Better Written Proposals = More Business! March #SWIBNTuesday Alert!

Ever wondered about the 'art' of writing a good business proposal? What does the buyer expect to see? How might you best make your proposal stand out from the crowd?

Have you seen a public tender and wondered what exactly was being asked for?

Fear not, this March's #SWIBNTuesday we'll be looking at those exact issues with Orla Leydon of Office & Training Solutions.  Orla is an extremely experienced trainer, with extensive knowledge across a range of sectors - and a specialism in procurement.

Orla will provide key tips on producing proposals or tenders, managing your time better and maximising your chances of successful proposal writing.

In advance of this months' session, Orla has asked that members take a few short minutes to complete a survey which will provide her with insights on individual member needs so that she can best tailor the session - you can complete the survey here -> http://tinyurl.com/SWIBNMarch

As always, please RSVP by registering on our Eventbrite page!

SWIBN Hits the Radio Waves with Ocean Media!

Ever wanted to know what happens in the world of media? Like to see how a studio works or what happens in a newsroom? How adverts are produced? 

Join us for our February #SWIBNTuesday hosted by our very own Claire Ronan, of Ocean FM - bringing us through the world of Ocean Media, including their extraodinary range of media facilities. 

On the 23rd of February, we'll meet some of Ocean's team, including their marketing experts - and hear Claire's own story about developing a career in media. 

Five lucky folks will also get an opportunity to do an interview - so don't miss out on this great learning experience! 

Our February #SWIBNTuesday will run, as normal from 7-9 p.m. but please note the location for this month is Ocean FM, Northwest Business Park, Collooney, Co. Sligo.

As always, please ensure you RSVP by registering on this page.

We're back... and straight down to business #brainstorming for January!

January is a time for New Year's Resolutions - setting out new plans and objectives for the year ahead, and readying ourselves for new possibilities.  This year, SWIBN is starting off on a theme which matters to our members - being better business owners - by learning new skills and dusting off any pesky issues we're experiencing in business.  

With a room full of experts, what better way to kickstart a new year?

This month, we'll focus specifically on your business queries - and you can submit areas or questions you might have via our anonymous "postbox".   January's #SWIBNTuesday will workshop those business queries that leave you stumped - through our table workshop format.  

As this is something you've told us you like, we'll also commit to running mini-sessions during our networking sessions at other #SWIBNTuesday events.

Don't forget to book your spot - hop over to our Eventbrite reservation page here.

We're focusing on all things #web-by for November's #SWIBNTuesday!

How many of us bemoan how well our websites are functioning? Whether they're functioning at all or doing the job we expect them to? With the vast majority of companies found online and a large percentage of consumers searching for services and products via search engines, it's crucial that our websites are well-constructed and easy to find.

This month, we're returning to the subject of the online universe, following a great session earlier this year with members Aoife Porter (Bua Marketing), Marie Brouder (Brouder Design) and Sue Bourke (Digital Cascade Ireland).

Considering the wealth of expertise within our membership, we know just the lady to ask - and for November's #SWIBNTuesday, we'll be hearing from Carolin Collins of inTandem Web Design.  Qualified with an MBS in Management Information Systems as well as a B.Sc. in Management (and dabbling in Ceramics and Sculpture) and with 12 years of work experience in training, management consulting (Accenture and PwC) and IT management, in 2008 she realised it was time for a change and decided to retrain in order to set up her own business! Web Design allows Carolin to combine her business, technical and creative skills into one package and she hasn’t looked back since! In recent years, Carolin has added training and mentoring services to her offering, facilitating programmes on behalf of a number of Local Enterprise Offices as well as Leitrim Development Company, Roscommon LEADER, New Frontiers and WestBIC. Technically, she specialises in MODX CMS, Prestashop ecommerce software as well as Wordpress.

Carolin’s SWIBN presentation will focus on Website Optimisation both from a technical as well as design point-of-view. She will base the session on her Website Review Clinic framework which she has been carrying out for various LEO’s over the past 5 years. The session will provide you with plenty of hands-on tips about how you can improve the performance of your website without spending any money where at all possible. It will follow on from Aoife Porter’s insightful presentation about Keywords and show you how and where to implement these throughout your site as well as many other, simple optimisation tricks. Carolin will also spend some time elaborating on Marie Brouder’s very useful presentation on image copyright.

Don't miss out on Carolin's invaluable expertise, book your spot now!

Making time to be #mindful... #SWIBNTuesday October focus

We can all be accused of not making time to do things that are good for us... going to the gym, creating some "me" time to read, meditate or simply treat ourselves to something restorative.

The benefits of mindfulness are well-proven and increasingly, form the basis of much debate and discussion when it comes to stress management, wellness and general health.  This month, SWIBN is taking a more holistic look at our working lives by applying mindful practices to the everyday stressors we all deal with.

Mindfulness is beneficial as it enables us to get in touch with their thoughts feelings behaviours and body sensations.  We can take the time to "come back", get perspective and make the decision that’s best.

Our guest speaker is Nollag Cullinan, Nollag holds an MSc in Occupational Health Degree in nursing studies (2000), she is a qualified Psychotherapist and Cognitive Behavioural therapist, and has completed a Diploma in Sivannanda Yoga & Mindfulness. Nollag also works as a CBT practitioner, delivering stress management training in multinational organisations, Abbott, Laya Healthcare, PGI, RCI, Morgan Stanley and Medtronic.

To book your spot for this months' #SWIBNTuesday, just head over here.