On Friday myself and a friend went to the Grow Your Own Business exhibition at Olympia, London. We were both looking forward to attending several talks on marketing and marketing related subjects. Hulya runs a print and web design company (www.isbs.co.uk) which occasionally involves helping her clients with other aspects of marketing, and I wanted to see if I could learn anything new or different or get a new idea.

We eagerly awaited the start of the first talk entitled “Successful marketing and PR strategies for small businesses”. Read More→

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How To Get Paid

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

When I first started my business, a colleague suggested to me that I bill my clients based on the results I created for them. It was an appealing idea at the time – after all, who wouldn’t take me up on that offer, and so long as I performed, I’d get paid. Sounds too good to be true? It probably is. Here’s an article that discusses charging models and why being paid on results, popular as this is becoming, may not be your best option. Read More→

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Categories : General Marketing

The Benefits of Specialising

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

There are a number of reasons why specialising is beneficial to your business, including making it easier to identify and find potential clients, and making it easier for them to understand the outcome that you offer them.

But there’s another benefit as well – making it easier on yourself!  Here’s an article by Alexandria Brown – “The Ezine Queen” which dramatically demonstrates how NOT specialising can not only make life difficult, but dampen your confidence and professional standing. Read More→

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Categories : Marketing Plans

Is There a Magic Marketing Formula?

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

One of the biggest mistakes that I see small business owners make is to spend their money (or time) on marketing or advertising, not get the results they want and then conclude that marketing doesn’t work. Or they keep on spending their money and time on advertising, despite their lack of results and convince themselves that it’s “raising their profile”. (In reality, it’s probably just money down the drain.) Read More→

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Categories : Marketing Plans

Successful Businesses vs Struggling Businesses

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

What’s the difference between successful businesses and struggling businesses?

Or why do some firms flounder whilst others flourish?

Have you ever noticed how some businesses seem to do extremely well, and go from strength to strength, whilst the majority just seem to muddle along? Read More→

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Categories : Marketing Plans

The 7 myths of marketing a service business

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Myth 1: Marketing is a cost, not an investment

When you spend time and money randomly on marketing, then it probably is an expense because you’re not generating a return on the resources invested in it. Read More→

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Categories : Marketing Plans

Which Marketing Solution is Right For You?

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

If you’re running a small business, then at some point you may be faced with the problem that you want to gear up your marketing in order to grow the business, but at the same time you’re afraid of getting it wrong and losing whatever you invest in it. Read More→

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Categories : Marketing Plans

Are You Targeting the Right People?

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

One of the biggest mistakes I see consultants, coaches and professionals make is to be unclear about who their ideal client is, and to carry out their marketing without any specific definition of their target market. In fact, most are hedging their bets and trying to appeal to everybody.

Intuitively, this seems the right way to go. We might presume that the more people you can appeal to, the more likely you are to get business. It’s the law of large numbers – if you throw enough darts at the board, then eventually you’ll hit the bullseye.

However, this approach has a number of drawbacks. Read More→

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An Easy Way to Lose Sales and the True Cost …

Friday, March 20th, 2009

… To Your Business

Are you giving your clients and prospects what they want and then converting initial sales into repeat business?

I’d like to tell you about a recent experience I had that illustrates 2 principles of attraction marketing:

  1. Give your clients what they want, not what you think they need or what you want to give them
  2. Make the initial sale an easy “yes” and then build a relationship to win repeat business – don’t try to sell a 3-course meal, when all your prospect wants is a starter!

A Tale of How One Company Failed to Do Either …

Read More→

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Categories : General Marketing

10 Tips for Marketing Your Business with Public Speaking

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

As a service provider and someone who sells their expertise and know-how, one of the best ways to get your message out to numerous people at the same time is through public speaking. When you speak at networking events, industry associations or conferences, you’re able to position yourself as an expert, gain credibility by “association” (i.e. if the organisation putting on the event has credibility with the audience, then so will you) and get many more people exposed to your message than might be possible by other means. Read More→