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printing.com
20th January 2010 : 1:38PM Posted by Connor mc Auley
On a daily basis we check our google analytics account to see where people have been referred to our website from. This like asking customers when they call into the store, allows us to measure our marketing efforts and find out what is working and what isn't.
To our absolute surprise and joy (as our marketing is working), we had 43 referrals from a forum/website associated with printing.com.
Lets be honest, pdc are the industry leaders, in terms of marketing and resources. We aspire to be them and for the members/franchisees of pdc to be visiting our site fills us with great joy.
Either we're doing something right, or something terribly wrong....
If you are a franchisee or staff member of pdc and want to get in touch, we'd be more than happy to have a chat.
028 9002 2474
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
The Kaizen Mobile - Vehicle Graphics
19th January 2010 : 3:45PM Posted by Connor mc Auley
After a couple of months of driving an unbranded yellow beetle and having my sexuality questioned by every white van at the traffic lights, I thought it was best to finally get my car branded.
Hopefully the looks followed by a disapproving shake of the head will be finished with and the self promotion will flourish.
Now as with anything you do for yourself, it'll always take that little bit longer to squeeze in the time for non essential things. 3 months was time enough in this case.
The purpose of my car is to introduce the Kaizen Print brand to people outside of my normal marketing remit. Those on the way to current clients and prospective clients who I couldnt possibly know or market.
I got my car branded at 1pm on Friday past, had 3 texts from customers by 5pm saying they had seen me about Belfast and that I should stop driving about the town and call in for coffee (read business).
Yesterday I spent most of the day at the office, but got 2 calls from potential customers due to seeing the car over the weekend and then following the web address to my site. If I get one good customer from this constant promotional vehicle, it'll pay for itself in weeks.
The moral of this post, brand everything you can:
- Your car
- Your partners car
- T-shirts you wear to the gym
- Clothing your family wear during activities they participate in
Who knows who could see it and as a result contact you for business.
Never leave a door closed for customers to find you.
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
Dragons' Den series 8 - Entrepreneurs Wanted
19th January 2010 : 8:26AM Posted by Connor mc Auley
Entrepreneurs from across the country once again have a chance to make their business dreams come true by appearing on Dragons’ Den. If you’re genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, the BBC would like to hear from you.
Dragons’ Den is a challenging place to pitch, but it’s also a genuine business opportunity to secure investment. In the most recent series, 15 entrepreneurs accepted offers of investment in the Den and plenty more have gone on to find success even without the backing of the Dragons.
In fact, over the previous seven series the Dragons have pledged to invest over 8 million pounds in a wide variety of business ideas and have personally changed the lives of over 70 entrepreneurs. Statistics show that investment opportunity has doubled since the programme began - if you appeared in the den in the last series you had more than a one in five chance of investment.
Last series saw some of the most diverse range of inventions and business ideas receive offers of investment from the multi-millionaire investors. All the Dragons were won over by entrepreneur Sharon Wright and the simplicity of her cable wiring device; Rupert Sweet-Escott went into business with James Caan who was impressed with his unique range of aviation designs and prototypes; and Carol Savage chose to accept Deborah Meaden's offer of a cash injection into her tasty new food networking website. In fact, when the Den finally closed for business an incredible 15 entrepreneurs had managed to convince the fearsome financiers, they were worthy of their cash.
2009 saw Londoner Jason Roberts ask for a £150,000 investment in his innovative range of mobile phone and laptop protection products. After some tense negotiations, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis joined forces to secure a stake in the company. Post investment, Jason says that he gets up to 5000 visits to his website every day, and the current range is available in eight nationwide chains. Agreements are in place with the major phone and computer manufacturers, and he’s now planning to launch a range of own-branded cases, across the globe.
Previous success stories in the Den include Brixton based Levi Roots who secured an investment of £50,000 for his secret recipe, Reggae Reggae Sauce. Just 4 weeks after his appearance on the programme his Dragon investors helped him launch his sauce in a major supermarket all over the country. Now Levi has increased his product range to 8 sauces, produced a Caribbean cook book, and won Best New Product at the World Food Awards 2009, even going on to present his own successful BBC Television series - 'Caribbean Food Made Easy’. Having also successfully licensed his sauce to one of the world’s largest frozen food manufacturers and to an international fast food chain, Levi says that thanks to the Dragons he has a business empire that is now valued in the millions.
Of course, not everyone secures investment in the Den, but that doesn't stop the most tenacious of entrepreneurs from achieving success. After a gruelling time in front of the Dragons in 2008, inventor Natalie Ellis failed to convince them to back her Road Refresher. But one year on, her product became the fastest selling dog bowl on Amazon USA. Natalie says her company now has a million pound turnover and that her range is currently stocked in 32 countries. Likewise Shaun Pulfrey wanted the Dragons to invest £80,000 in his rework of the hairbrush – the Tangle Teezer. Unsuccessful in his bid he claims he is now stocked nationwide in high street stores and top hair salons, with sales approaching 400,000 units.
The rules are simple: entrepreneurs ask for a cash investment in return for equity in their business. However, they must get at least the amount they ask for or they will walk away with nothing. The Dragons are prepared to listen to a pitch for any kind of business but they must be convinced that it will make money.
As demonstrated by the investments in the last seven series, ideas, businesses and products that meet some or all of the following criteria stand a good chance of securing the Dragons’ interest:
- A Unique Selling Point: a product that serves a need like nothing else
- Scalability: something that can be up scaled to make real money
- Route to Market: the clear way the product can be sold and marketed
- Mutually Beneficial Arrangement: just what will the Dragons get out of it?
- Exit Strategy: a plan of how the entrepreneur/Dragon will exit and make money
The BBC is currently searching for Britain’s best entrepreneurs and will be auditioning throughout the coming months. We want to hear from anyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes to enter the Dragons’ Den.
To apply, please download and complete the application form below or visit www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden for further details;
Dragons Den Application Form
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
50% off Signage and Marketing Materials
5th January 2010 : 5:18PM Posted by Connor mc Auley
FORAS na GAEILGE is offering match-funding* to all Small & Medium Business (SMEs) through two new schemes to promote the use of Irish language.
The scheme will launch in Jan 2009.
Signage Scheme - External:
- Includes new and replacement signage
- Sample signage includes Shop-Front Signs; Business Livery; External Directional Signs, etc
- There is no need to translate the business brand name
- Both text in English and Irish should be the same size
Business Materials' Scheme:
- Includes new and replacment materials.
- Includes general branding, letterheads, e-mail scripts, business cards, memos, receipts
- invoices, HR adverts, publications, Websites,
- Packaging (product naming, labelling, design, etc)
- Internal Signage (direction signs, safety & security signs, automated in-store displays etc);
- Advertising Materials (exhibition stands, brochures, posters, flyers, leaflets, etc).
- Bilingual materials will treat English and Irish equally - this is best practice
* funding is limited to (per business) £1000 on external signage and £750 on various marketing materials.
We are liaising with FORAS na GAEILGE and will be more than happy to advise our customers on the application process, design, text/translations and of course the printing.
Contact Connor on 028 9002 2474 for further information
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
New Year, New Business
22nd December 2009 : 5:05PM Posted by Connor mc Auley
This afternoon marked the start of 2010 for me. I have orders pencilled in for 4th January (when suppliers start back) and I began typing out my marketing plan for 2010.
I did however start off my planning very differently to years gone by. Normally my thoughts are along the lines of:
How to increase the footfall for the next 12 months or how to get back some of the lost custom from the past year?
This year however, and now that I am working on behalf of myself, my goals turn quite rightly to profit.
Ask yourself this question:
How much do you want to earn next year?
The reason I have this thought in mind, is not because I want to become a millionaire (but £500k would be nice right?), but to set goals and focus these targets into manageable pieces.
Lets say your target is £15,000 profit for 2010.
That is £1,250 a month or better still approximately £63 a day (based on 20 working days a month).
How many products do you have to sell to make £63 profit?
And this is where the marketing lesson kicks in. How are you going to attract the customers that will buy your products to make the £63 profit?
Over the past year you will have seen which marketing efforts work best for your business. I personally have concluded that yell.com isn’t working for me. It works for some businesses, not mine! So that’s yell ruled out.
I do know that email marketing & telesales follow up is working extremely well and as a result, I know that 500 emails & 1 weeks telesales will bring in a certain number of business. To attain the £63 profit I will scale this activity up (or down) accordingly.
Marketing is not about “spend, spend, spend” and see what works approach. It’s about carefully selecting the actions within your budget and scaling up your activities to encompass a larger target audience. Ultimately, scaling up your activities in one area will increase the economies of scale and so reduce the cost to market each customer.
With a solid base established, you can then (I say loosely) “try out” new activities.
So back on plan! Today I planned out a base schedule for 2010, which will start during the Christmas break. If all goes to plan, it will help me establish new customers, strengthen the relationships with existing customers and build brand awareness of Kaizen Print and Marketing.
If you want to have a chat about your marketing plan for 2010, call us on 028 9002 2474 for a chat. We’re pretty good at giving you some sound advice for free!
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
New Year, New You, New Business!!!
8th December 2009 : 9:31AM Posted by Connor mc Auley
We are almost at that time when we make false promises of gym attendance, smoking cessation (such an under utilised word), or in other words cutting out the crap.
Retail businesses have a renewed sense of purpose after the Christmas rush, when they market their January Sales to full effect. Yes we are all tempted by a bargain or the big red SALE posters and you know what, your customers are too.
January is a tough month for families after the Christmas blow out, but equally hard for businesses trying to engage with their customer and squeezing a few pennies from the coffers. So be proactive and support your customers, who have supported you in the past year, god knows it’s been a tough one.
Why not give a discount on the first order of the year, or free gift with a certain order level. This ensures you have continued business in a month where trading conditions are very tough and your customer feels rewarded for continuous supporting your business. Plus their profit levels increase due to the extra product or discount.
Also use January as a time to Market new business. People reflect on the New Year as a time to change, and this is also apparent in business. Have you been chasing a lead for a long time? Then actively tell that potential customer in the New Year that very point and that now is a good time to move.
Change is good, and new business is better… Get as much of it as you can in January and it will no doubt help you throughout the rest of 2010.
Happy New Year and Good Luck getting the new business.
0 Replies | Marketing Advice
An Introduction to Kaizen Print and Marketing
3rd December 2009 : 5:46PM Posted by Adam McPeake
Hello and welcome from sunny (read rainy) Belfast!
We are Kaizen Print and Marketing, a "Continuously Improving" print, design and marketing business, helping small and medium sized enterprises as well as the public sector in Northern Ireland with their Marketing efforts.
Ok, but your business is called Kaizen Print
That's absolutely correct, but with 80% of the worlds printed materials being utilised for marketing literature, it's easy to see why we are in a position to turn our marketing and design knowledge into world class printing for your business.
As a business, we do not employ sales people, in fact we discourage the selling of any product. You bring to us a problem or need to be filled and we bring you a cost-effective solution, whether you need a corporate brochure, business cards, or a central source to purchase print for a portfolio of businesses or franchises.
A central print purchasing hub you say?
Yes we did! Built into our website is the ability for franchise and retail outlet owners to place a number of frequently used products, or the promotional material for next quarters marketing campaign on our servers.
Franchisees or store managers can then order directly from a dedicated login on our site and order from us directly. Billing can be handled at point of purchase of centrally via head office.
But what if amendments are required to the artwork?
As long as we have the source files, our design team can amend the artwork to individual specifications (at a cost). Alternatively, your design team can communicate to the franchisee/store managers via our unique Design Wall.
Our Design Wall affords the customer and the designer the ability to communicate directly with each other, while allowing the marketing department the ability to monitor all communication. Ensuring the most cost-effective course of action is taken by both parties.
Sorry, we digress often. A little too often. At Kaizen Print and Marketing, our aim is to provide a portfolio of products that will enhance your business, whether or not you are looking to increase its sales or just maintain the custom you currently have.
