sX Blog

Great video - where do good ideas come from?

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:03:25 +0000

Who Ya Gonna Call?

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:27:03 +0000

I've seen it so many times, businesses keep being seduced into thinking that they can do all their own marketing only to end up losing time, profits and in some cases their shirts!

It's time businesses wised up. If your tax affairs are screwed you'd go to an accoutant If you were in a legal bind you'd go to a solicitor. So why is it that when it comes to marketing, businesses think they can do it for themselves.

Is it the Economy or the Internet that's turning us in to bad buyers and sellers?

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Nigel Maine) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:43:58 +0000

Over the past few years I have taken an avid interest in the way business (and individuals) buy and sell products and services.

Whilst my findings are not scientific and nor have I carried out any structured research, my observations have been supported by so many people, that there appears to be a pattern emerging.

Let’s face it, the market place has changed and so has the economy. Pretty much everyone has access to more detailed and more amazing information than ever before in the history of the world. The prevalence of the internet in our everyday lives has provided us with a tool that hinders and helps at the same time.

The Marketing Revolution Part II

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:16:34 +0000

Return on Collaboration (not ROI)

Everyone has heard of ROI, well last year Cisco coined the phrase ROC – Return on Collaboration. They found that in terms of Operational ROC, i.e. reducing and avoiding costs, 80% of companies saw operational savings of up to 170%.

For Productivity ROC, i.e. finding efficiencies, a Frost & Sullivan survey in May 2009 of 3500 business and IT leaders found that collaboration was most impactful in areas where people interacted such as R&D and Sales and Marketing.

The Marketing Revolution Part I

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:05:27 +0000

For those of us who have been in sales for any length of time, say for more than 10 years, we are painfully familiar with the old ways of generating new business:

Cold calling (knocking on doors collecting compliment slips)
Direct mail (sending out company brochures hoping the receptionist doesn’t bin it before it gets to the boss)
Telesales (sweet-talking your way past the gatekeeper only to be greeted with a cross MD who has better things to do with his time than talk to a salesperson!)

Top 10 Tips to Make a Profit from Networking

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Nigel Maine) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:02:04 +0000

Strategies to complement your networking:

You know how it is. You spend time in the car rehersing your forty second introduction.

You arrive at the venue and start networking saying "Hi" to some of the people you've met before.

Aaaaaah! breakfast is served: You tuck in to eggs and bacon, eagerly waiting your turn to speak.

Misner warns against playing the numbers game online

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Business Matters Magazine) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:32:23 +0000

One of the world's leading business networking gurus Dr Ivan Misner has hit out against the explosion of "premature solicitation" for work on social media websites by people who play the numbers game rather than cultivate relationships.

Dr Ivan Misner, the American founder of the Business Network International (BNI), which has 120,000 members globally and over 15,000 in the UK has said that the misuse of social media tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter is fuelling a backlash against business networking.

500m users on Facebook puts us at tipping point

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:29:51 +0000

Fantastic; 500 million users on Facebook places the UK and the rest of the world at that amazing point in history that something so simple has become a way of life for the human race. And in such a short space of time.

The bottom line, Facebook illustrates how we now communicate. Through a combination of fun, curiosity (or being nosey), uploading and looking at videos or images to see what others are doing and writing and receiving short messages, it taps into our need to feel connected to others to get us through the day.

On Facebook we give permission for other people to connect and interact with us by allowing them to read and write on our walls (If you don't get this, please, please call me and I'll explain what this is all about).

Networking Not working?

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:27:02 +0000

"Help" I hear you say, networking is not working, but what's the alternative?

Well, the business world has changed and there's nothing we can do about it. The trouble is, the professionals who we have to relied upon for direction are still living in the world of the 80's and 90's, telling young business people that the way to generate new business is through the following activities:

Cold Calling
Networking
Email
eNewsletters
Referrals

You're probably thinking, well what's wrong with that! Well, if you're actively involved in running a micro or small business, you'll know that none of these provide a return on investment that you could take to the bank. It's tough out there for many businesses and it's not getting any easier.

Using Twitter For Business

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:25:07 +0000

Twitter. It’s all the rage in the social media world these days. But how can you best leverage it for tangible business-to-business marketing purposes? One way is to build your own community within Twitter.

After getting to grips with tweets and retweets etc., I decided to treat Twitter as I would any other important marketing initiative—by first developing a well-defined strategy and a set of related tactics. Over the next couple of months, I created and then tweaked (no pun intended!) the strategy and honed the tactics through trial and error. I then boiled everything down to a seven-step process that you can use in your own B2B community on Twitter.

Graphic and Web Design for Business

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:22:35 +0000

Genuine Desire or Just Design?

The importance of design is often under-estimated by many businesses. We all know what we don't like the look of, but how does your business comes across to new and existing customers. Design encompasses so much, from the look and feel of your business cards and letterhead to the first impression of a web site, even down to the clothes your sales people wear.

Remember the 80's and 90's; white socks, shiny suits and "loads-a-money", you get the picture. But nowadays, perhaps it's the wide knot ties and pointed shoes that's a giveaway.

Collaborate and Win

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:21:45 +0000

Consider this; we're all bombarded with approximately 3000 marketing impressions every day. It takes approximately seven to nine marketing impressions, before a potential customer feels comfortable with a company or product.

In business terms that means a phone call, email, letter, flyers and web visits etc. Here's the kicker! only one-in-three impressions actually gets through due to firewalls, gate-keepers, wrong addresses and so on! That means your efforts must be multiplied threefold. You need to make 21-27 marketing impressions to keep on target!

Why is it so difficult to sell on line

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:20:56 +0000

Like most businesses, you have a web site and of course, access to the internet at work, at home and possibly on the bus, on holiday and anywhere else you may like to choose - so, let's face it, you're connected like the rest of the commercial world.

So, why is is so difficult to sell on line when everyone is connected and has access to such a great resource.

Surely there would be set precedents or rules that everyone should follow to make sure their web sites sell every time when someone visits? Answer = No!

How to generate more interest in your business

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:19:51 +0000

Interview with David Meerman Scott -

About The Author

Nigel Maine - CEO sales eXchange

With over 25 years experience in sales and marketing helping businesses increase sales, Nigel has a passion for helping businesses survive the challenges they face in todays fast-paced economy, starting with good, sound advice.

sales eXchange is a unique and revolutionary marketing framework that enables businesses to sell to each others customers and prospects. Click here to get the full picture sales eXchange

Content Marketing Playbook

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:19:02 +0000

I came across this web site over the weekend and thought that their Content Marketing Playbook was a very simple and easy document to get your head round when you're trying to think about your next move when it comes to getting your business "better known".

Creating content can be a bit of a problem for some businesses and I believe that it needs to be tackled on two fronts:

What influences a business owner to invest in new products or services?

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:17:30 +0000

Here's an interesting one! Click here to visit the LinkedIn Poll

I recently had an online discussion with a number of telesales "professionals" who advocate that telesales continues to be the most effective way of generating new business. Personally, I disagree, I think its out dated, intrusive and a complete waste of time.

Making 100 calls to get through to one decision maker is not my idea of fun or time well spent.

Business owners have so much information at their finger tips, that they can pick and choose their suppliers and they certainly don't need a telesales person to tell them how to run their business or to help suggest products or services that are not relevant.

The Business Technology Handbook Is Finished!

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:16:39 +0000

Well, I have to say that I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. It was quite a slog, and what started off as a White Paper in late 2008, written for a small number of businesses ended up being a 350 page (well, I was going to say epic, but I think that’s going too far), fully blown business book called The Business Technology Handbook.

It was quite strange really. It seemed to be a logical idea at first. Write about how technology affected businesses and then illustrate a number of ideas and solutions to help the businesses I was writing for.

Now its finished, except for the front and back covers, suppliers list and the index page (I thought that the publishers could do that – I hope), I guess the real work is about to begin, i.e. Getting it published.

Ten Tips for Preparing Regular Content for newsletters

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:15:28 +0000

I know how it is, you want to send out a newsletter, its a great way to keep in touch with customers and then it dawns on you, "what am I going to write about?"

The trouble is, most businesses think to themselves, no problem, we'll include information about the company, our mission statement and for good measure, we'll include a load of information about our products and services we sell - WRONG - DON'T DO IT !

Newsletters are for news, sales letter are for selling, don't mix them up, otherwise your efforts will end be greeted with the delete key and disdain!

First things first, open up a spreadsheet and in the first column...

Seven Steps to Securing Sales

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:10:49 +0000

When you are planning your outbound marketing, it can't be done in a vacuum.

The differing forces that affect sales are predominately from the customers perspective. We are no longer in a market which is sales driven, rather, it is driven by the consumer every time.

These Seven Steps to Securing Sales will help you to understand the importance of alignment, i.e. your activities and those of your prospects. (Click on the image to enlarge the infographic)

Remarkable Stairs!!!

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:09:06 +0000

How remarkable do you think your business is?

About The Author

Nigel Maine - CEO sales eXchange

sales eXchange is a unique and revolutionary marketing framework that enables businesses to sell to each others customers and prospects. Click here to get the full picture sales eXchange

Getting the right image right!

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:08:11 +0000

By looking at this picture you will immediately notice that it is a genuine image taken at an event. It happens to have been a 4Networking breakfast meeting in at The Edgewarebury Hotel in Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK.

The point I'm making here is that it is so easy to get hold of stock photos from the likes of www.istockphoto.com, www.gettyimages.com or www.crestock. You only have to look at the majority of photos on this site, but the fact remains, when a browser, prospect or customer sees a genuine photograph they immediately feel a connection that you are in fact normal!

Did you say please when you started marketing?

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:05:01 +0000

Why is spamming so annoying? Well, apart from 99% of it being total crap, the 1% that might be remotely valid is still unwelcomed simply because we didn't ask for it in the first place.

There's a bit more to this feeling of intrusiveness that can be explained. The bottom line is that the spammer didn't, wouldn't and couldn't be bothered to ask for permission.

According to Seth Godin, our purpose, when it comes to marketing our respective businesses, is only to ask for permission.

What is the purpose of your web site?

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:50:15 +0000

What is the purpose of your web site? Is it to sell, promote, act as a brochure, service centre & support, corporate or all of the above and therefore should you combine them all?

Your web site is the equivalent of a salesperson or a whole sales team, therefore it should look, act and speak like one. It's also important to make sure that you are clear about your objectives, otherwise you will send out mixed messages.

Business Branding and You

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:44:24 +0000

If you're clear about your "business branding" then it should be easier for your to present your business case to prospective customers.

Without a brand, you have to build a case why you deserve the business every time you get ready to make the sale. That can be a thankless task. Each time you go through the motions of a sale with a customer, you then get confronted with a sequence of questions that shows that they don't really trust you.

So, you have to make a case to keep the prospect comfortable throughout the sales/buying cycle before they part with their money.

Great copy, Great site

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:25:18 +0000

A great "free" short read is called Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins and is a must before you get stuck in to copy-writing. In fact, David Ogilvy once said: “Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times.

It's said that copywriting is salesmanship in print. Therefore you need to make sure your written words are as impactful and engaging as they can be.

Consider this: If you can hold the attention of your visitors, they are more likely to return and ultimately buy from you.

Great Site - Great Business

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:23:25 +0000

A great web site will be rendered useless if your internal infrastructure fails because of out dated and ineffective technology.

However, it’s that time of year again when many of us review the previous year’s costs and performance, and for some, look to secure funding for the new fiscal year.

An upgrade here or there never hurt the balance sheet especially when you can claim back 50% via Capital Allowances in the first year and even 100% against corporation tax if you lease new systems. However, what should you prioritise for the next twelve months; a faster, slicker machine or Blackberrys for everyone? It can be a difficult decision especially with so much choice.

Less than a second to click away from your site

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:22:14 +0000

According to scientist Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University, Ottawa, browsers only take 500 milliseconds to decide if they like a web site or not.

Considering that the general concensus was that it took 8 seconds before someone decided if they liked your site or not, this information makes it even more important to ensure that your landing page and indeed your whole web site is optimised for results.

There are various links and resources on this site, but the important factor to bear in mind is that your web site is, or can be a 24/7 sales person.

99 Landing Page Resources

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:20:02 +0000

So your search engine optimisation and carefully chosen keywords have paid off and you’ve gotten visitors to your site. This is great, but your battle is only half won if you haven’t taken the time to properly design and structure your landing page and that includes persuasion, call to action and conversion.

Ideally, your landing page should be a place where you can get visitors to do what you want, whether that be buy a product, click on links, or even just read through information without having to do any additional work.

There are a number of things that you can do to improve your site’s page. Here’s a list of 99 resources, courtesy of Virtualhosting.com, although it dates back a while the links are sound and the sites will help you get on the road to building better landing pages.

Seth Godin on getting your product noticed

nigel@marketandmotivate.com (Administrator) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:18:11 +0000

The video might be a few years old, but its as relevant now as it was then.

10 Authors to have dinner with!

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Aden) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:15:46 +0000

I realise that there are thousands of authors and gurus in this world, but this site is about helping businesses get the most from their web sites, so posting a blog about great chef's or entrepreneurs doesn't really have a great deal of relevance, don't you think!

Each of the authors below offer the richest buffet of web intelligence you could hope for. If you're planning to succeed online then you must start reading some or all of the books below.

Of course you can hire a consultant to do your web work for you but, even if you do hire one, it's important to know what they're doing and knowing why your web site is or isn't doing as well as you thought it would, than being kept in the dark.

So here's the list

Stop sending prospects to your homepage

aden@marketandmotivate.com (Nigel Maine) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:13:08 +0000

It's so easy to enter your home page website address (www.blahblah.co.uk) on a digital signature or your profile for a forum or any other web site for that matter, but, if other browsers can see your web address and can click through to your site, what does your home page say, who is it actually speaking to?

Think about it. The person who clicks on your profile, having read your forum post or your profile is already interested in you. You actually have something in common. So why not convey that fact to them.

Show them some ingenuity...