Jobs

Marketing Internship/Training

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Marketing Internship/Training - role in busy Crawley marketing and website design agency.

SpiritasWebsiteDesign.co.uk

Primary responsibilities:

Marketing Client Liaison - you will understand the need to provide optimum service levels to our marketing clients and you will often be the main contact point with clients of all levels and experience on a wide variety of projects. You will need to communicate efficiently and excellently with clients at all times to ensure they experience an excellent and reliable agency service.

Marketing Project management and implementation - Design, Print, Sourcing, Events, Online, Promotions...from creative concepts and planning to carrying out all aspects of projects to ensure timely delivery to the highest possible standard on behalf of clients. Your role will include liaising and communicating with a variety of suppliers and ensuring that we achieve the highest service levels within demanding lead-times and at optimum costs.

PA / Administration - researching, obtaining quotations, estimating, invoicing, recording, reporting, social media and website activities and updating our database will all need to be carried out on a day to day basis.

Business Development and Marketing - Building and maintaining our contact database including some telephone work as required. Organising and delivering our own busdev communications. Helping to develop business in line with our agreed strategies and potentially attending business networking events from time to time with a view to possibly generating opportunities but primarily building our database of quality marketing contacts.

You will be a highly organised completer finisher with excellent spelling and attention to detail as a prerequisite for this volunteer intern role.

Hours 9 - 5.30pm

(A weekly payment will be made for travel and expenses.)

Applications closing date: Ongoing Requirement

Please email us using this contact form to apply.

There is an answer to "How to grow my business?"

How to grow my business?


If you run a business you will have asked yourself this question....but maybe you have to ask the right people to get the answer. Businesses are over run with conflicting messages about what they need to do and they all seem to come from specialists (website designers, seo gurus, graphic designers, advertising companies, etc) who have the answer and the product or service you just have to buy to be successful. They are of course champions of their own discipline and can be terribly persuasive about why you need to spend your valuable marketing budgets with them.

Of course many of these specialists are indeed very good at what they do and individually they may even offer good value, however, if you're not an expert at orchestrating all these marketing services into a cohesive pattern that delivers a predefined cumulative result you may end up overspending with one and under spending with another. Or worse simply missing a vital link that prevents you every creating that cohesive result that will make your business grow.

Resource for the Marketing plan


Traditionally the only way to be sure that the sales and marketing plan stays cohesive is to employ an experienced marketing manager or a marketing agency. These too could present problems a single person is likely to have strong biases about the work they like doing or simply be too overloaded with the ongoing business tasks to see the big picture.These are also the high end solutions that mean a big ramp up in costs and you have to start incurring these costs before you know if they will deliver the solution.

So what is the best solution? How do you grow your business and make more money? The answer is to go and see some marketing agencies and ask them. Showing companies how to make money in various ways is what agencies do for a living. All marketing agencies should be able to give you a clear list of activities that could be undertaken in order to grow your business. Examples of work, financial scenarios and other supporting materials should be ready to hand to illustrate clearly how to create a virtuous circle of activity that can increase your flow of customers.

Free Marketing advice. Why wouldn't you make time?


There shouldn't be any charge for this, if a business can't give up an hour of its time to show you what it can do for you then its not very serious about winning your business. At Spiritas.co.uk we give small to medium businesses a presentation on the essential components of their marketing plan if they are looking to find a long term partner with a vested interest in seeing them make money and growing then we can move into a commercial relationship if they want to take a few ideas and go their own way that's fine too.

The bottom line is its free to find out what you need to do to make more money and grow your business. What still surpises us after 14 years operating a marketing agency is how reticent businesses are to make time to ask the right people the right questions. Our door is always open why not call us on 01293 406000 and make some time to get some free business marketing advice?

Link Building: Who Is Your Website's Biggest Competitor?

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Have you ever noticed that competitive runners achieve their best race times when they are pitted against worthy competitors?

You can be an excellent sprinter, but odds are you will not run your personal best on a track by yourself--most of the time it's the spirit of a heated race and a determined runner breathing down your neck that makes you dig down deep give it all you've got.

The quest for a higher search engine ranking and more website traffic is much like athletic competitions. When you're trying to get your site ranked higher in Google, you are not operating in a vacuum--you have competitors, whether you acknowledge them or not.

Your progress is not only dependent on your own efforts at marketing your site, but the efforts of your competitors--if other website owners are more consistent, more reliable, and more focused in their marketing, there's a good chance that they will outrank you.

With website rankings, there is a constant jockeying for position, so it is extremely helpful when you're trying to market your site and get a higher search engine ranking if you will use your competitors to your own advantage.

Before you start your next link building campaign, take a look around the playing field and gather some intelligence about those you're running against.

How can you tell who your competition is?

It's actually quite easy to tell who your top competitors are--just do a search for each of your keywords in Google.

Which site is in the #1 position?

Unless it's you, that website is your top competition. Repeat this search for each one of your keywords.

When you're starting out, you may want to limit yourself to 3 main keywords whose competitors you're keeping track of. That way you have 3 competitors to keep track of, and that will give you a good idea of how you're progressing and also how far you need to go to catch up to the #1 position.

What type of information should you keep track of?

Alright, now that you know who your top competitors are, it's time to do a little investigating. Here are the main bits of info that will help you get an idea of where your site stands in relation to site holding the #1 position.

1) How many backlinks does the competing website have?

You can do a backlink check by typing the word "link:" (following by a colon) and then the competitor's URL into the Google search box. The results will be a listing of sites that are currently linking to their site, and at the top of the page you can see a total number of backlinks.

2) What is their search engine rank for the keyword?

For the first month at least, their ranking is #1.

Another thing that will be interesting to you is to see how the site that is ranked at #1 can fall if they are outdone by another site further down in the ranking. If you are consistent with your link building campaign, you can see your site climbing up the rankings each month, until finally your #1 competitor drops from the number one position and your site takes over.

3) What is the other site's PageRank?

PageRank (PR) is a tool Google uses to reflect the authority of a web page. The rankings go from 0-10, where 10 is the best. You'll likely notice that a website does not need to have a PageRank of 10 in order to hold the top ranking for a keyword--many times sites with lower rankings hold the top position. Why is this?

Remember, it's all about competition--the top ranking website may have a PR2, but the other sites who are competing for top listing for that keyword have lower authority. Of course, there are many other factors that go into determining who has the top rank in Google, and only Google knows all of their criteria for judging.

At any rate, it is helpful to know the other site's PageRank, especially in comparison to your own. If you see that the competing site has a PR4 and your site has a PR2, you can set a goal for yourself to achieve PR4 or higher.

With all of these indicators, it's nice to get an idea of what you're shooting for. Being aware of your top competitor's stats can help you strategically jump up the rankings and keep your motivation going to earn the #1 spot.

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To supercharge your link building results, it's a smart idea to enlist the services of a trusted article submission service. Steve Shaw created the web's first ever 100% online-based article submitter, SubmitYOURArticle.com, which distributes your articles to hundreds of targeted publishers with the click of a button. For more information go to=> http://www.SubmitYOURArticle.com

Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com

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Results-Oriented Web Pages, Sales letters

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How to Write Results-Oriented Web Pages, Sales letters, Ads, and Flyers

Copyright © 2009 Joel Sussman

First, the bad news: There are dozens of ways you can go wrong in writing and designing (what you hope will be) an effective sales letter, web sales page, promotional flyer or ad.

Now the good news: The learning curve for getting it right is relatively short. Here are some key guidelines and pointers for getting noticed, generating interest, and persuading people to respond to your offer.

Create Visual Appeal

In a matter of seconds, your prospects will make a snap decision on whether or not they want to read your marketing message. If they have to strain or struggle in any way, they’re going to skip it. Avoid a cluttered, hard-to-read appearance by making generous use of white space, headlines, subheads, and text bullets. Use italics and ALL CAPS sparingly because, when used in excess, they can be hard on the eyes. For web pages and flyers, avoid too much large print (it looks amateurish), and be careful with your use of colored or textured backgrounds. If the background competes with the text or lacks contrast, the message will be too hard to read. And if you use 10 point text or smaller…well, let’s just hope you’re not targeting us aging baby boomers!

Writing Style Tips

After you’ve written the first draft, you can improve it by eliminating unnecessary or redundant words, breaking up long sentences, checking for spelling and grammar errors, adding impact with a few carefully chosen adjectives, and making sure each idea flows logically into the next. A conversational tone is usually much more appealing than a formal, stilted approach; and you should always gear the message to the intended audience. One of the big advantages of targeting your marketing to specific groups is that you can ‘talk their language’ and relate the message directly to their emotional and practical needs and wants.

Devices to Capture Attention and Arouse Interest

An effective sales message, whether it’s on a web page or 24-lb stationery, usually contains the following elements: a compelling headline, attention-catching sub-headlines, a bulleted list of features and benefits (with proof, whenever possible), a few intriguing questions, a deadline or incentive for responding promptly, a guarantee of satisfaction, a testimonial or endorsement, and a call for action (tell them exactly what and how you want them to respond: call, stop by, visit your website, or mail their order.) Words such as ‘no obligation’, ‘free trial’, and ‘convenient payment plans’ can also increase response levels. By the way, a ‘P.S.’ is a great place to put a reminder, a special offer, or an added incentive. People read them.

A Vital, Sometimes Overlooked Ingredient

One of the cornerstones of any effective marketing strategy is identifying and clearly communicating your Unique Selling Proposition or distinctive selling advantages. Make it clear why you’re better and offer more than the competition. Emphasize your competitive strengths as a business, an individual, or as the provider of high quality services or products. In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s essential to exceed customer expectations, find ways to lower sales resistance, and have a value-added approach to doing business.

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Joel Sussman, a business writer and Internet publisher, has created a small business resource called “Marketing Survival Kit.” Visit http://www.MarketingSurvivalKit.com for proven sales letter templates, marketing proposal software, public relations tools, newsletter kits, and informative articles.

Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com

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7 Secrets to Successful Sales in Small Business

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7 Secrets to Successful Sales in Small Business

Copyright © 2009 Audrey Burton

I love sales, but it was not always this way. Like you, I have had some bad experiences with salespeople that really affected my opinion.

Fear of rejection is also a common reason for business owners to dislike sales. Between the old school "used car salesman" experiences and the rejection, it is no wonder people have a bad opinion of sales. Much of the dislike of sales comes from not having a successful system.

After getting my business degree and working a few years, I realized that I was pretty good at sales and could make good money in sales. I received some of the best sales training available and did make some good money in sales. Let me share my secrets to success with you.

1. Believe in your product. When you know in every cell of your body that there are people who will absolutely benefit from your product, you will be doing them a disservice by NOT telling them about it. You must truly believe that your target market will receive value for the price. For example, I know a woman who sells household products with a network marketing company. She is not a trained business person by any means, yet she sells a lot of product because she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that her product changes people's lives for the better.

2. Listen. Most of the time, your prospect will tell you exactly what you need to do and say to close the deal. Let them talk and pay close attention! You might want to start taking notes from the first contact.

3. Genuinely care about your prospects and their problems. Don't you know when someone is just trying to sell you something and doesn't really care about your problems? Enough said.

4. Ask questions. Take charge of the sales meeting, guiding the prospect to the conclusion. Ask questions whose answers will allow you to give the prospect the information they need to make a decision. Find out what they have been doing without your product and what problems they need solved.

5. Give a free sample. This is probably the best strategy you can employ. You know when you are in the grocery store and the nice lady gives you a taste of the newest salad dressing or frozen dinner? It helps you make the decision to buy or not to buy. Same concept! Share your brilliance. Give first and see how it comes back to you. Even if they don't purchase from you immediately, they may tell everyone about your product and how terrific you are, then make a purchase for themselves later. One note: do not expect the prospect to make a purchase just because you gave them something for fr'ee. It does not work that way, one for one, but it will come back to you if you give with no immediate expectation of a return.

6. Anticipate objections. Prepare for your sales meetings by brainstorming a list of all the reasons why somebody would say 'no' to your offer, then figure out how to overcome each objection. Go one step further and address all objections in your 'pitch' before they are even mentioned.

7. Ask for the sale. There is an old saying in sales - "If you don't ask, you don't get." You can be subtle about it and feel good about your close, but you need to ask. Try my favorite close: "How would you like to move forward?" Then be quiet! Let them take all the time they need to think it over. There is another old saying in sales - "He who speaks first loses."

These 7 Secrets will take you far in your sales meetings. Once you have figured out what works best for you, your product and your target market, do it exactly like that every time. It may become old for you, but the prospect has never heard it before, so don't change it. Put some positive energy into it and don't forget to ask for the sale!

For more indepth free sales training, claim your copy of Audrey Burton's popular FREE Special Report, "Closing the Sale is Not Complicated!" at => http://www.TigressCoaching.com .

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