I dropped in on one of Doug Richard’s Windows of Opportunity events last week and found a theatre full of entrepreneurs, all looking for advice and information on how to fund their business.  The programme was wide ranging but focused a lot on online funding platforms.  I thought I’d share some of the pointers (see…

Many start-up founders are a bit nervous of social media. Maybe you haven’t got the resources or a marketing specialist on your team. You don’t know what to say. Even worse, you’re worried about saying the wrong thing and having to deal with the fallout. But it can be a really good way of shaping…

For most SMEs, exhibiting at a trade show represents a significant commitment of time, budget and resource. Exhibition space, stand construction, freight, staffing, travel and accommodation expenses, and all the extras, can leave you with little or nothing for PR and marketing. And yet, simply turning up and hoping that your potential customers will find…

Last week one of my clients asked me what I thought about the concept of entering awards.  Now we all love trophies and accolades but knowing how busy they are and how time consuming awards can be, I had mixed feelings.  I advocate awards as part of an integrated PR and marketing strategy to some…

In conversation with an entrepreneur last week I was reminded how myopic they can be, as a breed. Don’t get me wrong, entrepreneurs have many strong points. They take risks where others won’t, they see opportunity where others don’t and they innovate where others can’t. They are the lifeblood of our economy. As Julie Meyer…

What DID we do before YouTube came along?  Entertainment, education, marketing… you name it, YouTube does it.  Something like 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.  Small wonder given its viral marketing capabilities – according to a 2011 report by Forrester, 1 minute of video is worth 1.8m words.  Here’s the link…

Who else heard the interview on the Today Programme this morning with Racing Commentator, Richard Pitman, who had donated his kidney? It was a big fat endorsement for kidney donation that, on a personal level made me stop and think and on a professional level reminded me of the power of advocacy. As a long…

This post is for all you entrepreneurs/small business owners who’ve put a toe in the water with social media and ended up frustrated.  You work 12+ hour days, juggling a heady combination of product development, client relations, investor relations, HR and more besides. And then, in a quest to support/re-energise your small business marketing, you…

I am seeing increasing (albeit anecdotal) evidence that SMEs are missing opportunities to lever the power of PR/Marketing/Communications to their advantage because they go about resourcing it the wrong way.  In my view they are making false economies. Responsibility for SME marketing and communications is often assigned to someone senior who has too much on…

Social media marketers have often looked down on the murky, grey/black hat world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). But all that’s set to change. SEO and social media marketing are in the process of merging in an unholy, but potentially hugely valuable alliance. “Social Search” is the buzz phrase that’s grabbing headlines, but from the…