Ideal Marketing Company Blog

Thought you might like to see this recent marketing article I contributed to the New Business website…

http://www.newbusiness.co.uk/articles/marketing-advice

Thanks to everybody who come to both of my marketing presentations on Saturday at Leicester Race course.  My new afternoon seminar on the 9 levels of marketing seemed to go down well with many people talking to me about it at the end. 

The event was very busy and the various stand holders who I talked to seemed pleased that they had attended.  It’s a smaller event than some of the national ones, but was popular and had the right types of people present.

The next free seminar I’m running is at Hothorpe Hall on the evening of Thursday 26th of June – see the seminars section for details.

Goal setting is the fastest way to achive & create what you want in life.  There is no doubt about it.  However not many people really use goal setting to it’s full effect.  I am currently writting a web based seminar on goal setting and want to make sure that I answer the questions that metter. 

I would be very grateful if you could e-mail any goat setting questions to alastair@idealmarketingcompany.com or simply raise it as a comment at the end of this blog entry.  

 Thank you   

What Would You Do With A Second Chance?
By Tim Knox

You could avoid the mistakes you previously made and build on
the successes you previously enjoyed.  You could nurture the
positive relationships and avoid the bad. You could tap into
your wealth of experience during times of indecision and always
know where and when your time and money would be best spent.

How many times have you said, “If I only knew then what I know
now?”

We’ve all wished that we could go back in time with our heads
full of knowledge and our belts busting with experience and do
it all over again.  The proverbial “second chance” is something
we’ve all wished for – some of us more than others. Imagine how
different our lives would be if we came equipped with unlimited
“do overs.”

You could avoid the mistakes you previously made and build on
the successes you previously enjoyed.  You could nurture the
positive relationships and avoid the bad. You could tap into
your wealth of experience during times of indecision and always
know where and when your time and money would be best spent.

Now apply that question to your business. What would you do if
you had the opportunity to build your business all over again,
but do so with the wisdom gained from building the business all
these past years?

If you could take the knowledge and experience gained from
years of running your business, as well as your credibility,
good name, and customer list, and start anew from square one
what would you do? Oh, and did I mention that you had a nice
check to fund it all this time so you won’t have to scrimp and
save and bootstrap your way back to the top?

Here’s why I’m posing this question: a few weeks ago a young
business here in Huntsville was destroyed by fire. It was a
devastating loss for the owners who could do nothing but stand
by and watch as years of hard work went up in flames.

The fire destroyed the building, some equipment and inventory.
The business was insured and the owners have already vowed to
rebuild, which means the fire did not destroy the business
itself, only the physical aspects of it.

Brick and mortar and inventory do not a business make. Brick
and mortar house the business.  Inventory brings the business
revenue, but the heart of the business – the spirit and soul and
purpose – lives inside the entrepreneur building that business.
If the entrepreneur survives and rebuilds, so survives the
business.

Starting over can be tough even with an insurance check to fund
it all, but I hope these entrepreneurs understand that this is
an opportunity to take the lessons learned over the last few
years and put them to work for the future. This is a chance to
do all the things they always talked about that they should have
done differently in the beginning.

So back to the original question: if you could go back and
rebuild your business knowing what you know now, with an
insurance check to fund it, what would you do differently and
what would you do the same?

Let me put it into perspective for you. Imagine building your
dream home and living in it for a few years until one day the
house is destroyed by fire. A devastating loss, no doubt, but no
one is injured and everything is insured.

You now have to make a decision; will you build the exact same
house or build a different house that takes into account all the
things you wanted to change about the old house.

Maybe after living there for a few years you discovered that
you should have put in a downstairs bathroom or added more
closet space in the master bedroom. Maybe the kitchen was too
small or the laundry room too large. Now you have the chance to
rebuild your dream home with all the lessons learned from years
of living in the house.

So to these entrepreneurs who are living this experience, I
encourage you to keep the faith and keep looking toward the
future. I understand that you felt completely helpless watching
that fire engulf the building. I know that you are now mourning
the business as if you’d lost a close friend. But please, keep
in mind that disaster gives rise to opportunity.

Rise from the ashes, become the Phoenix. Rebuild your business
into something truly amazing. We’ll all be with you as you do.

About the Author: Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author “Check Out
Tim’s New Radio Show!” http://www.timknoxshow.com Preorder Tim’s
New Book: Everything I Know About Business I Learned From My
Mama http://www.timknox.com/amazon/

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=168684&ca=Business

Remember when you are writting a press release you are NOT writing an advert- if your press release takes this form, it will go straight into the bin. Your article must contain information of interest to your target audience.

Testimonials and case studies – it makes sence to ask all of your staff to get involved in creating case studies and gather these up where possible. In theory, almost every satisfied client could be the basis for a quote about their experience. In some cases, the company they worked for may not allow the name of their organisation to be used, but even in those cases it is worth gathering a few sentences of their thoughts during post candidate placement.

When testimonials are in an important sector or with a well known client, it may be worth developing these into a short case study. In this case, allow the client to talk about issues such as:

Specific recruitment problems they have had in the past

Why they choose to use you

If they were sceptical about what you could offer

These quotes can then be passed along (with some background information about the company and the specific position filled) to an external marketing company – such as The Ideal Marketing Company or can be written up depending on what is decided. As a general rule, about 30% of the case study should be quotes directly from the client. By writing case studies, you are showing that you can do the job well, your customers think you are exceptional and that there is no logical choice other than to use you.

 Feedback – it’s important to receive feedback on what went well and what could be improved upon. If the volume is high, e-mail or printed forms are the norm. If the volume is low and the level of service is very high, a formal written questionnaire is not appropriate. However, an informal set of questions for an appropriate amount of time with either the candidate or client would be relevant. This would have several benefits:

1. It shows interest

2. It provides an opportunity to see what can be done to improve for future work and therefore reduces the risk of losing the client

3. It gives the opportunity to pass on other jobs or candidates

4. It is an opportunity to build the relationship

5. It is the best time to gather testimonials for case studies.

Networking.  This overlooked areas is such a key are of marketing for many companies.  It’s not all about small talk over cocktail sausages.  Networking covers  everything from going back to speak to previous work colleagues and previous clients, to working on contacts with existing clients.  It also involves attending organised industry specific events as well as conferences and general networking meetings.  Another good source is seeing if any previous company has gone out of business as their staff will have gone to all sorts of different companies.  They key to successful networking is to plan in different types of event in advance and keep a mix of different events to attend. For more news on better networking see www.kintish.co.uk

Physical health is extremely important for leading a happy and fulfilling life, right? But what about your menta health? Mental health is equally important, if not more important, than your physical health. The way you think, feel, meet life’s countless complex situations, relate to others, react and respond to problems and deal with stress determines your mental health. Right from early childhood to the very advanced stage of life, it is essential to maintain sound mental health, without which there is a risk of your physical health also getting adversely affected. The mind and the body are inter-related in respect of maintenance and promotion of wholesome health. Many researches indicate that about 20 percent of American families have cases of mental illness.

Mental disorders include several abnormal states or conditions of the mind. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, phobias, delusions, hallucinations and several other mental conditions occur as a result of being unable to maintain a normal functioning brain. However, there are hardly any physiological diagnostic tests as of now to identify mental illnesses. Behavior is their main indicator. Once you are afflicted with an illness, whether physical or mental, you know the only way out is to seek and get appropriate treatment. But there are ways in which you can maintain and promote mental health as there are for physical health.

Since mental health is related to physical health (remember the age-old words: “a sound mind in a sound body?”), you have to keep your physical health by means of a balanced nutritious diet and adequate physical exercise. If you allow yourself to be a victim of psychological problems due to your physical problems, you will have to go in for treatment for your particular physical disorder and then try thereby to regain you mental health.

A lot of mental health is a factor of emotional health. You have to keep your emotions under check. This is easier said than done. It needs a lot of practice, exercise of the mind, to attain self-control in the matter of emotions.

Adopting a positive attitude to life’s events and happenings is of utmost importance for the maintenance of mental health.

Avoiding succumbing to temptations offered by intoxicants and stimulants is also equally important. Developing a strong resistance to excessive consumption of alcohol and to chain-smoking will improve your mental strength and lead to better physical and mental health.

Too much of anything, even good things, will damage your physical as well as mental health. Workaholics, for instance, are so much addicted to their work sometimes that they ignore warning signs of their deteriorating general health.

All types of addictions and substance abuse are sure signs of mental weaknesses that might lead to several types of mental disorders. One has to avoid succumbing to them. If already addicted, the only way to come out is to get appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.

Adopting a philosophy of life that allows you to look at misfortune as something inevitable and something you have to face with fortitude will help in the maintenance of your mental balance.

Practicing appropriate meditation techniques are very beneficial to mental health.

Balancing one’s life by adopting suitable relaxation techniques including sound and adequate sleep is also a must.

Above all, adopting a healthy lifestyle, which includes almost all the above, plus not ignoring early signs of any mental or physical disorders will be helpful in managing mental health

“Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely”

Jay Conrad Levinson