Here are 5 little fixes for your business right now:
1. Update your mailing list. You or your assistant could be updating your mailing list right now (and at the same time, your e-mail list). Go through your contacts and e-mail them asking them to update their contact information. Add a list of new contacts. Ask each contact to add you to their list to receive their news by newsletter, postcards and press releases.
By receiving their information in newsletters, press releases, etc. you’ll be one step ahead to being an insider, with valuable knowledge about what is going on in your industry. At the very least you’ll send a Christmas or holiday card to them, right? Tuck in a business card or signature with contact information with a friendly hint to go to your site for a holiday newsletter and information about what you will be doing this year. Don’t forget to ask them to pass your site along to those who might be interested, with a promise to do the same for them…
2. Join an industry specific forum online and get involved. Read the posts for a while until you are familiar with the tone, content, rules and etiquette, then join in by providing a resource in response to a problem or concern. (Usually better received if it is not just touting your firm as the solution, although if you have unique insight or an informative case study you can offer it.) Forum participants will follow your track back to your site or profile if they like your response.
3. Go on an unusual trip and document it in photos. Post the pictures on your site or a photo site and offer commentary on what you saw, did and learned. Invite your list to view the photos. People will always be fascinated with other people and want to know what they are doing/have done. (For example, if you are a green architect, plan an ecotrip or volunteer group to an exotic location and make it relevant to others.)
4. Pass along trends and tips. Everyone is looking for what is next and what is relevant. Collect and pass along articles, tips, and make sense of trends you see and how it might be relevant to the now and to the future.
5. Block out your quarterly calendar. Take a peek into the future and plan for it. Block out all the big items (retreats, trade shows, vacations, business travel, promotions). Now fill in all the details around each item. Need to update marketing material or plan the booth before the big trip or trade show? For every trip or event, add ideas that would expand your knowledge or contacts – where else should I go near here, who else could I invite? What meetings could I set? Block these planning items into your calendar before and after the big dates. Now you have the start of a marketing, events and promotions calendar for the upcoming year.
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Mergers and Acquisitions
Have you wondered if this is the time for either a merger or an acquisition? This may be a good time to consider such a change, because when times are in upheaval, many are keeping an eye out for a well-planned merger or acquisition.
McKerns Development serves as the company publicist and business consultant in a strategic capacity. [McKerns Development is not serving in the capacity of attorney, nor broker and accepts no referral fees or any fees not disclosed to the client.]
Buying a Firm or Selling a Firm or Business?
In this current market, many are interested in merging with another firm, to acquire additional expertise or marketplace standing. Many firm or business owners are open to a merger or an acquisition in order to share expenses and strategy, or simply to retire.
Selling may provide an effective exit strategy that is very workable for both buyer and seller. The buyer may retain you in an advisory capacity for up to five years, providing the seller with the potential for cash upfront, a structured buyout and a stable period of employment for up to five years.
McKerns Development, as a company marketing, business and public relations strategist, assists firms in the planning stages preceding a merger or acquisition, positioning a firm or business for the often rigorous review preceding a merger or acquisition.
McKerns Development is available to stay with the parties, handling the transition period, including the creation of new company strategic marketing and public relations material including branding, logo and website development, content development, marketing collateral, press and media relations.
It is important to prepare your firm for a merger or sale. Buyers investigating your firm will want to have materials at hand as they conduct due diligence on the firm and its services. If you have not invested the time in creating and documenting your company in order to highlight its worth, now is the time to do so. Imagine that an outside entity is evaluating your firm - possibly they could be attracted by your expertise in an area they do not have, or in a market they do not currently serve.
Imagine an architectural firm that wishes to have interior design or engineering or even marketing in house. Imagine a developer wanting to have in house architectural services. Think of financial investors wanting to buy well positioned assets such as marinas.
McKerns Development assists with updating website content, creating a viable background for your firm, conveying a timeline and company history, bios and key highlights of founders and company stakeholders, press releases regarding verifiable accomplishments to post to websites, release to the media and directly over the internet, lists and descriptions of services, markets and market planning, case studies, business and marketing plans, proformas, and other studies.
If interested in a merger, McKerns Development will identify potential merger candidates in complete confidentiality, and when appropriate, introduce the parties and host the meetings, creating the agenda and following and updating stakeholders on each agenda task, updating on a weekly or twice monthly update.
Contact: McKerns Development, www.mckernsdevelopment.com, 561-305-4264, mckerns@mckernsdevelopment.com
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