Du-U? Marketing

Not much to do with marketing

2011-12-07T11:58:00.001Z

OK, so I know that this post is not much to do with the marketing stories that I usually regale to you on here, but hey, it does say these are random ramblings and anyway I am marketing my favourite Daughter's (I only have one, by the way) efforts to raise £4000 to fund a month long trip to Ecuador in 2013 where she will be working on environmental projects with the local population.

As you can see from the poster below, we are hosting a quiz night with a difference in Faversham on Saturday January 28th 2012 - what better way to spend a dark, post-Christmas winter evening.

The quiz is a general knowledge one with ten rounds of ten questions and the tenth question in each round is always the same, "What connects the previous nine answers?"

Spaces are limited, so dust off your brain cells and book a table for you and up to eight friends & family and come along and join us for a fun evening with a few surprises.

Marketing is just common sense, anyone can do it, or can they?

2011-11-30T13:37:00.001Z

It's a truism that most marketing is simply a matter of logically applying common sense principles to your business.

The thing is, there are lots of common sense principles out there, so which ones do you apply?

Take your health as an example. You may know from experience that both sleeping drafts and laxatives can work to solve particular problems, but would you contemplate taking them both at the same time? I thought not.

The same experience and thoughtfulness needs to be applied to your marketing activities as two tried, tested and proven methods may work well in isolation but not when combined. Alternatively, you may have tried two marketing methods that have produced limited results and discarded them, yet they may prove the old adage that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Wherever possible you should always consult with an expert in their field. For example, when I was explaining this principle to a personal trainer friend of mine, he said "did you know that magnesium is a useful supplement to help you sleep, but that magnesium sulfate is a laxative?"

There are lots of other ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and transform your business. Call me if you'd like to know how.

Until next time.

Ps. The inspiration for this blog post came from my good friend Roger Waltham of Manhunt Recruitment, follow this link to find out more about him and his dynamic and highly focused management and executive recruitment house.

How often do you talk to your staff?

2011-11-02T13:29:00.001Z

Marketingis job for everyone in your business, so why do so many businessesfail to nurture, care for and communicate with their employees?

Whenall is said and done your employees are your business. You employedthem so it follows that their values are your values.

Internalmarketing communications can deliver one of the fastest and mostcost-effective improvements in customer satisfaction and profitability for many businesses. For a start it islargely neglected and most businesses don’t even have a budget forit.

Ihave blogged on numerous occasions that proper strategic marketingsits at the heart of any business and touches every department,including HR. Yes that's right, even HR!

Oftenthe only time HR & Marketing speak is when designing and booking arecruitment advert. At this stage they get together and construct anadvert in the house style, telling prospective employees, plusothers, how great they are and why they should work for them (and sothey should but that's a different blog topic all together).

Yet if you ask anyone in HR to name their biggest headaches, high up in the list will be staff retention. Although it will never go away, it is a problem that can easily be alleviated through the more effective use of internal marketing communications. In theearly days of a business' life internal communications are easier asthere are less employees and everyone regularly speaks with each other toensure that the job gets done and the business achieves its targetsand goals. But as a business grows and levels of supervision and management are introduced, it becomes less effective.

As your business grows, and remember that it's growing because of you and your people, don't forget to continue to communicate with them along the way. Internal communications don't have to be difficult or complicated. Yes, you can hold away-days, Christmas parties, summer barbecues and the like, but you can do just as good a job by simple things, such as stopping to say hello as you walk past someones desk or by making sure that you include your staff on the distribution list of all external marketing communications.

There are lots of other ways to improve your internal marketing communications and transform your business. Call me if you'd like to know how.

The Gravy Train

2011-10-19T11:23:00.000+01:00

Businesses, like the people that run them, come in all diffrent shapes and sizes and the way that they position themselves from a marketing perspective should reflect this.

Why do I say this? Well, because if your brand positioning implies that you are something that you are not, you will get found out &/or not get the business that you are looking for.

Put yourself in your customers shoes. There are countless supermarkets for you to choose from, but why do you invariably return time and again to the same one? Is it price, convenience, range of stock, location, value for money, image or perhaps snobbery?

Even when you step within the supermarkets, who are experts in the field of brand positioning, you have other choices to appeal to your needs as a customer. The images below show us just some of the choices Tesco offer us when it comes to buying something as mundane as gravy.

So what does this mean to you and your business?

Quite simply, it is just as important for you to define who you are, what you do and how it is that you do it. Only then can you position yourself within your target marketplace and hope to maximize your turnover and income.

To use Tesco gravy as an example, there is nothing wrong with being a value product, just so long as you don't present yourself as being finest, as you will alienate your customers and not generate repeat purchases. Likewise, if you produce a finest quality product but only charge value prices you will be underselling yourself and potentially go out of business.

Meat Loaf Got It Wrong!

2011-09-06T19:14:00.001+01:00

In track 5 of the iconic 1977 album, Bat Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf espouses that Two out of Three Ain't Bad.

Much as I love the must-own album, in fact I still have my original vinyl copy, I think he was wrong because when marketing your business two out of three is good - very good.

Why do I say this? Well, one of the first marketing lessons that I ever learned was that in a successful business you can only be any two of good, cheap and quick, but not all three. For example, if a customer wants you to be good and quick, there's no way that you should be cheap. So in this sense two out of three ain't bad, it's good.

Setting out your terms of engagement is straightforward, yet the difficult part can be effectively communicating them to your customers and managing their expectations. The key is to communicate them from the outset during the qualification process - that part of the business courtship where, after your marketing activities have successfully persuaded them to engage you, you are both determining that you want to work with each other.

Remember, as I have blogged before, it is important that you want to work for your customers on your terms as much as theirs. If they want their suppliers to be good, cheap and quick then three out of three is bad, so let your competitors have them.

Are You Getting Enough

2011-08-19T16:28:00.001+01:00

Linked In has over 100 million members in over 200 countries and they say that a new member joins approximately every second. Yet most people just sign up because they've heard that it's the thing to do or because an existing member has invited them to connect.

But do they know:

What Linked In is really all about
The quick wins to get more out of your free membership
How to apply offline networking principles to online networking
How to get the most out of their profile
That it's quality, not quantity that counts
How to make & get the best from their connections
The best way to control the updates
Effective ways to combine Linked In & other marketing strategies
The best way to get meaningful recommendations
How to use Groups to their advantage

If you live in Kent and want to know the answer to these questions and more, then why not attend my morning seminar on Thursday October 6th. It's great value for money and will genuinely help you to get more out of Linked In.

Email me now and I'll send you more details by return.

No Man Is An Island

2011-08-14T20:03:00.000+01:00

It was the 16th Century English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest John Donne, that's him on the right, who coined the phrase that "no man is an island".

This applies to all of us in business, there are certain things that we cannot always do ourselves. We might have been able to do our own books and tax returns in the early days, but to ensure that we maximise the time spent generating income and mitigate our taxes we start to use a bookkeeper &/or accountant.

And it's the same when it comes to marketing your business. In the early days it can be quite simple and relatively straightforward to reach your customers, however, as your business begins to grow and develop choosing the right channels to sell to your customers is a crucial decision. You need to know how and where customers want to buy your products or services, and the best way of getting customers to hear about them.
The more channels you use, the more customers you can reach. But each channel adds costs. If you add a new channel only to find it attracts sales away from an existing channel without bringing significant extra sales, you'll be increasing your costs for little or no benefit. This is where a marketing professional can help you.

Consider the the boardroom of any large plc, they'll invariably have a Chairman/MD - that's you; a Finance Director - your accountant; an HR Director &/or Company Secretary - your lawyer and a Marketing Director - in your case probably you again. Whether it's an ear to bend, a one day review of your existing activities or a full strategic marketing plan a seasoned and qualified marketing professional can help you to punch above your weight and behave like the big boys.

Spot The Deliberate Mistake

2011-07-27T10:17:00.000+01:00

I was recently asked to take part in the following online survey:

What has been your most successful method of generating new business to date?

Cold Calling
Marketing
Referrals
Social Media
Repeat Business
Resellers
Channels

A good and well thought out survey you may think and one that I'm looking forward to seeing the results of.

But take a second look, every single one of the items on the list are tools from the marketing tool kit. Amongst the glaring omissions are Direct Mail, Networking and Advertising - and there lies the "deliberate mistake".

I'm guessing here that like so many people the author of the survey is confusing the two separate entities of Marketing and Advertising.

Marketing is getting the right product, to the right people, at the right price, in the right place and at the right time. Advertising is merely one of the tools for achieving the result.

LOCOG vs The Daily Mail et al

2011-07-05T10:14:00.005+01:00

Before I continue I have to declare an interest here - I'm not the world's greatest fan of the Daily Mail or Daily Express.

p3 Headline: "Red Wine Gives You Cancer."
p6 Headline: "Red Wine Cures Heart Disease."

You get my drift.

But back to my point, if pre-event sales are anything to go by, we are about to host the most successful Olympic Games in history. The fact that with a year to go the only events that you can buy tickets for are Football, Freestyle Wrestling & Women's Volleyball should be a cause for celebration, not castigation.

Yet all we hear about is the "ticketing fiasco" and the fact that 10% of applicants haven't got any tickets. My A level maths tells me that in that case, 90% of applicants have!

I know of several friends who, this week, are going to see Take That at Wembley and have paid 2, 3 and in one case 5 times the asking price for their unreserved place on the pitch, yet this apparently, is an unmitigated success.

So who, if anyone is to blame here?

Well from a marketing communications and PR perspective, LOCOG appear to have missed a trick and not got the fourth estate "on message". I know it's a British trait to be self-deprecating or to beat ourselves up, but this success should be seen as such - a success.

Undersubscription would have been a huge problem and a valid cause for soul searching, but oversubscription? Come on UK Media, and I include BBC newsroom in that, let's stop fighting and work with LOCOG to celebrate our success and not look for a cheap shot to sell papers.

We should be using this opportunity to market UK Plc to the rest of the world.

Cico!

2011-06-14T16:44:00.000+01:00

To the younger readers of this blog Cico is an Italian and one of world's best breakdancers, known for spinning flares with maximum number of spins.

To many of us in the marketing community it's an acronym used for analysing the results that we pull out of databases and CRM systems.

I've blogged on many occasions that if you don't measure it you can't manage it, but what if your attempts to measure are flawed because of incorrect data? Surely this is a bigger problem, since you will be basing your plans, strategies and hard-earned marketing budget on defective information.

So remember, it's not enough to measure your outputs without making sure that your inputs are valid.

Oh, and what does Cico stand for?

That's simple: Crap In, Crap Out.

The Perfect Client

2011-05-29T14:28:00.004+01:00

I got involved in a short but interesting conversation on Linked In this week.

David Gilroy of Conscious Solutions, one of the businesses that I work very closely with, posted a recommendation referring to the perfect client or customer.

Although I doubt that the perfect customer exists, the need to measure your customers does. In the Linked In thread Conscious cite the following equation: "Client Profitability + nuisance factor + payment history + share of wallet + fudge factor = X".

Whilst the actual numbers might be a little fuzzy, when was the last ocassion you took time to stop and consider how much the last £100 or £1000 margin you generated from a client actually cost you?

Ignore your fixed costs for a moment and the variable ones that you would normally apply to a transaction, then look at the number of telephone calls and emails etc, pre & post sale, that you had to deal with, i.e. how needy are they? You might think that you can't ditch a customer because they generate so much turnover, but if that turnover doesn't equate into profit is it worth it?

Why not let your competition have your less perfect, needy customers so that you can concentrate on your more perfect ones. Like I said on Linked In, you then get a double whammy - who knows your competitors might spend so much time looking after their new best customer that they take their eye off the good ones that you've been trying to conquest.

Don't Be Afraid To Pull The Plug

2011-05-18T11:13:00.002+01:00

One of my clients has, or should I say had, a fantastic product - or so they thought.

They tested its potential, launched it well, both on and off line, promoted it via a range of mediums including face to face, yet it never really sold.

The web traffic was good, people registered in good numbers and "window shopped" but sales volumes were poor. They reassessed the product's potential and the signs were that they should persevere, in fact their competitors joined them in offering near identical products. So they re-launched, more people registered but still no outstanding sales resulted.

Too much personal disappointment, this week they pulled the plug and rightly so. Because no matter how much we as business owners believe in our products and services, if our customers won't buy them we have to accept the fact, move on and invest our time and efforts more productively elsewhere.

The reason that they could pull the plug with confident disappointment is because they measured everything from interest, to views, to visits through to eventual purchases and the stats didn't lie.

So don't be proud, take heart and don't be afraid to pull the plug. Remember - if you don't measure it, you can't manage it.

Engage Ends Super League Sponsorship

2011-04-26T16:47:00.000+01:00

Those of you that know me well enough will think it odd that I'm blogging about the "wrong code", being a Union man, but bear with me.

Due to the extensive coverage on the BBC, I am fully aware that the national (sic) RFL competition is branded as the Engage Super League. But what do Engage do?

Until the press release hit my inbox this morning I had no idea and there lies the rub.

Perhaps it's because I'm not in their target sector, (over 50), or may be it's to do with the fact that, as previously stated, I'm a Union man or even that my nearest RFL team, Harlequins, play 85 miles away at The Stoop in Twickenham. Yet their marketing team surely would have hoped that over the 7 years that they'd sponsored a national competition with widespread coverage on BBC 1, 2 & 5Live virtually everyone in the country would know exactly what they do.

Interestingly, when I Googled Engage, organically they appeared below engage.org - the national association for gallery education and engageonline.org.uk - an antisemitic charity, surely not the best return on a sponsorship investment of circa £1m per season.

Hopefully they received a better return on their investment north of the Watford Gap, but remember, sponsorship is no different to any other form of marketing - if you don't measure it, you can't manage it.

By the way, if you're interested they're a mutual insurance company specialising in the over 50's.

Corporate Reputation and The Small Business

2011-04-08T09:32:00.000+01:00

According to a study by Echo Research & Bestra Brand Consultants, corporate reputation is worth a total of £480bn a year to the UK’s 350 biggest companies.

What has this got to do with SMEs? Everything! The survey concludes that the reputations of the top 10 companies contribute an average of 48% to shareholder value, with Royal Dutch Shell’s corporate brand reputation producing 52% despite many predicting that rival BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster would hit the oil sector’s reputation hard.

So just think what a difference your reputation could make to you and your business in setting you apart from your competition.

The economic contribution of the corporate reputations of FTSE 350 companies account for 30% of all shareholder value, a rise of three percentage points over the past 12 months.

Simon Cole, managing partner of Bestra UK, reckons that corporate reputation is becoming increasingly important because sales, and therefore a company’s market value, could be affected by the actions of the companies behind the brands, which consumers are more aware of than ever before.

Improving your reputation is more straightforward and cost-effective for the small business than the corporate behemoths, especially when you consider how much easier it is for you to make quick decisions and how little your competition will be doing to differentiate themselves from you.

And as I've blogged before, as Shell proves - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

It's been a while

2011-04-06T16:18:00.001+01:00

I knew that it had been a while since I blogged in earnest, but I didn't realise it had been that long.

Huge apologies.

For those of you that don't know I spent the back end of last year in negotiations with my then employer to become a self-employed consultant. The negotiations took a while, as all things concerning solicitors do, but we got there in the end to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned.

February 1st was the day that things officially went live and I now intend to practice what I preach and strategically link this blog to my business marketing. Why has he just underlined business I hear you mutter to yourself? Well too many people out there, especially self-employees, confuse their personal identity, [Facebook etc] with their business one, [Linked In etc].

Anyway, enough of these ramblings. Speak soon - I promise.

1,519 Thank Yous

2010-10-24T09:24:00.005+01:00

Earlier this week I received the letter above from the Everyman team at The Institute of Cancer Research.

I knew that I had passed the minimum contribution for September's London to Paris cycle ride, but when they added up all donations made in my name to date it amounts to a fantastic £1518.70.

Prostate cancer kills one man an hour and has overtaken lung cancer as the most common cancer in men, whilst testicular cancer is the most common cancer amongst young men aged 15-44.
A huge thank you from me on behalf of everyone who kindly supported me.

Time To Eat Some Humble Pie

2010-10-21T14:16:00.003+01:00

OK, it's time for me to eat some steaming hot humble pie.

Last June I blogged that "only business twits tweet". However, my own business forays into social networking and media on behalf of first myself and then my clients have proved me wrong.

I still maintain that it is not the be-all and end-all or the next best thing since sliced bread. But I have seen the benefit first hand - so much so that one of my clients is now showing an increase in measurable website traffic of between 15-28% as a result of their Twitter account. They still have to use the other tools in their marketing box to convert that extra traffic into business though!

And one last point. Please, please, please, please, please do not confuse your personal and business social media identities.

Knowledge GAP

2010-10-19T15:40:00.001+01:00

So GAP the US clothes retailer scrapped its new logo just one week after its introduction following an "outpouring of comments" online.

The original blue box logo, which has been used for more than 20 years, was moved aside on US websites for one with Gap written in black against a light background with a small blue square behind the top of the letter p. But critics attacked the rebranding on social networks and online forums.The company's own Facebook page received more than 2,000 comments posted on the issue, with many demanding the return of the traditional logo.

In a statement released on the Gap website, Marka Hansen, president of Gap Brand North America, said "the company's customers always came first". Customers called for a return to the blue box logo "We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back."

"So we've made the decision to do just that - we will bring it back across all channels."

She added that it was clear they "did not go about this in the right way" and "missed the opportunity to engage with the online community". "There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way," she said.

As I've blogged before about the Shell pecten if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Back To Reality

2010-09-15T16:55:00.002+01:00

Don't get me wrong, it was tough at times, but I would recommend my London to Paris cycle trip to anyone willing to give it a crack. The guys at the organiser's Skyline were - as their name suggests - out of this world.

Looking back through my rose tinted spectacles I could do it all again tomorrow without even breaking into a sweat - yeah right!

The one muscle ache that I didn't expect to come home with was from my ribs - the result of 5 days of laughing, joking and camaraderie. The site of big tough MAMILs (me included) underneath the Eiffel Tower in tears of joy and achievement was a sight to behold.

The ride and training is all behind me now - all I have to do is collect the last of my sponsorship pledges and get them off to Everyman - the main purpose of this 6 month adventure.

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me in whatever way, shape or form.

Macmillan Trade Up - Update 1

2010-08-31T12:24:00.000+01:00

Ok - we're off. I now have a dozen Dunlop DDH golf balls to replace Badge One. Want to trade them for something better?

I'm still looking for a first trade up on Badge Two.

Email me via robin@du-umarketing.co.uk

A Little Fun For A Great Cause

2010-08-27T08:56:00.008+01:00

I have 2 Macmillan Cancer Support lapel badges like the one on the left.

Using only this blog, Twitter [@du_umarketing] and networking I'm going to try and turn them both, (by Septemeber 30th) into big items that I can donate to Macmillan for them to auction and raise funds.

It won't cost you or anyone you know a penny, but should hopefully raise a few much needed pounds for a great cause. Here’s how a single trade could work in practice.

• Trade 1: The pin is traded for a brand new pair of shoes that someone has in the back of their wardrobe that they have never worn.

• Trade 2: The shoes are taken to a hair stylist and traded for a voucher for a haircut.

• Trade 3: The haircut voucher is taken to a friend who owns a restaurant and traded for a meal for 2.

• Trade 4: The meal for 2 is taken to a client who runs a luxury car rental company and traded for a weekend rental of a Bentley.

• Finally, Trade 5: The Bentley rental is taken to a cousin of one of the team members and traded for a weekend at her Tuscan villa.

The trade up has reached a natural end and the team now has a Tuscan Villa as an auction item. Spread the word and see how much we can all raise together - I'll update the trades on here as they happen.

Email me - robin@du-umarketing with your suggested trades.

Billy - The coolest kid in the street.

2010-08-23T12:28:00.003+01:00

Networking, what a waste of time, how is that going to get me business?

The word network often strikes fear and dread into people or they immediately have strong negative thoughts about it. The paradox is that we all network from the time we start to talk. Did you ever hang around with Johnny or Mary because they knew Billy – the coolest kid in the street? If so you were networking!

This is a big subject but here are some things for you to mull over:

It's not the network that will get you business, but the people at the network's networks!

- When you are talking to someone at a networking event you've got to remember they know as many, or more, people than are in the networking room. If they like you they will refer you to their friends and colleagues.

People do business with people they like.

- It's much better to make four friends than collect 34 business cards. Be the first there and the last to leave. Find out what they like that you also like and talk a bit about that instead of business.

People like people they have helped or who have helped them.

- If you can you should do a small favour, even just bringing a drink back from the bar, or - just as effective - ask for a small favour, anything at all, could you tell me the way to the train station, we exist in a web of interdependence and this is how relationships grow.

People like happy, stress free, people

- Smile! There's nothing like it.

From my perspective it’s simply building relationships; either new ones or reinforcing existing ones. “I’m going networking once this week” implies you’re going to spend the rest of week sitting in a darkened room with no access to the outside world. Networking is communicating - be it face-to face, the phone or more and more through the computer.

Facebook, Twitter et al and their next reincarnations are here to stay but can never be a substitute for attending events, no replacement for the smile, the eye contact and the reading of the body language.

Are you STILL still not sure that you need a hardworking website?

2010-08-06T12:06:00.002+01:00

Are you STILL still not sure that your business needs a hardworking website?

Then take a look at this page from Google which gives a collection of the latest internet stats and try to convince me otherwise.

A day's free consultation from me if you can prove that your business doesn't need a web presence.

Why isn't Marketing an asset on your balance sheet?

2010-08-05T13:14:00.000+01:00

This is a fantastic and timely article from Marketing Week's Mark Choueke: http://tinyurl.com/34ercnn.

A much more erudite and up to date version of my December 2007 blog post "Why Do Doctors Smoke?"

Enjoy the read.

Red Kites & Buzzards

2010-07-26T22:21:00.005+01:00

What a great ride on Saturday [July 24th].

Having spent the morning as a tourist in Oxford with the kids and Sue, I jumped on the bike and rode to Newbury.

Instead of taking the direct 26 mile route down the A34, I took the National Cycle Network Route 5 as far as Lower Basildon before heading over the Berkshire Downs to Newbury.

I'm not totally sure if the screen grab above from my GPS logger shows the 42 miles of climbs or my heart rate, either way the ride along the Thames path, the fantastic scenery and above all the red kites above the downs made the time whizz by. Let's hope we get similar views in September.

I Need To Be More Pragmatic!

2010-07-07T16:46:00.008+01:00

There are various derivatives of Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation theory - how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures.

I must admit to never really having been much of an early adopter, I certainly didn't rush out last month to buy a series 4 iPhone. But neither am I a Laggard or Luddite. Nine times out of ten I fall into the Pragmatist category. Having said that on two recent occasions I have found myself to the right of the majority line amongst the conservatives!

"What has this got to do with me?" I hear you cry. Well, quite simply, how can you influence your clients so that they are enthusiastic and motivated? Ignoring the small number of Innovators, (those that adore change, thrive on variety and will take on new ideas and concepts very enthusiastically, only 2.5% of the population fall into this category), there are four groups that your customers or clients will fall into:

Early Adopters – These people are respectable. Although they try out new ideas they do so in a careful way. 13.5% of the population fall into this category.

Pragmatists – these people wait until they see the benefit of the new product, system, procedure or idea before taking it on board. They literally watch the early adopters to see how effective the change is. Pragmatists or early majority comprise 34% of the population.

Conservatives – these people wait until both Pragmatists and early Adopters have shown that the change has benefits and works before jumping on board. This group is also 34 % of the population.

Laggards - these people take on the now not-so-new idea, system, procedure or concept only after all other groups have shown its benefits. In being so slow to adapt, this group can legitimately be called traditional. They like the old ways and are critical of any new ideas until they are totally accepted and are part of the mainstream.
16% of the population fall into the category of laggards.

For your product or service to be a success you need the innovators and early adopters to influence the pragmatists and ultimately the conservatives. By the time the laggards get on board your market will be saturated.

I'm Getting There

2010-06-15T11:57:00.007+01:00

As my gorgeous daughter tells me on many an occasion "I'm Getting There".

The training for London to Paris is going well, (it should be - in 3 months time I'll be back in Blighty nursing my aches and pains). I even surprised myself at weekend.

After spending Saturday with Dean & Wayne on a static bike in Canterbury, raising money and awareness for our ride, on Sunday morning I took on my longest ride in 8 or more years and rode along the coast from Faversham to Walmer.

We are blessed with some great and varied coastline in Kent, this combined with well thought out and integrated cycle routes makes for a fantastic ride no matter what your level of fitness.

Starting and finishing on Route 1 of the National Cycle Network, with a detour on to The Viking Coastal Trail in the middle it's a route that I would recommend to anyone.

Sponsorship is coming along well, but I still need around £400 to meet the minimum level that I am committed to raise for the Everyman Campaign to stamp out testicular and prostate cancer.

Until next time.

It's All Down Hill From Here - if only

2010-05-06T21:24:00.006+01:00

Thanks to continued excellent support and a well attended quiz in Faversham's Old Wine Vaults I have now raised more than half of my minimum sponsorship money for September's London to Paris cycle ride - Thank you

In cycling terms it's early on day three. We will have left Abbeville behind us and will be cycling south along the Somme valley towards Beauvais, coincidentally twinned with Maidstone, which we passed on day one en route to Dover/Calais.

The training is going reasonably well, but being dragged out at silly o'clock on a wet and cold Sunday morning by Mad Marley is something to be experienced!

There's still quite a way to go in both fundraising and cycling terms, so any support is still greatly welcomed.

The latest next best thing since sliced bread.

2010-03-20T19:48:00.010Z

It never ceases to amaze me how many marketers can't seem to avoid jumping on the bandwagon of the next quick fix such as social networking, facebook, twitter, SEO or the latest so called marketing tool of the day.

Marketing by its very nature is an ever evolving beast, but for me, marketing, especially B2B is about building and maintaining long term relationships, and the internet is but one of the tools in the box. My advice is threefold:

create client value
maximize client relationships
create a consistent message and reputation and communicate it

By all means, build the latest tools into your marketing communications mix, but remember the only businesses that get rich from the latest next best thing since sliced bread, are those who pray on people's insecurity and sell training courses at a high mark up before moving on.

A Third Of The Way There

2010-03-18T11:40:00.006Z

Thanks to some fantastic support I have now raised a third of my minimum sponsorship for my London to Paris cycle ride in September in aid of Everyman Male Cancer.

If i was cycling, this would mean that I would be approaching Abbeville on day 2 of my ride. Abbeville is located on the Somme River, 30 miles northwest of Amiens. In medieval times it was the lowest crossing point on the Somme and it was nearby that Edward III's army crossed shortly before the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

To raise such a large sum in such a short period is a great result but there is still a long way to go in both money and miles, so if you haven't and would like to do so please sponsor me.

The 3 Rs

2010-03-03T12:04:00.007Z

No I'm not referring to reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic but those 3 Rs that are crucial to the successful marketing of your business.

There's an old adage in business that it costs 10 times as much to sell to a new client as it does to sell to an existing one, so why not stack the odds in your favour and get to work on the 3 Rs of:

Repeats - your satisfied customers who come back for more
Recommendations - your happy customers who recommend you to friends and family and
Referrals - your business associates who are confident to refer you to their associates

I know of one business that I work for that, at the last count, received 93% of their business from these 3 sources.

How Long Is A Piece Of String?

2010-02-22T14:12:00.005Z

Actually the question that I'm more often asked is "How long does marketing take to work?

People who ask this are usually those looking for quick fix, elastoplast marketing, which isn't really marketing at all. Successful marketing is planned, strategic and an investment.

I can't demonstrate this any better than to guide you to a blog from a good friend of mine David Gilroy of Conscious Solutions.

Do you sell like you market?

2010-02-10T13:02:00.003Z

Thanks go to Paul Lanigan for this one.

An old hill farmer trudges several miles through freezing snow to his local and very remote church for Sunday mass. No-one else is there, aside from the priest.

"I'm not sure it's worth proceeding with the mass - might we do better to go back to our warm homes and some soup?.." asks the priest, inviting a mutually helpful reaction from his audience of one.

"Well, I'm just a simple farmer," says the old man, "But when I go to feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't leave it hungry."

So the clergyman, feeling somewhat ashamed, delivers his service - all the bells and whistles, hymns and prayers, lasting a good couple of hours - finishing proudly with the fresh observation that no matter how small the need, our duty remains. And he thanks the old farmer for the lesson he has learned.

"Was that okay?" asks the clergyman, as the two set off home.

"Well I'm just a simple farmer," says the old crofter, "But when I go to feed my herd, and if only one beast turns up, I sure don't force it to eat what I brought for the whole herd..."

Do you sell like you market?

Paris Awaits

2010-02-04T11:15:00.013Z

I'm not sure if this is a mid-life crisis or just a spur to get me fit after a year of excess, but either way after completing 4 London to Brighton cycle rides over a 5 year period, I've signed up for the equivalent of more than 4 of them in 4 consecutive days!

From September 8th - 12th this year I will be cycling, with friends, from Blackheath Common to the Arc de Triomphe in aid of Everyman - The UK's Leading Prostate and Testicular Cancer Campaign.

As well as my usual marketing posts, I will be using this blog to give you the odd update on my progress, or otherwise, with my training.

When Was The Last Time You Read Your Website?

2010-01-29T18:58:00.003Z

You spend hours a week visiting other people's websites, but when was the last time that you properly visited yours?

When you've finished reading this, take ten minutes to visit your own site before you go anywhere else and check it for things like:

Spelling
Consistency
Last updated January 2009
Copyright 2005
Staff who have left
Broken hyperlinks

In short visit your own site in the same way that you visit others.

Sometimes You Don't Have To Choose Between Form or Function

2010-01-19T18:32:00.007Z

Above left is a section of one of the greatest and most successful brand images of all time. Harry Beck's iconic tube map, which was first published in 1931.

Beck was an Underground employee who realised that because the railway ran mostly below ground, the physical locations of the stations were irrelevant to the traveller wanting to know how to get to one station from another, only the easiest route was of importance to them.

But have you ever wondered when you've arrived at you destination if it would have been quicker to walk? Well this site uses the interactivity of the internet to overlay the tube map, (along with mainline and DLR stations), on top of a Google street map. As an example Chancery Lane to Farringdon is an 8 minute walk or a 16 minute tube ride including at least 2 changes.

Compare the similar sections from the TFL map on the left with the one from Tubejp on the right.

What Do You Want From Your Marketing?

2010-01-17T19:29:00.003Z

Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Beware Of Alienating Your Customer Base

2010-01-15T11:39:00.010Z

Kent Cricket Club's decision to play a home game outside of the county in the summer, for the first time in their 140-year history, has proved (not unexpectedly) to be a controversial one.

The Spitfires will host Essex at The Brit Oval, home of Surrey, in the new-look Friends Provident T20 Cup competition on Friday, July 9.

The official line from Kent's acting chief executive Jamie Clifford is that the club has "a wonderful spread of fixtures for 2010 and they were particularly delighted to be working with the Brit Oval to stage a match. It offers a great opportunity for us to maximise our Twenty20 revenues with lots of home fixtures in such a short period of time. We want to spread the Kent cricket message far and wide, and the match at the Brit Oval, along with our other venues for matches in 2010, gives us that opportunity."

Kent captain Rob Key is reportedly "excited by the match at the Brit Oval because of the huge crowds matches there generated."

But surely the Oval gets huge crowds for Surrey and England matches, not Kent vs Essex?

It's a brave move, and the second contentious action, by Clifford who it would appear is trying to make his mark ahead of the election of a new full time Chief Executive.

No business can stand still, especially in today's market place, but as articles in the local press; The KM, Kent on Sunday Group and message boards have clearly shown, on this occasion he may have alienated his core market - only time will tell.

Colour Wheel

2010-01-14T21:39:00.003Z

When designing websites, logos, business cards and stationery this is a really handy tool.

It's called the Accessibility Colour Wheel and allows you to test foreground and background colour combinations against types of colourblindness

Ensuring that you conform to disability regulations and allowing everyone to access your information and marketing messages.

Are You On Google Maps Yet?

2010-01-11T22:05:00.002Z

Why not?

It's free and so easy you don't need your webmaster to do it for you.

Just visit Google Maps follow the links and get yourself listed.

Need any help then email me.

How Do you Value Your Brand?

2010-01-10T15:45:00.007Z

You recognise a strong brand when you see one, we all do. But how can you tell how much your own brand is worth? As I have blogged in the past I believe strongly in branding and how it helps you position your business in its market place. For example Children Recognise 400 Brands

Some indicators claim that up to 80% of a companies stock value can be tied up in its brand and there's a new tool that can help you to measure the value of your brand.

The Intellectual Property Office are launch an ISO standard this year that is set to assist professionals in placing a financial value on a company's brand.

Let's hope it works and moves branding up the ladder of importance by placing real empirical on its value to the balance sheet.

Talk To Your Ex!

2010-01-09T18:27:00.005Z

Your ex-customers that is!

When was the last time that you spoke to your ex or lapsed customers?

How much business is going somewhere else for the sake of a stamp, email or telephone call? Keep in touch with your "ex" and they'll keep in touch with you.

Know your market

2009-07-27T15:47:00.007+01:00

Wedding cheer will no longer be heard at Deal, Dover and Walmer Castles as English Heritage pull the plug on weddings at three of Kent’s most picturesque venues from September. English Heritage confirmed: “This was a difficult decision and one not taken lightly. There may be those who are disappointed but our hospitality programme must be commercially viable.”

The key to this message from a marketing perspective is the phrase "commercially viable". On paper, charging for holding civil ceremonies at such iconic locations must have been a no-brainer and I'm sure that market research would have backed this up.

But reality has proved this not to be the case, no doubt the added costs and disruption to the core business have resulted in the decision.

Due respect must go to the marketing team at English Heritage for taking this brave and probably unpopular decision, one which adds strength to the claim that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

Is Twittering For Business Effective?

2009-06-30T09:14:00.002+01:00

Many thanks to Larry Bodine, yes he's American, for highlighting these stats.

Everyone seems to be all of a Twitter at the moment about their latest Tweet and how effective it is. But is it really effective as a business marketing tool?

Consider these quotes:

60% of Twitter users drop out after one month, according to Neilsen Wire.

It is the least effective way to boost traffic to your website, compared with SEO, email promotions and blogs, according to Marketing Sherpa.

Twitter will generate leads, but not necessarily sales, according to research for the Social Media Success Summit.

Twitter is a powerful distraction from getting real marketing work done, according to Business Week writer Linda Stone.

As Larry so succinctly puts it, "After months of using Twitter, I've learned that it is a shouting post for relentless self-promoters, a dumping ground for press releases and advertising, a competition to amass followers, and a target for computer-automated Tweets. It's always been a good place to learn what sandwich someone had for lunch and when someone changed a baby's diapers. But Twitter is supposed to be 'all about the conversation,' and I see few conversations that lead to new business."

Who says that advertising doesn't work?

2009-06-19T18:07:00.004+01:00

You've probably already seen this advert for TV advertising on your own TV.

If you haven't here it is, if you have it's definitely worth a second, third or even a fourth look.

Not For Civvies

2009-05-13T15:29:00.008+01:00

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis will know that I really love strong, simple and consistent branding.

But I'm also a sucker for a clever twist. With this in mind, an A plus Gold Star must go to the marketing team at Nestle for the wrapper on the Yorkie bar being supplied to our armed forces as part of their new ration packs. Keeping the recognised branding and changing "IT'S NOT FOR GIRLS" to "IT'S NOT FOR CIVVIES" was a stroke of genius.

Is Your On-Line Offering Up To Scratch?

2009-05-06T09:14:00.005+01:00

Recently publishes figures from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities show that in 2008, more than half (57%) of individuals aged 16-74 in UK bought or ordered goods or services over the Internet.

Still not sure that you need a hard working website?

The figures show a continual increase:

2004 - 37%
2006 - 45%
2008 - 57%

Who knows where they'll be in 2010!

Tesco, Microsoft & Dyson

2009-04-15T09:53:00.002+01:00

What do they have in common? Aside from being 3 household names and incredibly successful brands?

They were all launched in a recession or depression!

So what are you waiting for? If your business idea is sound surely now is the best time to get it off the ground.

Biographies On Websites

2009-03-18T10:45:00.002Z

Here's an intersting snippet from the Legal Technology Journal which can be applied to any website in differentiating you from your competition.

General counsel at 30 top multinational corporations have claimed that a law firm’s website plays a key role in influencing their purchasing decisions.

The claims arise as part of a survey commissioned by Hubbard One, in which 100% of general counsel surveyed said they review a firm’s website when evaluating and purchasing legal services. Ninety percent said that lawyer biographies are the most important section on a law firm’s website.

The results will contradict the view of many lawyers that the firm’s website rarely leads to instructions.

The counsel surveyed were based in the US but responsible for instructing law firms worldwide. According to the survey, they use a law firm’s website to assist with competitive intelligence gathering, industry information, legal research and information from legal and trade publications.

One counsel for a leading PC manufacturer said: “If a firm has not spent time and effort representing itself, what can I expect in terms of attention to detail and quality? Some web sites are hard to navigate; others are simply very light on content, both with respect to attorney profiles and also with respect to substantive articles.”

Hubbard One managing account director John Simpson told Legal Technology Update that general counsel often use law firm articles to research an issue before thinking about outsourcing a matter.

“The more you put content like this in front of a decision maker the better position you’ll be in when they come to outsource,” he said.
The survey was conducted by legal feedback group Wicker Park Group on behalf of Hubbard One.

Get Wombling!

2009-03-13T12:16:00.005Z

Savvy marketers have always understood the power of Word of Mouth or WOM.

Research for Nielsen carried out in 2007 flagged up WOM as the most powerful selling tool available to marketers - a staggering, (or perhaps not), 78% of customers trust consumer recommendations above all other types of advertising.

So get out there wombling and networking. I predict a huge rise during the coming months in applications to join networking groups, especially those such as BNI who limit its members to one representative per profession.

I Love This Site

2009-03-10T11:38:00.002Z

It's sad I know but every now and then, just for fun and morbid curiosity, I visit the Internet Archive and make use of the WayBackMachine.

It's great fun and shows you how much things have changed in short period of time. Why not type in the web address of your employer and see what comes up.

Simply Better Marketing

2009-02-24T17:43:00.008Z

Simply Better Marketing is a series of 3 FREE SEMINARS being organised by the Kent Branch of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in conjunction with Business Link, to help small businesses improve their marketing.

Entitled:

25/02/2009 Truly satisfied customers are the way to grow your business!

25/03/2009 Does the lowest price always get the business?

30/04/2009 Making a small marketing budget go further!

All events are hosted by Chartered Marketers over breakfast at Canterbury Christ Church University's Hall Place in Harbledown.

Do I really need a website?

2009-02-09T13:43:00.004Z

This question is often asked of me and I always answer it with another question;

"When someone passes you their business card for the first time or you are recommended to use a someone, what is one of the first things that you do?" You'll be amazed how often, (in my experience 7/10 times), the person replies, "I look them up on the Internet" and then goes on to say something along the lines of, "I seem to have answered my own question haven't I?"

There really is no excuse nowadays not to have a professional looking if somewhat basic web presence and a corresponding email address.

The World is Still Turning

2008-11-13T10:19:00.002Z

What a hectic few months!

Every time I sit down to update this blog the goal posts seem to move, sometimes by the hour. I guess that's the nature of the world we live in at the moment. But the sun still sets every evening and rises the next morning.

When you've politely said "Good morning" to someone of late have you received the reply "Is it!"?

Whenever someone gave that response to an old training acquaintance of mine he would reply "Try missing one!" often to an initially puzzled face, until the penny dropped.

So yes, times may be tough, interesting, challenging, exciting or whatever euphemism you wish to use, but the world is still turning.

Do You Drive A Car?

2008-09-06T10:07:00.015+01:00

If you are a car driver, thinking of taking your test or even a regular passenger in a car take a look at this excellent article on the website Wales By Bike.

Contrary to the beliefs of the Mad Mullah we're not all invincible Power Rangers like in the photo opposite, but on the whole most motorcyclists become improved car drivers.

Don't believe me? You don't have throw you your leg over a motorbike to experience it, just pop down to the shed and dust off your pushbike and ride it down your nearest A road. I guarantee that you'll be surprised how vulnerable you are.

Try it and then see what happens to your perceptions next time you get behind the wheel of your car.

The Power of Co-Operation

2008-08-26T20:18:00.005+01:00

One of the things I promote and demonstrate when working with clients is punching above your weight.

I recently came back from a fantastic family holiday in South Wales, where we stayed in an idyllic Farmhouse B&B run by Jen Patrick. The destination was recommended to us and a sumptuous double room cost the same, with a lovingly prepared real farmhouse breakfast, as a run of the mill travel lodge where breakfast is an additional cost.

But the extra pleasant surprise was to find out that Jen is part of a marketing group with a nationwide representation.

So next time I go away on pleasure or a business trip guess which website I'll visit first when I look for somewhere to stay.

Are Small Business Owners Salespeople in Disguise?

2008-08-26T19:50:00.006+01:00

I have thought so for years.

Don't agree with me? Then read this article by Jeffrey Gitomer, I couldn't have put it better myself.

Enjoy the read.

Small businesses comprise more than 99% of all businesses in the U.S. according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The success of a small business rests on the owner's ability to sell.

Business owners have about 50 different hats to wear, but sales is the biggest hat an entrepreneur wears. Actually without the sales hat, the other hats are useless.And, when I say sales I'm not just talking, “Hey, please buy my stuff.” Sales is not just selling your product or service. There are meaningful uses of selling skills that permeate every facet of the entrepreneurial process.

Here are a few of the sales jobs that fall under the definition of selling that a small business owner must perform:

• Getting credit from a supplier - Convincing your suppliers that you're credit worthy is sometimes as good or better than a bank loan.
• Getting a loan from a banker - A true sales job. You have to convince your banker you deserve the loan and can repay the debt.
• Getting small favors from employees - Work overtime, work weekends, work more productively, change work processes.
• Getting something delivered on time - Sell the supplier that delivery is imperative to serve your customers or grow your business.
• Satisfying a disgruntled customer - You don't want a bad experience to cost you a customer, so you sell acceptable solutions.
• Getting payment for an invoice - It's Friday. Payroll is due. You have no cash, but you do have receivables. You must collect that check to pull it off.

What makes small business owners so good at sales, even if they have had no previous experience? Desire, fear, and about 50 other emotions associated with the risk and spirit of adventure that the entrepreneurial process breeds, including the love of being on your own, and the passionate belief in what you’re doing.

Here are 7.5 reasons why business owners sell best:

1. The responsibility for success of the business is yours. You won't let your business fail due to lack of sales - so it's your job to sell until it's successful.
2. The business is your child. You sell best because you know your product or service best. You are its most sincere and passionate representative. You are responsible for feeding and nurturing your business.
3. You can make deals no one else can make. People think when they buy from the owner they're getting a special deal, may not have to pay a commission and therefore are getting the best price, or at least the best offer.
4. People like to buy from the owner. Customers know they'll get special attention and special appreciation.
5. Customers have a special confidence in you. You sell it because you believe in in your business. Your enthusiasm generates confidence that transforms into sales. Customers also know the owner will go the extra mile to deliver what's promised.
6. The relationship with the customer is yours to build at first. You get to know the people who are helping you succeed. After your business matures, you choose who you will continue to handle personally, and who you can pass on to a salesperson.
7. You are in the best position for direct feedback about your product, service and business. Your customer has all the information you need to succeed. Get close to him or her and listen. Then take action as only the owner can do.
7.5 If you have other salespeople, you must be the leader of your own sales campaign. If you don't lead them, no one will. You must set the example, drive the belief system, and create the atmosphere of success. You must be the best at sales, because that's where the success is.

Marketing Books

2008-08-12T09:46:00.002+01:00

Anyone flying away on holiday this summer will see a myriad of sales and marketing books in the airport bookshop.

We are all looking for that magic formula to give us the edge on our competition and the publishers know this, which is why they will keep encouraging budding authors to write the next business bestseller.

A lot of business management and marketing is common sense. There is, however, a massive amount of theory and study behind it, but writing down common sense is hard and reading it can be even harder.

When you're reading a great passage and want to know how you can apply the nugget that you have just un-earthed to your business, you can't stop and ask the author. However, if you're talking to someone you can, so next time you think about spend £20 on that book, why not make a £3 telephone call to one of your business advisors?

2 Schools

2008-08-12T09:37:00.002+01:00

There are two basic schools of thought about what to do when the economy slows down:

Sit tight, cut costs and head for the bunker, or
Sensibly invest, re-think the business strategy and try to maintain growth.

For those in the latter school, and I guess that you're one of them if you're reading this blog, then spending on creative services can be helpful during these tougher times.

Whether it's brightening up your website, doing some market research or even a little re-branding - using the extra time that you now have on your hands is time well invested for when things turn around.

Entrepreneur's Gut Feeling

2008-08-09T19:10:00.003+01:00

FT Small Business columnist, Mike Southon is often asked for one characteristic that is common to all successful entrepreneurs.

He answers, "There are many possible replies including vision, confidence, ambition and drive.
But a common feature is that they are all good at marketing; they care passionately about the people who are going the use their new product or service."

"This is not necessarily the marketing you would find at a large organisation, with endless research, obsession with brand values and a fortune spent on advertising. In a start-up the competitive landscape is usually only partially understood, budgets are much smaller, and decisions are based more on gut instinct than exhaustive research."

"Proper branding will come later; for now, more important is the personal brand of the entrepreneur themselves, how convincing they are that people should buy from them, rather than another supplier."

SERV - The Blood Runners

2008-07-20T18:31:00.010+01:00

SERV, also known as the 'Blood Runners', is a charitable organisation that delivers blood products to the emergency and accident hospitals across Southern England at night free of charge whenever and wherever it's urgently needed.

SERV is a Registered Charity (No. 284455) run by dedicated volunteer motorcyclists and drivers who give their time and petrol to do their bit using their bikes and cars to help others who need emergency supplies of blood.

SERV provides a service that has saved many lives. The volunteers fund SERV at their own expense and by donations - so if you are looking for a worthy charity to support please contact them. Remember, it's not just the volunteers who save lives, it could also be you !

50 Plus

2008-07-12T08:25:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to professional speaker and business coach Malcolm Gallagher of BizVison for this amazing statistic.

Did you know that anyone in their late 40’s who loses their job has less than a 1-in-10 chance of getting another at anything like the same salary?

As we get older, those chances decrease at an alarming rate.That might be the reason 1-in-6 new businesses in Britain are being started by people aged 50 or 50+.

Chartered Marketer Status

2008-07-05T10:25:00.009+01:00

Having eagerly checked the post for the past week, it finally arrived this morning.

I have now achieved Chartered Marketer status from the CIM.

To become a Chartered Marketer and be recognised as an experienced, qualified and up to date marketing professional you need to:

Complete 35 hours of CPD activity annually (1 July - 30 June) for a minimum of two consecutive years. And
Hold either Member (MCIM) or Fellow (FCIM) grade to be eligible for Chartered Marketer status.

Becoming a Chartered Marketer proves to current and potential employers and the business community as a whole that you are serious about marketing and about maintaining your knowledge and skills.

Quango Quackers!

2008-06-17T19:08:00.004+01:00

Did you realise that around two thirds of the 53,000 businesses in Kent have three or less people working in them? Or that less than half of one percent has more than 250 staff?

But yet the Government and its publicly funded quangos focus most of their finances towards this tiny minority. SEEDA, (The South East England Development Agency), recently spent two years and who knows how many tax payers pounds writing the fantastically entitled "Coastal South East: A Framework For Action", a document that is six, (no that's not a typo) six pages long!

One of the astounding revelations was that... "The Framework for Action does not replace strategies and plans that have been developed at sub-regional and local levels" So exactly what does it do then.

The moral of this tale is that if you are in small business there's little point in looking to the business experts at the various quangos for help. They're too busy justifying their own existence to worry about yours.

We Need Ducks

2008-05-02T17:54:00.003+01:00

You may have seen this article before, but I say we need more ducks than eagles and should nurture, develop and appreciate them accordingly!

Don't Send Your Ducks to Eagle School

The first rule of management is this: Don't send your ducks to eagle school. Why? Because it won't work. Good people are found, not changed. They can change themselves, but you can't change them. If you want good people, you have to find them. If you want motivated people, you have to find them, not motivate them.

I picked up a magazine not long ago in New York that had a full-page ad in it for a hotel chain. The first line of the ad read, "We do not teach our people to be nice." Now that got my attention. The second line said, "We hire nice people." I thought, What a clever shortcut!"
Motivation is a mystery. Why are some people motivated and some are not? Why does one salesperson see his first prospect at seven in the morning while the other sees his first prospects at 11 in the morning? Why would one start at seven and the other start at 11? I don't know. Call it "mysteries of the mind."

I give lectures to a thousand people at a time. One walks out and says, "I'm going to change my life." Another walks out with a yawn and says, "I've heard all this stuff before." Why is that?
The wealthy man says to a thousand people, "I read this book, and it started me on the road to wealth." Guess how many of the thousand go out and get the book? Answer: very few. Isn't that incredible? Why wouldn't everyone go get the book? Mysteries of the mind.

To one person, you have to say, "You'd better slow down. You can't work that many hours, do that many things, go, go, go. You're going to have a heart attack and die." And to another person, you have to say, "When are you going to get off the couch?" What is the difference? Why wouldn't everyone strive to be wealthy and happy? Chalk it up to mysteries of the mind and don't waste your time trying to turn ducks into eagles. Hire people who already have the motivation and drive to be eagles and then just let them soar.

But what happens when your eagles soar over the mountain tops and spy a greener valley on the other side. It's your ducks that keep your business going until the next eagle arrives.

Is the credit crunch self-perpetuating?

2008-05-01T22:01:00.001+01:00

This Is A Story About How Economic Recessions Are Self Fulfilling or About Your Own Power to Create One or to Avoid Participating In One.

The Hot Dog Man, and the Recession

Once upon a time, there was a good man, who had worked hard all his life. He disliked his work. It was not rewarding. His boss was never happy. But he worked hard. Until, one day, this man decided he had had enough, and he quit.

He just walked out. He went home and told his wife. She cried.

How are we going to send our boy to college”, she asked? The man thought for a minute and then said, “I will think of something”. After a while, he decided to do something he has always wanted to do. He would sell hot dogs on the street corner from a little hot dog cart on wheels.
He took his savings and bought a hot dog cart. His friends were not too sure about this. But the hot dog man started selling hot dogs on the street corner, in his hometown. They were good hot dogs. Best quality. Not cheap, but he charged enough to pay for them. Things went pretty well right from the beginning

People liked his hot dogs. He always made sure to have plenty of fresh ketchup and mustard and onions. Every customer got a smile with their hot dog.

He did very well, and soon more people wanted his hot dogs. More than he could serve. So he bought another hot dog cart. His son pushed the new cart. He made good hot dogs too.
And every one of the Son's customers got a smile and a thank you to go with their hot dog. The hot dog man made sure to teach his son about this. The two did well, and saved the money they made, until it was time for the boy to go to college. There was enough money to send him to school even if the hot dog man paid another young man to push the second cart.
“Give them a smile with every hot dog,” he told his first employee. It worked fine.
This gave him an idea. He bought a third cart and hired a second employee.
Every year the city grew and every year he added a few more carts. The hot dog man’s company did very well. Buns and dogs were coming in bigger trucks these days. He was glad the son decided to study business in college. Their hot dog company was hiring more and more people and getting bigger and bigger. It would be great when the son returned home with all that college education to help him manage it.

The big day finally arrived. The son came home from college. Dad was excited. Mom too. There was a BIG Party. Everybody came.

Then it was time to get to work. But the son was not interested in working in the hot dog company. He wanted to do something more grand. The hot dog man was sad.
But then he asked, “Can you just look over our books and give me some advice?”
“Sure”, said the son, while looking at his watch.

“Things are going pretty good”, said the hot dog man. He got the books and paperwork out to proudly show the son what they had become while he was gone.

The son looked things over and thought for a minute. Then he said, “Gee, Dad, you have an awful lot of hot dog carts. And Expenses.”

Then he asked, “Don’t you know a Recession is coming?”. The hot dog man did not know what a Recession was, so he asked.

The son explained what he had learned in college about Recessions. The hot dog man shook his head in amazement.

He thought things were OK, but his son was just out of college. The hot dog man had worked a lot of hours to pay for that college education. He thought surely the college people knew more about business than he did, so he listened.

The son said, maybe you should mothball a few carts this season…

So that is what the hot dog man did. After a month or so, sales were down.
The son and the hot dog man looked things over again. The son said they should cut advertising expenses a little.

The hot dog man was sure the son must know about these things, So that is what they did. Sure enough, sales went down.

A few months later the books were worse. The Son said profits were being squeezed by the Recession. He said they should buy a cheaper hot dog. Save a little money. So they did. Sure enough, Sales went down.

After a while the son looked again at the books. Again. He said, “Gee Dad, you’re not making much money. Maybe you should cut payroll a little. So they laid off a few employees. The ones who stayed on were not too sure what would happen next. They stopped giving a smile with every hot dog. And sales went down even more.

Things were gloomy until the hot dog man had a great idea. He called all his employees together. Even the ones that had been let go. He told them something like this. "Sometimes things are easy and sometimes things are hard. It's easy to lose your way when things are hard." He admitted that he had been scared by this recession.

Then he went on. "Things have been hard lately. BUT, we are going to go back to doing what worked before. We will buy a better hot dog. We will run a few ads. We will get all the carts out of storage. And everybody will have a job. I don't care what it costs." Only one thing", he added, "Ya gotta give every customer a smile with their hot dog". They promised they would. And so they did.

Sure enough... sales went up.

The 48 Hour Rule

2008-04-20T11:00:00.003+01:00

In the words of Forrest Gump "shit happens", but what do we do when it does?

Various things in life annoy us, worry us and trouble us, often they are things that are out of our direct and immediate control, but this doesn't make them any less important.

Next time you're in this situation try applying the 48 hour rule.

In 48 hours issues have a tendency to either solve themselves or escalate into something that needs action, so relaxing and waiting 48 hours will let you know what action if any needs to be taken.

At a time of stress, looking forward 48 hours seems a long time, but afterwards, looking back the same amount of time seems incredibly short.

Want your printed brochure on-line?

2008-03-11T23:02:00.003Z

I came across a specialist web designer today, theicelab, whose niche is to take your printed mail order brochure and convert it into an e-shop.

Give Alan Noake a call and see what he can do for you.

Learn to Network - Get Kintished!

2008-03-10T19:49:00.003Z

One of the most cost effect ways to get your message across in smaller businesses is to network.

A task that's not easy even for some of the most experienced people, so let me point you in the direction of Will Kintish. He has been blogging since 2005 and i can recommend no better expert in the field of networking skills, and yes networking is a skill in the same way that merchandising, copywriting or whatever your specialism is.

Visit Will's blog and absorb some of his fantastic tips for getting the most out of meeting people in whatever public situation you find yourself in.

Remember to W.A.I.T.

The Emporer's New Clothes

2008-02-06T08:42:00.004Z

Yet again it seems as if a design studio has come up with a design for design's sake!

Westwood Cross, an out of town shopping centre located at a crossroads in Westwood, part of the beautiful seaside town of Broadstairs in East Kent opened 2 years ago.

Broadstairs has a strong Viking heritage, and as part of the landscaping for the development a stylised Viking longboat was built into various parts of the site.

Their logo and ident was simple, they used the well known name Westwood Cross and linked it to the Viking ship. Thus when out of towners, holiday makers and day trippers visited the site they knew that they had arrived, especially as there is the prow of a ship on the entrance roundabout.

You can almost see the meetings:

"We've been open a couple of years and we need to freshen things to maintain footfall, let's speak with our ad agency."

" I know we need to give them a re launch, but we can't charge much for that, so let's design a new logo, then they can see we've done something for our money"

By all means evolve it, modify it bring and it up to date but if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Want to know what's the meaning of life?

2007-12-17T13:51:00.000Z

What's the meaning of life!

That's right, don't understand what I'm saying? Then find out more in this excellent book that I have just read by Ian Cooper, I'm not going to tell you anything else, you'll just have to buy the book yourself to find out the secret.

Need A Bigger Logo?

2007-12-14T16:18:00.000Z

Ever thought that your logo doesn't work hard enough for you?

Then perhaps you should consider this http://www.makemylogobiggercream.com/

Children recognise 400 brands by age 10

2007-12-09T17:03:00.000Z

UK Childrens Minister Ed Balls says "Children see some 10,000 TV adverts a year and recognise 400 brands by age 10".

So who, if anyone, is to blame?

We live in a country with a population of c61m which according to http://www.geohive.com/ makes us number 22 in the world, whereas in terms of GDP we are 7th - surely something to be proud of for an island nation.

So is the fact that our children can recognise 400 brands at such a young age a cause, symptom or both of the success of our nation?

Why do Doctors smoke?

2007-12-05T08:54:00.000Z

Yes they know it's wrong and they above all people see the effects that smoking has on their patients on a daily basis, yet they still do it!

But they're not alone in ignoring their own knowledge, how many marketing people do you know who are awful at marketing themselves? We don't do it as well as we should, after all aren't we the experts who know what we should and shouldn't do?

Less is definitely more

2007-12-04T13:54:00.001Z