We were pleasantly surprised at how many people turned up bright and early to hear our pearls of wisdom! So thanks to them and for the tremendous feedback we’ve received since.

The very next day, Rob and I flew out to Fuerteventura to do some filming and on the way out, Rob passed on to me the recent book by multi-millionaire Theo Paphitis of ‘Dragon’s Den’ fame.

Towards the end of the very readable book, Theo gave advice to entrepreneurs trying to get his backing on the show. And his words emphasised the message we were delivering the day before — that how you present yourself is crucial to success.

In giving advice as to how people could win his support, he said:”First, I’ve got to like the person or people making the pitch. If I don’t like them, I don’t want to be in business with them.

“They might have the best product or idea in the world, but if I don’t like the look of them, I’m not going to invest.”

That’s the message we try to get across to anyone in business: your product or your expertise must be first-rate; your pricing must be competitive…but it’s how you present yourself that counts in the end. It is exactly the sort of training we at Optu deliver to people running both small and large enterprises.

Theo Paphitis is spot on. But you’d expect that from a multi, multi-millionaire!

Steve Ireland

The very questions millions of people were asking…until recently. That’s  when, after seven years as one of the icons of the most successful motoring television show on the planet, ‘The Stig’ — or more accurately the man inside him — cracked!

You don’t even need to have watched ‘Top Gear’ to know what ‘The Stig’ looks like. He has become a merchandising dream – his images adorn T-shirts, posters, mugs, key-ring torches, kids’ backpacks, stationery sets, mouse pads…even ‘The Stig’ bubble bath and – maybe I should get this one – ‘The Stig’ stress doll!

Plus, with recent events, countless words have been written about ‘The Stig’ in all of our daily newspapers.

Yes, ‘The Stig’ is the mysterious figure in racing overalls and tinted racing helmet who pilots supercars around Top Gear’s racing track. And he’s almost become more of the face of Top Gear than Messrs Clarkson, May or Hammond.

In our training courses, we often quote the words of tennis legend Billie Jean King who said in order for sports men & women to truly succeed commercially, the public must know…” who we are, what we think, and what we look like. And the most important is what we look like.”

That didn’t stack up well for Ben Collins, did it?  We know ‘The Stig’, his iconic racing suit and tinted helmet, but Ben Collins could walk past you in the street and you wouldn’t have an inkling who or what he was.

Which, if you seek recognition for what you do — or perhaps want to sell your book – is hugely limiting.

So, Ben Collins had a choice to make: continued anonymity as ‘Person X’ inside ‘The Stig’, or break a contract with the BBC so as to get recognition for his life and work so far.

Ben chose the latter……..the book is on the way.

And the moral of this story? Well, if you are offered a lucrative contract as one end of a pantomime horse, or to be the next person to put their hand in Basil Brush, be careful what you sign. Because when the urge kicks in to get yourself known by who you are, what you think, and what you look like …you might be in a fix!

By doing so he gave an opportunity for political rivals (and journalists) to question his judgment. “Why raise this issue again,” is the cry. All it does is keep the story alive, the very last thing you would assume that he wanted to do.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people — people who ought to know better — fail to understand the dangers of Twitter. Undoubtedly, it can be a powerful tool for good — it is now widely used in business — and can be great fun in a social context. But mistakes can be enormously damaging.

Take cricketer Kevin Pietersen. Not too long ago he was the England skipper and one of the game’s golden boys.

Then the selectors decided to drop him from the England team. But before this could be announced, KP revealed all on Twitter in what the newspapers described as a “foul-mouthed, four-lettered rant”.

The result? Huge bad PR for Pietersen himself…plus a hefty fine of some £2.5K from the cricket authorities. Pietersen also felt he had to apologise.

‘Gavin & Stacey’ actor Matt Horne didn’t do himself any favours when he reacted to media criticism of his show ‘Horne & Corden’. He Tweeted…”It means a lot when  Josef Fritzl is getting better press than us.” Ouch!!!

Not a politician or a celebrity, but an Arizona man told his 2,000 Twitter followers that his family was “heading out of town” and had “ten hours of driving ahead”. When he returned home, he found burglars had stolen thousands of dollars of video equipment!

At Optu, we  work with clients to get the best out of Twitter (and other social-networking sites). There are tricks to be learnt which can improve your business significantly and you cannot ignore Twitter in our modern commercial world. Yes, Twitter can be an enormous asset to your business…but please, please, please be aware of the pitfalls.

Because once you make a mistake….

But that’s another story.

Steve Ireland

Stuart…he of  ‘It’s a Knockout’ and ‘Jeux sans Frontiers’ fame; of Radio FiveLive where he conjures up some of the most amazing words and phrases ever used in the reporting of football games; and presenter of countless programmes for both BBC North West and Granada TV in the North-West region.

But I’ve also seen Stuart recently described as a legend.

Most emphatically  not. Because, strictly speaking, you can only become a legend after your death. Stuart, thankfully, is breezing into his NINTH decade on this planet with as much energy and enthusiasm as a man half his age. His diary is till packed with engagements and work commitments. Retire? “Never”, says Stuart.

Which doesn’t surprise me. We worked together on BBC’s ‘North West Tonight’ — he as the presenter, me as the producer. The impish smile, the ability to charm birds of trees, the facility with words…producing quotes from Shakespeare or even classical Greek at the drop of a hat…was always there. Stuart was — and is — a larger than life character who will never age.

I met up with him again last week, aptly — for someone who has always enjoyed the good things of life — at an Oyster Festival at Guy’s Hamlet in Bilsborrow in Lancashire.  Absolutely tremendous. After the bear hug, I inspected him closely to check any real signs of age. The hair is elegantly silver now — but, unlike me, at least he still has it. That apart, he really does belie his years. At the age of eighty he looks about fifty. So what’s his secret…”A bottle of decent claret every night” was the response. I told you he enjoys the good things in life!

We met to discuss a possible work collaboration. That discussion is being re-scheduled because we had so much to catch up on — memories of people, of places, of playing football together, of TV and radio programmes we experienced together…especially his football reporting for ‘Sports Report’.

I also reported on football for ‘Sports Report’ but never matched his colourful prose. Who else but Stuart could describe the late, great Emlyn Hughes as “a runaway wardrobe” when in full flight; or more recently volunteering for a minor cup game in which Tooting & Mitcham were playing just so that he could say “Toot – ing” on air, pronouncing it as they did in the ‘Carry On’ films.

I really hope Stuart and do I work together again soon.

Stuart is a truly great broadcaster but not yet a legend. He is alive and kicking, and still chortling. Long may that continue. I, for one, don’t want Mr Hall to become a legend for many, many years to come.

Steve Ireland

We should therefore be finding out quite soon the precise nature of these LEPs which will replace the Regional Development Agencies and Business Link.

What’s worrying is that there are already signs that, in various parts of the country, the private and public sectors are falling out about a host of things. Up in the North East, for instance, a founding member of the Tees Valley Partnership has heavily criticised an LEP bid by Tees Valley Unlimited. He said it was submitted with “insufficient involvement of the business community” and there was confusion, and dismay “verging on anger” at the bid.

What is comforting, though, is the way East Lancashire seems to be going about things.

I recently attended a seminar at the East Lancs Chamber of Commerce (yes folks, Optu.tv is a member…come to one of our seminars!). I was hugely impressed by the presentation given by Mike Damms, the Chamber’s Chief Executive.

East Lancashire, as Mike explained, doesn’t have the benefit of a university in the way that Central Lancashire has with UCLAN at Preston. A university automatically brings in a vast student population which is a great boost to the local economy.

Nor does East Lancs, despite its Pennine grandeur, have the tourism power of Blackpool and the Fylde Coast.

So, for many year now, the East Lancs Chamber has worked steadily…and with great effect…to help small and medium sized businesses to grow and prosper.

Which means that, led by the steady but progressive hands of Mike and his team, East Lancashire is well set to have its own Local Enterprise Partnership mainly because – to all intents and purposes – it has already got one!

Steve Ireland

As I am sure you are all painfully aware, blogging successfully takes dedication, discipline and a whole heap of time! We are getting quite good at it here at Optu but there are times when writing a blog is the last thing you want to do when you have project deadlines looming and important meetings to attend. Well I have a solution. Whatever our schedules, we always find time to nip to the loo…..nature insists on it.

So, my cunning device is a loo roll holder (still in early design phase) that will only dispense the necessary goods once a blog has been written and uploaded to your site. Only then will the machine spring into life and release a few sheets for you. Initially, the site of a keyboard, wifi link and screen in your average toilet cubicle may seem off putting but fairly soon we will all be in the habit of blogging just as often as we find time to nip to the loo.

In fact…..whilst you’re spending a penny, your new blog will get your customers to spend their pennies with you! (I can hear you all groaning at that one from the top of our office block!) Oh, and I will make sure that with my new invention, the loo roll will work which ever way you hold it!

Yet, already this year, we’ve seen two major shooting incidents in rural areas where such crimes are about as common as snow in August. First Derrick Bird up in West Cumbria, and now Raoul Moat in Northumbria.

Suddenly, police officers more used to the more mundane criminal activities of rural communities are thrust into the spotlight – and it can turn out to be a very harsh spotlight indeed.

Which is what temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim discovered last week when fronting the news conferences about the hunt for Raoul Moat.

As the Guardian reported, from her gaffe in saying that she would leave “every stone unturned”, to the jokey impersonation of an air stewardess as she pointed out at a public meeting the fire exits to worried locals, she found her every action scrutinised not just by the media, but also by her own officers who were working round the clock.

Sue Sim’s appearance was much commented upon…especially her hair-style…as was her slow-paced, over-enunciated delivery of the latest statement.

There is a blog entitled ‘The Police Inspector Blog’ written by ‘Inspector Gadget’ (a real police inspector at a county force somewhere in England). Let me quote from it:

“There is a huge and unfolding tragedy in Northumbria. It is the tragedy of T/Chief Constable Sue Sim, her wild hair and the number of times she can say ‘community’ in one sentence. Barely able to read a prepared statement, it has been, quite frankly, embarrassing to watch the most senior police officer we have available.”

Ouch!

Back to the Guardian: “Unfortunately for Sim, it is inevitable that people, especially women, who are suddenly thrust in front of the cameras are all too often judged on their appearance, and both her hair-style and her penchant for green eye shadow have been seized on.”

They also note the numerous nicknames given to Sue Sim and comparisons to TV  characters like Lady Tottington from Wallace & Gromit.

Okay – we’re not all police officers. We’re not all going to be in the eye of a storm during a police manhunt.

Yet many of us in many different walks of life can suddenly find ourselves facing cameras and microphones. On any news bulletin you can see lawyers, politicians, trades unionists, teachers, sports stars, people running business both large and small etc., etc. We live in a world of 24/7 news.

Equally, and this is important for everyone in business or in their careers, the way you present yourself – at sales meetings, at public gatherings (like Sue Sim), at client presentations, at networking events, even those one-on-one career appraisals with the boss – are crucial to your success.

You don’t just have to be a temporary Chief Constable to need media and presentation training. But as Sue Sim realised (I hope), it certainly helps.

Steve Ireland

I am concerned, though, that too many small and medium sized companies are still not using their blogs effectively. This concern springs out of a successful seminar Rob and I delivered recently to a group of creative-industry companies in Wigan.

We invited them all, mid-way through the session, to write a ‘mini-blog’ about their company. Out of a group of a dozen or so business owners, only one person wrote what could be described as a true blog. All the others merely saw it as an opportunity for an advert (not always written very well) for their company or their products.

Please, please, please – a blog is NOT an advert.

We now live in a networked society – the world-wide web and mobile devices (not mere phones anymore) ensure we are connected pretty much 24/7.

Which means that business, and by that I mean effective business, is part of an ongoing conversation. Blogs are an important element in that conversation – whether with new or prospective clients.

Blogs can be provocative, entertaining, informative, critical or laudatory but above all they should be engaging. Blogs should convey much of your character and that of your company. But blogs are not advertisements.

An effective blog will raise your profile. It will help stimulate new business and retain existing customers. It can also prompt important feedback about your company.

So don’t just blog because you feel it’s the current thing to do because everyone else is doing it. Get in the habit of blogging regularly and effectively. And if you need any help in cutting through the ‘blog fog’ – then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Steve Ireland

I confess to being an out-and-out soccer nut. I fully subscribe to the Bill Shankly philosophy that football isn’t a matter of life and death…”it’s more important than that.”

Whereas Rob, whilst professing to quite enjoy watching “top-quality football games”, does admit (under intense questioning!) that he’s only ever attended four matches, three whilst a youngster with his father and an England international as a guest of Volvo Trucks. And that doesn’t count in my book!

Which is why I’m more “gutted” (to use the modern cliché) than he is that Rio Ferdinand is now out of the World Cup because of injury.

The good news is that the ligament injury isn’t career threatening. He’ll be playing again next season. But what if it had curtailed his playing days?

I recall the career of another Manchester United player – Ian Storey-Moore – being ended by knee ligament problems when he was just 28. United had signed him from Nottingham Forest where, for six consecutive seasons, he’d been top scorer (118 goals in 236 appearances).

Storey-Moore proceeded to score five times in his first 11 games for United. He was as big a name as Ferdinand or even Wayne Rooney. Then came the injury.

Storey-Moore played before the days of the sky-high salaries. Fortunately, he stayed in the game and became Chief Scout at Aston Villa.

But many stars, in many sports, suffer cruel injuries which end their careers prematurely. Their lives are turned upside down. And not every footballer, nor the stars of a whole range of other sports, can hope to earn the salaries of the Premiership players. They need to keep working; to keep earning.

Which is why we at Optu have done so much media and presentation work with top athletes.

This work doesn’t just help them during their active careers, but also prepares them for life afterwards, whether as media ‘pundits’, running a business or seeking a new career.

High-quality training in media and presentational skills can enhance an athlete’s earnings potential during their careers – across a range of different sports – but is also an essential insurance policy against the unthinkable: a career cut short by injury.

Now back to you Rob Hallam….which game are you inviting me to next season?!

Steve Ireland

Digital marketing is essential, but business is also about people. How you present yourself, how you build trust and credibility, are equally important. Our fully-interactive seminar will show you how. What’s more, we guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself…always the best way to learn!

The course is just £59 + VAT and can be booked direct from the Oswaldtwistle Business Centre by clicking here:-

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