Map & Directions for Networking at the Mansion House -

Map & Directions for Networking at the Mansion House

By truesilver | Published May 15, 2013

We’re really looking forward to seeing everyone at the Mansion House tonight.

The event starts at 6pm and finishes at 8pm.

We have a wide range of businesses coming along, with plenty of new attendees, so remember to bring plenty of business cards!

The full address for the Mansion House is The Mansion House, Old Warden Park, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 9DX, and it’s based within the Shuttleworth Grounds.

Parking will be sign-posted and available opposite the main entrance.

The website for the Mansion House if you need any further help is http://themansionhouse.org/

For more help with directions – here’s the Google Map. You can also click here to see a larger map.

View Larger Map

Posted in All Posts, Event | Leave a comment

Unique Selling Points: Death to the USP

By truesilver | Published April 28, 2013

I’ve been spending some time considering the changes in marketing. When I was training, we had it drummed into us to find a USP (Unique Selling Point). But then when you hear the quote “There is nothing new under the sun” (which comes from Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”) it makes you wonder.

If you grew up in the 80s you’ll probably be more likely to know the quote from the cult classic film Pump up the Volume “Everything decent’s been done. All the great themes have been used up. Turned into theme parks.”
We live in a world where ‘unique’ is pretty rare. And chances are, unless you have patents and copyrights to back you up, your unique idea will get copied pretty quickly.

So is unique possible?

In my opinion, it depends in what area. If you’re looking to be truly unique in your service, or your delivery of that service, you may struggle (industry depending of course). If you have a unique product – get shouting about it! ‘Unusual’ however, is totally possible. Doing something in a new and better way or with an unusual twist can get you noticed… and let’s face it that’s what we’re after.

Should we give up on USPs all together?

Personally, I think all businesses are unique. Understanding your uniqueness and putting that across is something else. For most people, starting with the unusual aspects of your business will help you get the message across.

Do our customers care about USPs

Here’s the real crux of the matter. What’s the point in a USP that your clients don’t care about!? If you already have a unique selling point, is it really unique and does it matter to your customers? I’d love to hear from you if you have.

At the end of it all, if you can manage to find a USP – great. But basing an entire marketing strategy on shouting about it might not be the answer. Customer engagement is king – and customers are pretty fickle right now. If you can’t find a USP, how about being ‘unusual’ instead? What’s unusual about your business – and you for that matter?

Posted in All Posts, Marketing | Leave a comment

Quick and easy guide to getting started with Pinterest

By truesilver | Published February 11, 2013

If you’ve decided that you’d like to give Pinterest a go, you might be a bit overwhelmed with all the various options. I wrote the following guide for a client and thought it might be useful to others too…

Please note, this tutorial is for the Pinterest Website. Things work slightly differently on the current versions of the Pinterest App for Android and iPhone.

The Jargon

Pin – A picture on your profile or someone else’s Pinterest profile
Board – A collection of pins under a certain theme
Secret Board – A Pinterest board that only you can see (unless you share it with another profile)
Comment – You can comment on other people’s pictures and on your own. When you’re pinning your own images, the box cannot be blank.

We’re going to assume you’ve already signed up to Pinterest. If not, follow the instructions at http://pinterest.com/about/help/

Step One – Create a board

What we’ll do to start with is create a ‘secret’ board. This allows you to collect images to your heart’s content without other people seeing what you’re doing just yet.

Hover over your name in the top right hand side of the page

Then select ‘boards’.

This will take you to the page containing your Pinerest Boards so far.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see your ‘secret’ boards in a darker grey.

Hover over the box and click on Create Secret Board.

You will see a list of options for creating your new board.

Call the board ‘My First Board’

Pick a category you are interested in. Remember this category.

Here are a list of the available categories.

Animals
Architecture
Art
Cars & Motorcycles
Celebrities
Design
DIY & Crafts
Education
Film, Music & Books
Food & Drink
Gardening
Geek
Hair & Beauty
Health & Fitness
History
Holidays & Events
Home Decor
Humor
Illustrations & Posters
Kids
Men’s Fashion
Outdoors
Photography
Products
Quotes
Science & Nature
Sports
Tattoos
Technology
Travel
Weddings
Women’s Fashion
Other

For this exercise we’re going to pick Animals – just because they’re cute!

Click create board to complete the options.

Step Two – Start Pinning

Then go to the top of the screen and click on the Pinterest Logo – This will take you to the Home page and show you what the people you follow (if you’re following anyone) have been posting.

Click on ‘categories’ to see the list of categories.

Then click on the category you chose when you created your board ‘My First Board’. We chose animals for our board so we’ll click on Animals.

You will then be taken to the latest board of Animal pictures people have been posting.

These are all the animal pictures that have been posted across the world over the last hour or so.

Pick a picture that you think is interesting / funny / cute.

When you hover over it you’ll see some boxes appear saying [Repin] [Like] and [Comment].

Avoid clicking on these boxes at the moment and just click on the image.

This will then make the image larger and give you a load of information about the image. For the moment we’re going to ignore the information and just repin the image. So click repin.

If the only board you have is your secret ‘My First Board’ then it will already be selected. If not, select that board, change the comment if you like (this must have something in it, though just a spacebar or a fullstop is allowed) and click Pin.

You have just repinned your first image.

You now have the option to see your repinned image by clicking ‘See it now’

Step Three – Getting into pinning

Now repeat this, by refollowing the steps above a couple of times.

Over the next week, set a goal of repinning at least once a day to get you used to using the Pinterest site and to see how others in your chosen category are using the site.

Words of caution:

1. Do not download any of the images without permission of the original author
2. Make sure you have read and understand the Pinterest terms and conditions http://pinterest.com/about/terms/
3. If you can’t say anything nice… seriously, don’t say anything!
4. Keep your pins to no more than 3 or 4 in one go. It’s easy to get carried away so be wary of clogging up your followers screen with your pins (this will be very relevant later on…)

Coming soon – Getting more advanced with Pinterest

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Pinterest – Is it the right place for you?

By truesilver | Published February 4, 2013

When I ask clients whether they have tried Pinterest yet, usually I get a puzzled look or a groan. The groans can be roughly translated as “not another social media platform I have to get to grips with?!”

Yes there are a lot of social media platforms, and you should always be careful you’re not spreading yourself too thin, but Pinterest is a great tool for some and could really help you. So I thought I would give a quick low down on why you should, or shouldn’t, start using Pinterest for your business.

You may be able to tell that I am a big fan of Pinterest which has made finding reasons not to ‘pin’ quite fun…

Reasons you should

1. If you have the kind of product or service which lends itself to photos or pictures

Pinterest is all about the pictures. If you’re used to Facebook, it’s a bit like someone created a social media network just out of Facebook Albums. So designers, venues, food based businesses, products, pretty things, phototgraphers etc.

2. If your business is based on reviews of products or services

You may be looking for new things to review, you may want to promote the reviews you’ve had or written.

3. If your target market is mainly women

According to the stats the majority of Pinterest users are women, so it’s a great place to find women who are visual personalities.

4. If you’re looking to go viral on several platforms

The most powerful thing about Pinterest is it links to Twitter and Facebook (as well as each picture linking to your site) so if someone repins (ie a bit like sharing on Facebook) then you could be reaching their Facebook friends and Twitter followers too!

Reasons you shouldn’t

1. If you can’t create pictures or graphics around your business

You may like you to have a personal account anyway for networking purposes, but may be your efforts and focus are best driven on another type of site. Though, having said that, infographics* are a great tool which can be used by any business

* Infographics are images designed in a kind of poster format that can give information in a visual way – statistics, stories and much more. Try a Google search.

2. If you don’t have time

The main thing with any online networking (or face to face for that matter) is if you don’t have the time – or the resources to get someone else to manage your social media for you – then you will struggle to get to know the etiquette on that platform and can find yourself not interacting in the right way.

3. If your market is only business to business

Remember that behind every business is a person, so it can be a great thing to broaden your reach, but when combined with no time and no pictures Pinterest really might not be for you.

4. You are worried about copyright infringement

The big drawback in many people’s eyes is the very, very technical subject of copyright. You do need to read the terms and conditions and understand at least the basics of copyright before using Pinterest. In all honesty it’s a total minefield and enough to scare most away. Remember you need to protect your own content as well. And I guess my advice is to always err on the side of caution when you’re unsure where a pin has come from!

Having said all that, here are some reasons to start a personal account:

1. To stay ahead of trends
2. Find inspiration for almost anything
3. To get a daily dose of funny
4. If you’re getting a little bogged down in Facebook or Twitter and want something different
5. If you like pretty things
6. If you like pictures
7. If you have a particularly unusual interest and want to find like-minded people