How to Make your Website your Most Productive Online Marketing Tool

What a fantastic event June WiSE was in Newport! So brilliantly facilitated by Clodagh Higgins from Get Focused Consulting! Scroll down to read comments, ‘take-aways’ and testimonials from the evening. There are some photos too!

As always it’s a great pleasure collaborating with Clodagh as she is so generous and willing to empower small business owners with up-to-date and practical strategic online marketing information that can be actioned immediately.

Let’s start with a little background …

WiSE first asked Clodagh to present at our social media event in July 2010 entitled Social media … explore, engage, embrace iT! Clodagh has a strong background in the corporate sector. This was the first time Clodagh was to present to micro and small business owners and we were highly confident that she could deliver the brief set. And of course, she did. Actually, Clodagh excelled! This is the testimonial as a result of that evening:

“Clodagh Higgins designed and delivered a presentation on the use of Twitter, Blogs and YouTube as part of the Women in Small Enterprise event “Social media … explore, engage, embrace iT”! in July, 2010. Clodagh’s key messages were succinct and delivered in her own unique, dynamic and concise way. Her style resonated immediately with the audience. The level of detail in preparing for this was of an extremely high standard meeting the brief perfectly. Clodagh demonstrates extensive content knowledge and shared it with tremendous passion and flair.”
Michelle McCallum, Founder of Women in Small Enterprise. August 3, 2010

Since that first presentation for WiSE I have introduced and recommended Clodagh to present at the Dept of NSW I&I ‘Over 45 Entrepreneurs’ and ‘Women in Business’ Programs run by IW on the northern beaches. As many of you know I am an advocate of these NSW government initiatives and have supported them over the last decade on Sydney’s north shore, eastern suburbs and CBD.

WiSE invited Clodagh to speak again in 2011. It all came about from a conversation in relation to the latest in the online world for small business. A second conversation sealed the conceptual idea and the brief and outline was formalised for … ‘How to Make your Website your Most Productive Online Marketing Tool‘.

Clodagh delivered her brand new presentation for us this month.

During the first part of the evening Clodagh explained:

• how and why online marketing has taken the place of traditional marketing
• researching & shopping online from the prospect’s perspective
• how your website is such a vital part of your sales team
• calls to action
• role of ‘keywords’, text and ‘tags’
• how Google works
• the relevance of social media and the role it plays in conjunction with our website
• content using many and varied real life examples

Just 4, of our 20 guests, had seen Clodagh present previously (last year at July WiSE in Mosman). Throughout the evening I was receiving thumbs up from guests, nods in agreement of organising a great speaker and even a lovely hand written note! Then came the break where guests came up to me with high praise for Clodagh’s content and approach.

The second part of the evening entailed guests, with existing websites, receiving a website  audit, a FREE 18 point report on how their website currently rates & where improvements can be made plus collaborative feedback from Clodagh and other attendees. Guests who are currently designing and developing websites received loads of cost effective ideas for their website projects.

Read what guests had to say. Here are some general comments about Clodagh’s presentation:

“Excellent.” “Brilliant.” “… found this presentation extremely informative and direct … direct ideas.” “Great speaker. Enjoyed every minute.” “Clodagh was so engaging, fun, warm and I am calling her tomorrow for help with my business.” “Very knowledgeable, fun & easy to stay engaged.”

WiSE ‘take-aways’ from this event:

“Re-assess my site”. “Motivation.” “I need a blog.” “Better understanding of website design.” “It’s really helped us know what our priorities should be and easy steps to achieve these.” “There are lots of things to do and change with my website but I got really good advice and happy to put it to the test.” “What to focus on and put energy into when building/setting up own website.”

“The most important tools to let my (future) website do the work.” “Great overview on various strategies to improve a website.” “Change to my website.” “To make a plan to auction on my site. Get my blog started.” “More work to be done.” “Lots of tips for website.”

“Everything! All the questions I have had the last 6 months about my website and what’s wrong with it.” “The report was practical and useful – lovely to go away with something useful/tangible.”

“I don’t feel overwhelmed anymore … this event proves it’s all possible.” “Great to hear clear, concise, direct and highly practical information.” “The presenter & guests were all so generous in sharing ideas and tips. Thank you.”

Here are a few photos from the evening followed by guests’ testimonials:

Justine, Katrin & Sal

Emily, Marika & Ryan

Jan, Megan & Martina

Lindsay & Leila

Belinda, Clodagh & Harald

Clodagh Higgins presents

Testimonials from the evening:

“The information was clear and useful and I will definitely be putting it into practice.” Emily Griffiths EmilyGriffiths.com.au

“Clodagh presented a really informative and funfilled night – full of practical and helpful tips on maximising our website”. Megan Brown SurelineGraphics.com.au

“Thank you for such an informative evening, it has inspired me in so many ways for my business.” Justine Whitfield NaturalForm.com.au

“Very informative, entertaining and full of energy … loved the speaker, great advice”. Katrin Mende TalismanJewellery.com.au

“A very insightful presentation Clodagh. Entertaining and very informative. Great takeaway ideas to implement.” Marika Martinez WomensOwnAdventures.com.au

“Hell of absolutely helpful information presented in an interesting and funny way. ” Harald Grabner

“Great talk. Inspiring. Easy to understand. Pure fun.” Martina Grabner

“It was a great presentation I could listen to and learn from.” Charline Manier, Pearls de Tahiti

“Clodagh really got the message across I learnt so much in 3 hours!” Leanne Sorby

“Very informative session. Appreciate effort put into presentation and of course website asssessment.” Jan Littlejohn CeremoniesWithStyle.com.au

“Clear, concise but overall entertaining.” Lindsay Asquith Women2Work.com.au

“This was engaging, useful and fun! … You have clearly invested time and energy into this thank you so much!” Belinda Grundy BGPropertyStyling.com.au

“Informative & funny! Kept us smiling & interested.” Salena Knight FlowerChild.com.au

“It was an absolute pleasure working with Clodagh in preparation for this event. It was so rewarding to experience Clodagh’s informative and energetic delivery of this vital content for small business owners. The small website modifications presented by Clodagh can make a big difference to small business online success.” Michelle McCallum ColourDesignStudio.com.au

Our next event is on Tuesday, July 26 (6-9pm) in Mosman. It will be a Think Tank on Social Media.

All WiSE events are proudly organised and sponsored by Michelle McCallum

Principal of Colour Design Studio

creating seamless colour schemes inside to out specialising in eco + bio friendly finishes on-site and online

Colour Design Studio is now on Facebook where you can keep updated on all things related to architecture, interior design, colours, finishes, fabrics, artwork and lots  more.