December 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

Networking Events

Jumpstart Your Business

Networking Tip

Newsworthy...

Extra, Extra!

Women's Business Forum

Meetings

1st Wed of month

Doylestown

For more info: WBF

Lower Bucks Chamber Bucks Business Connect

Thursday, January 8

8:00-9:15 am

RSVP: LBCCC

Lower Bucks Chamber

Business Card Exchange

Wednesday, January 21

4:30-6:30 pm

RSVP: LBCCC

Central Bucks Chamber Business Card Exchange

Wednesday, January 21

5-7 pm

For more info: CBCC

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Happy Holidays! I hope 2014 has been a prosperous year for you and your business.

At Richard Associates, we specialize in cultivating a better customer experience. We work with businesses to nurture ideas, analyze marketing efforts, and create strategic solutions. We strive for excellence and our goal is to make your business successful!

We are currently booking January and February one-on-one strategic session appointments. Contact us today to position your business for growth!

In addition to helping businesses meet their goals, we develop lectures and workshops for organizations and associations. Contact us to find out how a presentation can be crafted for your team.

How can Big Data work for your business? Read more about it in "Jumpstart Your Business" below. There's also a list of local networking events, a networking tip, and links to articles I think you will find interesting.

Best regards,

Susan Richard

P.S. Ready to create a strategic plan for 2015? Contact us today!

Big Data

You may have heard of Big Data. Marketing experts have been using it for a long time, and it's the latest lingo used by the media to discuss how companies capture customer information. Have you noticed that when you do an online search the product you were looking for pops up as an ad in your email or on your Facebook page? With every click or Like, people are voluntarily providing their preferences to marketers.

Profiles

Using personal and sales information provided by your clients, you can create customer profiles. The data could include gender, age, marital status, income, birthday, styles, product types, or timing of purchases. Accessing this type of information helps you to market your services better to current and prospective clients as well. Companies with rewards cards do this all the time. They know when you have been to their store and what you have bought, then they tailor the timing of coupons or offers to you. When you know your customer, you're able to send personalized messages that fit their preferences at the right time.

Measurement

To know if your advertising is working, use a call-to-action with a form of tracking, such as a special offer code, number of hits on your website, number of clicks on a link to a landing page, or calls received on a designated 800 number. In the rewards card programs, the company knows when you have presented a coupon by scanning the barcode. Only through measurement can we know if a campaign is successful. And, the people who respond to these offers become your key prospects.

Bring a Friend

If it makes you nervous to attend events alone, bring a friend with you.

Each of you can take turns meeting people and then introducing each other to the new acquaintance. This tag-team effort takes some of the pressure off and allows you to expand your conversation to highlight your work as well as your friend's business.

Once you're comfortable, you can separate and mingle to increase your network individually.

Networking 101

Recently I presented Networking 101, a one-hour seminar, to students at Bucks County Community College. We covered basic networking skills to prepare them for a speed networking event.

The event's organizer, Tracy Timby, Dean of the Business Studies department at BCCC, provided these insights:

In an interactive and engaging style, Susan Richard of Richard Associates Marketing Consulting presented a Networking 101 seminar to our students to prepare them for a professional networking event. She taught them how to introduce themselves, what to wear, and provided tips for a successful experience. With the ability to highlight their education and skills, the students will be noticed in an increasingly competitive work environment.

Check out the local coverage of the event.

Think You Can Multitask?

Multitasking seems to be a way of life nowadays. Find out what experts say about your attention span in this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Richard Associates...Your Marketing Partner

At Richard Associates, we cultivate the customer experience to help you succeed. From advertising that works to seminars designed to enhance your professional skills to business consulting that focuses on your goals, our services are developed with your needs in mind.

We understand that marketing is an investment in your business. And, you'd like a return on that investment. That's why we focus on results-oriented efforts that measure your success.

We build client relationships into marketing partnerships. Working with you.

Call 215-595-8959 � Website www.richardassociates.net