Social Media for Independent Financial Advisers has never been more inportant, but is it the only solution.
Following my comments in Profesional Adviser last week and following on from some emails and phone calls received I have responded above.
In simple terms it’s like this, there is a lot you can do with Social Media and there is even more you should be doing in other areas. One strategy we wholly support is making your marketing work/fit/be profitable no matter which medium you use.
Richard Smith – Marketing and Internet Expert
http://www.theinternetconsultancy.com
twitter http://www.twitter.com/thetheinternetcons
http://www.facebook.com/Billythebadger
http://www.youtube.com/user/Richardvcsmith
“so what is your plan b ? Another redesign of your Website, some more ad’s in the Yellow Pages, keep on doing the same old stuff you will get the same results that you have always got. To think otherwise is like New Labour thinking Gordon Brown will win another election and even a stupid business owner knows the answer to that” Richard Smith – The Internet Consultancy- comment at The Internet Marketers Lunch – Strand Palace Hotel July 2010
It’s a wonder anyone wants to be in business in these miserable times.
Having spent a couple of hours watching Bloomberg TV today, and then a little BBC News I reminded myself why I never watch it, once you buy into this stuff you can be assured it will change your life for ever, only negatively.
Modern Business Owners (and start up’s ) need to rethink the strategy – even if you could get advice from the Government would you want to take it? An organisation that gets all of it’s income from taxation and if it doesn’t deliver the Politicians still get paid, and of course if the Local Council Official overspends local Council Tax Payers money what happens to them?
Choose your advisers carefully, and note that none of the above is coming to save you.
Watching too much TV (watching others meet their goals) is always an activity that needs to be limited.
Whilst the Dragons Den was on last night, I sent 8 emails to prospective customers who had indicated they were not happy with their Websites (in all fairness I have not met many business owners that are), today – I have had 2 new meeting requests, and 1 acceptance of consultancy quoted last month.
Now I am sure James Caan and co do a worthy job but I will be buggered if I am going to spend too much of my life looking to them and hoping for inspiration when my clients and yours are desperate to do business, or at least increase sales. Something we do best.
There are hundreds of new business strategies available to you right now. Question is are you going to take advantage, don’t expect a call from your web designer though most of them are struggling to pay their bills as well.
Richard Smith – Marketing and Internet Expert
http://www.theinternetconsultancy.com
twitter http://www.twitter.com/theinternetcons
http://www.facebook.com/Billythebadger
“so what is your plan b” ? Another redesign of your Website, some more ad’s in the Yellow Pages, keep on doing the same old stuff you will get the same results that you have always got. To think otherwise is like New Labour thinking Gordon Brown will win another election and even a stupid business owner knows the answer to that” Richard Smith – The Internet Consultancy- comment at The Internet Marketers Lunch – Strand Palace Hotel July 2010
So you want to start a business in Sussex as I write this in July 2010Government Funding and Help is becoming harder to find.
Chamber of Commerce is doing what it can (LINK) however with the levels of funding looking to reduce even further in the coming years there is a real danger that in the medium term you will not get the level of advice or support you have come to expect. Certainly firms like ourselves (theinternetconsultancy) will take up some of the slack for Start Up Businesses, however in the main help from local government is likely to be lacking for sometime yet.
On a positive note, many of the government led organisations have been getting so wrapped up in red tape the quality of advice has been falling in recent years.
Help and support. What do I need to know?
We could go on for hours in this section, realistically if you have an idea you think will work, call me happy to walk through the options with you. However the first thing you should do is Market Research, don’t ask your friends and family, they are not going to be your target market are they!
Type of business – Products or Services have you defined this yet? It could of course be both. What is the nature of your proposed market place? Expanding or collapsing? Improving profits or reducing? A little work done now will improve your chances of success.
Methods of marketing
Is there a correct way possible, however a s imple test to see if anyone wants your product, place it on Ebay for sale. If you sell one there is a market!
Next question is, do you want to compete with every other seller on Ebay? If not what are you going to do to differentiate yourself from the competition. There are hundreds of me too businesses out there in East and West Sussex, question is do you want to be just like them.
The Internet has really taken over from a lot of marketing but before you go and spend some hard saved money on a website, stop. You do not need to spend anything in order to test the market. Indeed some of the best websites in the world do not look that great (think Amazon, or Google, plain and simple really does work). It need not cost a fortune and of course, it is called the I N F O R M A T I ON superhighway for a reason. Information is what your potential customers want.
Do not think for one minute that just providing information will do it for you initially, however it’s a great start and the search engines just love the content.
Conventional marketing can take on many forms and the subject cannot be dealt with in few paragraphs. I recommend Dee Blicks book on the subject.Better Business – Sussex
So you want to start a business in Sussex.
Government Funding and Help is becoming harder to find.
Chamber of Commerce is doing what it can (LINK) however with the levels of funding looking to reduce even further in the coming years there is a real danger that in the medium term you will not get the level of advice or support you have come to expect. Certainly firms like ourselves (theinternetconsultancy) will take up some of the slack for Start Up Businesses, however in the main help from local government is likely to be lacking for sometime yet.
On a positive note, many of the government led organisations have been getting so wrapped up in red tape the quality of advice has been falling in recent years.
Help and support. What do I need to know?
We could go on for hours in this section, realistically if you have an idea you think will work, call me happy to walk through the options with you. However the first thing you should do is Market Research, don’t ask your friends and family, they are not going to be your target market are they!
Type of business – Products or Services have you defined this yet? It could of course be both. What is the nature of your proposed market place? Expanding or collapsing? Improving profits or reducing? A little work done now will improve your chances of success.
Methods of marketing
Is there a correct way. Simple test to see if anyone wants your product, place it on Ebay for sale. If you sell one there is a market!
Next question is, do you want to compete with every other seller on Ebay? If not what are you going to do to differentiate yourself from the competition. There are hundreds of me too businesses out there in East and West Sussex, question is do you want to be just like them.
The Internet has really taken over from a lot of marketing but before you go and spend some hard saved money on a website, stop. You do not need to spend anything in order to test the market. Indeed some of the best websites in the world do not look that great (think Amazon, or Google, plain and simple really does work). It need not cost a fortune and of course, it is called the I N F O R M A T I ON superhighway for a reason. Information is what your potential customers want.
Do not think for one minute that just providing information will do it for you initially, however it’s a great start and the search engines just love the content.
Conventional marketing can take on many forms and the subject cannot be dealt with in few paragraphs. I recommend Dee Blicks book on the subject. Dee is local and very well respected in small business circles. Dee would be the first to agree that marketing is a vast subject, however her book takes you by the hand and will at least give you a positive start in the right direction.
Pricing this is one key to your success long term. No matter how good your product or service it is no good if you cannot make it pay. Really think about your pricing and how you plan your future pricing. Not enough and the Poor House will call you soon. Too much and your customers will look to purchase elsewhere. Unless of course you get your marketing right (I have mentioned that before).
Staff and Premises – as a start up why would you want staff and or premises. Initially you can do it all can’t you? By using the internet it is now possible to employ armies of Freelance workers, all outsource in order to make your business fly whilst you are not there. Importantly if you are in the business of making Local Cheese, then of course you will need staff and premises. However if you are making Widgets or providing Widget solutions you will be surprised what you can outsource.
Funding I always finDee is local and very well respected in small business circles. Dee would be the first to agree that marketing is a vast subject, however her book takes you by the hand and will at least give you a positive start in the right direction.d this topic most interesting. New and Small firms are always telling me they need more funding for this or that, and yes of course some do. However with a little creative thinking it is possible to do a lot with not a lot.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of options in relation to your new business, but will give you an idea – a bit more than back of the ‘fag packet’ type stuff (does anyone still smoke?)
Richard Smith is an Internet Business Marketing Expert based in West Sussex and is happy to provide you with some guidance in relation to your business start up.
Please leave a comment below if you have a question. I do read them.
Pricing this is one key to your success long term. No matter how good your product or service it is no good if you cannot make it pay. Really think about your pricing and how you plan your future pricing. Not enough and the Poor House will call you soon. Too much and your customers will look to purchase elsewhere. Unless of course you get your marketing right (I have mentioned that before).
Staff and Premises – as a start up why would you want staff and or premises. Initially you can do it all can’t you? By using the internet it is now possible to employ armies of Freelance workers, all outsource in order to make your business fly whilst you are not there. Importantly if you are in the business of making Local Cheese, then of course you will need staff and premises. However if you are making Widgets or providing Widget solutions you will be surprised what you can outsource.
Funding I always find this topic most interesting. New and Small firms are always telling me they need more funding for this or that, and yes of course some do. However with a little creative thinking it is possible to do a lot with not a lot.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of options in relation to your new business, but will give you an idea – a bit more than back of the ‘fag packet’ type stuff (does anyone still smoke?)
Before you any further, please leave a comment below. Ask me a question about your Business Start Up in Sussex and I will do my best to answer it in confidence for you.
Richard Smith is an Internet Business Marketing Expert based in West Sussex and is happy to provide you with some guidance in relation to your business start up.
Please leave a comment below if you have a question. I do read them.
