UBCNews - Business

When you're running a business, negotiation isn’t just something you do — it’s something you live. Whether you're securing a new contract, navigating a boardroom disagreement, or closing a high-stakes deal, how you negotiate can make or break the outcome.

That’s why Paraic Bergin has just released a brand new guide tailored specifically for leaders like you: 5 Business Negotiation Strategies Every CEO Should Know.

This free online resource from a leading business consultant is packed with real-world strategies to help senior executives not only negotiate better deals, but build lasting business relationships along the way.

Still think negotiation is a soft skill? Think again.

According to the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), 80% of professionals say strong negotiation skills lead to better value and longer-term partnerships. In today’s high-pressure business climate, that kind of impact isn’t just valuable — it’s essential.

Whether you're a CEO, CFO, managing director or senior decision-maker, your ability to negotiate strategically can shape your company’s direction, protect margins, and unlock new opportunities.

What’s Inside the Guide? The guide from Paraic Bergin doesn’t just skim the surface. It dives deep into five fundamental strategies that every leader should have in their toolkit.

You’ll learn how to:

Prepare thoroughly (and why most people don’t do it well)

These aren’t theories from a textbook. They’re tried-and-tested insights drawn from Paraic Bergin’s 30+ years of global consulting experience, helping business leaders restructure, grow, and negotiate their way through complex challenges.

“Negotiation is more than just a business skill — it’s a leadership imperative,” says Paraic. “Whether you're finalising a multi-million-pound deal or resolving internal disagreements, how you negotiate can shape the future of your business.”

One client, Kieran Callaghan, CEO of Callaghan Electrical, shared how working with Paraic completely changed his approach:

“Paraic started a transformation in me that I never expected — in the way I think about business, think about life, and how to have a solution-based focus.”

That’s the power of thinking differently. And that’s exactly what this guide helps you do.

Ready to Level Up? If you’re serious about becoming a sharper, more strategic negotiator, don’t miss this guide from Paraic Bergin. It’s quick to read, free to access, and packed with insights that could reshape how you lead.

Visit the link in the description to read the guide now and learn how to drive better results at the table — and beyond.

Imagine: you've created an amazing product… but it arrives at your customer's door in basic packaging that doesn't reflect its quality. First impressions matter!

Copper Beech Trading understands that challenge and they're here to help. Their contract packaging services are designed for small businesses in Northwest England and surrounding areas.

Small businesses across the UK often struggle to compete with big-name brands that have entire departments dedicated to packaging. By partnering with a specialised contract packaging provider, you get access to professional presentation—without needing to invest in new equipment or hire extra staff.

What sets Copper Beech Trading apart? It all starts with a one-on-one consultation to understand your business needs. Whether you need custom ecommerce packaging or support during a seasonal rush, they curate every solution to fit.

Their experienced team takes care of it all, from sourcing materials to hand-packing your products with care and precision. Thanks to strong courier partnerships, you'll also benefit from fast, reliable shipping at competitive rates, with full tracking on every order.

They wrap things up with custom reporting on inventory, shipments, and stock arrivals—so you always have the data you need to make smart, informed decisions.

Copper Beech Trading offers more than just boxing and dispatch. They provide custom inserts, eco-conscious packaging options, and specialised handling for organic products. If you run a subscription box service, ecommerce store, or gift company, you'll appreciate their attention to detail and commitment to delivering packaging that truly represents your brand.

Plus, this team prioritises flexibility and personal attention—ideal for businesses with seasonal shifts in demand. Their distribution centre connects directly to fulfilment and shipping systems for a smooth, hands-off experience.

Don't let packaging limitations hold your business back! Copper Beech Trading brings together expertise, flexibility, and a personal touch—everything small businesses in Kirkby Lonsdale, Settle, Skipton, Carnforth, Kendal, Lancaster, Preston, and Blackburn need to create memorable unboxing moments.

Let's make sure your products make the perfect impression—right from the box. For more information, click on the URL in the description.

What makes someone choose your guest house over the dozens they scroll past? In Cumbria, where hospitality venues are framed by world-class landscapes, standing out online takes more than just a scenic view. The difference often lies in the visuals: not just what they show, but what they say.

From cosy inns nestled under mountain peaks to elegant hotels perched beside still waters, every property offers a unique experience. But when images don't reflect that experience, potential guests move on—fast.

Today's guests expect more than just a room—they want to feel what staying at your property would be like. Authentic, high-quality imagery is one of the most powerful ways to deliver that feeling. According to Expedia, hotels with high-quality photos receive 63% more bookings than those with lower-quality images.

That's where specialists like Brian Austwick Photography come in. The Carlisle-based studio offers specialised photography services for hospitality businesses across the Lake District, including Cumberland, Westmorland, and Furness. It focuses on helping hotels, guest houses, and inns with rooms boost their online presence through compelling, story-driven visuals.

Unlike general property photography, hospitality visuals require an understanding of what drives bookings. Lighting, atmosphere, and storytelling all play a role in helping guests envision themselves on your property.

Every project begins with a personalised consultation. During this stage, Brian gets to know your venue's character and strengths. For hospitality shoots, he also monitors weather conditions to photograph your property in the most flattering natural light.

The result? Authentic, site-specific visuals that reflect the true guest experience—not generic, stock-photo perfection. Every image undergoes professional post-production editing to ensure it's polished, high-quality, and ready for web or print.

For venues looking to truly enhance their presence, photography is just the beginning. Brian Austwick Photography also offers video production that captures the guest journey; drone footage showing off your setting from the sky; 3D virtual tours for interactive walk-throughs; and event filming to showcase weddings, retreats, or private functions. Each element helps your property come to life before the first booking is even made.

Brian serves hospitality clients across Cumbria and surrounding areas, including Lancashire, Northumberland, and the Scottish Borders. His team also offers location scouting, ideal for business owners unfamiliar with the region.

All photography packages are customised to your property's goals and budget, and free, no-obligation consultations are available with transparent pricing.

Your property already has the charm. Now it's time to let potential guests see it for themselves. Whether you're looking to boost your booking rates, revamp your online gallery, or create an immersive visual journey, Brian Austwick Photography is here to help.

For more information, click on the URL in the description.

You know, when we talk about military service members and addiction treatment, there's a striking statistic that really caught my attention - about 1 in 10 veterans meet the criteria for substance use disorder. Have you ever wondered what specialized support is available for our military community?

If you travel for business frequently, you know it's no vacation - despite what others might think. Business travel can be grueling, and it usually begins with the transport part. Getting to the airport, getting to a particular venue, traveling in groups for a trade show or a conference. These things can go either way... and you can't risk the 'wrong' option.

The experts at Limo SF VIP understand, and that's why they offer an elite-level limo service in San Francisco designed to elevate your corporate travel experience.

The need for polished, productivity-friendly transportation between airports, conferences, and meetings is usually only noticed by those contending with less-than-stellar ground travel providers.

For business travelers who want a more comfortable, client-focused travel experience - consistently - Limo SF VIP is the number one choice. This is an award-winning team offering a suite of business-oriented amenities and services to individual executives, VIPs and groups. Count on efficient, stress-free travel between San Francisco, surrounding Bay Area cities, and key hubs such as SFO, OAK, and SJC, every. single. time.

Home to a full fleet of luxury vehicles like Mercedes and BMW sedans, premium SUVs, Sprinter vans, and even motorcoaches for groups of up to 52, Limo SF VIP doesn’t compromise. Each vehicle is equipped with Wi-Fi, charging stations, leather interiors, bottled water, and optional extras upon request. Whether you're taking a confidential call or prepping for a pitch, your ride becomes your mobile office.

A spokesperson for Limo SF VIP explains:

“At Limo SF VIP, we understand there’s no margin for error when it comes to business travel. Our corporate transportation service is built to provide total peace of mind, ensuring every executive and employee group arrives on time, in comfort, and fully prepared.”

By partnering with Limo SF VIP, you and your company benefit from special rate structures, a customized account with real-time updates, reservation tracking, and a unified billing process to keep large group travel and complex itineraries clean and simple.

You’ll also be assigned a dedicated account manager to oversee bookings and a full logistics team to handle high-volume requests. Their online reservation system makes the booking process easy and efficient, just the way it should be.

Chauffeurs at Limo SF VIP are trained, licensed, insured, and consistently praised for their professionalism and friendliness. Need multiple stops? A last-minute schedule shift? No problem! Your driver is on it.

When it comes to corporate transportation in the Bay Area, Limo SF VIP provides a level of care that sets you up for success.

A recent customer says, "Great experience with Limo SF VIP. Their concierge service was professional and quick to provide a quote, which was fair and reasonable compared to other businesses we called. We reserved a Sprinter van, which was clean, new, and perfect for our trip. Our driver, Igor, was professional, prepared, and kind. Five stars."

Click on the link in the summary to find out more!

Ever noticed a poster in a local coffee shop promoting an upcoming show, art exhibit, or community event and thought to yourself 'Hey! I'm going to buy tickets for that!' This is the beauty of grassroots marketing, doing what it does best: a simple flyer on a local bulletin board, silently speaking volumes.

If you've got an event or performance coming up and your promotional budget isn't exactly on par with The Globetrotters, you can still get the word out and bring audiences in with local flyer and poster distribution throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area provided by the experts at Special Interest Marketing & Advertising Inc., also known as Seema.

This agency ensures event organizers and venues make the most of a powerful marketing tactic: strategic poster and flyer distribution. Because, unlike the last five ads you probably scrolled past on your phone without batting an eye, this type of media sticks. And that's why it works.

If you're organizing an event in the Bay Area and need to get as many people through the door as possible, this agency is here for you. As the number 1 flyer distribution service in San Francisco, they've been helping local theaters, festivals, galleries, and venues pack their houses for over 25 years.

In today’s marketing communications sector, a lot has been studied about pervasive digital advertising and resulting fatigue among consumers. The agency's high visibility displays and community circulation of print materials are proving to be more engaging and memorable than many online and broadcast formats, according to statistics provided by the Data & Marketing Association. Their research confirms 89% of people remember receiving a flyer—more than any other advertising medium—and nearly 8 in 10 will keep, pass along, or read printed promotional material.

Seema operates in more than 14 targeted distribution routes, providing in-store displays, stack drops, community bulletin board circulation, door-to-door & hand-to-hand delivery services, and street poster advertisements, promoting shows, events, performances and exhibits, and boosting attendance rates.

Wayne Porter, CEO of Seema, explains:

“Digital ads can be fleeting, but a flyer or poster seen on a local bulletin board or at a favorite coffee shop becomes part of the community’s visual landscape. Meanwhile, materials delivered directly to homes and individuals have a much longer shelf life than a PPC ad. We’re proud to keep artists, performers, and event producers connected to audiences in a way that is organic, local, and personal.”

Wayne says these ‘local’ and ‘personal’ elements are key to the medium’s enduring success. His company’s proven distribution strategy helps boost awareness and attendance for events, festivals, performances, classes, exhibitions, and more.

Seema clients can order poster and flyer distribution services online or by phone, selecting from single-route, campus routes, saturation options, or a tailored combination of the three. The company’s circulation network reaches key locations that include coffee houses, libraries, restaurants, bookstores, music stores, community centers, and more, ensuring maximum exposure to local audiences.

As consumers continue to respond favorably to more tactile forms of promotion, distribution of high visibility print materials in San Francisco and the Bay Area's popular community spaces remains an important part of event marketers' awareness and sales campaigns.

Richard Patterson of the Omni Foundation says, "Seema has been an integral part of our marketing program for many years. We rely on their ability to get our posters up at regular intervals throughout the season all over the Bay Area. Personal service and reliability are the SIMAA attributes which keep us coming back year after year."

Ready to supercharge those ticket sales?

Click on the link in the summary to find out more

It’s 2025, and you’re spending huge amounts of time, energy, and money trying to promote your event on social media channels. Hot tip: more people remember a physical flyer, brochure, or postcard than a fleeting social media message, and it can also offer much greater value for money.

Yes, it seems delightfully counterintuitive that flyers or brochures are still more effective, but there’s some logic behind it. San Francisco-based distribution company Special Interest Marketing & Advertising explains that flyers offer a tactile experience, and they’re often kept on a table in the home where they’re seen multiple times.

Those claims are backed up by solid research. One Study from Data & Marketing Association found that 89% of consumers recalled a flyer they had received, a significantly higher result than any other marketing technique, including digital channels.

As Special Interest Marketing & Advertising points out, there are a variety of promotional materials you can use, such as flyers, brochures, postcards, calendars, or circulars. Many companies also offer several distribution models, such as in-store poster campaigns, bulletin boards, stack drops, point of purchase displays, or good old hand-to-hand.

Of course, you don’t need to limit yourself to one type of promotional material or focus on one method of distribution. Some of the most well-established companies, such as Special Interest Marketing & Advertising, allow you to customize the service to meet your own needs and budget.

You can use flyers and other promotional materials for almost anything, especially if it has local relevance. Special Interest Marketing & Advertising states that it now promotes events, festivals, classes, performances, art exhibitions, concerts, specialty products, and more.

First founded in 1998, Seema is a well-established promotional distribution agency operating in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The company has an extensive network of local coffee houses, juice bars, book stores, restaurants, college campuses, and other gathering points, making it one of the most comprehensive service providers of its type in the region.

Check out the description to learn more!

So you want to lose weight without the hassle of going to the gym? This guide from SOLE Fitness covers top tips for getting the most out of your elliptical machines – and links to all the best options available through the online store!

A recent report from Statista shows that elliptical machine sales reached around $807 million in 2023, with more and more customers looking for an alternative to running - which can typically be more impactful on the joints. SOLE Fitness created the guide to help you maximize the effectiveness of your workouts.

The company says, "The ideal elliptical workout pace varies based on your fitness level, age, and goals. However, aiming for a moderate to high-intensity workout is a good rule of thumb: this typically means working out at a pace where you can talk but not sing."

The guide explains how to boost calorie burn through interval training and resistance adjustments, and you will find a specific workout example - with a five-minute warm up, and two-minute recovery intervals following every one minute of intense burst.

Regular workouts are key: at least three 30-minute sessions should be completed each week, with gradual increases in workout time as fitness improves.

You can also find comparisons of every SOLE Fitness elliptical in the guide, beginning with the E25 entry model, which has a 20-pound flywheel, 20 resistance levels, and 20 incline settings. The advanced E98 model has a heavier 32-pound flywheel, 40 resistance levels, and 20 incline options.

Each SOLE elliptical includes display screens that show key workout data like calories burned, distance, time, and heart rate. These can connect to the free SOLE+ app, where you can access a collection of on-demand workout videos with certified trainers, ranging from beginner-friendly routines to advanced training programs.

With each purchase, you can arrange for delivery to any room in your home - and the delivery team can also provide full assembly as an optional add-on.

Are you ready to upgrade your home gym with the perfect elliptical machines?

Check out the link in the description to read the full guide!

Have you ever felt overwhelmed when trying to study the Bible? You know, that feeling when you open those ancient pages and think "Where do I even start?"

Today, we’re excited to announce the release of a brand-new episode of Franchise Marketing Radio that puts the spotlight on Mosquito Shield, one of the most resilient and scalable franchise models in the home services category.

This episode features Michael Moorhouse, President of Mosquito Shield and Decorate With Lights, who shares how the company has evolved over more than two decades. With 17 years of hands-on leadership, Moorhouse has guided Mosquito Shield’s transformation from a local pest control business into a nationally recognized franchise brand known for customer-first innovation and operational excellence.

Listeners will get an inside look at how Mosquito Shield delivers industry-leading results—boasting a 90%+ customer retention rate, thanks to a proprietary pest control formula and dynamic service scheduling that adapts to real-time mosquito pressure and local weather. These differentiators create reliable, recurring revenue for franchisees and a dramatically better customer experience.

The episode also explores how the brand uses technology to drive efficiency across its network. Tools like predictive weather modeling, AI-powered routing, and granular territory targeting give franchisees the ability to plan smarter, serve faster, and optimize operations on the fly.

To solve for seasonality, the company launched Decorate With Lights, a premium holiday lighting business developed by Moorhouse and his leadership team. This bolt-on model uses the same customer base and workforce to extend franchise revenue into the fall and winter—while also increasing technician retention and brand visibility during off-peak months.

Since joining the Five Star Franchising platform, Mosquito Shield has gained access to expanded IT resources, professional coaching, and marketing systems that have helped franchisees scale faster while maintaining operational quality.

If you’re exploring franchise opportunities—or simply want to hear how a well-led brand builds a high-performing, tech-enabled business—this episode is for you.

Listen now at franchise now.media and explore AI Opportunities at franchise now.AI