From the category archives:

Marketing

Does the thought of running a workshop or seminar fill you with horror?

Workshops and seminars are one of the most influential marketing tools you have up your sleeve and invaluable if you’re serious about building a business based on long term relationships with your customers. When planned and executed carefully you’ll find that you position yourself as an expert, build strong relationships with current and potential clients and generate solid sales leads. In fact, many of the same benefits as blogging – but workshops are real, in-the-flesh marketing tools that will make you a profit out of the event and win you business.

Why you need to run seminars and workshops for your customers

• It’ll help you generate strong relationships with your current and prospective customers

• You’ll be giving something back and helping your customers

• You’ll be able to show them just what’s involved in what you do (and how good you are!)

• You’ll be able to attract a new segment of the market

But despite these benefits, many business owners find anything and everything to do rather than run a workshop or seminar! Maybe it’s the fear factor: not knowing where to start (I’ll show you), not knowing whether you’re “good enough” (you are), not knowing whether anyone will turn up (they will – and they’ll pay you handsomely for it if you get the basics right).

Join me for a Workshop Bootcamp on September 23rd and I will help you plan a profitable, and successful, workshop or seminar. Together we’ll plan:

• The basics: who, what, when, where and how

• The content: and how to get the balance between adding value and spilling your trade secrets

• Your marketing plan: my tried and tested formula that’ll get paying bums on those seats

• Your persuasive copy: how to write copy that’ll sell places on your workshop

How we’ll work

I won’t literally be walking round sergent major style! I’ll be sharing my knowledge with you completely openly and honesly. You’ll hear the success stories and you’ll also hear my (let’s call them) “learning experiences” that have shaped my knowledge. I have a workbook ram-a-jammed full of tips, tools and exercises that’ll get you ready to launch your first workshops by 1st November. Some exercises we’ll do as a group, others in pairs and others on your own.

The day will be supportive, fun, and most of all, the beginning of an exciting journey for you. `Alongside blogging, workshops are one of the most important elements of my marketing strategy and I’d love to show you how you can apply this same strategy to your own business.

And after the day I won’t just be leaving you dangling. We’ll follow up the day with some very focused “homework” for you to do in the two weeks after the event and we’ll have a one-hour teleseminar (included in your course fee) where we’ll catch up, iron out any questions you might have and set you on your final path to be ready to launch your first workshop on 1st November.

What sorts of businesses do workshops and seminars work for?

They work for the vast majority of service based businesses. Having done a very quick brainstorm, here’s a list to get you thinking…

• Photographers, garden designers, interior designers, jewellery makers, artists and creatives: how to… {photograph your grandchildren/ design your own garden/ make your wedding earrings}

• Professional services: accountants, solicitors: how to… {file your tax return, write your own will etc}

• Marketing professionals: web designers, graphic designers, marketing consultants: how to… {write a marketing plan, optimise your website, design your own leaflets}

• Wedding planners, stylists, florists and caterers: how to… {plan your best friend’s wedding/ plan your dream wedding, make your own bouquet/ wedding cake/ favours etc}

• IT Consultants: how to fix 12 of the most common PC problems

• Recruitment consultants, career coaches, life coaches: how to… {get that dream job, take positive action to find that ideal career, develop your confidence}

To be honest, most businesses will benefit from running workshops, there genuinely were very few that I could think of that wouldn’t benefit

But why would I want to show my customers the tricks of the trade? Surely then I’ll do myself out of business?

Consider this for a moment. There is probably a large proportion of the market who loves what you do but simply can’t afford (or perceives they can’t afford/ doesn’t see the value in what you’re offering) to be a customer of yours. Workshops and seminars enable those people to invest in a “slice” of you – some will take the info and run (and hey, they’ve paid you for it so what does it matter?), others will realise quite what’s involved in what you do and think “you know what? I’ll get her to do it for me”. Either way, you’ll make a profit out of the workshop itself and generate some sales leads for the business: now that’s what I call profitable marketing!

So join me in 23rd September for a one day workshop to kick start your journey into offering profitable, and successful, workshops and seminars for your clients. To book simply click on this link which will take you to our secure booking system http://bit.ly/cvNcQp

What our clients say:

“By being out of the office and immersing my brain in the subject I came away with a stock of superb headlines and the absolute confidence that this weekend I can create a powerful sales letter. Money and time well spent.”

Stephen Hillier, Hillier Associates

“I can honestly say your workshop was one of the most worthwhile sessions I have attended in a long while.  A great refresher and thought provoking – I definitely want to come along to more of your workshops” Jacqui Newman, Spiced Up Marketing

Great! How do I book?

Your investment for the workshop bootcamp including pre-session homework, all refreshments on the day, a workbook to take away with you and a post-session teleseminar is £177 + VAT. Book before 9th September and you’ll save £30 which makes it just £147. You really should get all of this, and then some, back as a result of your first workshop so I really would see this as a solid investment. To secure your place (we only have 12 left today and I expect this workshop to sell out) simply book quickly and securely online You can also find out more on our website http://bit.ly/chrv1J

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in Low Cost Marketing, Marketing, Workshops

Izzy’s First Impressions

by Izzy Gilbert on August 25, 2010 · 5 comments

So…as you know we here at Flourish have all been tasked with writing our very own blog posts, I’ve been wracking my brain on what subject to write about and finally thought about a recent restaurant experience that I could relate to a marketing theme.

I was recently lucky enough to have been taken to a fantastic Japanese restaurant in Soho, London. This place literally took my breath away.

From the moment we entered the restaurant we were very impressed with the décor and the outstanding service.  Friendly smiles, warm greetings and a great environment helped set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Arriving rather early gave us a chance to enjoy the rather swanky and romantically lit restaurant bar.  With a huge choice of very tempting and authentic cocktails it would have been rude not to sample them!  The service was quick and we were presented with two great looking drinks and a complimentary basket of Japanese snacks – everyone loves a freebie!

We heard about this restaurant from a couple of friends who had been previously.  They raved about the service and the food.  But most of all they talked about the interactive table ordering system. Now this is where our experience really took off!

Above every diner is a projector that beams images down onto the table that each person can control with laptop style touch pads embedded on the table.  Using the touch pad you can access and order from an illustrated food and drinks menu, set the mood image projected onto the table, discover the local neighbourhood, even order a taxi home. There’s even a live kitchen camera so you can see the chefs at work!

Needless to say the food was exceptional!  Delicate strips of sushi with tantalising dipping sauces where mouth wateringly delightful and together with some superb wine we couldn’t fault it.

So how does all this relate to my original plan on writing a marketing themed piece?  Well, this experience is a prime example of how a great product or service delivered in a friendly manner can inspire word of mouth marketing to really take shape.

It’s a fact that glowing reviews and advice from close friends, colleagues and family will encourage you to use a service or buy a product rather than from influencers of a detached third party such as an advertisement.

Today social media can play a big part in your word of mouth campaigns.  The ability for people to share information with their friends on a vast scale at the press of a button is something modern business should really take advantage of.  Your customers will actually choose to market your business for you directly to their close friends and family, and best of all – they’ll do it for free!

As with the restaurant I visited it’s usually something quirky or exciting that social media users latch onto and share with their friends.  You can’t force something to ‘go viral’ you can only help it by creating a great product or service to begin with.  So this new age social media and viral marketing run on the same principles as the traditional word of mouth.

So, does your business make people want to shout about it?

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in Low Cost Marketing

In the studio this week… Two brochure designs for lifestyle photographer Liezl Croft

August 24, 2010

I feel a bit nervous showing you my photographs of Liezl Croft’s promotional brochures. Not because I’m not proud of the brochures, but because there’s something very nerve-wracking about taking photographs of a photographer’s work. So please ignore the dodgy photos (mine, not hers) and hopefully you can see the beauty in what we’ve done [...]

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Should you run workshops for your customers?

August 20, 2010

I started running marketing workshops for my customers back in January 2007 and I haven’t looked back since. Each workshop has helped me to develop relationships with my customers, find new customers, demonstrate my expertise and most importantly, help my clients grow their businesses.
Some workshops have been easy to fill, others harder. And whilst no [...]

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First Impressions Count: Moments of Truth from a Dorset Campsite

August 16, 2010

I’ve just returned from a wonderful week camping with my family (mum and two sisters plus boyfriends) and my children in Dorset. And despite the rain, the lack of Mr H (who had to stay in Surrey and work) and a decidedly dodgy campsite, we had a truly wonderful time.
But the first impressions at the [...]

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The catalogue is back!

August 4, 2010

After years of believing that the holy grail of marketing was a flashy website with plenty of SEO activity, online retailers are getting back to basics and placing the catalogue at the very heart of their marketing campaigns. It’s a clever strategy and something small businesses would do well to take heed of.
In our age [...]

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What difference does a good headshot make anyway?

July 16, 2010

We’ve been creating a lot of blogs for people recently, and something I must sound like a broken record on in every briefing meeting is my insistance that bloggers work with a {good} photographer to get a professional headshot. I can’t tell you the difference it makes. Actually I don’t need to tell you the [...]

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Why you need to blog for your readers first and search engines second

July 14, 2010

Blogging has many benefits. It’ll help you build relationships with your clients and prospective clients. It enables you to demonstrate your expertise.  It helps you gain immediate feedback on an idea. And done correctly you’ll also gain targeted leads for your company which should turn into profitable business. Oh, and the traffic you receive from [...]

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Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

July 2, 2010

I do realise that we’re in the hottest week of the year and to be talking about Christmas is probably going to get me lynched, but if you sell a product or service that might be suitable as a gift, then you need to be thinking about Christmas right now.
Izzy and I spent a fantastic [...]

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In the studio this week… A “Best in Show” exhibition stand for Playscene

June 30, 2010

Gareth Palmer has literally just set up Playscene, a company that specialises in creating fun and imaginative playspaces for children. We met Gareth at this May’s Grow Your Business exhibition and he loved the Flourish stand, so when he booked the EcoSchools show in Peterborough he approached Flourish to help him create an engaging and [...]

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