Business marketing & sales advice

The ‘write’ approach to marketing

3 February 2009 Marketing Business Matters

Most people in business have the (usually misguided) notion that they can write well. After all, they learnt English at school, so there’s nothing to it, is there? That’s a bit like saying that we all learnt maths at school, so none of us need accountants…

In this article. Phil Allcock looks at a specific type of writing – copywriting. (This shouldn’t be confused with copyright, which is an entirely different subject!) Copywriting refers to the production of words for different types of marketing material.

Search engine optimisation: Tips and tricks

27 January 2009 Marketing Business Matters

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the art of making your website communicate well with search engines. It plays a crucial role in gaining the right sort of visitors to your website, so it should be the first thing to think about when you start to build one.

New Year Resolutions & Predictions

14 January 2009 Marketing Business Matters

New Year has come and gone and all around the World talk inevitably turns to resolutions. Are you looking towards a slimmer you? Giving up smoking? Perhaps you have decided to dedicate more time to others.

It’s also a good time to sit back and review your networking. Is your current activity working for you? Are you in the right networks, getting the referrals you want for your business?

Take the time to check you are on the right track. Even the top networkers do it. I spoke to some of the UK’s leading networking experts and heads of networks to find out what they expect to happen in networking in 2009 and their own plans for the New Year.

Are you chasing the wrong deals?

2 December 2008 Marketing, Sales Business Matters

It is an all-too-common scenario when I’m working with sales teams or business owners – that when I look at their sales pipeline (you do have one of those, don’t you?) far too often I see they are very busy, but they’re chasing the wrong deals! In this article, we’re going to examine that particular challenge and how we overcome it.

The rise of the social network

15 September 2008 Marketing Business Matters

Andy Lopata, networking specialist, talks about the rise of social networking for business gain.

Why your sales people still get price objections?

7 July 2008 Advice, Marketing, Sales Business Matters

Whenever I’m speaking to sales managers and directors, I find that many are frustrated that seemingly no matter what they say to their sales team, the team is still getting stumped over price objections from their clients! In this article we’re going to look at why your sales team still get price objections and how this gets in their way (and yours) of sales success.

Do you feel lucky?

7 July 2008 Marketing, Sales Business Matters

Often, salespeople put their success (or lack of it) down to sheer ‘luck’… but just how much of their achievements should be put down to luck alone? How can certain salespeople excel during a sales slump whilst others fall the wayside? Are some salespeople just born lucky?

I remember a quote from the golfer, Gary Player, when accused of being "lucky" he said, "The harder I practice, the luckier I get".

Making Marketing Accountable

14 May 2008 Marketing Business Matters

Marketing accountability should be a priority, but in reality there is a lot of talk on the matter, and less action. Given access to large corporate budgets, marketing staff have promised returns on investment and increased market share. However, the evolution of the dot.com era has contributed to the fact that marketing staff can no longer get away with promising big results without quantifiably measuring them.

Nine out of 10 web users watch video

10 April 2008 Marketing Business Matters

Almost nine out of 10 UK web users watched video online in December, according to comScore, whose data revealed the dominance of YouTube.

In the UK, 28.7 million web users, or 87% of the online population, watched video in December, accessing 3.1m videos.

Is video content the future for business websites?

19 March 2008 Marketing Business Matters

If you, like me, are the kind of person who hides away when the video cameras come out, you might well ask, why on earth would you want video content on your company website?

The reason why I’m recommending that you think differently today is because I believe that 1. video content is the future for business websites and that 2. business websites with video content attract more customers and drive higher sales.

Sustainability is a matter of business

9 March 2008 Marketing Business Matters

The environment is changing. The IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 4th assessment report was released in February warning that climate change poses the single biggest threat to businesses and societies.
The effects of global climate change and the exhaustion of natural resources are becoming increasingly evident, with consequences for human well-being. In the world of marketing these global changes are shifting consumers’ expectations of brands and companies. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the power held in their purchase choices. Businesses have a new obligation not just to make money but also to ‘do good’ and embed a sense of global citizenship, social responsibility and environmental responsibility in their brand.