How can your suppliers bring you more customers?

Can the suppliers and customers I already have in my company bring me even more customers?

Is there a way that I can leverage my suppliers to bring me more customers?

This is a genuine question for you, rather than an answer from me. 

I woke up this morning with a thought (strange, I know, but having a profound thought at 05h45 in the morning is something that I have to share):

If I take a close look at my client's customers and suppliers, I often find that many have more suppliers than they have customers. It seems like a crazy scenario, but it is unbelievable how often this is the case.

It got me thinking about whether there is hidden power in suppliers?

It is a very interesting question, and while I have some options, which I will share with you, I wanted to reach out to you to broaden this subject with your own suggestions, whether they are ideas or actual, proven examples. I know that there are things that you know that I don't yet know, so, please share them.

To kick things off, here are some of my suggestions.

Guest blogging:

Invite suppliers to talk about their businesses on your blog. Readers love interesting stories and case studies where there is value (but not hard selling...)

Video and Audio interviews:

Short video interviews are an entertaining way to keep the attention of your visitor. If you are smart at what surrounds the videos and what follows on from the videos, you can direct viewers to interesting articles about your own company, and your own products and services.

Your own deal sites: 

Creating your own website visitor attraction site, such as a deals and offers site, is a fantastic way to encourage visitors to your website. Allowing suppliers and customers to create their own offers is an easy way to encourage more visitors to your site, visitors that you may never have attracted before without these other offers.

Blue Square Deals has a ready-to-go white label deal site that you can plug into your own website, branded as your company, and ready to attract hundreds of new customers. Find out more here...



Now, please share your thoughts. I would love to know.


Thanks

Neil de Villiers
Founder and Managing Director
Blue Square Deals

What do President Clinton, Ruby Wax and Bruce Dickinson have in common?

What do former president Bill Clinton, comedienne Ruby Wax and Iron Maiden front man, Bruce Dickinson all have in common? They are all highly respected, very popular, and extremely successful in their respective fields, but they are also some of the most sought after speakers in the business world. During November 2012, they will all be gathering in London to address an eagerly awaiting crowd of business leaders and entrepreneurs at the Entrepreneurs 2012 Conference.

Tickets to Entrepreneurs 2012 available for just £17 while stocks last (click this link)!

President Bill Clinton

Following his prosperous years in office as the US president during the 90's, President Bill Clinton still continues to enjoy enormous popularity around the world. 

His prowess as a speaker has gained him legendary status. Now, often quoted as being one of the best speech-makers of our time, his influence carries significant weight wherever he goes.  

Since he left the Whitehouse in 2001, he has initiated the global charity, The Clinton Foundation. Its purpose is to implement sustainable programs that improve access worldwide to investment, opportunity, and lifesaving services now and for future generations. Working in diverse geographic regions and responding to local needs, the initiatives of the Foundation address targeted challenges in the Foundation’s key areas of focus: economic empowerment, education, environment and energy, health systems, and nutrition.

Bruce Dickinson

So much more than just the lead vocalist for heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, Bruce is also a song writer, an airline pilot, a fencer, a broadcaster, an author, a screenwriter, an actor, a former marketing director and entrepreneur!

Once you catch your breathe from all that and take a step back, you will see that one of the defining factors of Bruce Dickinson, is his continual success.

At the Entrepreneurs 2012 Conference, Bruce Dickinson will bring a style and humour all of his own when it comes to talking about his past career so you can expect an entertaining period when he comes to speak at this event.

The message he is set to deliver, is, however, a very serious one and Bruce will link in all the various successes he has achieved and show how diversification can work for any new entrepreneur.

Ruby Wax

The unmistakable appearance and unique interviewing technique boosted Ruby’s career on British TV to international stardom. 

It really took off in her show, Ruby Wax Meets, where she has produced some unforgettable moments in TV history. 

Comic Relief has also benefited substantially from Ruby's staunch support over the years.

As with Bruce, Ruby Wax highlights just how diversification can assist anyone with a strong personality to succeed in the world of business. 

In 2002, her memoirs entitled ‘How Do You Want Me’ was released as an truly honest account and was met with great success. 

As a result of the fantastic response to her 2010 stand up show called ‘Losing it’, Ruby founded her own successful mental health website. She then gained her MSc in Psychotherapy which she is now putting to great use in the business world.

Currently, Ruby runs corporate communication workshops where business leaders develop skills that can help on a deeper level of communication, with both clients and members of staff. While these workshops include a large helping of Ruby’s own humour, she combines this with tangible scientific theory to achieve real results. 

The Entrepreneurs 2012 Conference

Tickets are currently available for the conference (13th - 16th November) directly from the Entrepreneurs 2012 website, or there are discounted standard tickets (normal price £120) available for £17 from Blue Square Deals, the UK's B2B Deals site.

Click this link to take you directly to the discounted tickets

See you there!

£45 For A Professional Call-Answering Service From Livetel (30% Off)

Are you a small-business owner?

As a business owner, hiring full-time telephone support staff is not always in your budget. Are you constantly answering enquiries on the go? Do you miss important calls because the vital number to call back is withheld? Livetel is the answer.


With the help of Livetel, you can free up your valuable time to focus on the things that are most important to you, ensuring that you never miss an important phone call again, regardless of whether you in a meeting, or on holiday. 

Not only will Livetel ensure that you NEVER miss that important call again, but they also provide a professional, LIVE call answering service from a real person who also understands your business needs and who will answer the call as though they are one of your own. 

Furthermore, this will save you bucket loads in comparison with hiring someone yourself.

So, what do you get for your money?

We are offering you exclusive 30% discount to Livetel's callplan70, saving you over £30 per month (that is an incredible saving of £360 per year).
Your professional call-answering service will include:

• 70 FREE inclusive calls answered per month
• Cold call and marketing call screening (not charged as a call )
• Messages sent to you by text
• Messages sent to you by email
• Your own allocated 'live' PA
• Google calendar diary management for bookings and appointments/sales
• Out of hours voicemail service

Take advantage of this live call-answering service offer today, while availability lasts, only at Blue Square Deals, the best place for business to business deals.

Expert Redundancy Help for £350 Per Day From Brighter Mondays (30% Off)

Are you stressed about imminent redundancies? Do you know the correct procedures to follow? Are you legally covered? Are your staff being taken care of? Are you concerned about the impact this will have on remaining staff? 


Wipe away your worries with this comprehensive redundancy solution from Brighter Mondays.

Brighter Mondays understands both sides of the fence: employers and employees. There years of experience guide you through the redundancy minefield and leaving you relatively stress free, knowing that you have done everything possible, and the exiting staff are given the guidance and assistance they need to move on quickly towards the new beginnings in their life.

How they can help

Brighter Mondays identifies key issues companies face today and provides an individual and tailored solution by

• Gaining an understanding of HR strategy and priorities during the redundancy period
• CV and job market analysis with relevant employees on their re-entry to the labour market
• Presenting consolidated feedback to the senior management and HR team for future HR strategy and best practice
• Leaving management and HR time to concentrate on their business and remaining staff whilst managing brand perception

This service is extremely good value at their usual rate of £500 per day. However, for a limited time, they are running a promotion through Blue Square Deals for just £530 per day. That is a whopping £150 off per day!

To order this service, please click here to see their expert redundancy solution deal at Blue Square Deals.

3 Months FREE PAYROLL for 5 Employees From New London Payroll

As a small business owner ('AKA: Jack-Of-All-Trades') we know how many hats you need to wear! It is no illusion. 

Time is severely limited and if you could invent a time-machine that could create additional hours in the day, we know that you would just about find the time to do the payroll. Unfortunately, that machine doesn't exist and the only thing that you are becoming very efficient at…is sleep!

We also know that if you had to rank all the tasks you need to do in order of importance Payroll is probably not close to the top of the list. It is just something that needs to be done but not something that you want to do. New London Payroll would like to take that unwanted payroll burden off your shoulders, leaving you more time to build your business.

Take the stress out of payroll

They will completely take the stress out of payroll with this complete managed payroll solution. New London Payroll pride themselves on a system that simply works. It takes, on average, just 5 minutes to enter an employee's details and then you can leave the rest to them.

They will deal with HMRC, process all employee documents, calculate tax & NIC, and send out printed payslips for each employee. The employer also receives a P32 summary for their records.

Pay for 1 year of payroll service, and receive an additional 12 weeks FREE.

BUT, there is more. They know that you probably don't know anything about them, so they want to take all the risk from you. 

They offer a 100% money back guarantee.

New London Payroll are so confident of their service that they would like you to try the first month's payroll service without any risk whatsoever. If you don't like the service you have received, you will get 100% of your money back. Guaranteed!

If you go here, you will also get a discounted rate for their payroll service

Resounding Success at Business 2012

We had a tremendous 3 days at the show, and, despite the cold draft blowing right past our noses, we seemed to be becoming more and more popular as the show went on. On reflection, I would like to thank everyone who endured the shock of my cold handshake. Being confined to a 3x3m cubicle in 6 degrees Celsius meant that my circulation was practically non-existent, resulting in a swift and dramatic heat transfer from all I came into contact with.

I can only apologise on behalf of the organisers and the weather. Both could have been better...

However, our desire to help all the visitors by giving them an advertising board to display their own services, products, wants and needs went down very well indeed...especially since it was totally free and therefore very inviting.

The Wall Of Deals - immediate success story

This was undoubtedly a great success and the super feedback that we had from the visitors that returned each day was truly heart-warming. Joyce MacMillan was one of them, and was a absolute gem. She was so excited to have received 2 leads after the first night of her advert being on our board, that she spent most of the following day directing other people to our stand to do the same and benefit too.

Joyce MacMillan - Business Funding Expert

About Joyce

Joyce has been advising businesses in a small way for a number of years now, but has only just started to take her level of experience and expertise seriously enough to offer this as a service to other companies. After just 2 minutes of speaking with her, it was clear that Joyce new of so many more methods of gaining various forms of investment for a new or existing company than I even thought possible.

If you have been looking to raise some funding for your business, or even if you feel that you may have exhausted all avenues, then I urge you to book an appointment with Joyce. It will be well worth it!

Note: Keep an eye out for her successful advert on our Business 2012 - Wall Of Deals as they are uploaded from the beginning of April. Her contact details will be on the advert.

As a thank-you and also to celebrate her new, but well-deserved success, we bought her a bottle of bubbly.

The Large Post-It Note

The VERY bright green, orange, yellow and pink post-it notes were well received and well used. We were particularly delighted that over 150 visitors posted their adverts on our walls. The large post-it notes proved just right for most people, even though some with spacial awareness issues needed multiple tries to fit their info onto the page.

As a promise to all of those who took the time to write an advert, over the next few days, we will be uploading a scanned replica of the post-it, giving each a highlight in a series of emails to our subscribers. We simply hope that this will help these businesses attract new customers and we would have done our little bit to help.


Feedback

If you were at the show, then I would be thrilled to hear from you. Please leave us a comment here, or drop us an email. I would particularly love to hear from you if you receive any leads from this.

If you know of any people who may benefit from these adverts, then please share them, like them, tweet about them, or just like them. Please do your bit to spread the news. After all, the more people know about these adverts, the greater the benefit would be for everyone.

Until next time,
look after yourself and take care

Neil de Villiers


ps: If you have a business focused product or service, and would like to market specifically to that audience, then please submit a deal request on our website, and we will work with you create a B2B deal that will attract new customers.

Preparing for the Business 2012 Exhibition (18th - 20th March)

In less than 2 weeks (18th - 20th March to be exact...) the London O2 will form host to one of the largest and most exciting business shows in the UK this year: the Business 2012. Blue Square Deals will be in the thick of things, among the 200 exhibitors, 360 Seminars and 200 workshops during the 3 days, and we hope expect to see you there.

Why? Because this is going to be the biggest event you can go to this year. The excitement, opportunities, networks and deals will only be at the London O2 for 3 days. To cater for all excuses, the first day is a Sunday, which means that if you unfortunately can't make it during the week, then there is always the weekend.

Joking aside, this is billed to be the best and biggest business show of the year.


Visitors and Keynote Speakers

Unbelievably, the organisers are preparing for up to 40,000 visitors! That says it all. So many people have already committed to this show that it is seen as the business event of the year. One of the main attractions are the keynote speakers: Sir Richard Branson, Lord Sugar and Cherie Blair. What a line up! How can you miss that?

Our Seminar


I will also be hosting a seminar on 'Advanced Value-Added Marketing', (Sunday 18th March, 13h30, Seminar hall 11), please put a note in your calendar. I will be giving you extreme value on advanced marketing strategies that are transforming businesses. You will want to take notes, as there is so much to cover and there is so much I want to cram in! Don't miss it.

Promote yourself at our stand (A36)

We are opening our stand to you, the visitor, so that you can promote your current business deals and offers, free of charge, to 40,000 visitors to the show. You can also view all the other offers that people have added. As an added benefit, all the offers will be scanned and uploaded onto our website until the end of April, so your promotion will continue for over a month.

VIP Ticket to the show


If you have not yet reserved your ticket, it would be a shame for you to miss the benefits on offer with this ticket.

• VIP Priority Queue at entrance
• VIP Priority seating for the keynote speakers
• £100 to spend at any workshop over the 3 days
• Blak Pearl 'Business 2012 Toolkit'

All this for just £17. You would be nuts to miss it! (I would buy it just to miss the queues!)

See you at our stand (A36) during the show. Come and introduce yourself, promote your company and see if any of the other offers take your fancy!

Best Regards

Neil