From business owner to guru!

From business owner to guru!

Yes, I know – you hate that word ‘guru’.  It’s sadly overused.  Perhaps ‘expert’ would sit better with you (although the dictionary does include ‘mentor’ and ‘acknowledged leader or expert’ in the description under guru). So how do you move from business owner...
Building a marketing funnel

Building a marketing funnel

Lots of people have heard of the Marketing Funnel – it all makes great sense on paper.  You start by attracting lots of people who are interested and then filter them out by asking a bit more each time. The funnel looks a bit like this. The strategy behind having a...
Awards, Rewards and Kudos

Awards, Rewards and Kudos

Getting nominated for an award’s short list is good for the ego, but is it good for business? Some companies enter awards as part of their marketing strategy and a successful award presentation can give you a real edge – as long as you leverage it well. Getting...
Help your customers on autopilot

Help your customers on autopilot

Most business people I know find that their customers have post-purchase queries.  Lots of people who sell systems or learning products find that the buyer doesn’t get far along with their purchase before life gets in the way.  A few customers pick up the phone or...
Who loves spam email?

Who loves spam email?

Don’t you love spam email?  Think of all those special offers, sales pitches, products you don’t need, services you already have (or may even provide yourself) – don’t you love opening them to find out what goodies they contain?  No? Delete, delete, delete! So when...
Does your Facebook page work?

Does your Facebook page work?

So many people don’t ‘get’ Facebook for business, but if you’re selling to individuals rather than companies, it’s a really powerful platform. But let’s blow a myth away first. If you have a Facebook Page everyone can see what’s posted on your personal account. Not...
5 ways to avoid marketing madness

5 ways to avoid marketing madness

Here we are, a month into the year and what’s happening in your marketing department? OK, if you’re a small business, that might not be a department, it may just be you, but having a clear marketing plan is important. Marketing covers pretty much everything from...
Make the headlines

Make the headlines

If you want to get your business in the news, the first thing to do is to work out which publications you want to target. Of course, making the headlines in the national dailies would be amazing, but, to be realistic, you have to have something big time to make it...
How hard is your marketing content working?

How hard is your marketing content working?

The most frequent complaint I hear is ‘I don’t have time’, when it comes to marketing.  Because I write stuff and know a bit about social media, business owners think I spend all day on LinkedIn and Facebook and writing new web content for my website. I do spend all...
What’s on your horizon?

What’s on your horizon?

If you’re like most business owners, the beginning of a calendar year is often a good point to review, revise and revamp.  As the saying goes ‘if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there,’ but it’s always a challenge to really nail down what you...