Nearly managed it
I’ve got a confession to make. I didn’t fully complete the last week of my 28-day marketing program. I kept putting it to one side and then all of a sudden it was the end of the week. At the weekend I went through my list and was pleased to be able to tick some of the actions off, things which I had just naturally done, but I’d completed nowhere near as much as I had planned.
It’s a bit disappointing because I’d been sticking to it so well and I missed out on that feeling of satisfaction of having kept to it to the end. However, I’m still feeling very positive about the whole thing. I exceeded the goal I had set myself (certain number of new prospects) and could really tell that my activities were having a positive effect. Definitely worth doing.
So, I’m planning another 28 days to start in a couple of weeks time. I’m going to keep the activities that were obviously working and try out a few new things. Now that I’ve used the book a few times I’ve got to the point where I’m adapting it to suit how I work. I’m going to use my own tracking sheet as I wasn’t finding the book’s way of doing it to really worked for me – wasn’t giving me an idea of how much of the week’s program I’d completed. I’m also going to skip the daily pep talk. I can see what the author intends with that but I think that after having read it a few times it’s losing its impact.
Looking forward to making a start on the next 28 days!
Those extra special touches
I found myself doing something last week that I never do. I placed an order with a cold caller. Really, I never ever do that – hate cold calls and never buy anything over the phone (or on the doorstep for that matter). But last week I did.
Actually, from the point of view of the caller it was probably a cold call but at my end it was much warmer. Why? Because I’d already heard of the company and at one point had considered buying from them but for some reason never got round to it. He also phoned at exactly the right moment as I was needing to order some stationery (he was phoning from an office supplies company). In fact at that exact moment I had a slip of paper on my desk in front of me saying ‘buy printer cartridges’. So, he was onto a winner wasn’t he? I knew the company, I had wanted to use them and I had a need for their products.
So I ordered a couple of things on the spot. Not a massive order but we generally don’t need much stuff. The order promptly arrived the next day along with a packet of chocolate biscuits – now they know the way to a girl’s heart don’t they? And that’s really the point of this blog post. It’s the special touches like that that really make a difference. I’d already had a good experience through placing the order but I’m really going to remember them now aren’t I? And I found myself talking about it at my business breakfast on Tuesday – not because I consciously thought ‘let’s plug my new stationery supplier’ but because I wanted to tell everybody about the biscuits.
In case you happen to be in Cornwall, the company I’m talking about is Office Smart. I’ve only placed the one order so far but it was an excellent first impression. Now, I wonder if they can help us with our filing cabinet problem…
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.
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.
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!
Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers and Prospects into Leads
Before I carry on I’ll just explain what ROI means (I’m sure you already know, but it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder). ROI stands for Return on Investment, which (quoting Wikipedia) is “the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested”. So this book is about making your website as effective as possible so that you make the best return on your investment in it. To use some more jargon, it’s all about improving your conversion rate – i.e. increasing the number of visitors to your site which take a desired action, whether that is buying something from your online shop, signing up for a newsletter or making an enquiry about your services.
This is a book that I’m going to come back to again and again. I’ve already picked up a lot from it and I’m sure that I’ll learn a bit more each time I read it. Can you tell that I enjoyed it? Seriously, it’s making me think very carefully about what makes a persuasive and successful website.
The book has a very informative and persuasive introduction to what ROI is all about in the context of a website, and the benefits of improving your site’s conversion rate over throwing more money at advertising. It then has a chapter for each of the important sections of a site:
- Landing Pages
- Home Pages
- Category Pages
- Detail Pages
- Forms
- Checkout Process
Finally, there is a chapter giving further resources (books and websites) for those who want to read more.
I thought this was an excellent book – I found the writing style very easy to get on with and feel inspired to put some of the concepts into practice.
Rating: 
Buy “Web Design for ROI” from Amazon >
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Why’s that then? Why aren’t I skipping off to my computer right now to market my business? (Oh yes, I’m already at my computer…) I’d say that the book is definitely food for thought. There’s no doubt that it helps you look at things with a fresh eye. But…
… I find myself left thinking “now what? now what do I do?”. Yes, it’s given me a lot of theory but nothing that I can really get my teeth into. I find books like that frustrating. It’s like I’ve asked a cook “how do I bake a cake?” and they’ve replied “in an oven, you can make chocolate cake, or carrot cake, or coffee cake, it’s great”, when what I really wanted to know is how much flour to use, how to compile the ingredients and how long to cook it for. Do you know what I mean?
So, I would say that if you’re interested in reading up on the theory of using the web to market your business then this could well be the book for you. But if you’re after a step-by-step guide to putting the theory into practice then you might not get so much from it.
Rating: 
Buy “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” from Amazon >
Press Here! Managing the Media for Free Publicity
Press Here!: Managing the Media for Free Publicity
I particularly liked the case studies at the end of each chapter. The author used three different scenarios – two businesses and one freelance journalist – and followed their stories throughout the book. Absolutely brilliant. They reinforced the advice given in a very accessible way, showing how it could be applied in a real situation. It was also very useful to get an insight into how a journalist thinks and the pressures they are under – somehow makes contacting journalists seem less daunting.
Definitely a book to refer to again when I’m ready to launch into some PR.
Rating:
Buy “Press Here!” from Amazon >
Still working on being brilliant
I’ve just completed the fourth week of my 90 days of brilliance plan and I’m still hanging in there. I started off by preparing very detailed weekly plans and sticking to them very closely, but that has tailed off somewhat. Instead I’m now setting overall goals for each week, giving myself much more flexibility day-to-day. I’m feeling pretty good after four weeks:
- We’ve launched our new website and are actively working on expanding it
- I’m feeling much more confident about networking and as a result more enthusiastic about going to stuff
- I’ve prepared a 28-day marketing programme and started it (today in fact)
- We’ve defined our vision for 5-years and are actively working towards it
- I’m reading on average one book a week
- I’m signed up for an SQL course which will be starting in a few weeks
It’s all good stuff. Tomorrow will mark the end of the first 30-day plan so it will be time to sketch out what I want to achieve in the next 30 days.
Gearing up for some marketing
I’ve spent the last couple of days preparing a 28-day marketing plan as laid out by Get Clients Now!. I’m hoping that following a plan will help us kick-start our marketing which has been a bit non-existent recently. We’ve had quite a lot on so project work has been taking most of our attention, but now that we’ve got a few big projects coming to an end we need to get out there and find some new clients.
It’s going to be quite an intense 28 days. Actually it’s something that I’d planned to do as part of my 90 days of brilliance – so part of following my 90-day plan is to follow a 28-day plan. Hmmm, do you think I’m taking this a bit too far? Well, it’s helping feed my need for lists of things to tick off at least.
My goal for the 28 days is to find 6 new prospects – that’s 6 solid prospects to prepare quotes for. Is that asking two much for 4 weeks or does it sound like I’m not aiming high enough? I’m finding it difficult to tell.
I’m due to start the programme on Monday (good to start at the beginning of the week). Shall report back on my progress!
