Business

In just 4 weeks, you can START and FINISH the important task of owning a clear business plan for a successful and focused Fall season. Each week is dedicated to a portion of your business plan, homework will be assigned each week and you will walk away, with a plan that will guide your time and money management for your business. It’s a working lunch, every Monday in August from noon – 1:30pm, starting Monday, August 8th. Perfect for any starting entrepreneur who wants to jump into business in a BIG way or for any small business owner who wants accountability to work on the strategy of their business in a supportive and action-oriented environment. e-Spot® members: $249 plus HST. Non-members: $299 plus HST.
grace@e-spot.ca or grace@enspirecoaching.com

If you are women in business who is looking to meet and network with, other women business owners, please join Cheryl Scoffield, Follow Up Specialist, Trainer and Coach and Brooke Milne of Because You Said So for 

Speed Networking For Women - Monday, June 20, 2011, from 7 pm – 10 pm.
an opportunity to meet amazing women while enjoying yummy treats and wine.

One lucky winner will leave the event with 2 bottles of STLTO wine!

This will be a relaxed networking event where you start the evening with Cheryl Scoffield, Follow Up Specialist, Trainer and Coach speaking about - What to do after you receive the business card while business networking? How To Turn Leads To Sales Growth. Then have an opportunity to enjoy yummy treats and wine and meet with every woman attending the event to promote your business, career or self!

Buy your ticket by registering here on Eventbrite for only $10!

Please join Brooke Milne and I for this networking event presented  by Because You Said So ..  Promotions and Events …

Location: ING Direct Cafe at 221 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario. Register here on Eventbrite.

Look forward to seeing you there!

At Sydcam Marketing Communications, we believe that social media should be an important part of the communications mix for many small and medium sized businesses. And the reason why is simple – it provides a cost-effective strategy to grow your business and build your brand. Twitter is one of the more popular social media tools for doing just this.

To help your business utilize this resource effectively, we’ve provided you with 8 tips we believe are critical to successfully using it.

Rule #1 – Have a communications strategy: know what you want to say, how you want to say it and to whom (i.e. your target market). Try to never stray from this approach.

Rule #2 – Remember, it’s all about them: Twitter, much like every other social media service, is about adding value to your client’s experiences, of giving back in a tangible way without expecting anything in return! Do things differently and you’ll damage your brand.

Rule #3 – Never, ever tweet more that 5 times a day: This way seem counterintuitive for some of you that think you need to be on Twitter 24/7. Remember, you’re a business, not a frat member or a groupie for a band. If you send out too many tweets, especially low value ones, you’ll irritate your audience as you’ll push everyone else’s tweets down the list. Their action to you will be swift and permanent – they’ll unfollow you! It’s all about quality over quantity.

Rule #4 – Make your tweets interesting: Somewhat related to #4 above, if you’re a business and you’re trying to promote your brand and add value to your followers business and personal lives, don’t waste your time and theirs telling them you’re at the bus stop waiting for the 11:30 shuttle to pick you up. They don’t care!

Rule #5 – Multi-tweet posts should be avoided at all cost: These are hard to follow and end up annoying people more than helping them. If you have more of a story to say, write it up in a blog post and link that to your tweet.

Rule #6 – Twitter is in the public domain: Everything you say and write is available to anyone and everyone – so watch your Ps and Qs! Anyone from your mother to your chief competitors could be watching and/or following you on Twitter so be careful what you say.

Rule #7 – Make sure your tweets are informative: As was mentioned earlier, Twitter like most if not all social media is all about adding value. Make sure your content is what your followers would be expecting from you. If you’re a chef, give out cooking tips, great recipes, etc., but not what your dog Waldo is having for dinner tonight!

Rule #8 – Never underestimate the impact of your statements: One of the dangers with social media, especially in the business space, is that many people come there to learn and to be informed. Treating this audience in a flippant and indifferent manner can do you and your business permanent and irreparable damage. Stay focused and on message at all times!

If you would like to follow Sydcam Marketing Communications’ tweets on Twitter, our user name @sydcam_marcom.

Linkedin, the social media site for professionals has established itself as the place to go for service professionals, solopreneurs and small business owners to generate leads and build their business.

I’ve been using Linkedin actively for 3 years, and have found it to be an extremely powerful lead-generation tool, especially for self-employed service professionals, but it works equally well in creating new business opportunities for all kids of businesses.

Recently I asked members of Linkedin how much new business they generate and 57% said: Zero! Frankly, I am not surprised. Linkedin is getting bigger and more feature-rich, so the learning curve for new users is getting steeper and steeper. Because of this many people open an account and then get discouraged when they start exploring the site. Unfortunately, it is not immediately apparent how can one use Linkedin to get more clients.

If you’re struggling with making Linkedin work for you, come to my popular 2-1/2-hour workshop *Linkedin to the MAX* and learn my secrets. Click here to register today for the next session on May 5.

Here’s one participant’s testimonial — Since participating in your Linkedin to the Max! workshop, I have been expanding my list of connections, and have already seen positive results. I have made some great connections that could result in business opportunities. Your workshop presentation was clear and very informative. Even I, a self-proclaimed “techno-idiot”, learned a lot, and have started to put some of your recommendations into practice. – Thank you!! — Jim White (click this link for more testimonials for my seminars)

Boris Mahovac R.G.D.
iBizAcademy – Online Marketing For Small Business

Recently I attended Leads, Needs and Good Deeds with Donna Messer, President ConnectUs Canada  and recorded this video to tell you about the upcoming Toronto Entrepreneur Conference on May 7, 2011.

Everyone who attends will receive a FREE copy of the premier issue of Toronto Entrepreneur Magazine. Donna Messer is the Managing Editor and I will have an article in the premier issue.

Robert Herjavic, star of Dragons’ Den and writer of the National Best Seller ‘Driven’ will be the Keynote Speaker!

Toronto Entrepreneur Conference will be at the International Ctr in Mississauga, Ontario in Hall 1. If you are launching a business or looking to expand your business Toronto Entrepreneur Conference will be the place to be!

You can still claim the Early Bird Price of $50.00 which is a savings of $25.00.
Arrive early for the best seats and to attend the Trade Show area. Google Map

Registration and the Conference exhibit area opens at 8am and the speakers for the day will be Donna Messer, ‘Networking to Leverage Your Business’, Yousuf Khatib, Managing Director of World Financial Group and the Keynote Speaker will be Robert Herjavic, star of Dragons’ Den and writer of the National Best Seller ‘Driven’!

I am excited to say that my article ‘A Strategic Plan That Sets The Stage For Follow Up After Business Networking‘ will be included in the premier issue of the new Toronto Entrepreneurs Magazine! Of course I will be attending so I hope will you join me, Cheryl Scoffield, Follow Up Specialist at this event.

If you miss the conference, you can still get a copy of my article. Just click here, let me know your email address and I will send it to you with a bonus of 10 Follow Up Tips.

Going home with a stack of business cards? Make sure you maximize your business networking by following up to grow your sales. Attend Follow Up Training or have training come to your office and build a systematic approach for positioning your company for growth.

What makes a great marketer? Is it above average creativity, a strong business acumen, an ability to think strategically with a big picture approach, or is it a bit of everything? And how do marketers acquire these skills?  Is it by working in various areas of an organization first, by attending a B-school and perhaps getting an MBA, or is it by cutting your teeth first in sales and then translating that training and exposure into a marketing role?

 I truly believe there is a lot to be said about the latter approach, and here’s why. I often feel there is a much more practical way of going about becoming successful at marketing – and that centres around thinking more like a customer! At Sydcam Marketing Communications, we believe that thinking like a customer is at the essence of effective marketing.

Understanding Needs

One of the primary reasons why I think marketers need to think like a customer is that it helps to better understand the needs of the end consumer of your goods and services. I would argue this is even more important when you hire advertising agencies and the like to work on behalf of your company, who have an arms length relationship to the business and its products.

Buyer (i.e. consumer) behaviour is a critical component of the purchase decision and process, which is exactly what most marketers are trying to impact and influence. There is no better way to understand what motivates the end customer to purchase your products or services than to actually put yourself, as the marketer, into their shoes and try to understand why they make certain purchase decisions.

Formulating marketing strategies

When it comes to thinking strategically, or developing a marketing strategy for your business or client, the same tactics and approach apply. It should be based on the perceived motives and intents of your target client. What are they looking for from your given product or service? What are their expectations? What would be the distinguishing factor that would sway them to purchase your products over your competitors? All these questions should be carefully considered and analyzed when coming up with a marketing strategy for your business.

In the end, business and marketing always comes down to the customer. Understand their needs, appreciate what motivates their purchasing decisions, and recognize what actions will resonate with them and you’ll be on the right track. Stepping into their shoes is the best way to assess this effectively. You will then be able to develop marketing campaigns and programs that will achieve the bottom line results you and your company expect.

Thinking like a customer is really no more than a concerted approach to thinking and acting in a very unique way that can have tangible benefits for your business. If you would like to discuss how you can implement this kind of strategy within your company, or if you simply want to discover some simple techniques to incorporate this into your daily marketing routines, contact us at Sydcam Marketing Communications. We’d love to sit down and talk to you about something we’re very passionate about.

Last month, we at Sydcam Marketing Communications spoke to you about why we felt social media was a critical and viable marketing strategy for most small (and medium-sized) businesses in this country. Today we would like to talk to about what we believe are the key social media tools small businesses need to consider in executing on their social media program.

The key elements in your social media strategy

With the myriad of social media tools, resources and options available to small business, the question many owners ask us is which tools are best for our needs? While this is sometimes a difficult question, and one that may vary from one client to the next, the most common recommendations we make at Sydcam Marketing Communications are the following:

Blog: Your social media strategy needs to be centred on the creation of a blog (just like us!).  The ability for a blog to provide fresh, new content to your website on a regular basis is one important reason for its value, especially given the impact it has on your search engine rankings.

Twitter is another fabulous tool that enables businesses to send short, targeted messages of interest to their ‘followers’.

Facebook is great resource for promoting your business to clients – old and new – and most importantly for creating a community of people that ‘like’ your business for what you do, how you do it and what you stand for.

YouTube: No one can deny the power of video in capturing an idea or a moment and bringing it all to life. YouTube does this and so much more by creating a medium to house all your company videos in one neat area, and to then use the video content to put a whole different light on your business. Love that Google juice!

LinkedIn: The odd one in the bunch, LinkedIn, while perhaps not the most obvious social media tool for promoting your business, provides an incredible avenue for promoting yourself, your background, skills and credentials and enabling you to connect with colleagues and associates around the world. It helps to build that personal credibility that so many small businesses thrive on for their success.

So there you have it, a multi-pronged approach to social media that can have a noticeable impact on the success of your small business in the near term. And to be clear, it is not essential that you go an open an account tomorrow for each of the services mentioned above. Pick and choose those that you think can benefit you the most, or better still those that you feel most comfortable implementing yourself.

If you’re looking for help and advice on devising your social media strategy for your business, please contact us at Sydcam Marketing Communications. We’d love to hear from you and provide you with some insight, guidance and support to help you grow your business’ presence in this growing area.

Are you a Business Manager, Small or Medium Sized Business Owner, Sales Professional and Entrepreneur who invests time and money attending trade shows, monthly association meetings and business networking events?

Do you have a process in place for business networking with the specific intent of following up and connecting with MOST of the people you met? Or do you often just end up with piles of collected business cards?

Did You Know?
80% of sales are won on the fifth to twelfth contact – yet 48% of all business managers never follow up beyond the first contact.

Join Cheryl Scoffield, Follow Up Specialist, for  Set The Stage For Follow Up -   Monday night March 7, 6 – 9 pm – $89.00 in Oakville, Ontario. (Additonal Spring 2011 dates available.)

Beat that statistic! Learn how to Business Network With Specific Intent of engaging people in conversation, connecting and then following up to add value, rather than just selling.

If you are tired of;

• not getting the results you need to grow your business from your business networking efforts
• spending your time searching for that wonder phrase that will convince prospects to buy from you

This business training will lay out a a step by step, straight forward, systematic strategy you can implement right away!
Start taking proactive action and make sure EVERY prospect you met finds their way into your sales funnel and is followed up.

Register for “SET THE STAGE FOR FOLLOW UP“  training  Monday night March 7, 6 – 9 pm – $89.00 

Learn how to easily start conversations and maximize your subject matter expertise, enabling you to follow up, build relationships and the all important - know you, like you, trust you factor.

March 7, 2011 ,  $89.00
2.5 hours of hands on, skills based interactive business training in Oakville Ontario.  

Join Cheryl Scoffield, Follow Up Specialist, Trainer for Enterprise Toronto, Learning Enrichment Foundation and others in Toronto, Ontario for  Set The Stage For Follow Up -

Learn how to maximize your business development investment and utilize proactive marketing to raise the visibility of your business. It just makes cents.

This date doesn’t fit into your schedule? No problem!
Find other available Spring 2011 dates for Set The Stage For Follow Up and the next step - Automate Your Follow Up Process where ACT (CRM database) and Swiftpage (set up email marketing will be discussed).

Other on-site training and consultation options;

Follow Up – Discover Your Next Step

Follow Up  -  Take Action

Hear what other people are saying about Follow Up Training with Cheryl Scoffield.

Why achieving a consistent, branded communications strategy is critical in the digital era

I recently came across an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review* (HBR) that I wanted to share with my readers. The article talks about a unique aspect within social media: how it is impacting consumer behaviour (and attitudes), the impact it is having on a company’s brand, and how a consistent communications strategy can resolve consumer confusion and improve your bottom line.

At Sydcam Marketing Communications, we understand that social media is changing the sales and marketing landscape. We hope this article will enable you to better understand this new media and help you devise the necessary strategies to take advantage of this digital phenomenon.

The demise of traditional media

We all recognize that technology, the internet, and most recently social media have all adversely affected both traditional media (newspapers, TV, and radio) and traditional methods of marketing (TV and print advertising). However, many of us don’t realize the extent of the impact.

The online communities created by social media have provided a forum for discussing a company, its brands and products. These discussions often take place after a customer has purchased a product, either in the form of a product review or an online discussion.

Lesson #1: The growing importance of the post-purchase stage

In the article, the post-purchase phase of the buying process is referred to as the “Enjoy, advocate, bond” stage. Social media has facilitated consumer’s ability to advocate for (or against) a brand or product, to bond with it and to disseminate information to a wide audience very quickly. Marketers need to allocate more attention and resources to this critical stage of the buying process.

Lesson #2: Shifting the marketing spend

The research highlights that the conventional approach to using paid advertising in traditional media to influence customers before the purchase decision is not effective anymore. Instead, influencing clients post-purchase will have a much greater impact on their satisfaction with their purchase decision, will expedite their future repurchase decision, and will enable them to advocate for the brand through social media  – positively impacting the purchase decisions for many buyers.

Lesson #3: Keep your “branded” messaging consistent

Today’s plethora of marketing and communications channels creates other challenges for businesses – ensuring product and brand messaging is consistent across all channels of communication, from print to social media to product packaging and PR. One of the key concerns noted by consumers in the HBR paper was inconsistent product information and descriptions across different sources and different media, and how this made the purchase decision more difficult.

It is incumbent on companies that they view product and brand messaging from a strategic perspective, and coordinate it more effectively. Research has proven that centralizing this communications role with marketing results in a clearer and more consistent understanding of the brand by consumers; they are then better able to articulate its attributes.

 Implementing a “branded” communications strategy

If you’re looking for assistance in developing a social media plan to improve your marketing and communications efforts, or you’d like to comment on this blog, please contact us at Sydcam Marketing Communications; we’d love to hear from you.

Together we can work on devising a program that will create consistent messaging across your entire organization, strengthen and grow your brand and your customers’ loyalty to it, while helping you become more profitable.

 * “Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending Your Money in All the Wrong Places”, Alex MacLean, Harvard Business Review, December, 2010.

http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age/ar/2