MJWARD UK LTD

You will see on our site we have created a ‘Personal Development’ area for business minded people. This section of our site offers much more detailed articles about business, investments and marketing… But saying that, we are posting some very informative (and FREE) articles on our blog to give you the reader a taste of what you will get for your one off fee of 20 GBP.

This post looks at how to create a personal development plan, and to be honest you do not need to be a raving entrepreneur or business minded person to reap the benefits of a personal development plan. The main purpose of a personal development plan is to direct and inspire you to make your day to day life how you want it to be! Think of it as converting a vision or dream into a reality, or moulding your body / mind into a super effective productivity machine! The overall goal or purpose of a personal development plan is for you to manage your own development through a process of reflection and controlled planning, thus meeting any future goals you set out to achieve.

I have been creating a bespoke personal development plan that consists of 4 key stages, these I have called WARD so you don’t think I have copied / pasted some other dudes personal development plan!

So what does the above mean to me, and more importantly what should the above mean to you? I will now break down the meaning of each and explain why together these could become a fool proof personal development plan.

I hope you have found my ramblings above of some use, if they give just one reader the courage or motivation to try something new then I will be very happy! I hope that today is the day that someone makes the most of their dreams or ambitions. So, putting the above into a bite size summary… If someone asked me “What is a personal development plan meant to look like?” I would say:

1. Write down what you want
2. Write down why you want it
3. Write down a time frame
4. Ask yourself, how will reaching these goals change your life
5. List and research others who have already taken the path you have chosen
6. Write down their mistakes, ideas, time frames and words of wisdom
7. Yes or no, will your actions inspire others
8. Re the above, ask yourself why
9. Double check… Have you set realistic targets / time frames
10. What will symbolise to you the success of your personal development plan

I think identifying answers to each of the above will help people to better understand themselves, their motivation and drive for success. The keyword to me is ‘drive’… Self discovery, personal development or what ever you would like to call it needs fuel! Finding your drive / motivation is the very fuel that will push you forwards; it can even help identify what and why you want to change.

It is hard to believe that my first trip to Bulgaria was back in 2008! Since then a lot has happened both here in the UK and over in Bulgaria… We have had some great trips out to Bulgaria viewing properties and land for sale, consumed lots of Bulgarian wine and met some fantastic and very interesting people. It is amazing how friendly the people are in Bulgaria, so friendly in fact that when a group of us went to visit some land on top of a mountain, the owners insisted us British folk visited their home, family, friends and neighbours! With a couple of other property viewings later that day we told the land owner, “We would be delighted however we would need to be quick”.

A short drive followed before arriving to a selection of meats, cheese, pickled cabbage, and home made wines and brandy… Before long the neighbours came round with more samples of home made wine… And you guessed it! We didn’t view any more Bulgarian properties that day! Bottles of home made wine were even given to our group when we finally said goodbye! This is one of many memorable occasions I have of Bulgaria… Another is when a group of us travelled by train from Sandanski to Sofia, 4 hours with Dave the rave and Bulgarian home made wine… Well, that’s all I will say!

So putting the amazing people, good food and fine wines to one side Bulgaria has great investment potential. Investing in Bulgarian property is also not as difficult as you may think; all you need is a good solicitor to setup a limited company in your name, being a foreign investor you will need to purchase all land / property through your company. This law is set to change however not just yet… And I am guessing when the law does finally change (making foreign investment that much easier) the prices of property will go up! (So it is better to invest now!)

To get an idea of the different types of properties available you should browse Google for “Bulgaria Property Agents” or “Bulgarian Real Estate”, I am sure you will find lots of info and article’s promoting this historic and gorgeous country, which lets not forget, is part of the EU! (Bulgaria joined in January 2007 which has since resulted in a significant economic growth rate) The fact Bulgarian property is quite cheap in comparison to other EU countries illustrates why Bulgaria is one of the hottest property investment areas available. What makes Bulgarian property investment so exciting is it offers property investors prices simply un-obtainable in other areas of the world! However, like all countries it is important to invest your money into the right location… So if you find a house or plot of land for sale in Bulgaria costing next to nothing, then you should do your homework! Areas near to Romania, towns that are isolated or land off the beat and track will cost much less to buy however you must consider things like transport, the installation of electricity, who will buy your house or plot of land etc? If you are looking to invest in Bulgaria then think location location location! Location is the key to any great real estate investment so why not book a flight and explore Bulgaria? Take the old train that runs the length of the country, first class costs much less than you think!… Fly into Thessaloniki and head north into Bulgaria, this will show you how close Bulgaria is to the Mediterranean.

So to conclude, I personally feel (and many others would agree) there is not another place like Bulgaria for property investment. From modern apartments for sale on the Black Sea Coast, stylish summer resorts, sandy beaches and more… To the stunning Pirin Mountains, skiing in Bansko, historic Sandanski and vineyards of Melnik… Bulgaria is blessed with a variety of different property investment opportunities and it has more than its fair share of natural resources. I even heard that the Bulgarian government recently announced plans for a major expansion of Borovets (which has twice hosted World Cup competitions in Alpine skiing) which will convert it into an all year round mountain resort!

And as for MJWARD OOD (This our limited company in Bulgaria) and its plans for the future, we are looking to invest when possible more time / money into property and land in and around the Sandanski / Bansko areas. Although my wife may have other ideas I personally would love the opportunity to invest in a vineyard and try our hands at wine production and exporting! On my last trip to Bulgaria I viewed a lovely vineyard (not the best access road), the snow capped mountains and neighbouring vineyards was quite a picture! Like a line from Jerry Maguire “You had me at hello” however the property law in Bulgaria states that all land inheritors need to agree to the sale for it to go ahead… And in this particular case the vineyard had about 5 land inheritors! Although this deal did not go ahead (which was probably a good thing considering we were still paying off our last Bulgarian purchase) I will be keeping my ear to the ground and listening out for any vineyards for sale in Bulgaria!

I hope you have enjoyed my ramble about Bulgaria, Bulgarian property, and land investment? If you have any questions then please feel free to send us an email. Our company works very closely with Bulgaria Property Agent Ltd here in the UK and have reliable legal contacts over in Bulgaria who can help. Alternatively please post your questions or comments below for others to see and I will do my best to reply asap.

Well, this is a good question! I am often more than happy to work a 16 hour day, get up at daft o’clock, work late or eat lunch whist typing with one hand! To me my job is not work, I don’t clock in and count down the hours to 5pm (or what ever time I am allowed to finish!), I don’t even feel that my own company owes me more money for working some crazy hours!

I am happy making just enough to pay my bills, and as long as I can re-invest some money into developing new businesses / investment ideas I am confident that MJWARD UK will be ok. I think it is more important how you spend your money, rather than how much money you make! A person who makes 50K per month and spends 50K on crap will not have the same assets / net worth over ten years as his/her friend who makes 10K per month, invest 7K and spends 3K! If you are in business, have staff etc then you really need to think about what you spend every penny on!

So tonight for example, I am here with a glass of red after a very busy / productive day working at Tidy Design writing this blog post… A blog post has just been made on our eco site Global Warming Today… I have a few work things to look at, such as can we afford an investment trip / holiday to Bulgaria this September!? And, I am also thinking why do I enjoy business, working silly hours and developing new business ideas? I guess to some extent it is linked to what you want out of life… Targets, goals, ambition, your finish line etc must be all connected to your personality and drive to succeed! You need the right attitude to be in business! If I had a different attitude then I would be watching TV right now, maybe I would find someone else to blame for the lack of blog posts this evening! You really need to enjoy what you do in life; your career should be your hobby because you spend such a high percentage of your life working, it seems silly to do something you don’t enjoy!

So do you have a new business idea? Are you confused or unsure how to get this idea out of your head (or notepad) and making you some money? Think about whom you know, what you know and who wants to know more about it! Remember that information is power… You can get lots of it from the web and from those who have already tried what you are thinking about trying! I have sat down for hours with some of our clients talking shop, business, money and life… If you are prepared to listen or get your hands dirty by searching for answers / solutions then you will succeed in business. Business is all about making mistakes, learning from them and learning from others.

A great quote to end this post is by Albert Einstein, it says: “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

Well this morning I finally got round to finishing the mjward.co.uk/blog theme for our site! I hope you like it?

Whilst typing away and drinking my coffee at daft o’clock this morning I thought lots about our business, its brand identity and the websites managed by us. By far the more established brand is Tidy Design as we have delivered hundreds of businesses with websites, graphic design work, web marketing services and more since its creation back in 2006. However I continued to ask myself what is our brand, business and website all about?

Well, an easy answer is we exist to provide value and quality to companies across the web; a better service for less money than our competitors is a fool proof business plan!  However sites such as Global Warming Today (which we work on daily) are more educational resources than money spinners! I really don’t feel our business is like others out there… Although we need to make money to pay bills, wages etc we are also working towards a bigger picture… Our finish line is not directly linked to a bank account, prime time TV advert, nice car or yacht! It is more about family, education and leaving a respected and admirable mark on the world we live. Plus have some fun along the way!

Based in Portsmouth, Hampshire we are positioned in an ideal location to meet and greet businesses across the south coast of England. Although we have a client as far a field as New Zealand, we also work with businesses all over the UK. Only last week we had meetings in Birmingham, Cardiff and South West Wales! Ok, this does not happen every week however when we say we work closely with all our clients we really do mean it!

Tidy Design is currently top of Google’s organic search results for ‘Web Design Portsmouth’ and other related local searches which result in weekly phone calls and a steady stream of enquiries… Much more than our several hundred pound Yellow Pages advert! Being top of Google has many benefits when it comes to brand development and the success of a business. In today’s technological age we really believe a good website and web marketing is better value than other forms of advertising! Ok, this will slightly depend on the product / service you offer however being in business you do need to future proof it! Ask yourself this… Can you see the web going anywhere?

So to conclude on this sunny Tuesday morning… If you are looking for brand development, business marketing or a friendly web design company based in Hampshire then please take a look at www.tidydesign.com. We would love to hear from you, especially if you are a start-up company!

You will see from our site that our business is primarily linked to several other domains (websites) which include a couple of blogs. Our core business Tidy Design has a news blog that features news about the company, events, marketing tips, web design tutorials and more… Another blog that we set-up / designed / own is Global Warming Today, this is a site that focuses on climate change, global news / events and topics related to our planet and its inhabitance. We try to update both these blogs daily however sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day! I am sure all business owners in today’s economic climate can relate to this.

So is blogging good for business? We know from first hand experience that search engines love blogs! I have seen posts on Tidy Design and Global Warming Today appear in Googles search engine results pages within a few hours! Updates to an everyday html web page would take much longer to appear in the search result pages, so if you own a business that has lots to say we recommend you start blogging today!

A blog will allow your business the chance to share experiences, ideas and news with potential customers from all over the globe! Think of your blog as a way to reach out to your clients and build relationships with your readers. Our blog on Tidy Design has been created to offer technical support and documentation for both clients and those looking to learn the basics about web design and online marketing. Global Warming Today on the other hand focuses more on global news and events, it is a site that aims to educate and provide free information to our readers.

What ever the purpose of your bog, if you post unique and interesting information on a regular basis you will eventually build up a group of loyal followers / readers. Also, the more you post the higher search engines will start to rank your website. The knock on effect will be increased traffic to your business site. (Traffic = Business)

I have been blogging (near enough daily) for a few months now, I guess the biggest challenge for me and other bloggers is sticking to a regular blogging schedule. I try to get a blog post in before breakfast on our Global Warming Today site, then one or two posts later in the evening on Tidy Design. So what about this blog? Well, its main aim is to keep you the reader better updated on what’s new at MJWARD UK, our business ideas, new websites and investment plans. Although this blog will not be updated as regularly as Tidy Design or Global Warming Today, we aim to keep all our blogs educational, honest and interesting.

I really believe that routine blogging has the potential to be very good for business… Like all other things in life / business the defining factor is sticking at it! I think this quote by Napoleon Hill is worth writing down next to your blogging schedule “Trying to get without first giving is as fruitless as trying to reap without having sown.”

Welcome to our business and investment blog… This is a test post.