Do Motives Always Matter?

From Crack on!! the make it happen people 

One of the things philosophers like to argue about is whether there can be such a thing as a totally selfless act.

In other words, do we ever do something for someone else with no thought of reward?  The argument goes that, because doing something generous makes us feel good inside - even if we don't get any other kind of reward or thanks - that makes every selfless act a selfish one.

Maybe...

I say it doesn't matter. We can leave the philosophy to one side and forget for now about people's ulterior motives. When people are doing something that helps other people in some way, without doing harm to anyone else, that has to be a good thing.

That's why so many people have been so inspired by Crack on, and especially at this time of year when the Crack on Christmas Food Appeal is just starting.

This year, Crack on wants to feed 5000 people. Last year we aimed to feed 500 and beat that target easily. The year before... Crack on didn't even exist.

So, don't even think about why you should donate or help collect food for Crack on this Christmas, don't worry about why it makes you feel good or whether it's just a bit selfish to enjoy putting smiles on 5000 strangers' faces...

If it feels good, in this case, it just is.

So, donate, collect, publicise and pester - and enjoy it - it's all in a fantastic cause.

Crack on!!

Roy   

PS. More information on the appeal and more at http://www.crackon.org

New Blog for GHP Solicitors, Norwich

As well as creating a YouTube Channel, a Google+ Page and, of course, Twitter and Facebook accounts for our Norwich Solicitor clients Greenland Houchen & Pomeroy, we've also created a blog site for them at http://www.bestsolicitorsnorwich.co.uk.

Part of our strategy for creating maximum online visibility, the new site includes helpful articles on legal services and matters of law, an overview of the firm's services and of course links to the relevant pages on their main website and social media accounts and their contact details.

We've used WordPress to create the site, as it's perfect for both blogging and simple website building and is very Google-friendly. Expect to see it appearing in the search results soon.

Meanwhile, find GHP Solicitors of Norwich and East Anglia at http://www.bestsolicitorsnorwich.co.uk!

Roy

PS. See more about our work with GHP Solicitors on our Cinnamon Edge blog.

New Health and Wellbeing Forum

Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce has started a new initiative - a Health and Wellbeing Forum.

I attended the inaugural meeting early this month, when we discussed basic aims and next steps for the forum.

The main purpose is to provide information and engage with local businesses and employees to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace. Ultimately, perhaps we can even make Suffolk the healthiest county.


The forum will have a Twitter account soon and I've created a Facebook Page already. You can find Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce Health and Wellbeing Forum (we might have to find a shorter title!) at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bury-St-Edmunds-Chamber-of-Commerce-Health-and-Wellbeing-Forum/290388737651307

Feel free to visit and 'Like' the Page!

Roy

Moving Quickly On...

Hello again

We've just moved house (at rather short notice, hence the headline) which means, since we work from home, that we've also moved office.

Our new address is:

2 Chichester Close
Bury St Edmunds
IP33 2LZ

And our new phone number: 01284 767193.


After such a quick move there was a lot of sorting out and decluttering to do. We have to thank Mark Byford and Gary Spencer of Crack on!! who supplied the van and heavy lifting on the day (seven trips!) and so it was easy to decide where all our surplus stuff would go. Mark has already been back twice with the Crack on!! van to collect for their new warehouse/shop in Thetford. 

But we (that's Cinnamon Edge) are back into the swing of things, we've almost stopped tripping over boxes, and we're ready to help you with your business' marketing just as soon as you want to call the new number!

That's 01284 767 193.

Roy

We've Always Been in the 'Offline Niche'

Hello again.

If you have a business of any kind at all the chances are you have been contacted a lot recently by ‘marketing consultants’ or 'online marketing experts’ offering to help you update your marketing, save on your advertising and market your business more effectively online.

These people are mainly Internet marketers looking to employ their skills and knowledge to help you and your business – and most of them are totally genuine.

However, an awful lot of Internet marketers are moving to what has become known as the ‘offline niche’ (that’s businesses like yours) because making money online is not quite as easy as they were led to believe. It’s certainly not as easy as it used to be. They've been led to believe that life is easier in the offline world and they've probably bought information products telling them exactly how easy it is...

Not that that’s your problem, of course – until you start being pestered by ‘offline marketers’ you’ve never heard of and barraged with emails and phone calls you didn’t want.

As I say, most of these people are totally genuine. Some of them could actually help your business. A few of them have real-world experience, too.

But most of them are primarily Internet marketers and most of the help they can give your business comes with the assumption that Internet marketing, websites and emails are the best thing for your business – before they even know what your business is about.

At Cinnamon Edge, however, we’ve always been in the ‘offline niche’ – or ‘business marketing and promotion’ as we prefer to call it. We’ve always worked with ‘offline’ businesses (businesses not unlike yours) and we’ve always asked questions first before we offered any suggestions or advice, let alone offered our services.

That’s why, if your business needs better marketing or promotion, or you just want to find out if it could, Cinnamon Edge is the place to come first.

Yes, we do build websites, do search engine optimisation (SEO), write web copy and conduct email marketing campaigns and write newsletters, articles and online news releases, build links, create videos and optimise your Google Places page. We’ll even run your social media campaigns for you – but ONLY if any of those are actually going to help your business.

We also write press ads and printed articles, brochure copy and press releases – in fact, whatever your business needs to do or needs to do better.  

But first, we find out exactly what you do need – just as we always have.

Roy

PS. There ARE people out there who can help you - especially if the ones who have had real world experience or the kind of training that teaches them everything that really could help your business.

Very soon I'll tell you how you can tell the difference between them and the rest!

Meanwhile, you're safe with marketing help from Cinnamon Edge.

PPS. We also run training courses and workshops, as well as in house training.

Flatpack Furniture Assembly in Bury St Edmunds and Suffolk

Hello again.

A new business has just started up in Bury St Edmunds to offer a service that many people have been asking for - always a good basis for a business - and that's putting together flat pack furniture, equipment and even garden buildings (sheds, greenhouses, etc).

Some people find the assembly instructions for flat packed products incomplete, confusing or intimidating while others just don't have the time, confidence or inclination to assemble flatpack items like wardrobes, chests of draws or garden sheds.

That means there should be a real demand for a service that takes away all these worries and time pressures.

The professional assembly services offered by Flatpack Assembly Suffolk also mean a guaranteed result, usually in less time and with no skinned knuckles, strained muscles or worse. For a modest hourly rate you can have your flat packed item fully assembled for you in your own home or garden.

The end result for all their customers is a flatpack item that now looks exactly like it did in the showroom or the catalogue. The company also offers their services to businesses in the Bury St Edmunds area.

Cinnamon Edge have helped Flatpack Assembly Suffolk with their online marketing for the Bury St Edmunds and Suffolk area they serve. So far, we've put together two websites (a temporary site and now the 'real' one), a Facebook Page and a Twitter account, a Google Places page and several directory listings, with more to come.

The word is spreading and Flatpack Assembly Suffolk already has multiple listings on the first three pages of Google.

More important to the company, though, will be multiple bookings for flatpack assembly services in Bury St Edmunds and Suffolk!

Roy

How Much for Marketing?

I've been spending part of the last week on promoting a new local business, Flatpack Suffolk, who assemble flat pack items in your home or office, including furniture, equipment and small garden buildings.

The brief was simple - "Free or very cheap"!

That makes it very pleasing to be able to point to a website on page two of Google and two or three mentions of Flatpack Suffolk on page one, depending on the exact search term and the vagaries of Google's personal results pages.

This has been done with a blogger-based website (meaning it has ten indexed pages, as well as the standard blog), some local directory submissions, and Flatpack Suffolk also has accounts on Twitter and Facebook. You'll probably notice that all those things are free.

You can do this too. When a new local business can start to build such an obvious presence in less than a week, why do so many local businesses have no Internet presence at all?

There's a lot more to online marketing for business than your website - online marketing in 2011 is all about the size and effectiveness of your online presence, using every means at your disposal.

If you need help with any of that - expertise, training or hands-on help, contact an online marketing specialist like Cinnamon Edge. .

Roy

Email me roy@cinnamonedge.co.uk or call us on 01284 753912 to discuss your needs.

Why Running a Business Without Marketing is Like Riding Without Lights

You might know I'm quite a keen cyclist as well as a marketing consultant and trainer for local businesses, and it occured to me this morning  that running a business without effective marketing is like riding a bike without lights:

You know you’re there and your fellow cyclists might know you're there – but there’s a real risk you’ll get mown down by a driver who ‘just didn’t see you’.
 
Hopefully, your business' lack of visibility won’t be so disastrous, but it could still be fatal if your potential customers just don't see you.

This means you don’t just need to be visible: you need to be highly visible, day-glo visible, even fluorescent clothes with flashing lights visible. Lycra is optional.

Then at least everyone, including your potential customers, can see you. Whether they’ll appreciate your fashion sense or not, at least they won’t be able to say they didn’t know you were there!

Roy 

PS. Give your business the florescent lycra with flashing lights visibility it needs with Cinnamon Edge.

Helping Local Business Helps Local Communities

Events of the last week or so caught most of us by surprise, not least Jacqui and me, because we were away from home and knew nothing about the unfolding story for several days.

While some people have been quick to give their opinions and explanations for the riots and looting, it’s clear that the reasons behind them are complicated and there can be no one easy solution.

One thing is certain, though: loss of hope, belief and ambition has a disastrous effect on many people’s lives and some people’s behaviour is a reflection of their frustration and anger. The comments of some of those involved reflect a horrifying level of disengagement from their own communities, however much they use the word ‘community’ to explain their own involvement in the violence and destruction.

This ‘them against us’ attitude is a warning to all of us. However misguided we might think they are, if their perception is that they are in some sense fighting for ordinary people against ‘rich business owners’, we must listen, because it’s that perception that drives their behaviour.

However, it was ordinary people who died defending their families’ and friends’ businesses against the looters and arsonists, and it was ordinary people who lost their homes and livelihoods. Chain store owners (the real ‘rich business owners’) weren’t affected nearly as much in comparison.

But we need to help the rioters and their apologists to see this, and we can.

First, we need them to see the damage they have done, then we must give them the hope and belief they need that they can share in the wealth of what is still, in global terms, a prosperous country with wonderful opportunities.

It has to start at a local level, by local businesses being helped and encouraged to prosper and to employ local people and spend money in the local economy. The more local businesses prosper the more the local community benefits.

The attitude that all commerce is corrupt and all business owners are rich and undeserving has been promoted for far too long. Businesses create jobs, wealth and security.

There’s more to life than possessions and more to wealth than money but the more people can share in local prosperity the more involved, secure and optimistic we can all feel.

I don’t make any philanthropic claims for what we do to help local businesses (although I am proud to have contributed a little to Crack on’s success so far) but I am more certain than ever that what we do has a real value, not just to business owners but to the communities they serve and support.


Roy

PS. Meanwhile, Crack on and their friends at Pay it Forward in Business are doing great things to give immediate help to those affected by the riots and to give hope to the young people who might easily be involved.  

Last Chance to Build a Seminar Business at This Price

I'll be relaunching my acclaimed seminar planning product Niche Seminar Secrets soon, and developing it into a much bigger product, probably including video tutorials, an associated website and more - obviously at a significantly higher price.

Before I do that, though, I wanted to give you a last chance to get the manual at the old price, AND to do something even more worthwhile:

We've all been shocked and dismayed by the news of yet more drought and famine in parts of Africa and I've decided to donate 75% of sales of NSS this month to the famine appeal.

For that reason there's no special discount or valuable bonuses, EXCEPT that all purchasers of Niche Seminar Secrets are entitled to updates of the manual as and when they happen. That's generally about every two years but with a new product already in the pipeline it could happen sooner. 

The manual was updated in 2010, so it's as current as you need it to be, although it does still have an ugly cover! Since it's a downloadable pdf ebook I hardly think that will matter. It's still everything you need to start, build and profit from your own seminar business.

In preparation for the new edition I've moved the Clickbank-approved sales letter to the Seminar Secrets blog and you can buy it directly from there in a matter of minutes.

Of course, it's covered by Clickbank's guarantee but remember 75% of proceeds are going to the famine appeal. It's powerful stuff but only if you use it!

Roy

Here's What That Looks Like

I talked a bit about 'online domination' a while back. You might have followed links to Cinnamon Edge to see what online domination looks like, but in case you didn't, here it is:

Look closely and you'll see how we managed to dominate Google's first page for 'search engine domination workshop' - very handy to show the delegates at our Search Engine Domination Workshop a day later!

Roy

Are Cinnamon Edge as Hot as All That?

A news release published on the Cinnamon Edge Blog last week certainly praised their Content Creation Workshop, and enthusiasm and excitement in the post-event 'high' was palpable.

But how unbiased can a news release be? Obviously, the company who promoted and ran the event are going to say it went well, so maybe it's time for some honest reviews from people who've attended, not just the charity event (this one was for St Nicholas Hospice Care), where there's likely to be some 'feel-good' involved, but also other workshops, talks and training given by Cinnamon Edge.

Well, now you can see those reviews, too. Cinnamon Edge have posted a host of reviews of recent and not so recent events, on their website for everyone to see.

So, if you're considering attending a Cinnamon Edge event (or a 'Fifty Quid Challenge' one for the hospice) or you want to hire Cinnamon Edge for your in-house marketing training, go across to their website and read what other people have to say about their work so far. 


Roy

Find Anything with Everything

Have you ever lost a file on your computer or had a document you were working on disappear the next time you tried to open it? I have, and I was close to tearing my hair out!

Well, here's a quick link to a useful tool that helps you find missing files on your computer by name, in seconds.

I was alerted to this one when I couldn't find some documents that I'd opened directly from an email but neglected to rename and save properly to a known destination. Although the documents should have been there somewhere, I couldn't find them, even using advanced search on Windows Explorer.

I downloaded and ran this program in no more than a minute or two, entered the file name and up popped the missing Word doc in the blink of an eye.

The tool is called 'Everything' and it's available as a free download from Void Tools at http://www.voidtools.com

I have it on my desktop and I have had cause to use it since that first time, so I suggest you download it now, before you lose this blog post!

Please tweet this post and share it on Facebook, as well - your friends will love you even more than they do now :-)

'Everything' has saved me many hours of work and even what's left of my hair!

Roy

Okay, Lesson Learned

Two interesting experiences yesterday as a result of our recent email series about online domination:

First, we had a message via Aweber from someone who had decided to unsubscribe from our list on the basis that they didn't agree with the idea of 'dominating a market' or 'squeezing out the competition'. Cooperation and sharing were the way forward, not competition.

Fair enough, and I can see how cooperation helps many businesses do better and serve their customers better. Although I was disappointed to see someone unsubscribing (I must stop taking this so personally) I knew I would get over it. Anyway, the message was written in a friendly way.

The second interesting experience came later in the evening, at the launch of the Towergate Accumulator Challenge - see our Fifty Quid Challenge website. Two people, totally unprompted, made a point of saying how much they'd enjoyed receiving that very same email series. Not only that, they both said they had saved the emails to read again later.

We often get people saying how much they enjoy our emails, but this was the first time two subscribers had said exactly the same thing about the very same sequence.

So, you pays your money and you takes your choice - although the online domination emails are free, of course! You can get all seven of them, one per day, when you visit the Online Domination Website and leave your name and email address.

And you can choose to act on them, or not, and you can unsubscribe at any time. You'll get lots of other great marketing tips if you stay with us, though.

Roy

Why Domination is Good For You...

...as long as you're the dominant one, that is!

Being submissive is a lot more dangerous than you might think, especially if you're a business owner - and this is a business marketing blog, after all.

In business, you tend to win or lose, especially when the climate is getting harder. True, you can sometimes survive in business without apparently 'beating' anyone but if you want to grow and progress you have to do more than just survive, and it's an increasingly competitive world out there. Those competitors are after your business.

In a really competive environment you don't have the option of 'peaceful co-existence' - either you work to win or you accept defeat, and your best chance of winning is to be dominant, not submissive.

To dominate your marketplace your best place to start is where most of your customers are looking - online. Fortunately, online domination is also the quickest and most cost-effective place to start, as we'll show you on June 9th at our Search Engine Domination Workshop.

The workshop will be at The Self Centre, in Bury St Edmunds.

In one packed morning we'll show you all the essential elements to online domination and you will leave us equipped with vital skills and knowledge to put your online domination strategy into action within hours.

By the end of the afternoon, back in your office, you could already have several online domination tactics in place. In a few days you could have started them all, and in a few weeks' time you could be effectively dominating your market online.

This means you will be 'everywhere' online, meaning less room for your competitors, you can have total control of your online reputation and credibilty and customers and clients will be approaching you, rather than you chasing them.

All of that will cost you just £97 (some discounts available) at http://onlinedomination.eventbrite.com or from our Cinnamon Edge website. Or you can call us on 01284 753912.

Online domination - it certainly beats giving in!

Roy

PS There's a special bonus when you register before midnight on Friday 20th May.

It ALL Comes Down to Leadership

There are a lot of disgruntled people around today: disappointed with their results, disappointed with their leaders and fearful for the future.

Some of them blame the cuts, some blame the delivery of services and some blame the messenger.

Others have vowed to fight on, while a few have probably decided to call it a day.

You, however, are still here, fighting for what you believe in and struggling with all your might to keep the promises you made when you started out.

That's what leadership comes down to.

And that's the way of it in business (and politics, for that matter): factors outside your control affect you just as personally as the things within it; other people's actions get blamed on you and your business is affected by the performance of your competitors.

That's why it's important to be au fait with latest developments and up to date with the options available to your business, starting with the things that have the maximum positive effect for the minimum initial outlay.

That means starting with search engine marketing: the art of using Google, Bing, Yahoo and the rest to give you access to the biggest market for your products and services for the lowest cost yet - in fact, mostly free!

So it's not too late - you can still vote YES for your business, and you can do it today by choosing to join us in Bury St Edmunds on May 11th for our one day workshop on Search Engine Marketing.

At this small workshop you will get, not just the broad brush 'this should work' approach thata you might hear from experts and pundits elsewhere. Instead, you'll get specific and detailed advice to help YOUR business serve YOUR customers in YOUR market against YOUR competition.

In other words, it's your day to vote YES for your business.

See more details and book your place at http://semworkshop.eventbrite.com and learn more about all Cinnamon Edge's business workshops on the Cinnamon Edge website.

Call us today on 01284 753 912 to ask about special deals for sole traders and discounts for multiple tickets - we especially recommend you combine this event with our Search Engine Domination Workshop on June 9th.

We'll be in touch to ask you for your specific questions and challenges so we can give you the best possible deal on the day and the best possible results for your business.

Join us in voting YES for your business!

Roy

Decision Time!

Whether or not you bother to vote today, and whichever way you cast your vote(s), I hope you'll always vote FOR your business.

If you do, you know that voting YES for your business means investing time, effort and cash, in varying proportions. Usually, the more time you put in the less cash you need to invest.

And usually, the more time someone else gives to your business the more cash it costs you.

We like to break the mould sometimes, which is why a whole day of our time, worth umpteen thousands of pounds to your business, will cost you less than £150.

All we ask is that you invest a day, too, and join us at our all-day workshop to learn everything you need to know about search engine marketing. Pound for pound (and hour for hour) SEM is the best investment you can make in your business.

That's why we think this is the easiest voting decision you will make today. The vote FOR your business.

Go to http://semworkshop.eventbrite.com for more information and to vote YES or call us at 01284 753912 to discuss our special deals and discounts for multiple events.

Best wishes, and remember to vote YES for your business today!

Roy

New Google Places Workshop - 2nd Chance!

See what Ruth Brady, Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce manager, had to say about our Google Places Changes Workshop:

"Jacqui and Roy achieved the impossible at the Google Changes workshop. They helped me understand and be more confident of using the power of Google. Another great marketing tool for our organisation! More please!" - Ruth Brady, Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce, Bury St Edmunds

Here's what a couple of other delegates had to say:

"Interesting, practical, useful and relevant. Time well spent and good value for money. Just what I expected from Jacqui and Roy." - Roger Young, Guildhall Financial Services, Bury St Edmunds

"Cinnamon Edge gave a great basic understanding of Google Places. For anyone who is scared of putting the company on Google, this is a must visit event." - Tim Newton, Atkinson Bolton, Newmarket

So, how would you like the multi-billion pound resources of Google to be working for your business - even if you don't have a website?

BOOK YOUR PLACE at The New Google Places Workshop at http://newgoogleplaces.eventbrite.com/.

(If you're a sole trader, look at the PS at the end of this post!)

How about if the mighty Google gave you a page of your own and a treasured top spot on page one of their results, and

• put your business on the map
• displayed all your contact details and a full description of your business
• showed off your latest offers
• showcased your products, your staff or your premises - or all three with up to ten images
• allowed you to share up to five videos
• displayed your opening hours, payment terms and product range
• told people about the area you cover or the distance you will travel
• showed people your shop front to help them find you
• even allowed customers to find you using mobile devices like an iPhone or Blackberry

...all at no cost to you and entirely under your control?

When we held our Google Places Workshop on 11th February, several people said they they couldn't make it on that day. Which is great news for you because it means we'll be running it a second time - and adding even more brand-new updated content, tricks and tips - and a sneaky look at what's next for Google Places.

You can book your place for 31st March at http://newgoogleplaces.eventbrite.com/

Roy Everitt and Jacqui Carrel

Experts at marketing and online marketing in Bury St Edmunds.

Care Promote Provide Affordable Care and Accessible Income

My first post here for a while, and the more usual mentoring/coaching stuff continues to be on the new site at http://www.royeveritt.com/, but I thought I would introduce to you the company I've just started to represent in the network marketing world.

Care Promote is a relatively new company that's specifically designed to deliver affordable care services to clients, good working conditions for carers and excellent income opportunities to sales professionals.

Michelle Morgan started Care Promote in 2010, along with a care service provider called Pop-ins Care, based on her 16 years' experience in personal care. She knows what clients need - sensitivity, affordability and reliability, among other things, while carers need to find clients they get on with and will be happy to care for.

To deliver those things, she knows she needs a marketing system that will deliver and sales people who recognise the value of what they are selling. So she takes care of the sales team, too, with a compensation scheme that's simple and straightforward. Michelle specifically doesn't promise you will get rich with Care Promote, although early adopters will have a better chance of making a very good income.

For now, the emphasis is on building the sales team - my job - while Pop-ins will be growing in parallel - her job - ready to accept the leads from the growing marketing team in the next few months. So there will be commissions payable for recruiting new sales people as well as for selling the care service. To keep things simple, these commissions will be the same: £250 per recruit or sale.

Details are in the video on this here and in my own Care Promote blog: http://care-promote.blogspot.com

As for me, well you know who I am, I hope. Among other things I'm a general and local business marketing consultant, specialising in getting businesses online and into whatever marketing system best suits their business.

You can see more about my mentoring and coaching at http://www.royeveritt.com

Roy