Marketing can be a difficult concept for early entrepreneurs and charities alike and social media has thrown up a whole gamut of new complexities.  Welcome to RunMarketing, an array of tools, resources and helpful guidance to finding your feet and voice and best of all – its free.  RunMarketing is owned by Planet Content.

Written by the US Non Profit Root Causes, this book is recommended to all social enterprises and charities looking to develop business ideas that maximise social impact. It’s a great step-by-step and practical business guidebook with insights, examples and worksheets from start to finish.

Details on the Solution Shedd's charity-centric business plans or so-called 'Value Propositions', which focus on what a cherty does best to create mission-related trading solutions and achieve sustainability.

The Solution Shedd's Innovation & Strategy Workshops are aimed at organisations looking to find new ways forward, or cement what it is already doing and solidify the way forward..

Back in November 2007, The Solution Shedd started on a journey with the Museum of London to revitalise their retail and catering assets.  Read all about our experience in our Case Study published in 2009.

For anyone serious about innovation, but unsure where to begin and how to do it successfully, the book "The Innovator's Toolkit' by Silverstein, Samuel and DeCarlo is invaluable.  Don't have time for the book?  Then jump directly to its tools by registering on their site.

Produced by TED (Sept 2008) This video is courtesy of TED - a small charity devoted to 'Ideas Worth Spreading'.  While it may be focused on Venture Capital, the basic ideas, structure and approach is the same for charities, social enterprises or small business when trying to pitch an idea to potential investors, grant makers, funders.

NCVO's website has a multitude of useful resources - some of which must be paid for - as well as best practice case studies on charities who have succeeded in income diversification through trading (see under 'strategy' for examples).

Marketing is something that many organisations struggle with.  Alongside his many published books on the subject, Seth Godin provides a constant stream of interesting insights and perspectives.

Written by Venturesome (Jan 2008) An honest paper about the pitfalls, misconceptions and issues that charities face when contemplating income generation/trading as a route to 'financial resilience'.  In summary, it is not for everyone and is rarely a quick win, but when well-thought through and aligned to a charity's mission, it can be worth it.

Published by the Charity Finance Director's Group (June 2010)

Written by Horwath Clark Whitehill, the paper  is a comprehensive guide for charities raising funds through trading.  The paper can be download directly from the CFDG website.