Nicola Macdonald, Author at Attractive Marketing

How do I find my customers?

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-09-24T14:39:59+00:00September 24th, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Creating a niche, Ideal customer|

Surrey Chambers of Commerce asked me to answer one of the most frequently asked questions by their members for their 'Ask the Expert' feature in The Chamber magazine. If you don't receive this excellent publication and missed the chance to read my response here it is. How do I find my customers? This is a frequently asked question, which is best answered by another question. Who are you targeting? If the answer to that question is ‘well everyone can do with my services’, that’s probably why there is confusion over how to find your customers. It’s very tempting, particularly when

Low Risk Taster

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-09-02T14:01:46+00:00September 2nd, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Low Risk Taster, Marketing activities|

I regularly talk about stepping stones to describe the process of guiding your contacts to become prospects and your prospects to become customers. Each stepping stone is a marketing activity that draws people closer to you. It enables them to understand how you can help them, feel comfortable that you'll do a great job for them and be confident and enthused enough to place an order. Low Risk Taster A Low Risk Taster brings a prospect one step closer to becoming a customer. A Low Risk Taster is an activity where, for a small financial outlay, your prospect can experience what it

Customer Journey

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-07-29T16:39:36+00:00July 29th, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Building relationships, Customer Journey|

How attentive are you to your customer’s journey? Have you ever considered all the different touch points your customers have throughout their journey with you? If you were to jot all these touch points down you might be surprised by the insight this could give you. It’s a real eye opener I’ve completed this exercise with several business owners recently. I also did it for myself! And it’s been quite an eye opener. Put your marketing hat on for a moment and take a look at all the different touch points there are. Think about the very first time they

Brand image

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-07-02T11:44:26+00:00July 2nd, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Brand Image, Social Media Marketing|

How do people feel about you? We all know that people do business with the people they like. So it’s really important to know how others feel about us. People do business with people they like Here's an example... Imagine that you are in the market for a new website. You’ve had your existing one for 3 years. It was created by a friend as a favour when you first started your business. You now are firmly established and wish to invest in a website that truly reflects the brand you’ve developed and the personality that your contacts have come to

What should I charge for my workshop?

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-05-26T14:37:58+00:00May 26th, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Pricing workshops|

'What should I charge for my workshop?' is a question that I've been asked several times this month and many, many times over the years. It's a tough decision to make, because you will have spent hours and hours creating great content to develop a workshop that’s going to make a real difference to those that attend. So how do you set a realistic price? Here are some of the questions I would ask to help you come to a decision that you are happy with. What’s the format? Just so that we are clear, there is a difference between a seminar and workshop.

How to get the most out of an exhibition

By Nicola Macdonald|2015-02-22T07:52:29+00:00February 22nd, 2015|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Exhibitions|

The preparation is complete and it's the day of the exhibition, how are you going to ensure that the time and effort you've already put in pays off? Here are my: Top three tips for making the most of the exhibition day What’s your icebreaker? What’s your killer question? Lead capture form What’s your icebreaker? Whether you’re a seasoned exhibitor or it’s fairly new to you, getting people to stop at your stand can be quite a challenge. If you’ve visited an exhibition you’ve probably seen lots of examples of how not to do it. It amazes me how many

Give your prospects an experience to remember

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-12-05T14:02:54+00:00December 5th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

Give your prospects an experience and make them want to come back for more I spent last Saturday at an event organised by Carole Bozkurt and Ann Rennie who brought together a very interesting group of branding experts. This was a selfie taken at the end of the day! One of the speakers was Melissa Noakes who is head of Experiential Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications. She showed us a photo of an exhibition village that Sony had created that allowed their prospects and customers to experience Sony’s products. They wanted to give them a chance to identify with their brand

Prepare to be patient

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-10-27T10:55:57+00:00October 27th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|

Prepare to be patient and take the long term view Are you frustrated by how long it takes to gain a new customer? Is the time from first chat to full on serious discussion stretching your patience? Does it feel like a marathon, when you'd rather a quick sprint? On the very odd occasion you might gain a quick win. Unfortunately, the reality is it takes a long time from first handshake to ‘where do I sign’? And that’s why you need to take the long term view with many of your marketing activities. I met Bryan Butterworth for the

You are your best marketing tool

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-09-14T10:41:16+00:00September 14th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Marketing coaching|

Your most powerful marketing tool could be right under your nose She could have knocked me down with a feather! I've been meeting up with Charlie Lloyd of Lloyd HR Consultancy once a month for nearly a year now. She's participated in my marketing coaching package and I've been showing her how to create her own marketing machine. It’s been a great year for Charlie. Her client base has expanded and she’s taken on an associate to ensure she continues to provide a high level of service. So I asked Charlie, “What has been the most useful thing you've learnt from our

Building Relationships

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-07-22T09:07:40+00:00July 22nd, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Building relationships, email marketing, Lead magnet, Networking, Prospects, Social Media Marketing, website marketing|

Stay in touch and add value A question to ponder over the summer whilst you’re relaxing on a sun lounger, sipping a refreshing cocktail: How many people have you met this year that are potential customers or know someone that they could recommend you to? And the next question is: How have you kept in contact with them since you first met? Chances are their business card has joined the hundreds of others in your desk draw or their email has slipped down your ever expanding inbox. You've almost forgotten who they are and they've completely forgotten who you are.

About Nicola Macdonald