Choose the 'write' route If you’re going on a long journey, there may be many ways of reaching your final destination (both in terms of the route chosen and the method of transport). Your ultimate choice may depend upon factors such as speed, cost and convenience.

Similarly, there are many ways of promoting awareness of your company and/or its products and services. The one you choose will depend upon factors such as:

Facebook: The adults have moved in Recently, Facebook overtook MySpace to become the most popular online social network. With its uncluttered look and grown up demographic, the rise of Facebook seems to be a sign that social networking has come of age. And that means you need to consider the potential of Facebook as a business marketing tool.

The 'write' approach to marketing Most people in business have the (usually misguided) notion that they can write well. After all, they learnt English at school, so there’s nothing to it, is there? That’s a bit like saying that we all learnt maths at school, so none of us need accountants… In this article. Phil Allcock looks at a specific type of writing – copywriting. (This shouldn’t be confused with copyright, which is an entirely different subject!) Copywriting refers to the production of words for different types of marketing material.

Low cost PR tips for getting your company’s products publicity The PR and marketing budget can be the first to go in the credit crunch. However, with your competitors doing the same thing, it provides a perfect opportunity for getting ahead and getting good press coverage whilst they are holding back.

New Year Resolutions & Predictions

New Year has come and gone and all around the World talk inevitably turns to resolutions. Are you looking towards a slimmer you? Giving up smoking? Perhaps you have decided to dedicate more time to others.

It’s also a good time to sit back and review your networking. Is your current activity working for you? Are you in the right networks, getting the referrals you want for your business?

Take the time to check you are on the right track. Even the top networkers do it. I spoke to some of the UK’s leading networking experts and heads of networks to find out what they expect to happen in networking in 2009 and their own plans for the New Year.

Are you chasing the wrong deals?

It is an all-too-common scenario when I’m working with sales teams or business owners – that when I look at their sales pipeline (you do have one of those, don’t you?) far too often I see they are very busy, but they’re chasing the wrong deals!  In this article, we’re going to examine that particular challenge and how we overcome it.

Do you feel lucky?

Often, salespeople put their success (or lack of it) down to sheer ‘luck’… but just how much of their achievements should be put down to luck alone? How can certain salespeople excel during a sales slump whilst others fall the wayside? Are some salespeople just born lucky?

I remember a quote from the golfer, Gary Player, when accused of being "lucky" he said, "The harder I practice, the luckier I get".

The rise of the social network

Andy Lopata, networking specialist, talks about the rise of social networking for business gain.

“I am not looking to set up a big website. Niche networks have always been the case; it’s never been about big networks. It’s about quality and interest to other members.

Roubi l’Roubi is the London based fashion designer behind RoubiNETWORK.com, a small, active and popular social network for his friends from creative sectors, and culture vultures from the business world.

We met through Ecademy a couple of years ago, but the future according to Roubi is niche.  He now participates less on Ecademy than he did and uses LinkedIn rarely. While Roubi needs to maintain a presence on MySpace as the choice of artists, he is still very selective about its use.

Making Marketing Accountable

Marketing accountability should be a priority, but in reality there is a lot of talk on the matter, and less action.   Given access to large corporate budgets, marketing staff have promised returns on investment and increased market share.  However, the evolution of the dot.com era has contributed to the fact that marketing staff can no longer get away with promising big results without quantifiably measuring them.

Nine out of 10 web users watch video

Almost nine out of 10 UK web users watched video online in December, according to comScore, whose data revealed the dominance of YouTube.

In the UK, 28.7 million web users, or 87% of the online population, watched video in December, accessing 3.1m videos.

Is video content the future for business websites?

If you, like me, are the kind of person who hides away when the video cameras come out, you might well ask, why on earth would you want video content on your company website?

The reason why I'm recommending that you think differently today is because I believe that 1. video content is the future for business websites and that 2. business websites with video content attract more customers and drive higher sales.

Sustainability is a matter of business

The environment is changing. The IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 4th assessment report was released in February warning that climate change poses the single biggest threat to    businesses and societies.
The effects of global climate change and the exhaustion of natural resources are becoming increasingly evident, with consequences for human well-being. In the world of marketing these global changes are shifting consumers’ expectations of brands and companies. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the power held in their purchase choices.  Businesses have a new obligation not just to make money but also to ‘do good’ and embed a sense of global citizenship, social responsibility and environmental responsibility in their brand.

Packing the Punches: How to make your website a big hitter

Having a company website is the norm for any serious business these days, no matter what its size is, but it makes very little sense to spend good money on a website unless you can make it easy for people to find, use, and come away with a clear vision and understanding of what you’re about and the desire to return.
The best websites offer visitors something different but equally useful or entertaining each time they visit, compelling them to come back for more.  Without exception, these are websites that are in constant evolution; they are the sites that are tended to daily and regularly updated with new information.

Taking action

Many small business owners will be used to copping flak for addictions to their ‘crackberry’.
The tell tale symtoms are all too common. Exasperated partners railing at post midnight emailing or blackberrys heading for a watery demise in the swimming pool during that longed for summer break.However, the vexed issue of the merits of Blackberrys is truely small fry compared to the grief that could be caused to business owners by the latest internet phenomenon. The explosion in popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, You Tube, Bebo and My Space presents a new potentially very big problem for owner managers to grapple with.

Social networking: why not embrace innovation?

Revolutions, once they are under way, are difficult to stop. But people will insist on trying.

177 years ago this month, the south-east of England was aflame as farm workers rioted. Under the leadership of the mysterious ‘Captain Swing’, they launched an orgy of burning and destruction across the countryside.

The rioters were protesting against technological progress. What worked them into their frenzy of pitchfork-waving rage was the growing use of threshing machines, which they saw as a threat to their livelihoods.

Making up is hard to do

Are you ready for some bad news? Well, it’s inevitable – your business will never be able to keep all of the people it deals with happy all of the time. Darker forces are at work and they will lure customers away from your business to your competitors.
Issues around your customer service may arise and will leave your customers unhappy, whether these are down to computer or human errors. It’s naive to think everything will run smoothly all the time, even when you have the best intentions and provide the best staff training. Let’s face it, everyone, including you, can have an off day.