blog

At the weekend, whilst I was ironing school uniforms for my twin four year olds (as you do!), the two of them were dancing around to some music (as they do!). It was a Justin Fletcher album (or Mr Tumble for those of us that don’t know any better). And they love it. Why? Well, what’s not to love… it’s got Mr Tumble doing a version of ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen, and Happy (released by Pharrell Williams in 2013 – where did the time go?!). So, one of the twins is being a little heavy handed with the CD player (yes, CD player. We still have one in the Vickery house!), and when told to stop jamming his index finger repeatedly into the ‘skip to next track’ button, he says, “but I want the food song.” What? I haven’t …

First and Foremost, who is your Biggest Competitor? You can probably run through a mental list of other local businesses or even big national products or services that you compete against. But, it’s none of those. Everyone’s biggest competitor is the same … It’s DO NOTHING Whatever your Business… Your biggest competitor is that those customers that you are targeting DO Nothing. They Do Nothing because they don’t know that your amazing product exists. They Do Nothing because you are not nudging them to get around to buying. They Do Nothing because they already have something or someone that does what you do (not as well) and they are in ‘inertia’. Just like those millions of people that stick with NatWest because in 1988 they offered teenagers pottery pigs if they took an account. Yet, Do Nothing is the biggest competitor …

Whether you are a big ‘LIKE’ for Facebook, or a big ‘UNLIKE’, one thing is for sure… When it comes to Facebook for Business, it’s a super duper powerful platform. In fact, over the last 6 months, it has proven to be one of our best providers of data. That to us means leads that we can nurture outside of Facebook – which means it’s a great source of actual customers… you know, the paying kind! So, I’d like to dispel a few myths on this little gem of a Social Media platform, before helping you to get the answer to a very important question. I shall reveal more on that soon. Myth #1: Facebook is NOT for businesses that sell to other businesses. Oh yes it is! There are 40 million Small Businesses on Facebook. And better still, with …

So, the Olympics are over. No more fun filled hours, watching those talented, hardworking British athletes achieve amazing physical feats. I felt so proud of our British team. And at the same time I almost cried when I saw the extreme joy of the families of the likes of Laura Trott, Mo Farah or 16 year old Amy Tinker who won bronze in the gymnastics. Running a small business can also move you between pride and tears most days. (ha ha, boo hoo). Every day you bounce between extreme perseverance and extreme joy! Unfortunately there is no gold medal at the end or that other colourful trinket, thing that they handed out to medal winners at Rio. (What was that?) However, there is a lot we can learn from our Olympic Gold medal winners… You have to persevere. You can’t lose …

If I suggested that you should go and see a film about a couple of women in their autumnal years, staggering half-cut around London, would you? It doesn’t sound that enticing does it? So how can it be that Absolutely Fabulous the Movie grossed more than any UK film in its launch weekend since the latest Bond outing ‘Spectre’ ? It is because Eddie and Patsy and the whole Ab Fab brand wasn’t built when they launched the film. It was built years before with FREE fantastic, innovative, exciting content and a great storyline. They hooked you in and that is exactly what your Business needs to do if you want customers to buy from you en masse. From Solopreneur to Corporate Business here are 3 Marketing lessons we should take from Ab Fab: Real Value builds Loyalty and Credibility. …

There is a hierarchy of actions we need to achieve for our emails to work. Getting them OPENED Getting them READ Getting them ACTIONED So I’d like to give you my 3 x 3 on Email Marketing Infographic. Three Requirements and Three Solutions to Achieve Each of Them. Click the link below to download this Infographic. Victoria ???? CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

I am going to bet you One English Pound.. ..that somewhere in the back of your mind if you own a small business or do the Marketing for one you have one of the following questions rumbling around: …Am I doing enough Marketing? …Am I doing the right Marketing? …Do I actually need to do Marketing when I already have some great customers? Or even… …When will social media strangers stop telling me I can make £1 trillion overnight if I follow their Marketing plan that also happens to cost £1 trillion ? The answer to all of those questions is that Marketing is a necessity if you want to grow your business because it is EVERYTHING you do to attract customers. (By the way if none of those questions were in your head please contact me and I will …

Surely only a total madman would book a hotel without checking the reviews on trip advisor or spend £50,000 on a home extension without checking the builder out on check-a-trade? It is just what people do now. Before someone buys they gather evidence, clues, check out the suspects like they are Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. They want proof. Social Proof to be precise. Affirmation that others rate you, love you, would recommend you. Do you make it easy for your prospects to find the proof you’re the right choice? When a potential customer has no experience of you they will look to see what others say before they buy, and they will be swayed by it. Customers are 70% more likely to buy from you if they read good reviews first. So let those prospects find the evidence they …

I will get straight to the point. Whatever your Business, LinkedIn is a necessity for your Marketing toolkit. LinkedIn is the most up-to-date database of people in jobs, people who own businesses and people with social enterprises that you will find anywhere, literally in the world! Whether your a personal trainer, you sell children’s clothes, you provide contract cleaners or you dive to the bottom of the deep blue see fixing bridges there is no better way to create a network of contacts that could create leads for your Business. BUT only if you state the obvious and make it clear what you and your can Business offer. If you sell to other Businesses then you need to make sure your profile is more than just a CV, the buyers in those Businesses need to see what your Business can …

Sometimes, it seems that businesses out there thrive because of how great their product or service is. Word catches on and it flies! We’ve seen this with Facebook’s success. With Apple’s product launches. With the latest best selling novels. Or so it seems… But in truth, to make this happen, Marketing has been heavily invested in. Whilst it feels like what they offer has been the real reason behind their success… it’s the marketing holding hands with those offerings that has been the difference between success of failure. But why? Because unless we really CALL OUT and TALK DIRECTLY TO our potential customers, they simply won’t know we exist. This is true of any company: large global companies, small businesses and self-employed one-man-bands. And It’s true of any industry or sector: professional services, high street shops, the local butcher of …