July 13, 2009
Drogheda, General musings
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As a regular visitor to the Drogheda library in my early teen years, I loved the library. I loved everything about the place - the staff (Munich & Anne) with whom my sister and I spent many an hour chatting with, the books, the stories, the different lives of characters, the old shelves, the smell of new and old books.
I was transported back to this part of my life when I visited the library recently. This summer the library is hosting a ‘Quest Seekers‘ reading challenge for children which began on Wednesday, 1st July.
Quest Seekers is an imaginative and fun way to encourage children to read and is designed for children of all ages and reading abilities.
The aim of the challenge is to get children to read six books from the local library during the summer holidays….(six is needed to complete the challenge but children can read way more than that!)
All children who successfully complete the challenge will get a certificate and there is a separate area in the library for the Quest Seekers.
I’d encourage anyone who has children to pop along to Stockwell Street and visit the library. It’s free and they have a mountain of books to choose from.
My love for reading and writing was nurtured at the library - it’s a great place for creativity to start.
Full details are available at the library - call 041 98 36649.
June 22, 2009
General musings
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I got a free ticket to see Britney at the O2 on Saturday…and with no other plans for Saturday night, I went along to the O2.
What a production! The Circus tour, I thought, was modelled on Cirque du Soleil….the staging was wonderful, the interim acts (while Britney changed) were great - clowns, acrobats and incredible support dancers. Congratulations to the team that put the whole production together.
But I just couldn’t help but wonder about authenticity and staying real when Britney came on stage. All the rumours that I heard were that she mimed or lip synced through-out the show.
I couldn’t help but agree.
I just thought - what was the truth? She’s a singer - so why did it appear that she didn’t sing live? But then again she is also a performer - so why couldn’t she dance and sing live (ie. perform) at the same time? She looked great though.
While not thinking per se about work on a Saturday night, I really got to thinking how important it is to stay real and truthful. I work with clients on words and how to use them to most effectively communicate the right messages. Up until now, I never realised or I guess verbalised that these words and messages are truthful words. Words that engender a sense of reality, truthfulness and authenticity.
It’s a simple concept - but staying real is so important in engaging with prospects, customers and staff.
Enter Flogas
Back to the hum-drum of real life, I decided it was time to Make the Big Switch! I decided to do my research with Flogas first. I just glanced at the computer clock - 5.25pm. The pdf online said
To Start Saving Money Now, Call
1850 306 800
Mon-Friday, 9am-5.30pm
So I called up, hoping to catch someone…with 5 minutes to go until home-time! Security answered the phone. I asked to speak to someone about the Flogas natural gas as an alternative to Bord Gais. The nice security man explained that the office is open from 9am-5pm.
A fine example of people not saying what they mean. Why say 5.30pm when it’s actually 5pm? 5pm would have been fine by me - I’d put them on the to-do list for tomorrow. It might just a typo but it engenders friction. Friction leads to mis-trust and annoyance. Quite the opposite of what Flogas intended with their new campaign, I’m sure.
Business is all about engaging with people. Trust begets engagement, which in turn results in relationships, which in turn leads to business.
If there is one thing that businesses should do with the wording that they use - is to stay truthful. Say it as it is.
In summary, you can always be creative but stay true & just be honest.
June 22, 2009
General musings, Marketing advice
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As Oasis and Britney took to the stage last Saturday, I got to thinking about Slane 1995 when Oasis first played in Slane.
Back then, Oasis was the support act for REM. It was a great day at Slane - the sun shone while Oasis and REM rocked the Boyneside. Fast forward, 13 years later and Oasis are now the headline act.
Britney brought her Circus to the O2 but everyone went to see her - she’s the headline not the Circus.
So I got to thinking about headlines and how they make a huge impact on sales letters. In fact, it is often said that the headline is the most important part of a sales letter. So I’m posing a question to you, dear reader:
Are your sales letters bringing in the champagne or are they just toxic?
If you’re breaking out the bubbly, pour me a glass and I’ll be over. I want your success story.
If you’re not, then you might want to spend some thinking thinking about your sales letters and breaking them down into a number of areas:
1. Headline
2. Sub-heading
3. First paragraph
4. Concluding statement
Take a look at each of these four areas and change one at a time.
I’ll be looking at each of the four over the coming weeks, starting with headlines. So if you want to create a wonderwall of successful conversions, then start making changes. Don’t keep doing what you’ve always done. There will be no more ‘oops I did it again!’ moments if you follow my advice over the next couple of weeks.
May 6, 2009
General musings, Marketing advice
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Bank Holiday Monday saw me at the home office catching up on emails and planning & revising my own 90 Day Marketing Plan.
I was broken from my reverie of dollar signs (thanks to my own 90 Day Marketing Plan!!) to the shrill ring of the phone. The conversation went like this:
DF: Hello there (as I’m at home, I thought it was a friend/family calling)
Caller: Hello this is xx (didn’t catch) and I’m calling on behalf of Raymond xx (again didn’t catch) of Libertas, who is running for upcoming election. We’re calling to see if we can get your No. 1 vote.
Do we have your No. 1 vote?
DF: eh, no. I don’t know who I’m voting for yet so sorry, can’t commit to No. 1 votes just yet.
Caller: Oh okay then. Thank you.
That was the phone call.
I’ve since learned that it is Raymond O’Malley from Libertas who is running in the European Election. There is a big poster outside the local GAA pitch.
I think in terms of marketing, telephone marketing is a good strategy. Some people would have been at home on the bank holiday (given the weather was so bad) so chances are they had a high success rate of pick ups. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Result from Phone Call
I have no political allegiance. Every time there is a vote, I always place my vote as it’s a democratic right. However, I’m still clueless about the Libertas party politics, Raymond’s background or personality. And quite frankly, this phone call wouldn’t encourage me. If their approach to telephone marketing is such as I experienced, then I would question their other approaches. I’m a marketer, I look and listen to all elements of marketing, perhaps more than others but if you’ve got a budget for marketing, then spend it wisely.
Alternative Phone Call
Who wrote the script for that call? Because I’ll tell you what - they need a copy-writer, script-writer and good marketer. If I was engaged by Libertas, I would have suggested the following:
Caller: Hello, I’m calling on behalf of the Liberatas party who are running in the upcoming election. Are you familar with them?
Voter: em no.
Caller: Well, they are running with three main policies - x, y, z. How does that sound to you?
Voter: May ask question, may nod or may disagree
Caller: Our website, if you’re on the internet is www.xyz.ie or our campaign team will be in your area shortly. Go up to them and ask them any questions if you have any more.
We are looking for No. 1 votes for the European Elections, not the local elections. Anyway, I don’t delay any longer. Thanks for taking the call and I hope you will vote for us.
Lessons from Alternative Phone Call:
1. Relationship is built up.
2. It isn’t a sales call.
3. You’re not being pushy - you’re just giving information, allowing the voter to make an informed choice
4. You’re differentiating yourself from other parties who are not calling
5. You’re giving information particular to their area (our team will be visiting your area soon)
I’ve mentioned another blog about cold calling. It isn’t rocket science and I know it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. But if you’re not selling anything other than information, then the caller would be more at ease.
Anyway, the irony is not lost on me that I am in someway promoting Libertas. However, i just wanted to write or be-moan how even companies that have big budget don’t know how to spend it wisely!!
April 8, 2009
General Marketing, General musings
2 Comments
I listened intently yesterday to the radio stations, the news, the TV, podcasts of radio shows on the Budget. Today, I did none of that.
I decided to work from home so didn’t step outside the door other than to go the gym. I didn’t listen to the radio and for once I didn’t turn on Twitter. I wasn’t going to add to the blogosphere about the budget.
No budget update for me. I know what it the changes mean. Less money for me, and you and everyone else. I was angry today but that’s not me…I’m more of a positive person so decided to deliberately stay away from it all.
So I spent my time more wisely. I sent out my ezine yesterday and the main theme was marketing effectively to get and keep your cash. But take action.
So I took action - today I wrote and submitted the first of my 100 marketing articles. I started another one.
Actions do speak louder than words. I’m actioning. I’m changing. I’m in the ‘Yes I Can’ mode. I’m feeling the Obama effect not the Cowen affect.
So go out there, stay positive and take action.
March 20, 2009
General musings, Good News Thursday
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Well it’s Thursday already! I had some great feedback as I mentioned last week about GNT (Good News Thursday).
A lot of people have advised me that they have good news coming and it’s just what we need. Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick’s Day and we’ll be properly back on track next week for GNT.
Some stories for this week:
Home Brokers
Home Brokers has saved Irish property buyers over €2million in negotiated discounts. Home Brokers is an independent agency for property buyers offering a comprehensive array of property buying services such as contract negotiation, lettings and property management.
Hookies Twitter Party
George Hook is an avid twitterer. As a newbie, I’m in awe of his 2,350 followers. He regulary twitters and is inviting all like minded twitters to a party. Date to be arranged. Oh the power of the online social network.
Another Hollywood Movie to Ireland
A new Hollywood movie, Leap Year will be filmed in Ireland and will create 150 temporary jobs and will hire approx 1,500 extras.
Recession May End this Year
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said during the week that there is a reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009 and that 2010 will be a year of recovery.
The All Island Talent Show is Over
Sunday night TV has always been bad but thankfully the All Island Talent Show is over. Congrats to the winners. No more Irish reality TV for a while!
Other Comments of Interest
Michael Deasy of Omac Financial Solutions advises me that we are in ‘Pre Boom Years’ and Good News Thursday should remind everyone of it.
Alan Higgins of Higgins Life & Pensions send me this FANTASTIC powerpoint. Check it out - it’s about a guy who bought a barn in Portugal. Would you swap places with him?!
Have a look at this powerpoint: thebarnfind1
***Ends***
March 13, 2009
General musings, Good News Thursday
2 Comments
I’m thrilled that so many people have emailed me about Good News Thursday. People want to hear good news.
So keep it coming….I’ll be looking for and compiling stories next Wednesday.
I got a mail from someone (who wants to remain anonymous) who said that when they opened the email, they were feeling doomy and gloomy. When they read the mail, they picked up the phone and called a prospect that they had been meaning to call and meaning to call and meaning to call. You know the drill!
So he picked up the phone, called and got a great response. So he took action there and then and hopefully he’ll be part of Good News Thursday in a couple of weeks.
What are you going to do to be part of Good News Thursday?
March 12, 2009
General Marketing, General musings
3 Comments
Enough already! I’m done with the bad news, the doom, the gloom, the negativity.
So I’m introducing….
Good News Thursday
Let’s share our good news stories about our businesses - I know, through talking to many SMEs out there, that there are good news stories out there - so why not tell the world about them?
These days, we shouldn’t be so shy about our achievements and accomplishments.
Why Thursday?
Thursday is the perfect day for sharing our stories. It will keep us motivated to get stories to share with others and it will keep us driven over the weekend.
If you could share with me your short story, I’ll post them all on Thursday…under the aptly named Title ‘Good News Thursday’!
This week’s Good News Thursday
Healthforce
Anne-marie Graham of Healthforce has just launched a new business unit. It’s called Weigh-Less and is a programme that assesses and addresses diet and behaviour in a simple way. In just under seven weeks, she has helped 3 participants lose over 40lbs and each participant has made permanent changes to their eating behaviour.
Gifts & Vouchers.ie
Gifts and Vouchers.ie is helping Worldvision with their goal of getting 1,500 new child sponsors. They have created a page on their website so that people can donate and buy from the Worldvision store. 100% of what is spent online at Gifts & Vouchers.ie is passed onto Worldvision.
Achieve Marketing
I have just finished creating a 2 day marketing course that is being run at Bill Cullen’s Europa Academy in April. Spaces are filling up.
Paycheck Plus
Paycheck Plus picked up two awards at the Louth County Enterprise Awards last week. Best Service Provider and Overall Business at the Awards went home to Clogherhead, Co. Louth on Friday. (We were delighted to be a part of her success.)
*** Ends (until next Thursday) ***
March 11, 2009
General Marketing, General musings, Internet Marketing
No Comments
Mary Rose over at Brightspark posed an interesting question to the grammar police yesterday - http://brightspark-consulting.com/blog/2009/03/when-to-use-punctuation-on-bulleted-lists-a-question/
It was to do with question marks, full stops and bulleted lists.
It got me to think about how we write full stop. (Excuse the pun!). Do we write differently for the web than we do for print? I posed the question back to MR and her response was a really interesting one. She said:
“I believe that web writing has risen the bar for offline writing. If we don’t put up with waffle and marketing fluffle online, why should we put up with it on a piece of printed paper too?”
An interesting perspective, especially as earlier on today, I sat down with a cuppa and read the Sunday Business Post main section - in 10 mins!
I got the gist of most of the articles, I have an idea of what ones i want to go back and read and now, I’m ready to move onto the Agenda section of the paper.
What happened to leisurely Sundays reading the papers?
I’m now applying my ‘read-at-a-glance’ technique to offline media now. Is it just me?
Someone said to me recently that “This Recession will slow us all down”. Maybe that person has a point.
And if she does, then the way we promote our businesses and brands will change. If we have more time, then we’ll chat more on the phone rather than SMS or Twitter. And that’s one simple way our life could change.
But will we ever go back to being slower? People want information now and have come to expect it….so it’s part of our psyche now. And if that’s the case, then bite sized pieces of information to attract customers will stay important.
So getting back to my original point - if we write differently for the web than print, then we and our audience read differently. So right now, there is very little difference between offline and online in terms of reading and writing.
The essentials of life…and business!
February 24, 2009
General musings
2 Comments
I think cold calls done well can really work well for businesses. But if you’re going to do cold calls, GET IT RIGHT. In today’s environment, there will be more cold calling done and you know what, that’s fine with me.
But if you’re going to try and sell me something, please get my name and my company name right! It’s not rocket science, is it?
I could rant at length about cold calling but I won’t. I’ll just tell you about this bizarre phone call that I have just received. It was a web design company calling to tell me that they have a promotion on. I generally entertain people for a minute or two because you just never know who you could meet or what story you can tell afterwards. So I was patient - believe me! The conversation went like this:
Web Design Caller Lady (WDCL): We are having a promotion on in terms of web design.
Denise Fay (DF): Oh really. Tell me more.
WDCL: Can I get the name of the owner
DF: That’s me, Denise
WDCL: We have a web promotion on at the moment. Do you have a website?
DF: Well yes, but I thought you would have checked that out before you called me
WDCL: Is it the party shop?
DF: Eh no! Who do you think you’re speaking with?
WDCL: The X party shop?
DF: No. Sorry, that’s not me. Anyway, I’m not that interested as I have my own web designer and other companies that I know well.
WDCL: Well we’ll do free web design and it will only cost under 50euros a month.
DF: Still not interested, sorry
WDCL: Can I get your email address please to send you some information?
DF: Sure. It’s on my website.
WDCL: What is your company name?
In the end, I gave it to her because this information will make good case material on how not to cold call. This lady was so un-prepared that she made the most disorganised person look organised. (Can’t think of anyone off hand!)
- She didn’t know my name
- She thought it was a different company
- She stuck to her script regardless of that mistake
- She didn’t engage with me or want to build a relationship.
All she wanted was an email. That was probably her job but whatever the company name, I know I’ll never use it. I know that I’ll never recommend them either because of their sheer unprofessionalism.
Urgh!
So I’ll update you with the progress.
Cold Call Emails too….
I also got an cold call email addressed to ‘To Whom it May Concern’….even though they sent it to my named email address - which has half my name on it - Denise. Is it that difficult to put Denise in the Hello section?
He did the same thing to a friend of mine that has ‘Anne-marie’ in her email address.
It’s not rocket science to apply mass personalisation to your cold call emails.
I was at a PR Seminar at Lunchtime run by the Drogheda Chamber (another post on that later) and presented by Daren Hughes of Drogheda Independent and Ged Nash of McCormick Nash. But Daren made the simplest of points - it’s a policy that they use in the media world….KISS - Keep it Simple, Stupid.
Now, I don’t like calling anyone stupid as I have my own moments but when the cap fits and when cold emailing or calling, Keep it Simple, Stupid!
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