New ways to make money for your business

In this ezine, we look at

• New ways to make money for your business
• Tips for those taking the plunge on social media this year
• What is going on in Dubai?
• Our own initiative to raise the profile of women in the UAE
• What were our most popular services that clients wanted in 2013?
• And what were the most popular blogs on our website in 2013?

1.      New ways to make money for your business

Have you heard the phrase ‘content’ or ‘information marketing’?  This is looking at the knowledge that is in your business and repackaging it to help your clients and build relationships with potential customers.  Some can be sold – as guides or ebooks, conferences or webinars.  Often you give it for free but capture an email address and start a long term relationship.

This ezine to you is an example – we are trying to help your business with tips based on our expertise.

The most common forms of information marketing are

• Blogs – these help you get to the top of Google and support your networking
• Ebooks and eguides – ten tips to …
• Webinars
• Enewsletters
• Printed newsletters

More tips in our blog on how to make money from your brainpower. 

2.      If you are looking at social media – where should you start?

Image courtesy of emptyglass / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you are about to start out on social media, please don’t just set up a profile on Twitter or half-heartedly create a personal profile on LinkedIn.  Be strategic as in other areas of your business.

The most important step is to set a few clear goals.  Look at your target sales list for the year – could you choose five people from this to start building online relationships with on Twitter (though not everyone you are targeting will necessarily be on social media yet)?

What sort of business are you trying to win?  Are you very clear about the services and help that you can offer your clients and customers and why they should come to you?  These need to be included in the Summary on your LinkedIn profile so you get picked up in searches.

We still say that for most B2B businesses, the core to your social media presence should be a blog that will help you be found on Google and build relationships.

More tips in our blog on how you can measure the ROI (return on investment) of your social media.  Give us a call if you want help to get started with a strategy.  We can also help you set up and write a strategic blog, create strategic profiles and get you started.

Contact us on +44 (0) 1423 562400 or email: mail@northernlightspr.com

3.       New opportunities in Dubai

Image courtesy of creativedoxfoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Congratulations to Dubai for winning the bid to host Expo 2020.  Expos are the third largest global non-commercial events, following the Olympic Games and the Fifa World Cup. According to its organisers, Dubai Expo 2020 will bring £24bn GDP and £14bn in added value to the economy. 

The UK government is focused on developing relations between our countries. David Cameron has visited the UAE three times, more than any other country.  You will no doubt have heard that Vince Cable has been in the UAE this week, encouraging inward investment to the UK – talking about our biotechnology and creative industries.

Read our blog to learn more about the £24bn opportunities – and how UK companies can capitalise on them.

4.       Northern Lights’ leadership initiative for high potential women – and men

A number of banks and government organisations in the UAE are talking to us about helping to develop media, personal branding and presentation skills for their high potential leaders.  We have put together a bespoke programme – although initially designed for female leaders, this is also proving of interest to male leaders as well.

Our six day programme – which can be delivered in a block or over a few months – includes

Media skills

How to crystallise an issue; tell a story with impact; practice interviews and feedback; tips for dress and behaviour on camera; handling interviews

Meet the media

Meeting international and regional journalists.  Hear what they look for from a commentator, make contacts and develop your stories

Personal branding

Make the most of your strengths that others take for granted, how to portray these skills.  Making an impact in meetings.  The different ways that a personal brand is conveyed: at work; in presentations; in the media; online

Social media and branding online

(LinkedIn, thought leadership blogging, Twitter): understanding the potential of social media and finding a unique place within it to demonstrate expertise; the boundaries between personal and professional life

Presentation skills

Including voice projection and being seen in a room; engaging with the audience so that they want to ‘buy’ from you

Effective networking

Practical tips for making contacts in a room and online; how to stay in touch with people so they want to ‘buy’ from you

Contact us on +44 (0) 1423 562400 or email: mail@northernlightspr.com if you would like us to develop a bespoke programme for your leaders.

5.       Most popular services of 2013

Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What were our most popular services for clients in 2013?  Well last year was definitely a tipping point in social media and we would not have predicted some of the very traditional companies and firms that grasped these opportunities!

Here were the main themes

• Two-hour workshops for boards and senior managers to understand the overview of risks and opportunities of social media
• LinkedIn training for professionals, senior managers and business development managers
• Setting up and writing strategic blogs
• Crisis communications – helping companies to plan and minimise the damage of issues which arose in their businesses organisations
• Internal communications – the recession has had a major impact on internal structures and workloads.  A lot of businesses are now looking to ensure they have the right new structures to deliver work and want to refocus everyone’s efforts to ensure success
• And of course, still traditional PR!  Getting your good stories out there

 6.       Our most popular blogs in 2013

Which blogs did you read in 2013?  Our most popular blog posts across the whole of last year were

• What is a good bounce rate for a website?
• Why are housing associations and social media not walking hand in hand?
• Where should internal communications sit – HR or external comms?
• How do you get new business in Dubai from a standing start – in three months?
• Top 10 media training tips for expert women – and men
• Google changed its algorithms this week – 3 steps to ensure your website is highly ranked
• Tesco apology – how would your organisation deal with a horse meat scandal?
• Grab the subject – 3 media interview tips
• How to build a successful intranet for your company

7.       And finally …. Thank you!

We launched our latest ebook, How to write a top-ranked business blog, in November.  We ran a campaign to see if we could become an Amazon bestseller – and thanks to your help, we did it!  Buy it here for only £8.14.

And we have shared our inside secrets as to how we did this. Perhaps the highlight was momentarily appearing on the recommended Kindle reading, in between Robert Peston, Economics Editor of BBC news and Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead