Before we take a look at this week’s business news, we must pay homage to a very inspirational business man, Steve Jobs.  Steve Jobs, Apple founder and former CEO sadly passed away today, at the tender age of 56. A true entrepreneur that will never be forgotten. RIP Steve Jobs.

There’s been lots of positive new job creations this week, particularly in the Dublin and Belfast regions.  Etihad Airways who already employ 90 Irish workers have today announced that they are looking to expand their Irish workforce by at least 100 people.  The company will be holding interviews for the positions next month.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has announced that more than 90 jobs are to be created in the marine research and the seafood processing sector.  Kenny gave details of the investment which will generate 64 jobs, as well as 28 research posts.  Mr Kenny stated “This has been achieved through the mapping of the 90% of Irish national territory that lies under the Atlantic, the creation of a quarter of a billion euro-worth of marine research infrastructure, and the fostering of strong linkages between industry and research centres, all of which will support employment opportunities in key areas of potential growth in the marine sector.”

Over to Belfast now and more than 80 jobs are to be created over the next three years at Kainos, an IT solutions company in Belfast. The jobs will be spread out with positions in sales, software engineering and project management. The move has been welcomed by Invest Northern Ireland, and will be a huge benefit to the area.

www.roselawnhouse.com

It has been a good week for Ireland with several announcements of new jobs.  Swedish company Ericsson have today announced the creation of over 100 new positions for their research facility on Athlone.  The positions will be for software engineers and more information is said to follow over the coming weeks.

Forty jobs were also announced for Roscommon through WPA mobile, a company that specialises in mobile software medical devices. Elsewhere, 22 new jobs have been created in the animation sector which is to be based in Dublin.

Also announced throughout the week was the creation of fifty new high-end jobs in Dublin by Asset management firm BNY Mellon.  The new jobs will include specialist teams such as sales, finance, technology and operations.

BNY Mellon operates in 36 countries and serves more than 100 markets.  Here in Ireland, BNY Mellon already employ approximately 1800 people throughout their Dublin, Cork, Wexford and Navan bases and looks set to be yet another positive step towards re-growing our Irish economy.

“Retail sales fall 0.8% on the March figure, and 3.9% on the April 2010 figure,” ” Quinn Group reports losses of €888m for 2009,” “Fexco to cut 60 jobs in Co Kerry” and so the negative headings go on.

From here, I find myself posing the question, “In an effort to overcome the current economic situation we face today, what can be done from both an enterprise perspective, as well as a media perspective to help gain momentum and the much needed drive to lift the nation’s business confidence and morale.”

To begin with, we need to start looking at the skills we already possess. Ireland is reputed for its entrepreneurial skills at a nationwide level.  It is also known that recessions offer a unique opportunity to entrepreneurs, where if supported and developed fittingly, they can provide a strategic solution to overcome many of the fundamental economic obstacles we are facing today.

What we then need to look at, are the initiatives and assistance offered to new business start-ups, and see how we can promote these support incentives in the most effective way.  Only today, we see that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has set up a “credit suggestions initiative.”  The initiative aims to draw on the advice of the public as to what we can do to encourage businesses to seek credit in an effort to drive the economy forward.  Lack of finance for development and innovation can be a key problem for many new start-up companies which is why such financial backing and confidence from our government are necessary components required in order to prosper and grow.

Here at Roselawn House, we ourselves have been making steady progress in helping new business start-ups and small sme’s with the recent introduction of our Roselawn Entrepreneur Project.  The project, which offers office services at reduced rates as well as access to an established business network has already proven to be extremely successful. The project has provided these new business start-ups, access to a strong business network and environment.  This is just one prime example of the many way’s we can look at restoring our economy.  There are various initiatives from the enterprise boards to the government that are all in place and ready to be utilised.  For more information contact us at: office@roselawnhouse.com

Competition Time:

To mark the launch of our Roselawn Entrepreneur Project, we are offering new business start-ups, small businesses and entrepreneurs the chance to win a rent free office space for a Year!

Utilities such as Electricity, Heating and Broadband to mention a few will be included as well as access to an established business network and discounts.

To be in with a chance to win this competition, just click on this link and tell us in 50 words or less why you think your company should win. Entries should be submitted no later thanthe 22nd of July 2011. Terms and conditions apply.

Fore more information see: http://roselawnhouse.com/ep.php

If you haven’t heard about Social Networking yet, then firstly, where have you been! And secondly, and more importantly, it is time to get online. Over the past decade, the strength of “social networking” as a marketing tool has been evidentially crucial as a means of targeting online markets and consumers. Generation Y, as our 2011 generation has been aptly called, gives a whole new emphasis to ecommerce, with the concentration of a strong marketing presence being utilised online.

In today’s world, people are much more tuned in when it comes to new technologies and the way we interact. This in-turn, has had a direct impact on the way we as businesses, target these consumers. Today’s society now wants a more personal and interactive touch, with interaction being the key word. Never have we seen so many social networking campaigns and competition’s take place where consumers can have a direct impact in areas such as branding and direct marketing.

And so, to answer the question that often comes up amongst many businesses, “which social networking tools and concepts should I incorporate into my marketing plan”. Well first up, there is no hit or miss answer as to which sites or methods will suit every company, as you firstly need to assess your target market in order to see which one will gain you the best “reach” in terms of the market specific to your company. Generally speaking however, blogging, LinkedIN, Facebook, and Twitter are all generic social networking tools that have proven to be extremely successful across many markets and sectors on a global scale. There are various other sites such as Digg, Redditt, and much more which are again a great way to share information relevant to your target market. Facebook for example have benchmarked the way forward when it comes to advertising. By incorporating technologies that now allow you to target specific groups based on demographics, age and sex, it has revolutionised the way we can interact and target certain markets and industries.

Once you have decided which sites will work well for your company, you will then need to look at content. Make sure the content you upload or share is both relevant and interesting to your targeted audience. Relevance is the key word here. If your company is based in the technology sector for example, sharing information on the latest debates over school funding, however interesting it may seem to you, will not be of any use to your company. Uploading and sharing content on technological advancements and developments however, will be crucial.

Another important area to remember is that of consistency. Keep your contact consistent. If you lose interest, so will your clients. Limit yourself to possibly a blog or an article a week, and share a daily upload or status maybe once or twice a day. Bear in mind that you also don’t want to overload your consumers with information, so keep it short and sweet, but enough to keep your target audience intrigued.

And finally, Interaction and Networking. This will be a key area for any company in today’s business society. Interact with companies and consumers as the feedback they can provide can be invaluable. Access to such marketing information and networks was once considered time consuming and costly before, whereas now we can have it at the touch of a button. Use this information to your advantage and see what your consumers want. At the end of the day, it’s the consumer that got you to where you are, and the consumer that will hopefully keep you there.

elle@roselawnhouse.com

http://www.roselawnhouse.com/ep.php