Essex Business Awards 2012

Delighted to say we are one of the 6 finalists in the New Company category at the Essex Business Awards being held tomorrow night at Charter Hall, Colchester. Given how young we are as a company its GREAT just to be nominated and even more so to be in the final six.

An evening of chilled champagne, excellent food and brilliant company can only help make this a really GREAT night for us and to all who are attending and nominated for the various categories.

Best of luck to all concerned. You can find out more about the Awards and the finalists by clicking the image below and information on how to join Great Deals Colchester by clicking on our logo.

Great Deals Colchester Blog November 2012

Topic: SEO and Facebook

Date : 06/111/12

The online environment is constantly evolving. Online marketers anticipate increasing the role of public, social networks, the need to develop websites dedicated to Smartphones and tablets and the emergence of visual search engines.

Online trade is changing with high speed each year, which makes the consumers to have high expectations. Adopting the latest technologies and trends can revive business and of course increase sales. It is clear that we are entering a new century in which the internet makes the rules.

Online marketing methods can be grouped in two categories: online advertising and search engine optimization.

Online advertising purpose is to generate traffic to choose a target market segment for our business in various ways through various methods:

1. Online advertising Pay Per Click or Cost Per Click
2. Campaigns through links or banners
3. Emails and Newsletters

Search engine optimization is one of the trends in online marketing. No doubt SE0 as marketing activity has the greatest benefit of all marketing activities that can engage a website owner. Quantities of traffic that search engines like Google can bring a site is amazing, especially when you consider a website with many applications.

In the virtual world a website don't exist that search engines and directories do not know him. Internet engine bots search new websites to index them. Directories are generally maintained manually by the webmaster. A campaign promoting a website must necessarily include the announcement site's presence on the Internet. Of course, it's necessary that the website is built by the SE0 rules so that when the search engines will find your site, index it and display it as above.

Many people are intimidated by the idea of spending money on Facebook ads. However, most entrepreneurs who use Facebook Ads are experiencing the difficulty of measuring results. How do you get more 'Like's'? How do you make the company to interact with fans on Facebook and what happens afterwards? In the following rows i will submit some effective strategies for increasing the number of 'Like's' and user engagement that can help you start a campaign to promote its own business:

1. Transform your status in an ad that offers a clear advantage for those who click. Include a call to action.
2. Reduce costs and increase conversion rates by targeting existing fans already. At first, consider a campaign
   
   
   
   
   

Local media and how it can help you.

Support and interest from local press and media can be very helpful for  any business, whether new or ongoing. We all need to attract as much attention for what we do and if the local media take an interest in what you do then that's a win-win scenario. You are getting some FREE editorial which can be costly if paid for, but also the connections you make via the press to keep them interested in what you do and anything that they may follow up on.
The key is to develop a good relationship with your local media and keep them interested in what you are doing? Sometimes they will like the idea and perhaps give you some editorial coverage, sometimes they wont. And remember they have a business to run too and ideally are looking at you advertising with them, so consider local media in any marketing plans, they can do some GreatDeals and can provide excellent help on budgets, targeting and campaign effectiveness for both press and radio.

We were fortunate enough to have editorial in both the Essex County Standard and The Gazette here in Essex, Colchester, link attached here: Local press coverage
Or paste this in yr browser: http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=a2b16ba5-a1a3-4eda-9554-b7f982168c4e

Marketing tips to help your business grow

Here is very useful article outlining some of the benefits of different types of marketing, from direct mail to email. Why not see if there is anything you could be doing to increase awareness of your brand and get more customers. If you need help with any of this please get in touch, email John@greatdealscolchester.com

With technology and the ability to instantly connect with people just about any hour of the day or night, it seems the world has got smaller. And with that, surely it makes it much easier to reach more prospective customers to increase sales.
Actually, if you’re not experiencing easy sales right now then you’re not alone. Many small business owners feel it’s become much tougher to market and sell to prospects. So I hope this will help you towards understanding why.

Here is the article in full.  http://www.microbusinesshub.co.uk/marketing-a-turn-off/

Twitter tools and Facebook use.

Really useful list of tools you can use if you are on Twitter, which so many of us are now. This has tools to help clean your follower list, get new followers, brand awareness, build up a database, schedule messages....in fact it has everything you need to use Twitter as really EFFECTIVE social media tool that can generate business leads and new customers.GDC has nearly 1000 followers and growing.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1dnPyG/www.socialable.co.uk/20-vital-twitter-management-tools-for-2012/

 Another useful article and one to help you think about how you use Facebook and Twitter is this.
New Social Media Marketing Fact: 6x More People Using Facebook Than Twitter! However Twitter seeing steady growth year on year. Nearly 50% of US adults now access Facebook regularly and that trend is likely to follow in the UK also.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/187fLf/thebizcoachblog.com/2147/new-social-media-marketing-fact-6x-more-people-using-facebook-than-twitter/

Join Great Deals Colchester today for cost effective use of social media and business growth. 

Facebook and Twitter - why use them for business?

Have You Discovered The Benefits Of Using Social Media?

Social media; now I am fairly sure that you have all heard and read about it but are you using it? When asking this question I am not talking about using it to keep in contact with your friends and family – I talking about using it to promote your business. I meet many business people each week and I am often astonished at the amount of them who merely dismiss the idea, it is as if they just do not want to know or perhaps they just do not have the time.

In my experience it is the business people that are aged over thirty that are the ones most likely to shy away from using the likes of Twitter and Facebook. They say to me that these are things that their children use and that they are too busy trying to run their business and to keep their business going during these difficult economic times. The point that they are missing or that they are simply unaware of is the fact that social media could well be what enables their company to survive the recession.

Whether you are for it or against it there is one company that is very much for it and that is Google. They regularly communicate that they love social media and that it is now a part of their algorithm – the way in which they rank a website. How many times have you seen a Facebook business page or a Twitter account highly ranked in Google? It is happening more and more these days.

The fact that Google is looking for website owners to use social media is a good enough reason to start. I want my website to rank highly in Google and therefore I keep up to date with their communications about the best ways of promoting a website. To write regular blog posts is something else which Google have stated that they like as it adds “freshness to a website”. Once the blog post has been uploaded to the blog you can then tweet (on Twitter) that you have a new blog post and your followers can then, if they so wish, go and read it. You can also add a similar notification on Facebook.

I am mainly mentioning Twitter and Facebook in this blog post however there are many other social media platforms which you can use such as Pinterest and Google plus. I must admit that it is time consuming and at times it can be quite tedious but believe you me people like myself would not be spending this amount of time if it was not bringing us the benefits. To create that social media footprint for the major search engines is now seen as a must for those of us that want to receive high levels of traffic from search.

But social media is beneficial for reasons outside of search. The connections that you make via the people who follow you on Twitter and Facebook are also potential customers. By regularly communicating with these followers can enable you to make a whole raft of new long term business relationships.

I could write forever about this subject and the benefits however I do not want you to feel that I am in any way preaching. However please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. john@greatdealscolchester.com 0r 07796 302941

Getting bigger and GREATER!

Things are looking good (well GREAT really) for Great Deals Colchester  Not only did the Colchester Carnival go extremely well, the sun shone and the crowds filled the park all day, we got hundreds to join up and asking about what GDC does and who we are.

Lots of NEW businesses to meet with too and some new additions to the GDC group coming soon. Our philosophy is let businesses find us either through recommendation or having seen us in one the shops they go to or businesses they use. No heavy sell, no cold calling, no pressure....and it seems to be working.

We are EXCITED to be launching a rather brilliant new marketing tool for our members....but more of that in our next post.

We keep things simple but effective, creative and unique, we aim to be different and offer more that you would normally get when joining up with a business like us....saying that though, we dont think there are any like us??

Do you want to be in on the Deal? Are you missing the opportunity to join us before your competitor does? Are you keen to meet other local independent business owners who could be vital leads in taking you r business forward? If you answered YES to even 1 of those, you really should be talking to us NOW!!
Email support@greatdealscolchester.com or call John on 07796 302941 

We have just launched this brilliant competition and you can enter by simply going to /http://www.greatdealscolchester.com/comps/ Good luck!! Ends 8th July 2012. Plus on the site we have deals for hair, beauty, wedding cakes, restaurant deals...and so much more coming too.

If you are interested in joining GDC as a business please go to http://www.greatdealscolchester.com/why-join-great-deals/ and send us a message. Getting bigger each week.

Midnigt Walk St Helena Hospice

Well tonight Great Deals Colchester will be providing drinks, tea and coffee for the brilliant Ladies who have signed up to the Midnight Walk in aid of St Helena Hospice. Not only are we doing the drinks with our great friends Mussi's Restaurant some of the GDC business group are volunteering as route marshals too. So if you are doing this tonight, stay cheerful and say hello if you see us.

We will get some pics of the volunteers and at the drinks stall too to post on our events page ASAP.

Let hope the rain holds off...PLEASE!!!!!!

ps, have you entered our latest competition to WIN a 32" TV? You really should.....

How GDC started?

Great Deals Colchester started up in Feb 2012, I had the idea last year. I run a small independent business here in Colchester and have been doing really well for the last 10 years. As times have got tough more and more customers chatted over the counter about the usual mix of advertising not working as effectively as it had ie paper press, leaflets, coupons I got thinking about social media, how I use it and what it can do if used correctly and with local support. My business had always used these usual types of media to advertise but a few years ago I discovered just how useful our website, Facebook and text alert campaigns can be for a business and now I would include Twitter, Pinterest etc. I loved the fact that I could chat with customers and get feedback, post jokes, offer deals and generally use this as a very good marketing tool for my business, and all FREE. AND it paid off, and still is. Facebook, email, text alerts, Twitter are NOT replacing my traditional use of marketing media but rather complimenting them. Flyers, press ads, traditional media promotions can and do work but in today's market you need to think 'social media', if you are not your competitors will be?

I can go on about what happened next but would be giving away vital info on how the business has developed and then I would have to kill you..that's a joke!! However, in 4 months we have achieved so much and really have so much more planned. New website that will wipe the floor of the other competitors, we are thinking stylish, easy to navigate, user focused, business friendly and high ranking on all search engines. Heavy promotion throughout the summer, charity support and sponsorship, fundraising challenges and of course getting social media marketing working for the members of Great Deals Colchester. Not an easy list of things to do but ones which I know will pay off for all concerned. I'm excited by what Great Deals Colchester is doing and if you are a business in Essex, you should be too!! As they say, "you snooze, you lose".

Love this flyer for the Jubilee celebrations, captures what essentially the day should be about but also has a modern twist too. Style and substance are always key to getting yr promotional materials SPOT ON for any promotional work. I am GREAT believer in branding, whether it be the colour you use the style of font and even the tone you use when posting status updates. Its key to have a personality but also remember its not you, its yr business that yr are effectively speaking on behalf, which may mean toning down or even gearing up the confidence in how you say things. As this is the first blog, here is how I would like to develop it:

1. Tips and help on marketing
2. Updates on Great Deals Colchester - events, charity support, offers, deals and of course promote the businesses who are part of it?
3. Images, features, blogs, trends - all will be on here.
4. Social media - facebook, twitter, pinterest and more. Is it working for business? How to use it effectively and not get confused by what is essential and what is effectively just something nice and new to play with. I think we all panic about what works, what doesn't and what we should be using. There are no clear answers to this, but we can at least look at some facts and figures and see what works best for us.