posted on December 19, 2013 by

Get More Work Done – Go On Holiday!

Christmas is now under a week away, and it’s nearly time for everyone to have a well-earned rest!

However, regardless of when you decide it’s time for a short break, a long weekend, or even a proper holiday abroad, it can actually be a time where your productivity increases.

I’m aware this is going to make me sound either mad or miserable, but bare with me on this…

For me, bizarrely, going holiday actually makes me more productive because I’m in a relaxed mood, which allows me to free my mind, think creatively, and plan ahead.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you should surrender your holiday to your business – it should first and foremost be for relaxing. I never deliberately set out to work more on while I’m on holiday, but out of habit I always take a hardback notepad and tend to find that I scribble lots of information down, which I can implement when I return.

Prior to going on holiday, I’m usually extremely busy trying to finish things off for clients, and I don’t start to relax until I’m on the plane, train, boat etc. But once I do relax, it gives me the opportunity to delve into a more laid back and creative state. Once this change occurs, I find myself filling up with ideas and I use the notepad to make a lot of notes.

Some of this can be prompted by reading good books relevant to marketing, or listening to audio programmes that include experts talking about various aspects of marketing. Personally, I’m currently reading “Email Persuasion” by Ian Brodie, which is an excellent book on email marketing and well worth checking out.

As a result of my holiday, I find that I ironically get more work done than at times when I’m at work, and under the day-to-day pressures of running my own business.

So, my personal suggestion to owners of businesses is to take regular breaks throughout the year (they don’t all have to be full blown trips to Hawaii, maybe just a nice long weekend away in the Lakes), and see if that results in a rise in your productivity and creativity in a similar way.

For now though, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Marketing Support Tagged With: , , , , , ,
posted on November 13, 2013 by

Cross-selling – Why Existing Customers Are Just As Important As New Customers

When sales fall, most businesses instinctively decide that the best course of action is to go after new customers.

bullseye

While logically it’s a sensible call to make, the reality is there are three options available to counteract the fall:

  • Increase the amount of customers i.e. get more customers,

  • Increase the frequency of purchases of your existing customers, and/or

  • Increase the average spend per purchase from your existing customers

However, research shows that it is eight times more expensive to try and get more customers than it is to get more sales from existing customers.

Look at it this way. It’s easier to sell a football shirt to a fan, than it is to someone who doesn’t care about football or, even worse, supports your rivals. You should be selling to your fans who, in this particular analogy, are your existing customers.

If you look at your existing customer base, as well as your current list of products and services, you will be able to identify opportunities to cross-sell to existing customers, as well as attracting new business. You can do this by creating a simple table, with existing and new customers/clients’ needs down the left hand side, and your products and services across the top.

This helps give you a visual representation of what and where you will be able to cross-sell. Simply tick off what you provide to each customer, and at a glance this table will show you where the opportunities to cross-sell or upsell new or existing services to your existing client base are.

In our experience this is often a quick win for clients to grow the business before going out into the market and looking for new customers or the extra resources that can entail.

You may wish to try it for your business.

Get Our Latest, Free Marketing Tips here.

Filed Under: Getting Customers, Lead Generation, Marketing Support Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
posted on October 21, 2013 by

The Social Reboot

web-design-serviceAs a marketing expert, I spend my days (and some nights) working to improve the customer engagement, branding, and overall image of my clients.

This is a never-ending job as business and marketing is always evolving due to constant developments in technology, methods, and practices, and I need to do my best to keep up for the sake of my clients.

As a result, the last company I come to address the marketing issues for, is usually my own, and I never really get to practice what I preach with Red Flame Marketing.

However, that’s all about to change as, over the coming months, I’m going to overhaul my online marketing, explaining the reasons for my changes as I go, and turn all of my social media channels into pages that I’m proud to have representing my company.

Most importantly, I’m going to demonstrate how you can apply the same techniques to your business, as well as tips on lead generation, blogs and content, and social media etiquette, as we gradually explore the world of modern marketing.

So, consider this the starting pistol, and make sure you are following Red Flame Marketing on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, so you can see the full transformation and the effect it has, as well as exclusive content for users on each page.

Finally, make sure you check back here, as there will be more content on the dos and don’ts of modern marketing and monthly updates on this social media reboot. Meeting regularly to talk about marketing is a good practice to get into, so let’s make this our regular meeting place, as good marketing requires time, effort, and a certain amount of dedication to get right.

Get Our Latest, Free Marketing Tips Here.

Filed Under: Public Relations, Social Media For Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,