Lee Callender, David White and Kevin Francis at GKIC London
The latest meeting of the GKIC London Chapter took place yesterday (20 May 2014) at our new home in the heart of the City Of London.
The new format seems to have bedded down and is working well. The meeting unfolded in 3 parts as follows…
1. Presentation by Lee Callender on email marketing
2. Main GKIC presentation by David White
3. Additional material with Fergus McClelland and Richard Abrahams
…with plenty of time for chats and networking between sessions and in the bar afterwards.
To the material covered…
Session 1 – “13 Mistakes In Email Marketing”
Lee Callender is the Managing Director of Mail Magic (www.mail-magic.co.uk) and is an expert in getting outstanding results from email campaigns.
Based on hundreds of campaigns and rigorous testing to uncover what really works best, Lee shared the mistakes that he most commonly sees in email marketing. There were 13 in all and 3 of the most common are…
1. Not using a proper commercial email client (instead using a program intended for personal use, like Outlook)
2. Not setting expectations properly when someone opts-in to a list. It’s important that you let people know how often you’ll be emailing and the kind of information they can expect
3. Not personalising your message. Email is very much a personal medium and if you don’t have, or fail to use, a person’s name then your results will suffer.
Excellent presentation from Lee full of useful tips about email. And the best thing for me was that everything he shared is based on the results of real campaigns here in the UK and Europe.
More about Lee and how he can help get better results with email at www.Mail-Magic.co.uk
Session 2 – “9 Ways To Get Celebrities Without Raiding Your Piggybank!”
Taking advantage of the attractive power of celebrity mystique can give your marketing a boost by both making it easier to grab attention and then to enhance your “prestige” through association.
I’ve discussed this several times before on this blog, most recently in this post…
‘Formula For Free Celebrity “Endorsements” In Marketing’
In the main session of GKIC-style marketing, David White added to the options available to use the power of celebrity cost-effectively with 9 strategies. Here are just 3 of them…
1. Get a photo of yourself and a celebrity relevant to your market. In the business space, this is relatively easy to do when you attend a live event. I’ve used this myself on this blog with pictures of myself and people like marketing-maven Drayton Bird, along with photos taken at GKIC events.
2. Make yourself a “celebrity”. For example, issue relevant press releases to make yourself known as a commentator and expert in your field. A more advanced strategy would be to publish your own book.
3. Interview celebrities in your field. This can be surprisingly easy and often the people you approach will be flattered by the attention and more than helpful.
Excellent presentation from David White with practical strategies to put this powerful marketing technique to work for you. Key point to remember is that in many cases you are relying on the implication of association.
Session 3 – Presentation And Productivity Tips
In the final session…
1. Fergus McClelland shared a simple and reliable formula for preparing a short presentation in almost any situation
2. Richard Abrahams led us all on an exercise to help take action on what we learned over the course of the afternoon. Check in next month to see how this worked out!
Once again a most worthwhile and productive afternoon. Always great to have the opportunity to catch up with like-minded folks and discuss what’s happening in marketing and business. And a big “THANK YOU” to David White for making it all happen.
The next meeting is a little later in the month than usual due to the FIFA 2014 World Cup frenzy and the venue being booked on our normal day. So, the June GKIC London meeting will be on FRIDAY JUNE 27. All the details and reserve your place at booking for GKIC London meeting.
UPDATE (22 May 2014):
Here’s a preview from David White about the program and content for the June 2014 GKIC London meeting…
*****
Nothing like GKIC existed when I started out and for those that really get it, they find that GKIC London really is the “Place For Prosperity”. I hear of new developments and progress being made every month.
As well as a while to wait, there’s World Cup Football, fine weather, holidays and business itself that will give you and your customers plenty to take the eye off the business ball, when in fact this, for most will be the month you will need to work the most, as business will slow down even more in July and August.
So, for many reasons, some listed above, I have found a phenomenal speaker in order to ethically bribe you, to force you to cancel all the other sunny activities so you will feel compelled come along “come what may” to the next GKIC London meeting, even though it is a Friday…
Next months speaker is Robert Craven a fellow of the PSA (professional speaking association), program director of Cranfield School Of Management, an MBA, a visiting professor and an Author of 6 books.
Robert Craven has both outstanding credentials and references from Richard Branson, Barclays, The FT and The Independent. Robert is known for being a hands on, practical, down to earth. Robert stands up and gets the job done.
Robert Craven will be standing up for us from 2 to 3pm on Friday the 27th. I am writing to you first, to give you the first chance to register, the first chance to reserve your seat. I predict our July event is likely to be oversubscribed and that I will have to run a repulsion campaign to make sure only the MOST interested turn up.
The GKIC London June agenda is sharp. We will be discussing 18 ways you can get more money from your own clients. Yes, this is hugely valuable content we will be sharing. As I know you are in business to make money I know you will take the time to listen, take notes and take action. It’s going to be good, our very best.
Not only have we got a great speaker, and a great agenda for the month, I am also going to give you the opportunity to invite the people and colleagues that you most want to do business with first. This is the month to invite premium clients, suppliers and friends, those you most want to help, impress and who you know are most likely to get the most from GKIC London. They will be impressed with Robert, with GKIC London and in turn they will see you are going places. That will be clearly evident.
*****
In addition, David is laying on some food and refreshments mid-way through the afternoon and there will be plenty of opportunities to chat with other members and bounce ideas around. Often it’s these informal and impromptu conversations that provide the real breakthroughs.
Looks like it will be an outstanding meeting. Reserve your place here at booking for GKIC London Chapter meeting.