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Workshops

As a member of The Business Community, you get access to as many of the following workshops as you like. They are genuinely commercial workshops that if you weren't a member, you would be paying for. Do take advantage of these offers as all small business owners should be continually developing and learning new skills.

The people offering these workshops are not being paid to do so - it is part of their contribution to the community - it would be great if you could support them.

Each online event is limited to 10 people, and will be 60-90 minutes, dates below.


 4Create Quick Content with Canva

Marie-Louise O'Neill, Lovely Evolution

Ready to make content creation faster, easier, and a whole lot more fun? Join us for a hands-on session where you’ll discover how to create professional, on-brand content in just a few clicks using Canva’s powerful AI tools.

Thursday 19th February (12-1.30pm) - Book now.


7The 3-Second Rule — Grabbing Attention in a Scrolling World

Emma Watson, Specky & Ginge

Business owners: you’ve got 3 seconds to grab a lead. Here’s the rule. You’ll learn a 3-step framework (Stop-Signal-Spark) to grab attention in the first 3 seconds, so your posts, videos, and messages get noticed instead of ignored.

Thursday 5th March (12-1.30pm) - Book now.


Previous workshops


8Making The Most of PR

Eleanor Lester, Shrewd PR

After attending the workshop you’ll have a better understanding of what PR is, and have 10 handy tips that you can use to PR your business. 


2

Beyond the Pretty Picture: Mastering Graphic Design Fundamentals

Mark Coster, Pixooma

An invaluable graphic design toolkit for those producing their own marketing materials. What you’ll get: An explanation of key design principles, errors to avoid, and practical considerations. At the end of the session, you’ll have the opportunity to get advice and feedback on a project you are working on, and you’ll be given a PDF checklist of design principles for you to refer to in future.


10Mental Health – how do you stay well, and what to do when things start to go wrong?

Dr. A J Yates, White Dog First Aid

A discussion about what constitutes mental health. An introduction to the stress container and how to manage it and a look at the recognition features for common mental health conditions.


9

AI and You: Smarter Copy ~ Bigger Impact

Stephen Church, Copywriter Pro

A hands-on workshop designed to help small businesses use AI effectively in their copywriting. Attendees will learn how to choose the right AI tools, craft better prompts, refine AI-generated content, and keep their brand voice authentic. It’ll also cover ethical considerations and where human creativity outshines AI, so you can write faster, smarter, and with impact.


5

Understanding Agentic AI 

John Scotcher, Pearson Treehouse

Using AI as you personal assistant and asking it questions is great. However the real power is in sending it off to do stuff for you without you having to babysit it as it does. This is agentic AI. This session explains the concept and how it can be used by small business to save time and work harder.


310 ways to optimise your content for your target audience

Kevin Robinson, The Content Generator

With all the changes in SEO and AI search, it is more important than ever that your content not only meets the new search needs, but that it reaches the right customer. We will look at a series of practical, easy to do, tips to make sure that when a potential customer finds your site, it is not only for the right reasons, but that they then stay, buy and return.


1Selling with Ease without the Sleaze

Julie Futcher, The Sales Ace

This workshop has been developed to help two types of individuals, those who are not natural salespeople that would like to learn sales techniques and those who would like to brush up their sales skills. You will learn skills that YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH and understand that selling is not a dark art; you do not have to be an “in your face salesperson” to win business. Take the fear out of sales and get basic sales skills that will help you win more business.


<p>Networking is my primary route to market for my business. The Business Community provides a <strong>valuable part of my networking strategy</strong> and has a <strong>great welcoming</strong> and <strong>interesting forum</strong> for <strong>like-minded business professionals</strong>.</p>

Networking is my primary route to market for my business. The Business Community provides a valuable part of my networking strategy and has a great welcoming and interesting forum for like-minded business professionals.

<p>The Business Community has been <strong>extremely helpful to my business</strong>. The <strong>meetings are well run</strong> - they have<strong> a well-defined structure</strong>, but have a <strong>good mix of formality and informality</strong>. I enjoy meeting other members, have made some <strong>good connections</strong>, got <strong>great business advice</strong> from Paul and the wider group and, last but not least, <strong>gained work whose value is several times the cost of membership</strong>.</p>

The Business Community has been extremely helpful to my business. The meetings are well run - they have a well-defined structure, but have a good mix of formality and informality. I enjoy meeting other members, have made some good connections, got great business advice from Paul and the wider group and, last but not least, gained work whose value is several times the cost of membership.

<p>Thank you Paul for allowing me to be part of BusComm, I always look forward to the meetings, they are <strong>very friendly and helpful</strong> and there always seems to be a <strong>really good supply of support and advice</strong> if we need it! I have been a member now for several months and find it an <strong>excellent networking group for referrals</strong> and future business!</p>

Thank you Paul for allowing me to be part of BusComm, I always look forward to the meetings, they are very friendly and helpful and there always seems to be a really good supply of support and advice if we need it! I have been a member now for several months and find it an excellent networking group for referrals and future business!

<p>The networking sessions are always <strong>very lively and enjoyable</strong>, and I have found many of the additional <strong>training sessions invaluable</strong>. By far the biggest benefit for me however, is the<strong> feeling of community</strong>. I really enjoy coming together with others in similar situations and having the opportunity to <strong>broaden my business network</strong>. Most importantly, no matter how much life gets in the way of me being able to attend meetings, I’ve <strong>always been warmly welcomed back</strong> into the fold and almost forgotten I was ever away!</p>

The networking sessions are always very lively and enjoyable, and I have found many of the additional training sessions invaluable. By far the biggest benefit for me however, is the feeling of community. I really enjoy coming together with others in similar situations and having the opportunity to broaden my business network. Most importantly, no matter how much life gets in the way of me being able to attend meetings, I’ve always been warmly welcomed back into the fold and almost forgotten I was ever away!

 

Venue

Online: Zoom

Future dates

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