To access this free guide, simply click here.

I think that the reason that people answer differently is that they often get the vast array of different marketing methods confused with the strategic viewpoint that actually defines what marketing is. Marketing is not defined as, for example, social media, advertising or direct mail. Yes they are marketing methods but they actually only form a small part of marketing and they certainly don’t adequately answer the question ‘what is marketing?’.

Marketing is a strategic discipline, it is a management process that is centred around understanding your customer’s needs and ensuring that your products/services meet those identified needs whilst generating revenue for your business. Marketing is centred around understanding your customers, learning about them, adapting your products/services to suit them and then finding the best marketing methods to communicate with your audience. Marketing involves raising awareness of your company and its products/services using the right combination of tools for your audience and your budget.

But marketing is also crucially about generating profit and therefore, from a strategic viewpoint it also encompasses the development of results-driven campaigns, lead generation and effective measurement. As I see it the job of a marketing team or individual is ultimately to use their understanding of your customer’s needs and the strategic aspirations of your business in order to generate enquiries/interest in your company and its products/services. It is then the responsibility of Sales to secure that interest and turn into revenue.

We’ve developed a free guide on this subject which you can access from our website at http://www.the-vma.com/free-guides/

To find out more about marketing for beginners you can visit our website at http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner/

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

We’ve teamed up with Nicolas Holzherr who is currently appearing in the BBC’s Apprentice as a contestant and is the founder of QR code company QRky. In this webinar you will learn about one of the latest marketing techniques – QR Codes and how to integrate them into your existing marketing.

Nick will host the QR Code session and cover:

•Understanding QR codes
•Case studies including good and bad examples
•How to use QR codes for optimum benefit as part of your marketing activity
•How innovative QR technology is linking the digital space with the real world

We’ll then help you to kick start your marketing with a short session hosted by our own Clare Tucker, covering:

•A 10 point action plan specifically developed to help you kick start your marketing
•10 steps that you can take right now to help you improve your marketing and generate better results

Attendees of this webinar will also be provided with free marketing training module on QR codes, a free marketing guide and 14 days free access to the QRky platform.

Spaces are strictly limited for this webinar so in order to secure your place we recommend early booking.

1. Creativity has always struck me as one of the least important business skills, but I keep reading that in these times of economic challenge, we need to be more creative, is that true?

Personally I think that creativity is a very important business skill although I wouldn’t say that it is business critical. In my experience those business people who are constantly seeking and experimenting with new ideas tend to be dynamic, forward-thinking individuals too and this transcends into the way that they drive their company forward. If you can be creative with your approach to marketing for example, you will be more likely to be able to identify cost-effective campaigns that have the potential to achieve greater success than those of your competitors.

2.  I see how highly my innovative colleagues are appreciated and recognised but even though some of my ideas are as good as theirs or sometimes the same as theirs, I worry that I will voice a stupid idea.

I can relate to this! In my employed days I often sat in sales meetings my head brimming with ideas and marketing campaign suggestions but the meetings tended to be male dominated and a number of individuals highly opinionated. On the occasions that I tried to voice my ideas I was invariably shouted down or ignored so I gave up offering my suggestions.

Nowadays, a number of years down the line and having had the confidence to leave a stable job to set up my company I would never let that happen again. In fact quite the opposite, these days my view is what’s the worst thing that can happen if I say something stupid? I also now have the self belief to want to express my ideas and that has come from running my own business and having to voice opinions, make difficult decisions and find a way of being heard!

3.  I am probably the least creative person I know, but I really want to start my own business! Will my non-creativity hold me back and therefore should I not take the chance?

I think that whilst some people are naturally creative that can be quite different to being creative in business (unless your business is as a designer!). In my opinion creativity in business can also be born from having belief in your ideas and your business. The more strongly you believe in your ability to start up and run a new venture, the greater your passion for success is likely to be and that often transcends into the way you run and promote your company, you gain confidence to try something a little different, to make a bold statement, develop a strong brand or just try something that hasn’t been done before. So I don’t think that lack of creativity is a reason not to start a business but lack of belief in your proposed products/services might be.

4.  Is creativity always about coming up with something new that no-one has done before?

If you can come up ideas that no-one else has, brilliant but I don’t think that being creative means coming up with something new. To me creativity is about finding a better way to do things, whatever part of your business that may be. It’s not necessarily about being visually creative either. Moreover it’s about harnessing the best, most cost-effective, efficient way of running and growing a business and because every company is different then your challenge is to find the best way of doing things for your own company, that’s being creative in business.

5.  Is creativity one of those skills that you either have or you don’t?

I think that there is a distinction to make here. There are people out there who are born with the ability to be creative but often this creativity is expressed visually such as interior design, web design, art etc and these skills are not easy to learn if you don’t have that natural flair. In business creativity can mean a very different thing entirely though and I think that it can be learnt. Creativity in business can come from gaining confidence and experience and once you have it you really are harnessing a very powerful business tool.

To find out more about marketing for beginners you can visit our website at  http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner/

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy.  The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

“I am passionate about recruitment and coaching which is useful considering it’s what my I do for a living! One of the pieces of work I have recently been involved in is an interview boot camp which we ran for universities, colleges and individuals. When we run the question and answer sessions at the end of the day one of the questions I’m always asked is how do I stand out from the crowd when so many people are going for the same role?

This is a fair question. There is plenty of free advice online at the moment but each website has conflicting information on questions like: What makes a good CV? How should I approach interviews? What preparation should I do?  How should I use LinkedIn?

What I generally believe and what I tell my clients is that we don’t invest enough time in developing ourselves or our careers. In a consumer driven the market  we invest in homes, gadgets, holidays, clothes and our social life but do you invest enough time in the one thing that will help your income?

If you are looking for a job at the moment, I know that it’s tough out there. I work with clients and organisations who are also finding it hard especially when research is telling us that there are an average of 20 applications to every vacancy.

Your CV is the starting point with any potential employer and this is where you need to make an impact. With so many applications for one role at the moment your CV has 45 seconds on average with a potential employer who may be looking at your skills.  It is vital then that you get this right but the startling fact is 90% of us could improve our CV’s or need a complete CV makeover!

LinkedIn the business social network site now has nearly 150 million members worldwide and experts believe will be as important as the CV within the next three years, yet many of us still only have the most basic of profiles.

Here are my top five tips for job hunting this month:

1. Look in detail at the role you are applying for. Think about the key skills the business is asking you for and tailor your CV around it.

2. Don’t put your date of birth on your CV. Age discriminations laws have made this no longer necessary and businesses should not ask for it on your application.

3. Think about the 45 second rule. Make an impact with your CV but make it relevant to the reader.

4. If you are not on LinkedIn then you should be. 90% of all recruiting line managers and recruiters are on the site and this is your opportunity to connect with them.

5. Take the time to fill in as much information on your profile as possible. This is an opportunity for you to sell yourself to recruiters and potential employers.

At this point I want to tell you about a new service that Rainsbury Recruitment & Coaching has launched which I believe will really help you with your job search. This is a shameless plug for my business but every client I have worked with has got a role within three months so hopefully you will see it as an investment in your career.

We have now launched a CV writing, LinkedIn Profiles and Interview Boot Camp service, where I work with you on helping you find your next role.  If you would like any more information about the services below please call me on 07772 945870 or email me at mark@rainsburyrecruitment.co.uk .  Our website www.rainsburyrecruitment.com also has information on the other services we provide.

We offer the following packages.

Bronze Package £35 plus VAT
• Free CV Consultation
• New CV

Silver Package £49 plus VAT
• Free CV Consultation
• New CV
• Cover Letter
• Resignation Letter

Gold Package £79 plus VAT
• Free CV Consultation
• New CV
• Cover Letter
• Resignation Letter
• LinkedIn Profile Consultation
• A ten point guide to LinkedIn (the basics)

Platinum Package £169 plus VAT
• Free CV Consultation
• New CV
• Cover Letter
• Resignation Letter
• LinkedIn Profile Consultation
• A ten point guide to LinkedIn (the basics)
• 90 minute interview coaching with mock interview including.

The consultation is free so please send me your CV so we can have a no obligation chat about how it could be improved and then if you think we can help take it from there.  For all Best Of Walsall members until the end of March we are offering a 10% discount on each package.

For further information about careers coaching and recruitment feel free to visit our website at www.rainsburyrecruitment.com“

You can access this free guide by clicking here.

Marketing is a constantly evolving discipline. This is especially true in recent years thanks to the dynamic nature of web-based methods.  The danger of just carrying on doing what you always have done is that it won’t, as you might expect, enable you to maintain your marketing efforts and reap rewards.  What is more likely to occur is that you’ll fall behind your competitors who are probably embracing new methods and therefore, attracting more customers, possibly even some of yours.

If you want to gain the greatest benefit from marketing you need to push your boundaries, leave your comfort zone and try something different.  One of the reasons that companies continue to run the same marketing campaigns month in, month out is, in my experience, fear of the unknown.  For example, they are reluctant to try using LinkedIn, saying that it’s a waste of time and doesn’t work.  The reality is that they either haven’t tried it at all, they’ve only experimented with it or they just don’t know where to start and how to use it to its full potential.  Instead they prefer to continue using telemarketing, mailshots and organising events.  They do this not necessarily because it works but because they have a system that has been in place for a while and therefore requires little management.  In essence it’s comfortable.

As someone who has been in marketing for more years than I care to remember I still have to push myself to break out of my own marketing comfort zone.  It’s not easy for me to accept the offer of presenting at a prestigious event because I’m not a naturally confident person but to turn down such an opportunity would be madness.  I could easily choose to stay in the office rather than walk around an exhibition on my own or attend a networking event full of strangers.  I could ‘play’ at social media rather than invest my time to really get under the skin of it and learn how to gain the best rewards.

I have a rule to constantly challenge myself, seek out new ways of communicating with my audience and always being prepared to try something a little different.  I stand by that rule every day.  It enables me to evolve as a businessperson and it can leave me anxious at times too!  What it also does is to ensure that my own marketing is constantly changing, remaining fresh and most importantly helping my business to attract those all important customers.

Marketing is dynamic, it’s interesting but more than that, it can fundamentally improve the success of your business.  In order to realise its full potential though you have to be prepared to embrace it, to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  That’s when you’ll start to see what marketing can really do for your business.

To find out more about marketing for beginners you can visit our website at  http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner/

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy.  The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Heralded as London’s Greatest Business Event in 2012, we are absolutely delighted to be attending this prestigious exhibition which is expecting thousands of delegates to visit across the 3 days. The good news is that it is entirely free of charge to attend and is especially suited for start ups and growing businesses.

Inspiring guest speakers include Sir Richard Branson, Lord Sugar, Cherie Blair and many other leading business figures. With over 200 companies sharing their advice and exhibiting including Microsoft, Google and Blackberry and hundreds of seminars and workshops it really is going to be an event to remember and we can’t wait!

You can register for the event at http://www.business2012.com/

Picture the ‘marketing weary’ company. They send out the same letters or emails to the same old data week in, week out and the telemarketer has lost all enthusiasm because she’s promoting the same products that she has been for years. The most recent articles on the website are 2 years old and the site looks boring, dated and uninspiring. This company are just churning it out and my guess is that their prospects pick up on this negativity.

The individuals with responsibility for marketing within these businesses tend to demonstrate a very negative attitude towards it. Whenever I suggest a new approach I get the same response ‘marketing doesn’t work’ or ‘I don’t like that idea’.

The companies that I work with who experience the best results from marketing are those who I have to reign in because they want to try every new method, they update their website constantly and they have so many campaigns on the go at any given time that I struggle to keep up with them! In my experience the individuals within these companies who are responsible for marketing tend to actively seek change, are dynamic, forward thinking, highly motivated people who are passionate about their business. They are also the type of companies who experience the best results from their marketing. Why? Because they don’t give up, they want to succeed and are prepared to adapt, experiment and ultimately, remain positive.

If you have a positive approach to marketing the chances are you will see better results than those who don’t.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

There is, however, another reason that websites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming so powerful as a marketing tool and it’s linked to the fundamental principle of marketing. What social media enables a company to do is connect with its target audience. And I don’t mean bombarding them with sales-led tweets and LinkedIn messages, what I mean is engaging in genuine, meaningful two-way communication with your customers.

Marketing is built around the principle of identifying, anticipating and satisfying your customer’s needs profitably*. In order to achieve this a company first needs to develop a thorough understanding of their audience though, only then can they communicate products/services that meet their customer’s needs.

Used correctly, social media helps businesses to build strong links with both their potential and existing customers and this is why professional marketers are so excited! With the touch of a button a company now has the ability to communicate directly with hundreds, even thousands of potential customers. There’s a ‘but’ coming though……

‘But’! In my opinion, the key to using social media sites is engagement. Engagement is the factor that for me separates social media from the majority of other marketing methods. The fact that you can instigate two-way communication with your audience instantaneously is the single most powerful thing that I think the web has brought to marketing.

When it comes to social media the first thing that you need to consider is who you are connecting with. It should be your target audience, your suppliers, your existing customers and key contacts. You could also seek out connections with companies and individuals who offer complementary products/services and are,therefore, possibly talking to the same audience as you.

Engage with your audience, talk to them informally, ask questions, seek views and generally find out about them. Of course you can’t do this with everyone but by simply responding to the odd tweet (I find it’s usually a message that resonates with me) you will be amazed at how easily a conversation can be struck and mutual professional interests identified. And remember that reputation is everything, so always keep your professional business head on when tweeting or messaging on a social media platform because every message that you send represents your business.

Treat social media like a virtual version of the traditional face-to-face networking. You’ll ‘click’ with some people and not others, the same applies in the virtual world. One thing that always amazes me is that I get the best responses to my social media messages when I ask for help, seek advice or make a particularly thought-provoking statement. This is because it’s human nature to help others out and communicate. But how is all of this supporting your marketing effort and better than sales-based messages, I hear you ask! Here’s why:

Some of the best new contacts and opportunities that I have found for my business have come as a direct result of this ‘engagement’ approach to social media. For example, I have been approached by media contacts as a direct result of blog articles that I posted on Facebook and I’ve secured numerous meetings, many of which have resulted in great new opportunities and came off the back of what appeared at the time to be, chatty, informal ‘tweet’ comments . But it’s not just me, this is what social media marketing is all about and why so many businesses are reaping the rewards.

It really is quite simple. By using social media to engage with your audience, by asking advice and opinions, answering questions and sharing your professional viewpoint, you are representing your company in a positive light and demonstrating expertise. Furthermore, the informal conversations that you have through social media are fundamentally breaking down the barrier between your business and your potential customer/supplier/contact. You are humanising your company and making it more accessible to your audience. That is the power of social media, harness it and you can only benefit.

To find out more about social media you can visit our website at http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

*The Chartered Institute of Marketing definition of marketing.

For the marketer this is a dream.  To have an extensive array of instantaneous marketing methods literally in the palm of your hand is the nearest thing to marketing perfection.  The ability to be able reach and interact with your target audience with such potential ease and then monitor the actions that they take as a direct result of your connection is almost as good as it can get.  I should know, I learnt my marketing trade long before mainstream web graced our world and I can categorically tell you that it is a revolution; it has changed my working life!

Unfortunately for the consumer the result isn’t quite as positive.  In this 24/7 technology-based world that we find ourselves in, companies are able to promote to us every single second of the day.  From the moment that we glance at our mobile in the morning to the emails we receive all day, the websites we visit and so on, even during our sleep the phone can buzz with a new email or text message that is selling something to us.

Is it any wonder then that we ask to be unsubscribed from certain emails that we receive?

As a marketer, I do use email as a promotional tool.  However, I prefer to use it mainly to share advice or pertinent information with people who have opted to receive such information from my company.  I don’t use it as a hard hitting sales tool (that’s another blog topic altogether!).  My recipients are ‘warm’ because they know my company and they expect to receive the occasional email from us.

So when someone unsubscribes from receiving my email newsletters I can’t help but feel a little offended.  I shouldn’t though, instead I ought to just accept that the information I share might not be of interest to them anymore.  Maybe the individual concerned has changed roles, they simply have no requirement for the services that my company delivers or they just aren’t interested anymore.

I certainly shouldn’t be taking the fact that they have unsubscribed personally.  Actually these individuals are doing me a favour because they’re helping me to keep my data clean and up-to-date.  At the end of the day surely I’m better off not wasting my time sending someone information if they aren’t ever going to need my services.

You see, the thing with email marketing is it is becoming a bit of dirty word.  It has the potential to end up with the same poor perception that ‘direct mail’ did a few years ago when ‘junk mail’ was the marketing method of choice and hated by the consumer.

Yet where email differs is that because of the ability for the consumer to easily opt out of receiving it, companies have the chance to benefit from highly targeted and therefore, more effective marketing.  Not only that, but by adhering to the wishes of those recipients who, for whatever reason, just don’t want to receive email communication, they are also able to ensure that they don’t alienate their audience.  After all, just because the recipient no longer wishes to receive your monthly eshot doesn’t mean that they aren’t following you on Twitter, reading your blog articles and dare I say it even buying from you!

So in summary, don’t take it personally when recipients unsubscribe, take the positive away instead and remember, when you have your ‘marketing hat’ on your job is to use the methods that are most appropriate for your audience.  So all the individual concerned is doing by unsubscribing is letting you know that email just isn’t the appropriate method for them.

To find out more about email marketing you can visit our website at  http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner/

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy.  The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

In conjunction with the tutors we are preparing a marketing challenge that is designed exclusively for the students to help them understand some of the basic marketing challenges that they will face when running their own venture.

Helping the new generation of entrepreneurs to succeed is something that we at The VMA support wholeheartedly.  We are looking forward to working with the students and helping them to understand what marketing in the real world is like!

Download it for free here

The phrase ‘visit our website for full details’ is in my opinion often used as a lazy excuse for marketing.  Yes absolutely you should direct people to your website for further information about your company and its products/services, that is after all one of its purposes – to act as a shop window for your business.  Notice I said ‘one of its purposes’?

A website should not be considered simply as a replacement to the traditional printed brochure (the old marketing ‘shop window’), yet for many this is exactly how they perceive it.

Your website is a tool that should enable you to attract new customers to buy from you and not simply those people who you know and direct to it.  Your job is to attract potential customers to your website, people who have never heard of your company but might be looking for the products/services that you sell.

This is where the search engine plays a key role. When someone ‘Googles’ a key phrase such as ‘caravanning holidays in Spain’ if you’re a travel agent that sells caravanning holidays in Spain then surely you would want the individual concerned to find your company listed in the search results.  Of course you would but it doesn’t just miraculously happen.  You have to implement a full Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy that is designed specifically to help you to appear on these listings.

SEO strategies involve time, effort and patience.  If you’re not familiar with SEO then its well worth investing some time to gain a basic understanding of it.  The results of introducing a well thought out SEO strategy can have an incredibly positive impact on the traffic that visits your website but more importantly on the quality of the visitors.  After all it’s not how many people visit your website but how many take a positive action such as enquiring about your services or buying from you that counts.  If you need a little advice when it comes to SEO then it might be worth you investing in the services of an expert.  The financial outlay should be worth it.

Don’t forget that there are many marketing methods at your disposal, not just your website.  Don’t just discard the traditional marketing methods in favour of online ones.  Instead align them so that they work in harmony.  For example, if you use direct mail and telemarketing and it works for your company that’s great, don’t stop doing it.  What you should be doing next is linking these methods with your website.  Instead of simply saying ‘visit our website’ (which could in fact only prolong the sales process and potentially increase the risk of a lost sale) why not use the website to its full potential?  You could add a demonstration of the product, a free trial, industry papers and information, case studies, newsletter sign up and so on.

By using this approach to your website rather than using it to simply say ‘this is who we are, this is what we do, contact us’ you are actually adding depth to your proposition, demonstrating your expertise and if you use it to its full, capturing valuable information.

Wouldn’t you also like to know who is visiting your website, what pages they look at and what action they take?  Building a profile of your visitors and understanding where they come from and what words they type to find you, for example is such a powerful marketing tool.  Google Analytics is free and serves this purpose well.  However, you can take this even further by incorporating similar tools on your social media pages and email marketing management.  Over time the result will be that you have a comprehensive understanding of your web audience and their preferences, including; what times of the day are best to issue your emails, what types of social media message they will respond most positively to, which products they are most interested and so on.

We’ve barely touched the surface of the many activities that you should be taking in order to make your website work properly for you, social media being one. Hopefully though you can start to see that simply putting your website ‘live’ and leaving it there is not a sufficient way of attracting new business off it.

You can download a free guide that outlines 6 steps that you can take today to help improve your website called  ‘The VMA Web Marketing Challenge’ by visiting http://www.the-vma.com/free-guides/

To find out more about web marketing you can visit our website at  http://www.the-vma.com/courses/beginner/

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy.  The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

The group is supported by some incredibly experienced marketers and business professionals all happy to share the benefit of their knowledge with you, for free.

So if you have a burning marketing question, are looking for some advice or interested in keeping up-to-date with the latest marketing trends then this is the group for you.

Simply click here to join.

The one mistake that many are making though is that they are putting all of their marketing efforts into web-based methods and completely discarding the more traditional marketing tools.

I have a client who used to send hundreds of letters a month without much success. I suggested that she cut back considerably on the numbers and focus on sending fewer but more personalised letters instead and follow up with a phone call. I also suggested that she use LinkedIn to try and connect with the decision maker and then advise them that she had sent a letter and it was in a brightly coloured envelope as this would encourage them to look out for it. Importantly it also helped to break down the barrier when she put that initial phone call in.

By adapting an old method and incorporating social media, the client concerned noticed a significant difference. Her mailshots were more targeted and decision makers were more receptive to her phone calls as many had already connected with him on LinkedIn and the conversation opened.

Combining traditional marketing methods with new ones works especially well when organising a business event such as a seminar or product launch. Traditionally invites would be sent by post or potential delegates telephoned and spreadsheets used to manage numbers, making the process time consuming and often expensive. Thanks to a host of great online tools (many of which are free such as www.eventbrite.com ) an event can now be dynamically managed and promoted across many platforms including; social media sites, your own company website, blog articles, email invitations and so on. Combine the two approaches and you have the potential to reach a much wider audience whilst spending less money. You’re also simplifying the management process and ultimately generating more interest in your event.

Remember that key to successful marketing is knowing what methods your target audience will react most positively to and not what methods you want to use to communicate to them. If your decision makers don’t sit in front of a computer much why would you expect them to find you on a social media website? Wouldn’t you be better off sending them a letter or picking up the phone and offering to visit them instead?

If you haven’t already embraced all aspects of social media and online marketing I recommend that you familiarise yourself with the various techniques because there is no getting away from the fact that this is the face of marketing for the future, you can’t ignore it. But don’t be too quick to discard the traditional methods. Instead learn how to adapt your old techniques so that they complement the new ones. This will give you greater opportunity to reach your target audience. Take full advantage of this new, comprehensive marketing toolkit but always remember to ensure that you use only the methods that your target audience are most likely to react to.

 Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

I’m going to make a bold statement: If you are a marketer or owner of a small business, content marketing should be the foundation of your online marketing strategy.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing simply refers to the use of content (such as whitepapers, ebooks, buying guides, blogs, articles, free reports, videos, podcasts, infographics, research reports, case studies & customer testimonials, reviews, tools and kits) to steer potential customers to your web site via search engines, educate them, and nurture them until they are ready to either purchase or talk to a sales rep. With the strategic use of pertinent keywords and phrases (long tail keywords), you will be able to get in front of and get noticed by individuals who browse the internet searching for the specific product or service your company provides. But in order to do this, it is absolutely essential that you are consistently producing good, keyword optimized content.

Why is this so important? Why should my business use content for marketing?

Good question. The reason is because the internet is the vehicle through which a growing segment of the population receives its information, identifies potential sources of products and services and makes its purchasing decisions. The majority of searches for products and services begins online.

Now, you as a local marketer are no longer limited to your local area- the whole world is a potential customer thanks to consumers’ growing use of the Internet to shop and buy. And when they shop- particulary if they are buying a service or an expensiver item- they want information about your products or services. And not just your standard information about its features and its prices. They want information about how it makes their lives better, solves their problems… how it performs and compares to other options… what they should consider when purchasing it, etc.

The strategic use of online content has now transcended the role that was once filled by your local yellow pages phone book. Those old phone books are now getting more use as paper weights and booster seats than they are as business directories. And in some cases the information provided online is now replacing information consumers could only get by talking to a sales rep. – which many consumers are hesitant to do (and many hate to do!).

Using content to build your business is no longer an option — it is a necessity. With that in mind, here are some useful guidelines for developing content for your web site. The content should be:

•Compelling. The content should be well-written and engage the reader. It should tell a story, drawing the reader in so he/she will continue.
•Informational. The content should provide useful information to the potential customer.
•Accurate. The content should be factually accurate and
•Easy to understand. The content should be written for a lay person, not a rocket scientist or a doctoral candidate.
•Actionable. The purpose of your web site’s content is to, ultimately, lead the reader to take action — to either communicate with you via e-mail, call customer service or make an online purchase.
Still skeptical about how content can grow a small business? Here are a couple of real world examples to consider:

Tri-State Home Services, an HVAC firm based in Frederick, Maryland, uses content marketing via its online blogs to drive traffic to its web site. By providing useful tips on preventive maintenance and energy-saving options, Tri-State is able to attract potential clients, many of whom later opt to use the company’s services.

Huntington Copper advises small to medium-sized businesses on management strategies and has successfully used content marketing to highlight its areas of expertise with potential clients. The wealth of knowledge demonstrated on their web site gives entrepreneurs confidence that Huntington Copper’s staff can help take their business to the next level.

As you build, expand or re-design your company’s web site, the use of content should be the linchpin of your online marketing strategy.

Find out more about 1st Position Marketing and their range of special offers on content marketing here.

When creating marketing campaigns of any nature one fundamental element is key. Marketing messages should be upbeat, positive and confident (but always truthful). That applies to a social media message, telemarketing, face-to-face networking, in fact any marketing method that you care to name.

In my role as a marketing consultant my job involved preparing marketing campaigns for any number of clients at the same time. Each client had a different business model, different audience and naturally different messages to convey to said audience and it was my job to create those upbeat messages and shout loudly (hypothetically speaking) about their products/services.

Like many marketing and sales people, I’m naturally enthusiastic about the products/services that I promote. It comes relatively easy to me to talk positively about my clients and their business offerings and actively connect my contacts to each other. Introducing clients to my other contacts where I see a potential connection just seems like an obvious way for me to help. That said I would only recommend and connect my contacts with each other if I truly liked, trusted and respected the companies that I was recommending.

What occurred during my time as a marketing consultant did so subconsciously and only later became apparent to me but this is what happened:

One minute I would be talking positively to my client about the next marketing campaign and developing new ideas, the next I would have to politely chase the outstanding invoice. As I worked with many of my clients on a retainer basis and invoiced them monthly, so a cycle began to develop. Each month I knew the obligatory chasing of the payment would start, the standard excuses, the need to chase again the following week and so on until eventually the payment would be received.

What I found that happened was that I lost confidence in the client as a business and actually it made me angry. How on earth could they expect me to be working on their behalf promoting their business, singing their praises and sharing my own valuable contacts with them when they were inherently poor at paying me? And if they were constantly paying me late then my assumption was that they were probably treating all of their suppliers the same too.

Looking back I think the best campaigns that I created tended to be for those clients who always paid me on time. The clients I ‘shouted’ about most loudly and wanted to share with my trusted contacts with were always those who I had positive experiences of working with. Why though? Because I was receiving a good service from them, I had faith in them, I believed that they conducted business fairly. Whereas those who continually gave me poor excuses for late payment effectively muddied the waters of our relationship but importantly from a marketing perspective caused me to develop a negative experience.

Why does this story affect marketing though? Well because as I’ve outlined above, marketing is crucially about sending out positive messages. But marketing is also about reputation and that encompasses developing trust with your audience, establishing credibility and encouraging your valuable contacts to refer business to you.

On the face of it you might have the best business in the world. However, if the underlying confidence in your product/service is flawed in any way, be that a reputation for being a poor payer, giving bad customer service or a terrible track record of dealing with faulty goods, whatever that flaw is, it can, over time develop into a serious negative undercurrent.

Whilst you might assume that flaw goes unnoticed, the reality is that it can have a damaging impact on all of your marketing efforts. My experience of poor paying clients is just one small-scale, personal example. Imagine if this was what every customer or supplier felt though when dealing with my client? You should never underestimate how passionately the consumer feels about a bad experience. By nature we moan, we tell friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances about the bad much more freely than we do about the good experiences and that can result in negative publicity. The trouble is that as a business owner you might not have any idea that this negative undercurrent even exists and the damage that it could be doing to your marketing efforts.

You can also find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Simply tell us why you need our help and you could be the recipient of a free marketing training module of your choice courtesy of The VMA. You’ll also have 2 blog articles written for your company completely free of charge by our good friends at 1st Position Marketing who will also provide you with 2 hours of expert marketing consultancy.

This prize is worth over £400 so don’t miss out.

All you have to do is to tell us why you should win.

The deadline for entries is midnight on Friday 18th November 2011.  We will review all entries after that date and the one that we feel is most deserving will be notified by Friday 25th November 2011.

Simply click here to enter.

So often I find that small business owners just don’t know where to start and one of two things tends to happen. 1. They go at social media full throttle or 2. They do nothing. But why?

We follow what others do. If Jack buys a 48” HD television then I’ll buy one too. The same applies in the business world doesn’t it? If everyone else is raving about social media then surely it must be right for me too? The social media bandwagon is rattling down the track faster than any other marketing tool so naturally everyone’s trying to jump on. Those who don’t want to take the social media journey are more comfortable taking the marketing route in a more traditional form.

Of course once you embrace social media you can often find that it’s fairly addictive and as a result it becomes time consuming too. Before you know it you’ve joined numerous major sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, not to mention more specific, specialised ones for your own industry. Then you try launching your own groups, joining forums and bookmarking sites.

Next you find that blogging is commonplace so you set up a blog and if that’s not enough you’re told that you should have a presence on YouTube, improve your SEO and try some webinars. Oh and you can’t forget the traditional methods, seminars, telemarketing, PR to name a few. That’s probably when you tip over the edge, scream at your PC and panic (unless you’re my point 2 example who hasn’t done anything!).

The golden rule with any marketing is your target audience. Put yourself in their shoes, who are they, what are they daily work routines like – build a picture of them in your mind. This will help you to decide which of the plethora of marketing methods they are most likely to respond most positively to. Also consider your own resources, be realistic, how much time do you have to devote to marketing each week? Be honest with yourself but not too lenient! Can you realistically set aside an hour a day for social media, will you really be able to write three blog articles a week? One other important factor is budget. How much money can you spend on your marketing over the next quarter for example?

Consider using a number of different marketing methods, don’t put all of eggs into one basket. You should incorporate a mixture of online and offline techniques. If all you do is ‘tweet’ how on earth do you expect to reach your target audience if they’re not on Twitter? What if the recipient doesn’t open your email because it ended up in their spam filter?

What I find helps is to examine my target audience, breaking it down into segments, for example, by potential products/services that have different audiences, geographical location, etc. Then I consider all of the marketing methods based on the considerations outlined above. Finally, (and this is what makes a real difference in terms of coping with all the options) I set out the identified marketing activity as a calendar of activity using a simple spreadsheet. Probably planning for 6 months activity is sufficient, anything more than that and you’ll find chances are things will change and you’ll end up re-evaluating anyway. Just to make it a little more manageable I then break the spreadsheet down further and prepare a spreadsheet for the month ahead that is broken down into weekly activity.

This might sound a bit laborious but this exercise enables to you to plan your marketing activity properly and by detailing it on a spreadsheet you will be able to see visually if you’re trying to conduct too much and are being too ambitious. By reviewing each month you can more easily re-align your activity too. But for me, the best thing about this approach is that it removes the panic, I can see what I should be doing on my marketing this week. It ensures that I’m keeping on track, it pushes me to get the work done and it’s manageable!

You can also find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

In this guide we take a look at the traditional marketing methods and then explore some of the new methods before offering you some advice on which ones to use. It’s ideal for anyone new to marketing,

Download it for free here

In this guide we take a look at what QR codes are and how they can help bring traditional marketing to life.

Download it for free here

I’ve just been involved in helping a client of mine to organise an event launching a new product.  During the process of contacting delegates prior the event I found myself in an email conversation with one potential attendee.  He said to me that in all honestly (and he hoped I didn’t mind him being blunt) he wasn’t really that interested in the product being launched, more a case of a networking opportunity and actually he had decided that in truth he had more important things to do on the day in question so wouldn’t be attending.

He went on to tell me that he has learnt over the years the importance of making sure he is very careful with what he says ‘yes’ to and has developed the skill of being open, honest and saying ‘no’ even if it might offend.

In terms of the event, my client had seen this person’s company as a great ‘fit’ and potential prospect.  By my having such an open conversation with the potential delegate it transpires that actually there isn’t much chance of them being the ‘fit’ that we had hoped, the fact that he so openly explained his reasons for not being interested in the product being launched gave me that insight.

For the ‘delegate’ it means we won’t be bothering him with future marketing relating to the product and for my client he can cross the company off his ‘prospect’ list.   Overall that saves both parties future hassle, disappointment and wasting time.  It probably also generates mutual respect too and in a strange way keeps the door open.  Who knows what the future holds and if their situations might change.  It might just be that this initial open, honest exchange might pay off one day with a referral or business opportunity.

However, the other important lesson here is that this guy has the strength of character to say (politely) ‘no thank you’.  It is so refreshing to me.  How often do you want to say ‘no’ to a business event invite, a phone call from someone selling something, a prospective client who you just don’t want to work with or a customer who pushes your good nature too far?  If we were all a little bit more honest and prepared to say ‘no’ on occasion wouldn’t it make all of our working lives that little bit easier?

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Initially we’ll be running a number of marketing workshops at New Career Skills’ training centres so that we can share some of our knowledge with their students.

In addition to running workshops we will also be providing our beginner marketing courses for New Career Skills students.

Clare Tucker, Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy explains:

“This is an exciting opportunity for The VMA and we are absolutely delighted to be working with New Career Skills. They are a progressive organisation with state-of-the-art training facilities and a genuine focus on their students.

What really impresses me with New Career Skills is that they recognise that providing core training on energy and plumbing and subsequently gaining the qualification is only just the beginning of the learning curve for students. Many of them go on to become self employed and are, therefore, faced with the challenge of launching and growing a new business. So in order to succeed they also need to become familiar with a range of business skills, including marketing.

Together what New Career Skills and The Vocational Marketing Academy will achieve is the provision of cost effective marketing training for students that is delivered in an easy to learn format and can be studied at their own pace.

The result, we hope is that students not only leave New Career Skills armed with an exciting new career but that they also have the opportunity to learn how to market their new buiness.”

A marketing family is full of individuals who you can rely on to refer contacts your way and support you professionally. Some will be closer to you than others and more prolific but all have the potential to provide you with new opportunities and valued advice. All you need to do is identify who they are and reciprocate accordingly.

Personally speaking mine is a close-knit marketing family consisting of a small but very rewarding group of individuals. Without exception I have great respect for each of the individuals in my marketing family, two in particular spring to mind as those who inadvertently keep me sane in my ‘business owner’ world.

For me my marketing family is more than a close circle of good introducers, they are reliable, supportive, trusted people and confidants too. Some happen to be my closest friends and ‘blood relatives’, others are contacts that I’ve met during my career who have developed from names on a business card into valued peers.

Your marketing family shouldn’t just be a group of your best introducers. Like your blood relatives they are people who you trust, whose advice you value and importantly who you have a genuine desire to help too. The main difference as I see it is that you can’t choose your family, you’re stuck with it, like it or not! With your marketing family though you can carefully pick who enters and who leaves it. Because you have this luxury you will find that those individuals who you consider close enough to you on a professional level are likely to also be contacts that you have a lot in common with in your business world and who you get on with!

The best relationships should be effortless, the same is true in my marketing family. For example I only met one of my ‘family’ members a few months ago but I immediately felt the connection. We grew up in the same area, went to the same school and have worked in the same industry but we also hit it off!  Since then without any prompting from me that individual has referred some amazing projects my way and introduced me to same brilliant new contacts. I hope he feels that I’m doing my bit to put connections his way and promote him too!

I do also have my ‘extended marketing family’. They consist of some contacts who I am not quite so ‘connected’ with – they are slightly more removed. With some I’m just not quite ready to let them in my ‘inner circle of trust’ yet. I might not hear from others for months but then out of the blue comes the email and a subsequent sharing of contacts, referring leads and supporting each other as if we’d never been out of touch.

The best thing about my marketing family is that I don’t think they realise just how important they are to me! Not because of the business that they pass my way but because without knowing it they are keeping me going with the words of advice and the fact that they’ve been there and they recognise the struggles and frustrations that I face in trying to grow my business. These words of support, the encouragement to carry on and just knowing they’re there, that’s what I value the most from my marketing family.

So take a few minutes out of your day and consider who’s in your marketing family. When you’ve identified them, make sure that you’re doing your bit to be a great ‘family’ member in return because remember the best rewards come to those who don’t give to receive.

You can also find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Of course that’s all changed now and I for one believe that the modern technical age of marketing and the fast pace at which it develops has revolutionised marketing and importantly made it more accessible and affordable. The latest ‘jump on the bandwagon’ method is as you might guess social media, everyone’s doing it and if you’re not you need to. But as social media, email marketing, web and mobile marketing become ingrained as commonplace marketing methods you can guarantee that there’s another technological ‘new kid on the block’ just waiting to become your new friend.

We could look at location based marketing techniques such as Foursquare and Google + but that’s for another day. For me my new favourite marketing toy is QR codes and here’s why:

QR (Quick Response) Codes are based on a simple principle similar to that of bar code scanning. These are the type that you find when shopping; the checkout person scans the bar code and hey presto the price, special offers and other information relating to that specific product are shown on screen. A QR Code works in the same manner; it is essentially an advanced version of the bar code that has the ability to store a considerable amount of data.

“But what’s this got to do with marketing?” I hear you ask! Well potentially an awful lot. You see developers have identified that they can bridge the gap between traditional marketing techniques and new ones with the help of QR Codes.

My guess is that you’ve already seen these strange little squares around on places like billboards and in magazines. Many well-known brands are starting to make use of them to support advertising.

QR Code

Take for example a standard business card. You meet someone at an event, hand them your business card and what is most likely to happen with it? The person will get home armed with dozens of business cards, chuck them in a box (if you’re lucky, the bin if you’re not) and most probably forget about you and lose your contact details. Why do they do this? Because it’s time consuming to manually input these new contact details into their phone or computer and with emails to pick up, deadlines to meet and customers to keep happy it just isn’t ever a priority.

Now consider for a minute that same person again.

The chances are (and continually increasing) that said person is very likely to be carrying a smartphone (such as an iphone, Android or Blackberry) with them. Wouldn’t it be a great advantage if you could ensure that your new contact (who could well be a potential customer) captures your key contact information before they lose your business card or forget about you? And wouldn’t it be even better if you could enhance your basic contact details by also giving them direct access to your social media feeds and exclusive content such as articles, booklets and special offers?

That my friends is where QR Codes become a really interesting marketing concept. A smartphone user simply downloads a QR app to their phone (there are plenty out there, most of them free). Once the app is on their phone whenever they see a QR symbol (incidentally each one is unique) they simply scan the code by holding their phone up to it. Once scanned all of the information held on the QR Code is transferred to the user’s mobile phone.

The QR Code owner has the ability to control what kind of information they wish to share with their audience. Without question basic contact details including web and email addresses will be stored. However, in addition, links to their social media pages are easily shared and a range of targeted materials too. For example you might want to entice readers of a magazine to take advantage of an exclusive reader-only special offer that you’re advertising. So when the reader scans your QR Code that offer is immediately available to them. Or you might want to share some product information – the choices are endless.

The beauty of QR Codes for marketing purposes extends from the offers and contact information that you can share with your audience though. QR Codes are revolutionising many traditional marketing methods, including; advertising, PR, direct mail and events. What they are enabling us to do is encourage our target audience to take immediate action and better still to then monitor the action that they take. For example, if you include an offer as part of an advertising campaign it is now far easier than ever before for you to monitor exactly how many people take up that offer as a direct result of seeing your advert. It’s helping to overcome a hurdle that has been the bane of many marketers’ lives for a long time!

Furthermore, QR Codes are helping to bring methods such as advertising (that until now have been predominately one-way communication tools) to life. This is because now the target audience can interact with the company more easily and ‘get closer’ through tools like social media. Granted they can do that anyway but what the QR Code does is enable and encourage them to act and therefore, connect immediately which reduces the risk of losing them as a potential customer. No longer does the individual they have to wait until they get home (and probably forget) or manually search on their phones for your website, social media pages and special offers. Instead they are there, in front of them in a second with minimal effort required on their part.

As all good marketers will tell you, the best possible outcome from a campaign is to engage with your target audience, encourage them to act as quickly as is possible to buy from you and be able to measure the success of your campaigns, all where possible by keeping marketing spend down. QR Codes bring all of these elements together. Better still they are a method that the smallest company can afford due to their inexpensive nature.

So my advice, explore QR Codes for yourself, consider how they would work to support your own marketing strategy. Single user QR Codes start from around £35 so you have no excuse not to give them a go! At The VMA, we recommend a company called QRky. They offer a simple to manage platform at great prices, what’s more they are really pushing the boundaries and investing in advancing the QR technology. Visit www.getqrky.com to find out all about them.

We have developed a free module explaining in more detail the benefits of QR Codes for marketing and a free guide on the subjects.  You can find them at www.the-vma.com and www.the-vma.com/free-guides .

You can also find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at http://the-vma.com.

Exclusively developed to meet the needs of growing companies, Legrand CRM focuses on software that is user friendly, adaptable and cost effective. It also comes with integration to major office tools including Sage, Quickbooks and Microsoft Office.

Legrand CRM is now looking to extend its UK partner network and will be holding an event for interested parties on Thursday 29th September 2011 at the Ramada Encore Hotel, NEC Birmingham.

Already an established brand in Australia and New Zealand and with customers in the US, Europe and the UK, Legrand CRM is now looking to further extend its reach and become a key player in the UK market. The company is, therefore, seeking to develop a UK partner channel to support this objective.

Legrand CRM is holding an event at the Ramada Encore Hotel at the NEC, Birmingham on Thursday 29th September 2011. This event is ideal for UK based:

•IT consultants and advisors
•Business process consultants
•Software resellers looking to offer additional solutions and find new revenue streams
•Companies and vendors who offer IT based solutions that could benefit from a CRM offering
•IT support and hardware providers who also offer business and IT process advice

Legrand CRM’s founder Alain Legrand will be your host for this half day event. He will give you a full overview of the company, its values, strategic vision and reasons for expanding the operation into the UK. You’ll also gain an insight into Legrand partner channel and how it operates and of course see a demonstration of Legrand CRM.

There will also be a number of one-to-one sessions after lunch giving delegates the option to meet the team on their own and ask us questions specific to their own business.

If your company is looking for an exciting new IT based opportunity that will complement your existing offering then come along to this event. As a Legrand CRM UK partner you’ll benefit from a proven solution with an established international brand and the support that you need to promote, develop and deploy this fantastic CRM solution.

There are only a limited number of spaces available for this event so register quickly in order to avoid disappointment. Simply click here to register.

The pace at which social media is developing is nothing short of amazing.  Just 2-3 years ago hardly anyone had so much as heard of Twitter (it was actually launched back in 2006) and I recall well the day over 6 years ago that a colleague at the time first introduced me to LinkedIn, though it’s only recently that it’s really taken off.

We’re all jumping on the social media bandwagon, it’s fast becoming a part of our lives.  I now tend to hear all of the major news through tweets, it’s almost instantaneous, the second a story breaks someone tweets about it.  

If it’s not Twitter, it’s one of the many news apps that I can download to my iphone that keeps me completely up to date with events of the hour and enables to comment in realtime too.  Yet only a year or so ago I found myself relying on the websites of the key media for breaking news and prior to that it was Sky when it launched its 24/7 news channel.

Information is everywhere, we just can’t escape it anymore.  Some may say it’s a bad thing but when you relay it back to marketing, social media must be the most powerful method to have come our way in years. 

As a marketer who was educated well before the internet (now that makes me feel old!) I find social media a truly amazing tool, it’s refreshing, exciting, welcome, a revolution in fact.  Where many fail when introducing social media into their markeing strategy though is that use it to sell. In my opinion that’s wrong. 

Social media is a networking tool.  As a friend of mine said “you wouldn’t walk into a networking event, meet a stranger and say to them “buy this” would you?” that would be downright rude but that’s what too many people do when using social media as part of their marketing strategy.  Instead you should use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and all of the social media sites to establish and nuture new relationships. 

Now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t promote your products/services through social media, just that you should do it in a polite, considered and informal manner and certainly under no circumstances bombard your audience with blatant sales messages.

Take the time to make conversations with individuals, connect with them, respond and thank people when they help you, ask for help in finding new suppliers and so on. 

That is when you’ll start to find real value in social media.  The moment that you begin to connect with a person is the exact point when they are going to be most likely to mention you to others, retweet your messages, introduce to your their valued contacts and perish the thought, even buy from you!  Because at the end of the day people buy from people, the fact that they’re buying from you in a virtual environment is irrelevant, it’s the establishing of the relationship that counts.

You can find out more about social media at www.the-vma.com

Download it for free here

You see what stayed with me from all of the textbooks that I read, no matter what marketing discipline I was tasked with, what method I used, what industry I worked in or company I worked for was the fundamental approach that you should always apply when formulating a marketing strategy or campaign. So I want to ensure that anyone new to marketing can understand these basic principles too because once you have them you will be equipped with the skills that will help you to demystify the rest of marketing.

The session went down well! So I thought I’d share with you too!

Step 1 – Audience

The first thing that you need to consider is your target audience. Who are you trying to communicate with? If for example you are targeting companies you might need to consider:

• What size business they are (ie how many people do they employ or their annual turnover)?

• Where are they located (are you targeting just local companies, national or international)?

• What industry do they operate in (for example financial services, manufacturing etc)?

• Who is the person within the company who is most likely to make the decision to buy your products/services (the Managing Director, the IT Director or the Financial Director for example)?

•What is their job title or area of responsibility?

• Do you have the full postal address, phone number and web address of each company?

• Do you have a direct email address for the decision maker?

• Is your data up to date?

The more defined your target audience is, the easier it will for you to develop marketing messages that they can relate to. This is key because if the recipient feels that you really do understand their needs and can help to resolve them with your products/services, the more likely that they will be to buy from you. And don’t forget your existing customers!

Step 2 – Messages

What messages are you looking to convey with your target audience? For example, it could be the launch of a new product or service. Consider what the needs of your target audience are and how your products/services can address those needs, then develop your marketing messages.

Try to support your messages with evidence of success such as case studies and testimonials from existing customers. And remember there might be different messages and different target audiences for different campaigns.

Step 3 – Methods

What type of marketing methods will you be using? For example; public relations, social networking, advertising, email or your website. The most effective strategies use a number of different methods but always methods that are appropriate to the identified target audience for the campaign.

This helps to spread the risk of the audience not noticing the message. An email might be deleted or not even be read but the same recipient might read the message on his/her Twitter page or open the letter you send on the same subject instead.

Sometimes the marketing methods to use are fairly easy to decide upon. For example a mass advertising campaign might simply be too expensive, or you might want complete control over exactly who you choose to invite to an event, in which case you might not want to publicise it in a newspaper or magazine but instead send printed invitations and follow up with a phone call.

Step 4 – Objectives

You should set yourself some formal objectives as part of your marketing strategy. Your objectives should be SMART. That is specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and timely.

For example: ‘We want to generate 10 new qualified leads per month as a direct result of implementing our marketing strategy for 2011/12.’ Or:

‘We want to generate £5,000 worth of new business by 30th September as a result of running this new product launch campaign.’
You should set SMART objectives for your overall marketing strategy and individual campaigns.

Step 5 – Timescales

You should set some realistic timescales for your overall marketing strategy and each individual campaign contained within it. A marketing strategy should be developed for a minimum period of 12 months.

Different methods will affect the amount of time that you need to plan prior to launch. For example if you are holding an event you will need to give your potential delegates at least 6 weeks notice which means printing invitations around 8 weeks before the actual event and therefore, beginning the overall planning of it at least 3 months in advance.

Step 6 – Budget

You should also set a budget for your campaign. It might be that you have to work with a budget that you’re given. If not you should set yourself one. This will help you to ensure that you don’t end up over spending on the campaign.

You might find that acquiring some quotes from potential suppliers (such as designers and printers) will help you to work out the expected costs of the campaign.

It is suggested that 2-10% of revenue should be set aside as a marketing budget but this varies depending on many factors such as the industry and growth plans of the company.

To finish a word about managing your campaigns

When running marketing campaigns it is very easy to lose focus once the campaign has launched.  This is because most of the hard work takes place during the planning and preparation of the campaign. So once that hard work has occurred and the campaign is launched, it becomes very easy to feel that the work is done. Here are 5 simple steps that you can take to help you manage your marketing campaigns effectively:

1. Take ownership
2. Conduct regular updates with your team (including any marketing suppliers)
3. Be realistic about your expectations
4. Track all leads
5. Follow up all leads and diarise follow up of potential future ‘pipeline’ leads

So there you go my 6 steps to developing a marketing strategy. Try adopting these techniques and you will begin to start approaching your marketing in a methodical, planned and carefully considered way. Learning about the various marketing techniques can follow.

I also have a full Powerpoint version of this article which explains the steps visually.  If you would like a copy of it simply drop me a line at hello@the-vma.com.  Alternatively you can download a free guide on the subject at www.the-vma.com/free-guides .

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at http://the-vma.com.

Based in North Carolina, 1st Position Marketing specialises in developing marketing and branding strategies for growing businesses with a key focus on inbound marketing. They achieve this by designing and implementing marketing systems that are simple and effective, easy to use, and save the business owner’s time and money.

For some great free marketing tools visit their website at www.1stpositionmarketing.com.

The VMA and 1st Position Marketing will be working together to offer our respective customers a complete marketing consultancy and training solution.

Take a step back and review what marketing methods you’ve been using for the past few years.  What you’ll probably find is that you are repeating the same campaigns and relying on the same marketing methods over and over again.

As the saying goes “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” and that’s completely true of marketing.  However, what if all you’ve been doing is simply repeating campaigns that aren’t actually generating any results?

“No” I hear you say,”that would be daft, running campaigns that aren’t working, why would anyone do that?”  Unfortunately it’s something I come across all of the time and here’s my view on why it happens.

The hardest and most time consuming element of any marketing campaign is the planning and preparation of it.  The process of devising the actual campaign, finding the right audience, acquiring the data, designing any promotional materials and working with marketing suppliers, is often drawn-out and frustrating.

The actual process of issuing the campaign to the identified target audience is, in fact, relatively quick and easy to do.  Often it simply involves pressing ‘send’, putting the mailers in the post, making the calls or delivering that all important presentation.

So when you come to plan your next campaign, the tendency all too often is to look back at campaigns that you’ve already done and simply re-issue them to the same old data.  You’re left patting yourself on the back for delivering another marketing campaign, ticking it off your ‘to do list’ and able to revert your focus back to ‘important stuff’ again.

It happens all the time.  Granted it’s not necessarily a conscious decision and I too with all my years of marketing experience have fallen into this very trap!  Why?  Because it’s the easy option and for some strange reason it feels safe, probably because you don’t feel the uncertainty that you do when trying a new marketing method.

You subconsciously lead yourself to believe that this email you’ve been sending out to the same 5000 people for the past 12 months, month in month out, promoting exactly the same message, works.  You shy away from reviewing the actual statistics because you know that in reality it’s not actually generating any interest or potential leads and you just can’t bring yourself to review if you’ve actually sold anything as a direct result of this campaign because you know the answer without looking.

It’s like that pair of jeans you wear all the time because they fit you a treat, they’re lovely and comfortable and okay they might be fraying around the edges and fading to a lighter shade of blue but you just can’t bring yourself to wear them less or even throw them away and replace with a new pair.  Perish the thought of having to invest time into going shopping, trying on endless different styles, none of them looking as good on you as the old ones and then having to fork out money for them too.

When it comes to marketing, my advice is don’t be afraid to embrace different methods, try them out, go on have a go, you can do it!  The great news is that some of the most popular marketing methods these days are free or relatively inexpensive, they simply involve a leap of faith and a commitment of time.  I’m talking of course about social media, web marketing, mobile marketing and email marketing.  That said, other more traditional marketing methods like networking, PR, joint marketing, hosting seminars, relationship building and referrals still have a valid place in any marketing strategy too.

Referring back to that old pair of jeans, when it comes to marketing try on something new, a different style even, buy from somewhere different and accept that you do sometimes have to pay more for better quality.  It might feel like a risk but it could turn out to be the best decision that you make.  That new pair of jeans could fit you better than the old ones ever did and be far more rewarding!

To find out more about marketing for beginners and the many marketing methods that you can use visit our website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy.  The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online.  Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Their story struck a chord with us, here is a family trying to make a living in very difficult times. They have the right attitude and were clearly passionate about their business, hard working and just trying to succeed.  All they lacked was a little guidance on marketing and business strategy.

It’s something so many of us can relate to and here at The Vocational Marketing Academy we just wanted to help in a small way.  We’ve provided the Welcome Traveller Inn in with access to a module of their choice free of charge. 

If you’re passing Tiers Cross or planning a visit to Haverfordwest area look them up at www.welcometravellerinn.co.uk, the food looks lovely and Sarah and her family are  sure to give you a warm welcome.

We are looking for businesses and organisations who are keen to offer their own customers added value by offering The Vocational Marketing Academy’s courses.

Our Partner Programme will be ideal for any company, large or small, that supports start up or growing businesses or who helps individuals to improve their prospects of finding a new job or learning new skills.

We will work with potential VMA Partners on an individual basis to develop the best options for their business model and customers.

If you’re interested in finding out more about The Vocational Marketing Academy Partner Programme please click here.

Simply visit the itunes store at http://www.apple.com/itunes/ and search for The Vocational Marketing Academy under the podcasts section.  From there you can download the current series of podcasts and subscribe to receive future ones from us.  All completely free of charge.

Enjoy!

The site has been developed to ensure that visitors to it can navigate easily and find the information that they are looking for.  We hope you like it!

When your company image doesn’t accurately reflect your business DNA you should seriously consider a rebrand!   This can occur for a number of reasons but a key one is that your business may have changed significantly since the original design was created.  Major developments can affect your brand such as mergers, the launch of new services or even downsizing.  Generally speaking in these instances it is immediately obvious that the existing brand needs to be reinvigorated or a new one developed.  However, there is a less obvious but more common reason for your brand becoming dated.

In my experience many businesses tend to invest very little time in the constant development of their brand.  Instead they only update it when prompted by a key business change (such as my examples above).  If there isn’t a business critical reason to evaluate and update the brand it is rarely given priority.  You really must incorporate an ongoing, regular update of your brand into your marketing strategy though.

One issue that I hear frequently from companies is that brand development is expensive and not a priority so they shy away from it.  This will only have a longer-term negative effect on the businesses. The longer you leave it the more dated it will become consequently you will be left with a much larger, more expensive project when you finally face up to addressing it!

So how can you keep the costs of developing a brand right down?

1. Often the most subtle of changes can make all the difference.  For example frequently adding new copy on to a website or the introduction of a slight change of colour scheme.  This approach will help drive more traffic to your site , keep your messaging and image up to date and help ensure that your brand continues to evolve.  Apply this technique across all of your marketing materials and it will help you to avoid the cost of a complete rebrand too!

2. If you do need a complete rebrand I strongly advise you to invite at least 3 design agencies to quote for the project. This applies even if you already use a trusted designer.  Informing your incumbent designer that you are putting the work out to tender may well encourage them to provide you with a more favourable quote!  You might even find that this process introduces you to a new agency or consultant with a fresh perspective on your brand.

3. When you have selected your chosen designer or agency invest the time with them to brief them properly on your requirements.  If possible plan your envisaged design needs out for the forthcoming quarter and share those too.  You can then work with your appointed agency to develop the core marketing materials that you are likely to need for the immediate future.  This will help identify possible work that can be designed for a number of projects.  For example if you plan on focussing your direct marketing on an email based campaign but are targeting a number of different audiences, your designer can prepare one master email template for you, all you have to do is change the copy for each different market.  The result is a lower cost of design!

4. Spend time with your designer, consider them a genuine extension to your team, brief them properly and ensure they have a thorough understanding of your business.  Do this and you should find that they are better equipped to offer advice to you and develop a brand that is right for your business objectives, audiences and most importantly your budget!

You can also find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

When was the last time that you stood back and reviewed your brand?Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, in all honesty does your company image accurately reflect the quality of service that you provide and is it appropriate for your target audience.If not then it’s time for a change.

Your brand is far more than just a logo.It incorporates everything relating to the image that your company is looking to achieve.This includes your logo but also incorporates the quality of your marketing materials, where you operate from, the manner in which you deliver your product or service and the people who you employee.All of these elements combine to give an impression to the outside world of your company and the quality of its service.So you must make sure that all of these components of your brand give the same consistent message, otherwise you risk confusing your potential customers.

It is essential that your company brand is appropriate for your target audience.You must ensure that your logo and marketing materials are of a quality and image that is appropriate for the audience that you are looking to attract. Consider Argos, the company focuses on competitive pricing and value for money combined with a convenience-based service.Buy a pair of earrings from Argos and you might not even see them before you buy, you certainly don’t expect a personal service or quality of product that you would expect from Tiffany & Co for example.So it’s appropriate for Argos to develop a brand that reflects this value market whilst Tiffany & Co must ensure that their brand clearly portrays the same quality as its exclusive jewellery.

There is nothing wrong in developing a value based brand but it must be because you are delivering a value based product.My advice is if you are unsure of the perception that your own brand portrays, then conduct some form of research.Find out from your existing customers and suppliers how they perceive your company and what your brand says to them and act on the feedback.

If upon reflection you find that your brand is not suitable for your target audience, inconsistent or simply in need of a revamp then don’t panic.Many companies that I meet dread the thought of a ‘rebrand’, it fills them with fear of escalating costs and an administrative nightmare.It doesn’t have to be either of these.Managed properly a company rebrand can be a relatively stress-free, inexpensive exercise and actually a very satisfying project, you just need careful planning, a vision and a realistic budget.

The good news is that you can introduce a high quality brand without blowing your marketing budget!

You can  find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

]]> http://www.the-vma.com/time-to-take-a-look-in-the-mirror-at-your-brand/feed/ 0 http://www.the-vma.com/business-owner-seeks-new-client-must-be-happy-to-share/ http://www.the-vma.com/business-owner-seeks-new-client-must-be-happy-to-share/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:19:00 +0000 admin_vma /Blog/post/Business-owner-seeks-new-client-must-be-happy-to-share.aspx  

When it comes to business to business marketing, particularly for those of us in the SME space, relationships really do count. Love or hate networking, you really should include it as a key marketing tool.  But why?

The simple fact is that people buy from people. Therefore, the wider that your network of connections is, the greater your referral business will be. It’s the ripple effect; if you provide a great service for a client then they will recommend you to their contacts and so on. However, building a network isn’t as easy as might think.

It takes time and effort and you have to have 100% confidence that you can deliver a great product/service, otherwise it could all backfire on you. In the same way that good service can have a positive effect on building your referrals, one negative experience can seriously damage your reputation and erode all of your hard work to build those important new connections.

The good news is that networking can deliver immediate results and provides a cost effective marketing tool. From my own experience, I find that the sales cycle can often be much shorter when leads are acquired through networking.  Attending just one event can generate that golden nugget of a new prospect that turns into a customer far more quickly than other methods.

The reason for this is that you have met someone who already acknowledges a need. You do not have to spend time trying to convince them that they require your product/service as you usually do with ‘cold’ marketing such as direct mail. Secondly, you have already made a ‘connection’ with that person, so your barriers have been removed. For example, only this week I secured a new client not because they were desperately in need of my services but because they liked me and my approach and I came recommended. It is purely for these reasons they have engaged me, I simply need to ensure that I meet their expectations now!

Networking comes in many forms; it isn’t just the pre-organised ‘networking event’ that so many fear or hate. Informal networking is just as powerful. Meeting people in your building, making new contacts at meetings, socialising, friends and family, they are all forms of networking. It’s also about giving to receive. I go out of my way to proactively connect my clients, suppliers and trusted contacts to each other. I sing their praises to others and even have a page on my website specifically for this purpose. There’s nothing in it for me but my contacts appreciate that I am promoting them and driving opportunities their way, in return I hope they’ll do the same for me!

So give networking a go, the traditional face to face networking that is. Combine it with building your online network and you will have developed one very powerful, cost effective marketing tool.

You can  find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

When looking to build your brand one of the areas that you should review is your business address.If you’re running a professional business from a home address for example, are you giving the right impression to your customers and prospects?  Could your residential address and mobile answering service be putting off potential clients?

You don’t necessarily need to move to a physical office address in order to give a more professional image.  There is another option which will be especially appealing to home based companies who are eager to build a strong, professional imagine but are not yet able to justify the cost of a physical five-day-a-week office.  It’s the virtual office.

A virtual office?  Well not really, it’s a real office in a real building with real people and it really does cost as little as £4.50 a day. The main difference between the virtual office and the traditional physical office is flexibility and affordability.

Virtual offices are the perfect solution for home based, owner managed businesses or companies needing a small regional office.  They provide the perfect route for a risk free, gradual transition from a residential address to that of an established, commercial entity.

The beauty of the virtual office is flexibility allowing you the freedom to choose how and when you work.  Virtual office providers generally offer a variety of packages from a just a business address and call answering service to use of hot desks other facilities like meeting rooms.  This enables growing companies to benefit from the best of both worlds – completely virtual or a low cost presence in a building on an ad hoc basis.

There are many virtual office providers but I would recommend using a local one as this opens up future options for you as your business grows.

If you’re a home based company and you need a professional image, my suggestion is go for a virtual office.  It’s a perfect, cost effective way to start the gradual transition from home to office and it will make a real difference to improving your brand.

To find out more about building a brand on a budget email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com or visit our website at www.the-vma.com.

You can find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

One of the most frequent comments that I hear when talking to businesses about their marketing problems is this:‘My marketing isn’t delivering enough.’   Now that’s a pretty broad statement to make.  There are any number of reasons that a company might feel that their marketing isn’t delivering but one of the most common is simply that they are expecting far too much.

First of all I would be looking to ascertain exactly how a company is measuring the success (or failure) of their marketing campaigns.  All too often I find that marketing isn’t actually being measured, instead it seems to be  a case of putting all of the effort into actually pushing the material out the door but not actually tracking results.  Not only is that a waste of time, resource and valuable funds, it also makes the entire marketing exercise pointless.  You must measure the results of each campaign, that’s the only way of tracking where your leads are coming from and improving the chances of success from your marketing activity.

Another area that I would explore is exactly what the business objectives for the company are.  You have to have these in place in order to establish exactly how much marketing activity you will require over the course of a year.  If you’re expecting to generate 10 new customers each month and all you are doing is attending the odd networking event combined with issuing say 20 prospecting letters at a time then you simply won’t achieve the 10 customers you need each month.

The general rule of thumb is to expect a 1 – 2%  response rate as a direct result of any marketing campaign, that’s not a lot!  Either your objectives are unrealistic or you will need to spend more on your marketing to meet them.

I would also want to know what kind of timescales the company works to with regard marketing activity. There seems to be a common misconception that a website can be up and running in hours or that an event can be organised in days and achieve good results.

Whilst there are tools out there that will help you get a basic website up and running in hours, you have to question the quality of the image that a template based website will project to your target audience.  Fine for some companies but if you are targeting professional businesses you have to ensure that your own brand, including your website is of equal quality.

And yes you can pull off an event in a relatively short space of time but it’s unlikely that it will bring the same results as one that has been carefully planned to ensure the best possible return.  When it comes to planning your campaigns, from concept to delivery, I generally suggest that whatever timeframe you have in mind you should double it, then you’re hitting a realistic zone!

So my advice this month, keep it realistic, don’t set your marketing expectations too high!

To find out more about achieveable marketing email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com or visit our website at www.the-vma.com.

You can find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

One of the concerns that many smaller businesses have when they start marketing for the first time is the cost.There seems to be a perspective that marketing is an incredibly expensive exercise.  There is no doubt that it can be, certainly in the corporate world the marketing budget can be mind blowing.

But you don’t have to spend very much on your marketing to start reaping the rewards.  It’s more a case of understanding how to develop a cost effective marketing strategy that has the best possible chance of delivering results.  Furthermore, there are some great ways of starting to get your message out there and develop your brand that are free or cost very little.  So here are a few of them:

1.     Revisit all of your existing contacts, who do you know who might need your product/services or has connections that might be interest to you?   Think about who can build possible alliances with.  Are there companies you know of who offer complementary services to yours that you can join forces with for a joint marketing effort?  A joint approach can enable you to keep costs down whilst increasing the potential to reach a wider audience and deliver stronger messages.

2.    Attend some networking events.  Whether you prefer regular weekly meetings or more ad-hoc networking it doesn’t matter.  The most important thing to remember is that people buy from people.  Networking costs vary depending on the group that you join.

3.    Look at the image of your company and its brand.  Does it accurately reflect the market that you are trying to target?  If you’re home based and targeting professional companies you could quickly improve your image by using a business address.  You can opt for just a business address or take advantage of professional call answering, access to meeting rooms and hot desking from as little as £1.50 per day (+VAT).  It’s a great, cost effective way to improve the image of your company.

4.    Get yourself online.  Start working on increasing your company’s presence on the web by driving more traffic to it.  There are a number of simple techniques that will bring your Google ranking right up.  Try some of the social networking sites such as Twitter, ecadamey, Linkedin and Facebook.  They are growing rapidly and becoming a great way for businesses to connect with each other.  Best of all they’re free!

5.  Take advantage of free marketing workshops.  There are plenty of marketers out there offering you the benefit of our experience, so why not take it!  You can start by downloading our free ‘traditional v new marketing’ module simply by visiting www.the-vma.com!

So there you go, 5 marketing tips that will cost you less a night out!

You can  find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Here’s the thing, if you have responsibility for marketing within your business but you’re not a marketing specialist and it’s not your full time role, you may well be wondering right now how you can balance the need to increase your activity but without spending!

Don’t panic.  There are some very simple changes that a business, even one with limited marketing experience and a small budget, can make immediately and these changes will help you to kick start your marketing.

So I have a challenge for all of you out there who need to get their marketing off the ground quickly but cost effectively.  If you take me up on it, in just 24 hours you’ll start realising the rewards.

First things first, block a day out in your diary over the next couple of weeks and make sure you keep it 100% free.  If you can’t find the time in the week, put a Saturday or Sunday aside, I promise you it will be worth it.

Right then you’ve blocked the day out, here’s what you’re going to do with it:

1.    Review your customer base.  It’s a proven fact that it’s far easier to encourage your existing customers to buy more from you than it is to find new ones.  Split them into 3 main categories:

a.       Your top customers (by spend, relationships and those who pay on time).

b.      The customers who don’t buy from you very often or spend very little.

c.       The rest should fall into the middle ground.  They are neither your top nor bottom customers.

2.    Ask yourself what new products or services can you communicate to them?  How frequently you should be sharing information with them about what you do and what methods will be best suited to them, email, newsletter, seminars and so on.  What special offers can you pass to them to encourage them to repeat buy.  Is there anything you can offer your top customers over and above the rest and what can you do to encourage the smaller ones to spend more with you.

3.    Now turn to your prospective customers.  First of all you need to establish who you want to target.  So look at your products or services and who buys them.  Don’t keep it broad though, segment your audience as much as possible.  Build a picture in your mind of your ideal customer.  Consider what type of business they are, geographical location, number of employees, turnover and who within the business will be responsible to make a decision to buy your product.

4.    Next decide how to find that data.  Do you already have it, if so you need to make sure it’s clean and up to date.  If not, look at online data providers such as www.marketingfile.com.

5.    Now you need to plan your activity.  So ask yourself what can you afford to spend on marketing and how much time can you dedicate to it?  Do you have any existing material that you can update?  What is going to be the most convenient and cost effective method for you to reach your target audience?  Don’t just opt for emails because they’re quick and cheap if your potential recipient rarely sits in front of a computer.

        I’m a big fan of traditional letters, newsletters and hard copy material.  They land on a desk and have a good chance of being picked up again rather than an email that is deleted straight away.

6.     Make sure you set up a basic spreadsheet to start monitoring where your business comes from.  You need to know how your new customers are finding out about you.  Is it from your website, mailshots, emails or networking?  Get in to habit of asking the question every time and recording it.  It’s easy then to evaluate which marketing methods work best for you.

7.    Now you’ve looked at your existing customers, identified your target markets, worked out the best methods to use and set up a measurement tool.  All that’s left is to commit your ideas it to paper.  Prepare a simple spreadsheet that covers the activity you will carry out over the next 6 – 12 months for your customers and your prospects and outline the costs.  Print if of, put it in front of your PC and make sure you stick to it!

If you do all of that in one day and you stick to the schedule that you prepare making sure that you are pushing campaigns out regularly to the right audience, you are on your way to successful marketing!

I’d love to hear from you if you try it, let me know how you get on.  To find out more about my 24 hour marketing challenge, email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com .

You can  find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Have you recently stopped and asked yourself if you are you doing everything you can to retain your customers? In the mad panic to find new business at the moment we can so easily lose sight of our customers. But ignore them at your peril. Quite simply without your customers you have no business.

So what can you do to help keep those most precious of assets?

For starters you can put yourself in their shoes. Picture them in their working environment going about their daily business routine. Who are they? What role do they have? What difficulties are they facing and most importantly what can you do to help them out of those difficulties?

As a business you should be adapting to the ever-changing needs of your customer. It should never be a case of what you want to sell or how you want to operate. Instead it’s about developing your products or services to meet and indeed exceed the needs of your customers. You must be flexible and you must communicate with them. Find out what they would like from you.

For example, as a marketing company, I know that my clients need my help now more than ever and they are aware of how vital it is to remain proactive with their marketing activity. The trouble is they are struggling with cash flow at so they can’t justify increasing their marketing budgets but they still want to utilise marketing. I have listened to them and in response to their feedback I have now launched a a range of cost effective online marketing modules that enables my customers to learn about marketing without paying a fortune for doing so. The result is that my clients get the marketing advice that they’ve asked me for at the right price.  This enables them to keep expenditure down but increase marketing activity.

Every business owner should be looking at their product/service portfolio now and evaluating what they can do to help their own customers. Consider conducting some research. Ask them what they are struggling with and how you can adapt your services to meet the challenges that they are currently facing.

Find ways of adding value to your offering. Can you give your customers exclusive previews, access to customer only web pages, send them newsletters giving help and advice or even reducing prices? Encourage your customers to generate referrals for you. If they are pleased with the service then let them tell others on your behalf. In return why not show them your appreciation? Even just sending them a good bottle of wine or some flowers will make such a difference. It’s the simple touches that help your customers feel valued and cared for.

Whatever you do make sure you do it with your customer in mind. Remember they are the lifeblood of your business or your job and you don’t want to become another casualty of the recession simply because you overlooked your customer. To find out more about retaining your customers email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com or visit our website www.the-vma.com .

You can  find out more about marketing for beginners and the techniques that you can use by visiting my company website at www.the-vma.com.

Clare Tucker is the Managing Director of The Vocational Marketing Academy. The Vocational Marketing Academy specialises in teaching the basics of marketing through a range of short courses that are delivered online. Prices start at just £30 + VAT per module. Full details are available at www.the-vma.com.

Ever the optimist and as someone who enjoys a challenge, I remain of the opinion that young businesses can grow in this difficult climate and reap the rewards.  We just need to be wise in the decisions that we make and careful where we spend.

You must invest some of your resources into marketing activity.  Marketing is vital to the success of any company but right now you need it just to stand still.  Take heart though, it doesn’t have to be a costly exercise, there is plenty that can be done on the smallest budget.

Plan ahead.  This will help you manage expected marketing costs and reduce your outlay on branded materials.

For example, you will be able to advise your agency of the planned activity.  Because you know that you intend to send a series of postcards out during the course of the year, you can instruct your agency to design one basic concept that can be used as a template for the other postcards.  This will save you the cost of paying for a brand new design for each campaign and also ensure consistency.

Build a network of alliance partners.  Working with other companies who offer services that naturally complement your own is a great way to keep your marketing spend down.  It will enable both companies to pool their resources and split costs on marketing activity for mutual benefit.

This approach often enables companies to enter into marketing activities that may have otherwise been out of reach.  For example, you may wish to buy a stand at a key exhibition.  On your own it would have been too expensive but splitting the cost 50/50 with an alliance partner will enable you to secure a stand.

Get yourself out there.  Building a strong network of contacts is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal so use it.  Whether you choose to attend regular networking meetings or opt for a more informal approach, it doesn’t matter too much.  Just putting yourself out there and meeting people is worth its weight in gold.  Remember, people buy from people.

Look out for offers.  There are some great opportunities to benefit from reduced costs at the moment.  Advertising, which is so often written off as an expensive option, is now more affordable than ever.

Keep it targeted.  Always consider your target audience and ensure that your marketing campaigns are aimed at them.  But keep an eye on the associated costs.  I still regularly issue business letters in preference to glossy flyers.  A professionally written letter, signed by hand and written 100% with the recipient in mind is such a powerful tool and it’s a lot less expensive than producing a flyer.

If you would like to find out more about marketing on a budget email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com or visit my website www.the-vma.com.

Many of us use the New Year as the excuse that we need to consider our careers.  It’s often the time that anyone with ambitions to start their own business actually takes the plunge.  But there is no denying the fact that this year it is going to be different.  So if you are determined not to let the words ‘recession’ and ‘economic downturn’ stop you and you remain adamant that 2010 is the year to set up that business you’ve dreamed of.  Or if you have recently launched a new company, here are a few things you might want to consider:

My advice to you is hang in there, don’t give up!  At least explore all the options first.  Arguably it is the worst possible time to set up a new venture but you have to look on the bright side.  As a business owner you are in control and at least you won’t have to worry about the fear of redundancy!

In light of these unprecedented times, you will need to re-evaluate your business idea though.  It may well be that the best option for you is to remain in your current job until the economy becomes more stable.  However, your business idea might just be something that could really thrive at the moment.  Solicitors and Insolvency Practitioners are perfect examples.  Alternatively you may have an idea that isn’t going to be heavily affected by the downturn.

So what can you do if yours is a young business or if you have that burning ambition to be your own boss?

1. Most importantly you must have a business and marketing plan.  You need to know where you are now and where you want to be.  Then you can devise a strategy that will enable you to plan your route forward so that you can achieve those objectives.

One of the key mistakes that I encounter is a tendency for business owners to go off on too many tangents.  They take every opportunity that is presented to them and subsequently lose focus on the core business.  This is why preparing business and marketing plans are so important.  It will help you stay on target and keep the costs within budget.

2. Find out what resources are available for you to use.  Despite everything that is currently happening, you can still find free help and advice from Business Link and many other organisations, you just need to look for it.

3. Assess your business efficiencies.  You need to know the areas of your business that are not running as effectively as they could be.  If you run an owner-managed business you are probably trying to wear several different hats each day, rather than concentrating on the core service that you provide.

There will always be room for improvement.   Whether it’s looking at your systems or simply finding ways of getting some help with aspects of the business that you can’t justify spending time on or don’t enjoy.  You have to ask why you are spending days on administration when you should be out there delivering your service or driving your business forward.

4. Make sure that you have a clear picture of your cash flow.  It is vital that you know how much you are making each month and how much you are spending.  You should prepare a cash flow forecast that takes you through a period of at least 12 months.  Then you need to assess how you actually performed financially against the forecast on a monthly basis.

The financial aspects of your business are absolutely imperative.  You can’t just ignore the figures and shy away from evaluating them.  You should also make sure that you have a formal debt recovery process in place.  Every penny that is owed to you must be chased up.

Another key financial consideration is your taxation responsibilities.  If you are in any doubt at all or like me just know that this is not strength, then appoint a good accountant.  It will take the burden away not to mention the risk of missing important deadlines and subsequently being fined by the Inland Revenue.

5. And finally, make your bank manager your new best friend!

If you have any questions about any of the topics that I have covered here email me at clare.tucker@the-vma.com or visit our website at www.the-vma.com.

The trouble is that when the economy slows many companies fall in to the trap of pulling all marketing spend because it is not seen as essential to the survival of the business.  Not true.  You need to be more proactive in your marketing activity in a difficult climate because it will help your company survive.

There is a common view that marketing is incredibly costly and does not easily demonstrate return on investment. That opinion often influences decisions to pull activity.  There is no denying that marketing activity can at times be expensive. However, it is usually when a company does not apply some basic marketing principles that it blows the budget and suffers from lack of return.

It is an issue that I come across frequently when talking to my clients and prospects.  All too often they tell me that me that they are reluctant to spend on marketing because it has not worked for them before.  This usually comes down to the fact that they simply have not stuck to budgets, monitored campaigns or defined their target audiences properly.  The other mistake that occurs is being over ambitious with regard to the setting of timescales and objectives.  You must keep it realistic.

Marketing does not have to be a costly exercise.  It can work on the smallest scale if you use it properly.  I regularly work with small businesses that have the most limited of marketing budgets available.   We still manage to churn out successful campaigns that deliver results and help them grow in line with their business objectives.

The key to marketing is knowing how to apply it correctly and this is where businesses who do not have a marketing resource can struggle.  They simply do not plan and measure activity properly and fail to target effectively.  The result can be a lot of money wasted on campaigns that do not work and because they have no tools in place to monitor success rates they cannot measure return.  The other extreme is that companies fear marketing so much that they simply don’t bother doing any.

You need to make your marketing strategy as effective and efficient as possible.  Apply the principles of theoretical marketing with your businesses objectives, resource and budget and you will be well on your way.

So to help you get started here are my five key tips to help you remain proactive and improve the efficiency of your marketing activity:

1. Prepare a marketing plan that takes your business through twelve month’s activity and covers both new lead generation and customer retention.
2. Ensure that your brand is consistent.  From your promotional material such as websites, mailers and brochures all the way through to your business stationery, everything that you issue must have a consistent look and feel.  The result is carefully planned design and that will reduce your outlay on design costs.
3. Segment your market.   The most effective campaigns are those where the target audience has been successfully segmented.  The more accurately you define your audience, the easier it will be for you to prepare campaigns with messaging that is most appropriate to them.
4. Invest in good quality data.  A campaign is only as good as the data you use, so ensure that your data is up to date and that each record contains a named decision maker.

Measure, measure, measure.  Introduce a simple technique to measure every single campaign that you issue.  You need to know which campaigns generate the most leads for you, so that you can repeat them in the future.