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Be sure to wrap up warm as Friday 8th October is Byte Night!

Oct 1 | by | Inspiration!
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Byte Night is an annual sleep out by members of the IT industry to support Action for Children; a charity helping to keep children and young adults off the streets.

Each year, supporters spend 1 night out on the streets, exposed to the elements to raise both money and awareness for Action for Children.

12 years ago 30 individuals from the IT industry slept out and raised £35,000. The event has grown tremendously since then to over 700 sleepers raising almost £550,000 in 2009 alone. Sleepers, sponsors and patrons of the event include anyone and everyone from the IT industry from marketers and developers to celebrities and leading figures and many many more.

They are still looking for people to take part or to sponsor someone taking part in the event or to make a donation so if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, be sure to check out their website.

http://www.bytenight.org.uk/index.cfm

2010 Year of Health & Wellbeing: Be active in getting your clients

Sep 30 | by | Inspiration!
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Be active…

in getting your clients. Don’t sit around the office waiting for clients to come to you, get out there and find them. Take a walk and introduce yourself to your business neighbours, skip between networking events and make people aware of who you and your business are.

We are very active when it comes to potential, new and existing clients. Firstly we network to meet potential clients and get our name and faces out there at the same time. Secondly we travel to see our clients for meetings or to see how their business is developing.

Now although most of this travel is done via transport and still, therefore, involving sitting around, but in a different environment, we still walk to and from train stations and can, on occasion, be seen walking the streets of Liverpool with roller banner and laptop in hand.

The point is that we don’t just wait for the phone to ring or rely on referrals and word of mouth; we get out there and actively seek out our clients.

Remember, being active makes you feel good as it releases ‘happy’ hormones, positively affecting the wellbeing of your business. So at least when you leave the office to seek out potential clients you’ll have a smile on your face!

 http://www.2010healthandwellbeing.org.uk/index.php

RedShiftRadio.co.uk Programmes to listen out for!

Sep 30 | by | Digital Education
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As you should know by now, Koogar have a weekly business show on Crewe’s newest Internet radio station; RedShiftRadio.co.uk.  But, Business Day-to-Day is not the only interesting and enjoyable show on the new station.

RedShiftradio.co.uk boasts a large variety of shows so there is something for everyone, including the Polish communities!

So whether you’re into your gardening or cooking, interested in your child’s education, seeking business advice or simply want to hear some tunes, then RedShift Radio is the station to tune in to.

For more details about the shows and their presenters as well as a programme listing, please download the PDF’s below.

We know there is a programme for everyone, so take a look and happy listening!

Marketing Tip #27: Follow Up…Again

Sep 28 | by | Marketing Tips
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I know I have already mentioned the importance of following up with a client or potential client after networking with them, but I must stress just how important it is as most people only start really taking notice of you after several attempts of follow ups.

Have you ever met someone at a networking event or through a referral that says they need one of your services, but when you try to contact them to arrange a meeting they are extremely difficult to get hold of or don’t get back to you? 

Well here’s why…

Although these people do want your services, they too are extremely busy in their line of work and although it can be frustrating, you need to keep contacting them to book in that meeting and even after the meeting you should give them a call to go over what was discussed in the meeting and the steps to take from there.

We always follow up via an email after a networking event, but if we need to book a meeting with someone then we will ring them.  If we haven’t heard anything, we will email them the following week and then ring them the week after that and so on. 

Remember, you don’t want to hassle people, but give them a gentle reminder that you’re still there.  After all, they are the ones who approached you for your services!

FREE Marketing Workshop!

Sep 23 | by | Marketing Strategy, Presentations/Talks, Training/Workshops
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Marketing: What, How & When

Many peoples’ perception of marketing is that it is too expensive, a waste of money and resource and it doesn’t work. However, marketing is essential if you want your business to succeed. 

Therefore, because of all the negativity surrounding marketing Koogar & Azzure Marketing have teamed up and organised another FREE Marketing forum this time in Nantwich, which will discuss marketing and the importance of not only using it, but using it effectively. 

Effective marketing can: 

  • Be the difference between a potential client choosing your business over your competitors.
  • Help to sustain as well as grow your business.
  • Save you money and time – if done properly of course!

The FREE 4 hour event will consist of two speakers, detailed below, with the chance for questions and networking. 

Amanda Daniels (Koogar): 

‘Attracting New Clients’ - The key information you need for a successful online presence.

Julie Webb (Azzure Marketing):

‘Promoting your Business’ - Understanding your business position to target your customers, using the right marketing tools. 

Event details: Marketing: What, How & When 

Date: Wednesday 20th October 

Venue: Reaseheath College, Rease Heath, Nantwich, CW5 6DF 

Time: 09:00 – 13:00 

Places for this event are limited so please be sure to book your place in plenty of time.  You can book you place by following the link below: 

 http://freemarketingworkshop.eventbrite.com 

You will also have the opportunity, after the workshop, to sign up for our full day workshop, which will focus on and personalise marketing for you and your business. 

*Date and time to be announced.

Marketing Tip #26: You’ve used new technology to help your business so how about going back to old school techniques?

Sep 20 | by | Marketing Tips
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Business in this day and age focuses a lot on new media, new technology and the age of digital everything.  These are great tools to utilize in order to promote and market your business extremely well, but what about behind the scenes of your business?  How do you analyse your target market?  How do you keep track of profits?

This is where going back to using old school techniques can help!

There are many programs and softwares that can help you to manage every aspect of your business and track what is working and what isn’t within it.  Excel is a key example of such programs; it enables users to create spreadsheets in order to track and display information, users can perform analysises on risk, target market, competitors and so on as well as performing numerous other functions.

The beauty with technology is that programs such as Excel, although outdate the new digital era,  are able to be updated with new programs being created all the time to help businesses from start ups to established take control of their businesses’ behind the scenes.

For more information on how programs such as Excel can help your business tune in to RedShiftRadio tomorrow, Tuesday 21st September from 10AM, where our very own Amanda Daniels will be discussing the subject in more detail with her guest Traci Williams from Excel Ace.

Marketing Tip #25: KPI…does your company have them?’

Sep 13 | by | Marketing Tips
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Key Performance Indicators (KPI) reflect a company’s measurable goals to achieve and succeed.  They can relate to any company in any industry and are vitally important to the success of a company.

Key Performance Indicators need to be carefully selected by a company; they need to be achieveable, but challenging and, most importantly, they need to be measurable so progress can be recorded.

As Key Performance Indicators reflect a company’s goals they do not alter or change often unless a company’s goals do or if a company is close to achieving their goal.

Koogar has KPI’s, do you?

To find out more about KPI and how it affects your company, tune in to RedShift Radio’s Business Day to Day show tomorrow between 10am – 12pm to listen to Koogar’s very own Amanda Daniels and her guest, Kathryn May of Matrix Analitix, as they discuss KPI in more detail.

http://www.redshiftradio.co.uk/

2010 Year of Health & Wellbeing: Connect with fellow businesses

Sep 9 | by | Inspiration!
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OK, here’s our first blog about Health & Wellbeing within your business!  Be sure to look out for the 4 to follow and remember to give them a go and see how it helps improve your business.

 

Connect…

                 with business people around you, from people in the same industry as you to people in completely different lines of work to yourself.  By networking you are building your connections, who will be there to support you in your business needs, whether that’s through referrals, answering any queries you may have on an unfamiliar topic or simply offering you advice.

We connect with businesses regularly by networking, at least twice a week.  By building our connections we not only help others, as we have connections across industries, but we also help ourselves in being supported. 

Our network offers us a mountain of support by recommending us and simply talking about us, informing us of upcoming events we would be interested in and offering us advice when we struggle with something we’re not familiar with.  We owe a lot to our network of connections as business-life without them would be incredibly difficult.

Believe it or not it is possible to network everyday without having to leave your office.  Make use of the social media that is available and take a few minutes out of your day to connect with people.

By networking you are building your connections with people and businesses.  These connections will act as a support for you and your business everyday, helping to improve your business wellbeing.

So, give it a go and feel free to comment about whther you’ve noticed any improvements in your business or in yourself.

http://www.2010healthandwellbeing.org.uk/index.php

 

8th September: International Literacy Day

Sep 8 | by | Inspiration!
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Did you know that, now, 4 billion people are literate.  However, there are almost 7 billion people in the world today, which leaves a staggering figure of illiterate people in the world.

International Literacy Day has been celebrated on the 8th September every year since 1946 to raise awareness of literacy and its importance around the world.

If you have any stories of how you have used the power of words to successfully communicate with your clients please contact us.  Similarly, if you have any examples of using words or language that was ineffective i.e. annoyed your client or created a misunderstanding between you then feel free to contact us.

We use words every day, but just how well are we using them and can we improve?

http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/literacy/

Marketing Tip #24: Setting Goals Within Your Business

Sep 6 | by | Marketing Tips
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Setting goals within your business is a great way of staying focused. 

Concentrating and being highly focused on what you want to achieve from your business will always see you striving for a goal; good motivation for any business, whether start up or established.

By properly channelling your motivation, energy, ideas and drive you will succeed in any goals you have set yourself.

The goals you set for your business should not be unachievable, but attainable, especially for start up businesses.  By setting smaller goals at first which you can achieve you can build up confidence within the business and then begin to aim higher and higher, ensuring the goal is always reached.

So, instead of saying “I’m going to make a profit of £250,000 this year,” try setting a goal along the line of “I’m going to sell 50 widgets per week.”  By setting this kind of goal, you are aiming for at least 50 per week, meaning any more is a bonus, which you’ll feel great about when you achieve higher.

This kind of focus is incredibly important, for any company, as it represents the drive and ambition behind the business.

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