Please, let nothing interfere with your immediate action.

FREE calculator for your website

From Bizezia and One Smart Place: on 3 December 2014, The Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Autumn Statement announced new stamp duty rates from 4 December 2014 payable by the purchaser of residential property.

The new rates, based on tranches of the property purchase price, are:
Up to £125,000: 0%
Next £125,001 to £250,000: 2%
Next £250,001 to £925,000: 5%
Next £925,001 to £1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%

Thanks to Bizezia, Accountants, Lawyers and Estate Agents can now provide a FREE stamp duty calculator to their clients by visiting the link below.
Details at: onesmartplace.com/resources/stamp-duty-calculator or email me at: mpollins@onesmartplace.com

Don’t confuse this calculator with the one that you can see and use on the HMRC website. The above calculator enables you to insert your firm’s name and web address so that when it sits on your website, it’s a handy tool from your firm. Needless to say, the HMRC calculator is not available to sit on your website at all.

Now for the round-up…

Marketing and Business Promotion

Marketing ideas from Marketing Profs

More marketing ideas and tips have been published by Marketing Profs:

• Use Internet Memes to Market Your Content, Products, and Brand
• Instagram Challenges Twitter, Facebook’s Year in Review, More!
• Social Media Campaign Planning
• 5 Mobile Email Trends to Watch This Holiday Season [Infographic]
• Why the Internet’s Most Valuable Commodity Is First-Party Data
• 3 Surprising Ways to Use PPC to Enhance Your Content Marketing
• How to Use Testing to Improve Website Conversions
• Marketers Are Failing to Connect TV Ads With Web Homepages
• Five Options for Attribution Modeling With Analytics Engines
• Make Lead Gen More Actionable: 8 B2C Customer Acquisition Tips
• Chicken a la Marketing: A Conversation With Author Mitzi Perdue
• Email Essentials: The Keys to Increasing Open Rates
• Why Millennials Engage With Brands on Social Media
• Why Curation Matters to Content
• 29 Must-Read Content Marketing Articles of 2014
• The 10 Most Shared Video Ads of 2014
• How to Guide Customers Through Your Content
• How to Choose the Right (and Legal) Images for Your Blog Post
• What to Ask Yourself When Using Big Data for Online Audiences
• Three Ways to Customize Content Across Social Media Channels
• How Consumers Prefer to Receive Marketing Messages
• How to Use Testing to Improve Website Conversions
• How Marketing, Customer Service Differ in Approach to Customers
• Why Popularity Alone Is Not a Winning Strategy

The Steve Jobs guide to getting what you want

Spotted in Times of India:  Steve Jobs didn’t launch two of the most valuable companies in modern times by following the rules all the time. He had a unique way of crafting his own reality, a “distortion field” that could persuade people that his personal beliefs were actually facts, which is how he pushed his companies forward. And he also used a blend of manipulative tactics to ensure his victories.

Many consider Jobs to have been a genius, but there’s no reason why we can’t all learn a thing or two from his tactics. The full article expands on all these points:
1. Earn everyone’s respect
2. Pitch with passion
3. Disarm people with seduction and flattery
4. Claim all the good ideas are yours
5. Make decisions quickly and definitively
6. Build a strong following by using brutal honesty
7. Don’t wait to fix problems
8. Either address problems head on…
9. …Or ignore the problems entirely
10. Strike when the iron’s hot, and strike hard
11. Use leverage when you have it
12. Demand perfection
Read more in the full article: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/slideshow/The-Steve-Jobs-guide-to-getting-what-you-want/itslideshowviewall/45395392.cms

Midmarket Collaboration for Dummies guide

From Avaya who invite your midsize company to have the reach of a much larger enterprise.

Big reach leads to big ideas and there’s no reason why a midsize company can’t operate in the same way as a large enterprise. Avaya provides industry-leading solutions to connect the people you work with and getting the best out of your network so you can work smarter, and larger, every time.

Read the FREE Avaya Midmarket Collaboration for Dummies guide and discover how to bring your connections together to boost productivity in a remote working world.
Download from here

The Google Analytics dashboard of your dreams is only 3 minutes away.

Klipfolio say: Just think: in the time it takes for your favourite barista to make you a cup of coffee, you could build the Google Analytics dashboard of your dreams. Not only will it save you countless hours of reporting each month, it will provide your team with instant answers to your most frequently asked web analytics questions.

When it comes to dashboards, seeing is believing. Which is why Klipfolio is inviting you to try their KlipStart Google Analytics dashboard. All you need to get started is 3 minutes and a Google Analytics account.
Read more: www.klipfolio.com/landing/google-analytics-klipstart

Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education – FREE eBook

Free, from TradePub but available for a limited time! (A $9.92 Value), this publication enables readers to learn what schools will never teach you about money.

On the heels of his 2010 New York Times bestseller Conspiracy of the Rich, Robert Kiyosaki takes a new and hard-hitting look at the factors that impact people from all walks of life as they struggle to cope with change and challenges that impact their financial world.

In Unfair Advantage: Power of Financial Education, Robert underscores his messages and challenges readers to change their context and act in a new way. Readers are advised to stop blindly accepting that they are ‘disadvantaged’ people with limited options.

In true Rich Dad style, readers will be challenged to understand two points of view, and experience how financial knowledge is their unfair advantage.

Robert Kiyosaki is the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, the international runaway bestseller that has held a top spot on the New York Times bestsellers list for over six years. He is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives on money and investing fly in the face of conventional wisdom. He has, virtually single-handedly, challenged and changed the way tens of millions, around the world, think about money.
Download it from here

Unwrap the power of customer analytics with these 10 real-world examples.

From Needle.com: How can you gain the insights you need to build stronger relationships with customers and improve your business results this holiday season?

Read this FREE ebook and discover how leading companies are gaining deeper insight into their customers, enabling them to provide personalized experiences that engage customers across channels, increase conversions and drive revenue. Find out how they’ve harnessed the power of customer understanding and analytics to drive business results.

Unwrap the power of analytics and learn:

• How an increased understanding of the customer lifecycle can reveal new opportunities to better engage contacts
• Why insights into customer behavior are critical to delivering relevant, personalized content
• How marketing, commerce and service professionals are using customer analytics to create superior customer experiences

Download it from here

What are the most innovative new ways to increase your online revenue?

Gartner researched the latest groundbreaking technologies, and now reveals how these new developments positively impact your bottom line.

In this report you’ll learn how:

• Consumers demand personalized experiences
• Select brands are gaining first-mover advantage
• Real-time interactions increase online revenue.

Download the FREE Gartner Cool Vendors Report now and learn how you can take advantage of these cutting-edge technologies to increase your online revenue.
Download it from here

The 5-Star Guide to Responding to Online Reviews

From Go.Connectivity.com: Simply responding to reviews is no longer enough. Knowing how to craft the best response to each review is vital for the success of every business. Almost everyone checks reviews online before making a purchasing decision, so brand response matters more than ever.

The FREE 5-Star Guide to Responding to Online Reviews shows enterprise, franchise and multi-location marketing teams how to:

• Get organized and set goals for 2015
• Stop negative reviews before they are written
• Respond to both negative and positive reviews
• Put user-generated content to work for brand goals

Download it from here

Twitter is Where It’s at for Content Marketers in the UK

Stumbled across in Business Matters: Seventy-five percent of content marketers surveyed in the United Kingdom say Twitter is effective for them.

This is the highest effectiveness rating ever for a social media platform in all the research done by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). That’s just one of the eye-opening findings in the new research, Content Marketing in the UK 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, from CMI and the DMA UK.

This is the third year for one of the most highly-anticipated content marketing research reports in the UK. This year’s survey, sponsored by Axonn Media, looks at how UK for-profit marketers (both B2B and B2C) approach content marketing as compared with last year. Aside from getting great results from Twitter, another prominent finding from the survey is that UK marketers are much more focused on their goals for content marketing and that those goals have changed.
Read more: www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/27630/twitter-content-marketers-uk/

Effective collaboration in your business

From Huddle who say:  The days where you worked with only the few people in your immediate location are gone forever.

Modern organizations must work across time zones and with other entities: customers, suppliers, external consultants, partners and more. You could call it a “collaboration economy.”

In this new collaborative workflow, modern knowledge workers are using the technology they know (non-secure applications like email or consumer file sharing tools) to get work done. But these applications fall short of true collaboration.

Emerging cloud technologies are transforming the way we effectively collaborate in business. Read this FREE white paper to learn how.
Download it from here

A motivated team is a productive team 

From Citrix: Meeting your business targets is hard enough. Doing so with a demotivated team is near impossible.

In this white paper, learn how top managers motivate and energise an ever-evolving workforce. Understand what keeps your team from achieving its full potential and discover how you can set realistic goals that keep you on track for success.

Download this FREE white paper and learn how to:

• Understand how to remove the elements that demotivate your employees
• Take an honest and personal approach to employee communications
• Nurture an entrepreneurial atmosphere that encourages creativity and collaboration

And more…
Download from here

Technical Stuff

Disability Discrimination: Meaning of Disability

From Daniel Barnett, employment law barrister: The question: Was an employment tribunal entitled to conclude that an employee who suffered from depression and anxiety was not disabled?

Yes, held the EAT in Saad v University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust and another.  It was accepted that Mr Saad suffered from a depressive and general anxiety disorder; an impairment for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. However, the employment tribunal concluded that the impairment did not have a substantial adverse, nor a long-term effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Dismissing a subsequent appeal, the EAT held that the employment tribunal was entitled to conclude, on the evidence before it, that the impairment did not have a substantial adverse affect on Mr Saad’s normal day-to-day activities.

Contrary to the argument raised by Mr Saad, on a fair reading of the decision, as a whole, the employment tribunal did assess the effects of the impairment on the work environment including his ability to concentrate, communicate with colleagues and access the work place.

Further, the employment tribunal had not misdirected itself as to the meaning of “long-term”. It did not fail to have regard to the fact that adverse effects could be long-term even if they fluctuated over time.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Jonathan Gibbons of Black White and Grey Limited for preparing this case

Disability Discrimination: Reasonable adjustments and correct comparator

From Daniel Barnett, employment law barrister: The question: Is it a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010 to require a bus company to have a policy requiring non-wheelchair using passengers to move if occupying a space required by a wheelchair user?

The answer: No, held the Court of Appeal in FirstGroup PLC v Paulley, in a widely reported judgment. Mr Paulley, a wheelchair user, was unable to take a bus due to a passenger keeping a child’s buggy in the wheelchair space. Mr Paulley argued for a reasonable adjustment changing the bus company’s unenforceable policy requesting passengers to move from the wheelchair space, to one requiring passengers to move when necessary.

The Court noted that an absolute policy would be “unworkable in practical terms”, there was no power in law for bus companies to enforce such a policy, it would not be a ‘reasonable adjustment’. However, Arden LJ noted that bus companies “must take all reasonable steps short of compelling passengers to move from the wheelchair space”.

The Court split on what had put Mr Paulley at a disadvantage, the majority (Underhill and Arden LJJ) held it was the (agreed) provision, criterion or practice ‘PCP’ applied by the bus company of a policy of giving priority to wheelchair users for wheelchair space, but that space was filled on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

Lewison LJ in the minority regarded Mr Paulley as being put at a disadvantage not by the PCP, but by the design of the bus with one wheelchair space, and regulations which prohibited a wheelchair from being carried other than in the designated space.

Arden LJ indicated that asking Parliament to look at the law was the proper remedy.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Ed McFarlane of Deminos HR for preparing this case summary.

Legal Tech Startups Have A Short History And A Bright Future

Found in TechCrunch.com, written by Basha Rubin (co-founder and CEO of Priori Legal) who says: Legal technology is booming, with companies attempting to disrupt the legal space at every level and from every angle. And with good reason.

Some estimates value the market size at as much as $400 billion. While legal still hasn’t caught up with other industries — either in terms of funding or widespread adoption, the future is bright and coming at us fast.

Legal has been a tough nut to crack because there is significant non-uniform regulation and risk-averse, disaggregated stakeholders. These factors have slowed disruption. But change is nigh: consumers are demanding more efficient, transparent and affordable legal services, and lawyers are looking for cutting-edge ways to compete in an oversaturated market.

There are three areas in the legal space on the precipice of major disruption in 2015. This excellent article lists the trends to watch.

Bitcoin isn’t the future, but the blockchain might be…

From ICAEW IT Faculty by Kirstin Gillon: What does the future of money look like? The clear conclusion of the IT Faculty annual lecture, given by Dave Birch, was that the future isn’t Bitcoin, despite all the current hype. But the blockchain technology, which underpins Bitcoin, has the potential to transform all kinds of financial and non-financial services.

Dave gave the IT Faculty’s annual lecture last month to a packed council chamber in Chartered Accountants Hall.  And he made two thought provoking points.

• Bitcoin is not very good as money or as a payment system.
• The real buzz is about the blockchain

So, what about the future for bankers in this decentralised world where peer-to-peer transactions avoid the need for intermediaries? And how about accountants, if financial transactions are all on public ledgers and verified through cryptology? Dave was confident that accountants and bankers would survive the digital revolution in some shape or form. But of course that’s not to say they won’t have to adapt and do things differently.
Read the full article at: www.ion.icaew.com/itcounts/post/Bitcoin-isn-t-the-future–but-the-blockchain-might-be-

HMRC targets solicitors with unpaid tax bills 

From Accountancy Live: The latest taxpayers to be targeted by the HMRC are solicitors, who have been given the opportunity to disclose unpaid and undeclared tax in a three-month campaign launched today. This is aimed exclusively at individuals who work in the legal profession as solicitors.

The solicitors’ tax campaign is described as ‘an opportunity for individuals who work within the legal profession as a solicitor to bring their affairs up to date in a simple, straightforward way and take advantage of the best possible terms’.

This voluntary disclosure opportunity runs from 8 December 2014 to 9 June 2015, and is available for solicitors working for themselves in their own business, within a partnership of limited liability Company, or within or as a company.
Read more: www.accountancylive.com/hmrc-targets-solicitors-unpaid-tax-bills