Posts Tagged ‘conference’

New services…

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

After a lot of thinking, planning and learning, I am pleased to say I will be introducing a new service in the new financial year. It is exciting to start something new, although I have been doing it quietly already, and I’m starting promotions this weekend at the Business Mums Conference.

The question now is – do I build anticipation and wait for 1 July to announce my new service, or do I tell you now? Which would you prefer?

My thoughts on such decisions:

  • building anticipation is a great way to develop curiosity and (for a blog) an effective way to encourage repeat visitors
  • there is no point in annoying people with part of a story so any ‘coming soon’ message needs to be intriguing and not mislead
  • what does a launch date signify? Is there a strong reason to delay something new? If there are legal or IP or technical reasons to not give details in advance, be very careful of how you present any teasers
  • don’t build up to a launch you aren’t sure of – it destroys your credibility and any excitement if your wesbite says “our new product will be in store on 10 June” and it’s now July.
  • building up to a launch can start the process of search engine optimisation  and getting some traffic and ranking for your webpages. This may be limited if you can’t use keywords in advance but it at least gives you a URL to use in preparing marketing and advertising

Launching a new product or service also raises questions such as using the same brand and business name or not, pricing the new item, packaging the new with the old, and where to focus future marketing.

As for my new service, I am not launching it until July because my website can’t be ready before then (preparing a conference presentation and client deadlines took priority.) And you’ll just have to wait a little longer to find out more…

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Posted in About Word Constructions, business info | No Comments »

Recharge your business with promotional articles

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

I will be presenting the above topic at the Business Mums Conference on 20/21 June in Melbourne. I will be covering ways to help people get the most value out of the promotional articles they write (or pay to get written) as I believe it is a valuable, low cost way to promote any business.

What is a promotional article?

Any useful article can be used as a promotional article, although they tend to be around 300-600 words long. At the end of the article, you include an information section (called a bio box or resource box) about yourself and/or your business.

To be a good promotion for your business, it is best to use topics that build your credibility in your industry. For example, if you are a hairdresser you could use articles about choosing shampoos, the best types of hair accessories and hair care tips, but if you sell children’s party accessories, you would be better using articles about how to plan a birthday party, dealing with invitation lists and party game suggestions.

Note that a promotional article is not an ad. An article about the services you offer or how you are better than a competitor is not a promotional article – it is an ad. The aim of your article is to provide information, and/or entertainment, to readers.

** If you are going to the conference, please come and chat to me – I’ll be there all weekend as I know from experience that is a positive, information pack weekend that will benefit my business.

If you havent bought tickets yet, Save Time Online is offering an advertising bonus if you mention them when booking.

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Posted in About Word Constructions, blog content, newsletter content, web content, writing | 2 Comments »

Brilliant conference

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

As I mentioned, I have been at the Business Mums Conference over the weekend and it was brilliant – and not just because the theme was brilliant business and beyond!

I really enjoy being with other people who are motivated, positive and willing to share their ideas and knowledge. That in itself is inspiring and a great source of energy to return to my office with.

There were a number of excellent speakers at the conference and I will share some things I learned over the coming weeks. And will introduce some changes to my business as well.

Although it was not my reason for going to the conference, I also came away with new clients, a door prize and a goodie bag. Imagine coming away from a conference financially ahead of the ticket price – and that doesn’t even count the longer term financial benefit from what I learned and thought of while I was there!

I strongly suggets that if you get the opportunity to attend this or a similar conference that you take it and be willing to make the most of it! For now, I need some sleep!

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Posted in business events | 4 Comments »

Check the terms first

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

No doubt you’ve heard it before “don’t sign anything you haven’t read” – it may sound trite but it is a valuable rule legally.

I have mentioned before that I am going to the Business Mums Conference in Melbourne this weekend, and that I submitted proposals to be a speaker. Before submitting my proposals, I read the documentation about what was expected from a speaker and what I could expect in return. I had the choice there and then to decide if any of those terms were unreasonable or disagreeable to me.

Apparently, not everyone read those documents – or maybe just didn’t take them seriously – as potential speakers sent in proposals but refused to meet one or two of the terms. And the same thing happened last year. I just don’t understand how you can agree to do something with clearly set out rules and then be surprised at having to keep those rules.

The end result is that I am speaking twice at the conference! It is not too late to get your tickets and come along – book online for the whole weekend, a day or even just my session (joking – any single session can be booked, but I would love to meet you!) And if you get back to me by COB Thursday, I have some discounted booking forms I can give you.

* I am speaking about promotional articles (of which I have written a few!) and email newsletter content.

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Posted in writing | No Comments »

Business Mums Conference

Saturday, March 1st, 2008

Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the first Business Mums Network Conference. I presented a workshop and in a forum at the conference, as well as being an attendee at other sessions, and found the entire weekend beneficial.

This year’s conference is a bit earlier so I have just finished a proposal to present again at this year’s workshop – I have already registered to attend anyway! I should find out later this month if my proposal was accepted so I will let you know what I am speaking about (I proposed more than one topic.)

If you can be in Melbourne in for 12 – 13 July for the conference, please make sure you meet me!

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Posted in About Word Constructions, business events | 4 Comments »

From conference to blog!

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Writing a blog seems like an obvious thing for a writer to do and it has been on my to do list for some time, but I never had the time to look into it.

 Two weeks ago I went to the inaugral Business Mums Network Conference. It was a fantastic two days and I came out of it with a lot of ideas and plans for my business. Amongst other ideas, was a further incentive to get a blog started, so here it is!

What else did I get from the conference? Well, I am going to change the way my business works so I get more time for writing (which I love) and less time on background communications tasks for my corporate clients. It is important to spend time doing what we love and are good at, rather than filling our hours with ‘stuff’ that may be urgent and even important, but not fulfilling or the most important.

But for now, back to the writing!

Word Constructions

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Posted in About Word Constructions, business events, writing | 1 Comment »