We spend so much time and energy on creating great content for our businesses and often significant money too.  

We know there is intellectual property in that content which belongs to us and which we should be protecting – but that means spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds on specialist lawyers and complicated legal processes.  Or does it?  

Stick with me because I am going to share with you 3 things that you can start doing straight away to improve the protection you give your intellectual property by 100% AND that won’t cost you the earth.

1. Copyright Notice. When you create copy or images for your business, it is very likely that there is copyright in that copy or those images, which belongs to you.  You don’t need to register copyright formally in the UK – that is one of the great things about it – but you should let people know that you own the copyright so they can see you are on top of your game and they...

You know there are legal documents you need on your website.  You might have copied some terms you found online or maybe you haven’t quite got round to putting anything on there at all.  But it’s difficult to get to the bottom of what you really need, the terminology is confusing and now the fuss about GDPR has died down, it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Actually, yes! It really does!

Almost every small business website I look at has big gaps in their website legal documents - or maybe even nothing at all! 

There’s a lot of confusion out there. In this article I am going to spell it out for you in very clear terms, so you can take simple action and get it sorted.  Job done!

But before we dive in I just want to share with you why it’s so important to get this right. 

First, of course, there are certain things you need on there to be legally compliant and meet obligations under GDPR and other legislation. 

Second there are...

I LOVE this time of year!  My social feed and my inbox are full of gorgeous entrepreneurs and lightworkers talking about their goals for the next 12 months - and the new offerings they are creating to help them smash those goals.  The energy and creativity are palpable and it is an exciting time!

My big tip for you is to make sure you think through your terms and conditions for each new offer as you plan them out.  Don't just plan content, marketing and numbers - think legals too.

There are two main reasons for this: the discipline of thinking through the legals will make sure you plan out every aspect of the offer so you launch it into the world from a good solid platform; AND (this is the bit I love!) the security of knowing your back is covered will mean you show up with all the best energy in your launch, brimming with confidence. Which of course means your potential clients will have more confidence in you and your offer - and ultimately more sales!

Here are 5...

When most coaches first come to me, they already know they need to get their legals in place – they may have heard cautionary tales of refund requests or unrealistic client expectations from other coaches, or maybe their own coaches or coaching academies have stressed the importance - but they don’t know where to begin or what to prioritise. 

One of my members this week compared it to the horrible feeling you get (if you’re anything like me!) when you take your car to the garage to be fixed. 

You know it’s something you have to do, but you feel helpless and lost, you don’t understand the lingo and there’s a constant nagging feeling that you’re being ripped off. 

Here then, to set you off on the right path, is a no frills list of the four types of legal protection you need to prioritise as a coach:

1. YOUR CLIENT CONTRACT

It could be a one to one agreement or it could be terms and conditions of service for an online sign...