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Articles from Helen Dowling | Selfgrowth.com
- Consistent Marketing Wins the Day! - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2017 from Helen DowlingI think there`s a part of us that is attracted to the bright, shiny, marketing ideas, strategies and concepts that have sprung up in recent years. Gone are the days of good old-fashioned, religious calling through the phone book. This has been replaced by social media, webinars, podcasts, ...
Views: 805 - Data, Message, Person.... - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2017 from Helen DowlingOver the past few months, we’ve been working with a graphic designer company to revamp our brand. It’s taken a while to come to fruition but we got there in the end. Sometimes, marketing can be a bit like that too – you have a lovely plan and strategy in place, but for some reason, you don’t ...
Views: 962 - Would you like meetings with Travis Perkins? - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2017 from Helen DowlingWe're seeing some AMAZING results with our LinkedIn package and it's becoming really PREDICTABLE! In other words, we know that if we do x, then y, then z, it will lead to meetings and leads for our clients. How would you like meetings with Travis Perkins, Bernard Matthews, Edinburgh Council ...
Views: 827 - Is your marketing company being 'fluffy'? - by Submitted on Jun 06, 2017 from Helen DowlingMany of the people we speak to currently use a marketing company that they may have been with for month or years and if they’re working well for you, then that’s great. However, more often than not, we find that the activities the current marketing company are doing don’t result in lead ...
Views: 916 - Client of the Month – Gardeners Arms - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2016 from Helen DowlingWith December well underway and Christmas just around the corner we thought it was only fitting that our client of the month is a business that really knows how to get into the festive spirit! The Gardeners Arms is a free house dog and child friendly pub offering home cooked food based in the ...
Views: 833 - Client of the Month – Gardeners Arms - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2016 from Helen DowlingWith December well underway and Christmas just around the corner we thought it was only fitting that our client of the month is a business that really knows how to get into the festive spirit! The Gardeners Arms is a free house dog and child friendly pub offering home cooked food based in the ...
Views: 780 - Are Christmas cards on your list? - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2016 from Helen DowlingHow do you feel about writing your Christmas cards? For many, including the team at ET, it’s not something we particularly look forward to – it’s hard work and it takes ages. But when it comes to sending out something to your contacts and clients at this time of year are Christmas cards on ...
Views: 701 - Client of the Month – Westfield Patterns - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2016 from Helen DowlingWorking with our clients and getting to know them better also means we get to hear about their successes and achievements. When you work together with a client on their marketing strategy, it’s always great to hear that this is having the desired effect. However, we felt we needed to do more to ...
Views: 740 - Client of the Month – Westfield Patterns - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2016 from Helen DowlingWorking with our clients and getting to know them better also means we get to hear about their successes and achievements. When you work together with a client on their marketing strategy, it’s always great to hear that this is having the desired effect. However, we felt we needed to do more to ...
Views: 712 - What do we love on LinkedIn right now? - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2016 from Helen DowlingWe've been experimenting on LinkedIn recently, which has had some great results for our clients. We thought we'd share a couple of new techniques you might like to try. 1. The case study technique With this technique, you would find your target connections and send them an initial ...
Views: 971 - When should you stop marketing for the year? - by Submitted on Nov 08, 2016 from Helen DowlingWith only a couple of months left until the end of the year, a natural question that comes up is 'when do we call it a day?' For most business to business companies, they'll tell you that after the end of the second week of December there is really no point doing any marketing as no-one will ...
Views: 565 - Outsourcing to a Marketing Company vs Employing In-House - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2015 from Helen DowlingSo, you’re thinking about outsourcing your marketing. You invite two or three potential suppliers into see you, all of which provide you with a quote…and then at some point you start asking yourself whether you should employ someone in-house instead. When you’re faced with this dilemma, it ...
Views: 1103 - Doctor Vs Dentists - by Submitted on Jan 13, 2015 from Helen DowlingYesterday I had an 8.45am appointment with the Dentist. Definitely not my favourite place to go and definitely not at that time in the morning. My husband and I arrived for our check-ups promptly and at 8.45am exactly I was shown into the chair. After a quick look around and an ...
Views: 935 - The Secret to Writing Great Copy - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2015 from Helen DowlingHow many times have you read something – maybe on a website or in a sales letter and thought “that doesn't make sense” or found it hard to concentrate because the way it was written wasn't very interesting? Well, let me tell you something. When I first started my business, that’s how the ...
Views: 770 - Why Does The World Stop At Christmas? - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2014 from Helen DowlingWithin the next week or so, offices across the country will be closing for Christmas and not re-opening their doors until 3rd January 2012. While that’s only a couple of weeks, no-one will really get going again until the second week in January, so it almost feels like there is a month off for ...
Views: 915 - Act Like Your Business is Worth £1m - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2014 from Helen DowlingHow many times have you heard the phrase “Act like your business is worth £1m” and left thinking that although that would be nice, there is no way you could do that because you just don’t have the money. Me too! And then, the other day I reached an epiphany. By this phrase, people don’t ...
Views: 881 - What should your free giveaway be? - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2011 from Helen DowlingIt’s very interesting how opinions have changed over the last few years in marketing about what your free giveaway should be. I don’t mean the format it should take (i.e report, e-book, newsletter etc), but what the topic should be and the type of people it should attract. I know I’ve ...
Views: 901 - What can we learn from Prezzo? - by Submitted on Sep 26, 2011 from Helen DowlingThe other night (after a very long week I hasten to add) my husband and I went to Prezzo, the Italian Restaurant Chain. Prezzo is a company that I really admire in terms of marketing, because they really have it spot on. Granted they have a huge marketing team and probably a large budget to ...
Views: 879 - What to do on Linkedin - by Submitted on Aug 11, 2011 from Helen DowlingSo, you’ve joined Linkedin on the promise that it’s a great business tool and you’ll definitely get clients from it, right? Now what? You know that clients coming from this medium won’t happen on their own, but what should you do next? This is such a common question – what should I be doing ...
Views: 967 - Should you bother marketing during July and August? - by Submitted on Jul 29, 2011 from Helen DowlingWhy should you bother doing any marketing during July and August? After all, most people are away on holiday aren’t they? No one is really around so there doesn’t seem to be much point in doing a lot of marketing. You might as well just have some time off and take things a little bit ...
Views: 836 - Who will you choose to work with? - by Submitted on Jul 13, 2011 from Helen DowlingYou’d think with all the literature, research, evidence etc out there that small business owners would know who their target customers were and what their needs are. And yet, still I went to a networking event the other day and heard a lady say that she could help “everyone”. So, today I ...
Views: 756 - Do you know your why? - by Submitted on Jul 07, 2011 from Helen DowlingWhen people used to ask me why I wanted to achieve a particular goal in my business or get to a certain turnover, I never used to be able to answer them and I always came away from that interaction thinking the same thing: Why do you want to know my why? After all, I thought in my wisdom, ...
Views: 820 - Is Cold Calling Dead? - by Submitted on Jun 24, 2011 from Helen DowlingThe other day I was speaking at a conference and was inviting delegates to ask me anything they wanted to know about marketing. One of the audience asked an interesting question – “Is Cold Calling dead?” They’d been along to a social networking seminar on the same day and the presenter had ...
Views: 815 - What targets should I be setting for my marketing? - by Submitted on Jun 17, 2011 from Helen DowlingI know in my own business that I ALWAYS do better each month if I set some targets for my marketing. If I’ve got goals to aim for, I know where I am and I can try to achieve them. So my targets for this month for instance are: • 1 x meeting in the diary every week • 1 x new client every ...
Views: 834 - Writing effective customer surveys - by Submitted on May 26, 2011 from Helen DowlingThere is usually a time in any business where you think it might be useful to ask your customers what they think and get their opinions. This is particularly useful if you’re considering launching a new product or service and want to know whether people are likely to buy it. So if you do ...
Views: 723 - Is marketing about being organised? - by Submitted on May 18, 2011 from Helen DowlingWhenever I recruit for a new member of the team, I usually don’t ask for someone with marketing experience, but more for someone who is organised and has good admin skills. Why? Because the vast majority of marketing I personally think is admin based and about being organised. Think about ...
Views: 940(1 vote) - How to get payment from clients - by Submitted on May 03, 2011 from Helen DowlingAlthough you might not think that getting payments from clients is anything to do with marketing, I would completely disagree. Because I think that there is nothing more demoralising that celebrating getting a new client and then finding that they do not pay. It can make you feel very low and be ...
Views: 933 - Concentrate on Results - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2011 from Helen DowlingI came across a very interesting formula the other day, which was shared by a sales guru based in the US called Lisa Sasevich. She was talking about the fact that when many of us talk about what we can do for customers, we concentrate on how we can deliver the product or service and not on what ...
Views: 851 - What do Monkeys, Lions, Elephants and Dolphins have to do with marketing? - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2011 from Helen DowlingAbout a year ago now, I went along to a presentation on sales. The presenter advised us to think about people’s personalities when selling as four key animals – Monkeys, Lions, Dolphins and Elephants. Although all of us have a mixture of these personalities within us, we’re all dominated by one ...
Views: 6232 - Think Backwards - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2011 from Helen DowlingOver the years, I’ve worked with many small business owners who are often put off from doing a task because they feel they need to have everything in place before they can move forward. Take one client who wanted to run some workshops for her business. Sounded like a great plan, but she ...
Views: 821(2 votes) - How to dig yourself out of the hole - by Submitted on Apr 01, 2011 from Helen DowlingWhen I first started my business, I had a business mentor who told me the following quote. I’ve never forgotten it because it’s so true for many, many business owners. He said: “Show me an entrepreneur and I’ll show you a manic-depressant.” How true is that? One moment as a business owner, ...
Views: 1162 - What are the elements of a good sales letter? - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2011 from Helen DowlingThinking about sending out a sales letter to your contacts this year? Before you do, stop and put in place some things that will prevent you from making some of the basic mistakes that sales letters tend to have in them. 1. Being too short One of the biggest mistakes sales letters include ...
Views: 991 - 5 ways to stay in touch with your customers - by Submitted on Mar 15, 2011 from Helen DowlingIt seems that business owners out there are finding it harder and harder to stay in touch with their customers. Consistently when I ask small businesses to rate themselves at following up, they always say that this is where they are weakest. Actually, there are tons of ways to follow up and ...
Views: 879 - Act like your business is worth it - by Submitted on Mar 08, 2011 from Helen DowlingHow many times have you heard the phrase “Act like your business is worth £1m” and left thinking that although that would be nice, there is no way you could do that because you just don’t have the money. Me too! And then, the other day I reached an epiphany. By this phrase, people don’t ...
Views: 825 - Z is for being in the Zone - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2011 from Helen DowlingOK – I have to admit, by the time I got to Z in this series, I had to be a little bit creative about the title, but actually being able to get in the Zone is an important part of running a business. Let’s face it, we all have projects – things we want to do in our business to get us to where ...
Views: 804 - Y is for Yo Sushi - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2011 from Helen DowlingWell, this article isn’t exactly about Yo Sushi! It’s about the fact that if you pay attention to the big companies around you, it’s very likely that you’ll find ideas that you can apply to your own business. Remember, big companies can afford to do things – they can afford to hire the best ...
Views: 826(3 votes) - X is for Xenophobia - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2011 from Helen DowlingXenophobia is the fear of strangers or foreigners so this article is all about turning strangers into friends into customers and it’s something that you’re going to have to do if you want to succeed in your business. You’re going to meet people all the time – whether it’s from networking, on ...
Views: 788 - V is for (ad)Vantages - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2010 from Helen DowlingIn business, one of your key roles is to spot opportunities that can give you the advantage and help you stay ahead of the competition. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell what these opportunities are as they’re not always obvious, but it’s important that you’re aware of them rather than letting ...
Views: 857(1 vote) - U is for Understanding - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2010 from Helen DowlingI try not to write too much on market research and understanding your customers and your competitors – while it’s important, it’s not what most of you want to hear. Most small business owners simply want to know how to get more customers and don’t necessarily care how this comes about. But what ...
Views: 777 - T is for Time to do Marketing - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2010 from Helen DowlingAs small business owners, one of the things that we’re short on is time and particularly time to do marketing. Marketing is just one of those things that goes by the wayside when everything gets busy isn’t it? Here’s the problem though. If you only do marketing only when things gets are quiet ...
Views: 925(3 votes) - Q is for Quick and Easy Ways to Get Customers Fast - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2010 from Helen DowlingWhen you’re frustrated with marketing and you just need customers fast, here are some simple and quick things you can do to bring new customers in. 1. Talk to your past clients Have you kept in touch with your past clients? Maybe they’re looking for your products and services right now. ...
Views: 838 - M is for Marketing Strategy - by Submitted on Jul 14, 2010 from Helen DowlingDo you have a marketing strategy in place? No, by this I don’t mean a marketing plan (although that’s great if you have one of these). I mean a marketing strategy – something that tells you end to end where each of your marketing fits in. When I talk to small business owners they usually tell ...
Views: 908 - I is for (free) Information - by Submitted on May 25, 2010 from Helen DowlingThis week, I wanted to address a question that I get asked by many small businesses. How much information is appropriate to give away for free? Most of us get asked to give away a fair amount of information – from information that we choose to provide (like this article) to people contacting ...
Views: 904(1 vote) - F is for Following up - by Submitted on May 05, 2010 from Helen DowlingOver the last few years, I’ve spoken and written in depth about following up with people and why I really do think that it is the most important marketing technique that you can do. But, I still see business owners struggling with following up with people. Case in point, I was speaking to a ...
Views: 1606 - D is for Direct Mail - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2010 from Helen DowlingDirect Mail, otherwise known as sending letters through the post to prospective customers is now pretty much a dying art. By many business owners, sending letters has been replaced by emails – can’t say I blame them really. After all, emails are cheaper, quicker and you can see who has opened it ...
Views: 1005(1 vote) - B is for Blogging - by Submitted on Mar 03, 2010 from Helen DowlingOver the last few years, there have been lots of new ways to market and promote your business springing up. One of those ways is to create a blog for your business. A blog – short for web-log – is an on-line diary. You can set one up for free at www.blogger.com or for those who are more ...
Views: 957(5 votes) - A is for Advertising - by Submitted on Feb 25, 2010 from Helen DowlingWhen I first started Exceptional Thinking, just about everybody told me that I should do some advertising and to be honest, that’s what I thought I should do too. After all, that’s what businesses do to promote their products and services don’t they? So, dutifully I advertised. First in a ...
Views: 962(3 votes) - Being clear on what you do - by Submitted on Feb 09, 2010 from Helen DowlingLast week I sat down with a lady who wanted me to refer business to her. She was really lovely and we spent about an hour chatting away. But, although I would have liked to have referred business to her, I walked away from that meeting not really understanding what she did or how she could have ...
Views: 879 - What are the new ways to promote your business? - by Submitted on Jan 06, 2010 from Helen DowlingOver the last year or so, lots and lots of new ways to promote your business have appeared. Some of these were there before, but they’ve now become mainstream and have opened the doors for smaller businesses to compete with larger businesses for the first time. And they all have to do with ...
Views: 877(2 votes)