WiRE Blog

Times are undoubtedly tough for all businesses, money is tight and customers unwilling to commit. Yes, the economic situation is to blame and we all hope that business will get better when money starts to flow more freely again. But small businesses must be vigilant; external pressures may be masking other issues and there could be improvements you could make now to increase business.

A friend sells huge great IT systems to huge great companies with huge great budgets and huge great problems. He has been thinking of taking a counselling course recently; by the time customers finally make the call after probably years of brushing problems under the carpet, they don’t need just to buy something, they need admit that they need help and expose all their deepest darkest problems before they can even start looking at solutions.

You have to be on your guard, you have to look very deeply at what is happening and regularly analyse your sales patterns. It may not be the prevailing economic conditions, your product or service may simply be out of fashion or facing too much competition. Don’t let the problem get too big that you expose big holes in your business when the economy picks up, dust off your “start up business hat” do some basic market research; a client facing a really tough time recently asked a few questions and found that her customers didn’t want to buy cakes, they wanted to know how to make them, guess what, now she’s offering a full training programme – simples!

Small businesses do have a unique advantage that stops them getting to crisis point; they can see their customers, they can talk to their customers and they can change and adapt to challenges quickly. Use that dexterity to your advantage and be ready for the upturn.

I wanted to paraphrase Carole King’s “It’s too late baby” (not), for the title of this blog but found myself humming “it’s never too late to stop, look, listen (to your heart)” which seemed to fit better – covered by Craig David no live Marvin Gaye version available.

So you may have both earworms Stop look listen

And, It’s too late

In an attempt to get more WiRE members listing their business on the WiRE Rural Market Place we have been putting together a “how to guide”. (BTW, why, oh why don’t you? It takes about 15 minutes and it’s another opportunity to market your business AND it’s where other WiRE members often look first for products and services – Rant over).

The guide took considerably longer than expected because there is much detail: is it cross referenced correctly, is that what the screen grab really looks like, are we using the same terminology all the way through, is the example consistent, is that the correct url etc etc. But mainly it was a really difficult exercise because everybody here in the WiRE office knows the Rural Market Place so well. We tended to assume a level of understanding which isn’t necessarily there, thus run the risk of alienated and disengaged users (never using the Rural Market Place, no matter how good it is for their business). 

It struck us that this is a much wider issue and not just about instruction manuals, it’s about every bit of communication with customers (marketing, advertising, instructions, directions etc) – are we talking to ourselves, or our customers?

Remember the school exercise; the teacher asks an 8 year old to write down how to make a cup of tea for an alien? An 8 year old will say “fill the kettle with water, put the tea bag in the cup” etc. To which the teacher (the alien!) responds, what’s a kettle? What’s water? Until the 8 year old understands – they know things the alien doesn’t.  

So if you know things that your customer doesn’t, you’ll need to find a way to help them understand your planet. While also remembering that not every customer is an “alien” some will be on your planet and you can’t risk losing their custom by talking down to them. To talk to everybody, you have to spin your pitch in several different ways; the “quick guide” and the “tell me more options” for example, different methods for different levels.

There is a great book by Steven Krug on Web Usability called “Don’t Make Me Think” but maybe it’s a concept that should be applied to all communication.

The link to the guide is HERE in case WiRE Members have been shamed into updaing their profile.

 Again thank you for the music for giving me the title, a nod to the great Karen Carpenter. Click HERE for a great 70′s Video

Just wanted share this with you; our Grantham Network Leader Svenda Scholey took a WiRE stand to the Grantham B2B event earlier this week and we pooled our ideas to make the day successful…

“a BIG Thank You for all your help. The pop-up stand looked great, laminated copies of the WiRE presentation and A4 leaflets caught the eye, the prize of a year’s free membership brought twinkles to visitor’s eyes – smiles to their lips and cards in the box, the copies of pull-outs interested a few. Thank you for everything – finding them, creating them and/or getting them together and to me. Made a big difference.

Thank you

I had a few mini-vids running on my laptop screen on the table too – moving eye candy – informative too …. here are links to youtube versions:

WiRE WiRE Presentation

Grantham WiRE (inspired by your A4/A5 leaflet) Grantham WiRE

WiRE member businesses:

Kelling House (Sue Evans) Kelling House B&B presentation on YouTube

JamJarShop (Rosemary Jameson) Jan Jar shop presentation on YouTube

superbfragrances Superb Fragrances presentation on YouTube

wilsongoodchild (Janette Wilson) Wilson Goodchild presentation on YouTube

ebizstart web design (me) Ebizweb Design presentation on YouTube

one of my ebizstart clients (Kathryn Buck) Kathryn Buck presentation on YouTube

I actually ran them directly off my laptop – so the visual quality was even better

Thank you again

Svenda Scholey

Grantham WiRE Network Leader

Dear WiRE Ladies,

How to successfully market to women using silliness!!

On my way home from shopping today I saw the new Nationwide ads, at my local Bromsgrove branch and they made me laugh out loud featuring Matt Lucas and David Walliams.  This  made me think about how marketing can be funny, and well silly J  Take a look here: www.nationwide.co.uk

Bring on the silly!

Women are so used to being  so responsible for pretty much everyone,  that encouraging a  more light-hearted connection with them is more likely to get them to take notice of you! This works like a dream in social networking, and it can in other ways too.

Let’s look at a national example of silliness, of this courtesy of their  ‘daily giggle.’

Consider how funny  the Maltesers  ads are, as they promote their chocolate as ‘the lighter way to enjoy chocolate!’  This is very clever as they use both silliness and they use their low calorie amount to promote their lightness, so then you have to, ‘find new ways to be naughty,’ hence the ads.  

Here are two of their ads:

1.      This is the shrinking trouser one, remember?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beJzxaYzUqk&NR=1

And this one is the office scene where the one lady lifts up her shirt!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPKIixluNzk&NR=1

I know they make me chuckle and  thousands of other women  too.  Also, I am sure that their sales must have rocketed as a result!!!!!!!

Here’s a  regional example of silliness:

A local Bra company in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire,  2^nd Skin Lingerie, recently attempted a world Conga record wearing bras.  I have no doubt that the connections made, and the coverage that they received, from this will result in a big leap in future customers and  PR for them! It is a perfect example of bringing on the silly and weaving it very cleverly into becoming more successful in your business.  Do check them out on facebook.

A personal example of silliness:

For me, just having the word ‘blonde,’ in my business title, first off makes people laugh and secondly it adds a human touch and  is quite a leveller, so straight away I build rapport with them before anything has happenedJ And as for ‘Chocolate Rehab,’ chocoholics both laugh and cry J J J

Q: What can you do ladies, even if as a one-off experiment in ‘bringing on the silly,’ to connect with your market?

Can you do a funny fundraising event? Can you tweak a product or service’s marketing campaign bringing in a lighter, more fun element to the picture around it and the words I wonder? I am sure you can.

I would be very interested in hearing how you get on with this and love to hear about your successes.

Think about it , when we have fun, when we laugh and  when are silly our guards are down and we are more likely to be ourselves, away from the stress that often can come with running a business as well as into the favourite part of women’s lives which is RELATIONSHIPS!!!

 Remember, me saying that for women it’s about relationships first and business second? Aha, so you can see how bringing on the silly can help you to powerfully build successful relationships with people, and consequently build a more successful business  J

Okeydoke, now for the ‘Chocolatey Section:’

STEP THREE OF THE 12 Step Chocolate Rehab Programme.

 So, by now you have admitted you are addicted to chocolate even if to yourself and you have also gained clarity in your journal as to why you are so addicted to chocolate, so it’s time to go to Step three, but before I do, let me address a common journaling question.

Carrie, why is it  important to write down things in a journal?

Well, the simple answer is that when you write something down something magical happens, and it helps you to take what you write more seriously when you transfer your thoughts and feelings to paper.

STEP THREE: WHY now Chocolate Rehab?

Grab your journals ladies,  as now you need to write down your ‘Choco-story,’ namely I would like you to build on the previous step, and write down in as much detail as possible why you are ready to now overcome your addiction to chocolate.  The more you can write about this the more motivation and encouragement you will have to keep you going when the Chocolate Rehab gets a little tough and challenging which it inevitably will, as it can be a little painful as we grow and let go of stuff that no longer serves us.

A great question here to draw upon is Dr Phil’s who says: ‘ What is ( ie your addiction to chocolate ) costing you?

For me, my own addiction to chocolate was like a substitute boyfriend, and it allowed me to hide myself away on so many different levels from intimate relationships , my bank balance, to my abilities , my social life, and my friendships, well pretty much every aspect of my life, much to my surprise! Yes really.

I appreciate that your addiction to chocolate may not be as dramatic as mine, or might be even more dramatic and also might be costing you in different ways, which is absolutely fine! Just write down what feels right for you, and in as much detail as possible.

Again, ladies I would love to hear how you get on with the above, both the’ bring on the silly’ and Chocolate Rehab Step Three.

Any marketing questions email me: brainyblondbusiness@gmail.com

Any Chocolatey questions: carrie@chocolaterehab.com

Bring on the silly!!!

Namaste, giggles & light,

Carrie Eddinsx

Dear WiRE ladies,

Helping women succeed in business, is why this blog is here and why WiRE was created, and why I am blogging too:)

So, let me get on with it then I wonder are you all World-cup ready? I so am J I am really looking forward to seeing our boys play and whatever happens I know it will be an amazing journey which could well result in us holding that all-special World cup!! I am a believer, are you?

How can the World Cup help you ladies in your business?

Well, here are my top tips, imagining that I was our supremely talented Fabio Capello

1.       Get rid of what no longer serves you, be pretty ruthless here! For example:  He balanced our the England teams male egos, and limited their contact with the WAGS and their performance improved dramatically ensuring an easy qualification into the World Cup, no Euro non-qualification scenario here J

For example: do you have daily habits that frankly are limiting your income-generating activities and thus your  business success? Ie Do you surf the net when you scheduled to write that traffic-generating blog post? Do you keep focusing on trying to do too many things, instead of looking to make just one or two products or services of your business successful? Are you trying to do too much, so not achieving anything? Okay then it’s time to eliminate these unhelpful habits!!  Just Do to it, as Nike suggests J

And ladies being ladies, I imagine you are doing a lot more things for others than for yourself and your business, so what can you let go of here? Could you say no a bit more? Could you delegate more? Just think about it. Remember,  you don’t need to become all cold-hearted and uncaring, just trim off the unnecessary fat so you can become more you and more successful in your business okeydoke? J

2.       Being prepared, if you fail to plan,  you plan to fail J

I imagine that this World Cup, Capello has actually got the boys thinking and believing in holding that trophy,  despite Becks and Ferdinand being injured you still sense their palatable belief unlike the last time around! So, ladies, what ‘trophy,’ or achievement are you aiming for, and just how much are you preparing and planning this to happen? If not, why not? Then just get writing a plan right now .  For example: are you looking to have so many twitter followers, by the end of the month, or are you looking to have secured so many clients per month by the end of the Summer. Whatever it is, get going on the plan, and it will more likely happen., and then WORK THAT PLAN!

3.       Are you just being tactical and not strategic?

Here, I imagine that Capello has been getting the boys to play out their tactics in each and every game pre World Cup  which is all a part of his successful preparation strategy, as you cannot just rely on tactics alone, they need to be woven into a long-term strategy, or bigger picture . For example: I am sure that in every interview that the boys have been a part of, I imagine that Capello has demanded  them to adopt a winning attitude, as that is a part of his overall, long-term strategy not just a daily or short-term media tactic.

So in your business, do you have crystal clarity on your bigger picture and if so are you working a plan for it’s realisation in your day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month tactics? Or are you just working on your tactics and wondering why you are just experiencing limited success?.

Ladies, is it time to re-visit your original business plan or marketing plan and sit down with a cuppa and make some more compelling and appealing plans and look at chunking them down into  both challenging and easy-to-achieve goals ? If so, then go for it ladies!

Now, here’s the chocolatey bit: Step Two of Chocolate RehabJ

So, just as a reminder, Step One was to finally admit you have a problem  with chocolate, so it calls for: ‘ Hi, I’m ( insert name) and I am a chocoholic,’ kind-of-announcement, even if just to yourself, it’s an all-important starting point.

Over to Step Two:  Now ladies, I encourage you to ask yourself ‘Why Chocolate?

Here, I invite you to grab a journal, or a lovely book and write down your personal reasons for your addiction to chocolate. Remember, as chocolate is such a socially-acceptable addiction, it often gets overlooked as something very innocent, yet on deeper inspection more often than not it acts as a cover-up for women for a multitude of issues from low self-confidence to sexual frustration to boredom, to stress and many more!

For me, there were many reasons, from it being like a ‘boyfriend’ to me, to it just giving me that  pick-me-up’ when  I felt lonely, depressed, or stressed, or even upbeat, excited and thrilled! Essentially, I ‘’used’ it as something to hide behind, big time.

So get really personal with yourself and write down what you feel you are ‘using’ chocolate for.

Any questions about this process please do email me: carrie@chocolaterehab.com

Until next time, let’s cheer on our boys on Saturday!!!

Namaste, giggles & light,

Carrie Eddins

Distractions

Just like you, I have dreams and fantasies of how I want my life to be, and I work hard on creating positive change in my life, using a myriad of tools to help me emotionally, spiritually and physically. I know all the tricks in the book to enable me to successfully manifest the things that I want or need. I know it practically inside out, I live and breathe it and yet ….

My day to day challenges are dealing with the minutia, one of which is the never ending pile of paperwork that continues to grow, no matter how many times a week I steadfastly tackle it. Paperwork is my enemy. It lays around in my office refusing to budge, like a lazy teenager sleeping in and refusing to put out the rubbish. It makes me angry, it feeds my apathy and it destroys my creativity. It is the beast in my belfry. But it is not alone.

I have a Border collie puppy – 9 months old. She is great ….but…. at various times of the day she will bring in every raggedy toy from the garden and scatter them around the house, nibbling fuzzy bits of material or bright pink rubber off them, leaving an untidy trail around the house. She rips bark off the logs that we haven’t yet chopped, and munches it into millions of tiny bits on the carpet in the hall. She will wait until I have vacuumed every square inch of the house [which isn’t THAT often] then roll in every room, embedding black and white hairs – once more – into the carpet.

How, I ask you, am I supposed to ignore all of that? How am I supposed to nurture my creativity, feed my energy and take positive action when I so frustrated that I start eating my own hair!

These distractions are incredibly useful for allowing me to forgive myself for not doing the things that I planned to do. But, the truth is, they are but a few of the many similar obstacles that we have to overcome during our everyday lives. They won’t go away just because they irritate us. So we have to program ourselves to do the things that we want to do regardless of how much minutia lands on our laps.

The best thing to do is prioritize: -

•  Commit to a daily plan of action, and tick off the tasks as you complete them
• Write it down or create a goal map
• Accept things without resistance. For sure, that which you resist definitely persists, so stop trying to dodge the ‘bullets’ that try to take out your day
• Take time out before you get frustrated
• Keep your word to yourself – don’t let yourself down. If you tell yourself that you are going to do something, then make sure that you do it.
• Don’t beat yourself up – my puppy won’t be a puppy forever, and maybe I am missing out on these formative months of her life by moaning about the mess. I will endeavour to see the comical side to it and stop worrying about the hairs on the carpet
• Remember your dreams – when minutia hits, your dreams tend to frizzle into the background. Keep them alive every day by reaffirming to yourself that which is so important to you

Working from home is great, even at the price of distractions. When I am feeling blue I remind myself how lucky I am not to be sitting in an office from 9 -5 so many would love to be in your shoes, be their own boss and create their own agenda.

Take care

Jan

Dear WiRE Ladies,

Now, being quite a big Sex in the City fan it’s tricky for me not to mention the new film, which I am planning on seeing this week! I  just love those ladies, on screen and off screen they have quite simply revolutionised so many things; from relationships to fashion J

How can Sex in the City help you market your business to women?

There are so many ways this phenomenal series and film can help your business. For example:  I  watched them all being interviewed last week, and what the ladies said was very interesting and rather fitting for our social media sessions with Shurti tooJ When SJP was asked why after four years they had finally decided to make the first movie and then last year make another she quite simply said because the audience wanted us to!  Each of them had had the experience of women on the street constantly asking them when they were making the film!! This is a very,  very useful lesson in marketing that all of us often forget and the most obvious that is to listen and respond to your audience’s requests and feedback .

The other pertinent lesson to be drawn from the Sex in the City success is that it was because of the personal relationships between the four ladies, not really about the sex! Obviously, a little… but mostly about female relationships! Interesting, as I have , mentioned before women respond best to personal, emotional and transformational stories, and Sex in the City is so all about this!!

Remember Charlotte’s birthing problems, or how Miranda unexpectedly became a mum, how Samantha had breast cancer and how Carrie ‘s success as a writer intimidated her boyfriend ( the one who spilt up with her on a post-stick remember!) ( You can tell I am a little bit of a fan!) These were very inspiring, moving, transformational and heart-warming stories of how these women supported each other through these life-changing moments, which is what women naturally do, and it’s no different in business. So, it’s just a matter of weaving these aspects in your marketing ladies,  and you will really reap the profits and loyalty from the ladiesJ

Now, back your final Social Media lesson ladies, remember never has it been easier to get audience feedback! 

1. Provide good useful content- if you post something your readers will feel a connection to and will teach them something they can use, then they will be more likely to buy from you as they will automatically associate your brand with quality.

2.Keep the shopping experience fun and stress free- women like to shop= and shopping online comes naturally. The key is making the experience as seamless and fun as possible. You need to remember that women tend to be the CPOs( Chief Purchasing Officers) in their households, and that they tend to  ask friends for advice about brands and products. Women are more than happy to share a good deal when they find one.

3. Finally, women are social shoppers- as much as they like to be heard- if they have a bad experienced then they will not shy away from telling everyone else, so never take advantage of your fans. The last thing you want is your target demographic badmouthing your brand on a viral platform like Facebook. Keep your offers and processes clear and honest and always respond to feedback and criticism.

Ladies, I trust that you have enjoyed your Social Media lessons in facebook and that you have found value in them. Shruti can be found here : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shruti-Gupta/294709749418

I  am as always ready to answer your questions you might have about how to market more effectively to women so please do email me: theblondemarketinggoddess@gmail.com  or post a question on my facebook fanpage about chocolate addiction:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chocolate-Rehab/32303182142?ref=ts

Until next time, I’m so excited about the Film, I might have to go twice, three times, or maybe four!

Namaste, giggles & light,

Carrie Eddins xxx