Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
July 1st, 2010
It’s funny because when I speak with new clients, especially the guys n gals that are newbies to the web world, I try to establish their primary goals and objectives for the site, the purpose for having one, their target audience etc… as in my view any half decent designer would.
We tend to also take our clients through a learning curve as we go, teaching them that some aspects of their online presence need a regular input. However, I find that I am becoming particularly bad at keeping this up myself. I has now been quite some time since my last blog post, and yet I have accumulated quite a large quantity of material.
With the company growing, and being re-branded it has been difficult at times to stay on top of everything. This for us, is where the social media aspects fail for the smaller company or for the sole trader.
What I am trying to say in this post is as I must learn to practise what I preach, we must all learn to adapt…
January 20th, 2010
a short but potentially useful article for those that do not yet know/understand the purpose or relevance of the little orange RSS button!
Courtesy of Stilton Studios – Article Link: Link: What is RSS?
January 15th, 2010
We have a new design underway with more features and less waffle! We have been taking a good look at our website over a period of months and applying what we say to our customers to our own site! What is it’s purpose? What do we want from it? and what should we be selling?
When you first start-up you tend to put everything that you can do on your website. This is not always a bad thing as you never know what people are going to buy from you! However, what happens after that is you never go back and adjust the website accordingly to what you are selling.
Why is this? Do we forget? Get sidetracked by that lucrative job that takes all hours? No-one really has the answer but in a year when everyone is turning to the web for their business promotion shouldn’t we all be having a good look at what we actually sell and what we want to promote and what is old, tired and out-of-date?
At our BNI Meeting this morning, Mark Keatley-Palmer of Sycamore Designs pointed out that quite often companies use the same marketing materials over and over again! Do you do this? Is yours tired? Does it need a new look?
We certainly are under review – what about you? Are you ready for 2010?
August 28th, 2009
A useful read from this weeks Links for Light Reading courteousy of <a href=”http://www.maxdesign.com.au”>www.maxdesign.com.au</a>.
<a href=”http://www.fatdux.com/blog/2009/08/07/20-tips-for-writing-for-the-web/” title=”20-tips-for-writing-for-the-web”>20 tips for writing for the web</a>.
Soon to follow my own series on how to Write for the Web – mind you I think I shall have to read this one again though make sure I don’t have to change anything 
Sarah
August 28th, 2009
August 10th, 2009
Once again, this is gained through many nights reading and gathering information from all over the web, books and training courses that I too attend in order to try and provide a better service.
Some blogs ARE better than others and read by potential clients who are seeking ideas and resources. Commenting intelligently on blogs can be a very good way to build a reputation in your field of experience, it can also be one of the quickest ways to discredit yourself too!
Make sure that you read the whole post that you would like to comment on thoroughly, and maybe even draft your response away from your screen so that you are not tempted to make a hurried response – this can often result in half hearted comments.
Try to use facts so that over time other readers of the blogs to which you post know that you know what you are talking about. It is always a good idea to keep comments short and to the point.
Guidelines for Commenting on Blogs
It is usually necessary for you to sign in to most blog sites before you can leave your comments. You are normally asked for your email address and the URL of your website.
Stick to the facts about what you do.
Because of comment spam, many bloggers ask you to register.
If you have a business connection to a product or service mentioned in the blog post, make this clear to anyone reading your comment.
Comment only when you feel you can offer something of value.
Bloggers may shorten your comments. Better to simply write shorter.
When quoting material, ALWAYS be accurate, provide attribution for the quote, including source and URL (if available).
Hope this helps,
Sarah
August 10th, 2009
When was the last time you asked a customer what they were actually looking for? Most businesses wait for the customer to tell them, offer a service to them or supply a questionnaire for the customer to fill in…
Here are some quick questions:
- What are your new and existing customer’s needs and requirements?
- Do your customers realise all of the services &/or products that you offer?
- Does your marketing material reflect all of the services &/or products that you offer?
- Does your marketing material need updating?
- Does your website / logo look outdated?
- Do you communicate with your customers on a regular basis, by any method?
If the answer to any of the above questions is no, then maybe it is time to have a review of both your customer relationship management and marketing materials.
The better we perform during the tough times the more likely we are to survive.
August 3rd, 2009
If you are a small business or sole trader and have larger competitors who have their own premises and employ staff? Have you ever considered approaching them and asking them whether or not they could refer the work that they do not do to you?
Lots of larger companies take work on from a particular starting price as they have overheads, staff, bills, rates to pay etc. If you are looking for work you could always approach them and ask them to take on the work that is not appropriate or relevant for them, or is under their start price limit (not sure what the correct phraseology is for this!).
This way you can, if they say yes get work from them, remain onside with your competitor(s), they get to know you and vice versa and everyone gets work – this also works the other way round as well; if you get work that you are unable to handle or is outside the scope of your experience you can then pass or refer it to them. This way no-one has to turn work away…
If you are not happy with this you can always negotiate a referrals agreement, if both parties are happy to do so – but DO check out the contract side of doing this BEFORE you sign anything.
This also keeps work local and increases the scope of work on offer as well.
Has anyone ever considered this? Does anyone have a successful relationship that works on this basis? Or on the downside has anyone ever had a bad experience working this way? It would be good to gather some views on this.
July 28th, 2009
Had a quick read of this and if you are seriously into online socialising and networking then this may give you some additional information and possibly even some new sites to visit
Link : Social Networking for Business
Courteousy of WSG Links for Light Reading
July 28th, 2009
Many small businesses I have networked with recently have said that they have considered reducing their marketing budgets over the next years. My own personal opinion is that this would be a mistake!
During this “recession” we need to make the most out of every single penny, but we also need to remember that our profiles need to be seen. If our potential customers cannot “see” us then they will not use our services or buy our products! So how do we go about marketing during a recession?
We need to be more selective about where and when we market ourselves; we need to read ALL the small print to ensure we can end contracts when they are not working for us; to monitor them and to be realistic about the time they will take to have an impact on business – for example a radio advert may cost upwards of £500 per month (as an off the top of my head figure) and may take 6 months before the phone begins to ring, so it is worth bearing that investment in mind. Whereas networking campaign may cost £500 membership for 1 year plus £10 per week for mileage and 1 hour of your time to attend thereby making it more cost effective to network as opposed to advertise. However, depending on your business – it may be that networking is not appropriate for your business – all things to consider.
Research has in previous tough times shown that those that continue to market themselves have gained market share from those that have ceased marketing…
Remember – speculate to accumulate! also walk away if it doesn’t work.
Any thoughts anyone?
Sarah
