Keep up with Bare Bones news snippets...

For more information or to talk about our news, call, email or Skype us![skype-status]

Still spaces on the Bare Bones Marketing Workshop

There are still spaces available on the Bare Bones Marketing Hands-on Workshop.

Don’t forget to register your interest.

Bare Bones Marketing is planning a “hands-on” workshop on marketing basics in the Knutsford area. Many small business we’ve been talking to over the last few weeks know that they need to market themselves more, but are a little bit daunted about how to go about it. So we’ve decided to set something up to help those businesses that are looking for some basic tips and ideas.

It will be a half day session (approximately 3 hours) and we’ll tailor it to the businesses who are attending to cover off the most requested topics. They’ll be able to bring along examples of their marketing or marketing that they like, get ideas on how to market their business cost effectively, and leave with an action plan in place. And of course, its a great networking opportunity too!

Interested? Or know someone who might be? email emma@bbmarketing.co.uk

 

Published on 27 September 2011 by Emma

It’s all for Charity!

Bare Bones Marketing is donating its services for charity!

Bare Bones Marketing is offering one local charity two hours of marketing advice at no cost. The charity must be within within 10 miles of Middlewich and be a small local charity (ie. not one that has national or central marketing assistance).

Small businesses often need help with their marketing because they are focused on running their day-to-day business and struggle to find time to work on marketing themselves, even though they know they need to. Charities are no different, so I want to offer one local charity help with their marketing. They can ask for advice on any marketing challenge they have…whether their existing marketing is not getting the results they need, some new ideas for raising money, or how to get their name better known.

In today’s climate, like any small business, charities must generate the most revenue for their marketing budget, so if you know of a local charity that wants some extra help, here’s what they need to do…They must outline their marketing challenges and why they need help in no more than 200 words and email them to info@bbmarketing.co.uk by 5pm on Monday 3rd October, 2011. They must include their contact details and registered charity number. The successful applicant will be notified by 5pm on Friday 7th October, 2011.

 

 

Published on 26 September 2011 by Emma

I’ll have a “P” please Bob

I’ll have a “P” please Bob. Remember that, or am I just showing my age?

Anyway, “P” is the key letter in marketing. OK, I can hear you saying to the person next to you that the Bare Bones Marketing woman has lost the plot!

Honestly, if you ask any marketer, they’ll tell you about Product, Placement, Price and Promotion. And they all start with “P”. Well, I’m adding another, or maybe two…

My first “P” is for “People”. It isn’t a myth that “people buy people”. True, they also by Product, Placement, Price and Promotion, but if you’re selling a service, then they buy People.  They buy experience and personality (there goes another “P”) and let’s admit it, appearance (is it pushing it to drop the “A”?).

But my new “P” is “Persistence”, or maybe “Perseverance”. Am I being greedy by having two? They essentially mean the same, so I think I can get away with it. And what I mean is this… in any business, whether you’re big, small, new or well-established, you have to keep at it, again and again and again. So, try something, and if it doesn’t work, it isn’t failing, it’s learning. Try something else instead. This works in conjunction with the other “Ps”, especially “Promotion”. Test out offers, do some research (using the people you know), get feedback and measure the results.

And, if a first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again –  or you could always get someone else to do it for you ;-) (like Bare Bones Marketing maybe?)

And maybe you’ll get the most desired “P” of all – PROFIT! Ooops. That’s another…

Published on 23 September 2011 by Emma

“To Tweet or Not To Tweet?” That is the question!

“To Tweet or not to Tweet?”. That is almost certainly the first question I get asked by small businesses.

So, whether it is nobler in the Twitter, Bare Bones Marketing has put together some “Top Twips” (OK, enough of the Shakespeare talk I promise!)

Top Twips

1) You don’t need to be a “techy” to tweet. But you do need to have some desire to interact with technology on a regular basis. So if you’re a complete technophobe, or prefer dealing with people “off-line”, Twitter is not for you.

2) Keep it professional, but warm and friendly. Don’t forget if you’re tweeting for your business, you’re tweeting for your brand. If you want to tweet what you had for your tea, or that you’ve just had a rather nasty (insert your own health topic) inserted/removed, set up a personal account and don’t link the two.

3) If you wouldn’t want to read about it in tomorrow’s tabloids, then don’t tweet it (see twip 2). In fact, this goes for any type of communication!

4)Do keep it relevant and interesting. Your followers want to gain something from your tweets, so think about the messages you’re trying to get across.

5)Be gentle(ish). Twitter is not for the hard sell all the time. It is also about building relationships (albeit virtual). BUT if you have a special offer, or want to get new clients then don’t be afraid to promote the offer, or ask for new clients. After all you want to get something out of the time you spend on Twitter.

6)Follow people who you might get ideas or advice from. You’ll find that many of them will follow you back. Follow people who are in your target audience. If they follow you back then they’ll see what you’re like and learn about your business. Follow your clients and suppliers. Also, see twips 2 and 3!

7)Retweet – this means if someone you follow has something interesting to say, then tweet it too. You might find that they’ll retweet something of yours when you want them to. Don’t be afraid to ask followers to retweet for you (usually by putting “pls RT” on your tweet).

8)Spend time reading tweets to start off with. You’ll learn the terminology, and also you’ll get a feel for what people tweet about so that you can decide on the tone that best suits your tweeting. You’ll also see things like #ff (Follow Friday, where you recommend people to follow to your followers) and hashtags (anything prefaced with “#”) which identify trends.

9)Tweet regularly, to suit you, but somewhere between 1 to 8 times a day. Any more and not only will you find you’ll repeat yourself, people will get fed up. The exception to this is if you’re a news company – then if you’ve only got 8 things to say, it must have been a very slow news day!

10)Don’t get addicted! I’ve not heard of anyone in Twitter therapy, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Twitter is just one type of communication method and it is easy to spend too much time tweeting and not enough time on your business. After all, it’s one thing to be on Twitter and another to be a Twit!

 

 

Published on 21 September 2011 by Emma

Bare Bones Marketing Workshop in the Knutsford Area

Bare Bones Marketing Workshop in the Knutsford Area

Bare Bones Marketing is planning a “hands-on” workshop on marketing basics in the Knutsford area. Many small business we’ve been talking to over the last few weeks know that they need to market themselves more, but are a little bit daunted about how to go about it. So we’ve decided to set something up to help those businesses that are looking for some basic tips and ideas.

It will be a half day session (approximately 3 hours) and we’ll tailor it to the businesses who are attending to cover off the most requested topics. They’ll be able to bring along examples of their marketing or marketing that they like, get ideas on how to market their business cost effectively, and leave with an action plan in place. And of course, its a great networking opportunity too!

Interested? Or know someone who might be? email emma@bbmarketing.co.uk

Published on 19 September 2011 by Emma

Page 1 of 212

Westview

6 Croxton Lane

Middlewich

Cheshire CW10 9EY

contact us via email today!

or call us on 07787 153992