Marketing News

GKIC London Chapter – Meeting 22 April 2014

Last Tuesday (22 April) saw the latest monthly meeting of the GKIC London Chapter at the new venue, the Eight Club, Change Alley London.

Entrance To Eight Club, Venue For GKIC London

The meeting kicked off with a special guest speaker, Tim Coe, who presented his update and alternate take on the classic USP concept. Tim prefers to talk about the “Utterly Seductive Proposal” and making clients an offer they can’t refuse. Whatever you choose to call this idea, it’s a concept that is of such importance that there is benefit in looking at this from a number of different angles.

To briefly recap, what we’re aiming to get to is a concise statement of exactly why a potential client should do business with you rather than someone else. The advantages of having a good USP are many and include standing out from the crowd, making all your marketing more compelling and being more attractive to potential clients.

Tim had lots of good points including his own formula for creating your own “Utterly Seductive Proposal”. He goes into greater depth in his book called, not surprisingly, “Your Utterly Seductive Proposal”. More about Tim at his website www.myusp.biz.

The main GKIC session topic was “Make Your Business About Something”. Another way of putting this is how can you deliver some sort of emotional benefit to customers over and above simply providing a great product or service. People like to be part of something bigger than themselves. Dan Kennedy often talks about the GKIC “tribe”, for example. Not always easy to do and there is something of an overlap with the idea of branding.

A good example of this concept is…

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GKIC London Chapter – Meeting 18 March 2014

Copywriter Kevin Francis And David White At GKIC London March 2014

The March 2014 meeting of the GKIC London Chapter took place yesterday (18 March) at the new venue, the Eight Club, Change Alley London. The new venue was a success I think, once members managed to find the entrance! It’s not especially prominent and more than one person (yours truly included) ended up wandering around Change Alley a couple of times before noticing the discreet entrance and buzzer to obtain access. Anyway. once inside, a classy establishment and more room than the previous GKIC meeting place.

The first session saw David White reveal a simple, but highly effective, formula for setting down at least a first draft of your USP (“Unique Selling Proposition”). Now, while most people understand the value of having clear USP, in practice I’ve found that most people struggle to come up with something suitable and end up with nothing. The beauty of David’s simple formula is that is at least produces something that can be used and…

1. This provides at least a workable starting point. In practice I’ve found USPs tend to emerge over time, evolving through a number of versions

2. Even a poor USP is better than nothing. It’s understandable that we want to present ourselves and our business in the best possible light. But all too often the “best” becomes the enemy of the “good”. If you at least have a USP, you have an answer to that question “Why should I do business with you?” and that will put you streets ahead of the competition who have only a vague response to that question.

(Digressing slightly, this is partly to do with the power of the word “because”. Cialdini relates the case where people asking to jump the line at a photocopier got a better response simply by using the word “because” even if the supposed reason was somewhat spurious!)

David followed up with some insights on the 3 broad approaches to new client attraction and some of the ways to put then into practice.

The main break followed with a chance to refuel with some excellent food (although the bad news is that no “Mini Fish And Chips” which were a big hit at the old venue)…

…and have a chat with fellow members. I have to say, the hour break always seems to fly by as most people end up having an engrossing conversation.

In the main GKIC session…

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GKIC London Chapter – Meeting 18 February 2104

The February 2014 meeting of the GKIC London Chapter was held yesterday at “The Anthologist” in Central London. Another full house was treated to an afternoon of great marketing information and tips along with the opportunity to meet and chat with like-minded business owners and marketers.

The afternoon kicked off with host David White giving a presentation of the importance of a marketing calendar…but with a twist! I’ve long suggested that having a marketing calendar of scheduled promotions is one of the best things you can do to boost your business. I confess that I’ve not viewed this explicitly as a way to improve customer and client retention.

Think of it as a way of creating a “pain of separation”. If people know of all the things that you have scheduled (at least in outline if not all the detail) they’re going to be less likely to leave without having a very good reason to do so. My good mate master copywriter Pete Godfrey puts it a slightly different way when talking about maintaining relationships with clients. He recommends always having in prospect the “next” project.

After the first break came the main GKIC presentation asking the question “Is Direct Mail Dead?” No surprise that the answer is a resounding “No”. What is surprising is the number of marketers who probably should know better who have cut back on direct mail in a foolish and ill-considered attempt to cut costs.

I say ill-considered because if you’re properly tracking results from a promotion, the ONLY reason you would cancel a promotion is if it’s not producing an acceptable return. Of course if the campaign is producing any kind of positive return, cutting it will actually reduce income!

Direct Mail remains a highly effective media for many businesses. The current fashion for all things digital may mean that it’s even more effective than before for businesses that continue to use it. Less competition in the prospects mail box, for example.

After the second (food) break…

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GKIC London Chapter – Meeting 21 January 2014

The first meeting for 2014 of the GKIC London Chapter took place last Tuesday (21 January 2014) and once again provided some great direct marketing information along with a wonderful opportunity to meet up with like minded marketers and entrepreneurs.

In the first bonus session for members, David White went through how he had put together a new book…

…”The Dirty Dozen: The 12 Major Causes Of Business Failure (And Success)”…

…in just 2 weeks and for an outlay of only £40.

Even more interesting…

…how to use the book as part of a carefully constructed lead generation and new client acquisition strategy.

After the first break…

…the main session covered…

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GKIC London Chapter – Meeting 3 December 2013

The final GKIC London Chapter meeting for 2013 was somewhat shorter than usual…

…but still delivered some great content and ideas along with the usual opportunity to swap ideas with fellow marketers and business owners.

With a smaller number than usual in attendance the meeting took on the character of an informal brainstorming and masterminding session.

However, there was still some excellent content with the great David White discussing…

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