All members - The Marketing Compass

Marketing Compass member wins award for Best Salon in the UK

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 By Sue CarterNo Comments

While many people were concerned about the Oscars this weekend, Marketing Compass members Image Beauty Salon, Ipswich, were at the Professional Beauty Awards in London waiting to hear the biggest news of their professional lives; that they had won the national award of Best Salon in the UK. A nationwide competition, run by Professional Beauty Magazine, Image salon was a finalist in the category Beauty Salon of the Year Four Rooms or more. An extremely tough and rigorous competition, this is a very prestigious award, normally only won by large city salons or chains. Image had to undergo a series of interviews, mystery visits, an official visit and interview and have all their procedures and policies examined and assessed. A panel of judges then gave an in individual vote. The award was presented to Sue Carter, owner of Image Beauty salon by Claudia Winkleman, Sue said, “Words can’t describe how fantastic it feels to win this, for us as a team, and to do it for...

First Aid at Work training

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 By AlistairHollington1 Comment

First aid training is often a requirement of even the smallest of workplaces, which must make arrangements for action in event of an emergency, provide a first aid kit and possibly provide trained workplace first aiders. The Health and Safety Executive have recently clarified the progress towards change of the regulation of workplace first aid training. Current HSE approval will remain till October 2013 with further information being released in due course. As an HSE approved first aid training provider Lazarus Training provides a number of workplace first aid courses, all run in a highly practical and interactive way, by training staff with relevant qualifications and experience. All our first aid courses are aimed at making you confident to provide first aid at work when required. First aid at Work training is ideal for? It is aimed at workplaces with higher numbers of staff and risk. The range of topics [shown below] mean this is an ideal first aid qualification for many workplaces such...

Marketing event for Huntingdonshire Association for Tourism

March 8, 2013March 11, 2013 By Nigel TempleNo Comments

Since the closure of all local tourist information centres the Huntingdonshire Association for Tourism (HAT) is now a focal point for people looking for accommodation and attractions in the area. Our membership includes some of the largest hotels right through to small bed & breakfast establishments, including caravan parks, self catering and guest houses, which between them offer around 600 rooms to the business and leisure visitor. Marketing consultant and author Nigel Temple will be speaking at the Huntingdonshire Association for Tourism Annual General meeting on Friday 19th April 2013. Nigel's presentation is entitled 'Attracting more customers through the web'. He will be reviewing the attendee's websites and providing practical advice and ideas to make them more effective. Nigel has taught internet marketing since 2000 and he has reviewed over 10,000 websites during that time. Location Wyboston Lakes, Great North Road, Wyboston, Bedfordshire, MK44 3AL Timetable 10.15 - 11.15 HAT AGM Closed meeting 11.15 - 11.30 Coffee meet & greet 11.30 - 12.45 Nigel's presentation part 1 12.45 -...

Better Business Management

February 5, 2013 By Jacqui-Hogan1 Comment

When was the last time you took a step back to think about what you want to do to make your business more successful? Here are are few simple, but essential, tips: Define clear Goals As far as possible, define the goals in terms that can be measured. Then, as changes are proposed (and they will be!), you have a set of well understood and defined criteria against which to measure the impact and relevance of changes. And there will be changes! More>> Review your business plan You do have a Business Plan, don’t you? A good business plan will save you time, money and possibly even your business. But you need to look at it regularly, and update it as business conditions change. If you haven’t reviewed it in the last year, take some time to do it now. More> Innovate Are you stuck for ideas to take your business forward? If you’ve got staff, they can be a fabulous source of new ideas to improve...

Ecommerce Sites Making Sure Yours is The Best not the Worst

February 5, 2013 By Ben TempleNo Comments

Ecommerce websites are specifically designed to create a venue from which to sell your business or personal products. If you are selling tangible products or downloadable services from your website, you will at some point require an ecommerce website. How do you determine what is and is not a good Ecommerce website? What are some of the things that you'll need to ensure that your own sites give your visitors a good experience? Think about the best and the absolute worst of the sales websites that you have ever seen or tried to buy from. Needless to say, the best was probably attractive and easy to find exactly what you wanted. The worst were those which were not attractive aesthetically and were very difficult to navigate. Great Ecommerce websites are going to be those which makes the buyer feel at home nearly immediately. The website will offer a great look, clean concise and easy to use. The first thing that you see when...

Meet Martin Myers – our Mr Marketing

February 1, 2013March 2, 2019 By adamduff1 Comment

Here's a little trick we use at www.fusionsoft.co.uk to keep track of the where our Website Marketing customers are coming from. Firstly, let me explain why we use Martin. It's common these days, with the World Wide Web being the huge place that it is, to lose track of calls and emails coming in from your Website Marketing. When companies advertise in printed media or directories, it's easy to track where the call is coming from - quite often, the customer on the other end of the line will say 'I've seen your ad in Yellow Pages'. The trouble is with the internet, it's so big and has so many places to advertise your business, simply hearing a customer tell you they found you 'online' isn't enough. We've also found that, with the web of websites out there, most people don't really know the route they have taken to get to your website or your advert. Often we hear 'I'm not sure'...

New technology? What about the users?

January 30, 2013 By richard-battersbyNo Comments

Do we pay enough attention to managing change in the workplace? How readily does your workforce adapt to change? Even the most trusted of your employees might feel uncomfortable with any initiative to change their working practices. They suspect that the changes will disrupt their daily routine. After all, they are comfortable with what they know, what they do, and how they try to resolve problems. Could the proposed changes undermine their role security? After all, they have become “experts” in massaging the existing systems. You won’t necessarily see an overt reaction: It is more likely to be expressed covertly in a passive and non-cooperative form, possibly as an increase in absences from work, or through a reluctance to hand over vital information. What possible reasons are there for this behaviour? Employees feel comfortable with the status quo and their usual routine. Some people become anxious with the challenge of learning new things. People don’t want to be bothered with learning all over again. They fear being...

Love Breakfast?

January 30, 2013February 1, 2013 By Malcolm WatsonNo Comments

There has been a recent upsurge in the interest about Breakfast for young people; the latest initiative is supported by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Whilst these initiatives are very laudable it is nothing new; so called Breakfast clubs have been around for ages certainly I ran one in the seventies and my concern remains the same; all they are doing is masking the real problem! At School Dynamics we ran a survey under the heading of Love Breakfast and found that too many children, of all ages and many from good homes, were missing out on Breakfast and some did not eat until lunchtime; in short it was not cool to have breakfast. In the words of Del Boy, “Breakfast is for wimps!” This misconception is what we need to tackle. This is just another extension of the abdication of responsibility of parents; now don’t get me wrong I’m not talking of the small minority who really are in need and...

Nigel Temple to present at Knight and Company event on February 28th 2013

January 23, 2013January 23, 2013 By Nigel TempleNo Comments

Chartered accountants Knight and Company would like to invite you to a free event in Maidenhead, Berkshire on Thursday 28th February 2013 2:00pm – 4:30pm: How to attract more customers and streamline your management systems Knight and Company are delighted to be hosting this event in partnership with The Marketing Compass. Nigel Temple, founder of The Marketing Compass has 25 years' of marketing experience. He is a knowledgeable and engaging speaker who always packs a great deal into his presentations. Discover new ways to attract more customers to your business, at this event! Knight & Company will demonstrate the benefits of Iris Openbooks, a cloud based management accounting and bookkeeping system that can be accessed simultaneously by yourselves and your accountant. They will also be launching their new free app for the iPhone and Android. You're welcome to bring a business colleague or a guest. There will be opportunities to network, so do bring plenty of business cards. Prize draw Win a round of golf for two at Stoke Park*! We will pick the...

How to get training funding from your local council or governing body to help you with your marketing

January 21, 2013March 7, 2014 By Ben Temple1 Comment

There's a wide range of training funding available from various sources to help your business grow, particularly from local councils. You may be eligible for full or partial funding, depending on what you'd like to study and your circumstances. To help you find the right funding we've put together a list of potential grants and useful links. All of the below training funding will entitle you to join The Marketing Compass and train with us over the year ahead. Government Growth Accelerator scheme If you're looking to increase your sales and improve your marketing, this scheme will be perfect for you. The package allows you to have 7 days personal marketing coaching, 6 half day workshops and a grant of up to £2000 to spend on further marketing training. If you are interested, email info@marketingcompass.co.uk Essex County Council - Skills for Economic Growth Skills for Economic Growth is an Essex County Council programme that provides training funding grants of up to £2,000 to help businesses...