How visible are you? It’s not uncommon when networking to see several accountants, solicitors, business coaches, marketing experts, IFAs even cake makers in the same room. And the same thing must be going through all their heads; ‘Why would someone choose me over the next person? How am I going to explain that it’s me they should have a serious conversation with? Who am I to say I can help them better than the other? Why should they do business with me? How am I going to stand apart from the others? I often ask the question, ‘Who are you

Website marketing - getting the basics right. Once upon a time a website was little more than an electronic brochure; how times have changed. Today we demand our websites to work harder for us. We expect them to attract interested visitors. We aim to convert these visitors to prospects and begin to build a relationship until finally some become customers and the relationship continues to blossom. Even with this objective in mind many websites fall short of their job and are still little more than a fancy brochure. The good news is there are some very basic website marketing (also

I’m in love with Don Draper! Don Draper is a liar, a cheat and a con man; not probably the best type of man to be attracted to! But, my goodness me, he has a way with words. For those of you who are wondering who on earth I’m getting all excited about, Don Draper is the Creative Director and Partner at a successful advertising agency in Manhattan. He’s the star of the drama series, Mad Men. Don has an amazing talent. He tells stories. He evokes deep emotions and encourages us to use our imaginations. He uses these highly

Should I consider a Google Ads campaign? First off let’s just be clear about what Google Ads are.  Google Ads are the search results that you see on the right hand side when you make a Google search as well as the top three in the main section, below which you’ll find the ‘organic’ search results. Will Google Ads work for my business? Google Ads are not appropriate or effective for every business.  For companies that operate in a very competitive market the cost of the adverts may be prohibitively expensive. It also depends on the level of demand for

‘I’m told I should create a niche.  By narrowing down my potential customers won’t that reduce my opportunities?'  Sound familiar?  Here’s a really good example: We’ve just spent the last 3 months doing some fairly major work on our house.  I say ‘we’, I should really say my husband, Geoff! Geoff was beginning to run out of steam and wanted to get the job finished so we enlisted the help of a friend.  It turned out that this friend has hidden talents.  He spent many years in Switzerland and Germany on restoration projects.  He’s an interior designer and extremely creative. 

The length of the sales cycle depends on the products or services you sell.  If you are selling a product that your customer is quite familiar with the sales cycle can be quite short.  But for many of us, especially where we are providing a service, it can take months before the decision to buy is made. The time from initial meeting to purchase could be 3, 6 or even 12 months or more.  There will be a variety for reasons for this from the timing not being right to your prospect wanting to get to know you and be confident that