Week three of marketing program
I’m starting week three of my marketing program today. Last week I didn’t keep on top of my daily actions as much as I would have liked. The week certainly wasn’t a complete write-off, but there was one day when it really didn’t happen. So, I need to start this week with renewed energy. Anyone got any spare energy they can lend me?
Overall I’m definitely feeling the benefit of following the program, it’s providing me with structure for my marketing activities and a means of tracking results. Results so far are very encouraging. I’m beginning to get a feel for which of my daily actions are most effective, and which I could probably replace with something else. For example, going to a couple of networking events each week I’m sure is doing me some good, but the online networking I do every day isn’t very successful. It’s not that I’m expecting instant results from it, it’s just that I’m not really feeling like I’m engaging with anyone at all. Actually, writing this makes me realise that it’s not necessarily the activity that is a problem, but that I need to improve how I go about it. I’d better give some thought to that and see if I can turn it around over the next couple of weeks.
Why do pyramid schemes make me uncomfortable?
At breakfast yesterday morning one of our regulars gave me some information on a pyramid scheme that she’s getting involved with. Now, she’s someone that I’ve been breakfasting with for several months now so there’s a certain level of trust there. So, why does the idea of signing up to it make me so uncomfortable?
It’s one of those schemes where you get a certain amount of money for what you do and also a cut from anyone that you introduce, and presumably from anyone that they introduce etc. That’s why it’s a pyramid. I don’t know exactly where it came from but I’ve got this ingrained suspicion of this type of scheme. Is it just gut feeling?
I think part of my problem is that I believe that making money can’t be that easy – money is something that you should earn, with hard work. I’m a strong believer in hard work – working hard on my business gives me a sense of achievement.
Am I looking a gift horse in the mouth? Or am I actually being very sensible following my intuition?
Week two of marketing program
I’m now into week two of my 28-day marketing program and I’m pleased to say that I’m still going strong. Feeling pretty pleased with myself actually. The program has helped give me the right mindset so I’m making the most of all the opportunities that come my way. And there is something very satisfying about working through my list of actions each day – individually the actions probably aren’t that mindblowing, but working through them consistently each day definitely adds up to something.
I’ve got two successes which I’m particularly pleased about – a potential new client from one of the networking events I went to last week (don’t want to speak too soon but it’s looking very promising) and a press release accepted by Business Cornwall, Cornwall’s business magazine – I only sent it to them this morning and it’s already on their website (New premises for design companies). Fingers crossed it generates some interest for us and our chum Neil.
So, a good start to the week and lots of enthusiasm for my marketing activities. Can’t wait for breakfast at Cape Cornwall in the morning.
How to make the most of your website
Head on over to the Webfooted Designs blog for the first part of our Top 10 tips for making the most of your website article. Second part coming soon!
Feed Forward not Back
I went to a very interesting event in Truro this afternoon. It was run by Enterprising Women which is an organisation for women in business. After a couple of inspirational talks we were taught the Feed Forward technique.
Feed Forward is a technique to help you continue to improve – in whatever area you wish to improve. It’s actually very simple. Instead of asking for feedback on something you’ve done (and let’s face it asking for feedback isn’t always the easiest thing in the world), you think of something that you would like to improve and then ask people for suggestions. That’s pretty straightforward isn’t it?
We spent 45 minutes or so going round the room asking each other for suggestions on a particular subject. The idea was that we didn’t give loads of detail or enter into a discussion about it, we just said what we would like to improve in and everyone gave two suggestions. It was very interesting how everyone interpreted it slightly differently and gave completely different advice. I ended up with quite a list to consider.
So, I came away from the afternoon with a new technique and having met a load of new people. Good stuff!
Marketing program
I’ve decided that it’s time for a marketing push. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day running of the business (at least I find it is) and every now and then I need to remind myself that we need to be getting out there and actively finding new clients. So, I’ve started myself on a 28-day marketing plan in the style of Get Clients Now!.
I’ve got it all mapped out and am coming to the end of day 4 of the plan. Actually, saying I’m on day 4 makes it feel like I’m cheating – the book starts you off on a Saturday to make sure you’ve got everything prepared and are ready to throw yourself into it on the Monday. But to me it feels like I didn’t really do anything for the first two days. So, I’m actually on the second day of actively doing stuff.
It certainly feels very positive having a plan to work to. It’s making me think about everything I’m doing and all my interactions with clients and contacts. Let’s see how it goes!
Buying local produce
One of the things that I like about living in Cornwall is the fantastic local produce. There’s something really satisfying about buying local produce and knowing that it has literally come from just down the road. People in Cornwall do like to support their local businesses. This is something that I hadn’t particularly come across where we lived in Oxfordshire before. Is it the same in other parts of the country?
There’s a farm just down the road from us that has a veg bench – a bench where they lay out the seasonal vegetables and you can go along and help yourself, leaving payment in a jar. I love it. On Saturday, with the idea of slowness in mind, I walked down the road in a leisurely manner to buy some veg for the week. It was a beautiful morning.
While I was selecting my veg (potatoes, celery, leeks and cabbage this week), the farmer came out of his cottage to say good morning. He asked for some feedback about why I bought my veg there. What a brilliant opportunity to let the farmer know how much I appreciated being able to buy directly from him and to say how much I loved the veg.
Stairs, filing cabinets and piles of paper
Yes, that’s right, we’ve got a problem with our filing. The big idea was that we buy a sparkly new filing cabinet for our sparkly new office, and leave the old one at home for home stuff.
But can we find somewhere that will deliver a filing cabinet to us and carry it up the stairs to our office? Is that really too much to ask? My foolish assumption was that delivery people would be equipt with things such as a stair trolley and would therefore be in a much better position to get the cabinet up the stairs than us. But no, it appears not.
We thought we’d found somewhere that would do it but several weeks after placing the order we were told they couldn’t do it because there was no lift in our building. If we had a lift we wouldn’t need help getting the darn thing up the stairs! So, that order was swiftly cancelled.
It’s now a month since we ordered the filing cabinet, the filing is mounting up, and we’re no nearer a solution. So, my question of the day is – is there anywhere that can sell us a filing cabinet and deliver it up the stairs for us? Or is there an alternative to a filing cabinet? Something that doesn’t involve one hefty piece of furniture? We’re open to suggestions!
10 characteristics of brilliant business books
One of the things that I enjoy about writing this blog is that it reminds me how many brilliant books there are out there (and sitting on my bookshelf). That has got me thinking about what makes a brilliant business book. So, here’s my list of 10 characteristics, in no particular order:
1. Pleasure to read
The book has got to be enjoyable, not a chore to read. I don’t want to have to force myself to open it up every evening in order to get through it. Instead, it must hold my attention and be written in a style that encourages me to keep reading, to the point that I don’t want to put it down. Yes, that is possible with a business book, trust me.
2. Inspiring
I want to be inspired by the book. Inspired to start trying out its advice straight away. I want to get a feeling of ‘yes, I can do it and I will!’. There’s nothing better than a book that leaves you feeling upbeat and ready for anything.
3. Easy to understand
I want to be able to understand the concepts in the book without resorting to a dictionary or having to re-read sections over and over again. I don’t mind if the concepts are challenging, if I’m learning something new then I do expect to have to make a bit of an effort, but I don’t want to be faced with a load of jargon and acronyms which aren’t explained.
4. Applicable to my business
It’s important to me that I can apply the advice/concepts in the book directly to my business. Of course, if I’m reading ‘Brilliant Book of Business Advice for Emily’ then I would expect it to apply to me, but it’s not that easy. I once did a marketing course designed for creative businesses but the course tutor had entirely based it on ‘creative business’ meaning ‘artist’. As a result he was constantly saying “this won’t apply to you, Emily”. Lovely. So I guess it’s important for the book to be clear from the start about who the intended audience is and then make sure that audience is catered for.
5. Practical application
Not only do I want to be able to understand the book in the context of my own business but I also want to be able to go away and apply the concepts in a practical fashion. Theory is great but I also want to be able to see how I can apply it in a practical way. Give me some exercises to do or talk me through putting together an action plan. Or, give some examples (see no. 6 below). I’m not going to fully understand it if I can’t see how I can use it.
6. Examples
Examples are great. They can be real-life examples or made up, doesn’t matter. Examples help you understand how the theory can be applied. They can also be inspiring (especially if they’re real-life examples) – a description of how somebody took a certain action and the positive affect it had on them or their business.
7. Knowledgeable author
It’s important that the author knows their stuff. If you think that they’ve got something wrong it makes you doubt the validity of the rest of their advice. So, they need to write in a knowledgeable way that gives you confidence in them, but also back up their claims with supporting resources. A few statistics don’t go astray, but don’t overload us with them
8. Up-to-date website
A lot of books these days have accompanying websites with downloads and other supporting materials. It’s clear from some books that the author has great plans for developing a fantastic resource. However, if you’re reading the book a couple of years down the road you may not find exactly what they’re promising. It’s amazing how many obviously abandoned websites I’ve come across. So, if you are directing readers to downloadable resources, put them there and keep them at the address that you’ve given. If you’re not going to actively work on the website for years to come, then provide everything that’s needed for the book and leave it at that. There’s nothing more offputting than news that is 3 years out of date, or promises of downloads which you can’t find however hard you try.
9. Clearly laid out
I like to see a list of contents which makes it clear what the topic of each chapter is. Attractively laid out pages with sub-headings and boxouts. Clear print – I don’t want teeny tiny crammed in print which I need a magnifying glass to read (yes, my eyesight isn’t the best), instead a good size print, nicely spaced out. It’s amazing how much this can affect your enjoyment of a book.
10. References to other brilliant books
And finally, I want the book to point me in the direction of other brilliant books. If I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read then I want to keep reading.
A positive experience with BT
The other day I wrote about my frustration at trying to use BT’s automated phone system. To balance that a little I actually had a very positive experience on Friday. We were having some problems with our phone line (or so we thought) so I called the fault line.
I got through to somebody very quickly – just had to enter my phone number and select one option and then was straight through. And the lady I got through to was brilliant. She went through the problem with me and ran a test on the line. The test came back clear – no problem with our line at all, so it was most likely the equipment. She offered to send me an email with some suggestions as to how to test it myself and agreed a time to phone back to see how I was getting on.
Meanwhile, I discovered that it was something very very silly. Definitely not a problem with the line at all. So when she phoned back at exactly the time we’d agreed I sheepishly explained that everything was fine and it had been my mistake. She was great – very understanding. What a delight to have such a helpful person to talk it through with.
