Month: May 2010

Cheap can be expensive

Paul Tagent6 Comments

Firstly, let me apologise for my lack of Blog activity this week. It has been one of those weeks where, despite my best efforts, time has been in short supply. In addition, when Blogging, I think it essential to post information that is both relevant and helpful. In this case, I wanted to share something about recent experiences with those of us who operate in a service industry.


Cheap?!
In a nutshell, I seem to be coming across a lot of prospects recently who have identified that their marketing activity is not performing and who want to talk to me about what I suggest to improve things. This is itself presents a dilemma. The reason for this is that, my primary offer is that of ‘time.’ As explained on my website, I am not a business offering a single marketing initiative. People like me, who offer an initial service based on time undertaken, generally have umpteen years of hands-on experience and this experience is incredibly valuable and is therefore accessible at a price. But when does this become enforceable? Where does the free advice over a coffee, become a paid for service?

Tough to answer..

Anyway, in order for this business model of ‘pricing a service’ to be successful, any ‘service’ must be easily identified and it is up to us to demonstrate the added value it brings thus making it an attractive proposition. This is what I call practicing what I preach or…………’effective marketing.’

I quite often ask people whether they would go through a divorce and do all the legal work themselves. The answer is unequivocally ‘no’ they would seek the expert advice from a solicitor. If you apply this to marketing, would you (the prospect) do the most important part of running a business – marketing – on your own? For some reason, a great deal of SMEs decide that they will decide what marketing they need and then implement initiatives themselves.

This is where saving money or perceiving to save money, can actually be very expensive. Are you qualified to do your own marketing? Do you know what initiatives are available? Do you fully understand that a brand is not just your logo? Do you actually have a USP?

My suggestion has always been that, if you are a business offering a service, make sure that prospects can see that what you are offering will make a positive difference. SMEs don’t be afraid to talk to a marketing person as he or she should be able to add real value to your marketing and/or give you valuable pointers……..

In my opinion, you can be best friends with a butcher and receive the odd sausage for free, but when it comes to sirloin, you have to pay for it!

What do you think?? Leave me a comment or put me to the test by filling out my form.

What about advertising??

Paul Tagent6 Comments

There are a number of conflicting reports and discussions about the merit of using advertising in your marketing activities so I thought I would outline my some of my thoughts on this subject and you can then judge for yourself.

Personally, I feel that there are difficulties assessing the effectiveness of advertising as a lot depends on their content and aims especially as some campaigns can have a delayed impact. For example, the message within an advertising campaign can be to invite prospects to apply for further information. In addition, certain advertising campaigns are run purely to create brand awareness of a service or product.

There are ways, however, of testing advertising and the main one is to run what is called ‘direct response’ advertising. By this I mean, running advertisements that make a straightforward appeal. A classic example of this is the retail sector advertising a specific product like a sofa at a given cost.

I see the objectives of advertising as possibly 7 things:
  • To support – an existing brand by stressing its advantages
  • To attack – directly or indirectly, a competitor and attempt to increase market share
  • To increase sales – via maintaining and then increasing market share
  • To co operate – with producers of jointly used products (e.g the automotive industry)
  • To appeal – to a new market segment
  • To convey – an image of the business rather than the actual product (e.g Green companies)
  • To support – a particular marketing strategy (i.e. run in conjunction with other initiatives)
  • To support (2) – a decision to buy after the purchase has been made
Some people argue that advertising is something that can be very fundamental to a marketing campaign. Others would say that it is pointless.
In my opinion, I think there will always be a place for advertising, but its costs may make it a thing of the past especially when comparing it to online marketing like SEO and SEM.
What do you think? email me at Bath Marketing Consultancy or leave me a comment below.

The high\'s and low\'s of being in business

Paul TagentLeave a comment

Most of the Blogs I write are dedicated to helping people with their marketing; giving advice based on my experiences gained from over 17 years in the industry. This time, I want to share with you some tips on how to cope with the good and the bad times.

As I have Tweeted and Blogged about numerous times, I feel that marketing is an integral part of whether a business succeeds or fails. Every business needs marketing. Not just knee-jerk marketing, but proper planned marketing. Similarly, every business needs customers. Every business needs money.

Having been in business for myself for 12 months now, I too have experienced times when I have considered going back to full employment with my tail between my legs. Each time I feel like this it is down to something that hasn\’t gone my way; something that has left me feeling low and demotivated – see this Blog about the Marketing Thief.

However, the key to turning things around is to remain positive. Go back to your marketing plan and step it up. Marketing is an initiative that depends on being consistent and persistent to be successful and even people who know what they are doing experience huge swings in their businesses.

Of course, I am bound to say talk to a marketing expert to get your business back on track and on the radars of more people. But sometimes it can be as simple as talking to other people at networking events. Share information. Share experiences. What I did was have a real hard think about my business and the value I bring to the marketing process. I know that the work I do makes businesses money so maybe it was a question of me being more visible and ensuring more of the right people knew what I bring to the table? Maybe I needed to be clearer in what I do and offer?

I decided to step up my social media activity. I went to more networking events. I also spoke to my existing clients to get more testimonials. I implemented a CMS to my website allowing me to change content and reinforce. The result – the busiest April of my career.

Be flexible in your marketing and keep doing it. DON\’T sit back just because you are getting good referrals this month. Market your business now and it will pay off. Oh, and I am here if you need me!






The high’s and low’s of being in business

Paul TagentLeave a comment

Most of the Blogs I write are dedicated to helping people with their marketing; giving advice based on my experiences gained from over 17 years in the industry. This time, I want to share with you some tips on how to cope with the good and the bad times.

As I have Tweeted and Blogged about numerous times, I feel that marketing is an integral part of whether a business succeeds or fails. Every business needs marketing. Not just knee-jerk marketing, but proper planned marketing. Similarly, every business needs customers. Every business needs money.

Having been in business for myself for 12 months now, I too have experienced times when I have considered going back to full employment with my tail between my legs. Each time I feel like this it is down to something that hasn’t gone my way; something that has left me feeling low and demotivated – see this Blog about the Marketing Thief.

However, the key to turning things around is to remain positive. Go back to your marketing plan and step it up. Marketing is an initiative that depends on being consistent and persistent to be successful and even people who know what they are doing experience huge swings in their businesses.

Of course, I am bound to say talk to a marketing expert to get your business back on track and on the radars of more people. But sometimes it can be as simple as talking to other people at networking events. Share information. Share experiences. What I did was have a real hard think about my business and the value I bring to the marketing process. I know that the work I do makes businesses money so maybe it was a question of me being more visible and ensuring more of the right people knew what I bring to the table? Maybe I needed to be clearer in what I do and offer?

I decided to step up my social media activity. I went to more networking events. I also spoke to my existing clients to get more testimonials. I implemented a CMS to my website allowing me to change content and reinforce. The result – the busiest April of my career.

Be flexible in your marketing and keep doing it. DON’T sit back just because you are getting good referrals this month. Market your business now and it will pay off. Oh, and I am here if you need me!






Key writing techniques

Paul TagentLeave a comment

In my experience, there are two types of advertising techniques being used at the moment by businesses – direct response advertising and branding advertising. The former is by the far the most productive way of advertising for the smaller business as it allows a way of monitoring ROI usually through making  a direct ‘offer’ or appeal to the reader backed up with a simple call to action. The retail sector use this type of advertising i.e.”our product is now on sale at a reduced price, call us to find out more…”

Brand building or brand awareness advertising is becoming more and more dependent on the larger budgets and, as such, is something that is simply not possible for the smaller business.
With these facts in mind, it is not just the advertisement with the nice pictures in that work. More and more emphasis is being placed on the actual wording of the advert and, as such, I have put together some simple tips and areas to consider when writing content.
  1. Put the key points in the first line of each sentance to encourage people to read on
  2. never repeat the headline in the first line of the text
  3. keep in mind that you only have 5-10 seconds for your main message to be absorbed
  4. use simple, clear language
  5. avoid gender or age bias
  6. only ask questions that the reader will reply positively too
  7. use active rather than passive words
  8. check the friendliness of your work by reading out aloud – if it sounds stilted, start again
  9. keep lines to between 20 and 60 characters in length
  10. make sure that YOU is used more often that I or WE
  11. use evocative words to help paint the picture

Keep these in mind and your advertising will be more effective!

If you have a marketing problem, fill out the brief form on my website and I will come back to you within 24 hours.

What is a site map and do I need one?

Paul Tagent6 Comments

Bath Marketing Consultancy have been asked a number of times recently about this subject so thought I would put together a brief explanation for you.

Basically, a sitemap of a website is similar to the table of contents of a book. Sitemaps are important because it guides web surfers to the particular part of the website they have a point of interest in. With it they would save time following links and get right to the point instead.

Sitemaps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a site map, you can most likely be searched.Creating a sitemap, now with software technology surging in, is relatively easier than before. You need not be a programming guru to be one. All need is a notepad, a program editor, and some patience.
Here’s how you do it:

Where am I??
Create the listing on a notepad.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a notepad. Any word processing program will do. First off, make sure to type in all the parts and pieces of your website. Include all pages and all links you have. Create it as if you listing the contents of your book. Make a draft first. You’re sure no to miss something out this way.

Create a new page for your sitemap.
You can insert the sitemap on your website on one of its pages or you can create an entirely different page for it. Using your notepad, incorporate all tags necessary to it to make another webpage. Open up your website creator program and tag your sitemap using it. If you have created your website on your own, this will be easy for you.

Create a link for the sitemap.
You won’t be able to view the sitemap if you won’t put a link for it, of course. Create the link on the front page of your website so that visitors can view it right away and be directed appropriately.

Check your work.
It is important to validate the functionality of the links you created on the sitemap. Test each and every one in there and if you get an error, be sure to fix it accurately. Run through every page to make sure that all are accounted for. Check every single page to make sure that all are accounted for.

Upload your work.
Place the sitemap now on your live browser and double check it. It should function as smoothly as the dry run. Error should be minimal at this stage since you already have verified it locally.

The steps provided herewith is the manual way of creating a sitemap. These days, if you search hard enough on the web, you will find online programs that will do all these work for you. All you have to do it type in the URL or the link of your website and they will create the sitemap with click of a button.

Need help? email me paul@bathmarketingconsultancy.co.uk