If you work alone, it can be difficult to motivate yourself when things are quiet. Joining forces with someone else could inject new life into your business.
As is often said, two heads can be better than one. So, who can you join up with? Ideally it would be a business that complements yours but does not compete. It should be something that appeals to a similar target audience so that you can combine your marketing efforts. (more…)
Last night I went to a Boden clothes party. This is something new. Boden have been selling clothes via their colourful, quirky catalogue for almost 20 years, and in 1999 introduced a user-friendly website so you can buy online. They even have the odd shop (well two actually). But generally it’s hard for most of us to see and feel the clothes before buying them. So the prospect of seeing them “in person” before buying them was very attractive, and the fact I could do so at a friend’s house with a glass of wine – even better!
This is why I think it’s a stroke of genius on Boden’s part. (more…)
My husband is a keen gardener, and spends much of the winter collecting packets of seeds and planning what he’s going to plant when. It struck me that this is not dissimilar to marketing planning. In order to generate results you need to plant some seeds. But much like gardening, you need to spread your activity out over a number of months to ensure a sustained outcome. (more…)
Whatever sort of budget you have, you need to have a plan (I know it sounds boring, but you know how the saying goes … “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”)
So here’s a quick and easy way to get started. Firstly (and anyone who knows me by now will know what’s coming) … you need an objective – otherwise how will you know how you’re going to achieve it and more importantly, when you’ve got there? (more…)
With the spotlight firmly on social media and email marketing, it would be easy to overlook the humble printed newsletter. But there are many good reasons why you should introduce this into your marketing activities. (more…)
Nobody likes spending money at the best of times … but when times are tough it’s even harder to bring yourself to fork out on new promotional materials, your website and other marketing activities. What if you don’t get a good return from it? What if you end up out of pocket?
Valid concerns, but if you don’t promote yourself, how will people know about your business? Don’t worry! A bit of creative thinking goes a long way… (more…)
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