Saturday 27 June 2009

The Amazing Michael Jackson

I was in a Greek restaurant in Wood Green on Thursday night when news started to break that Michael Jackson was dead. Couldn't quite believe it, and have spent the past two days watching it all unfold...

Just watching tonight's BBC2 documentaries charting his life and his music, have reminded me what an absolute genius he was, and for those of us who were young in the 70's he has truly provided a soundtrack for our lives.

What a terrible shame, doubly so given maybe if he was given the right care and support he may never have died... How terrible that we build our stars up and then go on to destroy them.

Boy the pressure of that 50 date comeback tour at O2 - purely to get himself out of a financial fix - must have weighed so heavily on his mind. Can you IMAGINE the pressure?

And how terrible that 'friends' now appear from the woodwork to reflect & comment on how he went into meltdown - when perhaps THEY could have, and SHOULD HAVE, been there to help and support.

Michael Jackson, troubled soul, you RIP.

God bless.

Monday 15 June 2009

Testimonial for Mark Attwood's SEO clinic




You see I didn't even know how to put a YouTube video on my Blog before last Friday's event with Internet Marketing Expert Mark Attwood!!!


Rachel

Saturday 13 June 2009

An Analogue Entrepreneur in a Digital Age



I had to concede yesterday that I was an analogue entrepreneur in a digital age when I attended Internet Marketing Expert Mark Attwood's latest SEO clinic.

It was an intensive, mind blowing day about how to utilise every available - but legitimate - trick possible to market via the internet as well as maximise conversion from your website.

Mark Attwood is the entrepreneur who took leading Skip Hire company www.topskips.com from £0 to £7.5 million in just three years using these techniques. He is now using his considerable talent as a charismatic trainer to help other entrepreneurs on their journey. Mark also delivered a fantastic 90 minute workshop at our recent Marketing Magicians event and you can buy the DVD set here.

I'm now completely looking at my online strategy in a totally different way so expect some changes over coming months!

Friday 12 June 2009

The reply from East Midlands Trains finally arrives...

21 days on and the East Midlands Trains pathetic (& clearly standard script) response finally rolls into the station:

Ref: 177620

Dear Rachel Elnaugh

Thank you for your email of 22 May 2009.

I was sorry to hear that you were unhappy with the policy regarding our
First Class Lounges and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused.

Due to spacing restrictions the decision has been made to limit access to
the first class Lounges to First Anytime, First Plus Breakfast, First Plus
Parking, First Inclusive and First Class season ticket holders.

Holders of discounted First Class tickets will not be allowed access to the
lounges.

I hope you find this explanation useful, if there is anything else that I
can help you with please feel free to get in touch.

Kind regards


Donna Sallis
Customer Relations Officer

Tel: 08457 125 678 (Option 5, then 3)
Fax: 01332 263894
Email: getintouch@eastmidlandstrains.co.uk



Wasn't really worth them bothering was it?

PLEASE GOD let Virgin win the contract next time it's up for grabs.


Rachel

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Front Page of the FT no less!

I'm sure all you bloggers out there don't read the FT but yesterday I was on the front page of it! All about David Cameron's call for entrepreneurs to become MPs.

Had better hurry up and fill out the forms they sent me now...

Isn't life amazing?

R

Thursday 4 June 2009

Time to go Gordon

A political post this morning as I've just gone and placed my vote for Conservative in both the local and European elections...

What a shame that Gordon Brown is so ruled by ego that he cannot see what damage he is doing to both his party and to the country. He was so desperate to become PM that he got rid of the only thing that was good about Labour (Tony Blair) and after a brief honeymoon period everything he has touched has turned to dust. He has no charisma and a smile that looks completely forced. He is a shambles and so is the government.

He should put his ego to one side and realise there is no glory in being PM if no one likes or respects you.

By the way, I took action yesterday on a life aim which I set for myself long ago, I emailed David Cameron and asked if I could stand as an MP for the Conservative Party. Hey presto everything I needed came back within an hour! Whether they will accept me is another matter but I would love to be in a position where I can be a force for positive change in the world. Particularly in creating an enterprise and empowerment culture within the UK.

I will let you know how my dream unfolds...

Have a thrilling Thursday!

Rachel

Wednesday 3 June 2009

The Spectacular 'Marketing Magicians' Review

It’s over 4 years since I put on an event so yesterday’s ‘Marketing Magicians’ one day conference at the British Library was a big deal for me – and reminded me just how much goes into ‘putting on a show’!

The biggest challenge which faces the entrepreneurs I meet is how to market their product or service amongst the soup of some 5,000 marketing messages we are all bombarded with everyday, while working on a shoestring budget. So the idea behind the day was to bring together a selection of speakers who were not just expert theorists but entrepreneurs who have all built thriving businesses off the back of very low cost marketing techniques.

We opened the event with the inspirational Royston Guest who runs the international training company PTI Worldwide. Royston talked about the power of thinking big, how to implement referral marketing strategies into your business as well as easy techniques to step change your company’s profitability by over 30% within weeks. He made me realise just how under optimised my own business is!

We then had the very suave bespoke tailor Thomas Mahon telling the story of how his ‘English Cut’ blog has lead him to create an international client base and fame as the leading authority on tailoring in the world. Thomas is so successful that his latest Blog post announcing that he was planning to wind down his client base lead to an overnight flood of orders from clients begging him to make suits for them! Everyone was blown away by Thomas’ integrity, honesty and charm.

After a break for coffee we had the first of our 90 minute workshops, with the amazing Internet Marketing guru and skip hire entrepreneur Mark Attwood. Mark showed us very practical techniques of how to track what works on the web, how to get to the top of Google and how to convert the maximum amount of business once you are there. It was like trying to learn brain surgery in a 90 minute session! Techniques I was not even aware existed. I am now booked on to Mark’s SEO workshop on 19 June and can’t wait to learn more.

After lunch (which I am embarrassed to admit was spectacularly crappy and definitely not worth the extortionate prices charged by the incumbent caterers Peyton & Byrne – but you have no choice but to use them) we had our next 90 minute workshop this time from the charismatic Alan Forrest Smith. Alan told us his story of taking his hairdressing business from a disastrous position of being hugely in debt and having bailiffs arrive at the door to being a healthy thriving profitable business through understanding how to market properly and really understand what it is you sell to your customers. You may think it is a haircut - but really it is the power to make them feel fabulous! Alan has clearly reached a stage in his life where he is as much a spiritual philosopher as he is a brilliant marketer and I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting basking in his positive energy stream.

It was then my turn to take the stage, and as time was limited I scooted through my views on why PR & Branding is the most powerful tool in your armoury – a whistle-stop taster of my full Entrepreneurial Masterclass the next one which is happening on 17 June.

Finally we had the lovely Sue Stone, whose light shone from stage, talking about the power of the mind in creating your world. Sue pulled back from bankruptcy with just £10 in her pocket to living a fabulous abundant and happy life through using the simple techniques she taught us. It made me reflect on how idle negative thoughts can inadvertently sabotage even the best laid plans.

We ended the day with a networking session and I had so many positive comments and thanks for the day from the entrepreneurs who attended I feel certain that we achieved our aim – to inspire, motivate and help entrepreneurs achieve personal fulfilment and success.

The whole event was filmed and if you would like the 4 DVD set it is available at the Marketing Magicians website for just £69 – order now and it will be shipped in 10 days’ time.

I’m now excitedly planning our next series of events for the Autumn/Spring season including a re-run of Marketing Magicians and if you’d like details please register for free at www.rachelelnaugh.me

Have a wonderful day!

Rachel