One simple question that will bring you new clients
You might feel it’s blindingly obvious why your clients buy. They have a problem that you resolve, so they buy. But it's far from being that simple.
When is the right time to focus on a niche
Introducing three solo business owners who realised the time was right to explore, discover and develop their niche and how I helped them to do so.
Spice up your marketing
Something new injects a dose of energy, motivation and enthusiasm into you and your business. It ensures you don’t get stuck in a rut. “If you always do what you’ve always done………”, you know how it goes. Not somewhere any of us wants to be. I like to try something new each year. It might be to package up a service that I’ve noticed has been popular during the previous year. I’ve done this a few times with Attractive Marketing Coaching, Attractive eNewsletter Package and Attractive Case Study Package. Packaging up a service makes it easier for clients to understand
Are you ignoring your ideal customer?
Beware the yellow We! At regular intervals throughout the year, or at the end of a marketing campaign, it's prudent to review results: What worked really well? Definitely keep that in the plan What showed promise, but with a bit of tweaking results could be improved? What new approach could you research and try? When you look at the customers you've gained during the review period you'll be analysing what marketing activity generated that business. You might see that it's from a favourite networking group, a good referrer, your website, social media, an advert you have in a local magazine,
Watch your language
I recently came across a 1-day marketing course for a specific industry. My initial thought was how great to run such a niche workshop. Then my heart sank as I read the content: Identify the 4P’s of marketing approached by Kotler Identify the components of the marketing mix and extended marketing mix…. Use the marketing triangle as a logical and customer-centred approach to market your business Watch your language This reads more like an agenda for the seminars I used to attend whilst studying for my marketing qualifications. And a picky student would point out that the first two points
Are you missing a trick on LinkedIn?
With such a powerful tool at our fingertips, I’m surprised how many people I meet are not taking full advantage of LinkedIn. If you provide products and services to businesses, or I should really say other business people, as we do business with people not companies, LinkedIn should be an important part of your marketing mix. Does this sound like you? When was the last time you looked at your profile? Do you have a dodgy photo that gives the wrong impression? Does your About section (also known as profile summary) read like a mini CV rather than explaining how
3 ways to boost your networking results
The bad news and the good news about networking I recently had the honour of presenting at one of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s Entrepreneur Academy meetings. The topic that we discussed was Networking. I started with two bits of bad news. Networking doesn’t work Networking costs a fortune In truth, point 1 should really say ‘Networking doesn’t work in isolation’. More about that later. To explain point 2, I broke down the cost of networking into: Membership fees (to one organisation) Pay as you go fees Your time, including travel, based on two networking events per week I demonstrated how
What are you going to do differently this year?
I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but I do like starting the year with the question, "What am I going to do differently in by business this year?" Sometimes the answer is a new marketing approach and other times it's creating a new service or packaging up an existing service to make it extremely attractive and a no brainer! If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. That saying always makes me feel nervous! If I don't try something different, I'm nervous I might miss out on something really great. Also,
5 ways to rebuild your email marketing list after GDPR
Suffering from a depleted emailing list? Observing the emails coming into my in-box in the lead up to 25th May and the launch of GDPR, was like watching a game of poker! A few businesses revealed their hands early sending re-consent emails, which seemed to trigger a chain reaction of ‘if they’re doing it, I guess I’d better too’, until there was an explosion of re-consent emails, more than you could keep track of. What I found really interesting was the businesses that showed their hand in the last week by sending a different style of email, thanking their contacts
Case studies: Basking in reflected glory
I enthusiastically encourage business owners to create case studies. They are a fabulous way to tell a story about the brilliant job you do for your customers. If your product or service is complex (or the subject is somewhat dry or boring!), you need to find an alternative way to explain what you do. When this is done using real life examples, it's so much easier for a prospect to understand how you can help them too. A case study shows your prospect: You understand their situation You empathise with the issues they have You can offer a perfect solution