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Just sent you some reports. Keep the faith, do some analysis and come back fighting in 2019 

Depending on your business, normally product based versus serviced based, you will either be manically busy right now or like us,  this will be your quiet patch.

If you are in the quiet patch, then make sure you make the most of it and put those finishing touches to the marketing plan. Because you do have  a plan don't you?

Remember the cliche, don't expect different results if you do the same things next year that you did this year.

Set a realistically achievable but challenging target, then plan exactly how you will achieve it. 

Maybe you will be trying to break into a new market, maybe it's a strategy of generating potential referrals from existing customers or simply upselling to your customer base. Or are you looking at doing trade shows or investigating PPC? Planning can be great fun, but make sure you track progress and keep updating the plan throughout the year. 

Even if you don't achieve your targets, you will have a wealth of data and information to analyse to understand why not, and set fresh targets for the next year.

Did anybody meet or smash any targets from last year? Is anyone sat looking at a blank piece of paper and wants some inspiration?

Absolutely  The google listing is a powerful marketing tool a lot of people don't take seriously, which is mad as it's 100% free!

The posts feature got rolled out earlier in 2018 and is a good way of getting visibility. Likewise make sure you also add a description line about your business, which is another recent feature.

Here's what ours looks like:

The downside is the posts expire every 7 days which is frustrating, so remember to calendar a reminder each week to create a new post.

If you are new to Google listings or want to edit an old one, then follow this link: https://business.google.com/manage/

Great post and top advice 

I remember years ago me and the missus decided to spend xmas in a log cabin on the banks of a Scottish Loch. Drove up from Stratford in my ageing Nissan Patrol with all the xmas food in bags on the floor as well as the Turkey.

What I didn't know was the exhaust was on the way out and bent so part of it was touching the floor pan, super heating the underneath of the car, slowly cooking our Turkey for us two days early

After much pondering and after a couple of glasses of wine, against all common sense, we cooked and ate it on xmas day  More luck than judgement, but it was great! May have thought differently if we had kids at the time or guests!

I don't think new generations will disconnect, I think it's more evolve.

Youngsters are using different platforms to Facebook and Twitter, where they have more privacy in private groups, whilst conversations are deleted after a set time. 

I can see this trend increasing as new technologies imitate our real life social behaviour. Very few of us would want to get on a stage in front of thousands of strangers and show pictures of our drunken past, yet people do it all the time with open profile Facebook accounts, or even twitter.

So I think it will be more discreet groups, where the currency will be privacy and trust, a bit like how you communicate with friends in the real world. Kids now talk with their mates via headsets while playing games. While we were outside with our mates in the 70's or 80's, now the kids get together virtually and have fun virtually. I'm no fan of this, but you can see the attraction, get together with your buddies and race cars or go round shooting things up, all without getting wet or bored!

But far from being disconnected, we are moving to an even more connected world, how about this - Micro-Chipping Staff 

Originally Posted by Your Local Girl Friday

“I saw an advert the other day for 'Black Friday Week'  

Point?”

It does make you laugh. Amazon was advertising Black Friday week. No doubt next year it will be Black Friday Month 

Personally I think it's run out of steam. Consumers aren't daft, that product you are offering for £100 was never really £500 and I'm sure I'll get your discount price throughout the year. Plus it encourages smaller eCommerce sites to join in a self destructive race to the bottom in regards to pricing, just to try and stay competitive with the big boys

Because the IT team is interacting with your customers. And they call them users. Or ignore them.

The local bank, for example, decided that adding a seventh and eighth digit to its two-factor authentication system would make it more secure (it’s a vanishingly small difference, but that’s a story for another day.) I’m sure that they didn’t consider the cost to the thousands of customers who will use it millions of times of day. Remembering 43948394 is very different than remember 439234.

Or consider this note from the TTP website:

“Please remember to revisit our website for your application status updates. Notification of when you may schedule an interview appointment (if one is needed) will only be posted here.”

Check back when? How often?

While it might be more convenient for them to forego sending out some sort of email or text alert, it’s definitely a fraught moment for the customer, the paying customer who is either going to forget, or not read this at all, or miss the appointment…

Marketing used to be advertising.

Now, marketing is everything you do. And what you do either adds to the experience or takes away from it.

Reproduced from Seths Blog: seths.blog/2018/11/is-there-a-marketing-person-leading-the-it-team/

It's a powerful message, I know I sometimes struggle to see things or relate to a customers point of view, retreating to it's the "users" fault  

Having a customer facing non techie, yet that can talk to techies is an invaluable resource. Particularly when techies are in disbelief at how users dare to interact with their system. The number of times we have had the conversation, "but they are not supposed to do it like that!" Tell that to the customer... 

Well to keep a record of ongoing progress, as this account started from zero, here are the current stats for Edinburgh Trusted Traders Social Media.

20 Jul 2015
FB 511 likes, Twitter 178 followers and Google Plus a spectacular 6

19 Jan 2017
FB 673 likes, Twitter 302 followers and Google Plus... drum roll... 12 

23 Nov 2018
FB 840 likes, 22 Reviews/Recommends, Twitter 410 followers and have given up on Google Plus, (and so has Google!)

Nothing earth shattering, more slow and steady. But we can track both customers (new traders) and consumers (users) that have come primarily from the Facebook page, making it a low cost and very viable form of marketing.

The twitter page is harder to track and is simply a low maintenance branding tool, with a daily tweet or retweet. Because of this, as of April 2018, the twitter page has been renamed and is now used as a generic Trusted Trader page to promote multiple Trading Standards schemes in Scotland: Scotland Trusted Trader Twitter page.

We have are looking at experimenting with paid Twitter campaigns in 2019 to target specific trades and schemes, so will see how that goes.

If you are  a business owner, no doubt you are gearing up to try and capitalise on a possible sales spike.

The Intellectual Property Office sent over some nice graphics, which is a timely reminder. This is also a ripe season for scammers, con men as well as some bargains that aren't as such good deals as they might cracked up to be.

Don't be impulsive, do 5 mins worth of research, and if too good to be true.... you know the rest!

I hope you have a lucrative couple of days, either buying or selling 

Will we, won't we, should we, shouldn't we....

I genuinely sympathise with Theresa May. Like her or loathe her she has a monumental task on her hands. Few people, male or female could stand up to the immense pressure, negativity, hostility and abuse she deals with on a daily basis.

Regardless of your politics or your views, this nastiness and aggressive nature of politics seems to have migrated to us from the States  

I voted remain, acknowledging the EU was seriously flawed, but hoping we could help steer, cleanup and continue to keep some of their more hair brain policies in check. But I'm in a minority (just), so now just want to crack on with things and bring some stability back to the country and economy, especially from a business and personal point of view. (move house, interest rates, inflation, household costs etc).

I haven't read (and haven't got the will to read) the 500 page Brexit document. I've absorbed about as much speculation as humanly possible, it doesn't seem to be the brilliant deal the leavers prophesied, but it's a deal. So let's get on with it.  

We were in a club and we're leaving. It's their club, their rules and we've decided to quit. End of story.

Why we think we have the right to demand that some of the club rules still apply to us once our membership has expired is beyond me. Try that argument when your AA or RAC breakdown cover expires, or maybe your membership to a book club.

Watching the Tories go through one of their traditional imploding self destruct routines, whilst the country is on the brink of chaos with a population confused and bewildered, will no doubt usher in a Labour government within the next 12 - 18 months if not before.

I'm no fan of  Mr Corbyn or any of Labour's policies, but one part of me wonders how much worse a job could they do? Maybe it's time for a coalition between all of them. Even get Vince Cable back in there as a voice of reason. 

Anyone else think it's time to end the nastiness in politics and for MP's to start thinking about the Country first rather than self interest and egos