The Seed Newsletter - December 06

December 2006 Newsletter

Christmas Greetings!

With Christmas upon us and the New Year just around the corner, we would like to use this month's newsletter to wish you all a very happy and relaxing Christmas, and all the best for the coming year.

To help you kick-start your way to a successful 2007, we have included some tips and advice to help boost your new year's marketing strategy and guide you on your way to a prosperous year ahead. We are also proud to announce the opening of our new Polish office, where experts are working hard to increase online marketing capacity for our UK clients.

We hope you're finding The Seed beneficial to your business, but if you have any comments or feedback on our service please click here and let us know.

Happy Christmas!

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The Seed Team

Lords of the Gdansk

In today's online markets, people can work from anywhere in the World, which is why we've recently opened a brand new office in Poland. Poland is home to some fantastic talent in the online sector and we're now using these skills to benefit our UK clients, from our new office in Gdansk.

Situated on the Baltic Coast, the new office is home to a team of four Polish web experts who are working together with our UK-based office to increase capacity in our online marketing services, including search engine optimisation, for our UK clients.

With the work ethic in Poland so high, the country offers a fantastic skills base and we are proud to welcome our Polish friends to the team. Watch this space for further news and updates on our new venture.....

Your Way to a Successful 2007

The start of a new year is a great opportunity to 'spring clean' your marketing strategy and be fully prepared for the year ahead. To help, we've compiled some hints and tips to help guide you forward into a prosperous and rewarding New Year....

Plan Ahead
A statistic definitely worth remembering, is that businesses that develop and use a marketing plan go on to out perform those that don't by an average of 30%. Without a plan, it is almost impossible to be clear on what you are doing, and where you are going. In short, set out what you plan to do, when you plan to do it, how much you will spend.....and stick to it!

Your marketing plan should give a clear indication of where your business will be in 12 months time, and which methods you will use to get there. Set yourself clear, realistic and measurable targets and stick to your budget for each and every marketing activity. Poorly thought out objectives and knee-jerk reactions will only cause you problems further down the line. If you take advice and plan carefully, you should be able to reach your goals without exposing your business to soaring costs.

Research Your Options
A little time spent researching your options, can go a long way towards boosting your business. With so many marketing techniques available, from TV advertising to online solutions, it can be very difficult to know which option is best for you.

Advertisements in the national press and stands at extravagant exhibitions may seem glamorous, but will they work for you? Are they cost effective and will you see that all-important return on your marketing investment? Online marketing solutions, such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and The Seed's Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) service, provide a highly effective and manageable form of advertising, which is ideal for SMEs.

The Internet is awash with opportunities and advice for creating comprehensive marketing strategies, so do your research before you get started, and save yourself the disappointment of investing in long-term deals and contracts, only to find you get nothing back in return.

Beat the competition
Good marketing means continually monitoring and evaluating not only your own business approach, but that of your competitors too. No matter how well your business may be doing, it is always important to keep an eye on the competition.

Make yourself aware of who your main competitors are, how they are marketing themselves and how successful their strategy has been - it may give you new ideas for the coming 12 months. Update yourself regularly on their progress and adjust your own methods if necessary. Being aware of what approach the competition is using and taking the time to do your research will undoubtedly pay off as you race ahead.

Upcoming Events
Now is the perfect time to look ahead to any events taking place during the coming year that could prove valuable to the marketing of your company. Potentially useful events include seminars, conferences, exhibitions, awards etc. and remember you don't have to fork out huge amounts of cash on a fancy exhibition stand to benefit. The £5 entrance fee as a visitor could help you to build valuable contacts and boost your business network.

The key thing in running a successful SME marketing programme is to be prepared. Ask yourself which marketing solutions could really work for you, and more importantly, which ones you can afford. Take the time out to do your research and prepare your plan. Keep your eye on the market and stay on the ball, and you'll be well on you way to a prosperous 2007!

Leads This Month

Below are a selection of sample leads generated over the last month. These example leads should give you a taste of the type of leads you will receive if signed-up to TheSeed.com.

Printing Services / Print Management
Wednesday 13th of December 2006 13:30

Please can you give us a quote with the following spec. (Art work will be provided).
* 16 pages catalogue
* 180 mm x 297 mm
* Landscape
* 90 g paper silk Art
* Full colour
* Collated, folded, stapled, & trimmed

Quote to be on
100 Thousand copies
250 Thousand copies
500 Thousand copies

I will be grateful if you could let me know your terms of business.

Web Design / Development
Wednesday 13th of December 2006 08:55

We would like a quote for a 120 sec flash animated commercial with music to show about 15 different products+text this will be hosted on our site , I have attach an example of work that we have had previous done then I can do so for you reference + we are interested in getting flash banners design as well 120x60 pixels with between 8 to 15 different frames

Payroll Services / Outsourcing
Monday 4th of December 2006 14:47

London based branch of 10 employees. Paid monthly. Looking to start for January 2007. Would like to outsource payroll processing only. We use Intuut Quickbooks U.K. software, so any way of getting an importable download would be ideal.

follow up to mail pieces & emails, selling conf/expo passes to qualified lists(provided by us)
We are ultimately looking for an uplift on current direct marketing practices. Prefer results-based arrangement, although flat-fee pilots may be considered.

The Seed in the Spotlight

Once again, we featured in this month's press with articles about our new Polish office appearing in both The Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Mail. Interest in The Seed is certainly growing throughout the national media, and you may also have read about us on various online marketing and business websites.

If you didn't spot us this month, keep an eye out for us in next month's media!

Top Tips

Fastest Finger First

A quick turnaround when acknowledging receipt of new enquiries is essential if you want to benefit fully from The Seed.
Our aim is to validate the majority of leads within five minutes of receipt, so to maximise upon this it is important that you respond to the enquiry and get back to your prospect ASAP.

Outlook email alerts are ideal for this. An instant alert message displays on your screen, alerting you to the fact that TheSeed.com has sent you a new lead. This enables you to respond immediately, so in theory you could be in contact with the person who raised the enquiry within 10 minutes of them initiating it.

The sooner contact is made with the potential client, the more receptive they are and the easier it is to convert the enquiry into a sale. So why not have a go at setting up your Outlook alerts today and make sure that you are first in the queue when it comes to responding to your prospects enquiries.

If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2003, follow our simple steps below to set up your alerts. If you are using any other E-Mail system please contact us on 0870 165 1400 for advice and assistance.

1. In Microsoft Outlook Inbox click on the 'Tools' menu.

2. From that menu select 'Rules and Alerts…' (if this is not instantly displayed you may need to expand the menu by hovering over the double arrow at the bottom of the list).

3. In the 'Rules and Alerts' window click on the 'New Rule…' button.

4. In the 'Rules Wizard' window select 'Start from a blank rule' and click 'Next'.

5. Below 'Step 1: Select condition(s)' scroll down until you see a tick box against 'with specific words in the subject or body' - click this box.

6. This should then fill the second box headed 'Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value)'. Then click on 'specific words'.

7. This will then display the 'Search Text' window. Below 'Specific words or phrases to search for in the subject or body:' type: You've got a Lead!

8. Click the 'Add' button and then click the 'OK' button.

9. This will take you back to the 'Rules Wizard' window. Click 'Next'

10. Below 'Step 1: Select action(s)' scroll down and tick the box against 'display a specific message in the New Item Alert window'.

11. The below 'Step 2: Edit the rule description (click an underlined value)' click 'a specific message' and in the Alert Message window type the message you would like to be displayed when a new Lead arrives.

12. The click 'OK' and 'Finish'.

Feedback

We value your opinion and are always keen to hear from you. If you have any comments or feedback on our service please go to our feedback page.
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