Croydon Ladies Who Latte
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September LWL

9/10/2013

2 Comments

 
Really felt like Autumn this morning as it was the first morning that my heating had come on, considering it was really hot only a week ago it was a bit of a shock to the system.

This months topic is advertising your business online for free, top tips below:

Advertising your business online for free

 Listings

  1. Google Places (formerly Google Maps) free listing which will come up automatically when people search for a business + location
  2. Freeindex.co.uk  Advertise your business, add special offers (free version of yell) with backlinks to your site & reviews will boost your listing HOMEWORK – I will add a document into the LWL facebook group where everyone can add their freeindex lising url if we review each others business it should get us up the listings.
  3. Hibu (formerly Yell.com) have some free features.
  4. Article publication, such as www.freearticlesubmission.org , www.ezine.com www.ehow.com will enhance your online presence & make you an expert in your field make sure all information is accurate & not duplicated (not plagurised – has to be fresh content)
  5. For LWL regulars, if you attend 5 or more meetings, email me your picture and info about your business and we will advertise you on our regulars page with a link to your site.
2 Comments

August LWL

8/15/2013

3 Comments

 
The August meeting got off to a good start, it's nice to see one or two new members every month along with quite a few regulars, it shows that the new format of having a topic every month is working.  This months topic is getting more clients, which is something all of us can use, top tips below:

Getting More Clients

  1. Ask for the business, many potential clients are lost because business owners present their product or service but fail to ask for the business (can be done in a non-salesy manner)
  2. Follow up – if you meet someone at an event follow up with a call or email. Maybe just to make contact or find out more
  3. Up sell – If you have other products or services in the same category, offer the more expensive model
  4. Cross sell – If you have products or services in other ranges offer those as well (can be bundled together to make an offer)
  5. Networking – it’s about building relationships, expect to be in front of someone about 8 times before they know you well enough to buy your product. Listen to their needs and then work out how you can help them (or relieve their pain)
  6. Strategy – KYC (know your customer) the more you know about someone the more you know where to find them. Who is your target market? Where do they hang out?
  7. Marketing – online & offline how do you reach your target market? Leaflets? Adverts? Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? Vouchers?
3 Comments

July LWL

7/10/2013

2 Comments

 
This month we were fortunate enough to sit outside in the sunshine, although we were in danger of running out of garden furniture as more ladies arrived as the meeting progressed.  This months topic was "How to get free or low cost PR" Our top tips below:


How to get free publicity

Write      

Blogs on subjects you are an expert in, and post on your website, let everyone know it’s posted via Twitter, Linkedin, FaceBook and other sites. 

Offer to provide a blog as a guest for someone who you have a synergy with. 

Columns               

Community publications

 Publications / websites / newsletters / ezines

Press Release   

Publications 1-2 pages on and off line- must be relevant and interesting to the readers. Not advertising always give value

Connect with Communities - run clinics or taster workshops, 1-2-1 or offer to give a talk. Give your time for free but ask for a donation to a charity, don’t need to tell them which one until you are accepted but you want to have the agreement you can mention a special offer you have     

Radio and TV - get invited to talk shows

Forums – appropriate to the business. Respond to questions, pass comment

Local meetings – write – offer to talk for a donation to a charity

Post articles on membership sites

JV/Piggy back events

Notes:

Press Release – specialist publications can obtain the information from the library  - write to the editors in your target market

All the above is to invite people to your IFO to build your list.

Consider contacting Mind or some charity and give your time for free perhaps one day a month.

Find places where you can place articles for business e.g. career – newsletters

Write column on a regular basis e.g. career – confidence or tips on how to improve your chance of getting a job.

2 Comments

June LWL

7/2/2013

2 Comments

 
The June meeting was the first meeting in our new venue at Hallmark Hotel, Purley Way.  We changed the format of the meeting to include a monthly topic, the June topic was Time Saving Tools.

Karen & I came up with 29 different  time saving tools that can really help your business (top 11 listed below) We had great feedback on the content and will continue with the monthly topic going forward (until we run out of ideas).

LWL meeting are more than just networking, we are an incredibly supportive group that will endeavour to help women push their business forward. Whatever you are stuck with there will be someone that has gone through the same thing.  Why not join us at a meeting and see for yourself.


Dropbox - icloud document store/ sharing www.dropbox.com/

Mailchimp - free compliant emailing tool www.mailchimp.com

Weebly - free easy to use websites www.weebly.com

Evernote - free notes, to do lists syncing https://evernote.com/

Skype - free calls/online meetings www.skype.com

Hootsuite - social media organiser www.hootsuite.com

Basecamp -  project manager software www.basecamp.com

phonetag - voicemail to text conversion https://www.phonetag.com/

rescue time - time management software https://www.rescuetime.com/

shortkeys - text replacement software http://www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm

Card Munch - business card reader app http://www.cardmunch.com/



time_saving_tools.doc
File Size: 55 kb
File Type: doc
Download File

2 Comments

New Venue

6/3/2013

0 Comments

 
Croydon LadiesWhoLatte is moving to a new venue.

After 3 years at Greens Gym/ Nuffield Health we are moving across the road to the refurbished Hallmark Hotel. This is a great venue and we look forward to seeing you there very soon.

Karen & I are also looking at the format of the meetings and we welcome your comments as to what you would like to see happen and how you would like the meetings to progress going forward.

One of the changes we are considering is covering a particular subject each month or having a speaker.

Let us know what you think.

Chris
0 Comments

New Group opening soon in Wimbledon

4/20/2012

9 Comments

 
This week Louise & I have been looking at possible venues in Wimbledon for a new LWL group which will launch in either May or June.  We spotted Billie Piper having lunch in one of the venues we favour. It's interesting how each area has it's own personality.  The other main factor is parking, we were discussing how difficult it is to park in Wimbledon and it reminded me how different it is from Chelsea, where almost everyone arrives by public transport but then Sloane Square tube is directly opposite whereas public transport to Wimbledon village is a very different matter indeed.

How much does ease of use influence your decision on what groups to attend or not? I wonder.  For me, quite a bit I am more inclined to attend one of the other groups if it is easy for me to get there even if it's further away
9 Comments

New Venues

4/20/2012

0 Comments

 
Two of the local groups have changed venues recently with the Dulwich Group moving to Rocca di Pappa in Dulwich Village and the Epsom Group moving to The Chalk Lane Hotel. Both beautiful venues that have been appreciated greatly by the attendees of both groups.  The Dulwich group is growing again now thanks to Karen's recovery from recent ill health - glad to see you back Karen and fighting fit.
0 Comments

March Meeting

3/9/2011

3 Comments

 
The March LadiesWhoLatte meeting took place on 8th March with around 30 fabulous women networking and exchanging ideas and tips.
We started back in September and have been meeting now for six months with an average turn out of 30-40 every month.  It's been a great atmosphere and I know from some of the positive feedback I have had from the ladies attending that they have met very useful contacts and got business from the meetings.  A lot of ladies that are new to networking love the fact that they can just turn up and do not have to speak in front of an audience about their business, it can be a gentle introduction to networking that gives the confidence to try out other events.

Of course the informal way the meeting is run can have it's downside, if you don't know what other types of businesses are represented, you don't know who might be the best person to speak to at the event.  We have looked at several ways to deal with this including registering for the event (which might stop some ladies from just turning up if they find they have the time) to having a collateral table, where you can all display your business cards or leaflets etc. It's not possible at the Croydon event to have each atendee speak for a minute about their business as the numbers of attendees are too many to make that a possibility so we are going to try two things over the next couple of months and see how they go.

We want to encourage more people to register their attendance, you can do this on the Facebook Group page or on the LinkedIn Events page.  We are also going to make available an area to display your leaflets or business cards.  If you see a card from someone you have not yet met but would like to, just ask Karen or myself to introduce you, we are more than happy to facilitate introductions.
Chris Carter
3 Comments

First Post!

1/13/2011

0 Comments

 
The New Year got off to a great start with meetings in Sutton on the 4th and Croydon on the 11th January. Traditionally the begining of January is a quiet time for networking, but Ladies Who Latte seems to be growing from strength to strength in the south of London with 3 new groups starting up in the next few weeks and approximately one new group a month.
0 Comments

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