Uncategorized Archives - Page 5 of 8

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.

How to Love your Prospects

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-06-20T14:57:32+00:00June 20th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: email marketing, Prospects, Social Media Marketing|

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of joining Nicci Bonfanti of Manage2Improve and her other guest, Julia McPherson of Just Ask Julia, on a webinar entitled ‘Love your prospects’. We were addressing three questions: 1. What can you do to show the right people that you care? 2. How can you build trust with your prospects? 3. How can you keep in touch with your prospects until the time is right? Hopefully your marketing efforts are building your list of potential customers. But it can take time for them to feel sufficiently confident to do business with you. They

What makes great content?

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-05-12T07:33:12+00:00May 12th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: content, email marketing, Writing articles|

Content marketing You may have heard the expression ‘content is king’ banded about recently or the emergence of ‘content marketing’. This is because Google is rewarding higher page rankings to websites with good, regular, new content. The basic website marketing still applies, but any Search Engine Optimisation specialist worth their salt should be talking to you about content. An effective way to ensure that your website is continually evolving with good quality content is to add regular articles. This is often seen on the main menu as a tab called ‘News’, ‘Blog’ or perhaps more specific to the website such

Science of Selling

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-05-01T16:59:48+00:00May 1st, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Sales|

I recently had the good fortune to be on stage presenting an educational seminar with Simon Drury of Art of Reinvention. Simon’s presentation was full of invaluable insight and helpful tips, which help us to be more successful during the sales process. I asked him to summarise these points in a guest blog, which he has kindly agreed to do. Simon Drury Over to Simon... Human beings are emotional creatures! Innumerable studies have shown that most, if not all our decisions are driven by our emotions. This is no more true than when we are in ‘buying mode’.

3 Social Media Mistakes to avoid

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-03-31T12:18:21+00:00March 31st, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Social Media, Social Media Marketing|

Do you sometimes wonder if the effort you are putting into your tweets, updates and posts is really getting you anywhere? Maybe you’re seeing some interaction from your efforts but still can’t see how this is going to help you. Where’s it all going? If you can relate to this, maybe you have fallen into the trap of one or more of the three most common Social Media mistakes. Or perhaps you are reluctant to include Social Media in your marketing because either you don't know where to start or you are fearful of beginning something that you don't completely

Creating a lead magnet

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-02-24T17:40:50+00:00February 24th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: email marketing, Lead magnet, website marketing|

How attractive is your website? I’m not referring to the colours, images and lay out. I want to know if your website is grabbing visitors’ attention and compelling them to take some kind of action. Generally, we like to do a bit of research and find out a bit more about people before we decide to actually pick up the phone and start asking questions. A great way to bridge the gap between a visit to your website and having that first conversation is some kind of document or interaction that the visitor can receive in exchange for their email

Getting your Messages Crystal Clear

By Nicola Macdonald|2014-01-13T14:23:40+00:00January 13th, 2014|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Marketing Plan, Marketing Planning|

Writing Benefit and Positioning Statements When you meet someone for the first time and they ask you what you do, if you are passionate about how you help your customers, it can be quite easy to create a great impression. You have the advantage of eye contact, facial expressions and hand gesticulations. They can hear the enthusiasm in your voice and see the energy you exude. But take that live situation away and being left with just words is a whole new ball game. The good news is that with some effort and help from those around you, it’s possible

Marketing Planning

By Nicola Macdonald|2013-12-13T17:17:16+00:00December 13th, 2013|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Marketing Planning|

Marketing planning for a successful 2014 Is your wow factor staring you in the face? As 2013 draws to a close it's a time when majority of business owners will be reviewing the year and setting goals and planning for the next year. If you work to a business plan you can give yourself a pat on the back. You'd be surprised, shocked even, to learn how many don't. A half decent plan will clearly set out 'what' the business is aspiring to achieve in the next 12 months. But that's just it. It's only half decent. The devil is