The worry of not pricing business products or services correctly is a common theme amongst those The Business Greenhouse meets.  The topic cropped up again in a discussion in an online networking group this week, so we thought we'd share our hints and tips on how to get the best price for your product or service.

I recall the last bank holiday when I was lucky enough to have had a great weekend away with my lovely family.  However, on that holiday I came across small business owners cutting their own free time short for the sake of their business: a commercial tyres specialist packed his things and went home, bringing his family with him, because some new jobs had come in; a cycle hire person extended their opening hours to help boost business; a roofer left his family to their own devices while he finished some jobs and caught up on the paperwork.

For them, a bank holiday was not a chance to relax, but a chance to catch up and bring in new business that is vital for their success.

You have some amazing news to announce, but how do you get the media to sit up and take notice? 

Many small business owners want to get media coverage to help raise the profile of their business.  Arguably, this is a great idea.  There's the potential for 1000's of people to hear, read or see more about what your business does and how it could benefit them.  

However, getting the media to actually put information about your business in the paper, online, or on the radio or tv can be a tough job.    The Business Greenhouse has spoken to many business owners who have put in time and effort to try and make this happen, but failed to get any coverage.

Our experience of writing news releases shows that to be successful you have to get your target media interested enough in what you have to say (covered in Part 1 of our PR mini-series).  You also have to know how to tell the media your story, and for this a news release can help enormously.  

If you can structure a news release properly, you should have a good chance to 'sell' your story to your target media - essentially tell them why they should cover it.  Here's our guide to structuring your news release:

Everyone I’ve spoken to in the last week has asked the same question: how can I get more done in the time I have?

Coincidentally, this is also a question I’ve been considering myself recently – odd you might think for the owner of a business that offers outsourcing and opportunities to take on some your workload! 

As with most small business owners I can work long hours, at weekends, and find myself snatching 5 or 10 minutes here and there around my family and other commitments.  With bigger demands on my business, I need to be more productive.

So I’ve spent some time evaluating how best to address this, and I thought I’d share my discoveries and look at how they could help you to be more productive:

News releases, or ‘press releases’, are a tried and tested method of getting information to journalists, even with the increasing popularity of social media.

Here at The Business Greenhouse we have a lot of experience in writing news releases, so we thought we’d share some hints and tips in a ‘mini-series’.

The Business Greenhouse is pleased to launch a new champion of the smallest of small businesses on Monday 26th March: ‘MicroBusiness Monday’.

MicroBusiness Monday is a chance for owners of the smallest of businesses (those that employ up to 10 people) to celebrate their achievements, to share the challenges they face, and to find support amongst their peers. 

This is hugely important at a time when microbusinesses are generally feeling the pressure of a reduced demand for their products and services in this current economic climate. Yet, the government expects that they will play a significant role in helping to secure economic growth.  

Politics and small business make an interesting mix, as borne out by observations made on last nights BBC Question Time.

In an amusing discussion involving Justice Minister Ken Clarke MP, Baroness Kramer, Owen Jones (author of ‘Chavs’), John Prescott, and Julie Meyer, Founder of Ariadne Capital, the message regarding businesses is clearly ‘the more money we can get small businesses to borrow, the better the country’s chances of finding economic stability quickly’.

However, even if this is right strategy, the discussion showed it appears to be failing.

It can be so frustrating when funding opportunities pop up, but you don’t fit the eligibility criteria. 

So how can you put yourself in the running when you apparently don’t fit the bill?

With the new year underway we wondered how many small businesses have set themselves new goals and ambitions for 2012, or have renewed their promise of pursuing new ideas made in the months, or even years, gone by.

When setting up The Business Greenhouse we surveyed businesses to find out what their ambitions were.  While the survey helped us to decide what services and support we should be delivering, we thought you might like to see the results.