26th November 2009 - By Alan Brooks
They say that everyone has one book in them, and we are also often asked by clients and those considering reputation-marketing programmes “should I write a book?” Having seen and talked through the great benefits that can be gained, but also the not always positive experiences of a number of authors and gurus, we thought it would be useful to pass on a few observations of our own and offer two additional perspectives.
We are very grateful therefore to soon-to-be-published first time author Hugo Tugman of Architect Your Home and to Richard Burton of Publishers Infinite Ideas for sharing their experience of approaching getting a book to publication. Please see their separate Blogs.
Do I really want to do this?
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26th November 2009 - By Richard Burton
Learn to let go
The big day has finally arrived. You can’t do anything else to your book. It’s perfect. So stop staring at it and get it out there. The world wants to know your name.
As writers, we often like to write for ourselves, but show me a writer who says they don’t ever want to be published and I’ll show you a fibber.
It’s one of the most thrilling experiences imaginable – seeing your own work in print – but the road to success is long and curves in some strange directions, so just remember to brace yourself. Read the rest of this entry »
26th November 2009 - By Hugo Tugman
While I have written many articles for magazines and newspapers, including a weekly column in the Independent for a year or so, I had no plans to write a book. My area of expertise is home-design and I run a network of architects called Architect Your Home, as well as my own practice with my wife, Jude.
We were approached by a publishing house to write a book called Architect Your Home. The publishers seemed to be a very large and professional outfit, who among other things, specialised in branded books with such organisations as the National Trust, M&S and Good Housekeeping. Having agreed the bones in principle, they made a combined offer of a writer’s fee, an advance on royalty and a fee for the images – all of which we were going to supply.
At this point I sought out a literary agent. An author friend put me onto her agent and this proved to have been a very good move. My agent negotiated all sorts of clauses into the agreement that I would never have considered, such as the royalties on international sales, serialisation rights, the staging of payments etc. etc.
With the agreement in the bag, I made a start. Writing the book can’t be that hard, I thought. Read the rest of this entry »
3rd September 2009 - By Alan Brooks
In the current climate telesales companies are promoting like mad. “Spend your budget getting guaranteed sales results, not on brand building” is the mantra. So what are the keys to a successful business to business telesales campaign?
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9th June 2009 - By Alan Brooks & Nick Broom
If your hosting company went bust tomorrow, would your web site go down? If so, could you get it back up and running quickly and easily? And what about your email?
Sadly in the current environment this has become a real issue hitting businesses out of the blue. The impact can be inconvenient or potentially commercially disastrous. One business we know estimated they had lost over GBP 50,000 when their hoster went down recently.
If your web site is an important part of your sales or marketing operation we suggest reviewing how you would answer the following quick questions, or asking them of your suppliers:
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20th February 2009 - By Alan Brooks
The term Social Media for many businesses still conjures up images staff clocking up hours on Facebook in worktime. But for any organisation that sells expertise, whether through services or in the form of unique or specialised products, using new on line social media tools as part of your marketing programme now needs serious consideration.
The extra-ordinary growth of internet and mobile technology usage in the home and in business would be enough in itself to make this a pressing issue. But add to that the fact much of the technology has been developed for self-use by consumers, and so is comparatively low cost, means that under-pressure marketing budgets can also go much further.
Social media is all about sharing information with other people, making it ideal for professionals. The term refers to a basket of different tools, but in a business context, these essentially perform three functions:
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12th February 2009 - By Alan Brooks
“This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.” FT (18.2.08)
Marketing is often seen as one of the easy areas to cut spending when trading conditions become difficult and cash is tighter. So if you’re faced with tough budget decisions where should you start? And how can you squeeze more value out of your marketing spend? Here are our top twelve tips:
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