Drogheda Chamber Holds Local Business Meeting

Earlier in March, the Drogheda Chamber organised a public meeting and invited business owners and managers aswell as local representatives from the Drogheda & District area.

Over 240 people attended the meeting in the newly opened Barbican Centre. The meeting was chaired by Patricia Rooney, President of the Drogheda Chamber and Padraic Kierans, Finance Committee Chairperson.

The minutes of the meeting are HERE.

Prior to the meeting, the Drogheda Chamber undertook a survey and the results were announced at the meeting.

Why the Meeting was Called

Padraic Kierans informed the packed auditorium that the Drogheda Chamber had been forced to call the meeting due to the seriousness of the situation businesses in the area are currently facing. He went onto say that he noted that increasingly businesses were under severe pressure and sadly as we all knew many had disappeared in recent weeks, highlighting the difficulties for large, medium and small business have incurred since the summer of 2009 – who took on large loans to facilitate growing their businesses, or negotiated expensive leasing arrangements which are now crippling them and they are struggling to cope with these and many other cost elements weighing down their businesses but cannot escape these burdens.

Positive Suggestions

This meeting was about acknowledging the situation and seeing how, as a group, positive actions could be taken. Suggestions were encouraged from the gathered business owners, almost a rising tide raises all ships.

For my end, I was delighted to see some really positive suggestions coming from the business owners of the town. I know that the Chamber is putting together an action plan and many of the suggestions are included.

If you don’t get time to read the minutes, here are the many positive suggestions:

• Busking Licence / encourage Buskers
• Survey the shoppers to see what they really want
• Write to banks and let them know the real story
• Get a central tourist office
• Clean up Battle of the Boyne site
• Free parking at certain times/ special rate / discounted rates
• Bus Park especially for Tourists
• Booklet of offers / coupons for shops and hotels
• Erect multi story car park on unused land
• Let artists use unoccupied space/windows to bring creativity into town
• Use pavement on West Street for Saturday Market - certain stalls
• Involve West Street more with Arts Festival
• Market Drogheda more to other regions – churches, historical religious monuments – Town of spires
• Enclose Food Market ala Georges Market in Belfast (6days)
• Walking tours / audio enhancements at hotels
• Reduce Letting Rates / Water Rates
• Remove Toll into Drogheda
• Motor Home park
• Package Drogheda as a place to relocate companies to – 4/5 key points to present to IDA
• Educate Drogheda people about benefits of shopping locally
• Drogheda business owners to support Drogheda Suppliers

If you are a business owner, why not suggest some actions yourself - you can either post them here or email enquiries@droghedachamber.com directly.

First Blogpost of 2010 - Why do you blog?

It’s the 12th January 2010 and I can’t believe that I’m only getting around to writing my first blogpost for Achieve Marketing.

I’ve been writing posts for clients but not myself and have been fielding questions about the importance of having a blog.

I’m only dying to get into blogging again for 2010. I’ve had a number of customer relationship issues that I need to share, some writing tips to let you know about and generally engage with people now that Christmas is over.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking about the importance of blogging. So for my first post, I’m posing a question to all the bloggers:

Why do you blog?

I blog because I have ideas to share, to build credibility and to engage with the community around me.

Can you take a few minutes to share why you blog? I’ll combine all comments and share later in the month.

Why Lucinda Lost and How to Avoid a Similar Fate

I’m an avid fan of The Apprentice and it was with regret that I watched Lucinda being fired. She was an excellent candidate.

The radio ad had a lot to be desired to be honest but unfortunately for Lucinda, it wasn’t the radio ad that was her downfall. Her print ad fell foul for a number of reasons - and Lucinda should comfort herself that she is not alone in making those mistakes.

Lets look at the mistakes in the print ad that cost Lucinda her place in the semi-final.

Mistake No. 1: Too many words

White space is gospel when it comes to copy-writing. You need enough to make your words stand out. There wasn’t enough white space at the two-page ad.

A common mistake is to have too many messages. For a two page ad, you should have two-three main messages. That’s it, no more.

There was at least five messages through-out the ad. Too many to concentrate.

Lucinda should have stuck to two-three messages, summarised them and used them in her call to action.

Mistake No. 2: No compelling headline

“This Christmas” and “Three Wise Men” isn’t exactly compelling reading. In order to get (and keep) attention, you need a compelling headline. Three pictures of three men isn’t the compelling headline that I’m talking about either.

You need a headline that screams ‘read me - I’m the the most interesting article/ad in this magazine’.

Mistake 3: Imagery didn’t support wording

If you’re going to use imagery as a supplement or distraction from your words, then choose wisely. The images should complement the wording.

Lucinda had a great idea of giving tips to picking jewellry this Christmas. It was a great idea - but unfortunately it didn’t work. She used bulleted images which didn’t work - it only added to the clutter on the page.

In summary, anyone can put together a print ad. However, if you want maximum returns, then you need to do it right. Hire a copy-writer!

John Noonan is Ireland’s top marketer

A big congratulations to John Noonan, Sales & Marketing Director of Flahavans who won Marketer of the Year last week. He’s the man behind the resurrection of one of Ireland’s most well known brands.

It is great to see that it was his marketing strategy creation and implementation that won over the judges. They said that they were particularly impressed by Mr Noonan’s strong focus on research and insight to identify customer trends and frame a very successful product development strategy to grow the business.

As a marketer, he clearly led and implemented his strategy successfully with the support of management and demonstrated that in this difficult economic climate (and against aggressive competitive challenges), marketing and effective leadership will achieve success.

I’ve always said that marketing is more than promotion and Mr Noonan certainly is one to share that view. Operating in a highly competitive  market where Flahavans competes successfully against international food giants Kelloggs, Nestle and Weetabix, he was responsible for crafting a finely tuned re-positioning of Flahavans which has resulted in market share growing to 65.3pc in the year to August 2009.

The brands profits increased by over 15pc and with a fourfold increase in turnover.

Well done to John and his team with congratulations to the other finalists.

Awards Fever Grips Business Community of Drogheda

Yesterday I had meetings in Drogheda and I met with some business owners. Well the beat on the street is certainly one of excitement.

As this is my first year as a short-listed company, I can certainly share in the excitement. And I have two clients in for awards aswell.

The Drogheda Excellence Awards will be held on Saturday night at the 4-star City North Hotel and over 300 guests will gather to celebrate the short-listed companies and winners of 10 award categories.

I spoke to five companies short-listed for various awards and the excitement of the awards coupled with the nervousness of interviews is palpable.

Today I’ll have to spend time preparing for my interview. These awards should be recognised in itself. A completely impartial judging panel of 6 judges adjudicate the written award application forms. Size does matter because the form is only four pages long with six questions asked. It doesn’t allow for long-winded answers. The form makes up 70% of the award with the interview or mystery shopper evaluation making up 30%.

Best eat that frog - and print my application form.

If anyone has any tips on how to overcome nerves in an interview talking about your company, please feel free to share them. Many, many thanks!

What’s the difference between Marketing & Advertising?

While networking earlier in the week, I got the age-old comment “So you’re in marketing. I tried advertising but it didn’t work.”

I spent the next 30 minutes explaining the difference between marketing and advertising and then asking what why his advertising didn’t work.

It’s a comment that I get frequently. So I’m throwing it out there -

What do you think is the difference between marketing and advertising?

This is my understanding:

Marketing takes in the whole process of getting and keeping customers. It is at the core of every business success. It takes in promotion but also covers understanding the environment in which a company operates, the effect of competitors, pricing, product choice, consumer behaviour, political changes and the list goes on.

Advertising is just one way to promote a business to a mass audience and it’s generally paid for.

What is your understanding of it?

Sign up for ‘Countdown to 2010′, a 10-week marketing programme to kick-start your new year

It’s never too early to plan. I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the calendar and realised that we only had 11 weeks left in 2009 (including this one!!).

Too often, us business-owners are so busy working in the business that we don’t focus enough on the business. Time has a funny way of flying by and suddenly, one week, one month, a half-year has flown by and we don’t even realise it.

As I set myself my own goal of working on my marketing plan for 2010, I thought it would be a good idea to share some key goals or initiatives that I’ll be looking at with other business-owners. We all have to plan, we all have to market and if I can help you market your business in a small way, then happy days. A rising tide raises all ships.

Countdown to 2010

Over the next ten weeks, you’ll get ideas, direct to your inbox, on a variety of marketing related topics that will all fit together for your overall marketing plan. Some of the topics include:

• Pricing - Stop under-valuing and start offering real value
• Promotion - Get the basics right for your 2010 campaigns
• Copy-writing - Engage with your audience to get results
• Social Marketing - Connect with social medium such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin
• Distribution - Deliver your product or service in the most effective manner

Many people’s eyes glaze over when I talk about strategic marketing or marketing planning, but if you break it down into bite-sized pieces, it’s easier to conquer. A journey is started by taking the first step.

How to Subscribe

So take the first step to planning  your marketing for 2010, by subscribing to ‘Countdown to 2010‘.

Remember a rising tide raises all ships. If you work on your marketing plan prior to 2010 and are ready to get going on Monday, 4th January (allowing lots of time to recuperate from celebrating the old and new year!), then you’ll be in a great place for 2010.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, subscribe HERE. You’ll get your first email on Wednesday, 21st October and weekly thereafter.

Privacy note: Your data will not be shared.

Home is…familiarity

As we only live 25 minutes from the airport, our family take it in turns to drop and pick up each other to the airport. My Dad was due to pick us up from our little trip to Spain. I knew that he’d be waiting for us at Area No. 2 (He’s always early or on time!). I knew he’d have the radio on and wouldn’t turn it off until I got hoarse shouting from the back seat.

And as we drove up the hill toward the house, I don’t know what reminded me of the Dennyis challenge, my mind works in mysterious ways! Maybe it was the steepness of the hill, maybe it was the discarded tayto wrapping that made my blood boil or maybe it was just familiarity that made me think of what home is.

I missed the launch of the Denny ‘What is Home?’ campaign,  their nation-wide search to finding out what home means to the country of Ireland. Craig Doyle was there as celebrity ambassador and gave his own version of home: “For me, it’s my real life outside of work, a return journey, a house full of screaming kids, a window frame the dog chewed and I got blamed for. It’s happiness and warmth.”

It was after midnight when we got back home. My mum had sandwiches made for us (you got to love Mums!) and it was great to know where to reach for the plates, the teabags, the milk while sleep-walking with the tiredness.

Home means lots of things at different times and for me that night, it was familiarity. Denny is set to film real people and real homes as part of its search to find out what really makes a home today. I think it’s a great idea - everyone is different yet it will be interesting to see the commonality between families and homes.

Anyone who wants to invite the Denny crew to their homes can do so by calling 1850 887 00 or 0844 544 3545.

They’ve also set up some interactive channels for people to share their stories about home - check out their page on Facebook, connect with them on Twitter and Flickr.

And what’s great about this campaign is that Denny is donating €1/85p to the Simon Community when every individual shares their thoughts on what home is online, by text or in person. Everyone is welcome to upload photos, videos and comments to www.homeis.ie, texting 51444 (ROI) or 81515 (NI) or by popping into one of the Denny houses. Denny is taking the campaign nationwide with their Home on Wheels tour.

Visit www.homeis.ie to share your thoughts. It’s a bit of fun and your contribution will help make a difference with the Simon Community.

Go on…what is home to you?

Credibility and Visibility are Key for Publicity

Back in September, thanks to Krishna De, I got a ticket to a workshop run by Jill Lublin, the PR guru who “has put millions of dollars in free publicity in the hands of thousands of people just like” me!

Always one to learn more, I thought, at best, I’d learn something new and at worst, it would be an interesting evening. Well, it was very much both. Although I’ve done PR work for clients before, you can never know enough about the PR game. Jill certainly entertained while she teaching her PR tips.

When Jill came out, she reminded me so much of Ruby Wax - I hope she doesn’t mind me saying that but her quirkyness and energy had me and the audience enthralled.

One of the first things she said about publicity was:

“In advertising, you pay for it.

In PR, you pray for it.”

How apt can 12 words be!

She teaches that everything about publicity comes down to building credibility and visibility. Thereafter, the sales come, but it isn’t the premise of a press release or a photo shoot or PR stunt.

It’s quite a simple message and really applies to marketing as well as PR - you need a great story. Often it’s the simple ideas that make the most sense, isn’t it?

She likes to personalise stories and the best PR coverage she has gotten for her clients is not necessarily about their product or service or company. It’s the story behind the company and it’s founders.

Just as UK Dragons on Dragons Den love to hear the story behind the entrepreneur, JIll advises everyone to think about somthing that you haven’t talked about before.

She gave a wonderful example of a client of hers, based in the US that was importing food stuff from France. While interesting enough, it wasn’t exactly riveting. Jill had a discussion with her and got to know a bit more about this lady. The client shared that her daughter was a recovering teenage alcoholic. That then became the story behind the client. It opened up doors for her to share her experience about her daughter and coincidentally about her business.

She got coverage in Parenting magazines, Teenage magazines, Womens magazines as well as the business press. This came when she shared her coverage in other magazines.

Some people may not like this approach but it is a different approach than the standard press release advertising a product, competing for interest. You’re hitting journalists with heart and soul and helping build name recognition.

By the end of the evening, we were doing PR exercises that pushed us to think outside the box. I’ve still homework to do from it! I wonder if procrastination is an interesting topic for journalists?!!!

Three PR take-aways from my interpretation of JIll Lublins workshop:

1. Build crediblity and visibility through your publicity initiatives; sales come later

2. Think of something that you haven’t talked about before; Add it to your potential PR talking-points.

3. Share your publicity when you get it; it could lead to lots more.

Do you have anyother PR tips to share?

Extra Information:

Jill Lublin came to Dublin courtesy of Horizon Speakers. Sign up to their newsletter to find when other speakers are in town.

Jill Lublin is hosting a three-part webinar series starting October 22nd. Each part is scheduled two weeks apart from the previous one.  (If you cannot make one session, you can roll forward into another webinar)

She is doing a special series for Ireland participants. Special webinar offer of 2 for the price of 1 @ 187euro.    Info and bookings: Suzanne@horizonspeakers.com or 086 1221359/01 2463033.

Irish Businesswomen Show Anything is Possible

Before I sojourned off to Spain, I was a guest of Patricia Rooney, General Manager of Murphy Environmental Hollywood Ltd at the Women Mean Business Conference & Awards at the Shelbourne Hotel.

The theme of the day was ‘Anything is Possible‘, inspired by leading businesswomen JK Rowling who said “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve” and Oprah Winfrey who said “If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race”.

This theme was carried through the entire day, especially at the networking session prior to lunch. Perhaps it was the sunshine streaming in through the windows, but there was a palpable air of positivity - things are on the rise.

The women that I spoke with were sustaining their businesses and creating opportunities while acknowledging that things aren’t as good as before. There was realism mixed with positivity and it was quite motivating.

Awards Ceremony

After lunch, the awards ceremony kicked off. Patricia Rooney, my host, was nominated for Businesswoman of the Year award. A well deserving nominee, of all the women I know, she has an unlimited supply of energy. The passion she brings to Murphy is obvious to see given the success of the business which she started from scratch and as President of Drogheda Chamber for the past 15 months.

Unfortunately, she didn’t win and the award went to Cathriona Hallan, MD of Microsoft European Operations Centre.

I met up with Veronica Canning, author of Shoeisms who was a finalist in another category, the Accenture WMBig Idea Award. Another deserving nominee, and unfortunately, she didn’t win either.

It got me thinking about awards. It’s always a little bit disappointing when you don’t win. Human nature being what it is - our the competitive spirit compels us to win. However, over 200 people applied for these awards. 15 people got short-listed. That’s a fantastic achievement in itself.

Perhaps award ceremonies should acknowledge the finalists a bit more - at the end of the day, there is only one official winner. Yet those 11 women who didn’t take home an award are winners. They beat 185 other women to be short-listed and recognised for their achievements.

I’m sure that we will see a lot more from the award winners and the short-listed candidates in the future. I’ll certainly be looking forward to reading more about them in the new Handbag-sized Women Mean Business magazine.

Congratulations to all the winners who have motivated the rest of us to believe Anything is Possible.

Click here for more details on the winners and finalists.