Friday, 28 December 2007
Marketing Tip - What you can learn from Wii
| What was the hottest item in Brisbane this Xmas - Wii. How do I know? I joined all of the crowds on Boxing Day to find an additional Wii controller and spoke with many many many shop keepers. All said the same thing - there were none to be had. So what made Wii so popular this year? It wasn't major advertising push - Wii were relatively quiet. It wasn't as if they offered major discounts or cutting prices. There weren't any supply problems. There was no major new release or upgrade. All the shop keepers can put it down to is the power of groups. People talked with other people they valued and trusted. Blogs raved about Wii and the latest games. People on Facebook talked about it. This combined made Wii the hottest computer game item for Christmas 2007. Basically a good product was promoted by lots of people. What can businesses learn from this? Social media on the internet is now a major force to be reckoned with. Businesses need to learn how to harness this media for maximum results. Ads and traditional marketing are reducing in impact - businesses need to learn the new media and new skills or be left behind. So ... are you on Facebook yet? Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Facebook- Ingrid Cliff Labels: facebook, marketing tips, social media, wii, wii marketing |
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Marketing tip: Ebay Pulse
| Small business needs to be aware of business trends. What if in real time you could see what people are buying around the world - would that help you to know what to stock? Ebay has a funky tool called Pulse, where you can look at the most popular searches from the past week. Why is this important? It tells you there is a market out there wanting these items. Go to http://pulse.ebay.com for international ebay or http://pulse.ebay.com.au for Australian searches. Remember just like regular ebay you can dig deeper - go into the drop down categories button and explore. For example - Harry Potter is the hottest book in demand today, and Phantom comics are the most popular ebay comics. In business the most popular item is an excavator while the most popular craft remains scrapbooking. Happy searching Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: business trends, market research, marketing tips, trends |
Friday, 21 December 2007
Marketing Tip: Bloglines
| Marketing is about being aware of your customers - their thoughts and feelings, wants and desires. It is also about being aware of trends so you can capitalise and respond to them. If you run a business you need to be seen as adding value to your customers. You also need to be seen as the expert in your chosen area. One of the ways to do this is through reading and responding to blogs. Yeah - but who has the time? I mean you can waste hours on reading through blogs each day. What I do to stay on top is a website called Bloglines (www.bloglines.com). Bloglines allows you to have all of your RSS feeds for your favourite Blogs in the one place. I quickly scroll through my list of feeds to see what is happening, choose which ones to respond to and save hours in the process. ... And best of all Bloglines is FREE! So - try out Bloglines as a way to manage both your time and your information. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: blog alerts, bloglines, marketing tips |
Thursday, 20 December 2007
HR Tips - Shift Swapping
| As a business owner you can waste hours each week setting up rosters - only to have team members come back with changes they want to make (particulary during school holiday periods). This can set you into a spiral of chasing people to swap shifts to cover your roster. A well considered HR policy should include some basic admin processes Have a shift request book - that way if someone can't work they should write it in the book before you do up the rosters (and remember to check and rule off the book when you do up the rosters for that week). Get people into the habit of trying to find their own replacement from other staff if they can't work a shift.That way they come and tell you that they are not available but Mary Joe will cover for them. Have people initial their rosters to say that they have seen them. Firmly and equally apply your "no show - not sick - no pay" policy. By being clear on your rostering rules and procedures you will save hours of your precious time each week as well as reduce your overtime bill. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: hr policies, hr tips, shift policies, shift swapping |
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Marketing Tips - Appearances are everything
| A few months ago I worked with 2 companies in retail. Both companies had similar problems -their store presentation was dreadful. Floors not swept, stock not dusted, crowded aisles, stock scattered and not logically grouped and faded/tattered price ticketing and point of sale material. They had lived in that environment for so long they couldn't see the slow spiral down. From an outsider looking in I interpreted what I saw as a company that didn't care about the details, that didn't care about their stock, that were disorganised and made it really hard to buy from them. One was willing to take the step - so with a major spring clean and shiny new tickets, stock that hadn't moved in 18 months was sold in less than a week. They maintained the presentation level and sales have boomed. The other one made a half-hearted effort but no lasting change. They rang to tell me this week that sales had been dreadful these past few months and they were closing their doors. How many sales are you losing because of your presentation and organisation? You want to make it easy and enjoyable for people to do business with you - so take time to clean, improve your tickets and store presentation. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: marketing tips, store appearance, store presentation |
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Marketing Tips - Loyalty Programs
| Marketing for small business is also about learning from bigger businesses. They do the research (hopefully), and spend the big dollars exploring different strategies, so look at what they do and apply them on a smaller scale to your business. One thing to consider is loyalty programs. You have all seen them - the cards at coffee shops - buy 5 coffees and the sixth is on us. They are there because they work at getting people back into the store. Most businesses (even service based businesses) can benefit from some type of loyalty program. Consider gift vouchers with a $ amount or % off their next transaction or service. What about a buy 2 massages in the same transaction and recieve a gift voucher for the third free. Or 5 toner refills and the 6th one free. I have even seen smart Avon ladies offer 5% off for every 5th purchase. All of these are ways to invite your customers back to your store and for you to retain some great customers. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: loyalty programs, marketing tips |
Monday, 17 December 2007
HR Tips - Recruiting through thought
| When you need to recruit, take time to think through the role in detail. Too many businesses leap into recruitment without planning the person they need to fill the role best. As a result they get a mismatch in personality or skill. Think through what tasks need to be performed and to what standard. Do you need a bubbly extroverted person to talk with people or a quiet person who prefers just to get on with the job? What sort of skills are needed to be able to successfully perform the role? What personality traits and work ethic do they need to fit in with the team Where do they live? What sort of salary expectations should they have? The time taken in thinking through your ideal candidate will pay dividends when it comes to advertising, interviewing and selecting. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: hr tips, recruitment |
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Marketing tips - Personal style in copy
| Personal preferences flow into copy. People who reflect and think a lot can tend to the verbose and fluffy side with their copy. They want to make sure they have dotted every i and crossed every t. Reading copy that is overly padded can feel like being punched around the head with a feather pillow. It can smother and people want to get away rather than stay and read it all. But ... long copy statistically outperforms short copy. So what do you do? Keep each sentence short, to the point and build to a climax. Read each sentence out loud. If you run out of breath before the sentence is done ... it's too long! And if you know you have a tendency to use 40 words when 5 will do - hire an editor or copywriter to take to your copy with a pruning saw. Until next time warm regards Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Business development through copywriting Labels: copywriting, marketing tips |
Monday, 10 December 2007
The things we do for clients
| Client relationship management is a critical part of doing business. My "A" category clients are all super special to me and I go out of my way to do whatever it takes to help them out. This has seen me help out on stands at trade shows, unload trucks or whatever they truly needed to make their lives happier - in addition to my regular business development, copywriting and human resources work. However ... last weekend was interesting. Have a look at this photo - I would love your thoughts on whether I had gone too far to help out a client. Some background context - my clients had a float at a Christmas parade and needed help handing out brochures. I was happy to help out - but this was awaiting for me when I arrived!
Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Business development for small to medium businesses through ... wearing bon bon costumes in street parades Labels: christmas marketing, client relationship management, customer service |
Sunday, 9 December 2007
HR Tips - What Google can teach you about recruitment
| Recruitment and selection is not an easy artform. How do you attract the attention of people you want to have work in your business? New Scientist reported in July 2007 of one of the strategies Google uses. Giant billboard ads appeared in Silicon Valley the USA and other places where geeks hangout with the message (First 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e).com. Unless you knew what you were looking for this would be total gibberish. But the answer was the first 10-digit prime number in e (one of the most revolutionary numbers in maths - if you want to learn more about e read New Scientist 21 July 2007). The answer 7427466391 appears in the 101st digit of e. For those that figured it out and went to 7427466391.com another even more tricky maths challenge awaited. Those who figure that out correctly were taken to another website from Google - asking them to submit their resume to Google's research laboratory. So - what can we learn from Google's recruitment?
Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Business development for small to medium businesses through human resources
Labels: Google recruitment, hr tips, marketing articles, recruitment, selection |
Friday, 7 December 2007
Marketing tip - Train your team on promotions
| Many businesses create a great new product or service and are so excited about getting it out to the market, that they forget to brief the team about it. This can be potentially damaging to the credibility of your business as your team members have to scrabble for information. If they don't know about it - they can't sell it! Whenever you have a new product or service, schedule time in with all of your team. Take time to walk them through all of the features and benefits of the product and service. Let them understand all of the rules or information they need to be able to clearly sell or teach customers about the product. Always make sure they know where they can find critical information such as price lists, brochures or fact sheets both on the computer and in hard copy. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony http://www.heartharmony.com.au/ Business development for small to medium businesses through marketing and human resources Labels: marketing tips, product launches, staff training, training |
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Marketing Tip - Alliances
| Marketing for small businesses doesn't have to be all about beating the competition. Many small businesses think they have to go it alone, do everything themselves and try and dominate their competition. However, the most successful small to medium businesses actively seek out like minded businesses and form alliances. As a result, they can provide integrated and seamless solutions to customers and win more business. For example - I have some great alliances with a few graphic designers and web designers. Often their clients need help sorting out their overall business strategy as well as writing the words to go with their designs, and often my clients need help with the images. This is a major win-win for both of our businesses and the main source of our leads. But your alliances need not only be with complementary businesses - what about ones in "so called" competition? I have alliances with other copywriters - we share direct mail, as well as provide back-up for each other in peak times, when we may be sick or want to take a few days off. We also refer business to each other based on our personal interests and preferences in writing. We believe in an abundance - that there is enough work available for everyone and the more we share the more we grow. Again this is a win-win for our businesses. So, look through your business card pile and work out who you would like to form an alliance with. Who do you like and trust to do great work? Who do you enjoy talking with? If you like them, then it is likely your customers will like them also. Approach them. Have a coffee and talk about how you can work together to get better results for your clients. Share in each others success - it is one of the cheapest strategies for increasing your client base. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony http://www.heartharmony.com.au/ Business development for small to medium businesses Labels: alliances, marketing tips |
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
HR Tips - Position or Job Descriptions
| HR Managers know that clearly written position descriptions are vital in creating a shared understanding of the expectation of any role. Here are some key tips for writing PDs:
If you would like to know more about how to manage your team go to http://www.heartharmony.com.au/hr-manual.html Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Business development for small to medium businesses ... through human resources Labels: HR articles, hr tips, human resource management, job description tips, job descriptions, position description tips, position descriptions |
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Marketing Tip - Guarantees
| Many consumers are reluctant to purchase products without a guarantee. Many businesses I see are reluctant to offer guarantees because they are worried they will be inundated by people taking advantage of them. This is particularly true of service businesses - they don't consider their services are appropriate to offer guarantees. However, offering a solid guarantee is one of the most powerful ways of removing objections to purchase. Think of IGA's 200% meat tenderness guarantee - they replace the meat as well as refund your money. Avon has a 100% happiness guarantee - like it or you get a full refund. Both companies get great sales as a result. But it isn't just for the "big players". Small business also should consider guarantees. I offer a money back guarantee with my Instant HR Policies Manual. Even with copywriting I offer a 100% refund guarantee - if I can't get your copy the way you want it on your second draft, I refund your commencement deposit and you pay nothing. If I don't meet our agreed deadlines and the brief didn't change after we set the deadlines - you are only up for your commencement deposit. Link your guarantee to the most common objections people have about services like yours - with copywriting it is people not meeting deadlines and the copy not up to standard. So ... have I been inundated by people demanding their money back. No. I have only had one person in all the time I have worked where I couldn't reflect their direction in their copy and I was happy to not charge them. What could your guarantee be? Think outside the square to find your guarantee. Make it real - make it big - make it believable. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Business Development for small to medium businesses ... through marketing and copywriting Labels: avon guarantee, copywriting, copywriting guarantees, guarantees, IGA guarantee, marketing tips |
Monday, 3 December 2007
Marketing tip - Voice tone is important
| Marketing is not only about words on a page, but how they are delivered. When you or an employee answers the phone - what does the tone of voice convey? Are they bored or do they speak so quickly that it sounds like they are calling the last race at Doomben? The person at the other end of the phone needs to feel valued and connected to you and your business. The tone of voice used is the main key to making this happen. A quick tip is to place a photo of a loved one right next to the phone. When you answer the phone imagine you are speaking to that person. Your tone of voice automatically gains warmth and deepens into connection. This tip also works if you are giving a teleseminar or on the other end of a phone presentation or interview. Place a picture where you can see it, look into the picture's eyes and talk to the picture. Your voice will automatically gain "rise and fall" in tone, will be warmer and more interesting to listen to. Try it out! Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Business development for small to medium businesses .... through marketing. Labels: answering phone techniques, customer service, marketing tips, phone techniques, phones |
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Marketing Tips - Market to the Generations
| Marketing is all about knowing your customers and helping them understand why your prorcut or service can benefit them. You all know the general age groups of your best clients (don't you?) Use the differences between generations as a way to market to them. It goes without saying your visual and graphical images need to appeal the particular market you are targeting. Here are some other quick tips ... If your "A class" clients are Baby Boomers then reward their loyalty to your company, reinforce the stability of your company, provide symbols of their status and standing with you. For Gen X clients - recognise they have a life (so respect their time after hours) and be flexible with your approach to them, reinforce how your service will make them more productive so they can spend more time doing what they really want to do, use testimonials from their peers as a tool to gain referrals. For Gen Y clients - use technology to provide services to them and to allow them to contact you (Facebook, Blogs, MSN, Instant On-line contact sections on your website), provide mentoring advice and information to them about your product and service, provide other ways they can instantly learn more. If you want to learn how to motivate different generations click here to read an article on Managing and Motivating Gen X, Gen Y and Babyboomers Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Business development for small to medium businesses through marketing Labels: babyboomers, gen x, gen y, marketing tips, marketing to baby boomers, marketing to gen x, marketing to gen y, motivating babyboomers, motivating gen x, motivating gen y |