BlogPosts from June, 2012

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The Importance of Connecting to Build your Profile

Are you trying to build your online audience? This is a difficult task every business will face at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey. I am going to share with you the importance of connecting when building your online and offline profile.

For your business to be a success, you need to connect with people outside of your target audience because they may know someone who could be a potential client. You must always spread your connecting net far and wide because you never know when that email or phone call may come in.

I recently received a call from Internet and Mobile World in Romania where they had googled ‘Social Commerce’ and I had appeared on the front page three times. They then asked me to speak at their event, which I accepted. If it wasn’t for my ability to connect and build my brand, I would have never received that call, and I wouldn’t be going to Romania in September.

You also need to consider how your brand is portrayed. If you don’t spend some time connecting with other social network users, you may find your brand under the radar for too long. There is always a time to launch, but don’t leave it too long – you don’t want to lose the buzz around your brand just because you aren’t taking the time to connect. Look at how your major competitors are performing and give them some competition – be as engaging as they are and you will soon find your profile improving.

It is important to connect online, but you also need to connect offline too. Join LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your brand and attend events posted within the group. If trade shows are relevant to your business, make sure you are present when it matters most. Connecting offline is so important because word of mouth will transfer into the online world and you will see your brand’s status improving gradually over time.

Without connecting with your audience, your brand will go unnoticed. Make sure you are using Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and most importantly; Google+. Keep your Twitter handle name short, simple and brand specific so that potential consumers can find you. Engage with your audience on Facebook and supply them with interesting and brand specific content to make sure they are sharing it with their audience. When using Pinterest, think about your brand in a visual way. Make the images engaging, and use the text area to give a summary of the product/service along with a link and keywords – making it easy for your community to then share. You must be posting on Google+ at least twice a day because this is the only social network (except YouTube) that Google picks up in real time.

Are you the blogging type? If so, you are at a real advantage. Post fresh content each week on your blog with keywords hyperlinked and tags in place. Unsure which platform to use? Look into WordPress, Tumblr or Posterous.

Do you research into the best ways to connect with your audience and implement them in your marketing strategy. Make sure you are utilising the tools and networks available to maximise your brand’s exposure.

Have you been connecting to build your profile?

How to run a Webinar to Promote your Business

With the internet now a crucial way of generating sales and leads for a business, it’s only logical to start running webinars on a regular basis. For a Webinar to be a success, it takes a lot of planning and work. If you want to offer great customer service and ultimately deliver a great Webinar then keep reading for my tips on how to do exactly that.

When looking at a Webinar provider, you need to do your research. It has taken me a long time to find the right company that works for what I want to deliver. You need to think about how many attendees you would like. I have limited mine to 100. If you would like your webinar to be record, you will also need to look into this as some software providers do not offer this service.

After choosing a webinar provider, you need to look at how you are going to present your business. Your presentation must be in line with your brand otherwise you will be unlikely to receive any business. Make sure your branding is correct and you have checked the spelling and grammar of your presentation as there is nothing worse than one of your attendee’s pointing out an error you have made.

Keep your presentation simple and effective. Get straight to the point and don’t over populate your presentation slides. You will also need to run through your presentation with a colleague before presentation to iron out any issues you may be having. You also need to discourage participants from multi-tasking during your presentation, so that you have their full attention. Ask questions, allow for short discussions and conduct polls during your webinar to determine if participants understand your material. Remember, you won’t be able to see them, so it may be harder to judge how well your presentation works.

Struggling to get people to attend your webinar? Speak to your audience. They are a part of your community for a reason. Focus on email marketing and social media to generate interest in your webinar. You may find your attendee list going up in numbers just by tweeting and posting on Facebook. News travels fast in social media so make sure you utilise all of the tools available to you. Also worth noting that if you have a blog, you should use this as one of your outlets to promote your webinar.

What are your top tips for running a Webinar for your business?

How to Prepare for a Trade Show

At the age of 22, I exhibited at my first trade show for Ministry of Sound where I was their official merchandise distributor. I then went on to show at trade fairs all over the world from Scotland to China.

On the outside looking in, trade shows seem easy to prepare for however, that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are a lot of important issues to address when preparing for a trade show and there is nothing worse than feeling out of your element.

As valuable as trade shows can be, they can also be a nightmare if not managed correctly. The first thing you need to address is a budget. If you’re about to take part in your first ever trade show, try not to get caught up in the hype of it and over spend on stand space and materials. You need to have a realistic figure in mind and try your hardest to stick to it. Ask yourself what you really need not what you would like to have. When creating a budget, understand that the fee for the actual stand space is only the beginning. It’s the add-ons like tables, chairs, signage, Internet connections, and electricity where the big money is spent.

Once you have decided on a budget, you will then need to contact the organisation running the event and ask them to show you a floor plan. You can then decide on where you would like your stand to be situated. At my last trade show with my ecommerce platform Gloople, our stand was located right next to an ecommerce workshop. This was a great position for us as all of the people coming out of the workshop, was interested in having an Online Store and was walking right past our stand.

You then need to look at how much time is going to be spent setting up your stand and whether you will have to hire someone to do this for you. Again, this will be an extra cost so if your stand doesn’t require much creation, you would be best to do this yourself with work colleagues. On the subject of colleagues, you will need to make a decision about whom and how many people to send to the trade show. You can’t just bring yourself, even if you are a one-person show. You will need to give yourself a break and it is imperative that you do not leave your stand unmanned. Are you going to have someone walking around the show, building relationships with possible clients/partners? Also worth thinking about; travel, accommodation and food supplies.

Now you have decided on the above options, you can now look at what you want to go on your stand. You are going to need some sort of book to capture leads as you will find some people turn up without business cards. It is crucial for you to have business cards, flyers, pens and any other stationary necessary, on your stand; preparation is key for trade shows.

Your stand structure is organised, your checklist for the stand is nearly complete, the only thing left for you to do is marketing. Are you willing to spend money on advertising for the event? If not, use Social Media and Email Marketing to let people know that you are going to be there. Each trade show has an official Twitter handle – make sure you follow and tweet to them because they will retweet you.

With trade show’s being a great source of brand awareness, lead generation and even sales; you need to be prepared and ready to face the business world with full professionalism.

Are you prepared for your trade show?

What Is The Best Way To Generate Leads In The UK?

This is a question I have been asked on various occasions at trade shows and events so I thought it best to address this in my blog. I have over 20 years of experience in marketing and sales with international companies like Disney and Nickelodeon and have an extensive knowledge of selling and generating leads in the UK for my mentoring services and my ecommerce platform Gloople.

The first thing to consider when generating leads in the UK is to find out where your audience is spending their time. Take your business to them. A great way to do this is to hold an online competition. For my Social Media clients, we hold one campaign per month where, for example, we will offer a £100 gift voucher for one person to spend with that said company. Don’t know how or what company to use? Try Wildfire. I have used this company for over 4 years and found it has worked best for holding Facebook competitions. This is a great way to build interest around your brand and most importantly, generate leads. Wildfire allows you to choose what information you would like the user to enter. Always ask for a name and email address so you can contact them outside of the Facebook competition. Remember, they wouldn’t have entered if they weren’t interested in the brand.

On the topic of Social Media, there is no better way to connect with your consumers than on Social Networks. Use these networks to release your information e.g. blogs. A ‘retweet’ of a blog may be picked up by someone outside of your circle where they then research you and connect with you on your website. If this happens to you then congratulations; you just generated another lead. There are so many different touch points you can use to find you online customer, why not try the latest “Amplification” tool called IFTTT to push out all of your information via one easy to use platform, saving you time.

Social Media can be hit and miss. Some weeks you may find a lot of people connecting with you and other weeks you will only find the odd mention. Be careful of social networks like Twitter which are public, open and unrestricted. Turn this (debatable) negative into a positive. If someone mentions you in a pessimistic fashion, address this straight away. Recently, one of my clients received various tweets regarding one of their products being out of stock. You must reply in a timely manner and always ask for a contact email, so you can speak to them privately to always offer a personal service.

Email marketing is a great way to connect with your consumers and build your database. I recently ran a workshop and I asked two of the attendees how they found out about the event as neither me nor the other two presenters knew where they had come from. They told me that they were forwarded my monthly email newsletter from a friend of theirs in China, who met me at a trade show. Not only did they enjoy the workshop, but they could be possible consultancy clients in the future and I wouldn’t have reached them if it wasn’t for the initial lead passing on the information.  Unsure what email marketing tool to use? Look into Mailchimp for this, I have used it for over three years and have only positive comments regarding their system.

As I am a professional speaker, I hold a keynote seminar for at least one trade show per month. I use this platform to offer my possible client something in return for their contact details e.g. my complimentary 7 day ecourse  to all of my seminar attendees but if they would like this, they need to give me their contact details. This is how I have built over 70% of my database.

Not getting the results you want from your email marketing? Pick up your phone. Some people may not be social media savvy and would much prefer an old school phone call, which leads to a face-to-face meeting. This is a great way to build long-term relationships.

Lastly, you must have brand and message consistency and place as much information on various social networks as possible. To see if the social networks have your company name available, go to NameChk.

Always keep your followers on their toes. Up-to-date information will be better received than old news. If you want to build your database and generate leads, follow the trends; find out what’s hot in your sector and connect with influencers.

How do you generate leads in the UK?