Member Article

Routes to success: Bdaily hears from the experts

Bdaily spoke to some of the key speakers ahead of the North East Expo, which will take place on 7th November at Gosforth Racecourse in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They gave their different points of view on how to succeed in businesses.

Julie Johnson, Step into Success Coach, gave her advice on how to combat obstacles for owners of small businesses, and for women in self-employment.

“I support women to find ways to fit their company to themselves, their lifestyle and their financial goals. A lot of people set up in business and find that they can’t be themselves or the business doesn’t fit their lifestyle.

“My advice is about leading your own life and leading the business to support what you want. I work mainly with women, because I think my approach is more feminine; it’s about allowing things to happen, rather than pushing for things.

“Business strategy and planning is often a focus for life coaches. I do a bit of this, but one of the biggest areas that I find supports people is to look at how they limit themselves and overcoming those things. Once you can do that, then you can fly.”

Kevin McClernon, the winner of 2012’s ITV1 programme The Biggest Loser, who will also be talking at the North East Expo, spoke to us about his journey and how this can be applied to goals across all aspects of life.

“I started ITV1 Biggest Loser as the heaviest man ever on the show at 32 st 2 lb. In 24 weeks I lost 12st 12lb, which was 40% of my starting weight.

“Getting to that weight wasn’t about me being just fat and lazy, as a lot of people would be forgiven for thinking. It was about me massively taking my eye of the ball, concentrating on the wrong things in my life, and not multitasking.

“I decided that I was going to win The Biggest Loser to change my life. I approached the show in the same way as a business, so my advice is applicable to all aspects of life. It’s all about mental strength and being focussed on what you want to happen. Whatever it is; whether it’s in business or wanting to climb a mountain. It’s all about your vision, setting realistic goals and taking tiny steps to make this happen.”

Sam Flynn, owner of Sam Flynn Social Media spoke to Bdaily about ways to use social media as a tool to bring in more business.

“My focus will be on how companies can win more business through social media. My advice is about the psychology and how to build relationships to really see success through social media, as well as how you can use this to build a strategy that delivers.

“Typically, small businesses where the owner manages the social media are the people I help. Often business owners worry that they are going to waste too much time on social media. People need to see a connection between the time spent on social media and the amount of business you can pull in.

“The advantages to social media are that it’s free to use, and it connects you to a really large audience, and its quite easy to find your target market.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .