Archive for Marketing Tips

Dr.Ivan Misners thoughts on Marketing… (Interview)

Jun 15 | by | Inspiration!, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tips
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On Monday this week I got a fantastic opportunity to interview the founder and chairman of BNI (Business Network International), Dr.Ivan Misner.

He is called the “Father of Modern Networking,” Dr. Misner is one of the world’s leading experts in business networking and referral marketing.

Why?

The reason for the interview was to find out how successful business men and women like Dr.Ivan Misner promote themselves and what they think of Marketing.

I get asked questions everyday about Marketing. For example; What should I do? It is expensive, there’s no point…, I’m not sure what to do…, What do you think I should do to promote the company?… The answer will be different for every business and business owner.

A lot of business owner struggle with marketing not realising that is a necessary activity for all businesses. So, I want to help them in a different way.

How?

I thought the best way to help my clients and other business owners to understand about Marketing is by interviewing people who have been there and done it. I will be interviewing different people in different ways and sharing their thoughts with you.

Where?

This interview took place via Skype, between Liverpool (UK) and California (USA).

You can listen to the the interview below or you can view a transcript of the Interview here in PDF form. The transcript has a few links that Dr.Ivan Misner suggested you took a look at.

It’s not what you know, or who you know, it’s how well you know each other that really counts…

Koogar interviews Dr.Ivan Misner about Marketing by koogarsox

Lets us know what you think and feel free to ask questions!


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Koogar interviews Dr.Ivan Misner

Jun 14 | by | Inspiration!, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tips
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Yesterday Koogar interviewed Dr.Ivan Misner to find out what he thinks about Marketing.

At the beginning of 2011, Koogar took a look at the new years marketing plan. One thing I took from last year (2010) and previous years in business is that there are a lot of people in business who are unsure of what marketing is and are also scared to put themselves out there, even though they are in business to make money.

I regularly attend Marketing Seminars to see what others are up to and how they go about promoting themselves as times are changing, marketing is changing and its happening quickly.

I decided to ask people who have been there and done it… I decided at the beginning of 2011 that I’m going to interview a range of successful business owners and ask them “what their take is on Marketing“, to see if they could give us an insight into what has helped them build their empire(s), and also see if they can give us some hints and tips along the way.

The first person I have interviewed is Dr.Ivan Misner who is the founder and chairman of BNI (Business Network International). BNI is the largest networking organisation in the world that help business owners come together and refer each other for business every week. Koogar has been a member in BNI Alpha in Liverpool for over 3 years and thought there was no better place to start.

The interview has been recorded and will be uploaded for you to listen to and will also be transcribed giving you some of the websites and links Dr.Ivan Misner has recommended we take a look at.

If you not currently in BNI and are looking for a new marketing stream for your business, I can obviously recommend it.

Share your stories about BNI and how it has helped you and keep an eye on our website for the full interview.


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Marketing Tip #28: Comment Selfishly!

Oct 4 | by | Marketing Tips
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At the Koogar HQ we have been discussing our blogs and Marketing Tips and what we want from them.  The first obvious answer is, of course, to supply our users with hopefully useful information, which they can implement into their business. 

Secondly, our blogs are there to tell you what we have been up to, events or workshops that we think are beneficial for you as well as the wonderfully random blogs that focus on areas not directly related to us, but that we know others will find extremely useful.

And finally…they are there as a forum so people can share their experiences.  For example, if you have tried one of the Marketing Tips and want to tell people if it helped or not or if you tweaked it to fit your business.  So we really want you to COMMENT on this information!

However, we don’t just want you to comment for our sake, oh no.  Commenting is a great way to get links from another website to your own, which helps to push you up the search engine rankings.  Commenting is also a great way to raise your profile and awareness of your business. 

When people start to comment within a forum, bouncing ideas and experiences off one another, others become aware of Joe Blogs from Joe Blogs Ltd, which lets face it could lead to new opportunities which you would never have been made aware of if you hadn’t COMMENTED in the first place.  So commenting really can be selfish, but in the best possible and most productive way!

So, don’t be shy, start commenting!


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Marketing Tip #29: Telesales and Webinars

Oct 2 | by | Marketing Tips
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What are Telesales and Webinars?  They are, in essence, talks; presentations you can give to a wide audience on an area of your expertise, which you think people will 1) be interested in and 2) will benefit from the information you provide.

There is a lot you can do with telesales or webinars:

  • You can provide training via them.
  • You can promote or sell a product or service to an audience interested in them.
  • You can provide information, advice and guidance on subjects that will benefit people.

There are a number of reasons why hosting a telesales or webinar are useful:

  • Your audience capacity can be as large as you want as you are not confined to a room.
  • Your audience can listen in or watch in their preferred environment.
  • You can charge a smaller amount for any training etc you put on as you have no overheads (i.e. a room, refreshments etc), which may tempt more people to listen in or watch.
  • You are raising the profile of your business, especially through webinars, as search engines will pick up on your business, name and webinar title, especially if you have a lot of interest in it.

Listen out for and keep your eyes peeled for Koogar’s very own Webinars in the New Year!

*For more information about telesales or webinars, please feel free to contact us.


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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!


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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.


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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/


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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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Marketing Tip #23: Make sure you have a business plan

Sep 2 | by | Marketing Tips
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A business plan is not the same as a marketing plan as a marketing plan helps to identify your target customers and so on.  Whereas, a business plan is something you can do at home with a cuppa! 

Ok, so there are different types of business plans depending on what type of business you run and also what type of person you are.  By creating a business plan you are able to focus on the business year ahead; how much profit you expect to make as well as organising your budget and so on. 

However, it can also be aimed at how you see your business in a year’s time; how many customers you expect to have, the new office you’ll be able to move into etc.  

Business plans are a great way to keep focused on what you want out of your business and where you envision yourself as an entrepreneur.

 


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Marketing Tip #22: Maintain your Marketing

Aug 24 | by | Marketing Tips
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Maintaining your marketing campaigns is fundamental to any business.  It doesn’t matter how busy you are or how tight your budget is, you should always have some degree of marketing within your company.

This is especially important as we are still not out of the recession.  Many businesses will reduce their marketing budget when times are hard or completely cut it and try and maintain the clients they have already.  However, many studies show that by cutting the budget on your marketing your business may not resume its normal sales figures for at least 18 months – 2 years.  Can you afford to do this?

The businesses that survive recessions are the ones that continue business as normal.  You should not increase your budget as this may prove self-destructive, but you should definitely maintain it. 

A good example of this takes us back in time to 1920s America, where, after the Wall Street Crash many businesses were suffering.  However, there were two businesses in particular who chose completely different ways to handle the imminent recession.  One continued its marketing and started to explore new ways to build up its brand image and awareness, ensuring they stuck to their budget, which was fairly minimal.  The other decided to cut back and completely scrap its marketing altogether.  80 years on and the company that continued its marketing is still around today and recognised worldwide.  However, the company who gave up completely on their marketing are no longer around. 

We are always reviewing our marketing campaigns and coming up with new ways we can increase our brand awareness without it costing the earth.   There are so many different ways to market your company economically nowadays such as viral marketing; social media in all its forms.

You too could find different ways to maintain your marketing and in doing so ensure your company moves with the times and increases its brand awareness.

Oh and the company who survived the recession way back in the 1920s was…Kellogg’s!


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