It is the day before your summer holiday away in the sun for a week and you are all packed with your tickets in your bag and your passport safe, after finally being found at the back of your wardrobe. You have completed your last minute ‘to do’ list buying new flip flops and suncream. You are completely ready to go. How does it feel? Great doesn’t it? There is no panicking or rushing around getting yourself unnecessarily stressed.

Think about this now in business terms. How many times do you leave things to the last minute? More than most of us care to admit I am sure. However it doesn’t have to be like this. If you take the time out to think about what it is you need/have/want to do and organise your time effectively you will constantly have that night before your holiday feeling. A week ahead think about the small tasks that are not urgent yet but you really should do before they get to that ever so familiar urgent stage. Then plot them into your calendar either on your computer or smart phone.

The next stage is where you have to get tough with yourself. As soon as a reminder pops up with one of your tasks you must complete the tasks as soon as you can. Do not just press dismiss! Hitting that dismiss button on a task is like saying you do not need to arrange spending money/foreign currency before you go away. You will soon regret it.

Being disciplined and taking control of tasks before they reach a crucial point will alleviate the stress caused. Therefore do keep this in mind when you next plan to purchase promotional merchandise. All products have a lead time with a few items as much as 3-4 weeks so please take this into consideration with your marketing plans. Remember that night before a holiday feeling and remember how good it feels…now just put it into practice!

Lucy

The proposition of visiting our Manchester office was very exciting so Kym and I jumped at the chance. It was all sorted for me to go up Monday through Wednesday and Kym Thursday to Friday. Well, that was the smoothest part of the trip. So Monday morning I turned up to the airport with plenty of time to spare, checked in and went through to departures…so far so good. This is until twenty minutes before the plane was due to leave the flight was cancelled, down to not enough people being booked on the flight. BA offered to change us to the later flight at Gatwick in six hours time, or transfer us to Heathrow via bus for a flight in a couple of hours.

The staff routes and exits were used to re-unite us with our cases again. However whilst queuing to change my ticket, the lady at the desk told me the motorway was shut so the likelihood of getting to Heathrow in time was minimal, so I took the plunge and decided to wait at Gatwick. BA was really good, giving me business class facilities whilst at the airport and vouchers for food and drink within the airport. So there I was, three hours later standing in the same queue waiting to check my bag in…again.

Before going through security I had to drink the water I purchased on the other side previously. It was a good job I hadn’t bought a litre of vodka from duty free! Whilst consuming my lovely water, a member of the BA staff approached me, gave me a luggage label then walked off. When reading the label, it turned out to be a message and read “I think you’re fabulous”. I wasn’t going to argue!

So going through security again, everything was fine up until I was putting my shoes back on and a lady asked if she can do a random swab check in my handbag. She went away to test and returned saying she had a hit….for explosives!! This was the peak of my airport experience. After being taken to a separate area, having all the contents of my bag checked and myself being searched again I was able to go through to departures with the all clear and knowing I am definitely not a lucky person. Apparently the hint they found on me is also in tooth paste and hair dye etc….surely that includes everyone!!

After my escapade we thought we would be ok, I mean how unlucky can you be at an airport. That was until Kym arrived at Manchester airport and managed to walk out through to arrivals going straight past the carousel without picking up her luggage.

Let’s hope our next business trip goes a little smoother. I hope you enjoyed reading our tale and it brought you a smile.

Lucy

Facebook is one of the names we are continuously hearing more from as the social media world is exploding. This form of communicating is a fast, effective and easy way of keeping up to date with your customers, suppliers and warm prospects. It is a platform that can help you raise your profile and company awareness so should not be missed.

A Facebook business page is quick and simple to set up. You can put up office contact details, photos of recent events attended or new products available, as well as introduce exclusive special offers and interactive marketing campaigns. When a customer or prospect visits your page they can click a button to ‘like’ the page in which case they become a Facebook Fan of your company. Direct and targeted marketing could not be easier as you can message all of your fans together. Email marketing shots have reached a new level of simplicity.

Interaction and communication are key activities in social media. Ask open and leading questions to spark a conversation and form a relationship. This relationship can then build each day with constant status updates or personalised messages.

Why not upload a promotional video showing a recent presentation you gave, or examples of work and recent projects completed. Including interaction such as this will help your fans engage with your business and brand. The more interesting and engaging your page is your fans are more likely to give you good feedback and quality leads.

Make the most of this increasingly popular, free marketing service and you will reap the rewards.

Check out MPM2 Ltd on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/MPM2-Ltd/200610796622310

Lucy