The Seed Newsletter - February 07

	February 2007 Newsletter

Welcome! Welcome to the February issue of The Seed’s newsletter, keeping you updated on the latest developments at The Seed and providing a range of business news and advice. In this issue we look at tips on how to make the most of your website and get it in good shape to attract new business. We also look at the importance of understanding your target markets, giving tips on how to develop market knowledge at all levels. 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. The Seed team
	Seed Team Grows
Our team here at The Seed is continually growing, and this month we are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Customer Services Administrator, Liza Fisher. Liza will be working with our customers to ensure that they are receiving the best service possible, and helping them to manage their accounts. With the UK head office working with a growing number of businesses and the new Polish office providing additional marketing support, we are pleased to welcome Liza on board at this very exciting time.
	Getting your Website in Shape
In the current market websites are one of the most important forms of marketing for the SME, but how effectively does your website serve the purpose for which it was built? A website can be imperative to getting that all-important new business, but only if it is in good shape. So how can you tailor your site to get the best results possible, and get the most out of your online investment? Make it relevant If your website looks too general or like a jack-of-all-trades it will only put off potential new clients. Instead tailor your site to suit the needs of your target market, this will give them confidence in you and your services. Try creating a series of landing pages appropriate to each sector that you want to target, directing your prospects to the significant section of your site. Allow the user to filter the content they see - think "one-to-one" website, customising your content to suit your users’ needs. This shows potential clients exactly what you can do for them, not what you can do for everyone else, and provides the crucial first step towards acquiring new business Present it Attracting potential new business to your website is futile if your site is badly presented. The best websites are user-friendly, clean and easy to navigate. Most people skim read websites, looking to pick out the bits of information relevant to them at the time, so cluttered pages full of slow-loading images and graphics could easily send your prospects heading to the site of your competitors. Remember that less is often more. Make your pages as easy to read as possible and use graphics sparingly to convey information only when beneficial to your brand or to the message you want to put across. Optimise it A fully optimised website can work wonders on your search engine rankings, directing more traffic to your site and generating more awareness and interest in your company. Good search engine optimisation (SEO) will ensure that your site is search engine 'friendly' and fully accessible by search engine spiders. This ensures it meets search engine algorithm criteria such as content, relevancy and links from other sites. The outcome will place your site higher in the rankings with the major search engines and directories, improving the number and quality of visitors to your site. Extend it Once your site is fully tailored, take a look at the online marketing opportunities that now exist – they can help you go one step further, generating business leads and offering demonstrable return on your investment (ROI) – unlike many of the costly traditional marketing approaches. Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) marketing services such as TheSeed.com, work on the basis of generating pre-qualified new business leads, at low cost. The leads are from companies that have expressed an interest in your business or its services - and may have visited your website. It is a cost-effective way to test the water of any new sectors you may want to target, gaining exposure with little cash investment. In summary, a good website is an important, effective and inexpensive tool to help promote your business, but a bad website could damage your reputation and lose you valuable new business. Giving your visitors essential and relevant information on your website will minimise time wasted on unnecessary phone calls at a later stage. So get your website right. Make it work for your visitors and it will work for you.
	The Seed in Spotlight
Once again, we featured in this month’s press with an article appearing in Better Business magazine about how SMEs can ensure a good ROI on their marketing investments. We also appeared on various online marketing and business websites. We’re getting a lot of interest from the press, so if you didn’t spot us this month, keep an eye out for us in next month’s media!
	Feedback
We value your opinion and are always keen to hear from you. If you have any comments or feedback on our service please click here to go to our feedback form.

		Top Tips
	Be prepared! In order to get the most out of your validated leads from The Seed, you should be ready and prepared to contact the prospect as quickly as possible. Try having a ready prepared script or list of questions to hand, so that you can respond immediately without worrying about whether you have collected all the information you need. Being prepared early on will save you time when you get to the quoting stage, and could help you to win that all important new client.
		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. Advertising and Marketing Friday 16th of February 2007 03:57 I am wanting to place text ads in the classifieds sections of newspapers throughout Canada, UK and Australia Additional notes from TheSeed.com: Steve is doing some advertising for another company. They are a financial company and have an £8,000 budget per month, on going until they have reached their goals. Factoring & Invoice Discounting Sunday 4th of February 2007 18:41 WE are faced with a potential requirement of $50,000 to purchase stock for a customer in China and Indonesia, we would also like to hear about factoring invoices. This is our first year of trading and need some finance to purchase stock to fill orders. Additional notes from TheSeed.com: Nickolas is looking for a company who will pay him the money owed to him and then wait for the money to come back to them. He doesn’t really want any calls made to the companies until the money is well overdue. Public Relations (PR) Tuesday 20th of February 2007 17:50 I am the Marketing Director for a start up company (Mobile Distributor) that serves the B2B market (Independent Mobile Phone Dealers) and am currently looking at companies that can supply Public Relations towards my needs. At this stage of my planning I require a presentation or written document that will explain how you may assist in a 12 month plan of Public Relations. Focus will be on what you would regard as necessary, why this will be important to the company in the B2B Market, timelines and costs. Please budget for £25-£50k. Additional notes from TheSeed.com: The PR campaign that they would like to run is part of theie marketing support plan. They would like this to start at the end of March. Damien has asked to be contacted by email at this stage.
		Knowing Your Market
	Knowing your market and your customers inside out is crucial if you are going to succeed. Even if you are already well established, markets can change, and these changes can provide opportunities - as long as you know about them and are well prepared to take action. Keep updated Keeping yourself up to date with recent events in your market industry is a simple way to get to know your market. Reading appropriate trade or industry press will keep you informed on industry developments, as well as letting you know what the competition is up to. Take a look at what other people are doing and where the market is heading. This will enable you to maintain a fresh and up to date approach to your business, keeping up with market trends and staying one step ahead of your rivals. Customer Research Even the most established of companies should research their markets regularly. The insights gained should act as the driver of all your creative work, whether it’s launching new products or services, advertising and marketing or engaging with customers. Research who exactly your customer is, and who buys your product or service. Look at the market and see where you fit in. Researching your market inside out, will help to give you a better understanding of your sector, and your business a better chance of success. Know your competition You should always ensure that you know your competitors intimately. What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are they different to you and what do you do better? Competitive intelligence is not only useful for marketing, pricing, and managing, but will provide you with invaluable information that can be used to give your company a vital competitive edge. *If you wish to unsubscribe to this newsletter please login to your account at TheSeed.com and deselect it on the "Company Details" page. If you are not a customer of The Seed please reply to this email with "Unsubscribe" as the subject line