February 10, 2012
Testimonials are a very effective, no-cost marketing tool you can use to promote your business. Compliments and words of affirmation from others are often more powerful than anything we can say about ourselves. Here is your simple and easy guide to getting great testimonials and getting them to work for your business.
Tell us what you think
If there is a particular topic you are interested in, please get in touch.
10 things you can do with no marketing budget
November 11, 2011
If you own or manage a SME with limited marketing funds, here are some ideas of what you can do to market your business that don’t cost a thing, other than your time. These points are in no particular order. Some will be more relevant or important than others, depending on the business you’re in and how much marketing you’re already doing.
"Brand Storming Promotions is a fast growing, high energy company that does not have an internal marketing team. Because we are often pitching to large corporates we need a marketing company that has the skills and smarts to ensure our marketing pitch isn’t just a finalist – it is the winner!! This has now happened on several occasions.
Maple Marketing is a company with extraordinary skill. They gel with our brand and assist us with our client’s brand – but most of all, they feel our dream. Maple Marketing knows where we want to be and without them, quite simply, we would not be where we are today.
I highly recommend Maple Marketing and their flair, their ability to provide winning strategic marketing concepts. They have brilliant ideas, great morals and business ethics. Maple Marketing works closely with you so you too could be a winner. Because in business, there is no second place!"
Simon
Wilkinson, Director, Brand Storming Promotions
Marketing can make your business worth more
August 12, 2011
Whether or not you have plans to one day sell your business, I believe you should run your business as if you were going to present it to prospective buyers. This does two things. First, it makes you think big – you begin to treat it as a saleable asset, not a hobby that earns you money. And second, it makes you operate on a different level day-to-day, putting systems in place that you might otherwise not be so diligent about if you planned to carry on as an owner-operator or solopreneur.
May 15, 2011
Marketing your business is like dating. Blind dates, one-night stands, unrequited loves, slow and steady suitors with honourable, long-term intentions – they all want different things and you need to know how to satisfy them all.
Marketing for a New Year – Are You Ready?
February 15, 2011
There are a lot of clichés when it comes to marketing. Two you hear often are “fail to plan, and plan to fail” as well as “if you want to know where you’re going, look at where you’ve come from”. Those come to mind because they’re true. Effective marketing is all about proper planning.
How well does your business communicate?
November 9, 2010
Marketing, communications,
advertising, promotions, publicity – do you know the difference?
They’re all unique, yet for most businesses they serve the purpose of
raising brand awareness and increasing revenue.
Here we look
at one of these, communications, in more detail.
Is there ever a good time to DIY in your business?
August 10, 2010
I’m not a New Zealander by birth, but after living for a number of years now in Godzone I’m familiar with a few common Kiwi traits and habits. I’ve heard enough about the classic quarter acre section and number 8 wire to know that New Zealanders are proud DIY-ers. Whether you can actually do it yourself matters not. What is important is that you give it a go. Put on your stubbies and have a bash. Yeah, no, she’ll be right.
The importance of having a Copy Style Guide
May 4, 2010
Does your business have a copy style guide? Do you know the in-house guidelines when it comes to abbreviating the company name, referring to directors by name or title, or using industry jargon? Or is it a phraseology free-for-all where anything goes?
Think of every sale as a solution to a problem
February 16, 2010
Want to sell more of your product or service? Then you need to understand what people are buying. Sound simple? It is. But it’s not merely a case of looking at sales reports and seeing what the big sellers are.
Should social networking sites be part of your marketing plan?
January 20, 2010
By now you’ve heard people talking about the latest tweets they’ve seen and boasting about the number of ‘friends’ they have. You’ve been forwarded a number of links to YouTube videos to watch. You’ve probably even received a few emails inviting you to get LinkedIn to someone you used to work with. You most likely already have a personal profile on one of the many social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.
But are you still wondering whether or not your business should have its own profile?
Published: NZ Business online, 20 January 2010
November 17, 2009
To make the most of your website as a sales and marketing tool, your site must be both easy to find and easy to use by prospects and customers as well as having key components that improve your search engine optimisation. There are three key things that contribute to this: design, development and text.
September 1, 2009
Marketing often gets a bad rap. From a customer’s point of view, it is often perceived as something manipulative that sneaky marketers do to coerce us into buying things we don’t need. From a business owner’s perspective, marketing can be an expensive, intangible cost that is hard to measure for success or return on investment.
© 2011 Renata Mathewson • Maple Marketing • Unit 4, 18 Railway Street, Newmarket, Auckland • Ph: +64 (0)21 555 210 • info@maplemarketing.co.nz