MicroBizMattersDay is a global event for millions of micro business owners, all donating time and resources to help each other and ensure a successful year.

Created by Enterprise Rockers’ Co-Founders, Tina and Tony, this year's event on January 13th was as inspiring as ever. Essential Business has supported MicroBizMattersDay for the past three years, and Marianne was delighted to be a 'Head Roadie' for another year, helping to keep the guests happy by organising plenty of hot (and some alcoholic) drinks!

As our contribution to the Enterprise Rockers' focus on learning, we are delighted to offer the following 13 free marketing resources as our way of supporting #MicroBizMattersDay and the #IGave13 initiative.

MicroBizMattersDay

Help yourself to any or all of these free resources

We have selected 13 of our podcasts, articles, lessons, Nudges, templates and useful tips to help you better understand your customers, your market, your competition and your sales.

1  Essential Business Guide extract: What is marketing?

It pays to be clear about what marketing is and, more importantly, what it isn’t. This opening page from the Marketing section of our Essential Business Guide explains some of the myths.

2  Quick tip: Finding your target market

In this Essential Business Radio podcast, Dee Blick, marketing expert, bestselling author and owner of marketing company, The Marketing Gym, talks about why you need to find your ideal target market and explains how to do just that. You can listen to the podcast using the player below:

3  Essential Business Nudge: Working out your future sales

Being able to predict your future sales is a crucial business skill. You may already have clear sales targets and forecasts, but if you don’t, then now’s your chance to get those figures into your own sales forecast spreadsheet. Download this Essential Business Nudge and download the accompanying sales forecast template.

4  Resource: Discount calculator

It's easy to make the mistake of discounting your products and services instead of adding value to what you are offering. If you discount what you sell, do you know how many more items you need to sell, or hours you need to work, just to make the same amount of money? Use our discount calculator to help you work the numbers out.

5  Start Up Tip: Perfect pricing

In this Essential Business Radio podcast, our founder, Julie Stanford, talks about the three elements of pricing and why you need to know what they are. You can listen to the podcast using the player below:

6  Essential Business Radio: Good customers and bad customers

In this Essential Business Radio show, experts Ray Richards, co-founder, Do Something Different and Ed Carr, retired (previously Creative Director, Brand Group and Marketing Director, Davenport Property Investment) talk about the difference between good customers and bad customers. You can listen to the show using the player below:

7  Start Up Tip: Making the deal
In this audio tip, Julie talks about how to set about making the best deal for you and your customers. You can listen to the tip using the player below:

8  Essential Business Nudge: Terms and conditions
This Essential Business Nudge covers those all-important terms and conditions of trade (often called Ts and Cs). Many business owners forget that they need different Ts and Cs for their business and their website.

9  Essential Business Guide extract: Credit control
Effective credit control is not just about chasing money that is owed to you. You need to get it right, from the start of the sales process. This page Credit control from the Finance section of our Essential Business Guide offers tips for doing just that.

10  Planning and Starting Your Business extract: Keep your customers happy
It is often a lot easier to persuade someone to buy from you once, but how can you make sure they keep coming back to spend more with your business? This lesson Keep your customers happy, from our Planning and Starting a Business online course, will teach you how to take care of your customers so they stay loyal and keep returning.

11  Essential Business Guide extract: Keeping track of your competition
No business is an island. There are almost always other businesses offering similar products to similar customers. And they want the same as you: to grow, make money and succeed. What can you learn from your competitors? This two-page extract from our Essential Business Guide tells you more.

12  Essential Business Nudge: Are you actually making a profit?
Say hello to the Breakeven calculator. On page two of the PDF, we have provided a way for you to work out your breakeven point. Then you’ll know whether you’re making a profit, just breaking even, or making a loss. If you prefer, you can download the Excel spreadsheet instead.

13  Planning and Starting Your Business extract: Work out how not to run out of money
You may have heard the expression 'Cash is king', but do you really know how to rule the cash in your business? This lesson  Work our how not to run out of money, from our Planning and Starting a Business online course, will teach you how to forecast your cash flow so you never run out of cash.

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