SOLO NEWSLETTER

Number 33

September 2009

From Albert Wright

020 8343 8558

Copyright

www.successfulsolo.com

This month a book review of Making Sense of Business, published by Kogan Page, by my friend Alison Branagan, who specialises in supporting and training artistic people in business skills.

 The book has already been recommended by Mike Southon of the Beermat network, has a forward by James Dyson and a mention of me.

 It does what the title says, helps new, micro and small business owners make sense of business and explains the skills required for managers and entrepreneurs to run successful operations.

There are chapters on Risk, Teams, How to Focus, Networking, Customers and Sales, Time and self Management, Law and Ethics, Self Presentation and Communication, Negotiation, Keeping Positive, Creative Thinking, Planning, Goals and Vision.

This is not your usual start up book. The topics are different and approached in a lively fashion with quotes, ancient and modern, cartoons and illustrations, a mind map at least every chapter and frequent exhortations to do your own mind maps to aid learning.

It’s a book to dip into rather than read through. While frequently suggesting options the school mistress sometimes gives her advice with passion, leaving you in no doubt about what she thinks you should do.

Alongside good, practical advice (get a good night’s sleep, drink plenty of water, seek advice) the Key Points at the end of each chapter are very helpful.

I particularly liked Alison’s advice on page 49 concerning how to better remember people’s names which includes “Draw their name with a giant imaginary marker pen above their head”.

Inevitably, in an introductory business skills book, some topics get more attention than others but there is a good suggested reading list at the back.

The sections on Intellectual Property and Creative Thinking were particularly good and well worth reading as are the Enterprise Skills Booster pages.

Overall, a well written book covering some interesting topics in a creative way.

Business and the Economy

I can recommend taking on a STEP student, as mentioned last month. Alexei has done a great job in updating our web site at www.millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk  Remember from January 2010 the Government will let you have a Graduate for Free for 3 months, if you are a small business.

Millionaire Coaching Academy – Making Millionaires- update 12 

To find out more visit our website and sign up for the Newsletter.

You can also earn a bonus of £1,000 for referring a client to our programme www.millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk

Albert’s Marketing Fixes

How micro (and larger businesses) can fix their Marketing Mistakes.

I am currently sharing the Main Marketing Mistakes Made by Micros and the tried and tested ideas that should Fix them, but only if you actually implement them.
So far we have looked at

Mistake 1: Not giving Marketing the Time and Expertise to ensure our Marketing gets done and works.

The Marketing Fix suggested was to Use Other People’s Time & Proven Knowledge To Speed The Rate At Which Your Business Grows.

Marketing Mistake 2:Sharing Your Marketing Message With The Wrong People.

This can be fixed by Defining and Targeting the Right People, developing a niche market.

Small businesses cannot afford to be all things to all people. They need to focus and have a clear profile of their target customer.

Marketing Mistake 3:Most Marketing Material lacks the Power to Influence Because It Doesn’t Match the Conversation Going on in the Prospect’s Head. 

The answer is to Create and Match the Perfect Message to Your Market if You Want Your Marketing to Sell.

You need to use the right language, highlight benefits not features, give more rather than less information.

Marketing Mistake 4:Not Having Enough Routes to Market 

The answer is To Use a Multi Media Strategy.

Relying on newspaper advertising or leaflet distribution will not be enough, you need lots of routes to get to customers – there are more than 15 in the Rapid Results arsenal.

Marketing Mistake 5:Thinking “If they’re not interested now they will never be”

The answer is To Understand the Customer Decides When They Want To Buy.

Advertising once is pointless. It shouldn’t really be a surprise that most big companies advertise all of the time.

They know that not everyone wants to buy a car this week or even a burger. You need to know that the market is a moving parade with customers moving in and out of “buy” mode all the time. 

For them to be aware of you when they decide it’s time to buy means you have to make them aware of you all the time, or at least on a regular basis.

If you’re not sure how you can apply this to your business you should download Fix It now to get the full information, from www.marketingfixit.co.uk/albertwright/

Marketing Mistake 6: Short sighted customer attitudes make marketing more expensive and ineffective.

 New customers are not helpful. They don’t immediately recognise us or the value we offer. They don’t instantly respond by buying from us, they don’t even see our expensive one off adverts, they walk by our shop and showroom without even looking in, they throw away our carefully crafted direct mail and brochures, they delete our emails without reading them, they never return phone calls, they cancel appointments, they reject our free gifts ......all in all they make our lives difficult – it’s a surprise we still bother to win a new customer.

A lot of businesses spend most of their time and effort chasing new customers, identifying them, communicating with them (repeatedly), wooing them, finally winning them and then when they have moved from a prospect to a customer – ignoring them and starting the cycle of new customer acquisition all over again.

There may be a better way to commercial success – taking more care of our existing customers – farming the Acres of Diamonds in our own backyard. 
For more on Dr Conwell and the Acres of Diamonds story about the Kimberley diamond mine you need to read Fix IT.

The answer to Mistake number 6 is to Focus on adding value for your Existing Customers and marketing costs will fall (as a percentage of sales) and profits will rise.

Techniques include up selling, cross selling, Buyers Remorse letter, Customer Reactivation letter, Customer Offers, loyalty and reward schemes.

Marketing Mistake 7: Most Marketing Materials are Boring and Lack Personality

Many companies make the right decision on WHAT they should tell their customers but ruin things by HOW they tell them.

Our Fix It booklet gives examples of BEFORE and AFTER adverts, direct response letters and other marketing materials, including the actual results achieved in responses and sales from testing different formats.

The answer to what works is available if you bother to find out.

There are tried and tested formulae for the approaches that work best and information on how to do the tests. Some are simple to learn and adopt – Like Always Use A Headline.

Others need more work to get right and can prove counter productive when over used.

Pre headlines, length of paragraphs, bullet points, numbering, guarantees, pictures and photos, colour, type face, font size, call for action, coupon content all have a role to play.

Getting a headline right can have a major effect on getting the advert read, the position of the call to action a major effect on responses, multiple contact options can double responses.

Marketing is as scientific as most other aspects of business. Research has been done, what generally works is known and can be followed to achieve better results in the way that adopting best practice on quality control can reduce wastage.

Rapid Results have the answer to most small business marketing challenges, even in a recessionary market.

Download and read Fix It, sign up for our monthly e marketing newsletter or ask to receive our printed magazine now.
www.marketingfixit.co.uk/albertwright/

 Till next month.

PS Don’t forget, as a reader of this newsletter, you are entitled to a 30 minute phone advice session from me to you, at no cost to you.

Either phone me direct on 07973 192712 or 020 8343 8558 or book an appointment via Andrea by emailing andrea@cushiontheimpact.co.uk

If you have enjoyed this newsletter please forwards it on to anyone you feel would benefit.
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SOLO NEWSLETTER

Number 35

November 2009

From Albert Wright

020 8343 8558

Copyright
www.successfulsolo.com

FREE 30 minute phone advice / coaching session from me to you, at no cost to you, for being a reader of this newsletter.

Phone 07973 192712 now, quoting Solo reader to book a time and date.

This month I want to tell you about a Business Magazine called Raw Business brought to you by Million Impossible and available to download from their website www.millionimpossible.com in e-book format.

You can also get a printed copy sent to you by applying on line. 

The magazine is now on issue 8, produced every two months. It’s an odd mix of feature articles, interviews with high profile entrepreneurs, business tips and adverts. Issue 8 has Doug Richard from Dragon’s Den and my friend Emma Wimhurst of Diva Cosmetics and now empower (www.Empwr.co.uk ) and snippet articles like How to Handle Objections – suggesting CIS – Clarify the nature of the objection, Isolate the issue and Solve the problem. 

The range of business magazines has now increased incredibly; somehow I don’t think all of them will survive. The market is saturated and I don’t think there is enough advertising to go round. 

Having read my second issue of Real Business from Matthew and Stuart Rock, I think this could be one of the winners. The articles by John Timpson of Timpson’s the key cutting and shoe repair business make a refreshing change.

Business and the Economy

I had the pleasure of attending two Genesis meetings in October. This is not the pop group but a voluntary pressure group that brings together leaders of trade associations to promote the interests of small business owners. Over 160 associations representing around 1 million businesses are involved and I go to represent the Institute of Business Consulting. 

At their breakfast meeting in the House of Commons with Kenneth Clarke, Tory shadow minister for Business Innovation and Skills, I got him to commit to looking at exempting businesses that employ fewer than 10 employees from a substantial part of employment legislation.

Later in the month at the launch of the Genesis SME Manifesto, which promotes the role of small and medium enterprises in revitalising the economy, the Labour minister for Small Business from the House of Lords, Lord Davies and Mark Crisp for the Tories both made the right noises to support the manifesto. Perhaps they think that the 4.5 million small business owners in the UK might start using their vote to bring about change.

To view the manifesto go to www.genesis-initiative.org  and download its 22 pages.

Millionaire Coaching Academy – Making Millionaires- update 14
To find out more visit www.millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk

You can earn a bonus of £1,000 for referring a client to our programme www.millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk  

Albert’s Marketing Fixes 

How micro (and larger businesses) can fix their Marketing Mistakes. 

I am sharing the Main Marketing Mistakes Made by Micros and the tried and tested ideas to Fix them, but only if you actually implement them.

So far we have looked at 

Mistake 1: Not giving Marketing the Time and Expertise to ensure our Marketing gets done and works. 

The Marketing Fix suggested is to Use Other People’s Time & Proven Knowledge To Speed The Rate At Which Your Business Grows. 

Mistake 2: Sharing Your Marketing Message With The Wrong People.

This can be fixed by Defining and Targeting the Right People, developing a niche market.

Small businesses cannot afford to be all things to all people. They need to focus and have a clear profile of their target customer.

Mistake 3: Most Marketing Material lacks the Power to Influence Because It Doesn’t Match the Conversation Going on in the Prospect’s Head.

The answer is to Create and Match the Perfect Message to Your Market if You Want Your Marketing to Sell.

You need to use the right language, highlight benefits not features, give more rather than less information.

Mistake 4: Not Having Enough Routes to Market. 

The answer is To Use a Multi Media Strategy.

Mistake 5: Thinking ‘If they’re not interested now they will never be’ 

The answer is To Understand the Customer Decides When They Want To Buy and keep marketing.

Mistake 6: Shortsighted customer attitudes make marketing more expensive and ineffective.

The answer is to spend more time on existing customers, Focus on adding value for Existing Customers and marketing costs will fall (as a percentage of sales) and profits will rise.

Mistake 7: Most Marketing Materials are Boring and Lack Personality

The answer to what works is available if you bother to find out.

Mistake 8: Most marketing is an After Thought at best and Is Carried Out on an Ad Hoc Basis. 

The answer is to put marketing at the centre of your business and introduce a marketing system. 


Readers of Successful SOLO can download for FREE, a copy of Fix It and sign up for our FREE monthly e marketing newsletter or ask to receive our printed magazine now. www.marketingfixit.co.uk/albertwright/

Till next month, when I will be reviewing The Four Hour Week by Timothy Ferriss.

PS Don’t forget, as a reader of this newsletter, you are entitled to a 30-minute phone advice session from me to you, at no cost to you.

Book an appointment via Andrea by emailing andrea@cushiontheimpact.co.uk  

SOLO NEWSLETTER

Number 36

December 2009

www.successfulsolo.com

Copyright Albert Wright

It’s Never Too Late To Start

SEASONAL GREETINGS TO all our readers

If something is the right thing to do – DO IT NOW. For many of us, including me, the right thing to do might be “Prioritising Better”, particularly at a busy time like now, when there seems so much to fit in before the Christmas close down.

From now to December 21st, when I am off to Barbados, the plan is to list to do the 3 most important things each day and do them.

Problem is they seem to change with the hour.

Today it started with sending a present to my son in Australia.

Yesterday it was collecting the present.

Even though my wife kindly wrapped the present and made up the parcel – she needed me to provide an address, as he moved recently.

The priority became to find the address – then find the email with the address in it – then the 5 different email addresses he uses – then to decide whether to use the office or home address.

An hour later the office address was on the parcel – AN HOUR LATER! A good example of the urgent versus the important.

Getting the parcel into the post to arrive in Sydney before Christmas was urgent but what it showed up as important was that my address list in Outlook or even my hand written address book was not up to date, nor had I filed all my son’s 5 email address messages in one place on the computer under Son James.

How many times do I have to learn the lesson of doing the Important bits of administration to speed up the execution of Urgent tasks?

Next priority task – get key emails into right files (but) – which are key emails? – which are the priority people to do this for ?- so priority tasks becomes list key people and then list their email and other important addresses and so on.

My wife’s suggestion, phone him and ask him, should have been the priority today?????

Priority is dynamic.

Knock on effect, although this month I wanted to tell you about a “new-ish” book by Timothy Ferris called The Four Hour Week, this will have to wait till the New Year as I ‘haven’t time to do it justice now.

However, taking one thing from it, de-cluttering my life and keeping things simple, I am trying to delete as unread more and more spam emails and to limit email checking to around twice a day.

FREE 30 minute phone advice / coaching session from me to you, for being a reader of this newsletter.
Phone 07973 192 712 now, to book a time and date.

Business and the Economy
In November I attended an event hosted by the people and business development company, Avanta, to celebrate the awards given to their clients and partners who had achieved results against the odds.

Avanta help the unemployed become self employed or to become employees, often helping those who have not worked for several years find jobs and a new meaning to life.

They have their work cut out, with increasing numbers losing jobs and vacancies declining.
To learn more visit www.avanta.uk.com 

Millionaire Coaching Academy

Visit www.millionairecoachingacademy.co.uk  

You can earn a bonus of £1,000 for referring a client. If you want a Christmas or New Year present of £1,000 send us the details of someone you know who realistically wants to be a business millionaire and you think might benefit from being coached by Millionaire Mentors.

Needless to say, conditions apply but this is a genuine offer. 

Readers of Successful SOLO can download for FREE, a copy of Fix It. www.marketingfixit.co.uk/albertwright/  

Till next month, when I will be reviewing The Four Hour Week by Timothy Ferriss.

PS Don’t forget, as a reader of this newsletter, you are entitled to a 30-minute phone advice session from me to you, at no cost to you.

Book an appointment via Andrea by emailing andrea@cushiontheimpact.co.uk