I know what I did this summer…

People can think that the summer is a quiet time, with the holiday season upon us.

It’s also a great time to forge ahead with projects though.

I made a list at the start of the summer – and over July & August have been able to achieve several goals – ready for things to really take off in September:

1) Finishing and publishing my second book

Power Climb: Growing your small business is a guide for business owners, giving them tips that they can apply straightaway in their business.

www.powerclimb.co.uk

2) Launching my small business consultancy service

3) Starting video blogging (vlogging)

And managing to upload over 60 videos this summer, meeting the goal I set at the start of aiming to achieve one video per day.

www.youtube.com/taxhelpukcom

4) Keeping up with my blogging

Posting nearly 70 blogs this summer, my experiment of posting one blog a day proved that it very much increases the hits to the site. As a result one week I had over 10,000 hits.

taxhelp.uk.com/blog

5) Having the most shared slide presentation on LinkedIn in the world

On 10th August – considering there are over 150 million LinkedIn users this is a considerable achievement.

http://www.slideshare.net/taxhelpukcom/more-time-and-money-via-social-media

6) Joining a BNI chapter

I had been looking for a place for some time, having applied to join Caterham BNI this summer I was successful and am now a member there.

http://www.bnisurrey.co.uk/surrey-caterham-bni

7) Having an article accepted for publication on BNI SuccessNet

“The hidden costs of online networking?” – my article will be published in the September edition.

http://successnet.czcommunity.com

8) Being placed Runner-Up in a global BNI video competition

My entry was for the ‘What I love about BNI’ competition, open to BNI Directors worldwide.

http://youtu.be/GPP1gKtgpSw

9) Transitioning taxhelp.uk.com onto a new internal accounting system

As well as providing me with more detailed management information, it will also enable our clients a further option to settle their invoices by being directly linked to our company PayPal account.

10) Exhibiting at the Ascot Retirement Fair

2012 was the third year I have had a stand there, speaking to local people on the day and setting up meetings afterwards.

www.ascotretirementfair.com

11) Taking on several new clients

Whilst some people may think that the summer is quiet, if you are looking for new business actively there are opportunities available.

12) Shooting some new professional videos

I had an early morning video shoot with Mike Daly, and shot several intro videos for my various websites.

13) Undertaking my first video interview

Although I have been interviewed several times myself, this time I was behind the camera interviewing Nick Tadd from propertytribes.com.

http://youtu.be/pqlQ79NiSTk

14) Presenting to business owners in Essex

The ‘more time and money via social media’ presentation I have been running with Tim Kidd and Zoe Cairns visited Essex in early July, completing our initial 2012 tour of Kent, Surrey and Essex.

15) Spending a day in Guildford with several business owners

At a meeting for attendees of the Flourish Branding masterclass

www.brandingmasterclass.com

16) Being interviewed myself

By local Social Media specialist Nicky Kriel. As well as the audio interview we also shot a couple of short videos.

17) Taking on a new BNI chapter

To help their members earn more money. I’ve been a Director Consultant for BNI since 2009, in July 2012 I became the DC responsible for BNI Coombe Wood chapter.

http://www.bnisurrey.co.uk/surrey-coombe-wood-bni

18) Celebrating taxhelp.uk.com’s 6th birthday

I started the business in 2006, and thanks to our clients we have grown successfully each year during some tough trading conditions.

19) Being appointed the ATT’s representative for the HMRC Working Together initiative in Surrey

Thanks to running my own practice, as well as serving on the Membership Committee of the ATT for several years, I took on this role.

20) … and of course finding some time to relax!

I recently became a member of the National Trust, so have enjoyed visits to local sites such as Claremont, Polesden Lacey, Hatchlands and Nymans.

Living near to the famous Brooklands racetrack in Surrey I also visited them again this summer and enjoyed a ‘flight’ in Concorde.

And of course supporting team GB in the sporting events. Although I wasn’t successful in getting a ticket, I am going to the Paralympics at the main park in a few days time.
Looking back, it’s surprising just how much you can achieve if you have a realistic list of projects, and the time to focus on achieving them.

What did you do this summer?

Please share in the comments below – I’m sure our competitors will be surprised – many of them will have just been chillaxing thinking it’s a quiet time of year!

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