Help us (Shell LiveWIRE) help more young people start a business in the UK!

[lordlancaster]

Hi everyone,

Funded by Shell, the Shell LiveWIRE programme has been supporting young entrepreneurs across the UK for 30yrs (since 1982).

Things have obviously changed a lot over that time with the major difference being that most of our work is now delivered online through our website www.shell-livewire.org - where people can access free business start-up advice in our Business Library, Video Lounge and of course this Discussion Forum.

There's also the start-up funding we offer - monthly £1,000 Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards and an annual £10,000 Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (see www.shell-livewire.org/awards for details of both).

Because of our role, we also get to hear about lots of great tools, resources and events and so try to share this information as widely as possible not only through our own website but also through Twitter @shelllivewireuk and on our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/ShellLiveWIREUK.

From our stats and data collection, word of mouth recommendations and search engines (primarily Google) are still the number one ways that people discover Shell LiveWIRE so we need your help to ensure that more young people get to hear about us and have the chance to pursue their dream of starting a business.

With over 193,000 Shell LiveWIRE members at the time of writing and around 30,000 new visitors each month we do a pretty good job of reaching young entrepreneurs across the UK but know that there's more we can do. We're on a mission to help the British economy and give every young person the option of at least considering self-employment but we need your help to do this.


How can you help?

• Link back to us - Links are obviously very important to Google so if you have a website or blog, we'd really appreciate it if you could link back to us at www.shell-livewire.org. We already do this for you by allowing you to include links to your website and social media profiles in your Forum Signature and on our Social Network which can give your SEO a boost and drive more traffic your way. (If you're not sure how to do this just ask by leaving a comment below).
• Tell your friends - If you know anyone aged 16-30 who is thinking of starting a business or simpy not sure what they want to do with their life, tell them about Shell LiveWIRE so they at least have the chance to consider self-employment.
• Tweet and Share - If you're on Twitter, we'd love it if you could Follow @shelllivewireuk and Tweet a link to www.shell-livewire.org. If you're on Facebook, we'd love it if you 'Liked' our Page www.facebook.com/ShellLiveWIREUK and/or shared a link back to our site. You know the way it works. If you do that then there's a chance that some of your friends and family might find it interesting enough to check out and/or to share with their own networks.
• We're all ears! - If you've got any other cool or interesting ideas for ways to spread the word about the Shell LiveWIRE programme then I'd love to hear them. Email me anytime at paul.lancaster@shell-livewire.org or give me a call on 0191 423 6239 and I'll be happy to chat and explain more about the programme

Thanks in advance!

[Business funding]

Great support for entrepreneurs, every little helps!

Abdul Khan
Founder & CEO
Enterprise Den
Connecting Entrepreneurs & Investors
http://www.enterpriseden.co.uk

[fareena]

how can link back?

[lordlancaster]

Hi fareena, if you run a website or blog then a simple link back to www.shell-livewire.org on it would be great.

[MSL]

I've just started a blog about business ideas for people with low budgets. I'll put a link in the resources page if thats ok? It's no where near finished as it's just started, but is a long-term slog at making a hopefully useful resource.

[Mogoko]

Originally Posted by lordlancaster

Hi everyone,

Funded by Shell, the Shell LiveWIRE programme has been supporting young entrepreneurs across the UK for 30yrs (since 1982).

Things have obviously changed a lot over that time with the major difference being that most of our work is now delivered online through our website www.shell-livewire.org - where people can access free business start-up advice in our Business Library, Video Lounge and of course this Discussion Forum.

There's also the start-up funding we offer - monthly £1,000 Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards and an annual £10,000 Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (see www.shell-livewire.org/awards for details of both).

Because of our role, we also get to hear about lots of great tools, resources and events and so try to share this information as widely as possible not only through our own website but also through Twitter @shelllivewireuk and on our Facebook Page www.facebook.com/ShellLiveWIREUK.

From our stats and data collection, word of mouth recommendations and search engines (primarily Google) are still the number one ways that people discover Shell LiveWIRE so we need your help to ensure that more young people get to hear about us and have the chance to pursue their dream of starting a business.

With over 193,000 Shell LiveWIRE members at the time of writing and around 30,000 new visitors each month we do a pretty good job of reaching young entrepreneurs across the UK but know that there's more we can do. We're on a mission to help the British economy and give every young person the option of at least considering self-employment but we need your help to do this.

How can you help?

• Link back to us - Links are obviously very important to Google so if you have a website or blog, we'd really appreciate it if you could link back to us at www.shell-livewire.org. We already do this for you by allowing you to include links to your website and social media profiles in your Forum Signature and on our Social Network which can give your SEO a boost and drive more traffic your way. (If you're not sure how to do this just ask by leaving a comment below).
• Tell your friends - If you know anyone aged 16-30 who is thinking of starting a business or simpy not sure what they want to do with their life, tell them about Shell LiveWIRE so they at least have the chance to consider self-employment.
• Tweet and Share - If you're on Twitter, we'd love it if you could Follow @shelllivewireuk and Tweet a link to www.shell-livewire.org. If you're on Facebook, we'd love it if you 'Liked' our Page www.facebook.com/ShellLiveWIREUK and/or shared a link back to our site. You know the way it works. If you do that then there's a chance that some of your friends and family might find it interesting enough to check out and/or to share with their own networks.
• We're all ears! - If you've got any other cool or interesting ideas for ways to spread the word about the Shell LiveWIRE programme then I'd love to hear them. Email me anytime at paul.lancaster@shell-livewire.org or give me a call on 0191 423 6239 and I'll be happy to chat and explain more about the programme

Thanks in advance!

I can put a link in our friends section on www.youngwebbuilder.com, if you like? It is in the footer. Although I may add a resources page too.

[lordlancaster]

Thanks for the offer of linking back to www.shell-livewire.org MSL and Mogoko

[Mogoko]

Originally Posted by lordlancaster

Thanks for the offer of linking back to www.shell-livewire.org MSL and Mogoko

Hi Paul, is it possible that you could give us a shoutout on Facebook +/ Twitter in exchange for this link on our homepage, I don't particularly see a place on your site for links and our site is relevant to your audience.

The message would just me to invite people to join our forum to learn more about starting their own website for their business, the link is http://www.youngwebbuilder.com/getstarted.

You don't have to, up to you Our site is for teens by teens, in a sense, half of our team are teens anyway.

[lordlancaster]

Hi Mogoko,

Instead of just a Tweet from us, a more long-lasting way for you to benefit from the Shell LiveWIRE website is to do the following:

1. Add your website and social media info to the bottom of your Discussion Forum 'signature'. This means that EVERY time you start a new thread or post a reply to an existing one, your links will automatically appear. The Shell LiveWIRE site and particularly this Forum is very well-indexed by all the search engines so by doing this one simple step you can give your SEO a little boost and drive traffic back to your site.

To do this, click on User CP (in the top left hand corner of the Forum) and then Edit Signature.

2. Likewise, the Shell LiveWIRE Social Network has been created as a way to help people market and promote their business to an international audience of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Even if you don't want to network or do business with other people in this way, a simple 1-page profile with a short description and links back to your site(s) can help drive more traffic your way.

(See http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/lordlancaster for an example of an individual profile, and http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/sageone for a business profile).

[Mogoko]

Originally Posted by lordlancaster

Hi Mogoko,

Instead of just a Tweet from us, a more long-lasting way for you to benefit from the Shell LiveWIRE website is to do the following:

1. Add your website and social media info to the bottom of your Discussion Forum 'signature'. This means that EVERY time you start a new thread or post a reply to an existing one, your links will automatically appear. The Shell LiveWIRE site and particularly this Forum is very well-indexed by all the search engines so by doing this one simple step you can give your SEO a little boost and drive traffic back to your site.

To do this, click on User CP (in the top left hand corner of the Forum) and then Edit Signature.

2. Likewise, the Shell LiveWIRE Social Network has been created as a way to help people market and promote their business to an international audience of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Even if you don't want to network or do business with other people in this way, a simple 1-page profile with a short description and links back to your site(s) can help drive more traffic your way.

(See http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/lordlancaster for an example of an individual profile, and http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/sageone for a business profile).

I tried to use the social network but I can't do anything in it.