Bondfield Marketing

15/07/2024

I've had a lot of "it's nearly the end of term" conversations with working parents recently and they fall into 2 camps:

- My teacher friends who are literally counting off the hours to the end of term.
- And my small business contacts who are trying to line everything up so they can work at least a bit over the school holidays.

If you are in the second group, let me share something that I released a couple of years ago.

It's a super short podcast episode with some tips and tricks about staying visible when you are busy, including:

- repurposing (what and when)
- scheduling (including a big health warning)
- how to be laser focused in your marketing activity.

And because you are busy, the link below will take you right into the episode! If you have a timesaving tip for working parents in the school holidays, drop it below so we can all benefit!

https://traffic.libsyn.com/marketingforintroverts/Showing_Up.mp3

08/07/2024

Coffee but let's make it niche!

I love an example of a niche in the wild - in this case a coffee shop in Coal Drops Yards in the Kings Cross district of London.

In an area packed with interesting places to eat and drink this particular coffee shop has gone for a target market of cycling enthusiasts. From the in store big screen to the cycling merchandise on sale, this is how to set yourself apart from the competition.

(Or maybe it's a cycling shop that serves great coffee - I didn't go in, I'm not target market!)

17/06/2024

Who here has teenagers?

I'll be honest and say, sorting out my messy teenager's bedroom does not thrill me. Particularly as I know it's going to be back to its usual state in 48 hours. And if I do all the tidying for him, he won't learn how to look after himself, which is after all the key objective for parenting teens!

But, I do love sorting out messy marketing.

Give me a marketing plan that is half formed ideas in a business owners head and a few post its and I'm happy. Share your neglected social media presence with me and I'll be there with ALL the ideas for making it into an engagement powerhouse. Share your email marketing list which is tumbleweed and I'm rolling my sleeves up to resurrect it.

You get the idea.

If your marketing is a bit messy and needs sorting, DM me for help 🦸‍♀️

If your teenager is a bit messy and needs sorting, step away and let them learn 😉

17/05/2024

Exciting news...

I mentioned earlier in the week that I had entered the Business Book Awards this year, and that the shortlist was announced on Wednesday.

I couldn't be at the event (kids, Cubs, life ...) but I was poised over YouTube watching the categories as they were announced and I am very excited that mine is among 8 books shortlisted for the Business Self Development award! There are some fantastic titles in the running, so I'm very pleased that my mission to help introvert business owners succeed at marketing is on the list.

The event is in September so I'll keep you posted!

(With apologies for the dodgy screenshot)

16/05/2024

Marketing connections (and fellow introverts) will understand the ick factor involved with announcing something about yourself, complete with photo!

But I'm enjoying rolling up my sleeves with a new client, particularly one that combines a need to create and deliver a marketing plan with my personal love of history. If anyone needs me I'll be telling the story of 300 years of brewing.

And before you ask, no, I don't get free beer!

The Trust has appointed a freelance Marketing Officer to help us achieve our aim of promoting the National Brewery Collection and Archive.

Jenny Procter is an experienced marketing consultant who has worked across a range of industries and sectors. She will help us develop and deliver our marketing and communication plans, including newsletters, the website and our social media content.

03/05/2024

How is your marketing working for you so far this year?

If you started the year determined to do more marketing yourself, or you wanted someone in your team to do it and life and work means that hasn't happened, maybe its time for a reset?

I've been doing a lot of marketing audits with new clients recently, and whether you ask me to implement the changes or not, having a fresh pair of eyes on your digital channels can make a real difference.

Get in touch if:
➡️ Your existing marketing isn't working - or you've let it lapse
➡️ You need insight to create more impact with your content
➡️ You are able to implement key improvements yourself

My thorough review of your website and social channels will improve clarity and engagement around your brand message , reveal what works (and what doesn't!) and make it easier for people to buy from you.

Drop me a DM and I can reset your marketing for the rest of the year.

01/05/2024

What's in the box?

Over the weekend I helped my brother unpack very many boxes in his new home. In his case most of them contained his very eclectic book collection, from hundreds of niche sci fi titles to weighty computer studies text books. Not my idea of a good read, but definitely my brother's.

It's also happening in my work life, when several pallets of boxes arrived at a client's premises last week. No sci fi titles here, it's a significant local history archive which needs the catalogue updating, and carefully arranging on shelves for others to be able to access.

I'm going to be spending time looking for the interesting nuggets in these boxes and sharing them in order to tell the story of the town and the industry.

So if you are struggling for content ideas this week, maybe you need to take a little rummage in the boxes!

29/04/2024

Who in my network reads Freelancer Magazine ?

If you’ve had the latest copy through, you might find a very lovely review of my book!

It suggests you hurl all other marketing books to the floor 🤣 and describes it as ‘as close to a perfect blueprint for marketing with integrity as you will find.’ How good is that?! 😊

Thank you to the people at Freelancer, you made my week. And if that sounds like the book you need to read, follow the link in the comments.

26/03/2024

It's interesting that when you put content out into the world with a very clear idea of your target market you end up getting lovely reviews from people who aren't it!

I wrote "Marketing for Introverts" for established professional service business owners who would call themselves introverts.

And yet here's a lovely extroverted start up business owner in my network who has obviously found it helpful.

So if you are resisting defining a niche in your business because you think other people won't buy from you, think again! More thoughts on niching on page 79, and the link to buy is in the bio.

25/03/2024

We are all slightly obsessed with other people's mistakes, don't you think?

Whether it's spotting bloopers in movies or binge listening to celebrities confessing to mistakes on the How to Fail podcast with the wonderful Elizabeth Day, we are all rather relieved that it's not just us who messes up.

I was asked for examples of my own marketing mistakes in a conversation last week. I told them the story near the very start of my career, working in event management, and introducing the corporate sponsor of an event in a meeting. I got her name wrong. It was a small mistake but the sponsor was worth many thousands of pounds to our project and it could have been disastrous. I'm still cringing 25 years later!

Fair to say I'm much better at making a note of people's names these days...

Anyway, if hearing about other people's mistakes, and learning from them, is your thing, do listen to the episode of the Marketing for Introverts podcast.

07/03/2024

This is a selection of the books my village business networking group shared at our meeting in the local pub yesterday. We often talk about the nuts and bolts of running our businesses so it was fun to do something different to mark World Book Day.

There’s a few in here I haven’t read and have added to my list. Why have I not read Roald Dahl’s Matilda before?

And yes, my book is in the pile, I’d be a pretty poor marketing person if I didn’t at least mention it, don’t you think? 😉

What’s your favourite book, let me know!

27/02/2024

My marketing tip of the week is how can you use video in your business?

It’s not an obvious tactic for introverts but video has the power to jump out on social media, on your website or email marketing, and using it can really build know, like and trust.

Do you need some inspiration? Can you post a personal intro on your social platforms, like my payroll expert friend Tracy Richardson did yesterday, share a quick tip from your industry which Clare Whalley of Meta4Coaching does regularly or peek behind the scenes of a creative process which Kate Curry of has done this week.

Maybe you can use personalised video to welcome each new client as part of your onboarding process.

If you have the Marketing for Introverts book, (link in bio) there’s a few low risk ideas to get started on video including several that don’t involve you showing your face. P151 if you already have a copy!

For more tailored help, book a marketing audit and I will recommend ways to use video to make an impact in your business. DM me to learn more about that.

27/02/2024

My marketing tip of the week is how can you use video in your business?

It’s not an obvious tactic for introverts but video has the power to jump out on social media, on your website or email marketing, and using it can really build know, like and trust.

Do you need some inspiration? Can you post a personal intro on your social platforms, like my payroll expert friend Tracy Richardson did yesterday, share a quick tip from your industry which Clare Whalley of Meta4Coaching does regularly or peek behind the scenes of a creative process which Kate Curry of CUDOS Creative has done this week.

Maybe you can use personalised video to welcome each new client as part of your onboarding process.

If you have the Marketing for Introverts book, there’s a few low risk ideas to get started on video including several that don't involve you showing your face.

For more tailored help, book a marketing audit and I will recommend ways to use video to make an impact in your business.

19/02/2024

I spent last week in the sun with my children. Fair to say they are quite different.

😃 One of them talked to everyone in the pool, the waiters, the cleaners, the gardeners, the cabin crew.
😶 The other one spoke to no-one except family.

They both had a great holiday.

If you recognise yourself as the latter, maybe you need a copy of Marketing for Introverts! The book for people who don't want to be shouty about promoting their business.

PS Thank you to the people who bought copies last week. I literally made money while sat on a sunbed!

14/02/2024

I don’t usually read business books on holiday, but I was close to finishing this so I brought it along.

It’s the opposite of all the ‘get up at 5am, hustle harder’ messages that drive me crazy. Instead it suggests that the key to a fulfilling career and life is to think smaller. Better not bigger.

I particularly like the line: “customer happiness is the new marketing.” I’m not convinced it’s that new, but it is a great approach to marketing.

I’m going to add this to the Marketing for Introverts reading list, all titles that have inspired me and my podcast guests. The link is in the bio.

Who has read this, what did you think?

31/01/2024

What’s the secret to success in any area of your life?

I’d love to reveal an exciting shortcut that you can immediately apply but the reality is very dull…

…Consistently showing up and doing the thing.

If you want to

✅ Learn a language
✅ Get fit
✅ Build your reputation through marketing

ongoing input and effort is needed, whether you are doing something daily (like my Duolingo Italian streak!) or a few times a week.

I can’t get fit for you, but if you don’t have time to devote to regular marketing for your service business I can help you with that.

Book in for a chat and let’s find out if I can help you be more consistent.

And if you want to speak Italian 🇮🇹 when we meet, that’s good too 😊

22/01/2024

I’m still on a high this morning from a Sunday afternoon spent singing with 700 other people at a Come and Sing day with composer and conductor John Rutter. At 78 he is full of energy and enthusiasm for choral music and his stories were as engaging as his conducting.

3 lessons I’m taking with me into the working week:

🎵 sometimes you have to give things a go! I knew some of the music but some was new to me, including a piece in French. I love a sight reading challenge!

🎵 good enough can be good enough. We sang 10 different pieces during the afternoon, we didn’t rehearse everything in great depth, we were there for fun, not perfection.

🎵lots of things in life and business are better when you join with other people. Even if you are an introvert.

I will try not to sing in meetings though, I’m case we are seeing each other this week and you were wondering!

15/01/2024

I’m excited that on a really chilly mid January day, the snowdrops are coming through in my local churchyard.

Someone must have planted the bulbs last autumn knowing that the hard work that they put in then (there are hundreds!) would take time to pay off.

I’ve got a few bulbs growing in my business for flowering this spring, how about you?

💙

15/01/2024

I’m excited that on a really chilly mid January day, the snowdrops are coming through in my local churchyard.

Someone must have planted the bulbs last autumn knowing that the hard work that they put in then (there are hundreds!) would take time to pay off.

I’ve got a few bulbs growing in my business for flowering this spring, how about you?

28/12/2023

Isn't this a lovely review? Like a big hug in word form!

When I started the Marketing for Introverts podcast, I wanted to give introvert business owners a sense that they weren't alone in finding marketing a bit of a challenge. I thought I could provide place where they felt understood and could find the answers.

Over 50 episodes later I know that thousands of people have listened, and found the conversations helpful and reassuring.

If you need some new podcast listening this Twixtmas, you run a small business and you would describe yourself as an introvert, then look for Marketing for Introverts either in the link in the bio or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want to drop a comment about a particular marketing challenge you have, I can let you know which episode might help.

27/12/2023

Helping me get to a nice round 10k downloads is not a great motivation for you to listen to an episodes of the Marketing for Introverts podcast between Christmas and New Year!

So how about reminding you that it is:

🎧 Short bite sized episodes of marketing wisdom
🎧 Content to help you tackle marketing planning
🎧 Easy to implement in your business

This episode is just 10 minutes long and it's designed to encourage you to celebrate success in your business, a really useful step if you are business planning in January.

So take a listen and let me know what you are celebrating in your business at the end of 2024.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ADrartuN0s477Ne22vioO

18/12/2023

This feels like a suitable phrase to sum up the year!

At the start of 2023 I moved from "One day I'll write a book" to "This year, I'll publish my book". That change in belief gave me the momentum I needed and a long term goal was achieved in September. Thank you to Clare Whalley, Clare McCabe and Charlotte Wilkinson who provided the moral and practical support to make my goal a reality this year.

Where do you need to dial up the belief and find the right support in 2024?



(Fabulous card from international charity ActionAid, I've made a Christmas donation to provide baby kits as part of their emergency response to support women and girls.)

13/12/2023

I love this review of my new book!

It's exactly the point, there are lots of us who want (and need) to promote our small business but we want to do it our way.

I wanted to create something that helped introvert business owners understand their strengths and allowed them to plan and do their marketing in a straightforward way. I include tools and advice to help you show up consistently even when your introvert energy levels are depleted.

So if you need something that - at last - helps you achieve marketing success as an introvert, maybe you need a copy too!

11/12/2023

Does your business have a marketing strategy? What comes to mind when we use that phrase?

I think strategy is a highly overused word, and it isn’t always a helpful one. It sounds complicated, inaccessible and a bit too clever! When you google the phrase Marketing Strategy you can get 927,000,000 results! I don’t know about you but I do not have the time to go through all of those so how can we make it simple?

Marketing strategy is really just the overall thinking behind your business and marketing activity. In this episode I share how I have distilled down marketing strategy into the 5 step Marketing for Introverts model:

Your values
What you do
Who you do it for
Your niche
Your story

From this simple process you can start to build marketing activities and an ongoing plan. You can also say no to the things that don’t help you. Take a listen and if you want to explore this in more depth there's lots more on this in my new book!

https://bondfieldmarketing.co.uk/do-i-need-a-marketing-strategy/

01/12/2023

Introverts make up up to 50% of the population. If you are an employer, making everyone work in the same way is going to be counter productive.

As part of the launch campaign for my book I wrote an article explaining why your introvert team members are your superpower and how to get the best out of them at work.

You can read the whole article, but in summary my thoughts are:

👉 Ensure quiet places to work - open plan offices are not always introvert-friendly
👉 Provide agendas or discussion points in advance of meetings so we can prepare
👉 Don’t insist on doing it your way - your introvert team members will find their own way to achieve the end goal.

What else would you add to the list?

29/11/2023

I've had a fun morning with a client, as they hosted a group of students from a local technical college and demonstrated laser scanning to them in a very chilly car park.

Students have had a chance to get hands on and ask a lot of questions, from the spec of the equipment to how they deal with client confidentiality.

Also with a technical client, listening to them explaining their work to 6th form students has helped me understand it in more detail!

This morning has reminded me how much I like getting out and about to see clients, I need to do more of that. Maybe on a slightly warmer day...

27/11/2023

If you’ve heard me talk about finding time to create content, and how I found time to write my book, you’ll have heard me talk about how difficult I found it to outsource anything in my business, but how finally working with a VA was a major step for me.

So in this episode of the Marketing for Introverts podcast I was delighted to have a catch up with Charlotte Wilkinson, who is my VA, and talk about how that process works, which tools we use and how she helps her clients overcome the fear of outsourcing.

If you are overwhelmed by paperwork, social media or anything else in your business maybe our conversation will help you take steps to find the help you need to thrive.

https://bondfieldmarketing.co.uk/making-your-business-more-effective-with-charlotte-wilkinson/

24/11/2023

Is anyone else's inbox full of Black Friday madness?

So no Black Friday offers here.

Just a reminder that you are welcome to buy my book at the very reasonable full price of £14.99, which will give you a delve into being an introvert, a few thoughts about all the marketing related things you are scared of and a straightforward strategy to help you show up consistently.

Described as a "must read for all introvert business owners" by one lovely reviewer, you can get it here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marketing-Introverts-quietly-successfully-business/dp/B0CJKY81WD/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

23/11/2023

People are wired for stories!

Psychologists have found that the human brain is 22X more likely to remember facts if they’re associated with a story. And yet, in marketing, telling great stories remains a challenge!

Want help? 🙋🏻‍♀️ I've mentioned before that I use scheduling tools for my social media and the lovely people at the tool I use Agorapulse have created this e-book. Why not take a look and improve your brand storytelling!

Want to get started with brand storytelling but don't know where to start? This free ebook guides you through the process with ease.

21/11/2023

Who has read Atomic Habits?

Two recent guests on my podcast have recommended this book to other introvert business owners. It's one I've read as well, although I do need to come back to it from time to time when I find myself slipping into bad habits (staying up too late, not leaving the house when I'm working from home, eating too many biscuits when I'm cooking dinner).

A reminder if you are trying to build a new and positive habit, you need to make it:

👉 Obvious
👉 Attractive
👉 Easy
👉 Satisfying

I'm off to do the school run and I will pick up an apple on the way out in the hope that I don't get tempted by the custard creams...

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/8868/9781847941831

(This is an affiliate link, and you can get access to all of the other recommended reads by my podcast guests on the Marketing for Introverts reading list on Bookshop.)

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