They say that to identify a builder’s house, look for one where little maintenance has been done for a while. If you speak to my friend who is a decorator, he hasn’t decorated his house since he moved in over 10 years ago. Doctor’s (apparently) are least likely to seek any medical treatment or tests.
Therefore, I guess it makes sense that marketing consultancies probably don’t spend much time in marketing their own business once they are up and running as they are too busy marketing their clients business. *Hand up meekly in the air* Yes, guilty as charged.
I think the last time I updated my website was over a month and a half ago, my blog is generally – and I use this term generally very loosely - updated weekly, but I have done no new mailshots or cold calling for over three months now. Yes, I have been busy with the work which I have had on, but now, as campaigns and projects start coming to a conclusion, I’m looking at my May and June budgets and thinking I need to get some new work in. What do I advise clients? Yes, you’ve guessed it, regular marketing and branding.
I think I need to take some of my own advice.
I have been noticing recently that the copywriting business is getting very competitive and I’m regularly being undercut, not by a few pounds – but by a VAST amount. I regularly bid for work on a copywriting site where clients advertise projects they are working on and ask for bids – not huge jobs, just some small copywriting projects like writing a leaflet, website copy, brochure copy etc. Now, I thought I was reasonably competitive as I work for myself, I don’t have huge agency overheads such as staff or premises. However, some of the copywriters out there are bidding – and winning – work for less than the minimum wage. I bid last week for a project writing the copy for a website, 20 pages in total, a couple of days work researching the subject, writing, making amends from feedback from the client. A couple of hundred quid minimum for that amount of work and time spent on it. The winning bid? It was won for a grand total of £50.
All I can say is good luck to the client on that one and you have my details on file....
So, like Messers Brown, Cameron and Clegg, I’m on a self promotion drive. Going to work on my website, get some direct mailers sorted out and yes, #Dum, dum Dahhhhh# - I’m going to go back to the delights of business networking which, some of you may remember, was a whole new life ‘experience’ back when I first started up on my own.
First off though, I have to find some First Aid cover for the regatta I’m organising in two weeks time at my rowing club. I knew it was going to be a nightmare when we found out that Southampton FC had their last match of the season on the same day and there would be no parking for the other clubs trailers. Now we have sourced other parking, St Johns Ambulance, who normally do my First Aid cover are all covering the football match – not a bad gig if you are a first aider and football fan...
Anyone know any First Aiders who would like to cover a regatta?! Honestly, organising a wedding is nothing compared to a regatta....
It is nice to be busy all the time and I’m not moaning – honest – but if anyone thinks being your own boss is easy, it’s not. I have a lovely new golf bag which is sat in the hall and it is aching to be used, but both myself and my golfing buddy Vicki, from Tiger Ink Printing, have been too busy to play. Each week, we pencil in an early tee time, normally a Friday, so we can be back at work latest by 10am...and each week we cancel. How Tiger Woods managed such a full and active social diary for many years and managed to play a few rounds of golf in between is nothing short of a miracle.
I’ve got a couple of large quotes to work on this week – a new website, some market research and branding and some more PR, which, if they come good would be some good work for a couple of months, but can’t rely on anything so best sign off for another week and get cracking on finding some more new work!
Enjoy the sunshine, I think if this keeps up I’m going to test my WiFi connection in the garden...
Thursday 29 April 2010
Tuesday 13 April 2010
It’s all getting a little bit political...
Well, the travelling show which is the general election has arrived in town so we’ve got about a month’s worth of hyped up political sound-bites to put up with. Some would say that politics is really just marketing – marketing of ideas, individuals and parties. I guess in a way, this is true. If you can get your point and case across better than your opposition - even if their idea or manifesto is possibly better than yours - you get the votes.
That’s why I had to laugh at the latest ads from the Labour and Conservative party – and also the speed in which they managed to turn the latest editions in their campaign advertising around.
Last week, at 9.45am Labour unveiled a new ‘topical’ advert with David Cameron, sat astride an Audi Quattro – yes, the new BBC series of Ashes to Ashes was just about to begin – with the lines of ‘Don’t let him take us back to the eighties’. Clever copy and visual with a nice topical twist which a large majority of the population would get, even if they don’t watch the programme.
Cue 3.45pm the same day (a whole 6 hours after the initial Labour unveiling) and the Conservatives looked quite smug at their new advert – the same picture of ‘Dave’ sat astride the infamous Quattro but with the immortal line ‘Fire up the Quattro, it’s time for change’.
Advertising genius on a political scale.
Now, I don’t sway to any of the parties, but the speed and wittiness of the tory advertising team did get my vote that day.
I see one of the Labour candidates has also been sacked as he was using Twitter ‘inappropriately’. Well, calling old people “coffin dodgers” and being exceptionally politically-incorrect may not be the best language for a parliamentary hopeful. Twitter is a funny medium. I use it for Zzing (@zzingmarketing if anyone wants to follow me) to 1. Help with keywords and marketing of stuff that I do, 2. Potentially network new clients and 3.(most importantly) find out what Chris Evans, Duncan Bannatyne and Will Carling are up to. Personally, I don’t think it will create any sales at the moment, people aren’t using it for that just yet. I think it’s good for branding and keeping in touch with others, but it’s still in its infancy. The market research I’m doing on Recruitment Trends for Incisive Media is looking into this and the impact Social Media has on recruitment. However, we all know how fast technology moves, so who knows, this time next year I maybe generating business because of the likes of Twitter. Cheryl Cole may be “tweeting” me for some help with her branding.....
It’s been a busy few weeks for Zzing – something which a few months ago I was wondering if I would be able to say – but I’m pleased to say I’ve got a few other bits and pieces coming my way including weekly blogs for a car company which need to be topical and help their website rankings with keywords. So I’ll be getting ready to fire up the blogspot on a regular basis and talk about Quattro’s, Audi’s, BMW’s, Robin Reliants....best get watching some old episodes of Top Gear. I also thought I could create a character from which this blog is written, sort of like a Del-Boy character but I’m not too good with the cockney rhyming slang “Oiwwww-rite guv, got a luverly mota owt back. For you guv, it’s just a monkey. Yor robbin me blind guv, robbin me blind.”
Hmmmmm, maybe not.
I’m off to hob-knob – sorry, “network” on a grander scale this week. Yes, so long local networking events and hello big glitzy event at the Grosvenor House in Park Lane. It is the annual Recruitment awards this week (I know, Brad and Angelina must be gutted that they are in Haiti or wherever) and I have been kindly invited along by Splash Communications www.splashcommunications.com which is not only a great chance for me to meet up and catch up with my old friends at Splash, Lindsay and Caro, but it also gives me the opportunity to once again, play ‘Business Card –Blackjack’. For those of you who remember my earlier ‘networking events’ this is a game where the winner is the one to give out the most business cards in one night. I generally lose as I get stuck with the boring person in the corner who has only come along to the event in order to interact with a human being for that week.
So, onwards and upwards for another week in the crazy world of Zzing with modular construction for hospital PR, selling car blogs, recruitment trends analysis and quaffing spritzers with the great and good of recruitment.
Hands up if your job is the same every day? (Penny’s hand stays firmly by her side). Hoorah!
That’s why I had to laugh at the latest ads from the Labour and Conservative party – and also the speed in which they managed to turn the latest editions in their campaign advertising around.
Last week, at 9.45am Labour unveiled a new ‘topical’ advert with David Cameron, sat astride an Audi Quattro – yes, the new BBC series of Ashes to Ashes was just about to begin – with the lines of ‘Don’t let him take us back to the eighties’. Clever copy and visual with a nice topical twist which a large majority of the population would get, even if they don’t watch the programme.
Cue 3.45pm the same day (a whole 6 hours after the initial Labour unveiling) and the Conservatives looked quite smug at their new advert – the same picture of ‘Dave’ sat astride the infamous Quattro but with the immortal line ‘Fire up the Quattro, it’s time for change’.
Advertising genius on a political scale.
Now, I don’t sway to any of the parties, but the speed and wittiness of the tory advertising team did get my vote that day.
I see one of the Labour candidates has also been sacked as he was using Twitter ‘inappropriately’. Well, calling old people “coffin dodgers” and being exceptionally politically-incorrect may not be the best language for a parliamentary hopeful. Twitter is a funny medium. I use it for Zzing (@zzingmarketing if anyone wants to follow me) to 1. Help with keywords and marketing of stuff that I do, 2. Potentially network new clients and 3.(most importantly) find out what Chris Evans, Duncan Bannatyne and Will Carling are up to. Personally, I don’t think it will create any sales at the moment, people aren’t using it for that just yet. I think it’s good for branding and keeping in touch with others, but it’s still in its infancy. The market research I’m doing on Recruitment Trends for Incisive Media is looking into this and the impact Social Media has on recruitment. However, we all know how fast technology moves, so who knows, this time next year I maybe generating business because of the likes of Twitter. Cheryl Cole may be “tweeting” me for some help with her branding.....
It’s been a busy few weeks for Zzing – something which a few months ago I was wondering if I would be able to say – but I’m pleased to say I’ve got a few other bits and pieces coming my way including weekly blogs for a car company which need to be topical and help their website rankings with keywords. So I’ll be getting ready to fire up the blogspot on a regular basis and talk about Quattro’s, Audi’s, BMW’s, Robin Reliants....best get watching some old episodes of Top Gear. I also thought I could create a character from which this blog is written, sort of like a Del-Boy character but I’m not too good with the cockney rhyming slang “Oiwwww-rite guv, got a luverly mota owt back. For you guv, it’s just a monkey. Yor robbin me blind guv, robbin me blind.”
Hmmmmm, maybe not.
I’m off to hob-knob – sorry, “network” on a grander scale this week. Yes, so long local networking events and hello big glitzy event at the Grosvenor House in Park Lane. It is the annual Recruitment awards this week (I know, Brad and Angelina must be gutted that they are in Haiti or wherever) and I have been kindly invited along by Splash Communications www.splashcommunications.com which is not only a great chance for me to meet up and catch up with my old friends at Splash, Lindsay and Caro, but it also gives me the opportunity to once again, play ‘Business Card –Blackjack’. For those of you who remember my earlier ‘networking events’ this is a game where the winner is the one to give out the most business cards in one night. I generally lose as I get stuck with the boring person in the corner who has only come along to the event in order to interact with a human being for that week.
So, onwards and upwards for another week in the crazy world of Zzing with modular construction for hospital PR, selling car blogs, recruitment trends analysis and quaffing spritzers with the great and good of recruitment.
Hands up if your job is the same every day? (Penny’s hand stays firmly by her side). Hoorah!
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