I've been working on getting my blog to automatically update my google+ profile and now I've cracked it. This is an intermediary test post to check that posterous is updating the componens involved. Once passed new blog posts will start coming through. Should be interesting.
When it comes to designing your email marketing campaign, you should not consider the content in isolation.
Part of what makes up a successful promotional strategy is the way that your brand image echoes through all of your communications with customers and suppliers, so everything that you hire email marketing companies to do for you should be reflected elsewhere in your public profile.
This can mean a variety of things depending on which angle you approach it from. If you are already advertising on other media such as television and radio but are about to embark on an email marketing campaign, then you will want to think about how your brand is portrayed in existing content and carry this through in your emails.
Some of the more obvious aspects to consider will be the colours used and any long-term slogans, but there is also the underlying tone to consider. If your television advert is playful and light, then you may want to keep this feel in your emails by using a bloggy style with plenty of engaging graphics.
On the other hand, your email marketing campaign may be dedicated to consumers at a different stage in the buying cycle, so it may be necessary to change the tone somewhat; possibly making it more serious to reflect professionalism.
It is becoming increasingly common for companies to use different media in combination with each other, perhaps inspiring people to check out a blog through social sharing, or advising clients of news on a website via an emailed newsletter. This is allowing for greater levels of engagement and marketing teams should think carefully about how they can join up the separate strands of advertising at their disposal.
Ideally, whoever is in charge of your email marketing campaigns will have a good idea of what you are doing in other areas, so that they can create a multi-channel approach that can boost interaction with the modern consumer.
You’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into building a solid reputation and a loyal customer base, making products and services that outdo your competition and you’re always looking to take your business further.
Your brand message accurately represents your quality and drive intensity, as well as the advantages of choosing your company over others. You now have a golden opportunity to show your brand in all its glory at the next trade show, industry event or exhibition.
To make sure that your brand stands out from the competition as it so rightly deserves, you will need exhibition stands that will really paint the best possible image for your brand.
But how to make yourself well and truly shine in an increasingly congested world rife with increasingly disloyal customers, ready to take their business elsewhere?
A good exhibition stand in the right environment at the right time may just be the answer.
There are several different types of stand based on the event, cost and other such factors. Here are a few different types and what they would be best used for:
Traditional Stand
The tried and truest of all exhibition stands, the double rod with platform in between has to be one of the most popular types of stand. It has an old world appeal, bringing back comforting feelings of nostalgia.
Modular Display Stand
These types of stand come apart and allow exhibitors to modify the display. If you can’t get in contact with the exhibition executives to find out the amount of space you will have at the event, then these stands are for you. They are also handy for travelling due to their portability.
Literature Stand
Literature stands resemble bookshelves, and so are ideal for stocking bestsellers. Levelled displays allow the exhibitor to place things at eye level, as well as featuring tiered displays or showing products at different quality levels.
Banner Stand
The latest and greatest type of stand, banner stands have their own sort of subculture, a running gag being that companies will try and outdo their rivals by buying the biggest stand they can. Banner stands are also great for travel and come in different forms: rigid, cassette, motorised and roller.
Pop Up Stand
Pop up banners are the most portable option and also have artistic merit. Being perhaps the most versatile/customisable (outside the modular stand), the pop up stand is one of the best ways of advertising your brand at a trade show or exhibition.
Deciding to invest in someone else’s business can be a big risk, but it can also be a great investment and lead to high returns. In order to minimize your risk, there are a few basic rules to consider following.
Set Investment Goals
If you have not set your own personal investment goals, it would be the best place to begin. It is also important to not be swayed by friend’s or family’s sales pitches without thoroughly investigating their business plan, comparing them to your investment goals and assessing the opportunity. Commit to investing in businesses that line up with your goals, meet your criteria and one you have personally researched thoroughly.
Insist on a Detailed Business Plan
Every business whether just starting up or are looking to expand should have a detailed business plan that you can review. Never consider investing in any business that does not have a business plan or one that will not allow you to see their plan. The business plan should be detailed enough that you can make an educated projection as to its potential for success and its feasibility. It should also clearly lay out how the business will make a profit and how an investor will see a return on his investment.
Determine Various Outcomes
It is important to analyze all possible outcomes and what your contingency plan is if the risk turns out to be higher than you expected. Any investor should calculate the downside risk before investing in any business. For example, if the business needs additional working capital in the near future, you will need to decide the best course of action. If the business owner is going to have to take out small business loans in order to generate cash flow, you will need to decide if investing is a smart move at this point. You may also need to decide if you are willing to provide additional funding or refuse and allow the business to fail. Every feasible outcome should be considered and what you are or are not willing to do based on the variables.
Consider Cash Flow Problems Ahead of Time
As an investor, you will need to consider how much working capital you are going to invest in the company. Whether you offer the owner small business loans as equity financing or if you are going to take on the role of an angel investor. You will need to decide how much ownership of the company you wish to take on and how much you are willing to invest overall into the business.
The most important rule for any investor to follow is to never invest than you are able to afford to lose.
Sara Mackey wortks for www.connexx.com, a leading authority in the field of small business finance. She has worked in the segment for nearly ten years, and has helped hundredes of entrepreneurs get the funding they need.
Every industry is different, but at their heart there are a few basic concepts that drive every business forward.
It's easy to say that a pet shop in Exeter has nothing to do with a financial services firm in London, but when you bring them down to their bare bones they share a great deal. On the surface they deal with completely separate people - probably both in terms of staff and customers - yet they are both trying to get consumers to part with cash for a service.
In a capitalist society such as ours this is what all companies must do, unless they have the funding to adopt more conscientious goals. For the purposes of this article we will focus on profit-seeking firms and the three Ps they should think about to succeed.
Processes
The processes a company has in place can turn a firm's fortunes around completely. In fact, many business process management (BPM) experts will probably tell you that this is the most important aspect of a firm.
You can see why this can be true, since even if a person's initial idea and business partners are good, they are likely to struggle if they do not develop the organisation properly. This is why BPM software has become so popular across a range of industries.
People
While your processes can put in place a structure by which a firm can flourish, the people involved - the staff and customers - must also be considered a vital cog in any business venture. No matter what sector you work in, taking into account the desires and requirements of your stakeholders is vital, often guiding major policy decisions.
Product
Last, but not least, is the product or service you offer. Without this, you have nothing, so a great deal of thought needs to go into its development. You should know the product inside out and be realistic yet ambitious about how popular it could be. This applies to everything from a fashion collection to a window cleaning service.
If you’ve got something to say about business, it may well be that you can use that inner passion to your advantage – or more specifically to the advantage of your business.
Conference, expo and event organisers are constantly on the lookout for the right man or woman to push home their message or agenda and successful business speakers can earn thousands.
Having said that, this article isn’t about changing your career to that of a business speaker, or indeed becoming one of the world's top keynote speakers, it’s actually about how speaking at events and conferences can help grow your existing business.
Think about it, you're stood on a stage for several minutes with a captive audience for an extended period of time and what’s more – nearly every single one those delegates will listen intently to your every single word.
Of course being a business speaking isn’t for everyone. Firstly you need to know your stuff, because if you don’t you’ll lose your audience in seconds - and probably never get another ‘gig’. Secondly you need to be confident. You can be the most knowledgeable in your field, but if you can’t deliver, you’re not going to make a successful speaker.
Obviously I’m not suggesting for a second that you stand in front of a room full of folk and shamelessly plug your own business. No; the idea is that you become an authority in your individual business sector.
By speaking at related business events and expos you will, without doubt, be seen as an expert by every attendee – opening doors that you didn’t even know existed.
To give you an example, I recently attended a seminar in London hosted by a supplier I had worked with on several occasions in the past. The guest speaker on this occasion was a ‘revenue management specialist’, who took to the stage and talked to a room full of business decision makers about the importance of revenue management.
Being a sceptical soul, and a daydreamer by my very nature, I was one of very few people not hanging off this guy’s every word. What I did notice however, as I scanned the room, was that good 90% of the delegates in attendance were in an almost hypnotic state nodding obediently at every statement the guest speaker made.
‘So what?’ you ask; ‘how would this help me with my business?’.
Well after the address was over there was what I can only describe as a rugby scrum as delegates battled to get this guys undivided attention. At that moment he had become the oracle for all things revenue management– and what did this guy do for a living? Yes, you guessed it – he was a revenue management consultant.
At no point throughout his 40 minute presentation did he once push his business, but what he did do was to instantly elevate himself to the position of master of his industry; allowing him to distribute his business cards to enough hot business leads to keeps his business going for months.
So if you think you could captivate a business audience, than perhaps you should consider putting yourself into the spotlight. It may seem a little daunting at first, but it could well be one of the best business decisions of your life.
Far too many of todays businesses (and the principles on which they’re founded) base their foundations on what used to work, fixed plans around fixed ideas. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that things are very different from what they were 1000, 100 or even just 10 years ago. Its moving fast, has become hyper dynamic and is forcing us review the balance between both the "big" (think country or company) and the "small" (think groups and people) and so as businesses or entrepreneurs we’ve got to reconsider our approach to developing and growing new companies and ideas when finding ourselves in these new evolving states.
All too often it used to start (and still does) with a product or service idea and then a business plan which is ultimately designed to support the ideas of the entrepreneur, when actually what we need is a business model based around fulfilling a need, want or desire which can be tested and experimented with until we know what works, not what we think might work. In the world of trading (such as shares and currencies) there is a famous saying that “the market is always right” and this is becoming more and more true of business today, let the market show you what will work and what won’t. No longer should it be about betting the farm on a fixed idea, and bashing it until "it" (or you) dies, because it's not aligned well enough with the market (end user or customer). Instead we can test and evolve a model with the market in real time, letting the market decide the outcome. The need for integrated marketing that always marketing testing of concepts and feeding that back into the development process is crucial.
Usually businesses and their ideas mostly fall into two categories (a bit like marketing) which are either too creative (that includes being too emotionally attached to something) or too business focused (overly analytical, process and profit orientated), ultimately failing to blend together all of these components into a workable system that touches both hearts and minds of people and which can be evolved. Yes, business models, systems and experimentation is a very creative process.
Businesses also need to shift their mind-set from product or service orientated views into ones which are far more customer centric, designed and built around the market and its inhabitants. In much the same way that marketing is now evolving to be more centric and “inbound”. It's about the people and the relationships and conversations.
As somebody who’s spent time at different stages of the idea creation to realisation and delivery process (and not always successfully) the concept of modelling and experimentation is a liberating approach to developing business and gives us the opportunity to do things without losing a ton of money and time.
Here’s how other companies, among the leaders in this field are using these concepts such as IDEO.
As much as I love engineers and scientists (its my background after all), often I find myself confronted with people who want absolute perfection. Yet the perfection they seek, is perfection of their own mind, not the markets or the customers and it will kill the company or that idea if too much time is spent on tinkering to get it just right or perfect instead of letting the market decide in real time and evolving it as you start your relationship with the market.
Lots of companies have what’s know as “lunch and learn” sessions where different groups or individuals talk others through their experiences on a project so that others can see how it was handled in the real world and not just down on paper or conceptually.
Planning is great, however the real learning and delivering is achieved in the doing and so we need rules or guidelines give us direction as well as the flexibility to change direction when necessary.
Likewise, business is really done in the doing, which is why failure is so important and even more so today. You’ve got to be prepared to fail more and let go of emotional ties to things until you’ve been proven right or wrong and as quickly and cost effectively as possible. What you think has no relevance when its comes to success, its what others think that will determine the ultimate success of your idea and the organisation that supports it. However there are things or guidelines that will help you understand if you are headed in the right direction;
Please tell us about your own experiences of launching and learning.
The Internet, Google, ebay, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Smartphones, mobile apps - all these new businesses and technologies are changing the way marketing works. For everyone aspect of offline marketing there is now an online equivalent that exists or is being developed:
Digital marketing is still evolving, there are legal changes going on (particularly the EU legislation recently) and there are still technological improvements and new services being brought out which will only make it more important: Google Wallet using near field communications will allow you to pay for things and automatically apply any coupons you may have. Foursquare allows footfall to be tracked and provides great opportunities to retailers, restaurants and bars.
But it appears that many UK companies are slow to embrace modern technology, I know companies that are still sorting out their first ecommerce store - their first! There are plenty of companies with out a decent mobile version of their website, and with responsive design recently becoming popular this has not only increased in importance, but also its feasibility.
So if you're still running your marketing like its 1999, then I suggest you have a good hard look at the chances and embrace this new technology.
This is a guest post by David Whitehouse who is a marketing consultant from Ripon, North Yorkshire (not too far from York!).
If you have ever worked in sales or marketing I am sure you know the pressures that come with that day to day environment. I know when I worked in the insurance industry it seemed like every day was a struggle for me to find relevant sales leads, even though the company I was working for provided me with leads, they just weren't sufficient because most of these leads didn't target the audience that I needed to complete the sale. The same principal can be applied in today’s internet world.
All too often individuals or businesses design the perfect website, they take the time to go through every minute detail to ensure that they have all the accurate product information for their customers, with the latest gadgets and technological wonders to go along with it. But for whatever reason these same companies fail to reach out to the right clientele.
What are you supposed to do when you are trying to sell something like stainless steel products or metal roofing and the people who are finding your website are looking for the latest information about some new hip rock band and where to buy tickets to their next concert instead? Well, needless to say you are probably not going to be selling a lot of metal roofing materials that day, or any other day, to those people.
One thing you may want to consider doing if you are not reaching your target audience is to hire the help of professionals who are trained for this exact purpose. Surely if you own an e-Commerce web business or have worked with an online merchant, then you have probably heard of search engine optimization. By hiring the right SEO company that will work with you on a day to day business you will find that your online business will begin to have better success reaching the types of customers who might be interested in buying the products like you are selling, which might just happen to be stainless steel cabinets or whatever product or service your company sells or provides.
Another thing worth thinking about is that many online e-Commerce companies and individual businesses fail to realize is that product knowledge is most important for today’s online consumer. If a potential customer believes that the company that is selling a product online lacks on either knowledge or commitment then they may feel a bit hesitant to be buying the services or products. This is why when I worked in the insurance industry, the company I was employed with spent endless hours teaching their employees about the products and services they offered before they ever let them go out into the field to sell their products. The same could be said for online businesses, having product knowledge is still the most important thing when it comes to selling on your website.
Bio: Nirra is a teacher, wife, and mother who writes freelance in her spare time. She writes about metals and other products that might be useful to a metal company. She also blogs on her site, Mystery Shopping Teacher.
Finding a format that is both professional and eye-catching can sometimes be a difficult process, though for those who struggle, there are professionals on hand who can offer solutions.
Next, you'll want to consider how the email appears before it's even been opened. Unfortunately, filling your email with the best content and images under the sun is not quite enough to generate the fabled 'opens'. In a world awash with spam emails, the need has never been greater to make emails as enticing as possible - before they are even read.
The 'from' field, for example, should be your business name as this imparts a sense of professionalism and authority. Also, as people will have actively signed up to receive your emails, the name should be one they are familiar with.
Next, give thought to the subject line. Consider what has worked for you in the past and what has not. Writing "SALE!!!! SALE!!" will only alienate your client base or make them believe it's spam. Give thought instead to a snappy line that is short; it will encourage them to open the email and covers the overarching theme of the email.
With that achieved, you can then focus on filling the remainder of the email with content that keeps readers' attention. It should encourage them to read it all the way to the end, before including a call to action that entices the reader into clicking through to the relevant web destination.
