Being in the spotlight

Being in the spotlight

I was reading something the other day that featured a quote: It’s not what you say about your business that matters; it’s what other people say.  Whilst what other people say is really important, really smart business owners invest time and effort in...
Reputation + Relationship = Revenue

Reputation + Relationship = Revenue

On a theoretical level we all know that reputation is important and that, without a relationship, business does not get done – so you need both to generate revenue reliably. If you are proactive in building strong relationships you’ll enhance your...
What is your reputation worth?

What is your reputation worth?

That’s a big question – and one that it’s probably difficult, if not impossible to put a number on.  Most of us work hard, try to keep our customers happy, help people where we can and hope that people like what we do and say good things about us to...
Resolution or Revolution?

Resolution or Revolution?

It’s that time of year when everyone is busily planning all the amazing things they are going to do over the next 12 months – and, by now, have often actually got started.  Some people have already fallen off the wagon too!  Those people who promised...
A bit more than expected

A bit more than expected

Everyone talks about ‘exceeding expectations’; in fact, this phrase has become so over-used that it’s almost lost its meaning. Getting something wrong in your customer relationship can have long lasting consequences – and people do talk when...
Planning to write

Planning to write

People often ask me how I put together web pages, articles, blogs and emails so they don’t ramble and get the point across effectively.  To be honest, after years of writing, I’ve got quite good at doing the analysis of where I’m going and what the key points are and...
How to set up a lead generator

How to set up a lead generator

In an ideal world business owners would have an effective lead-generator that delivered hot prospects daily.  Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as it sounds and it takes serious effort to get the attention of prospective customers and then convert them to sales....
Your language affects your reputation

Your language affects your reputation

I’ve just read a book that was quite good, but the author used the word ‘discreetly’ from time to time – except that most of the time it was spelled ‘discretely’, which means something completely different*.  A couple of times it...
7 email marketing tips

7 email marketing tips

If you’ve grown a healthy list of people who have an interest in what you’ve got to offer you’ll need to do something to build and maintain your relationship with them.  You might have them in your customer relationship management (CRM) system or they might have...
The pros and cons of Newsletters

The pros and cons of Newsletters

There are two ways to look at newsletters – whether they arrive in the post or, more likely, in your inbox – as the sender or as the receiver! It’s interesting that people who complain about the amount of spam email and post they get still send out...