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THIS WEEK
Guest Article: Planning your Marketing for 2009
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
| Merry Christmas from the Team at Heart Harmony |
Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. It is a time of reflecting on the year that was and celebrating the wins (and learning experiences) of the year.
2008 has been a pretty amazing year both personally and professionally for myself and Heart Harmony.
I wouldn't have dreamed back in January that my HR Manual would end up in places as diverse as gold mines and State Operas.
I couldn't have imagined being approached by Australia's largest and well known travel organisation to write their SEO web copy for all 5 companies within their business on an ongoing basis.
I hadn't yet met most of the brilliant team of writers who now work with Heart Harmony. Donna-Marie, Beverley, Uellan, Penni, Melinda, Emily, Rebecca, Katherine, Julie-Ann, Mike, Naomi, Linda, Kerry and Alana are talented, dedicated and passionate writers who all go above and beyond the call of duty for our clients. I am truly blessed to have met them and have them agree to work with us.
... And I could not have begun to create the amazing people and opportunities that crossed my path this year.
I am grateful for you being part of my journey this year – and would like to take this opportunity of wishing you a happy, prosperous and magical 2009.
Christmas is also a time of sharing and giving, so this week's newsletter is brought to you by some of my close friends, colleagues and their businesses. Each of them has crafted a special offer just for Words from the Heart readers to help you kick-start your 2009.
| Guest Article: Top 10 Tips when Planning your Marketing for 2009 |
This week's guest article is from Margot Kooij, the Managing Director of Holy Mackeral Marketing. Margot and I were first introduced to each other by one of my favourite clients - Shirley Roiter. Margot is a talented and brilliant marketer as well as being a genuinely nice person. This article is designed to help you kick 2009 off with a bang!
The media doom and gloom about recessions and downturns is enough to make you want to take an extra long Christmas holiday. But now isn’t the time to take your eye off the ball. With businesses reducing their budgets, your marketing will need to be more strategic than ever. So what can you do to make 2009 your best year yet?
1. Develop a 12 month marketing plan, focusing on what you will do each month to promote your business to the people that matter. Forget those wordy diatribes that end up covered in dust on the shelf. Create a simple, month by month action plan and refer to it each week to make sure that you’re on track. A two page plan that you use is superior to a 20 page plan that’s forgotten.
2. Consider your target markets and the best ways to reach each market. Younger audiences may respond better to online marketing and social networking, whereas business owners may prefer to read about your company in the business pages of key newspapers and industry magazines.
3. Use several approaches in your marketing. Most businesses immediately think of advertising when it comes to marketing. But there are numerous other, less expensive ways to promote your business. Consider running promotions, developing your database and sending monthly enewsletters, or creating affiliations with complementary companies who will promote your products and services for you.
4. Leverage the media and get free publicity. Bill Gates once said: “If I were down to my last dollar, I would spend it on PR”, and he should know. Press releases are one way to tell your story to the media, with the aim of getting free articles written about your company and your products and services. Having a journalist write about you is great for your credibility, but you need to have a great story to tell, that’s new or different. An external consultant can help you take a fresh look at your business and develop several story angles.
5. Go online. Having a website that’s professional and reflects your business accurately is critical for any business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Today, two out of every three consumers use the Internet to research products and services before they buy. Having a website is therefore a great start. But it needs to be more than just an online brochure. It needs to attract customers, engage them and generate real results for your business. Use your website to ways to capture visitors’ details, demonstrate your expertise, share success stories and generate online and offline sales.
6. Add an email marketing (emarketing) system to your website to encourage customers to return to your site and keep informed about your business. Start by adding a simple way for customers to sign up to your eNewsletter so that they can receive regular updates, interesting news and reminders. Professional emarketing systems allow you to track who opens your emails and at what time. They even tell you which hyperlinks they clicked on in your emails. This is effective in determining what topics or products your customers are interested in, and can help you when developing your next email campaign.
7. Create consistency. Businesses often develop their marketing materials over several months, if not years. You may start with stationery, then a flyer or catalogue, and then develop your website or newsletter. But have you ever put them all side by side, and considered whether there’s a consistent ‘look and feel’? Image is everything, so it’s important that your website design and content reflects your flyers and other marketing collateral, and that your branding is consistent across everything. Do you use the same fonts, colours and paper types, and the same style of language in all your materials? If your staff wear uniforms, do these reflect the professionalism of your business?
8. Engage with your customers and prospects. Aim to build long-term relationships with them by ensuring your company stays relevant to them and commit to building those relationships. This may be through revamping your communication materials, revising your products, providing ongoing help and support, and keeping in contact via enewsletters, birthday and Christmas cards, phone calls, surveys and special offers.
9. Network, network, network. Business networking is the most powerful, profitable and cost effective way of promoting your company and winning new business. Yet few people engage in this style of marketing. Make a New Year’s resolution to invest more time in yourself and your business by attending at least one networking event a month. Developing face-to-face relationships with prospective customers can mean the difference between having a new contact and a sale.
10. Don’t procrastinate! If your marketing needs a revamp or more than a quick facelift, let us help you evaluate what you should be doing to get more customers, make more money and streamline your business. Procrastination is your worst enemy and if you get caught in the ‘I’ll do it later’ trap, your marketing won’t get the improvements it needs and you may miss out on potential customers and sales.
There are so many businesses achieving great results from their marketing – and you can be one of them. Set aside some time right now to evaluate your marketing and think about which strategies above could help boost your own business. By implementing even a few, you’ll start getting the results you desire.
Good marketing, and Merry Christmas!
Margot.
Margot Kooij,
Managing Director
Holy Mackerel Group
www.holymackerel.com.au
1300 400 464
If you’d like help with your marketing plan, or in implementing any aspect of it, don’t hesitate to contact Margot on 1300 400 464 or 0422 548 323, or visit www.holymackerel.com.au for more information. We’d love to help!
Special Xmas Offers for Words from the Heart Readers
1. Readers of this ezine are eligible for a free one hour consultation to discuss their current marketing and how it can be improved. Just phone Margot on 1300 400 464 to book in your time (bookings need to be made by the end of December 2008)..
2. Any person who signs up for Margot's ezine before 15 January 2009 goes in the draw to win a $100 Westfield gift voucher. Go to www.holymackerel.com.au and sign up now to be in the running.
| JBSS Business Coffee & Chat Mornings... bringing businesses together |
Donna-Marie Coggins is a close friend and writer with Heart Harmony. She also runs a great Coffee & Chat Club for businesses to share ideas. Networking is a great way to build alliances, friendships and boost your business (as Margot has said in her article).
The Brisbane venues are chosen to be child friendly and allow business parents the opportunity to network while still watching their kids have fun playing.
The Coffee & Chat Club is an initiative of Jacaranda Business Support Services (JBSS) as a way of bringing businesses together. Local Brisbane business owners meet over coffee once a month at either Everton Park or Thornlands - or both venues for those who like to meet people from both sides of town. Members enjoy associating with other small business owners, forming lasting alliances and a strong support network, along with discovering valuable business management tips.
These are not networking mornings where you hand out your card to as many people as possible or attend with the sole purpose of exchanging leads. The JBSS business Coffee & Chat Mornings are designed to encourage deep discussion and sharing of ideas and information. Business owners have the opportunity to discuss achievements and up-coming events, or perhaps challenges they're facing. As a group, we brainstorm and impart ideas to find possible solutions. Innovative strategies are shared and many firm alliances and strategic partnerships are created.
If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, we would love for you to join us.
Special New Year – Fresh Start offer
Membership fees will be increasing to $88 on 1st January, 2009.
However as a special gift for customers of Heart Harmony, if you would like to join before the end of January simply mention ‘Heart Harmony Offer’ when you fill in the membership application and you can join the Business Coffee & Chat Club for just $55 – that’s even less than the current price!
Offer strictly valid until 31st January, 2009.
Email info@jacaranda-business-support.com or visit www.Jacaranda-Business-Support.com for more information on the Coffee & Chat Mornings. Application forms are available on the website.
Wild Dog Designs - Kick Start your New Year Networking
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Jo Pollard from Wild Dog Designs is another great friend and supporter of Heart Harmony.Many of our small to medium sized business clients have also worked with Jo this year and have had some brilliant graphic designs created for them.
Wild Dog Designs (www.wilddogdesigns.com.au) has created two amazing special offers for our readers to kick start your New Year marketing. These offers include everything you need to make a brilliant impression the next time you go networking.
Networking Starter Kit “Mini” $285 (plus GST)
This offer includes:
* 1 domed full colour name badge - A professionally designed name badge with magnetic backing printed in full colour including your logo
* 250 business cards – Printing of 250 double-sided full colour 54mm x 86mm business cards on a 310 gsm card stock (gloss or matt coated).
* 250 Flyers (plus receive 50 free)– Printing of 250 double-sided full colour DL Sized flyers on a 150 gsm card stock (gloss or matt).
FREE BONUS GIFT - 3 Networking Notepads
FREE BONUS GIFT - “Top Networking & Tradeshow Tips” Guide
Networking Starter Kit “Maxi” $370 (plus GST)
This offer includes:
* 1 domed full colour name badge - A professionally designed name badge with magnetic backing printed in full colour including your logo
* 500 business cards – Printing of 500 double-sided full 54 mm x 86mm colour business cards on a 310 gsm card stock (gloss or matt coated)
* 500 Flyers (plus receive 100 free) – Printing of 500 double-sided full colour DL Sized flyers on a 150 gsm card stock (gloss or matt)
FREE BONUS GIFT - 3 Networking Notepads
FREE BONUS GIFT - “Top Networking & Tradeshow Tips” Guide
 About The Free Bonus Gifts
The “Networking Notepad” is the essential tool every networker needs! It ensures when you get back to the office you remember precisely who you need to contact, who you can send referrals to and most importantly the extra information you need to add to your database that will give you the edge when contacting them later.
Lots of people will have spoken to that person at the networking event, but how many will remember the little details of the conversation? By remembering the details you show you were really listening to that person and you understand what they need. One of the most valuable things for all people is to be truly heard – the Networking.
The “Top Networking & Tradeshow Tips” guide is a great little reference that will give you some quick and easy tips to help you network effectively and get the most out of your tradeshows every time.
It includes some sure-fire ways to ensure you make a great connection when you meet someone. First impressions do count… What impression are you currently giving? This guide will make sure it is the right one!
She only has 15 of these special offers to be booked in over December – January. So drop Jo an email at enquiries@wilddogdesigns.com.au with “Networking Starter Kits” in the subject line and she will get you set up for the New Year.
PLUS, if you book one of the “Networking Starter Kits” she will also give you a $100 discount off your next design job. Why not use the discount to get your business card and flyer professionally designed so you can make the most of these fabulous offers?
Of course if you would like something a little bit different to the items listed in the Networking Starter Kits, no problem, just call Jo on 3325 2265 and she will arrange a special printing rate for a package designed especially for you.
Your Networking Start Kits from Wild Dog Designs will give you a head start with your networking for the New Year – so get in quick and grab your kit today.
Of course I couldn't let Xmas pass without my own special gift to Heart Harmony readers.
As a special thank-you, I would like to offer you a keyword review for your website. Keywords are one of the most critical elements of all websites to help you to be found in search engines – yet many small business websites either don't have keywords identified or have the wrong ones! This means you are missing out on customers every day without realising it.
In this review I will determine the best keywords for your website and provide you with recommended:
- Page title tags
- Page description
- Keywords
- Alt tags
Provide this information to your webmaster to upload into your site, or self edit your site with this information. This is critical data that will help you dramatically improve your search engine rankings in 2009.
PLUS I will also provide you with a detailed report of the most commonly searched terms relating to your business niche, the daily search numbers for those terms and how much competition there is for those terms. This will help you target your pay-per-click campaigns and refine your business niche.
PLUS I will compile a report of personalised recommendations of what you can do to improve the power of your website against 10 key areas:
- Your headline power
- Your copy persuasiveness
- Keyword density in your copy
- Ease of client capture
- Call to action
- Risk reversal
- If your current appeal to clients is still correct in this environment
- Clarity of your unique selling proposition
- Overall site layout and navigation
- Additional web strategies to consider
All of this detailed information will help you create your web strategy in 2009 – to help you make the most out of your website and draw in additional customers.
Normally I charge $150 for the first web page and $75 per page thereafter just for the keyword analysis, and $300 for the 10 point website audit.
But as a special thank you for being part of our 2008 experience, I would like to offer you the total keyword and website audit package for just $300 + GST (for up to 5 website pages) – a saving of $450. If you have more web pages - no worries! Just call me on 3351 8844 and I will arrange a special deep pocket rate for you.
I only have allowed 10 of these special offers to be booked in over January, and I expect they will go fast. So drop me an email at info@heartharmony.com.au with Website Audit in the subject line and I will reserve your spot.
There will be no newsletter next week (Boxing Day), but we will be back on deck the following week with our newsletter (yes, even though it is holiday time!).
Reviewing 2008 and Setting New Goals for 2009 (yes, I will come clean about what worked and didn't quite make the list for 2008
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog also included posts about
the best viral marketing piece of the year (you really HAVE to see this), more last minute Xmas gift ideas, Feng Shui Christmas and Paying for Convenience.
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