The American Club
Level 14, 131 Macquarie Street
Sydney
ce:
FREE
Keywords:
social networking drinks
Organization:
Business Networking Academy
We invite you to join us for drinks to celebrate the month that was and to catch up on all your news! Feel free to invite friends and colleagues too.
RSVP on Linkedin – that way we all know who we will be socialising with. Please also add to your diary now as we know you get lots of emails so won’t send a reminder:)
Remember there are no games, no awkward moments, just great conversations overlooking a great view, sipping cocktails.
Drop by between 5.30-7.30pm to Level 14, 131 Macquarie Street Sydney
The event is FREE to attend
Contribute $5 each and we will get platters of nibbles to share. Drinks have been heavily discounted for the function with International beers $6, Wine by the glass $7 + all cocktails $10!
July had a great Buzz! Thanks to all that attended.
How many regular or one-off networking functions have you been to this year?
And how many of those have led to referrals, leads – and additional sales?
Connecting, building trust and relationships with other professionals, industry contacts and other referral sources – not to mention direct potential clients – is the backbone of any business. Especially sole traders and small to medium businesses.
Making it Worth Your While – Return on Investment
To get the best return for your time spent business networking, you have to create a few new habits and bolster your existing networking strengths. It is important to be able to get your “elevator pitch” – a succinct, easy to remember description of what you and your business stand for – down pat. It can vary with the person you talk to, of course. But be clear about your identity, about the voice and vision of your company.
Here are the tongue-in-cheek named “Ten Commandments” aka 10 Top Tips to successful networking.
Armed with them, you will be ready to go, and get amongst it in the networking jungle!
“The Ten Commandments of Networking” *
Thou shalt drop the “what is in it for me?”.
Thou shalt listen.
Thou shalt build a relationship.
Thou shalt give the first referral.
Thou shalt not tell others of the referral you require; thou shalt “show them” with a story.
Thou shalt be specific of the type of referral.
Thou shalt reciprocate when appropriate.
Thou shalt participate in the network executive, functions, and network time.
Thou shalt thank the person who gave a referral.
Thou shalt follow up on the referral within 24 hours.
What’s your favourite blog?
Which websites do you enjoy reading?
Seen an ad lately that stayed with you for a long while?
Chances are, their writers were saying something that mattered. To you.
They appealed to you because you could find out quickly what the writer was trying to say. And they were relevant, not just waffling on. They may have been funny, entertaining, educational, silly, serious, or even pure marketing.
What they have in common is good writing – with you, the reader in mind. They “got” what you need, what you were looking for. Rather than just going on about themselves, without saying anything that matters to you, their reader/client/prospect/fan. People and companies can get very wrapped up in their own jargon, their way of talking about their services and products, because they are just too close to the topic they write about. It’s their baby, after all.
Getting a professional copywriter like myself involved, does not mean you loose control of what’s written. A copywriter or editor helps you say what you want and need to say – but in a way that actually gets your message across.
Seth Godin, marketing “guru” extraordinaire, has this example of copywriting gone haywire on his blog:
“The firm will remain competitive in the constantly changing market for defense legal services by creating and implementing innovative and effective methods of providing cost-effective, quality representation and services for our clients.”
Now, I am sure you’ll agree: there are better ways of saying whatever it was the writer intended to communicate.
Remember: Communication is what’s received.
Now… fire away & let me know your thoughts on this topic.
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
As an entrepreneur, business owner or marketing manager, you all face the same issue: how to create engaging and on-target marketing messages, and truly connect with your audience. How to create leads and convert them into (preferably repeat) customers.
Here are five steps for creating an effective marketing message:
Identify your Target Market
Understand your Target Audience’s unique Problems, Needs and Wants
Offer a Solution to those Problems, and Fulfill Desires
Provide Testimonials (customer experiences) as a Proof of your Solutions
Differentiate Yourself from your Competitors
And remember: what your prospects and customers really want to know is “what’s in it for them” when they buy your product or engage your services. How you achieve that result for them that (i.e. what you do), is of secondary interest to them. So, your audience mainly wants to know you provide a specific benefit that’s important to them. For example, that what you sell provides security and safety – not so much the details of the insurances you offer or the technical specifications of a security system.
Read more on how to create a strong marketing message here.
As a consumer or client, we all can get riled at bad service or a product that looked oh-so-enticing but fails to deliver what it promises. And we all appreciate getting a good result when buying a product or receiving a service.
But what about those businesses, services and items that surprise us, that deliver extraordinary experiences? Those are the ones that stick in our mind, that we recommend and which we will go back to over and over again.
I live by the belief that it is the extraordinary – experience, service and reputation – we should aim for. As employees, service providers or manufacturers, no matter which. Putting in that extra bit of effort, passion, care, quality and professionalism will set you apart from the crowd, distinguishes us from our competitors and makes our business or career flourish.
Marketing “guru” Seth Godin talks about the disproportionately positive effect of the last ten percent of effort here.
Copywriting is the art of writing sales- and marketing-related material. That means a copywriter uses well-chosen words to promote a product and business (or a person, idea or opinion) to a specific target audience. Some people may relate the job of a copywriter to the creation of advertising “copy” (i.e. text, words) only, but a good copywriter is a business writer and content expert for all areas of your communications – internally or externally.
If it’s written material, then a copywriter has been involved!
Copywriting is used in every major business and communications area, e.g. websites, business plans and reports, newsletters and brochures, press releases and advertising, catalogues and point-of-sale materials.
My good friend Seth Godin (ok, so he does not actually know me, but I have read so much of his writing, it feels like he is almost part of the family) has posted a great article on his blog. It’s close to my heart for a couple of reasons: It’s about the value a good editor can add to your business, but it’s also describing one of my core business principles.
I believe in giving my clients the best possible, professional service and advice when it comes to their brand, message and communications. Most of the time, this means writing engaging business and marketing material for them that gets their brand or product message across to their intended audience and buyers – spot-on, respectfully and easy to understand.
But sometimes that good service might mean a tough call: advising the client to scrap that brochure or mail-out altogether. Even if that means one less job (and fewer $$) for me, because it just does not add anything to what they want their audience to know. It does not fulfill a need on both sides, just on one.
And in order for sales and happy, satisfied customers to happen simultaneously, both your company and your communications audience need to have at least one need fulfilled. Simple.
