http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk Improve your sales and marketing skills: Win and grow more profitable business Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:53:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In these days of ever-tightening belts is always good to know of ways we can get our businesses to known to a wider audience without having to spend our hard-earned money. Many, of course, look and are too good to be true. This one isn't and it's from what you may think ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/marketing-use-your-loaf-not-your-bread I just received the introduction to an article by Jeffrey Gitomer in my mail box and would love to link you to the full article but, sadly, the site won't allow it. So I'll direct you to his site home page instead. You might want to see other stuff ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/pain-free-selling-jeffreys-view It's worthwhile remembering that, although the word 'networking' has only entered into common use over the past few years, the activity is anything but new. Go back hundreds of years and you'll see that well-connected travellers would carry letters of introduction to several people they didn't know in places they ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/learn-from-the-past-networking-isnt-new Sally's comment on the original Poverty and Plenty blog was so insightful I wanted to give it more exposure: "How do small businesses figure out what are the best things to invest in during the financial downturn if they can’t afford all of the things they want to do. How do they ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/poverty-and-plenty-dont-panic When did you last take a good look at your competitors - Are they "cutting back on spend whatever the cost? Or are they judiciously continuing to invest in certain areas where they know they'll get good, sustainable Return On Investment? Your employees and your customers are your best assets right now. ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/poverty-and-plenty-%e2%80%93-a-quick-question How can you use testimonials to keep business? You should be regularly checking that your customers are happy with your business service - you can't afford to assume that they are. The world is changing and customers are aware of competitive offerings and, though many will still not say a word to ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/use-testimonials-to-keep-and-get-more-business Forgot to mention this in the previous post, yet it's important: You should always know how a new customer came to you as you will either have been making contact with him or her or you will have asked how they heard about you. So, when a customer refers a potential client ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/why-you-should-reward-referrals Who do you think will be more predisposed towards you: Someone who doesn't "know you from Adam" or somebody who has been referred to you by a person they respect? Especially in times of economic uncertainty people will be careful who they spend their money with. So if ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/marketing/when-did-you-last-ask-for-a-referral A great blog here for all small businesses! Last August we featured a post with more than 230 online apps for running your business. Since there are hundreds of new apps coming on the market every year, we figured it was time for an update. This year we came up with ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/uncategorized/270applications-for-small-businesses ...was as a 16 year old Saturday girl at Woolworth's, where, for some strange reason, I usually managed to get what was regarded as the plum role of serving behind the cosmetics counter (this was in the days before self-service and paying at a check out). I’d work with full-time ... http://www.smallbusinesstraining.co.uk/business/my-first-job