Past Events

If you need to create brand awareness or let the world know about your products and services, then our marketing training sessions are for you! Unless otherwise stated all sessions have been run as 2 hour workshops or webinars.

• Business intros to get people talking

  Being able to introduce yourself and your business succinctly and enticingly is critical to your business success. In this session we focus on your 30-60 second pitch (aka elevator pitch) you’d use at a networking event to introduce yourself to the group. The purpose is to leave the audience wanting more, and wanting to have a conversation with you.

• Creating your business brand voice

  Brand voice is often overlooked by small business owners but is essential to differentiate yourself in the market.

• Define your target market and create your buyer persona/ideal client avatar

  Essential before you start any marketing activities is REALLY understanding your client. Through this session we look at target markets, niches and ideal client avatars and how to establish them.

• DIY low cost market research

  The resources we share with you – in most cases free can be a game changer in understanding where and how you fit in the market. 

• Generating lead ideas

  Run as a facilitated session where the audience is prompted to generate the ideas. This has been run as a networking group full workshop a couple of times extremely effectively. It’s a great way to build community within your group as well as generate well over 100 ways to get leads!

• Getting leads through inbound marketing

  Inbound marketing is a content driven marketing strategy. Create some great lead magnets – content for people to sign up to in exchange for their email and you can now maintain contact with the prospect until they’re ready to buy. You’re connecting with a warm lead – someone who voluntarily provided their email details to you. 2 hour workshop.

• Low cost marketing ideas

  This was started with the online version below, but adds in real life, physical and in-person marketing ideas. There is about 60% overlap with low cost digital marketing, because of course those channels including social can’t be dismissed!

• Low cost digital marketing (aka Low cost online marketing) 

  One of our most popular sessions for the wealth of ideas shared both during the session (about 40) and after the session in a handout (HUNDREDS). This is about making you realise although you think you’ve tried it all to market your small business, you have SO many more ideas to go! There is a section on social media, but it’s not the focus of the session. 2 hour workshop plus valuable handout.

• Marketing and sales planning

Topics on more specific areas of marketing include: 

• Blogging made easy and effective

• The feedback we get from this wession we added for the first time in 2020 is AMAZING. People love it because it is both inspirational and practical. Starting with the inspiring why we should blog, what topics to blog on, writing blogs, formatting blocks and finally marketing and repurposing. This is a session NOT to be missed! 2 hour workshop. An entry level version from our PW Series will be available through our online school soon.

• Creating a lead magnet

There are many ways to create a lead magnet. In this session we cover making sure the lead magnet has a purpose (you know your funnel or sales pipeline) and then some simple tools you can use to create and deliver them.

• Also refer social media section

Let’s face it, a lot of our other training categories are fundamental too, but in this case we’re talking the real core of business planning and business set-up. Without the business foundations being solid your business could come down like a house of cards.

• Business planning essentials

• Business structure and all the boring but essential stuff!

• Conscious decision making using a living business plan

• Coping with crisis

• Review, reflect and revitalise your business

  Run as an interactive workshop, online training course and a shorter version with a networking group

• Scaling up your business

• Setting up an online business to avoid costly mistakes

• SMARTER goal setting

  Run as an interactive workshop, online training course and a shorter version with a networking group

• Turning learnings into actions

     Run as a 30 minute networking session to ensure people knew what to do after         attending training sessions.

• What would Jane say? #wwjs

  A Penrith networking group created this hashtag because of all the valuable input into their business group. They then held an event where the attendees could ask any question on any business topic live at the event. It was a great success, and was also good for the organiser to help identify what topics members needed help with to help her arrange speakers.

Also check out our other categories as many fundamentals are covered there too!

Specialist sessions:

• How to start a catering business
• How to start a resume writing business
• How to start a virtual assistant business

These are additional topics we haven’t covered yet in a workshop but will.

• Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

• Business risk management assessment

Without great customer service a business can be undone in a day! This is all about clear communication, managing expectations, handling issues and complaints (and therefore reviews). It’s also about understanding closing the sale should be the start of the relationship.

• After sales service and customer care

  Presented as a workshop and using website specific examples for a 40 minute WordCamp talk. Can be modified for any and all industries.

   

• Setting up a customer care culture and program

Topics we’ve not run specifically yet but will do in the future: 

• Handling customer reviews – the good, the bad and the ugly

  Handling reviews is something we see raised regularly in Facebook business groups. Usually the business has received a scathing review from an irate client (whether or not justifiable), or in many cases received a fake review. Good reviews are often neglected altogether. Reviews are an amazing opportunity to acknowledge raving fans, and a great marketing tool when the review is bad! Whatever the scenario, how you handle reviews is imperative to reputational success!

• Onboarding new clients

  Learn how to onboard clients effectively for your industry. Often ‘closing the sale’ is such a big effort we place little focus on what happens next. Having a smooth onboarding process is vital to delighting your client with an amazing experience.

Our employees are the backbone of our business. If our employees and contractors are unhappy, it’s unlikely they’ll do a good job for clients. This will have a negative flow on effect to customer service and therefore sales and marketing.

• Before you hire your first employee

  Make sure an employee is what you need! Are your processes streamlined and effective? Have you replaced work arounds with systems? Have you got your knowledge out of your head, or can it be done easily?

• Hiring your first employee

Topics we’ve not run specifically yet but will do in the future: 

• Dealing with employee poor performance

• Leading a business through change

• Managing a remote work force

• Setting up a performance management system and KPIs

• Working from home and how to make it work for your business

With poor mindset you are going to hit barrier after barrier in your business. You need to learn to make shifts.

• Coaching tools for personal development and self confidence

  Tools you can use to manage blocks in your business and tap into the expertise you already have. Run as a 2 hour workshop with client examples.

• Self confidence boosters

  Ways to boost your self confidence. Run within workshops, but can also be standalone as a 30 minute networking presentation, or expanded to a full workshop.

• Overcoming overwhelm – time to prioritise

  We get it, there are so many things you want to do. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re human and can’t do it all. Choosing what to focus on can be hard! We can do this session cut down for networking events or keynotes or as a full 2 hr workshop.

Topics we’ve not run specifically yet but will do in the future: 

• Managing your mind

  Identifying why what you think is stopping you in your business may not be.

An extension from branding and more technical are our workshops in these areas.

• Creating an Online Course

  An overview course about how people learn, what platforms to use, how to structure the course, and how to market it. Also where the course fits in your overall business funnel.

• Creating a YouTube Video and Channel

  How to shoot videos, tips about editing and then how to upload them to YouTube and get found. 2-3 hour workshop.

• Replace those boring and repetitive stock photos

  Starts with some simple foundations to photography. Then we move to live shooting to replicate a photo to teach you how to read the photo. Then we finish with shooting your own products or stock images for your website. Live interactive 2-3 hour workshop.

• Using Camtasia to edit videos

  Camtasia is a paid video editing program which we use and recommend. In this session we run through LIVE how to create a quick intro and then how to edit your own short video. 2-3 hour practical workshop. Participants download a trial version ahead of the session. Many tips transfer over to other editing tools.

Topics we’ve not run specifically yet but will do in the future: 

• Specialist photography topics

  As an NYIP Diploma of Photography holder and former wedding photographer can teach topics such as:

• Cheese free portrait photography – bring out the best features and their personality

  This is such an important part of photography.

• Get in close – macro photography

  Macro photography is a great complement to your site and creates some intrigue. It can also make a photo shoot feel more high end.

• Using your smartphone to take great photos

  Modern smartphones have amazing cameras for their size. Learn how to use functions you may not have known were there to take the best photos. Plus it’s not about the equipment often, it’s about what and how you shoot!

Pricing is one of the biggest areas where people rip themselves off. Undercharging, discounting, quoting, calculating hourly rates and why not to disclose them are all important in the pricing discussion.

To find out more about pricing strategies (including courses, blogs and other resources) for small business click here.

• How to set prices and not go bust

  Setting your prices can be tricky. This session includes a mind opening group exercise to make you realise there’s a lot more behind a price than the thing itself. 2-3 hour workshop.

• Pricing and packaging services

  This session is a variation on the above workshop with a specific focus on the packaging and productising of services. Live interactive 2-3 hour workshop.

•  Why quoting may be killing your business and how to fix it

  90 minute to 2 hour workshop dedicated to the practices around quoting. How to prequalify and qualify prospects to lessen time wasters and improve your conversion rates, questions to ask, conversion rates and touches on selling yourself and your business.

Topics we’ve not run specifically yet but will do in the future: 

• Allocating your overheads and your time – practical pricing session using Excel (or Google Sheets)

  Have worked with clients on this one one one but can also offer this as a training session.

Sales often comes with a stigma attached. We are not teaching you to be a used car salesman or a scammy telemarketer. Rather we want you to love sales and realise you may be doing a disservice if you don’t sell!

• Sales strategies (mainly in person)

  In this session we tech you some sales strategies and role play them with the group. Live interactive 2-3 hour workshop.

• Selling products and services

  We can also split this and focus on one or the other, however this workshop particularly caters for those with a hybrid model, selling both products and services. 2-3 hours workshop This can also be run with a focus on ‘for introverts’ or people with issues around self belief.

• Selling for non sales staff

  Getting sales people to sell is one thing, it can be quite another getting the rest of the team on board. In this session we focus on newbies to sales who may need to do it as an incidental part of their role. 2-3 hr workshop.

• Selling without being salesy

  Selling has a bad stigma, but many people love to buy, or need to buy. In this session we turn sales around and look at it from a customer need perspective. Helping people solve their problems and making them feel good is a good thing! 2-3 hour workshop.

•  Why quoting may be killing your business and how to fix it

  90 minute to 2 hour workshop dedicated to the practices around quoting. How to prequalify and qualify prospects to lessen time wasters and improve your conversion rates, questions to ask, conversion rates and touches on selling yourself and your business.

Specialist sessions:

• Winning Small Business Clients (for Copywriters

  This was a keynote session at Copycon. It can be converted into a session for any industry.

Social media is a constantly involving mega beast and for that reason we don’t tend to offer courses on nitty gritty social programs. Did you know there are/have been 10,000+ versions of Facebook – different devices, different operating systems, beta testers, trialling new options for some countries and much more. All this leads to a lack of conformity in what the system looks like on a given day let alone after a few months.

However, we do get more specific on the slightly more stable LinkedIn and provide more general training in use and strategies and content generation.

• Facebook content scheduling

  This session focuses on a walk through of how to create and schedule content for Facebook using thought and methodology rather than the ole spray and pray! We cover content pillars, high level brand voice, hashtags and scheduling. This comes with a Facebook content schedule guide.

• Intro to Instagram Reels and Stories

  Contradicting what we said above, we did run in March 2021 this online Workshop to meet a special request. This included some pre-recorded training on some specific Instagram Reels. Reels is a great place to be silly and to smash your reach! 2 hour workshop.

• Learn to love LinkedIn

  Linkedin is often unloved and yet it’s a fantastic place to build relationships with business owners, department heads and other great people. In this 2 hour workshop we run through how to optimise your profile and how to reach out and connect to people WITHOUT the need to pay for premium options! This workshop can be run for business owners, job seekers or a mixture of both, and we have presented LinkedIn as a 40 minute cut down version for networking events.

• Social media and small business

  No joke! Was asked to present on this topic at a conference for 40 mins. I was like surely you have something more specific in mind. Nope. So I focused on the purpose of socials, the type of posts which work well, and which platforms may work best for you AND your clients. It was a hit with newbies and even a corporate social media expert – go figure!

Issues with website developers and search engine optimisation (SEO) providers were the main reason FAQ Business Training was formed. We were sick of hearing story, after story of small business owners being taken for a ride! Rather than get angry, we decided to educate and empower small business owners to learn enough to do it yourself (DIY) or outsource with confidence by knowing enough to ask the right questions and know how to monitor actions being taken. 

• Developing a website brief

  Too many new business owners go to a website developer or designer, ‘I need a website’. They often have given little further thought as to what goes into the website. Although the web developer/designer should be making sure they have enough information, they often don’t seek or get it. Hence a website is produced, it may even be pretty, but it may serve no real purpose and years later still have NO traction! Developing a brief makes the business owner question what needs to go into the website from the start, whether they DIY or get someone to build it.

    A recording of the short form of this talk is available through WordCamp TV.

• Google business solutions

  This was a topic passed over from another presenter (completely recreating it from scratch), and as such never felt as affiliated to it. Yet ironically it is always one which generates great feedback. After all it is a 2 hour workshop and predominantly free useful Google tools for any small business owner!

• SEO basics / Search Engine Optimisation basics

  SEO is something Jane self learned through going through the Google Webmasters information and blogs and videos from gurus in the space. Jane applied this training to her resume business at the time and ended up having to shut down her website as it was generating too much business for a business she no longer wanted to do!

  Following this, Jane found out about and completed Kate Toon’s Recipe for SEO Success which was a much easier way to learn the same SEO information, as well as completing courses with others including Neil Patel.

  Jane now teaches SEO basics to small business owners. This session is focused more on business optimisation and keywords than website SEO. It sets the foundations for future success. 2 hour workshop

• SEO beyond the basics

  This session carries on from SEO basics, with more onsite website SEO including backlinks and user experience (UX). It also covers a few more complicated features which may be required for the benefit of some. 2 hour workshop

• Top 10 ways to appear on Google for free

  Popular as a 30-45 minute conference or networking session. We also cover these tips in full in SEO Basics, and we cover some of them in sessions like Low Cost Digital Marketing.  These are legitimate and genuine ways for your business to be found online and cost nothing to do. Many do not even require you to have your own website!

• Website delivered – it’s the start of the relationship

  This was delivered as a 40 minute presentation for WordCamp Sydney 2019 and was aimed at website developers and designers, to encourage maintaining website customers after the website was handed over. This session is really about customer service and relationships so can be adjusted for any audience. It is a particular issue in the web space where many clients go elsewhere for updates, maintenance and full rebuilds.