We've just launched a brand new marketing programme that we're really excited about - it's called the (absolutely) everything guide to getting all the business you can handle.
Aimed at small business owners who are really, really serious about growing their business and getting new customers, we've put together a programme where you will receive:
a) An intensive one-day event that helps you to put together a marketing plan for your business.
b) The opportunity to work with me personally over 6 months to grow your business.
c) Access to the e-books I've put together on a variety of subjects to do with running a business.
d) Resources to make this year the best ever!
There's only room for 15 people on this exclusive programme and 5 of the places have already been filled. Interested? Find out more by going to http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Marketing-Day.php
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Sunday, 23 March 2008
What do you want to see in our newsletters?
Feeling much better this week, so I wanted to find out more about what you want to see in our newsletters and tips sheets. Let me know what topics would be useful, whether we communicate with you too much or too little or what burning issues you have that you would like us to cover. Whatever it is, let us know...
We're also thinking about running some free teleseminars (workshops over the phone). Would these be of interest and if so, what topics would you like to see?
Be nice though - feedback is great, but only if it's constructive...
We're also thinking about running some free teleseminars (workshops over the phone). Would these be of interest and if so, what topics would you like to see?
Be nice though - feedback is great, but only if it's constructive...
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
The joys of running your own business
Well had some positive and negative things happen this week. The positive thing was that we have been trying out pay per click or Google Adwords, with some great successes. We've only invested a small amount at the moment, but if results continue how they have been been doing, we may well carry on with this.
On the negative side, I have a cold - again! This is the second time this year (I usally get one every three years or so) and I'm not very happy. I hate colds with a passion!!! So, I can't breathe, can't sleep and yet because I run my own business have to carry on - hence the joys of running your own business. Who said eating heathily was good for you!?!
On the negative side, I have a cold - again! This is the second time this year (I usally get one every three years or so) and I'm not very happy. I hate colds with a passion!!! So, I can't breathe, can't sleep and yet because I run my own business have to carry on - hence the joys of running your own business. Who said eating heathily was good for you!?!
Monday, 10 March 2008
Do we need another bank holiday?
I had an email today from a member of my staff asking me to sign up to a government petition for an extra bank holiday. While I'm sure the team want another bank holiday, I'm not sure they're thinking through the possible implications of this.
Because let's face it, I really don't want an extra bank holiday. Why? Quite simply because it creates havoc with the business. People just don't want to buy around bank holidays - they want to enjoy time with their families and that's fair enough (if it was just one day).
But bank holidays don't tend to be just one day do they? People tend to take the week off too and use the short working week to maximise their holidays. And with the new school calendar meaning different schools have different times of the year off, that's even worse!
I must admit that I always find it interesting that when people are working everyone wants another bank holiday and then when people become self-employed, they change their views! I'd be interested to hear what you think.
Because let's face it, I really don't want an extra bank holiday. Why? Quite simply because it creates havoc with the business. People just don't want to buy around bank holidays - they want to enjoy time with their families and that's fair enough (if it was just one day).
But bank holidays don't tend to be just one day do they? People tend to take the week off too and use the short working week to maximise their holidays. And with the new school calendar meaning different schools have different times of the year off, that's even worse!
I must admit that I always find it interesting that when people are working everyone wants another bank holiday and then when people become self-employed, they change their views! I'd be interested to hear what you think.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Why is my marketing not working for me?
There is nothing more frustrating that doing some marketing and finding it doesn’t work for your business – especially if you’ve spent money on it. Not only is it annoying, but it’s also demoralising and pretty soon when you’ve exhausted all the ideas you had for marketing your business, I can completely understand why you’d think that marketing was a huge pain.
But why isn’t your marketing working for you? Let’s look at some common reasons and see if we can put them right.
REASON NUMBER 1: TARGETING THE WRONG PEOPLE
The easiest way to find customers for your business is to go where they go. The most common reason why your marketing isn’t working is that you don’t know enough about where your customers go. Let me explain. If you were targeting mothers for instance, common places you might find mothers include doctor’s surgeries, mother and toddler groups, post offices, schools, nurseries etc. If you were targeting HR Managers, you might go to CIPD meetings, read Personnel Today, go to HR conferences etc.
Sounds easy doesn’t it. But, I meet far too many businesses who tell me that anyone is their customer or are appealing to the end user rather than the person who buys their services (i.e. the employee rather than the HR manager who will pay for what they’re selling).
Solution: Go back to basics. Really define who your customer is. Think about what motivates them and what frustrates them. Then think about where they might go to buy what you’re offering and make sure you’re in these places when they’re looking.
REASON NUMBER 2: NOT EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL GET YOU CUSTOMERS
Whenever you do any marketing, there are three objectives: a) Get awareness of your business b) Build your reputation and c) Get customers. Agree? Problem is that many of the marketing ideas you’re doing already are probably better at getting awareness of your business or building your reputation. PR for instance is great for awareness as is advertising; networking is great for awareness; doing a talk is good for building your reputation; sending out leaflets is good for awareness and so on.
You can get business from these methods, but it an extra step – capturing contact details!! If you do some PR, you’ve no idea who has found your press release really interesting but didn’t get around to calling you, let alone who might have looked at it. Therefore, you need to build some mechanism in each of your marketing methods to get contact details of people who are interested.
So in a press release, you might offer a free sample or a free newsletter; in a talk you might offer a free summary of your presentation and so on. If people give you their contact details, they’re telling you they’re interested – then all you need to do is follow-up.
Solution: Without contact details your marketing ideas will do little more than build your reputation and the awareness of your business. In each marketing activity you do, find some way of capturing those contact details.
REASON NUMBER 3: NOT DOING MARKETING
Ah – caught you! I know it’s hard. I know you have 1001 other things you want to do. But, the simple fact remains that most small business owners who say they aren’t getting as much business as they would like are not doing any marketing. They may dabble in it, but they probably aren’t doing it consistently.
You see if you really want your marketing to work for you, you should be trying 5 (yes 5) marketing ideas at once and putting a system in place to capture contact details so that you can follow up with people.
If you really don’t have time, find a marketing person to do some marketing for you (you can always contact us you know) which frees you up to do the things you like doing.
Solution: Do marketing (or if you really don’t like it, find someone to do it for you).
9 times out of 10, the three reasons I’ve outlined above are the main reasons why marketing doesn’t work for small business owners. Think about the solutions I’ve mentioned and try putting them in place for your business. Good luck.
Exceptional Thinking provides marketing help and advice for start-ups and small businesses. For more tips and ideas, go to www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk and sign up for the free newsletter.
But why isn’t your marketing working for you? Let’s look at some common reasons and see if we can put them right.
REASON NUMBER 1: TARGETING THE WRONG PEOPLE
The easiest way to find customers for your business is to go where they go. The most common reason why your marketing isn’t working is that you don’t know enough about where your customers go. Let me explain. If you were targeting mothers for instance, common places you might find mothers include doctor’s surgeries, mother and toddler groups, post offices, schools, nurseries etc. If you were targeting HR Managers, you might go to CIPD meetings, read Personnel Today, go to HR conferences etc.
Sounds easy doesn’t it. But, I meet far too many businesses who tell me that anyone is their customer or are appealing to the end user rather than the person who buys their services (i.e. the employee rather than the HR manager who will pay for what they’re selling).
Solution: Go back to basics. Really define who your customer is. Think about what motivates them and what frustrates them. Then think about where they might go to buy what you’re offering and make sure you’re in these places when they’re looking.
REASON NUMBER 2: NOT EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL GET YOU CUSTOMERS
Whenever you do any marketing, there are three objectives: a) Get awareness of your business b) Build your reputation and c) Get customers. Agree? Problem is that many of the marketing ideas you’re doing already are probably better at getting awareness of your business or building your reputation. PR for instance is great for awareness as is advertising; networking is great for awareness; doing a talk is good for building your reputation; sending out leaflets is good for awareness and so on.
You can get business from these methods, but it an extra step – capturing contact details!! If you do some PR, you’ve no idea who has found your press release really interesting but didn’t get around to calling you, let alone who might have looked at it. Therefore, you need to build some mechanism in each of your marketing methods to get contact details of people who are interested.
So in a press release, you might offer a free sample or a free newsletter; in a talk you might offer a free summary of your presentation and so on. If people give you their contact details, they’re telling you they’re interested – then all you need to do is follow-up.
Solution: Without contact details your marketing ideas will do little more than build your reputation and the awareness of your business. In each marketing activity you do, find some way of capturing those contact details.
REASON NUMBER 3: NOT DOING MARKETING
Ah – caught you! I know it’s hard. I know you have 1001 other things you want to do. But, the simple fact remains that most small business owners who say they aren’t getting as much business as they would like are not doing any marketing. They may dabble in it, but they probably aren’t doing it consistently.
You see if you really want your marketing to work for you, you should be trying 5 (yes 5) marketing ideas at once and putting a system in place to capture contact details so that you can follow up with people.
If you really don’t have time, find a marketing person to do some marketing for you (you can always contact us you know) which frees you up to do the things you like doing.
Solution: Do marketing (or if you really don’t like it, find someone to do it for you).
9 times out of 10, the three reasons I’ve outlined above are the main reasons why marketing doesn’t work for small business owners. Think about the solutions I’ve mentioned and try putting them in place for your business. Good luck.
Exceptional Thinking provides marketing help and advice for start-ups and small businesses. For more tips and ideas, go to www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk and sign up for the free newsletter.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Don't let 'being too busy' put you off...
Just recently several small business owners have said to us that they've been reluctant to do some marketing for fear that they'll be 'too busy' and they won't be able to cope with the workload. This is a common misconception about marketing, so I thought I'd clear it up:
Firstly, if you start doing marketing today, it will probably take at least three months to actually see the results. And that's if you work really hard at it! New business won't come all at once; it's more likely it will gradually build up over time and you'll be able to cope with it.
I always say to business owners who tell me that they're worried about being 'too busy' - let's get you there first and then we'll worry about that. If you end up being too busy, you can choose to stop marketing, be more selective about who you take on as a customer or take on some additional help - being 'too busy' can always be dealt with.
Don't fear being 'too busy' - you can always deal with this. And remember it's always better than being 'too quiet'!
For more advice and help on managing your time in your small business, check out our new e-book "Managing your Time" at http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Survive-Course.php
Firstly, if you start doing marketing today, it will probably take at least three months to actually see the results. And that's if you work really hard at it! New business won't come all at once; it's more likely it will gradually build up over time and you'll be able to cope with it.
I always say to business owners who tell me that they're worried about being 'too busy' - let's get you there first and then we'll worry about that. If you end up being too busy, you can choose to stop marketing, be more selective about who you take on as a customer or take on some additional help - being 'too busy' can always be dealt with.
Don't fear being 'too busy' - you can always deal with this. And remember it's always better than being 'too quiet'!
For more advice and help on managing your time in your small business, check out our new e-book "Managing your Time" at http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Survive-Course.php
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Do you need a website?
A question I've been asked a lot recently is when you're running your own business, do you need a website? Mmm, interesting one this because I think the answer to this question is not always. If you think about it, there are quite a few industries out there that don't have websites and get away with it - builders, plumbers etc. My builder doesn't even have an email address (he says computers aren't for him) and yet it's never affected his business.
But, the interesting thing about websites is that there is a perception at the moment from the general public that if you don't have a website you're not a 'real' business. So, bearing this in mind, it seems that it is good to have at least a web presence out there.
How do you create a website though and where do you find a good designer? Well my advice on this one is that you shouldn't spend a lot of money on your first website. Why? I guarantee you that a few months after it's gone live you'll hate it. Lots of reasons for this - in a few months you'll find out what you really sell and you'll want to change it; you won't like the text; you'll have criticisms from friends and family and so on.
So, get your first website done as cheaply and as easily as you can. See if you can barter with a contact of yours or whether your mate can do it for you. Don't worry about getting it perfect - just get something up on the internet. Then, when you decide a few months down the line that you'd like to sort it out, now is the time to spend money on it.
In terms of choosing a website designer, I would go out and talk to no less than three. Pick the one that you feel comfortable with and understands your needs. They might not be the cheapest, but liking them is more important when you've already decided to spend the money. The other thing that I think it's well worth investing in is the services of a copywriter. A copywriter is someone who writes the words of websites, brochures, adverts etc and will bring your customers needs to the forefront - don't forget we tend to spend money on the design of the website and forget about what other people will read. Check out Google to find a copywriter near you.
But, the interesting thing about websites is that there is a perception at the moment from the general public that if you don't have a website you're not a 'real' business. So, bearing this in mind, it seems that it is good to have at least a web presence out there.
How do you create a website though and where do you find a good designer? Well my advice on this one is that you shouldn't spend a lot of money on your first website. Why? I guarantee you that a few months after it's gone live you'll hate it. Lots of reasons for this - in a few months you'll find out what you really sell and you'll want to change it; you won't like the text; you'll have criticisms from friends and family and so on.
So, get your first website done as cheaply and as easily as you can. See if you can barter with a contact of yours or whether your mate can do it for you. Don't worry about getting it perfect - just get something up on the internet. Then, when you decide a few months down the line that you'd like to sort it out, now is the time to spend money on it.
In terms of choosing a website designer, I would go out and talk to no less than three. Pick the one that you feel comfortable with and understands your needs. They might not be the cheapest, but liking them is more important when you've already decided to spend the money. The other thing that I think it's well worth investing in is the services of a copywriter. A copywriter is someone who writes the words of websites, brochures, adverts etc and will bring your customers needs to the forefront - don't forget we tend to spend money on the design of the website and forget about what other people will read. Check out Google to find a copywriter near you.
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