Royal Mail’s Handbook for the Modern Entrepreneur

The Royal Mail has some very interesting articles in the autumn edition its Smart Thinking, Smart Solutions magazine. On the subject of cost-effective marketing techniques, the advice is: “Whether it’s a Facebook page…, flyer or email newsletter, think about how words and images combine to reflect your company’s brand, encourage customers to respond to you and make you noteworthy.” (Time to Blossom, page 14)

Its experts make the important comment that “too many businesses spend all their money on e-marketing and find it is not effective” (The Clinic, page 22). To “really stand out and connect to your customers”, they recommend you give them “something tangible… that they will remember [i.e. sensory triggers like a striking image]”. Your promotional materials should “complement your web presence” and “tap into customers’ emotions”.

Christmas marketing ideas to make your promotional publications “stand out from the competition” (How to Plan for Christmas and Beyond, page 16) include the suggestions that you should “engage customers by offering an incentive – a money-off coupon for a limited period…” and make your URL, phone numbers and other details as prominent as possible. “The senses are great emotional drivers” they say, and one fascinating piece of information is that a recent study showed how “a US candle manufacturer increased sales by 20% after using scented ink in its catalogue”!

You can sign up to receive SMART magazine via snail-mail by dropping a line to smart@royalmail.com. The content is also available on audio CD.

Midsummer Madness for LDS Tourism Services

It may be mid-summer but we’re busier than ever. There has been a massive increase in the leaflet pick-up rate this year, so we’ve got our work cut out trying to keep our stands topped-up and tidy!

One wonders why this is happening when the economy is supposed to be in so much trouble. One reason could be that a great many Brits are opting to stay on home soil this summer. Indeed, TravelMole is reporting that Britain is the top holiday destination for more than three quarters of UK internet users – that’s 21 million adults! It would seem that data produced by the research firm, Continental Research has revealed that over 40% of respondents are fed up with air travel, 37% believe it is kinder to the environment to stay in the UK and 44% worry less if they fall ill. Amongst the 58% of internet users taking a paid-for short break in 2008, the survey showed that the UK dominates the destinations visited, with many people mentioning the great scenery (56%) and no language barrier (47%) as two of the main reasons. This has to be very positive news indeed for the local tourist and leisure industries.

Believe it or not, Chester Zoo has started planning for its Frost Festival! The 110-acre attraction received a visit from Father Christmas last week and it is currently seeking sponsors for the extravaganza, which will open to the public on 29th November. A range of benefits are offered to sponsors including free tickets, PR coverage and exclusive company use of the ice rink. For further information, please contact Michelle Duma on 01244 650265 or drop her a line at development@chesterzoo.org.

We’ll finish with a couple of interesting links we came across recently:

Fuel Prices Hit Leaflet Distribution Nationwide
http://www.mailboxnationwide.com/blog/fuel-prices-hit-leaflet-distribution-nationwide/185

Printed page – and beyond

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2008/04/28/stories/2008042850110300.htm

Turning Green: A More Sustainable Business

As regular readers of this blog will know, we have for some time been embracing the green initiative by trying to be more wildlife friendly, using recycled materials for our leaflet holders and employing a web host that relies solely renewable energy. You can now read our Environmental Policy online and see how LDS Tourism Services Ltd intends to become a more sustainable business in the future.

You will need a PDF reader to open this document.

Easter Break Dilemma

Everyone at LDSTS actually took a day off for Easter Sunday – but it will be all systems go again on Monday!

The main problem with working through the Easter break is the large volume of traffic we have to contend with on the roads. Yesterday, for instance, there was a dreadful crash on the M6 between Junctions 16 and 17, and the motorway was closed in both directions for at least three hours. I’m sure you can imagine the tailbacks this caused and we had real problems reaching the Sandbach Roadchefs to refill our stands. However, we eventually sneaked in through the back entrances - much to the surprise of the staff!

Apparently, this has been the earliest Easter for 95 years and, although it won’t happen again for another 220 years, it has led to calls for a fixed date to be introduced to minimise disruption to the tourism industry (and others). At present, Easter Sunday can be anything from 22nd March to 25th April but it would seem that many hoteliers in the UK would prefer a definite date some time in mid-April. There is something called the Easter Act, which provides for Easter to fall on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April, but it can only be brought into effect if Christian churches around the world agree.

The poor weather this year has also caused some major headaches and means that many businesses will open for only a couple of days and then close again for a few weeks.

Would a unified spring holiday around the first weekend in April (not linked to the religious festival) be preferable? Perhaps Good Friday and Easter Monday shouldn't be bank holidays? Surely, this would be far more sensible from the point of view of both employers and schools. What do others think?