Clarity — On Demand Business Advice allows you to ask questions first and then hire the people who answer. You can buy advice over the phone by the minute. It’s a good way to get quick answers.
Log In or Sign Up Linked In will allow you to search for people with those skills in your region.
After you have chosen the marketplace and the skillset you want; you will need to be expert in how to brief an agency, how to write an agency pitch and ways to select from a range of candidates for your work. That’s the subject of another question!
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https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2019-05-02 09:05:032022-12-19 13:51:21How to find digital marketers
Anyone should know that to establish a good online brand presence, you need a good Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy. Keywords are a main part of that strategy – they’re more than just using the right tags to find relevant blog posts – they help boost your business’ search results so your website gets more traffic.
Last year, we helped Living Goodness develop an SEO strategy that saw them appear on the front page! And to top off the cake, it was also the first time that Living Goodness ranked higher than a competitor.
Seventh place! Not too shabby.
In this blog article, I’ll show you three key skills that we utilised for their SEO strategy, and show you how you can put them to work on your own business.
For example, Living Goodness were ranking for “fermented foods nz” (though they appeared on the second page of search results). They wanted to rank higher for this search term, and also wished to show up for “sauerkraut nz”.
Which we achieved, by the way.
We went on to conduct our own research to find relevant keywords that would complement these. A handy tool that we turned to is called Answer the Public.
This allowed us to see what users were also searching for alongside the terms “fermented foods nz” and “sauerkraut nz”. We picked up key phrases and words such as “probiotics”, “raw”, “organic” and “kimchi” alongside many more. This also gave us a good starting point for blog article ideas.
2. Incorporate these keywords into existing content
Now that we had a lovely list of keywords, we needed to disperse them around different landing pages in a natural manner. For SEO purposes, there were key points that needed keyword boosting:
Landing page headings
Links
First paragraphs of content
These were just a few places where we implemented keywords into the existing content in a manner that was natural and flowed. Being a business that sells fermented foods, this wasn’t a problem. We also made sure we used a mix of these keywords because no one likes repetition (especially not Google!).
3. Help out your visitors with handy internal linking
Keywords aren’t the only way to boost SEO. There are many things that affect search engine rankings, and relevance is a big contender. If people aren’t spending long enough on your website and are bouncing away quickly (tip: check the bounce rate in Google Analytics), it may very well mean they’re not finding what they are looking for on your website.
Internal links are a great way to boost SEO and retain website traffic. If you aren’t linking to your products whenever you mention them, it’s a huge opportunity wasted. You also want to encourage a longer customer journey by suggesting other pages that are relevant.
For Living Goodness, we added links to their stockists page and social media handles on the recipes pages. This call-to-action prompted visitors to seek the closest stockist after reading a delicious recipe – “Are you running low on delicious sauerkraut or kimchi? Check out your local stockist here.” The social media links also encouraged visitors to share any of the recipes they’d followed. Being a foodie Instagram account, any photos using a Living Goodness product was free user-generated content, and of course, we were going to make the most of it!
Three simple tips that you can do yourself
As you can see, these tips are all very simple, easy and free to do. Hopefully, you’re able to apply them to your website straight away.
All these were tasks that we did as part of our SEO Starter Pack. It’s a comprehensive analysis of a website with actions to improve SEO and a recommended guide for next steps.
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https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/answerthepublic.png577816Creative Agency Secrets Teamhttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgCreative Agency Secrets Team2018-06-21 17:22:582020-01-24 01:45:013 Takeaway Tips: Building an SEO strategy for Living Goodness
Thanks to Glenn Marvin of Konnector who interviewed me on his 302 Temporary Redirect Show (that’s a geek joke – a website has a 302 error code…. ).
5 key activities for B2B Marketing
During the show Glenn asked me what my “always on” fundamental B2B marketing activities are. If you want to listen it’s at 18:25 through to 20:24.
Database of clients, suspects and prospects. Regularly updated.
Regular communications to your database
Trade shows and local in person meetups
LinkedIn to recognise the names of people in your industry – and LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Speaking at conferences, events and being a PR spokesperson for your trade magazine.
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https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Konnector-podcast-302-show-1.png11462038Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2018-04-20 14:36:002019-04-23 10:53:31Featured on the 302 Temp Redirect show
If you run a business and you do not employ a CFO chief financial officer may I recommend that you examine why not?
Karen Tobeck, CFO
I have spent two years working with Karen Tobeck and value she brings far surpasses the fee I pay.
Anybody who runs a business has three skills they need, delivering the product or service, sales and finance. Few people can do two of these. Most people can do one. Nobody can do three. This means is you must identify what you enjoy doing for your business and the one area where you need another advisor.
For me, it is finance.
Karen provides a monthly check-in with me and bi-monthly business plan goal-setting and results alignment. The key to our successful partnership is that she asks the right questions and helps me to focus with calm objectivity and external focus.
Members of my mastermind group have also hired her from their businesses. It does not matter if you already have an accountant or a bookkeeper on board. I have both and neither service is provided by Monteck Carter, Karen’s firm.
If I have challenged you today please go and look at her profile and get in touch if you would like an introductory short chat.
This November, we’ve got another breakfast seminar happening! We will be covering 3 ways to change your business thinking and actions for 2018 success.
Has your business reached a standstill even with new business strategies and tactics implemented?
Perhaps it is time to renew your thinking with us! Getting your thinking right is the key to developing the right business strategy and tactics. Digital marketing is one of the most effective tools to utilise when unlocking business growth and boosting brand awareness. To help you better understand how incorporating digital marketing and the right business strategy can unlock secrets that underpin success, we have this insightful breakfast seminar lined up for you.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Creative Agency Secrets Teamhttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgCreative Agency Secrets Team2017-11-10 16:16:122022-12-19 11:57:293 Ways to Change Your Business Thinking & Actions for 2018 Success
When it comes to a marketing report, you may dread the idea of seeing pie charts, bar graphs and numbers floating around. That’s not to mention the accompanying dry, boring analysis of these results, written in what looks to be a different language.
If you think this, you’re so very wrong.
Recently, I wrote up a competitor strategy analysis for a client, Living Goodness. The results took no longer than 30 minutes, there were no graphs, and the report reads just over a page long!
Read on to find out exactly how I accomplished this – it’s super simple, I promise.
Seriously, this is 97% of my report – short and simple!
#1. Find your competitor
If you’re running a business and have no idea who your competitors are, you need to remedy this quickly.
Open up your internet browser in incognito mode and Google search a few keywords on what your business is about. Why incognito? Well, the search results will be personalised to your search history so you want to find a competitor that is worth analysing.
Living Goodness sells sauerkraut, so I typed into Google, “sauerkraut nz”. Google has been working on improving localised searching since around 2015. While obvious searches such as “Italian food” will bring up local restaurants, I needed to localise Living Goodness keywords so that Google knows I want to buy this product from a local store, as opposed to just needing a sauerkraut recipe.
Living Goodness ranks on the front page for “sauerkraut nz” (yay!) but so does a competitor. This will be the target of my strategy analysis.
Third place on the front page of Google! Yay Living Goodness!
In a new document for notes, I made three subheadings:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
You’ll need to adapt these to suit the media platforms of your client.
#2. Website
From the competitor’s website, I can see all their social media buttons on the top right. This is the first difference I note. Living Goodness’ social buttons are in the footer of every page, but that requires scrolling down to see. Placing additional social links somewhere on the homepage where they will be visible to visitors is the first thing I make note of in a section called “suggestions”.
There’s not much above the fold on the Living Goodness website…
I embark on a journey across the competitor’s website, making note of what they have and what Living Goodness don’t have on their website.
Along the way, I kept asking, “why?” For example, the competitor lists recent recipes on a sidebar on their landing pages. Why is this? Well, as a mere consumer searching for sauerkraut products, I can see that it will prompt me to head to the recipes page, especially if there’s a delicious concoction that catches my eye.
A sidebar can easily be installed into websites as an automated widget – this means any new recipes uploaded will reflect in this sidebar without additional action, thus providing fresh content for each time I visit their website.
#3. Social media
Next, I compared the social media platforms of Living Goodness with their competitor. I pulled up their Facebook and Instagram pages, and scrolled through like a scorned ex-girlfriend.
How often did they post? What sort of content were they posting? Did they do something different on their social media pages that Living Goodness didn’t do?
Who had more followers? Why and how? These were all very important questions that I needed to ask.
I also compared the hashtag activity because everyone knows that behind every successful Insta-famous account is a strong hashtag game (also pretty photos, of course). As this competitor sold products that were pretty similar to ours, I derived a list of hashtags that our client doesn’t use but should do.
Living Goodness’ products are very visually appealing, so their Instagram needs to reflect that.
#4. Suggestions
Of course, I didn’t want Living Goodness to copy their competitor post for post. This strategy was merely to boost their digital presence, just based on my observations of their competitor.
One important thing I had to keep in mind at all times was objectivity. I had to see Living Goodness’ competitor from the eyes of a hungry 20-something-year-old who just wanted buy sauerkraut.
This allowed me to cruise through their website and social media platforms from a fresh perspective. What would I first notice if I wanted to buy some of their products? What would annoy me if I were trying to see their stockists? If I needed to read reviews of their products, was it easily accessible?
With this frame of mind, I also turned my attention to Living Goodness’ own platforms to see what needed to be changed.
From all this, I wrote out a brief but very useful competitor strategy, using clear subheadings and bullet points. Easy to write, easy to read!
I all but stalked the social pages of Living Goodness. As you can see, this is a proven and justified technique.
#5. Client meeting
I scheduled a meeting with the lovely Fiona from Living Goodness and ran through this report with her. It was important that she took the same journey I did, so in a few cases, I got her to open up the social media platforms to see exactly what I was referencing.
Next time I conduct a competitor analysis, I could include screenshots to highlight my points. As it was, Living Goodness only have one major competitor, and as I had explained my strategy clearly, it wasn’t just another boring report to be tossed aside.
When it comes to working for a client, it can be too easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. This report showed that we like to keep an eye on the industry to boost the presence of Living Goodness.
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Untitled.jpeg598977Creative Agency Secrets Teamhttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgCreative Agency Secrets Team2017-11-08 15:41:352022-12-19 11:57:28How to do a super simple competitor strategy analysis
OysterCatchers has a new training programme ‘Learning to Fly’ for awesome female entrepreneurs
vimeo.com/233527720
Generation Zero,
Bizdojo,
Lion Corp Young Entrepreneur Scheme
Alexia Hilbertidou of GirlBoss New Zealand
Auckland University Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship – Includes Velocity programme, lots of other extra curricula and the Unleash Space a new innovation hub and maker space
Social Innovation NZ – engages with students to make a change within their community through social impact such as a social enterprise
Entre a student run entrepreneurial NZ registered company, that also runs as a student club on the campus of University of Canterbury. Our website is: http://www.entre.co.nz and our Facebook webpage is: https://www.facebook.com/entre.at.uc/
Check out these as a starting point for your own individual needs. And please use the comments to add others to the list.
International opportunities
As I notice others, I will add them on the list below
https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpg00Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2017-09-27 10:34:492020-05-27 17:30:38Youth Entrepreneur Organisations in New Zealand
Ready for next year? No, of course you’re not. This is normal.
But you intend to get ready and to plan your marketing, don’t you?
Make those resolutions happen by booking in to our January 2017 Marketing Year Planning Workshop.
Join us for a Marketing and Business Development Workshop to help you get your year plan sorted!
What Will I Get Out Of It?
We’ll walk you through our 8 Step Business Development Methodology, which will create a detailed plan of activities for the year that will drive new leads into your business and position you to achieve your goals for 2017.
You’ll also learn tips, techniques and marketing tools for your business which are vital to your modern marketing success. These are tried and tested as we do them ourselves and for our clients.
Join our Group Workshop Session on 26th January 2017 in Auckland for $500.00 + GST. This fee is per business and so you can bring 1 colleague with you.
Build your business development plan for the next year and guide your business towards success.
This workshop is for business owners and managers who are responsible for finding new clients and growing revenues. It will show you the practical, tried and tested techniques that the Creative Agency Secrets team uses for its clients.
You will learn:
How to create a unique company profile.
A check list of marketing activities .
New business pipeline analysis and tracking template.
What you need to do to get better known in your industry.
Learn relationship building for getting and keeping long term clients.
How to spot opportunities for new business sales.
The business process that delivers leads.
What to measure to track progress.
Each attendee will take home a high level plan for their business – planned through the year with month by month activities.
Testimonials from Nov 2016 attendees
“It was good to be in the group and to feed off Rebecca’s comment and experience. I don’t record leads and whether they were successful and that will definitely be useful in future.” Nicola Manning, Nicola Manning Design
“I enjoyed it.It was definitely worthwhile.I thought it was a good bunch of people and it was very interesting.” Dave Sauvage, Sauvage Design
It was really good and I will do a strategy accountability partner each month.I am going to leave my paid mentor group and do this instead. I have to get into the headspace to actually go back and review everything and set goals for each month. The wide range of people was very good especially the male female diversity. Jo-Anne Hitchcock, H Architecture
“I thought it was useful and when people are at different stages that’s interesting.I could do a few things differently which is partly a time thing. Beneficial – I got out of it as much as I could.” Jeremy Sutton, Jeremy Sutton Lawyers
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https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/workbook.png844642Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2016-11-23 16:47:292022-12-19 11:57:20New Year Marketing Planning - resolve to do this!
A question I answered in Quora forum: “What’s the best entrepreneurship or business course – it can be free or paid”.
The best course of action is to go apprentice yourself to an entrepreneur you respect and learn by working with/for them. I suggest doing this before or at the same time as starting your own business. Experience is worth a load more than book-learning from theoreticians.
I do not recommend paying $$$ for a university course UNLESS it is part time and closely aligned with working on a business you are currently running. Then you get to put into practice what you are being taught immediately.
It takes 6 months and is 1 day per month with one-to-one coaching sessions in between formal classroom sessions. I recommend you ask them if you can join it virtually – the next course starts October 2016. It made a gigantic change to my business and taught me a lot about the parts of business entrepreneurship that I didn’t know (and the things I didn’t realise I needed to know!).
Shortcomings of book learning entrepreneurs
I find that any book, magazine or podcast that gives advice is helpful – but only up to a point. The authors never, NEVER talk in full detail about their mistakes, their mis-directions, bad decisions and failures. They may reference them, but you will not get the full picture.
The value is in experiencing these situations and learning from them.
If I were to tell you in public about experiences I’ve had like a bullying client, a supplier who stole from us, a bad person we hired etc you would begin to get more of an idea. But it would be unprofessional to write these things in public and I may get sued. But it is the EXPERIENCE of these situations that helps you to grow as a business person and entrepreneur.
My personal solutions to the need for experience and a fully rounded business education is on-the-job learning (reading / podcasts / business books / mentor advice) supplemented by:
Mastermind Group of business owners – we meet monthly face to face and share / seek advice in a trusted, confidential roundtable. [We have a vacancy for 2 people to join our Auckland group – please ask]
What is your advice on how to learn entrepreneurship?
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https://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/business-course.jpg341845Rebecca Caroehttps://creativeagencysecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CAS_Logo_1line_RGB.jpgRebecca Caroe2016-08-25 15:03:242022-12-19 11:57:18What's the best entrepreneurship / business course?
