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Issue 2 December 2005
In ‘An Ideal World’ this month we’ll be looking at a mixture of marketing and business ideas. This e-mail is a monthly newsletter designed to help clients of the Ideal Marketing Company and past delegates from marketing seminars, as well as visitors to the website who would like some ideas and advice on their marketing. If you have any subjects you would like to see covered in future issues, please e-mail news@idealmarketingcompany.com

Forthcoming low cost marketing seminars:

There are still 5 spaces available on the next one day seminar in Market Harborough on January 17th from 10am till 4pm. If you have already attended, please forward this e-mail to a friend in business who could benefit from some of the fresh ideas for generating new clients, or retaining existing clients for longer. Full details of the seminars are at the end of this e-mail, or visit the seminar page of www.idealmarketingcompany.com
Lessons in life: this month
‘How to accept new ideas and de-clutter your mind’
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal, nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude”
Thomas Jefferson

If you don’t give your home a spring clean every now and again, it ends up with overflowing cupboards, a garage that your car doesn’t fit in and piles of junk everywhere.

Why is this a problem?

  • It makes things difficult to find when you need them.
  • It makes your home look smaller.
  • These unwanted items serve no useful purpose whatsoever.

Even when it’s time to get rid of an item that you’ve not used for years, it can be difficult. We may have grown attached to it and grown used to it. The same applies to ideas and attitudes that we hold in our mind.

Consider politics. Some people look at the situation that is present in the world today, think about what is the best way to improve it for the good of their family and the community, and then decide which political party to vote for. Is that how most people vote? Absolutely not! They vote according to an outdated view of class, or because their parents always voted for a political party, or because their parents didn’t vote for a political party. There is often no logic or reasoning – just prejudice. These ideas form part of our comfort zone, and that’s where we remain – we are a Labour/ Liberal/Tory supporter - whether we feel they do us (or the country) any good or not.

The same can apply to football teams.

Think of your mind as a sponge. All your life you have gone along absorbing events, ideas and emotions. Now your sponge is full. You can’t absorb anything new until you wring it out. These old habits are clogging up our brains and stopping us from doing anything new and useful.

There are 2 steps to de-clutter your mind:

 Listen to what you say to yourself. Pay attention to your self talk. Do you praise yourself or criticise? Change your self talk to:

  • Be positive, encouraging and kind to yourself
  • Keep focused on what you have decided to do (the goals you have set)
  • Put things into perspective
  • Celebrate yourself when things go well

 When you have an automatic response to a situation, ask yourself why?

For example, if it is suggested that you move to a larger house and you automatically say no, ask yourself - why do I always have that reaction? Perhaps you formed that view 10 years ago when you didn’t have the money or the need to move home, but now you need more space, and in the right location, you’d have the money.

Ask yourself, why do you have this view? It is not enough to say ‘just because’.

Before you ask other people’s views, sit down and work it out for yourself.

Make informed decisions – don’t just guess.

Learn to re-think your position and remain open minded on a range of ideas. Being closed minded is dangerous and leads to missed opportunities.

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.”
Dr Joyce Brothers

Listen to Alastair’s ‘Lesson’s in Life’ slot each month on BBC Radio Derby with Sally Pepper Saturdays between 12pm till 2pm on 104.5 FM or online at www.bbc.co.uk/england/radioderby
 
5 tips for better direct mail
Creating Better Headlines
 Always give every letter you write a headline – even if it is an internal non-sales letter. A good headline will increase the readership of any piece of communication.

 Headlines should be 17 words long or less. Generally, it’s best to avoid 3 or 4 word headlines, as it’s usually difficult to make a statement in so short a sentence

 Study newspapers to see how they entice readers into a story with a good headline. Often they are ‘sensational’ in nature but a good headline will always find a way of revealing the central truth of a story. Watch out for how TV shows are trailed, or the headlines from TV news broadcasts.

 Avoid being clever or using puns. You’ll see others making this mistake – but research shows that it won’t help your response rates. Instead of cunning word play, spell out the facts in a compelling way. Let your motto be “The Truth Well Told” when it comes to headline writing. Find a neat, quick way of putting across the central benefit.

 Be specific. If you can save a prospect 23%, tell them that figure - 23%. It sounds far more convincing and real than ‘over 20%’.

More tips on how to create compelling headlines next month…
PR tip of the month
Look outside your company to other events that are going on in the community or the country. Are there any forthcoming events that you could gain ‘piggy-back publicity’ from? For example, is there anything you could do that is linked to the World Cup in 2006? If you were a baker, you could produce special limited edition doughnuts with a football design on them with some of the money going to charity. Could you create a release linking what you do and the England squad, such as tips for advice on travel to Germany if you are a travel agent? There is often a way of linking your business to a forthcoming event which helps you get in the local or trade papers - and into the mind of your customers.
Client of the Month Offer

Each month I’ll let you know about a special offer or service that’s available from the clients of The Ideal Marketing Company which I am happy to recommend. This month it’s from Telecoms company NEG.

Do you still use fax in your business? Most companies do – but far less than they used to because of the growth of e-mail. It therefore makes less and less sense to have a fax machine, separate dedicated fax line, desk space, ink, paper and so on for a machine that probably receives more ‘junk’ faxes than real ones. NEG has developed a way for you to have your own, personalised fax number which, for the sender, works the same as any normal fax but which allows you to receive faxes direct to your PC to view on screen or print out. This saves money on phone lines, ink, paper and the machine itself – plus the paper it’s printed on. Best of all, your personalised fax number will cost you nothing. To set up your own dedicated personalised fax number today visit http://faxsetup.negplc.com to find out more.
Details of low cost marketing seminars held in Market Harborough

For the last 2 years, I have been running bi-monthly low cost marketing seminars aimed at start-ups or businesses that are looking for ways to get the most out of limited marketing budgets. These seminars come with a 100% money back guarantee if delegates don’t feel that they were applicable and useful to their business. The event costs £97 plus VAT, including lunch.

If you would like your business to be more successful in 2006, I invite you to join me at this one day seminar. You will learn how your company can be more effective at attracting new customers, become better at retaining existing clients and find new ways to generate more profits. Marketing doesn’t need to take huge amounts of effort, just regularly apply a few of the ideas you will learn - and you will notice a huge difference in your business during 2006.

Topics covered on the day include:

• The 6 ways that positive media coverage can help your business
• Using direct mail to launch products and generate income
• Creating a simple marketing plan for your business
• Do you really need a brochure? Some effective alternatives explained
• The importance of customer care

Plus dozens of underused marketing secrets that will help your business grow in 2006.

For more details or to book your place – or book a place for a friend – call 01858 44 55 43 or e-mail seminar@idealmarketingcompany.com

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