Nicola Macdonald, Author at Attractive Marketing

Make your own quick videos

By Nicola Macdonald|2017-07-31T11:57:12+00:00July 31st, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: blogs, video|

Sharing your knowledge with your prospects and customers is a great way to build strong, long lasting relationships. And an easy way to do this is by adding great content to your website regularly, then sharing. In my last marketing tip, 'Breathe long life into your blog articles', I introduced you to Missing Lettr as an additional means of sharing your knowledge as well as via your eNewsletters and social media. Well, I've come across another new, nifty tool. I saw several of my online network talking about Lumen5 and thought I'd check it out. And I'm so glad I did. Lumen5

Breathe long life into your blog articles

By Nicola Macdonald|2017-06-30T07:37:53+00:00June 30th, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Building relationships, email marketing, Writing articles|

I was chatting to someone recently that I’d never previously met and they said to me “you’re known for being very generous with your knowledge”. That made me smile! It made me feel very happy, for a couple of reasons. How do you wish to be known? Firstly, I remembered an exercise I ask the delegates on my Social Media Marketing workshop to do, which is to come up with 3 words they would like to be known for. For example the luxury brand Mulberry wishes to be known for timeless design coupled with traditional quality and a sense of the here and now.

Lessons learnt in the last 6 years

By Nicola Macdonald|2017-05-30T16:33:57+00:00May 30th, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: email marketing, Marketing coaching|

1st June 2011 was the date I started Attractive Marketing. The last six years have been brilliant. I’ve worked with a wide variety of interesting businesses and met some wonderful people. I’ve tried some things that haven’t worked, but I’ve clearly done many things that have contributed to my successes. So, I’ve taken this opportunity to reflect on the last six years and come up with the top three learnings that I would pass on to someone who was just starting their business. Equally, I’m fond of the saying that you never stop learning, so these points may also help some

3 Steps to improve your marketing results

By Nicola Macdonald|2017-04-28T15:45:15+00:00April 28th, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: marketing strategy|

One reason why marketing campaigns fail is because three crucial steps have been by-passed. It’s an easy mistake to make and one that often happens without you even realising it. To understand why this mistake has occurred, you need to know the difference between Strategic Marketing and Tactical Marketing. Simply put, it looks like this: Strategic marketing focuses on: WHO – is your ideal customer? WHAT – problems do they have that you resolve? WHY – should they do business with you rather than anyone else? Tactical marketing focuses on: HOW – are you going to communicate your message? This is

Taking the pain out of writing blogs

Taking the pain out of writing blogs

By Nicola Macdonald|2020-03-26T13:03:07+00:00March 24th, 2017|Categories: Marketing Tips|Tags: Writing articles|

It doesn’t seem fair, does it? You’ve put blood, sweat and tears into writing the content for your website and getting it just right. Finally, after months of hard work you breath a sigh of relief as your website goes live. Thank goodness you don’t have to go through that again! Content is king But, now you keep hearing that content is king and you must write something new for your website on a regular basis. Yes, at least every month! "What a pain", I hear you say! I want to help you go from... "Aghh! Do I really have to

Local SEO for local business

By Nicola Macdonald|2017-02-24T07:39:46+00:00February 24th, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Local SEO|

A guest blog is a great way to add variety to the topics of your regular articles and this is exactly what I've done here. Mark Hughes and Philip Waite generously gave away loads of great tips in their presentation at 'How Trusted Sales and Technology can Transform your Business', a conference held by Nicci Bonfanti. I asked if they would be happy for me to share these tips. Of course they were more than happy to do so, so here is how they are helping business owners who want to drive local business to their website via local SEO (Search Engine

Email subject lines that grab attention

By Nicola Macdonald|2020-08-10T10:41:35+00:00January 25th, 2017|Categories: Marketing Tips|Tags: email marketing|

My inspiration for writing this marketing tip has come from recent work I've been doing with Alastair Badman of Bespoke Business Software; which is creating a campaign using email marketing to connect with potential clients. Crafting an impactful email Having identified their target market (an exercise we did when re-writing the copy for their website) I crafted a short email that followed a three step format: Empathised with the recipients’ current business issue (too much time on administration, double entering data and collating reports) Painted a picture of how their life would be better once this problem had been resolved (control and

Business award winning tips

By Nicola Macdonald|2016-10-30T11:30:57+00:00October 30th, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: business awards|

October has been a great news month for business awards. The story that I wrote for Reigate Manor about the VIP Bride and Groom return to Reigate Manor after 50 Years won Best PR Story 2016. Here you can see Giles Thomas, General Manager at Reigate Manor Hotel and me being presented with the winners trophy by the Presidents for Surrey Chambers and the British Chamber of Commerce. SME Surrey Business Awards - Finalists Reigate Manor is also a double finalist in the SME Surrey Business Awards in the category Reigate and Banstead Council Business of the Year and Best Customer Service.

Best PR story 2016

By Nicola Macdonald|2016-09-26T10:34:02+00:00September 26th, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Press release, Public Relations|

I was delighted to hear that a story I wrote for Reigate Manor Hotel, which was picked up by the local press, has been shortlisted for a Surrey Chambers Award. Surrey Chambers Award - Best PR Story 2016 To win this award we need your vote....please! Anyone can vote (you don't have to be a Surrey Chambers member). So, if you like this delightful story with a touch of romance, follow the 'Vote Here' link below, scroll to the bottom of the page, choose 50 years on – Anniversary – Reigate Manor Hotel and cast your vote. THANK YOU! VOTE HERE! The story

How do you show you care?

By Nicola Macdonald|2016-08-30T17:31:33+00:00August 30th, 2016|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: Benefit statement, marketing strategy|

When you’re considering how you would like your business to be perceived by prospects you’d like to attract and customers you’d like to keep, you’ve probably looked at: The types of problems that your customers have that you resolve The products and services that you offer to resolve their problems Hopefully you’ve considered: How you’ve adapted your offering to make it totally relevant to your target audience The appropriate price point that reflects the level of service or quality of product How else can you reassure that you are the one they should choose? Well, you’ll be demonstrating your understanding and

About Nicola Macdonald