” It’s absolutely worth it.” – #onsettingupabusiness

” Start small. Think big – but do get started.”

” There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Quoting #FranklynDelanoRoosevelt

On seeking funding…

” We applied to 20 banks and got turned down 20 times.” #onseekingfunding

Email subject line – ‘Does anyone know anyone rich?’ #onseekingfunding

“Maurice Pinto…he put in £250K and got out £30 million.” #talkingabouttheinvestorwhosaidyes

On a direct approach to distribution…

“We went to independent retailers over a bank holiday weekend and gave them 3 cases for free…45 out of 50 reordered.”

” We just got started…We were hungover and we needed something to make us feel better. ” – #innocentbeginnings

On working with a team…

” The three of us (founders) take credit when it’s the team of 300 that should take the credit. ” #teameffort

On role models…

“Richard Branson …I think in Britain he made entrepreneurs sexy…” #rolemodels

On being focused…

” Write down the dream. When you write it down – the dream becomes a goal.” #startingabusiness

On amusing Plump nuns copy on the ingredients label…

“You must either take off the reference to plump nuns or put them in your fruit juice.” #Letterfromadjudicationjudge

On business owners & entrepreneurs looking for investment…

“If you are looking for investment check out – http://jamjarinvestments.com/”

I hope this has given you a taste of the evening. You can follow @richardreedinno on Twitter. The next event will be announced fairly soon. Please also follow @es_bc for the latest updates.

If you’d like to discuss any aspect of your marketing requirements feel free to give us a call on +44 (0) 845 226247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com – We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope you have found this information inspirational.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt – Founder & CEO of Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

The post What did entrepreneurs learn from Richard Reed at ESBC? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Business Relationships – 6 tips to create better business relationships

1. Face to Face meetings

Take time to meet new people face to face and extend your circle of contacts. Approach these intro meetings with an open mind and no agenda. Do not pitch during these meetings and listen more than you speak.

2. Deliver Value

Make a point to help help out your contacts whenever you can and to connect them with people that they should meet. Do so without point scoring or expecting anything in return.

3. Surprise and Delight Your Clients & Customers

Execute all contracted projects and tasks well but make one of your objectives to surprise and delight them by delivering beyond their expectations. If you are unsure how to do this your staff and customer feedback will give you some very strong indicators.

4. Be Authentic

One of the benefits of being a business owner or entrepreneur is that you can create your own company and remain true to your values and vision. Do not lose sight of this when you are starting business relationships even if there are monetary reasons to do so. If your gut tells you that a potential relationship will be problematic – go with your gut.

5. Establish Trust

For any relationship to work there needs to be trust on both sides. Major deals and agreements need to be written down and formalised but a good relationship should be the basis. Be worthy of trust, open and and trust in others.

6. Frequency and Feedback

Regularly communicate with your contacts – this applies equally to your staff as well as contacts external to your business. Encourage the giving of and be receptive to feedback and reviews.

Implement these points and you will establish better business relationships – relationships that will help you build better business. The last word goes to Dale Carnegie

“You can close more business in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie

We hope you have found this information useful.

Need help creating better business relationships? Give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com to start the conversation.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt
Founder & CEO – Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

The post How do you Create Better Business Relationships? – 6 tips appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Negotiation Tactics – Top 5 from Self-made Millionaires

1. Knock out the competition
Steve Jobs was a genius, and his negotiation strategy is probably the most unbelievable of them all. His tactic was to come up with offers that no other competitor could render. That’s exactly what happened when he wanted Lala (the future iTunes). Nokia offered $11 million for the startup, so Jobs took a piece of paper, gave it to the CEO, and the deal was closed. The amount was $80 million.

2. Play mind games
When Donald Trump chooses to take someone’s business, he arms himself with a couple of really good tricks prior to entering a negotiation. He knows all about playing mind games, so he spends hours chatting in the friendliest way possible. His counterparts will assume he’s just being a nice guy, but his goal is to find a weak spot and have the upper hand.

3. Leaving investors and lawyers at the door
Facebook CEO and multi-millionaire Mark Zuckerberg likes to acquire a start-up without consulting with his advisors. In 2012, Facebook agreed to a deal with Instagram worth $1 billion. He didn’t want to consult with his lawyers, and he closed the deal while eating ice cream with Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram. The deal was signed in a day and nobody knew anything about it.

4. If there’s no cooperation, end the whole thing
The moment Dick Costolo became Twitter’s CEO he had to deal with a dysfunctional board of directors, among numerous other things. Rather than accept unprofessional people on his team, he leveraged his power and fired everyone. He managed to demonstrate that Twitter was his company, and that the people who can’t play by his rules should go home.

5. Don’t forget that you have something they don’t
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO and founder of Yelp, managed to stay very calm when Yahoo and Google mentioned they want to buy his review business. He told Fast Company that the negotiation didn’t live up to his expectations, and that both Yahoo and Google only wanted to know the worth of his company. So he turned them down.

Negotiations are challenging even for the richest people on the planet. However, they’re done differently as money is not the only incentive a seller wants from a buyer. Their negotiation tactics are all about maintaining their names on the floating line.

Need help with your negotiation strategy? Give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com to start the conversation. We are a leading Marketing Agency in London.

We hope you have found this information inspirational.This guest post was written by Jason Philips of The Gap Partnership .

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

The post How do you negotiate like a self-made millionaire? 5 examples – Guest post appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Thank you for reading and interacting with our blog over the last year – special thanks to everyone who has been reading since 2010. In addition to this written blog we do also have an active YouTube channel with 67 videos uploaded that you will find helpful. Click on the links below to view 5 of the most recent uploads and subscribe to the channel to ensure that you are notified when a new video has been uploaded.

If this is the last blog post you read from us before Christmas have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year! For the rest of you – we will expect you back here next week!

Business owners – Are you ready for the long haul?

Business owners – Are you living in ‘Startup World’?

Business owners – Is it time to Vine?

Don’t ‘Fake it til you make it.’

‘How to TurboCharge Your Business with a Blog’ Book Testimonial – Sophie

We hope you find this content useful and inspirational.

Best wishes.

Mike Pitt

Founder & CEO – Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

The post Business owners – Are you ready for the long haul? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Business Insights – On business vision and purpose…

“My sense of smell is the way I see life.”

“What I am is a shopkeeper…I am a seriously motivated entrepreneur.”

“Never compromise your product, allow undiluted creativity to reign and take your foot off the accelerator for a minute and enjoy the journey.”

“I would consider myself very creative & very canny in business…I want to evolve as a business and do not want to be boxed in.”

” Why did I want to return to the fragrance business? …because it is my passion.”

On team building and building a business…

“Building your team is vital…we gather people with a heart and we stand shoulder to shoulder.”

“Lets build companies where our teams feel safe to follow undiluted creativity.”

On launching a business in a recession…

“In recession it is a great time to build a business because you take risks…you have to have courage.”

On banks supporting small businesses…

“Banks could do so much more…by helping small businesses understand finance not just lending money.”

On luxury products…

“Luxury is not about money. It’s about creating a world that people want to be a part of.”

“Branding is important but repeat purchase is about how does it smell? how does it make me feel?”

On learning from your mistakes…

“We all make mistakes, regardless of who we are, acknowledge them, move on don’t let them distract or dominate you.”

On life’s biggest challenges…

“I was told that I had breast cancer in a very aggressive form and that I had 9 months to live.”

On working with her husband…

“To have your business partner who absolutely covers your back no matter what is great.”

I hope this gives you a flavour of the evening and inspires you.

Do you need help on your entrepreneurial journey? We would be happy to help so feel free to give us a call on +44 (0) 845 226247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com – We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope you have found this information inspirational. We are a leading Marketing Agency in London.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt
Founder & CEO
Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

The post What did entrepreneurs learn from Jo Malone at ESBC? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Automatically there is a tendency for many businesses to slow down but this is a great opportunity to steal a march on your competitors and improve the performance of your business. How?Below are 12 things you should do now.

Improving Business Performance – 12 Things to do this summer

1. Reconnect with lapsed customers/ and re-validate old email addresses

2. Make design changes to your website/ update your logo an branding assets

3. Staff team building days / catch up on staff appraisals

4. Re-evaluate your pricing strategy and range of products or services offered

5. Continue to blog and be present on relevant Social Media platforms

6. Update financial forecasts

7. Progress joint venture / partnership opportunities

8. Gently chase clients or customers for testimonials – written and video versions

9. Take steps to adapt/ company rules to allow flexible working as much as possible – will produce a more committed and engaged workforce

10. Debtors – If you have them chase all debtors in a structured way

11. Assess company performance against objectives set out for the year in January

12. Look again at your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) figures

Working through this list will be prove to be productive and will give you a great platform to have an excellent Q4.

Do you need help making the most of summer time opportunities? We would be happy to help so feel free to give us a call on +44 (0) 845 226247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com – We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope you have found this information useful.

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

The post Business owners – Is summer a slow time for you? 12 things you should do now appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

‘A tendency or disposition to act in a particular way.’

All business owners and entrepreneurs need to create good habits for themselves and their staff to build business growth. Practising these habits regularly will help you develop great marketing techniques. It is by working through the details week in and week out that you will lay the foundation for a successful future for your company.

Have a look at the list below and let us know how many of these habits you have already and what you need to work on.

12 Awesome Marketing Techniques for Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Marketing planning and adapting / updating your plan

2. Active sales pipeline spreadsheet and communications strategy

3. Existing customers strategy and communications

4. Partnership building and collaboration

5. Effective social media engagement – content marketing and right platforms for your customers and prospects

6. Assess product and service offering – Look for opportunities to innovate

7. Every day business development activity

8. Regular networking and post event evaluation

9. Regular evaluation of all key marketing metrics

10. Calculation of cost of acquisition per customer & assessment of retention and churn rates

11. Email list building and communications plan

12 . Consciously planning to be different to your competitors

Do you need help creating new marketing habits for your company? We can create them for you and teach you how to implement it. Feel free to give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com – We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope you have found this information useful.

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

The post Entrepreneurs – Do you have these 12 great marketing habits? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

5 Big thinking ways to grow your business.

1. Terminology –  As soon as you can stop referring to your company as a ‘small’ business or a startup. Yes, you were or perhaps you still are but you must plan for growth and reposition yourself. It will be easier to attract customers, clients and partners if you are not forever labelling yourself small or startup. Startup equals not very experienced in many people’s eyes.

2. Business continuity – We are heading into the holiday season, a time when some business activity slows down. Should you close down for the summer? Absolutely not. If I was American I might have written ‘Hell no!’ because that has the right amount of emphasis. You have worked hard to extend the reach of your company and improve its perception and then you go and ruin it by basically shutting down during the summer sending out the message that you are a one man or one woman band. Instead create a contingency plan that maintains a good level of service and responsiveness which will help to grow your business.

3. Forward thinking – How often do you re-visit your business plan? Or update your strategy? When do you consider what your competitors are doing in detail? There are often fundamental changes in business, here are just a few examples – from high street to online, from desktop ecommerce to mobile e-commerce (m-commerce), from book reading to Kindle reading.  Set aside some time each week to consider how your business should respond to changes in your sector and create an updated plan remembering to evaluate the changes that you make.

4. Big dreams – Have a big vision for your business.It plays a crucial role in growing your business. The mistake a lot of business owners make is that they have a small dream for their business and they achieve it and then go no further. Instead of being content with just being a product or service provider how about becoming a company that genuinely solves a big problem? Note this can be done commerically. Click here to see a good example of solving a big problem.

5. Global not local – It is now possible to enter international markets from the comfort of your own laptop. What steps have you taken to do grow your business internationally? Sometimes the effort required is principally a communications task – informing people that you are active in a country and establishing a structure and processes to trade.

Do you need help implementing big thinking for your business? If so, feel free to give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com – We look forward to hearing from you.

We hope you have found this information useful.

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

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The post Entrepreneurs – How can big thinking grow your small business? – 5 ways appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

It’s not a new concept and the Latin phrase ‘quid pro quo’ essentially conveys the same arrangement. So if it’s not new and the Romans knew about it why I am writing about it many thousands of years later?

Reciprocity has so much relevance in the new media age. While it would be wonderful to think that your company or brands will rise from anonymity in one relentless surge to a position of leadership and then market dominance all by itself the truth is that when you do reach that position you will have done so with the help and co-operation of your own network of partners and advocates.

Furthermore those companies that are not co-operative in this sense or are only ‘out for themselves’ are easily identifiable with just a little online research – shrewd business people steer clear from such businesses. Convinced? Below are five ways you can use reciprocity to help your business to grow.

5 ways to use reciprocity to grow your Business

1. Referral link exchange – You include a link to your new partners website on your site and they do the same.

2. Database share – If you and your partner share the same target audience you allow them to speak to your audience and they allow you to the same.

3. Joint exhibition stand – Exhibition stands are generally not cheap and if you can share stand and costs with a partner it will be easier to get a return on your investment.

4. Combined product packages – It’s essential that these can deliver more value to your customers than you can do on your own, for example – a massage therapist partners with a beauty therapist to deliver ‘wellness & beauty days’ for an all in price.

5. Content inclusions – You and your partner can appear on each others You Tube Channel and feature in each others blog posts and this will broaden the marketing footprint for both partners.

If you are not doing so already put reciprocity to work in your business today and remember that the basis of any partnership can change. When Run DMC initially approached Adidas in the 1980s they basically wanted free products – fast forward to years later when Adidas was engaged in a marketing war with Nike and Reebok – the credibility of their long association with Run DMC held them in good stead. The track, ‘My Adidas’ by Run DMC certainly helped Adidas reach a key demographic but then along came Michael Jordan and literally changed the game.

Food for thought? If you would like our help building reciprocity into your business model or with any other aspect of your marketing requirements please give us a call on+44 845 2264247 or drop us an email via mail@marketingfundamentals.com. We are a leading Content Marketing agency in London .

We hope you find this information useful.

Kind regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

The post Entrepreneurs – Do you believe in reciprocity? 5 ways to put it to use now appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.