Your online masterclass host for this week: An online marketing expert

Every Tuesday at 12.30pm you can watch an online business masterclass delivered by one of our Adviser members.

This week, Kathy Ennis hosts: How to magnetise your online marketing and generate leads as part of our Go and Grow Online campaign supported by 123 Reg, Microsoft and Verisign.

Masterclasses are available at a cost of only £10 each. To register for this week's event at 12.30pm on 28 March, go here.

Don't forget that members can watch every weekly masterclass for free! To register, log in to your Enterprise Nation account and go to the events page where the discount will be automatically applied.

If you're not yet a member, free masterclasses are just one of many benefits. Join now from only £4 a month!

Company: LittlePiggy

Twitter: @kathyennis

Company founded: 2001 (became a limited company in 2006)

What is your favourite business book and why?

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.  It was this book that inspired my fascination with visual communication and the power of first impression which, in turn, led me along the path to brand, personal branding and marketing; the specialisms I cover in my business.

Who is your business hero and why?

Everyone who takes the plunge from employee to entrepreneur, particularly those who do it later in life. Moving from the (relative) security of a monthly salary to the (certain) insecurity of creating a business to pay a monthly salary is no easy decision to make. So those who do it are real heroes.

Describe your business in a tweet.

What all businesses need, but rarely want, planning! Planning by stealth carefully hidden in brand building & strategic engagement marketing

What has been your biggest challenge?

Managing my inner gremlins! Running my own business was never on the cards for me. I fell into it by accident and I had no experience or role models; so those cheeky little critters pop up on a regular basis to attack my self confidence and tell me to get back in my box and ask me who the heck I think I am.

What has been your greatest success?

Still being in business after 16 years when all the statistical odds were against me. I'm a single-person, micro-business. I had no business experience or role models; honestly; I didn't have a clue. Probably, the only thing I had in my favour is that my first profession is librarianship. As we say in that profession, "I don't know all the answers but, by golly, I certainly know where to find them!"

What piece of advice do you wish you had known when starting out?

Blimey, there are so many! Two that really resonate are "Do what you do best and outsource the rest" and "You love your business, nobody else does. Your job is to make others love it as much as you do" But the one thing I wish I had known from day-1 is how important it is to know 'business' as well as you know about your product or service.

Why do you consider long-term strategic advice important to business success?

Because it's my business :-)

Seriously, it's because no one person knows it all, so we all need a 'critical friend' for help and support. We also need someone to hold us accountable and keep us on track. It's so easy to find yourself disappearing down rabbit-holes as a business owner. As a business adviser/mentor I describe what I do as "An ear to listen, a brain to pick and a push in the right direction"

If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

Not sure about a superpower, but I wouldn't mind having access to the TARDIS now and again, simply as a means of creating more time, as that's the one thing I always seem to run out of!

Kathy's online masterclass, How to magnetise your online marketing and generate leads, go here or log in to your membership account and go to the events page to join in for free.

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If you're an Adviser member and you'd like to host a masterclass, apply here.

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