Past Events

'Cracking the Connection Code' was the name of an informative and entertaining presentation made to many local business owners by Robert Gerrish founder of Flying Solo.

Over 100 guests at the Annual Pittwater Business Limited (PBL) and Pittwater Council's networking breakfast at the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Broken Bay, Newport were treated to secrets from Flying Solo’s experience as the online connected voice of the Australian micro business community. www.flyingsolo.com has 23,000 business subscribers throughout Australia and over 100,000 visits per month.

Gerrish, the founder of Flying Solo (established in 2000) had some reassuring words for businesses faced with a multitude of contemporary digital marketing and social media alternatives.

“Keep it simple. Get back to basics and don’t be in hurry. Don’t panic, you won’t miss the bus if you don’t rush into embracing twitter or facebook. If social networking proves to be as beneficial to business as is proclaimed it will still be available when you are ready to embrace it for your business. But first you need to work out the strategy to connect your business to your customers.”

“Why? Who? What? and Where?, that’s all business owners need to concentrate on,” explained Mr Gerrish as he took his audience through a persuasive and well-illustrated presentation.

Why does your business want to connect? Who does the business want to be? What is your business pitch? Where should the business focus its activities?

Drawing on examples from the Flying Solo blogs, archives and in-depth online surveys the presenter illustrated his talk with amusing anecdotes and a number of small business case histories.

In response to audience questions Robert Gerrish gave an insight for small business owners‘ as he revealed the results from a recent survey Flying Solo undertook when they asked over 1,300 businesses “What are the main concerns for your business?” In order of worry:

1 money (or lack of)
2 wearing too many hats
3 time management
3 ideas - being able to bounce ideas off qualified people

Did Flying Solo have any advice to these concerns which are fairly typical of many of the one million independent business owners throughout Australia?

“Know your own business and where you need it to positioned. Ask and employ consultants and experts to help your company grow. Above all, develop a connection strategy. Connecting is a slow process but keep at it - it works.”

Much food for thought over a full cooked breakfast in a spectacular room overlooking beautiful Broken Bay on a very chilly start to a startling June day on the Peninsular.

The record number of attendees at this business breakfast confirms the speaker’s statement that you need to take a long term view of connecting your business. PBL is now in its 5th year and continues to grow and Pittwater Council continues to be a major sponsor and supporter of the networking initiative.

Also at the breakfast guests heard short talks from Mark Ferguson (General Manager of Pittwater Council), The Honourable Bronwyn Bishop MP (Federal Member for Mackellar) and Cr Harvey Rose (Mayor of Pittwater) who kept the small business owners in the audience abreast of major developments on the Northern Beaches.

For further information about PBL (and future networking breakfasts) and Flying Solo (and how to subscribe for free) you can view the following websites: www.pittwaterbusiness.com.au and www.flyingsolo.com.au.

How did the audience enjoy the talk? One of the attendees, Michelle Burton of SMB Interior Design, said “It was good to hear that, as an owner of a micro business, I am not alone in some of my concerns for the growth of my business. The presentation made a great deal of sense. Networking events like the PBL is a way of me connecting with potential clients and meeting useful contacts.”

Networking events are something that Flying Solo founder Robert Gerrish would encourage all business owners to participate in. Or in his words - “Connect and flourish”.

G Henshaw is writer, international marketer and the founder of The Good Thing About... Marketing... www.tgta.com.au