Make Your Mark Blog

Making money from the web was the theme of today when some ambitious young people visited Make Your Mark towers to find out more about carving a lucrative career online.

The pupils from Knights Templar school did a spot of speed networking with a variety of people from online industries, including Andrew Walker (Thin Martian), Matthew Miles-Griffiths (games designer), Paul Miller (CEO of School of Everything), Ollie Barrett (entrepreneur and speed networking guru) and Make Your Mark’s very own Dr Dan McQuillan and Allan Okello.

Lloyd Davis from Social Media Cafe and Louise Brown from Channel 4 spoke to the group about new web technologies and the careers that can be forged online, and there were a series of entertaining discussions about working on the web, being a games designer and working at Channel 4.

A good day was had by all and hopefully we have inspired some future internet millionaires!

View photos from the day 

Coaxing the over 50s, ethnic and disabled people into starting their own businesses could produce a £9bn boost to the economy within four years, says a Cass Business School study supported by Microsoft.

The groups are described as the “hidden innovators” in research suggesting they are likely to stay the business course longer than the younger generation of entrepreneurs, given encouragement, advice and confidence.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/12/cnoaps112.xml

 As announced recently in the Government’s Enterprise Strategy Make Your Mark is currently doing some scoping research into unleashing enterprise potential of over-50s, 4 ethnic minorities and women. We will definately be taking note of the findings in this study.

It’s been a busy week at Make Your Mark and Tuesday was a real highlight….it was our London Make Your Mark Meet-up, the event we run for Connectors, Ambassadors and Enterprise Week organisers. Lots of you came along to find out more about Enterprise Week in November 2008 and there was a real buzz down at the Unicorn Theatre near London Bridge.

If you couldn’t make it and you want to sample a piece of the action, check out this Animoto clip I’ve just created. 

If you want to make a clip like this then visit www.animoto.com. I’ve just spent two days on a Mediasnackers course and this is one of the things I discovered. There really are some amazing things on the internet, and they’re free too!

We held our first Make Your Mark Meet up event in London last Tuesday afternoon with over 100 of our campaign friends and partners (including lots of MYM Ambassadors, Connectors and those lovely people who run great events in Enterprise Week!). The event was the first of a series of Make Your Mark Meet ups around the country and was a great chance for us to see some familiar enterprise faces and meet some new ones too!

There were some great ideas unleashed for Enterprise Week 2008 in the three sessions on Global Entrepreneurship Week, Digital Media and building partnerships - as well as the fantastic ‘doughnut of chat’ aka Talkaoke in the Foyer and our Connect Me photo wall where we snapped all the guests and how they want to Make their Mark!

A big thank you to all those enterprising people who took part in the event and helped create such a great buzz!

( ps. Don’t just take our word for it! Check out more event photos here: http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/news_and_features/galleries/72157604472500481)

Just been on a v cool training course by the gang from http://mediasnackers.com/intro/

If you want to learn more about the potential of social media and all things digital then this is the course for you. We saw some inspiring examples of the power of shared content:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php - if this isn’t an enterprising idea which has been turned into reality I don’t know what is! We should use this as inspiration for Global Entrepreneurship Week (www.unleashingideas.org).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8602472107022912201 I love the cup stackers. Over one million people have viewed this film. Unbelievable.

Hopefully you’ll begin to see Make Your Mark folk being more digital-savvy, using video and audio to inspire and empower. Watch this space…

And if you have any other examples of where people have used social networking and digital technology to make their enterprising ideas happen please tell us and share the inspiration!!

ps just found this - better version of evite for sending out invitations http://www.pingg.com/event/view/ZQzZ0Wc-zZ05v?new=true

Just read an interesting article from Rachel Elnaugh who used to be on Dragon’s Den.

Her company Red Letter Days went bust a while back and she talks quite frankly about some of the mistakes she thinks she made. She repeats the mantra that you have to follow passions, not money. She also says that too much money can make people lazy…

It’s only a short interview - have a read!

http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/entrepreneurs/317831/wish-id-known-rachel-elnaugh.thtml

There has been an inspiring number of new Make Your Mark Clubs recently. It is thrilling to discover such gems of enterprise in UK youth. Their stories are the stuff of enterprising dreams! Here are two new members’ shining stories; to read more inspiring stories visit
www.makeyourmarkclub.org .

FAIR ENOUGH!

Following Enterprise Week 2007 and the launch of a Fairtrade Shop, Hameldon Community College is continuing to Make Its Mark! The Hameldon Shop is staffed and managed by ten students from Year 9, selling FairTrade goodies: geobars, fruit juice, dried fruit snacks, tea, coffee and the occasional chocolate bar! The Hameldon Fairtraders ran events and presented assemblies throughout Fairtrade Fortnight which climaxed with a Fairtrade Fashion Show. The students have decided that profits raised from the shop will go towards a Fairtrade cotton farming project in India.

Purple Banana

Woodhouse Business and Enterprise College is home to Purple Banana – a Make Your Mark Club formed by seven Year 10 students. Purple Banana received funding from the school which helped them run a Christmas Fair, from which they were able to fund further enterprise projects including selling homemade toiletries to pupils for Mother’s Day. Their latest business with the Music department is to design and create a CD cover for the music that has been composed and sung by the year 7 choir. The CDs will then be sold in their snazzy covers, surely with great success!

There is a new Make Your Mark Club member to welcome as a model of inspiration. Bishop Fox’s School have taken an idea and by turning it into reality, they have made the world into Somerset’s oyster! This successful enterprise reaches towards international links, responding to the shifts in travel culture, economics and society whilst strengthening their local community bonds.

Bishop Fox’s School have developed a strong network with local businesses and the community, through organized talks and breakfasts. They work closely with the community’s schools and have set up the Taunton Enterprise Network. They have a strong international focus which they develop in multiple projects in Peru, Norway, Papua New Guinea, China and France.

Bishop Fox’s in collaboration with Outposts Ltd ( www.outposts.co.uk ) formed Somerset Overseas, a group that seeks to give Somerset students the opportunity to go on expeditions to destinations around the globe that are off the beaten track. The first expedition to Peru was successfully completed last summer with 23 students from 5 Somerset secondaries.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The collaboration goes on with Outposts and the enterprising school are preparing for more expeditions in the future. Plans include South Africa in 2008, Tibet & Nepal in 2009, China 2010 & Russia in 2011. The expeditions are designed for Year 11 students following the completion of their GCSEs. There are 46 students from 7 Somerset secondaries signed up, including 5 from Bishop Fox’s.

This school and its students are an inspiration to us all, their enterprising achievements are a credit to community networking and believing in an idea. To read more about Bishop Fox’s Making Their Mark go to www.makeyourmarkclub.org

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Professional networking group First Tuesday, in conjunction with leading web conference Internet World, have announced the First Tuesday Award. A distinguished panel of judges from companies such as the Financial Times and the London Business School will bestow the title of ‘UK’s Most Promising Internet Company’ to the most qualified candidate, at the Internet World conference in London on April 30th April, 2008.

Covering a broad spectrum of web-based UK businesses, the companies will be judged on their degree of innovation, growth rate and future potential. The winner will be awarded a lucrative business booster package including personal introductions to some of UK’s top VC and Angel investors, a professionally produced corporate video, access to meeting facilities across the UK and business plan coaching. The full package is valued at upwards of £10,000.

“London specifically, and the UK in general, are experiencing a resurgence in web-based entrepreneurial culture,” said First Tuesday Chief Executive Christer Holloman. “What largely disappeared after the dot-com bust of 2000 has reemerged, with a vibrant mix of young start-ups and experienced venture capitalists starting to make waves.”

Internet World event director James Drake-Brockman commented: “With the UK’s premier web companies and most promising entrepreneurs in attendance, Internet World provides the perfect forum for First Tuesday’s ‘Most Promising Internet Company’ award. First Tuesday’s formula of bringing together venture capital and entrepreneurship will add a valued dimension to the event.”

Companies that believe they should be shortlisted can nominate themselves free of charge on the First Tuesday website ( http://www.firsttuesday.org.uk/award ). The nomination process takes then less then 10 minutes. Members of the public are also encouraged to nominate companies they would like to see win, for a chance to collect a cash prize and tickets to the official after party at Paul Allen’s private members club, The Hospital in Covent Garden.

• Gone With The Wind
• Top price tickets (usually £50 or £60)
• ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!
• Saturday 12th April MATINEE at 2:30pm
• ONLY £25

Fiddle-dee-dee, those fabulous folk at Hit The Theatre are offering an exclusive discount to see Sir Trevor Nunn’s landmark new musical Gone With The Wind. Not only will you be sitting in the very best seats in the building, but you will be paying only a fraction of the normal ticket price!

The show stars Darius Danesh and Jill Paice, and brings together the creative team behind smash hits such as Les Miserables, Cats, Starlight Express and many others.

This one-off event is sure to be a huge success. Secure your tickets today by visiting www.hitthetheatre.co.uk/gwtw

What’s more, if you have a group of 6 or more students wanting to come to the show for this performance, call 0207 1939050 for more special offers!

Frankly, you WILL give a damn… (see what I did there)

The new Space Connect page on the Make your Mark website is now live!

Have a look and check out the latest space and enterprise related competitions and events  that are being run by the Ideas Foundation. 

Profiles of some of the UK’s Space Pioneers and Ambassadors are to added shortly.

Apparently as many as seven million Brits genuinely believe they will become millionaires and over two thirds of those think it will be achievable within 10 years according to new research.The survey into people’s attitudes to making money found that women and young people could prove the most promising contributors to the UK economy over the next decade, with the majority relying on business skills and personal ambition to reach millionaire status. In contrast, men would risk the most for a millionaire lifestyle.

It’s great to see people have ambition and goals but is being a millionaire really achievable for that many people? Making my million is certainly not my main goal in my career although don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t rule it out!

If you want some ideas on how to make your first million check out some monthly videocasts available to view at www.orange.co.uk/myfirstmillion with James Caan launching the series.

Hello. My name is Shed.

I know that sounds a bit odd, but my parents called me that from an early age (it’s short for ‘Sheridan’).

Anyway…it’s great to be with you.

One of my huge passions is coming up with new ideas and then making them happen. You can see the sort of mischief and entrepreneurialism I get up to, on my personal site.

Right now though, my only focus is YOU. My aim is to make this blog incredibly useful (and hopefully also entertaining and interesting) for you. You can judge whether I succeed. . .

First off, I’m going to read your mind. So, prepare to be astonished.

Ok, good… hold still…it’s coming through.

The fact that you’re visiting the ‘Make Your Mark’ website tells me so much about you. First off, it tells me that you’re someone who wants to make things happen.

Secondly, you’re someone who searches for information on how to make those things happen. Already, these two facts about you mean that I know you’ve got all the talents needed to achieve success in any field you want, namely: you’ve got both the desire to succeed and also the intelligence to search for ways to make your success happen.

So that’s good news for starters, isn’t it!

In this series of blogs, I’m going to share with you some of my adventures in creativity and entrepreneurialism and give you my secrets of success. Hopefully you’ll find them both interesting an inspiring… If you enjoy them and find them useful, you can read more of my adventures and secrets for success in my latest book ‘Ideas Man’…

All the very best and I wish you great success…

yours,

Shed

SHED’S TEN QUICK SECRETS OF SUCCESS (PART 1: Secrets 1-5)

1- TO GET YOURSELF NOTICED, GO ABOVE AND BEYOND

For my first job in television, I wanted to make myself stand out amongst the thousands of applicants all equally able and willing to get their chance at working in one of the most diverse and upcoming production companies in the UK.

So, I sent my potential employers a pizza with the following message printed in the lid: “Wanted to give you a pizza my mind and say thanks for the interview…”.

Oh, how cheesy (ouch) is that! But it worked because the bosses noticed me. After I sent them scripts proving I was passionate about the job, they interviewed me and eventually hired me as a trainee.

So…research is key. Find out all you can about the job you are going for and the people who are ultimately responsible for making the decisions.

Then use your initiative to go above and beyond and make your application stand out.

2- FIND INSPIRING PEOPLE WHO SHARE YOUR DREAM TO WORK WITH

No matter how great and unique you are, it’s always better when you’re succeeding with someone else. We all need other to help fill in our skill gaps.

So it’s a good idea to always search for the best (and most knowledgeable people) in the field you’re hoping to succeed in and persuade them to work with you.

It’s also a good idea to share your goals with others by telling people (who you trust) about your aims.

Doing this will set your idea in motion, because when you’ve told someone you’re going to do something, you’ll want to prove to them you can.

And hopefully, they can also help you stay motivated. . .

3- DON’T JUST DREAM IT…DO IT

When you have an idea, the worst thing is to sit there and spend valuable time thinking about making it happen. So, stop thinking and start doing.

We all have creative ideas from time to time and the longer we sit and think about them the more we fill ourselves with self doubt and in the end stop doing it.

These days, with the internet at your fingertips, you are always so close to people who can help. As long as you start making your idea happen and then learn from the journey, you can’t go far wrong.

And remember, as Walt Disney said so well, “If You Can Dream It You Can Do It”.

4- PACKAGING IS KEY

One of the first novelty products I launched was the ‘Butt Plug’ – a bum shaped mould that goes on the back of an electrical plug.

Unfortunately, the packaging wasn’t quite right. It didn’t clearly tell the customer what the plastic bum was for.

Presentation is always key when you’re pitching anything – you must communicate quickly and professionally what your message is.

5- AIM TO FAIL

Try to re-train your mind and persuade yourself that when you try something new and than you fail, it’s a good thing.

It’s good…because, if you fail at something, you know you’re moving towards your goal.

All you then have to do is learn from those hiccups and power onwards and you’ll succeed.

(SECRETS 6-10 coming soon….)

All the very best in your endeavours…

Yours,

Shed

*****

To read more of Shed’s adventures in entrepreneurialism and find out the secrets of success, see Shed’s New Book ‘Ideas Man‘ and view his news and products on www.IdeasMan.co.uk.

Also, if you work in the Tea Bag industry, The Bottled Water Industry The Cheese Industry or would simply like to explore working with Shed on one of his new ideas, please contact him through www.IdeasMan.co.uk too.

*****

Read Shed’s inspiring story