Archive for September, 2012
Are You Too Scared To Network?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged business, marketing, network, networking on September 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Starved of Cash
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged business, cashflow, debt, debtors, marketing, money on September 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Tired, old marketing
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged brand, business, leaflets, marketing, promotions on September 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »
More of
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged danielle, danilellelaporte, go, letting, lettinggo, life, past on September 10, 2012| 1 Comment »
Danielle LaPorte Posted a thought provoking question today, by asking:-
What would you be more of if you let go of the past?
What wouldn’t I do seems more appropriate! I would feel like a completely different person – no more inhibitions and no more caring about what other people think.
I would be the singer I’ve always wanted to be. I wouldn’t care what came out of my mouth, I would just be grateful for my voice and enjoy every second of it. It would be a life or freedom.
What would you be more of if you could let go of the past? And from a business point of view what could you let your business be if you let go of the past?
Did you make a mistake with a client and now too scared to approach them again? If we let go of the past of a whole new business lift could open up.
Check out Danielle’s post http://www.daniellelaporte.com/burning-questions-series/a-question-for-cleaning-your-slate/
What does your marketing material say about you?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged business, leaflets, marketing on September 3, 2012| 1 Comment »
My company recently did its yearly leaflet drop. This costs a fair amount of money especially over the 9 areas which it operates. The costs include design and print of the leaflets, delivery of the leaflets to the distributors and then the distribution to 127,000 homes (that’s just one area).
Now when I saw the leaflets I was less than impressed. It was bigger than A5 and on very cheap paper making it very floppy and it tended to rip quite easily. I won’t go into the actual design and text at this time – but believe me it should have been much better.
A couple of weeks after the leaflets had gone out I was at a networking breakfast and was approached by a gentleman that does design and print work such as leaflets, business cards etc. He hadn’t received one of our floppy leaflets, but, one of his friends had, and his friend had passed it to him saying ‘’these people need your help’’. Embarrassed was not the word! The gentleman then produced his business card and asked if I could pass it one to head office and he would be happy to help them on their next leaflet run.
This made me think just how many other people picked up that leaflet off their door mat and either consciously or unconsciously recognised the poor, cheap quality. Has this now affected whether or not people buy from us? Do the local community now see us as cheap or unprofessional?
I’m not sure if I’m in a position to answer those questions but what I can tell is our branch received only a 0.01% response from the leaflet drop.
My advice is to produce marketing material that is suitable for your business and your business’s needs. If you’re trying to get people to spend thousands of pounds with you then don’t skimp on the marketing materials – show that your company has value. Likewise, if you are maybe only trying to get new customers to spend just a small amount each, then don’t go over board and bankrupt yourself by getting luxury silk leaflets.
And always get a second opinion – you may love your design but you are biased, so please get an honest opinion and see it as a positive way of improving your marketing.