Women Unlimited Inspiration, lnnovation, Collaboration

Few people dispute the value of having a network of contacts who can feed you with a steady flow of decent business opportunities.  It saves time and effort in the sales process and is generally a much more pleasant way of growing your business.  One business owner I met recently commented that, when analysing their sales figures, the value of the referred sale compared to those via their website was almost 10% more.  They also said they found the internet-generated customers more fee-sensitive whereas those who came via a referral ... Read More »

Whether you are blogging to build your brand, keeping abreast of thought leadership in your field, or trying to break into podcasting—you can’t afford not to become a skillful interviewer. The best interviewers make it look so easy. Larry King comes to mind—probing what made Brando tick (and even getting the inscrutable Hollywood icon to plant a kiss on his cheek). And then there’s Oprah, who makes interviewing seem like half cocktail party schmooze and half spiritual journey.  Interviewing—an art that was once the exclusive province of career journalists and ... Read More »

Over the past few weeks I’ve interviewed over 30 successful entrepreneurial women for an article for James Clear’s Remora Method and, ultimately, for the book that I now realise I have in me. The lessons and learning from these interviews have been fascinating and eye-opening and, as you can imagine, the motivations and methods used are as broad and diverse as the women themselves. One message that’s consistently jumped out though, regardless of situation, background, race or results, is the importance of networking. Networking is something I’ve done a lot ... Read More »

Wouldn’t it be great if running a business was a black and white affair. One formula, one manual and everyone would succeed. Wouldn’t that make it easier? However, if you’re a go getter and running your own business, juggling a million and one things in your home and social life; it will often feel as if there are fifty shades of grey between the black and the white of that elusive manual. One of the problems is that when it comes to deciding what things you should be doing on a ... Read More »

Looking ahead to the Autumn and need to market your business? Not sure what you can do that won’t break the bank? Here are some simple ideas to give your business greater visibility. Feel free to choose from this affordable pick and mix. You don’t have to break the bank to market your business but you do need to make sure you are visible to your customers in order to keep it afloat. Before you begin It pays (and prevents a lot of wasted marketing pounds) if you are clear ... Read More »

Acquiring new customers is known as ‘front end’ marketing. Winning new customers is definitely an important way to increase sales, but customer retention or getting your current customers to come back to you is equally important. This concept is known as ‘back end’ marketing. Increasing the number of times your customers buy from you is the easiest way to increase sales, improve profit and grow your business. Think about it, it can cost up to six times more to win a new customer than it does to have an existing ... Read More »

So, you’ve decided to start a business from home. You’ve researched your market, created a website, written a business plan, printed the business cards, started a blog (or, perhaps all of the above!). Now how do you find customers, drive traffic to your website, differentiate yourself from your competition and attract the attention of influencers in your niche? And how on earth do you do all this without spending any money? What you need is free marketing Don’t believe the myth that you need money to start a business. And ... Read More »

An employee recognition programme is a great way to thank employees for their hard work, innovative ideas and years of service. While an employee rewards programme is generally well received, it’s actually more beneficial to the person/company in charge who is offering the rewards. Companies reap big benefits by using an employee rewards programme.  A well-executed reward program will;  Open the lines of communication Verbal recognition is a good way to engage in conversation with employees and set the tone for a positive relationship. Develop trust Trust is a key ... Read More »

Even in this age of social media mania (and I LOVE social media), email is still one of the best ways to get your next customer or sale. However, in order to send out great emails that people want to receive,(and will respond to), you need people to send it to, and that’s why ‘list building’ is so important. List building isn’t just about numbers though – you do want more people on your list, but you want more of the RIGHT people. These are people who are interested in ... Read More »

One of the common questions business owners ask themselves is: “How can I grow my business quickly?” My short answer is that there are NO short cuts and NO answers that fit every business! That said, there are a few methods that will work for you – no matter what business you are in. You just have to be open-minded and willing to try new things. Here’s a list of my personal 10 favorite ways that I have used to grow hundreds of businesses around the world. My suggestion is ... Read More »