There are a lot of agencies, departments and organisations around the world that are there to help small businesses – from planning and setting up your business, managing and growing it, through to closing or selling your business. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to look when you don’t really know what you’re looking for, right?

So to help you out, I’ve compiled a list – well, 6 lists in fact, of some of these organisations for you:

• Useful Business Agencies – Australia
• Useful Business Agencies – Canada
• Useful Business Agencies – New Zealand
• Useful Business Agencies – South Africa
• Useful Business Agencies – United Kingdom
• Useful Business Agencies – United States

If you know of any others that should be included here, please email the details to me.

Useful Business Agencies Around The World is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

I’ve just returned from London where I was fortunate enough to be invited to Andrew Reynolds’ Entrepreneurs Bootcamp.

This two-day event was held in the magnificent O2 Arena in front of 6,000 people. The atmosphere was incredibly uplifting with so many people gathered in one place to learn how they can turn their life around. Up on stage were top speakers from around the world, including some of  Australia’s finest presenters, educators and motivators, Brett McFall, Tom Hua and Pat Mesiti.

With such a massive stage, the big screens around the venue were a must!

Another Australian, Internet Marketer and Webinar King, Steven Essa, was there to share the experience too:

(If the video stops and starts or is jumpy, just press ‘pause’ and give it half a minute to download, then press ‘play’ again)

Andrew Reynolds asked for a small donation in exchange for so much valuable information, then presented this donation of £700,000+ to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I’m sure this generous gift will make a huge difference to the lives of many critically ill children – congratulations Andrew and everyone who participated in the event, and especially all attendees who donated to this worthy cause.

How To Give Massive Value To 6,000 People While Raising Money For Sick Kids is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

It seems that membership sites are all the rage at the moment … and rightly so. Whether they’re free or charge some sort of fee, if set up and managed well they can be an excellent way to provide online teaching or bring a group of like-minded individuals together.

If running a well-maintained membership site is something you do, or would like to do, here’s an interview that I’m sure you’ll find helpful.

This interview is with professional high-profile blogger, Chris Garrett, where he discusses the membership site advice he wishes he knew before he began building his membership sites, along with pricing strategies, software and how to use “The Bikini Concept” (you’ll have to listen to the interview to find out what this is!)

You can download or play this interview for tips on how to create a successful membership site for absolutely no cost.

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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate

Practical Tips For Creating A Successful Membership Site is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

The X-10 Effect:  How To Boost Your Income x10 With One Simple Secret

Regular readers of this blog or my newsletter will no doubt remember me mentioning the X-10 Effect seminar which was held in Sydney, Australia, recently. This seminar was so successful and widely requested by people around the country … so it’s now going national (Australia).

If you’re a business owner who would like to know how to multiply your results x10 then you should get yourself along to this one-day workshop being run by Steven Essa.

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Steven and know that the stuff he’s teaching can make a huge difference to business owners. This workshop shows how the simple use of webinars can multiply your income by 10. Steven shares plenty of content and tips for making sure you get the best results for your guests as well as your business.

Visit X-10 Effect for full details and to register.

Tickets are only $47 for two people (well, $47 each but you get to bring a friend for nothing) and ALL TICKET PROCEEDS are going to the Heart Foundation in support of the 50K in 50 Days Challenge.

I’ll be at the Gold Coast event, so if you go to that one make sure you say hello to me.

Multiply Your Income By 10: The X-10 Effect Goes National is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Earlier this year I began using the Thesis theme for WordPress. Until then I’d been using free WP themes and they were good.

However I couldn’t find a theme that had the exact layout I was after and so ended up installing a fairly generic one… and then pulling it to pieces and customising it. To do this I had to learn CSS coding and spent hours upon hours upon hours getting it ‘okay’. In the end, there were still a few bits and pieces that just wouldn’t come together like I’d hoped.

Then I saw the light… I discovered Thesis.

The Thesis theme is not free but it’s quite affordable. The thing I love the most is just how quick and easy it is to customise, without having to know anything about CSS.

You simply choose – in most cases via a simple drop-down menu – whether you want a 1, 2 or 3 column site, what order you want those columns in, what font you want for the headline and main content text and so on. I also like that it has SEO friendly fields built in automatically so there’s no need to install and SEO plug-in.

Granted it still has its limitations, but in all honesty this is by far the best theme I’ve found and I absolutely love it. I’m sure I could overcome those limitations by editing the CSS stylesheet if I really wanted to, but personally, I don’t feel it’s necessary.

The Thesis theme is produced by DIY Themes – you can visit DIY Themes to watch a quick video demonstrating just how simple it is to customise your site.

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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate

WordPress Theme Review – Thesis is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Tom and Janna at Inspired Health Strategies have been working hard preparing for the 50 day challenge, where they aim to raise $50,000 in 50 days for the Heart Foundation’s 50th birthday. The campaign will run from 1 June 2009 until 19 July 2009.

I believe the donation area is being managed directly by the Heart Foundation and will be set up before 1 June. Tom and Janna are putting their heart and soul into this project and I encourage anyone who’s able to get behind them.

And someone who’s behind this cause 100% is Steven Essa who you may recall reading about here last week. Steven is running the X-10 Effect Workshop in Sydney on 30th May 2009. To contribute to the 50k in 50 Days Challenge, Steven has kindly offered to donate ALL PROCEEDS from this workshop to the Challenge! Plus, he’s giving away a holiday as an incentive to book – all attendees will go into a draw to win two-night’s accommodation for two people at the Pacific Blue Resort, Nelson Bay.

Have a look at this to find out more about Steven’s generous offer for X-10 Effect attendees or visit the 50k In 50 Days Challenge site to find out more about how you can help.

Help Celebrate The Heart Foundation 50th Birthday – 50k In 50 Days is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

If you have a business selling products or services either online, over the phone or in person and you would like to know how to multiply your results x 10 then this could be the workshop for you.

The X-10 Effect is a one-day, info-packed workshop coming up later this month in Sydney, Australia. Attendees are sure to get the inside scoop on how to use the internet to multiply their results with just a few simple strategies.

This X-10 Effect seminar is being run by Steven Essa and I have to say… this guy is amazing! After successfully raising $30, 000 in 30 days for charity, Steven has been aptly nick-named ‘The 30k Guy’. At his workshop he will make sure you’re not only learning what he’s teaching, but that you’ll be fully equipped to apply the lessons to YOUR OWN business.

Watch this video now to find out more about Steven Essa’a X-10 Effect workshop. If you can attend this event, you won’t be disappointed.

How You Can Get The X-10 Effect is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a few days on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, at World Internet Summit.

This event, founded by Brett McFall and Tom Hua, is held in locations all around the world and brings together the best of the best Internet Marketers.

I would love to summarise the entire 4-day event for you but there was just too much happening. Excellent information, software and tips were shared by online business experts such as Sean Roach (pictured with me here), Matt Bacak, Tom Hua, Matt and Amanda Clarkson, James Schramko, Nikhil Parekh, Barnaby De Palma, Raymond Aaron, Dr Mike and Koz, Debra Thompson Roedl, Scott Letourneau and my personal mentor, Brett McFall.

You gain so much from these sessions – from developing a successful mindset to selling on eBay, market research, product creation, and lots more. However I have to admit, one of the best parts is simply being there, feeling the motivation pumping through the room each day and mixing with 600+ inspired, enthusiastic and positive people.

The next WIS will be in Auckland, New Zealand, from July 23rd to 26th. Registrations are being taken now and if it’s anything like the Australian event tickets will sell out early.

I’ll be at World Internet Summit in New Zealand 2009… will you?
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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate

World Internet Summit – Gold Coast 2009 is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Oh how I wish this was available 6 months ago!

Anne and Katie are two mums from opposite sides of the world who have teamed up to create a simple, straight-forward, step-by-step video course on how to set up a WordPress site. It covers everything you need to know, from the early basics such as how to set up your hosting account and FTP service, right through to configuring WordPress, backing up, adding widgets and lots more.

One of the things I love about their Blogging Time Savers course is that it’s extremely affordable. And better still, you don’t have to purchase the entire course if you don’t need it. You can buy individual modules for just a few dollars each.

Now I wouldn’t recommend this course if I wasn’t sure that it offers what it says and great value too. And I’m very pleased to add that Katie is now helping me to fix a couple of technical issues I’ve been having with this site… issues that three other WordPress site builders haven’t been able to help me with. So this lady knows what she’s talking about. (And I can’t wait until my graphics and videos are behaving themselves on here!)

So if you would like someone to sit down next to you and show you, step-by-step, how to set up or manage your WordPress site, have a look at Blogging Time Savers now.
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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate

How To Set Up Your WordPress Blog is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins

Eleven of the world’s best internet marketers are coming to speak at World Internet Summit in Australia.

There’s only a few seats left (every year it sells out). But if you want the inside running on what’s working and selling on the internet, you’ve got to be here.

In fact, there are 7 key reasons why you should attend.

Check them out here

I’ll be there… hope you can make it too.
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Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate

Not-To-Be-Missed Seminar is a post from: Donna-Marie Coggins