Glasgow4Business in April

I came across this little gem when looking through some articles posted for a 4Networking event.

Glasgow4Business Week

as per the website the event is intended to

"...offer information seminars, workshops on good practice, masterclasses from experts and real networking opportunities and will call to action all business leaders to adopt some of the learning they will take from participating in these events. The future well-being of our business community is essential in order to maintain Glasgow's position as a key driver of the Scottish economy."


There is a schedule of FREE and costed business training events for Glasgow businesses.  Places are bound to be limited so please book early if any of the topics interest you.

Happy learning!

Brian

Seems Toyota got it right after all...

...well at least as far as owners are concerned.

A recent study has shown that Toyota's reputation has not suffered as badly as some doom sayers might have foretold following the recent recalls. (click here for results of the survey by Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business)

I had thought that this might be the case, (hindsight is great isn't it), as a Toyota driver myself and as a marketer.

Let's face it Toyota did pretty much everything you'd expect of any organisation that gets it wrong;

1. Own up to the problem immediately
2. Make it publicly known not just among owners; avoiding bad PR later.
3. Put measures in place to get it fixed

Now, that seems to me a responsible attitude and way to go about things, and apparently so do many other owners.

Drive safely!

Brian

Networking - it's offline too

As an owner of a small business I've embraced networking as a means of business development and indeed of learning what I should be offering my present and potential clients.

What alarms me a little is the somewhat trendy notion of using social media for all of your networking.  Whatever happened to getting out and meeting people.

Social Networking is good...But....

Now, I'm not against social networking and all of the benefits it brings in the discussion with potential and current clients. In fact I think it's a fantastic tool.  It can help as part of your networking and marketing efforts and is especially useful  for the business to consumer market where it would be impossible to meet all of your clients personally.

I do however think that we should maintain our people skills, and broaden our chances for success, by getting out in the real world and talking to people too.

I've attended a mix of both paid for and free events over the last few months and have to say that it works well for my business to business model.  I've had some great experiences meeting prospects, opening up sales channels and even getting to know the competition a bit better.

Where to Network

There are a plethora of networking opportunities out there including of course Chambers of Commerce and other paid for networking clubs, but there are also numerous free opportunities at Business Gateway seminars and HMRC training events to name but two.  Business Gateway even have a free seminar on how to make the most of your "live" networking opportunities.

My advice; yes use social media but please don't forget to get out there whenever possible and meet people: you never know where it might lead.

If you want to know more about my experiences with networking and which events I think work, or to tell me about your experiences, you can contact me at Aperture Marketing Ltd.

Thanks for dropping by.

Brian

Who uses mystery shoppers?

Hi,

I had a very interesting meeting with Carol MColl of Mystery Shopper Scotland today. I'd met Carol to investigate how we might do business together and help each others businesses.

What I didn't expect was  the breadth and variety of client types that Carol and her team support via their mystery shopper operation.  You, like me, may well expect mystery shopper clients to be large blue chips and multi-site retail operations.

Carol does deal with this type of client, but is also involved with many SMEs too including; opticians with several branches, care homes, juice bars and even hair dressers.  Now it's high end hair dressers admittedly but it does show that SMEs are taking their customer interactions very seriously and are prepared  to invest to ensure they are getting it right.

Carol's company like other mystery shoppers provides a detailed report on the findings of the visits which can be used to improve the customer interaction experience.

I wonder just what other organisations have  thought of using mystery shopper services and what they've gained from the process? I'd love to hear everyone's experiences or thoughts on using a mystery shopper.

Brian

Hello and welcome to SME Marketing Focus

Hello,

Thanks for stopping by this first post for SME Marketing Focus, the blog of Brian Canavan, founder of Aperture Marketing Ltd.

I'm hoping to bring you insightful information that is relevant to marketing and other business topics for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Basically I'll endeavour to distill down all of the other information sources that I use and come across into what  I hope will become a relevant and concise resource for anyone managing or leading SMEs.

I won't promise to blog every day as I'm not sure I'll have something interesting to bring you every day but I promise to listen to your feedback and hopefully to keep this an interesting part of your knowledge gathering.

In the spirit of true marketing I'd like to ask you to provide suggestions for topics and questions for discussion here.  Feel free to suggest anything and everything related to marketing that you'd like to know more about, share or that I may be able to help with.

So again, welcome, and thank you for stopping by.

Brian