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There is no magic bullet (and anyone who says otherwise is lying)
Let's get real for a minute. Growing a successful business is down to multiple components that work together to make you money. Anyone claiming otherwise is lying. No ONE thing is going to save your business or catapult it to success. It's impossible. DOES THIS SOUND...
5 Ways To Limit Distractions
As part of my job as a strategist I spot patterns and opportunities by observing what is going on around us. While this is great for clients, I’ve realised it has actually been holding me back in my own business. It often goes something like this: First I notice a...
Top 5 tips for the holiday season
1) Hold an open house One way to guarantee sales is to hold an open house. Invite family and friends, offer up a few nibbles and display yourhandmade wares around your home. Not only is it a great way to show your acquaintances what you’ve been up to all year but you...
Blogging for business success
There are many reasons why blogging is one of the best ways to market your handmade business but you still have to consider if it is the right method of promoting for you. A blog can be time consuming and it can take time to cultivate a following. Don’t get...
Offline Marketing
The buzz in the marketing world is social networking but there is lots to be said about marketing offline too. A few things that you can do without breaking the bank: 1) Give out your business card How many of you have business cards but never use them? Be proud and...
Does your business have the x factor?
Every business needs to have that special something that makes it different from the rest. The marketing books call it USP. Unique Selling Point. I like to call it the X factor. Maybe it’s the Simon Cowell in me (X factor is the UK American Idol) but you can have the...
Set your brand apart with photography
I first discovered Prunella Soap over on Allisa Jacobs blog. She featured a wonderful interview with owner Janell and I fell in love straight away. I honestly couldn’t get this business out of my mind. Everything from the product, branding and packaging was spot on...
My Trip to Parliament and Some Motivating Words
Yesterday I attended an event at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate small business success in the UK. I was one of a number of business owners invited because we showed what could be achieved in recent hard economic times. Get Britain Trading 2012 The event was...
Finding your own path to business growth
When you think of a business growing, what comes to mind? More than likely images of increased production, bigger profits, more sales, hired employees, rigorous marketing campaigns, and the addition of wholesale accounts all come to mind. But, when it comes to...
Setting SMART Growth Goals
When it comes to setting effective goals for growth we need to ensure we have some clarity about what you would like to achieve. After considering where you are now with your money, income streams and marketing you should have a better idea of where there is room for...
Time for an online spring clean
Spring is nearly here and in the tradition of Spring cleaning, I’d like to turn our attention to an online spring clean. Much like the household spring clean it’s not the most enjoyable of jobs, but to keep things running smoothly and your customers or audience happy,...
5 Simple tips to increase productivity
As your business grows you need to get stricter about using your time more productively. By focusing on the task at hand and being present in what you are doing you’ll find it takes less time to complete your to-dos. Here are 5 simple tips that have been working for...
Increasing sales – a common sense approach
The Strategy - Target the people who can afford your stuff - Forget the rest for now - Hone your product offering to these people - Tell them about it - Close the deal The Detail It’s tempting to try and attract as many different types of people to your website or...
Creative approaches to product development
When you start working on developing new products do you use a tried and true method or do you switch it up from time to time? I believe there are big benefits to trying different approaches when you are devising new ideas. Your final product can end up being more...
How to fight entrepreneur overwhelm
Overwhelm can creep up on us when we least expect it. We say yes to a few things here and there and before you know it you are over-committed, under resourced and lacking the time to complete everything. So you start feeling stressed and less productive because you...