Aimed Business

Small changes can make big gains for individuals and businesses. Increased efficiency often starts with the question why. Such as why do you use your right hand for your computer mouse? Why not try your left? Read on why in our blog. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/why-not-use-your-left-hand/

All was CALM and ready for Christmas until I remembered I hadn't posted the E and the R. So today the E of CALMER. This is about the need to Expand because taking time to communicate to individuals whether suppliers, customers or your own team strengthens your business against the common recession enemy.

Expand Relationships - Aimed Business Expand relationships is a key part of CALMER approach. Acting as a team with suppliers and customers ensures we all benefit long term

After L is M both alphabetically and in CALMER. Monitoring is part of sensible everyday business but in current times it is essential. And easy once you know that the focus is on a few easy to get key performance indicators and some scenario thinking.
https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/monitoring-mmm-great/

The L in CALMER stands for Look at all costs and everything. Recession is a great time to tackle the sacred cows that endure beyond their efficiency and to ask why to create a cost conscious company culture.
Read more https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/look-at-all-costs/

Continuing the CALMER sequence, A is for Aspirations. Knowing these can provide the necessary motivation to bear today's pain.
https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/calmer-aspirations/

The C in the CALMER approach to surviving the inflationary recession is for cashflow. Does this blog tell you everything about cashflow? No. But it does outline 2 essential concepts for sustainable business. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/c-is-for-cashflow/

Last week I had a well-received presentation at CAP Business networking on my CALMER approach to business and how to survive this latest crisis. I'll be giving more detail over the next few weeks but here's the overview. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/be-calmer/

We've heard lots about growth over the last decade but since 2020 it's been more about survival from the pandemic. Perversely the headwinds of recession may create the necessary managerial focus and knowledge to enable a growth rebound. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/business-growth-or-survival/

Business survival comes down to having a developed plan that takes account of the key changes in the environment so that responses are appropriate. And I mean environment in all senses. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/business-vision-and-environment/

I'm in the business of effective . Of course I'm interested in words and their meanings. Sometimes perhaps too precisely, but that is the nature of someone in . What a chosen word often provides is insight, but sometimes it's a word bandied around like cabinet. Then there's a danger that the insight is lost. Which in this case is ironic given its about effective communication and decision-making. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/meaning-of-cabinet-decisions/

This post is about my blog on the value of words in communication. Find it here.

What Value Words? - Aimed Business Depending how, when and where they are used affects word value. Yet we use them all the time and often with little care.

Aimed Business offers business coaching to many different types of companies from one person bands to larger organisations based on my unique range of skills. So what does a business coach do and how would you find a good one? Find out a little more in my blog.

What Do Business Coaches Do? - Aimed Business What do business coaches do is a question I'm often asked. 3 things are key. Experience of 3 kinds; problem-solving skills and approach.

Work is primarily a social activity not economic. Often working alone and digitally, Neighbours had a social value for me at lunchtimes. Its through spending time with people and chatting that true success occurs as in a team, we all have strengths and weaknesses. The other weekend's news showed what an effective team can do to finally overcome a 50+year national challenge.

Social Value Change and Impact - Aimed Business Social value is important but often overlooked. It affects and is felt by nations and individuals. Often it's recognised when change happens.

Enough of always being in a crisis. What we need is leadership to ensure we take action to prevent things escalating and management to control the evolution and report back.

Crisis Anxiety Needs Leadership and Management - Aimed Business It seems to get anyone to focus on anything we need a crisis, real or otherwise. This leads to crisis anxiety and ongoing inaction.

My latest blog is about teams, individuals and leadership. Each is fundamental to life and each is often misunderstood. Examples are from politics, sport and a common saying. Each provides insight.

Teams and Individuals - Aimed Business That the best teams are made up of individuals is counterintuitive. If everybody brings something to the group, it cannot be the same thing.

The big global experiment has started on the 4 day working week. This throws up all types of questions about productivity which is seen to be the biggest challenge for the UK. It also comes back to how you measure achievement. Are you busy as a bee or sitting in the land of milk and honey?https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/productivity-and-achievement/

My third blog on modern marketing madness is the technological impact on the social echo. Marketing has always required echoes to turn hearing/seeing about something into purchase. But now the echoes can be uncontrollably too many and too often

https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/marketing-madness-iii-social-echo

The second in my series about modern marketing madness is the misuse of context and justification. This is when survey results are taken out of context or opinions expressed as fact. Both seem reasonable until time is spent to think about them. It's then when trust gets eroded and with it goes the sale.

https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/overclaim-modern-marketing-madness-ii/

With over 30 years in Marketing, I'm happy to confirm that the world has gone mad. The two causes are marketing and people.

Marketing Madness I - Aimed Business Marketing madness is increasing as the old rules are bent beyond their intention. All marketing must be based on reality not just the clever.

As a marketing professional, I often come across situations where a true market may not exist or the culture/stance of the company is unsuited to the sales and marketing strategy they think they can pursue. Both require fundamental shifts in strategy to achieve success.

Is Marketing Always the Answer? - Aimed Business Stop and consider whether you are really operating in a market. If you are not then there is little point spending resources on marketing

Satisfaction and value are always tricky topics in the buying process. There is always the person, who must complain in order to achieve either money off or the opportunity to exert power over someone else. And how do we really know the value of something like petrol? https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/marketing-satisfaction-and-value/

Marketing Satisfaction and Value - Aimed Business Understanding what is meant by marketing satisfaction and value is not easy but essential for businesses wishing to grow.

Creating digital course always takes a lot of time and effort to get them right. Pandemics gave many including me the time to finally make that course. Mine is about marketing's 3 essential concepts that most ignore yet explain why their marketing fails.

Here I touch on the first concept. https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/the-science-and-art-of-marketing/

The Science and Art of Marketing - Aimed Business Marketing is a science and an art. It's based on 3 essential concepts which many ignore and then don't understand why their marketing fails.

How often do you write or read something that just does not flow? One of the causes of this is the lack of use of transition words and phrases. We often use these when speaking, but avoid them when writing as they seem to speechify the words. But in blogs both humans and machines like them for their easing of the flow.

Improve Blogs with Transition Words - Aimed Business When blogging we need to guide the reader to aid their understanding. The best way is to use transition words and phrases.

Action learning is a proven approach to solving problems through the power of a team. Peer Networks is a government-funded scheme that uses it with senior managers to give them time to resolve their problems by talking with others facing similar challenges in supportive setting.

The graphic is about the question, the process, the lightbulb moment and the resulting action.

https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/action-learning-opportunities/

Action Learning Opportunities - Aimed Business Action learning is a key tool for business coaches with many benefits for individuals and organisations. While a bit on trend, it works.

If you have online meetings (and who doesn't) have a read about what impacts they may have on you physically and communication-wise. Then adopt 5 simple things to reduce the negatives.
https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/online-meeting-hidden-impacts/

Online Meeting Hidden Impacts - Aimed Business Everyone uses online meetings but few have considered the hidden impacts on participants. 5 simple things will improve performance

Last Friday I attended some training as the trainer always speaks good sense. What I didn't expect was the massive insight he would give me about connections and myself. Read on https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/unexpected-gains/

Unexpected Gains - Aimed Business We all have lightbulb moments when a connection is made. Whether that is between 2 areas of thought or between people. This is about both.

What have goldfish got to do with business?

Marketers create persona to describe their target buyers and those they wish to avoid. An increasing persona is that of the goldfish with an inner turmoil of how to maintain their own sense of importance, built up over the last 40 years, in a world where old modern certainties are now broken.

https://www.aimedbusiness.co.uk/the-death-of-jit-and-rise-of-git/

The Death of JIT and Rise of GIT - Aimed Business A new marketers persona is emerging of the goldfish in turmoil to describe consumers expectations and behaviours without the safety of a tank

Ok I admit it, I've broken one of the rules of blogging which is to post regularly for Google's bots to find it. But ignore that and consider five tips for better business blogging which work when you consider who the reader could be. Better late than not at all! 😁

Business Blogging Tips - Aimed Business 5 simple tips to improve your business blogging as well as being clear who your real and digital readers are to attract more.

Business can be simple with a few tried and tested systems. Even if they are given silly acronyms as here with the METAL approach to action. Cover the five areas and your action is likely to be more effective, especially when you have thought and planned properly. Want to know more, just ask 😃

Think Plan and Act - Aimed Business Think plan and act are all equally important elements to resolve any business problem. It's surprising how often the trickiest is act

An app for everything but who really benefits? I love this image because we seem to becoming increasingly slaves to apps rather than the other way round. Some businesses have clearly forgotten that the customers need to truly benefit equally from the system.

Do your clients really want your app? - Aimed Business Apps are everywhere but as with all marketing the fundamental question must be what is the real benefit of that app to your clients?