Marketing is very different now to how it was when I started my career. Pre-internet everything was more structured and controlled and we had time to plan, with a lot more emphasis on strategy. Today, however, the situation is totally the opposite. There are so many ways of marketing our business the tendency is to leap straight into the “doing” (tactics), without giving any thought to the planning. And with all these new ways of marketing our business, often we never really properly get to grips with any of them, because there is always something new to try. And I
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Posts by Melanie Wardle
Four Reasons Why You Should Be Networking!
We always get lots of new people coming along to Coffee and Connect in September, so if you have been thinking about trying out networking here are four great reasons why you should come along: 1. The People There are lots of very practical reasons as to why networking can help your business but as I write this, having not seen everyone in August as we were on our summer break, my overriding feeling is how much I am looking forward to seeing everyone again… because business, especially small business, is so much about the people. And I know that
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Your One Minute Intro and The Search for Perfection!
Having changed the nature of my business at the beginning of the year I have spent a lot of time thinking about the “one minute intro” – my own in particular! Indeed it has been quite a challenge, having spent nineteen years polishing my introduction for my magazine business, having to go back to square one to create the “perfect” introduction. Spoiler alert here… I can tell you the “perfect” one minute introduction is a very rare beast – requiring that optimal combination of speaker, audience and timing. So, what have I learnt over the past six months: Firstly, that
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Regular Networking Brings Results
I have spent my whole career in marketing and sales and the one thing I can say, with total certainty, is that there is never any “quick fix”. Yes, you can get a lot of short-term visibility with some marketing techniques, but long-term, consistent success requires time, effort and patience. This is never more true than when it comes to networking. Visibility is everything – you have to turn up and put the effort in, otherwise people will forget about you. I realise this sounds harsh and I don’t mean it to be, but successful networking is built on establishing
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Following Up
As I mentioned last month I have been having a lovely time recently getting out and about attending lots of networking events, however just going and making new connections is not enough… you need to follow up. LinkedIn One of the most effective ways I have found to continue to develop connections is to connect with people on LinkedIn. Most people I meet networking do now have a LinkedIn profile, and if I have had a very busy week networking I especially like the fact that we all have our profile pics on there so I can remember who is
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Getting the most out of an Expo as a visitor
Exhibition season is now well underway and many of you will be attending as visitors. Usually I am on an Exhibition stand at an Expo but recently I simply went along as a visitor and I think you can say I really embraced the experience, as I was exhausted by the end of it! So I thought it might be helpful to share my top tips for getting the most out of the Expo experience as a visitor. * The most important bit of advice I can share is that an Expo is really just a (very!) large networking event,
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A Big Networking Thank You!
As we approach our final Coffee and Connect meeting of the year I wanted to say a big thank you to you all. After all the issues we had in previous years 2023 has really been the year when face-to-face networking events, and especially our Coffee and Connect meetings, have properly re-established themselves, so I really appreciate all your support. My whole life, both business and personal, runs around people I have met networking and I know many of you say the same; there is always someone on hand to offer advice, expert knowledge, practical support and friendship. The great
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Prioritise Time for Networking
We all have busy working lives; there’s always another email to deal with, a call to make, a project you are working on or simply undertaking work for your clients… But successful business networking relies on the relationships you make with others, and nurturing those relationships regularly – it takes time to get to know someone and and build up confidence and trust in their capabilities. So, tempting as it is to focus on getting work done, sometimes you really need to make time for networking, especially if you have identified (as many of us have) that it is a
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Six Tips to Get the Conversation Started
Something that I know can be daunting if you are new to networking, or maybe have got out of the habit or are visiting a new group, is how to start a conversation with people you have never met before. So here are six tips from me on how to get the conversation going: 1. Relax! Everyone wants to meet new people The first thing to remember is that at a networking event everyone is there to meet new people and make new connections – that is our objective – so we all want to talk to people we have
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Three great reasons to go networking!
We always get lots of new people coming along to Coffee and Connect in September so if you have been thinking about trying out networking, here are three great reasons why you should come along! 1. The People! There are lots of very tangible reasons as to why networking can help your business but as I write this, having not seen everyone in August as we were on our summer break, my overriding feeling is how much I am looking forward to seeing everyone again… because business, especially small business, is so much about the people. And I know that
Read More