business mum's journal edition 7: jacqueline

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FEATURE Saira Khan; from

Apprentice to

mumpreneur

JACQUELINE GOLD

INTERVIEW! The Ann Summers

Millionaire mum

gives us an insight

into her life.

FEATURE Melinda Holohan;

An inspirational

business mum

SECRETS To promoting your own Business

“Hand-made by mums”

OF THE BEST 6

Central Edition

www.businessmumsjournal.com

Business

J O U R N A L MUM’S

the

Supported by mothercare

FREE!FREE!FREE!FREE!

HOW-TO Blogging for

business

success

Issue No.007

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06-07. Interview: Jacqueline Gold;

CEO of Ann Summers.

10-11. Six of the best...

Hand made by mum

12-13. Mum’s Business case study:

Melinda Holohan

16-17. My Story: Saira Khan, from

Apprentice to mumpreneur

22-23. How to:

Blogging for business success

24-25. How to:

Secrets to promoting your own

business CO

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NTS

CO

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CO

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Editor: Jane Hopkins Advertising & Editorial: [email protected]

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the data in this publication is accurate, neither the publisher nor its editorial contributors can accept, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party to loss or damage caused by errors or omissions resulting from negligence, accident or any other cause.

Neither the editor, nor The Business Mum’s Journal officially endorses any advertising material included within this publication.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior permission of the publisher.

Hello and Welcome!

Well the summer is now just a distant memory and we’re all into the new school

year and looking forward. This issue is a little different to past issues, as well as our

celebrity mums interviews; thank you to the super successful Jacqueline Gold of

Ann Summers, we also have a selection of speakers from the Business and Baby

Show who have supplied condensed versions of their seminars. So if you missed

the show, you’ll have some great tips here, and if you did attended we’ve saved

you a lot of note taking!

The Business and Baby Show was the headline event for National Business Mum

Week 2011. This time of year is when many women start looking for options;

perhaps the children have just started school full time and mum finds herself with

more time on her hands or with Christmas approaching she’s looking to earn some

extra cash. These are reasons why we announced that the beginning of October

would be home to National Business Mum Week.

It’s a week where mums from all over the country can organise events, small or big

from the Business and Baby Show in the Midlands to recruitment fairs in

Cambridge and Dorset and a Business Mum’s Conference in Brighton. It’s a great

opportunity to raise the profile of mum owned businesses on a local basis, and get

local media interest as well as connect even more local mums.

I hope you made it to at least one of the events this year, but if not keep it in mind

for next year when the kids go back...

In the meantime please do join our mailing list to keep up to date with

‘mumpreneur’ activities in the UK. The Business Mum Awards will be coming up

very soon!

We’ll have Christmas between now and the next issue so have a great one and

keep in touch with all of us at mumsclub; via the forums, on twitter and facebook!

Take care, wishing you every business success

Jane

Jane Hopkins, founder of the mumsclub group: www.mumsclub.co.uk

www.businessandbabyshow.com

www.businessmumawards.com

www.businessmumsjournal.com

@mumsclub and www.facebook.com/mumsclub

4 4 BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

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You’re an extremely successful

working mum - if you had to

attribute your success to one single

‘secret’ what would that be?

Being super organised! All working

mums know that there is so much to

get done every day so I am really

strict with my time to make sure that

everything I want to achieve as a

mum and a CEO can be achieved. I

am very lucky as I have a great team

around me who enable this to

happen.

You were a successful

businesswoman before you became

a mum - how has parenthood

changed the way you work?

My multi tasking skills have become

even more finely tuned than they

were before. I have also had to make

sure that every week I am dedicating

a good amount of quality time to my

daughter Scarlett. I like to be there

every morning when she wakes up

and home in time to put her to bed,

we also have every Friday together

and of course every weekend. Of

course there are weeks when this

can’t always happen, however I am

very protective on this time and will

only compromise it if I have to. For

me it’s all about priorities and being

clear to yourself about what these

are.

Have you ever wanted to give up

your career to become a full-time

stay-at-home mum?

I love my daughter more than

anything in the world, but my career

is very important to me. It’s of course

a huge juggling act but I feel

comfortable that I can be both a mum

and a CEO and do both jobs well. My

career has always been such a big

part of who I am and I hope that

when Scarlett is older she will respect

me for continuing to work and see

the benefits of and be proud of

having a mum who works.

All working mums have to balance

the needs of their family with those

As far as mums in business goes, Jacqueline Gold is one of the originals. She’s a super successful

business woman, a mum, a wife, a sister a daughter and do you know what? Nothing, not even the

cheekiest of products seems to faze her. Jacqueline took time out of her incredibly busy schedule to

give us an insight into her fascinating life...

BusinessMumsJournal.com - Be your own Boss

Cover Feature: Jacqueline Gold

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of their career - in what ways do you

struggle with that delicate juggling

act, and what are your tips for

keeping all the balls in the air?

As mentioned above being organised

and making sure that every week you

set aside set times to ensure you get

that regular quality time with your

child.

What does a relaxed day off with

your family look like for you?

We always try and go out and about

with Scarlett so this summer we have

spent time at Peppa Pig World,

numerous parks, farms and of course

the occasional visit to West Ham!

You’ve had more than your fair share

of heartache throughout your own

life, could you tell us how this has

had a positive effect on your own

family life?

It has made me value family even

more. I am very lucky to have a

brilliant relationship with my father

and sister Vanessa. This strong family

network has always been a huge

support to me and my husband Dan

and I want Scarlett to feel that same

security. We don’t have a huge

family but we are a very close family

and Scarlett loves seeing her cousins

and the close family friends we have.

Scarlett and Dan are so important to

me and the time we spend together

as a family is extremely special.

Having trust in those who work for

us, especially where childcare is

concerned is paramount importance,

so when your daughter’s nanny was

jailed for spiking your soup with

windscreen wash - did that

experience put you off trusting the

care of your child to someone else so

you could continue to work? How

did you move forward from that?

When all of this happened I did start

to question my own judgement. You

think you know someone and trust

them with the most precious thing in

your life yet they abuse this trust.

The reality is that with the pressures

of being CEO and Dan working in the

city we need childcare. We are lucky

that Dan’s mother is around to

support us, however she cannot do

this full time and so we knew we had

to employ another nanny. It was of

course hard to trust our new nanny

initially, however Scarlett adores her

and I am delighted with the care she

gives to her.

I wouldn’t want my experience to put

women off of employing a nanny, it’s

a reality that to make things work

then a nanny is for a lot of people

necessary and of huge benefit. My

advice would be to make sure that

you go to a reputable agency, check

lots of references and talk to the

families that have previously worked

with the nanny you are interested in.

What’s the biggest 'pro'

of being a successful,

powerful working mum?

The satisfaction of seeing

my business continue to

be successful and being

able to balance this with

seeing my daughter grow.

... And are there any cons?

There is never quite enough time in

the day!

Your first book, A woman’s courage’

portrayed your incredible story. You

mentioned to me recently that you

now have enough content for a new

book, could you possibly give us a

snippet of what a new book may

contain?

I would love to write another book

and I can imagine that it would focus

very much on career women and

supporting and sharing advice with

them. I would hope that a big focus

of the book would be on working

mums.

Massive thanks to Jacqueline

for giving us her time. You

can follow Jacqueline on

Twitter - take a look on

Wednesdays to see

what her #wow award

is all about!

@Jacqueline_Gold

Cover Feature: Jacqueline Gold

Free work at home advice, support, and online networking - MumsClub.co.uk

Jacqueline’s top tips! -If you are looking to set up your own business, research your

potential customer base and make sure there is a demand for your

business idea.

-Whether you are running your own business or working for

someone else, never stop listening to your customer. They will

give you the best insight in to your business and will help you to

deliver growth.

-Don’t doubt yourself. So many women don’t realise just how

powerful they are.

-Have the confidence in yourself and your abilities to make it

happen.

-Make time for the things that are important to you. If you are

strict with your diary and time then you can make it all work.

-Don’t ever lose the passion for your career / business.


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Business Directory

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As ever, we have scoured the mumpreneur

network for six of the best products or

services, so you don’t have to.

This issue, we have six of the best simply called…

Hand made by mum...

6

of the best...

Knot Just Jigs

Toniann is a busy mum of 4 who runs a traditional toys

business and incorporates her love of craft within this

by making and selling personalised party bags, cushions

and bunting and all variety of pretties but her biggest inspiration

(and best seller) of 2011 has been her owl cushions, each individual and unique

and can be made in any variety of fabrics to match room décor.

Prices of the owls start at a very affordable £12.99.

www.knotjustjigs.co.uk


Chloe’s Mummy

Personalised photo board books are

handmade by me – Chloe’s

Mummy! Each one is unique and tells

the everyday story of a baby or child

with all their favourite characters, that

is their friends and family. See little ones face light up

when they are the star of their own bedtime story.

Prices start at £10.99

www.chloesmummy.co.uk

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Sandy Ford Custom Dolls

Who wouldn’t want their own personalised paper doll? Artist

and mum of two, Sandy Ford achieves excellent likenesses

from photos. Her designs are customised for both boys and

girls, toddlers and adults and outfits feature dress-ups and

everyday clothes. The sets come in magnetic and digital

paper versions.

Sandy Ford custom dolls range from £12-£30

www.sandyforddesign.etsy.com

Clarkie Designs Emma at Clarkie designs has created a lovely collection of childrens

wall art and personalised nursery prints. All the pictures are either

hand made collages or fun, original prints. Whether you are

decorating your own baby's nursery, looking for your child's

bedroom, or buying that special gift for a friend, Clarkie

Designs creates beautiful artwork, especially for kids.

£19 plus £4.95 P&P

www.clarkiedesigns.co.uk

Who Loves Me? Award winning personalised flashcards. Each card has a

photo on the front and a brief description of the person on

the back (all uploaded by the customer on the easy-to-use

website). They help babies and young children recognise

and learn about their extended family, while encouraging

communication and language skills.

£11.99 (pack of 8 cards) www.wholovesme.co.uk


That's Sew Laura "Ultimate Party Dress"

This 100% cotton, fully lined dress was designed & created by

me. This image shows popper closure, but it can be made with

buttons. It has an integral bow & a beautiful puffball skirt.

Items are made to order & they can come in a range of fabrics.

Retails at £35 for up to age 2

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Have you ever had a nagging

feeling at the back of your mind,

wondering if you should be doing

something bigger or better?

Or even just something different? I

did... and after 20+ years of

working for someone else, I

decided to do something about it

and just did it - with a little push...

It was the end of summer 2009 and

the mood in the financial markets

was dire with the markets in

turmoil from the effects of the

credit crunch. I worked as a project

manager in the sales and marketing

department of a global asset

management. Two rounds of

redundancies had taken place in

less than a year, but I like many of

my colleagues had grown

disillusioned with the company and

my career prospects there.

I had only just returned from my

maternity leave with my daughter,

and I was given a non-descript job

that even my managers couldn’t

define upon my return. I came to

work but never unpacked my boxes

or put up any personal affect on my

desk. I never really worried about

being made redundant, as I had

gone through a personal tragedy a

couple of years prior, so everything

else was just a blip compared to it.

My family and I had just returned

from a trip to Ireland during the

August Bank Holiday weekend. I

had a manager’s workshop early

the day after. I was one of the first

ones at the meeting, when the HR

director called me out for a

separate meeting. I knew what was

going to happen, so I just sat

quietly and listened. When the

director was done speaking, I said

fine and asked him when I could

leave and when I could get my

severance package.

“I was compelled to

develop a solution. I

couldn’t sleep that night

thinking about how...”

I left work right after the meeting. I

called my husband and my family,

then went home and literally sat

down with a piece of paper and

made two lists: what was I good at

and what I enjoyed most, and I

decided to start a company based

on providing and developing

practical solutions for family life.

My company eleventyone Limited

was incorporated two weeks after I

was made redundant (although I

kept it on dormant status whilst I

learnt the ropes of starting a

business).

My mental archives opened like

floodgates and I recalled my idea

for the buggy accessory that I had

when I had first returned to work

after having my son Thomas. I

worked on this for a few months,

but came across too many logistical

issues that I decided to put it on

hold.

Mum’s Business Case Study


A story of achievement;

Melinda Holohan’s

Circa The Circular

Calendar

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In the meantime, one evening in

early February 2010 I was putting

my son Thomas to bed when he

asked me when he could go

swimming again. When I

struggled to explain the calendar

and the order of the days to my

son, I was compelled to develop a

solution. I couldn’t sleep that

night thinking about how I would

present the calendar in a simpler

way for children. I designed Circa

- the Circular Calendar that same

night and by morning time, the

basic design was completed and it

remains largely the same now as

it did that evening.

Having a close to finalised design

or an idea, however, does not

mean that mass production can

be achieved overnight. There

were a number of issues

regarding the best type of

materials to use for the toy, basic

design issues and some

communication issues as well. At

times the project came to a halt

until the best solution was found.

One time we were close to

abandoning the project, as I

couldn’t agree with the existing

factory regarding the material to

use. Whilst I am not an engineer,

my background in design and

logical thought process in project

management, helped me come

up with solutions to the various

problems, as well as helped me

push the project along.

“One time we were close to abandoning

the project”

Money has never been the driving

force in driving the projects

forward, but instead it’s

recognition for developing a

useful solution to a problem, as

well as finding enjoyment in what

I do. In starting my own company

based on my own ideas, it has not

only afforded me the flexibility of

being able to be there for my

children when they need me, but

also the freedom and enjoyment

in being my own boss and making

decisions that directly impact my

life. I get to wear different hats,

literally being creative one

minute, business minded the next

and then putting on the mum hat

where I have to fit in doing

laundry, shopping and cooking in

between starting a business.

It’s a lot and many times I have to

work late nights or very early

mornings when everyone is

asleep in order to fit it all in. But I

wouldn’t change it one bit. I love

being my own boss, as it gives me

the greatest satisfaction I have

ever had in my working life. I

always felt that I was supposed to

be doing something more,

something different and be my

own boss and I’ve now achieved

that and it feels fantastic.

I was adamant to turn a negative

experience into a positive one.

Also, I was turning 40 shortly after

being made redundant, and I saw

it all as a new chapter in my life. I

strongly believe that turning 40

was a turning point in gaining my

confidence back, taking control of

my life and enjoying the next

chapter.

I recall going into my old place of

work to pick up some things and I

ran into an ex-colleague who

when I told him that I had already

formed a company, he smiled and

said: “Ha! Melinda - like a cat!

Always lands on her feet!”

For more information go to

www.eleventyone111.com

- Practically Essential -


Mum’s Business Case Study

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Business Directory

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Thankfully my performance got me

to a respectable position in the show

and whilst many felt I should have

won, in hindsight I’m really glad that

I did not. After the show I got my

own BBC children’s business show

“Beat The Boss” and managed to

present some amazing programmes,

I wrote a book published by Random

House called P.U.S.H. For Success

and I set up my own business

www.miamoo.co.uk formulating and

selling natural skincare products for

delicate skin. It’s been an amazing 7

years.

But I think I have to make some

things very clear – just because I

appeared on The Apprentice I didn’t

wake up to people knocking on the

door and offering me amazing jobs,

my phone wasn’t ringing every five

minutes from top companies offering

me unbelievable opportunities and I

didn’t become a business expert

overnight just because I appeared on

a business reality show.

Before appearing on The Apprentice I

had gained a BA (Hons Degree) and

an MA. I started my career as a Town

Planner and did this for 5 years

before deciding on a career change

and dived head first into the

commercial world. I worked in the

biscuit market, as well as putting on a

few pounds, I also progressed quickly

in sales and within 2 years was

managing my own team of sales

people in Central London. I realised

that I was born to sell and loved the

psychology of it and giving customers

the best service. It was all this that

stood me in good stead for The

Apprentice, my performance wasn’t a

fluke or down to good editing, I did

have some actual skill.

I love working, thinking and learning

and setting up my own business has

given me the chance to do all the

above everyday. It’s been such hard

work, harder than I ever imagined it

would be and harder than what

anyone advised it would be. Since

2006 when I launched miamoo I have

been working 16 hours a day to keep

all the plates spinning and let me tell

you, if you want to be a successful

entrepreneur and you don’t have the

privilege of a rich mummy or daddy

or access to unlimited funds then the

reality is that the first 5 years are

going to be HARD WORK and like me

you may have to keep a main job

going to fund your business in the

early years.

I’ve learnt so much about myself and

about business since launching

miamoo and whilst I’ve had some

success I’ve also made some

horrendous mistakes which has cost

me financially – but I believe that you

can’t be successful until you make

mistakes, the important thing I have

learnt is never to make the same

mistake twice.

I’ve read so many biographies of

millionaires and billionaires but I just

can’t seem to relate to them – they

were operating in a different time,

under different rules without google,

facebook, tweets and a whole host of

other social networking mediums,

they didn’t have to care for the

environment nor did they have as

much competition on a global scale as

we business entrepreneurs do today

and finally as a working mum I have a

whole host of other issues to

consider.

Its been a hard 7 years and I haven’t

stopped, but the moment it was all


My story: Saira Khan

Saira Khan:

from Apprentice to

Mumpreneur

It was exactly 7 years ago that I received the much coveted title, “mouth of the south” after

my performance on The Apprentice. It was the first time many British viewers had seen an

Asian gobby bird doing business like a man and leading the pack.


worth it was when for the first time I

saw someone put my product in their

shopping basket and pay for it. That

was the moment when I felt I could

call myself a business person, I had

created a brand and product from

scratch and I now had customers. It

was self belief and confidence that

have carried me through the difficult

times. I am passionate about dry skin

issues in children and as a mother I

know other mums are too – I believe

that when they try a product that

works, they will be loyal to it. It has

been that customer loyalty over the

last 7 years that has finally led me to

sign a joint venture deal with

Creightons Plc. With their

partnership, experience and guidance

I can now take my little brand to a

whole new level. Our first major

success was to get a listing in selected

Boots stores nationwide – when I

heard the news that Boots would be

stocking my brand in their store I

cried tears of happiness.

People often ask me what makes a

successful business person, it’s so

easy to come out with all the clichés,

but for me its about the person that

you are more than your product or

your service. During my years as a

corporate sales manager, there was

one consistent message in my

training, “people buy people,” and I

believe in that wholeheartedly. All my

sales training revolved around

“personal development” rather than

“selling the product”. I was taught

about self awareness, how to listen,

speak, engage, empathise with

others, how to recognise a buying

signal, skills in learning how to

visualise, prioritise, how to give and

take feedback and the list goes on

and on. It takes a lot of skill to be a

successful person

and it takes a lot

more skill to be a

person that other’s

like and want to do

business with.

I’ve always been

fascinated with

people and how they

behave and have

been interested in knowing/finding

out what people think about me –

there are times when I have said, “I

don’t care what other’s think”, but

really I do care and I use that phrase

as a front to protect myself from

harsh comments and opinions. My

personal development journey is still

on going, whilst I display some great

traits, I also possess some that other’s

don’t find attractive like, being

outspoken, driven and competitive,

loud and excitable and confident.

Coming from an Asian community, all

the negative traits I describe are

actually seen as signs of success, but I

am learning to be flexible and

adaptable so that I can do business

successfully no matter who my

customer is or in which community I

am doing business in. In today’s

global economy, it pays to be

insightful of others and yourself.

I am my business and my success will

depend on how I talk to people, how I

influence and motivate them, how I

sell myself to them, how proactive I

am, how high my standards are and

how I get people to believe in my

vision and help me to achieve it. I

cannot make my dreams come true

alone, I need others to help me and

therefore I need to make sure that

with every person that I meet I give

them the best of me. Not everyone is

going to like the best of me, so I grow

a thick skin and carry on and I try and

learn from the knockbacks. Over the

years I have grown a thick skin, the

knock backs I have had have at times

been hard to take, but I can honestly

say that in most cases they have fired

me up to do better and prove other’s

wrong. The best thing ever to happen

to me was to come runner up on The

Apprentice.

My story: Saira Khan


The concept of VitaBella –

Italian for ‘beautiful life’ – is

summed up by the phrase

“staying beautiful naturally”.

Italian Origins

Developed in the beautiful region

of Puglia in Southern Italy, the

VitaBella range of organic skin

care products is the result of the

Italian passion for natural beauty

treatments and dedication to

organic production methods.

Founded by Warwickshire

entrepreneurs Iain Taylor and

Suzanne Baxter, VitaBella brings a

genuinely unique Italian concept

in natural skin care to those

looking for home party plan

business opportunities with real

potential.

Anti Ageing,

Nature’s Way

The signature product within the

VitaBella range is the

revolutionary 10 minute

VitaBella Anti-Ageing Face Mask

treatment.

It’s a simple, mess free process. A

natural anti ageing complex is

poured onto a compressed mask

tablet which absorbs it and opens

up into a soft biodegradable

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A Natural Business

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you for your sales, along with

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Our approach is not about high

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To find out more about the

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22 22

We all know that we ‘should’ be

blogging, tweeting and Face-

booking to engage our

customers and promote our

businesses but how on earth do

you do all that whilst still

actually running your business?

One of the problems is coming

up with the ideas in the first

place. After all, no-one does

want to know what you had for

breakfast – unless of course

you’re a chef and you’ve just

created something delicious!

Then if you have ideas and

you’re ready to go, how do you

know that people will find it

interesting? And, more

importantly, how do you know if

people are searching for what

you are talking about?

The first principle is that you

don’t have to come up with all

of the content yourself. Did I

hear a collective sigh of relief

there? Using tools such as

Google reader and Google alerts

you can set up the system to tell

you when other people are

saying something interesting and

applicable to your business.

Signing up is quick and easy and

once done you get all the

information on your topic

delivered to you. This is a great

way to quickly scan a huge

amount of material to decide

which is most relevant to you.

To generate ideas and to find out

what people are searching for at

the same time we go to our old

friend Google. As soon as you

start typing in a word these days

Google helpfully starts to give

you some suggestions.

The clever trick is that these are

not just random suggestions but

the top things people are

searching for.

So to use this to your advantage

put in one word appropriate to

your business e.g. if you sell baby

clothes, type ‘baby clothes’ then

add a space and then just the

letter ‘a’. This will give you a list

of things people are searching

for. When I did this as I’m writing

the suggestions that came up

were ‘at Sainsbury’s’, ‘at Boots’

etc. Not that helpful I admit but

if you go through the alphabet

one letter at a time replacing ‘a’

you will find some useful

suggestions that could turn into

a blog post. These came up when

I got to ‘f’:

o Free delivery

o For boys

o For girls

o For twins.


Nobody wants to know

what I had for breakfast! How to quickly and easily generate more ideas

than you need for your blog or social media

output without it taking over your life”

Jean Maund is the owner of a successful Midlands

based web-design and online marketing company,

specialising in helping female entrepreneurs make

the most of the power of the internet to bring

more customers, clients and profits to their

business, quickly and easily. She excels at breaking

down jargon and technical information into

immediately understandable and, more

importantly, actionable steps. Here she gives her

insight into blogging for business success...

Blogging for business - how to generate content

23 23

Blogging for business - how to generate content


I’m guessing you could write a

post about each of those if you

were selling baby clothes and

you could guarantee that people

were searching for those terms.

And, of course, you can always

repeat this with another ‘starter’

word or two.

Once you have all this

information coming in how do

you handle it?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Comment on it – new

legislation that will affect your

customers in the news? Tell

them how it will affect them in

simple terms.

2. Take the ideas and write

your own version – please note I

do not mean ‘steal’ the content.

It has to be your own words but

it doesn’t mean you can’t use

someone else’s structure and

ideas as long as you give it your

own twist.

3. Record a quick video and

post that to YouTube.

4. Simply point people in

the direction of interesting

content. The fact that you act as

a sign post to others’ material

gives you associated kudos.

Now we come to the issue of

how to manage all of this

information. There are several

online tools that will allow you to

schedule your posts and

updates. I use two, namely

Hootsuite and BufferApp. If you

search for these they come with

helpful instructions. This means

that wherever possible I put

aside a block of time to write my

posts in advance and then

schedule them. Applications such

as Mailchimp will do the same

for email newsletters.

In summary I believe that all of

these activities are valuable and

will bring you more customers,

clients and therefore profits but

you need to be in charge and

manage them rather than

allowing the technology to

manage you.

For more information on how

Jean could help your business go

to www.justaskjean.co.uk or

tweet her:

@justaskjean

24 24

Marketing: Secrets of promoting your own business


A successful

marketing mix:

Secrets of promoting

your own business. Many business owners only see success

when a sale takes place, but getting people

on to your mailing list is important so that

you can start to communicate with them. A

large purchase is obviously more valuable on

one level than a small purchase, but people

who make small purchases can be encouraged to return and spend more if you obtain their contact

details.

In this article, Antonia Chitty explains how understanding product funnels can help you encourage

someone to travel from browser to buyer, and from buying small purchases to bigger ones.

The Product Funnel is most easily

understood visually: look at the

diagram below and ask yourself if

you have something to offer

people at a range of levels. If you

have some free or very low cost

items to offer you can use this to

draw in people to share their

details with

your business.

You can then

start

communicating your

marketing messages to

them, build a relationship

and draw them further down

the funnel. Many people will

only commit to a small purchase

at first, so have a range of

products that you can encourage

as many people as possible to

buy. Look at how you might move

purchasers of small items on to

making bigger, more valuable,

buys. They are ‘warm’ to your

business once they have made

their first purchase so you need

to look at how you can exploit

your relationship and provide

something that will ‘solve their

problems’ even more effectively.

Do you have an email newsletter

for your practice? Email

marketing is a great way to keep

your business at the forefront of

people’s minds and a valuable

way to develop relationships with

people who will become loyal

customers and to stay in touch

with those

who are

customers

already. Remaining

in touch on a regular

basis can ensure

people stay loyal to your

business and increase the

number of purchases that

they make.

Your first step to successful email

marketing is to build your email

contact lists: do you already

gather email addresses? If not,

look at what you need to do to

your systems to ensure that this

25 25

Marketing: Secrets of promoting your own business


takes place. Make sure you

comply with the Data Protection

Act and offer the chance to opt

out of email marketing.

Make it attractive for website

visitors to opt in to your

newsletter in. You need to think

about creating offers, offering an

eBook or special discount for

subscribers. Place competitions

on your website or

complementary local websites: as

part of the terms and conditions

of entry you then explain that you

will send entrants your

newsletters.

Consider the technical side of

sending newsletters. You may

have something built into your

current customer management

system which will link to a sign up

box and provide you with

templates for mailouts.

Otherwise, you’ll need to export

your customer contacts and

upload them into an email service

provider, such as Aweber,

Mailchimp, Vertical Response or

Constant Contact which will also

generate the code that you need

to add a sign up box to your

website.

Once you have picked your

newsletter provider, spend some

time exploring the templates they

offer. You can simply pick one, or

customize it with your logo.

Ensure that your business colours

and branding are reflected in the

newsletter.

It is better to send out a short

newsletter every fortnight or

month than spend ages on one

newsletter and not get back in

touch with people for a year.

Think of 12 reasons to get in

touch with your customers and

potential

customers and

write one in your

marketing plan

each month to

remind you to

mail your

customers.

Tie your

newsletter in with other

marketing activities, PR and

advertising. Make sure you send

people on your mailing list an

exclusive offer or special discount

regularly. This is one way to start

building relationships with new

and potential customers and to

keep them coming back.

Focus on the results you want for

your newsletter. Look at creating

pages on your main website to get

newsletter readers to take action

when they click through to your

site. This sort of page is known as

a landing page: a page specifically

designed for people visiting the

website as a result of your

newsletter. This page will be

written with the newsletter topics

in mind, so that the copy on the

landing page is attuned to the

particular promise or offer that

you are making, or the

problem that you are

offering to solve in each

newsletter.

You can test the

effectiveness of

different content on the

landing page by

measuring how many

people buy the suggested

product, enter the competition or

take another action that you

suggest in the newsletter.

Measure the number of visitors to

the page, and the number that

take action to calculate your

conversion rate. Conversion from

your newsletter is the way to

measure its success.

If this article has helped you, and

you missed Antonia Chitty’s talk at

the Business and Baby show, use

the contacts below to find out

how to attract people to your

email list using PR, advertising and

marketing.

Antonia Chitty MCIPR is an award winning entrepreneur and author

of 13 books on Business, Health and Parenting. A mum to three, she

has run her own PR business since 2003 and now specialises in

training small business owners in marketing and social media. Her

latest book, Marketing: The Essential Guide, will help any business

owner who wants to learn marketing skills used by professionals.

For more information go to www.aceinspire.com , follow Antonia

on Twitter: @antoniachitty or www.facebook.com/antonia.chitty

26 26

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business, simply go to:

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and your business mum profile could be chosen as on of our

featured mums.

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business mum's journal edition 7: jacqueline

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