in June last year. I had a bit of a sabbatical and came back to it to add another 25,000 words when I was on holiday last November in Portugal. Then going through the editing process who I was helped with by a hybrid publisher, Rethink Press - Lucy McCarraher. Again, I wanted to do it properly and have it properly edited, have the cover designed by somebody who is an expert in designing book covers. At the end of the day I want people to come and use my services because I'm an expert in business online and social strategy. So I believe in paying for services, outside services to have things done properly. Rethink Press have done an amazing job for me on designing the cover, taking me through the editing process, building up the additional content around the front and back cover and inside pages and have given me the guidance which I needed to achieve something which I never thought that I would be able to achieve. And that, ultimately, is hopefully a book which can offer a lot of value to any size business owner.
So, if you if you want to know more or if you have any questions about my book then please email me. The email address is as follows: robin@onlinbusinessstartup.co.uk I would be more than happy to answer those questions. If you've got any questions about your business and you want to spend a bit of time working with me then drop me a line and hopefully I will be able to help out. We can do things either face to face if you are based between Bristol and London in the UK. Or I am happy to do Zoom sessions as well.
Again, thank you for your support of Online Business Startup. I couldn't have done this without the supporters; first and foremost our clients who I've worked with over the last 10-11 years and as well as my peers, family and friends. I'm really pleased with my end result. So, I hope you enjoy it too. Thank you.
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