Famous Eggs, Freelancer Hubs & Making Tax Digital

In this month’s edition of Business Bookmarks, we take a look at how an egg became the most liked picture on Instagram, the freelancer hub that's making a difference to Brooklyn's gig workers, and the impact of the Making Tax Digital programme on your business.

To Inspire

The egg that broke the mould

Entrepreneur explores how a common chicken egg became the most liked picture in the history of Instagram, drawing in over 51 million likes. Posted on 4th January, the picture overtook the previous records held by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Beyoncé.

But there's more to the story, as this article uncovers what entrepreneurs and small businesses can learn from how the photo leveraged social media to make an unprecedented impact, reminding SMEs that you don’t always need a big budget to stand out. (Via Entrepreneur)

Read the eggslusive

New York’s Freelancer Hub

Forbes takes a look at how one of the busiest cities in the world has recognized the importance of gig workers to its economy, and has consequently set up a freelancer hub to propel its independent workers towards success.

The Freelancer Hub is a non-profit co-working space offering free support and legal advice to local freelancers, who make up 38% of the city's workforce. Members are also able to make use of complimentary workshops on how to manage personal finance, how to build a business and how to manage stress, taught by other freelancers who are usually also members. This is an inspirational look at how the city is supporting its growing pool of talented freelancers. (Via Forbes)

Join in

To Watch

The truth behind Fyre

While the egg of Instagram demonstrates how influencer marketing can have a positive global impact, Netflix's Fyre documentary reveals a much darker and unregulated side to the industry. The documentary follows the story of the 2017 Fyre Festival, which promised to be the most lavish music festival of a lifetime. Its original promo video and marketing efforts meant that tickets sold out within days, thanks to the Fyre team leveraging the top names across social media and influencer marketing.

However, the festival itself was a disaster, resulting in the entrepreneur behind it being sued and imprisoned. This documentary explores the danger of today’s herd mentality and how fraud and exploitation of consumerism can start with nothing more than a simple social media post. (Via Netflix)

See sparks fly

How to break bad management habits

Upgrading your leadership style is a subject that is often discussed at the turn of a new year. In this Ted Talk, Elizabeth Lyle, a leadership development expert, shares her thoughts on how to break bad management habits. She points out that, while many organisations are bringing in changes to streamline their processes and move towards digitisation, there is still a culture of rewarding behaviour and management based on old metrics.

To combat this she discusses how on-the-job learning and better role models can have a huge impact on productivity, job satisfaction and, ultimately, organisations as a whole. (Via YouTube)

Take note

To Read

January Summary: Brexit

Business owners across the UK are united in their uncertainty around the future of the UK economy, with many taking measures to protect their businesses in the face of the unknown. As the seemingly endless uncertainty around the future of Brexit continues, The Guardian offers a monthly summary of the state of the UK economy as we draw ever closer to the deadline of 29th March.

Covering wage growth, stockpiling and petrol prices, the monthly summary looks at key indicators to assess the effects of Brexit on growth and prosperity for UK businesses. It's a must for every business owner who wants to stay in the know. (Via The Guardian)

Take a look

Key learnings from the Fenty trademark dispute

You may have heard the recent news about global superstar and businesswoman Rihanna taking her father to court in a trademark dispute. After the widespread success of her new cosmetics brand, Fenty Beauty, Rihanna claims that her father has falsely implied a connection between his business, Fenty Entertainment, to that of her own. As proceedings continue, the story raises the importance of trademark infringement and legislation.

Business Magazine follows the latest news from the story, and shares lessons that UK business owners can learn from the case regarding how to protect their own brands from potential infringement. (Via Business Magazine)

Learn more

To Action

The best business blogs to follow in 2019

This list of the best 20 business blogs, online magazines and websites of 2019 will keep you up to date with everything you need to know about running a small business. It features the likes of Real Business, Futurism and Octane Blog. The publications cover a wide range of topics such as the very latest small business news across the globe, how to get your online marketing right, and guidance for managing an ecommerce website.

There’s sure to be something for every business owner here, so go ahead and bookmark those most suited to your business and its needs. (Via The Knowledge Hub)

Stay in the know

Preparing for Making Tax Digital

Making Tax Digital is a new government initiative which calls for UK businesses to submit their tax returns to HMRC online from 1st April. This will impact every UK business with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85k).

If you've left it until the new year to find an appropriate software system to take on the task, have a quick look at Tony Mills' guide to Making Tax Digital, where he talks through common misconceptions and how to prepare your business before the deadline. (Via The Knowledge Hub)

Start preparing

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