ConnectWM.com

Businesses use videos to connect to c...

Tags: Marketing WM, Online WM

As we write this blog..... Videos are fast becoming a way which local businesses are looking to promote themselves and connect to consumers online.
 
Currently realisation is that due to consumer’s hectic lifestyles and there being so much out there for them to absorb - that it’s easier for the consumer to gain a better and quicker understanding of a business products and services by watching...!
 
Like with anything though there are positives and negatives and with online video presentations this is certainly no different.
 
The positive about doing videos for your business is it helps to get the message you want out there, it provides you the ability to engage, capture and inform the consumer. Of course this can be done in a variety of ways and many businesses now try to use humour or something a little different in order to engage and try and increase viewers...... this is referred to as Viral Marketing.
 
In simplistic terms..... A good video can make a business look good and a bad video make them look bad.
 
A good video can make a business seem like they know what they’re doing, that they’re knowledgeable within their industry, and that they are a business who can be trusted.
 
A bad video will do all the opposites and as hard pill as it would be to swallow a bad video will ultimately reach more people, as they will pass it on to friends and family, use social media to get maximum exposure to watch the video for amusement and the cringe factor.
 
It’s important that videos do what you want them to do......... examples being are you trying to..... Sell something, promote a product, promoted a service, obtain brand awareness, gain viewer numbers, do it for something to do.
 
For instance we created this video for our Squashed Bills business just to start to create brand awareness. Some people will like it, and there are those will hate it and the balance of the world really just couldn’t care less.
 
 

 
 
There are some videos which can be expensive and there are those which can be affordable; however there is no getting away from the fact technology is making video creation a lot better, more effective and most of all easier to do in the first place.
 
Consumers can be educated by watching videos, physically seeing what a product can do even before the buy it, there’s a blender company in America who uses videos to great effect as they promote that the fact that their blender can blend virtually anything.
 
So they put their money where their mouth is and they create videos proving just this point, they blend, iPhone’s, Cups, Keys, and much much more.....they’re use viral marketing is done to great effect and their sales are going into over drive.
 
There are hundreds of video only sites out there on the internet which you will need to upload you’re video to (other than th ...

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Black Country LEP meeting at Himley Hall

Tag: Finance WM

Thursday the 18th March 2011 saw two members of Connect WM attend the second of a series of meetings held by the newly formed Black Country LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) at Himley Hall.
 
With the purpose being to actively participant in open discussions on the already identified and the current group meeting suggested routes forward - to improve the Black Country’s economy development, and awareness.
 
One Connect WM member was present on the ‘Perception’ group table which was discussing on how to look at possible ways to positively heighten how the Black Country is perceived.
 
The other Connect WM member was present on the ‘Access to Finance’ group table whereby possible solutions were discussed in how to help Black Country Businesses connect to finance.
 
The meeting lasted for 4 hours and many people - about 150, seemed to be passionate about the current situation affecting the Black Country. Those present came from varying types of industries and offered views and solutions to problems and obstacles affecting their specific industry or area of expertise.
 
It was pleasing to hear some of the solutions being discussed where the very same solutions which Connect WM has been working on developing all though on a wider scale in terms of coverage i.e. the whole West Midlands region as opposed to just solely the Black Country.
 
That said development of the Connect WM site does included a gateway to ‘Connect the Black Country’ whereby businesses and consumers within it would be able to identify services and products which are supplied by Black Country based businesses.
 
We did have a concern regarding being present at the meeting with the reason being as mentioned before some solutions discussed where the same as those being developed by Connect WM, so in order to be correct and not seem or be viewed as stealing ideas, or jumping on the band wagon we wrote to two high profile members of the Black County LEP to make known our own business model.
 
“So what” you may say.....well this was important to us because only weeks prior we have had dealings the business of one of the people we wrote to, and our concern was that some of the discussion on the day at Himley Hall was as a direct result of the details we supplied to them.
 
We received a reply from them assuring us that was not the case and that our business model disclosed to them remains confidential, and that any discussions along the lines of a similar model was purely a coincidence.
 
We understand that there will soon be another  Black Country LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) meeting to talk through things further....hopefully we will be able to attend and this time provide our input and offer our suggestions as at the meeting we attend we felt we couldn’t do so due to the business model modules being so similar.
 

Enough is enough...we’ve changed our ...

Tag: Connect WM

We have decided to try and keep a blog on how Connect WM is progressing not only in the current face of adversity, but hopefully well into the future.
 
Starting a business now, let alone progressing forward with an existing business is extremely tough, unless of course you have a little nest egg you wish to use to invest in your own business start up, or you have a fantastic credit rating and enough assets for banks to even consider lending you a few quid.
 
Over the past 12 months Connect WM has had a clear vision in where it needs to head towards; it had and still has big plans for the future. The trouble is that it has been really, really hard over the past 12 months to keep ‘Connect WM’ on the original proposed development track, as the thought was (like all other start ups) that being told of all the help out there, the “come talk to us and we’ll listen” business help groups and local authorities, that at least some help, guidance, or assistance would be there.
 
As silly as this may sound, we never thought that such organisations and business help groups would drag they’re heals so much. Not knowing who was dealing with what, failing to grasp what was really needed, and how their over the top requirements impedes - not helps the small business.
 
No matter how unfortunate things may be we’ve now concluded that we personally have wasted time, real valuable time in talking to these people who supposedly offer help, we’ve had meeting after meeting, we’ve moved office location on the promise of help, we’ve written reports, business plans, executive summaries, even got support documentation from customers, all to no avail.
 
On this point we find it extremely baffling as to how small businesses are asked to write reports, plans and summaries - only to be told NO. There seems to be nothing constructive in return, no written reports or guidance as to why the decision, no informing of what in their opinion should be done, or them even verbally providing pointers in a forward direction.
 
How does the lack of feedback help anyone? Seems like the government may be right in taking some of the actions they’re taking in regards to some funding and grants via such originations....!
 
Our applications have been checked and been given the thumbs up, for the deciding board to say NO. The local authority at one point took 4/5 months to have the meeting they supposedly have every month, guess what....for us only to be told NO; the killer for this one was that it would have been a YES if they looked at it when they should have 4/5 months prior. We’ve been approached to fill in paperwork only recently by a helping body on behalf of the local authority only for us to be told NO when they received (not read) the application, why distract us and make us waste time?
 
Now perhaps this may seem hard to believe but none of this is sour grap ...

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How and why Connect WM started

Tag: Connect WM

The theory for Connect WM started about 3-4 years ago as a result of a regular Birmingham central breakfast networking meeting hosted by BRX ceasing.
 
For a period of about 3 years prior to this I attended many breakfast meetings, in fact I was a networking whore attending anything that was being held because I bought in to what I was being told.  Most weeks I attended 4 breakfast meetings mixed with the odd lunch and afternoon networking session.
 
I attended some well known breakfast networking groups and some not so well known, all of which had the concept and layout the same as were the people attending.
 
I remember in being so committed to networking meetings at time that I attended a meeting two days after a foot operation and being told by doctors not to drive for 14 days...but still I put the effort in.
 
I remember the buzz phrases at the time were
 

“This empty chair could be worth 20k to you! – so invite someone to fill it”
“It’s not what you know it’s who you know”
“You don’t know who knows who”
“Have a one to one”
“Givers gain”

 
After 3 years, realisation was that I was seeing the same people, and many of whom were either at the same level which was those who were just staring off or just having pipe dreams and others who were employed and felt safe.
 
Networking within the West Midlands is an extremely hard beast to get going, for some reason it never really seems to take off and operate like it does in other areas of the country, in fact you’ll find that many of the same people will attend such meetings, making them turn into social meetings as opposed to constructive and meaningful meetings.
 
Let me say that networking meetings do work, and there are good networking groups out there, but success and usefulness can depend on what you do, if there’s a need, and most important of all the quality and calibre of the people.
 
When the BRX Birmingham Central meeting ceased the idea was for the group members to continue with the weekly regular meetings under a new group name which was ‘Connect Birmingham’. The idea being that all group members would actively look to promote ‘Connect Birmingham’ as a company with each group member having their services/products being promoted and touted as a larger company.
 
We wanted to continue having the meetings but these would turn into a sales meeting, and once a month is would be an accounts meeting as this would provide accountably and understanding for those within the group – they would be educational.
 
In its new guise this lasted for about a month as it didn’t take long for people to fall back into old habits which were people never turned up yet they wanted to be involved, they arranged other meetings knowing full well about the regular pre-arranged meeting(s).
& ...

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