Avant Marketeer Nikki Alvin-Smith Offers Timely Insights For Your Marketing Delight
“As 2023 winds down it is a great time to take stock of just what you’ve brought home on the bottom line. Net profitability is obviously connected to sales, but even if you’ve grown your turnover in 2023, the more important question is had you grown your profits?
My experience working for over 20 years in the world of international freight forwarding taught me that shipping/freight costs fluctuate wildly and while they often go up, they rarely come down again. Outsourcing product materials, their manufacture and distribution is a necessity for almost every business. The possible exception of that need being another type of industry I’ve been heavily involved in for over 20 years, the farming of horses and organic hay, (though even there I’ve had to pass on the increases in the cost of fuel, insurance, labor and organic fertilizer, and equipment costs). The need to buy in raw product, manufacture and then distribute it nationally or internationally is an essential component of industry, but are you managing it the best way you can to build a better bottom line for your business?
The fact is the massive increase in shipping costs does need to be passed on to the consumer or customer if the business is to be sustainable. Similarly the increase in costs for raw goods, labor costs, costs to manufacture and produce, need to be passed on to the end-user. Consider that if your company is the last one in your industry to adjust to marketplace forces you will not be the last one left standing in the industry, but the first one out of the ring.
Marketing funnels, flywheels or whatever you want to model them after and call them are all very well, but an important question to ask yourself as you review your income and expenses on the balance sheet, is do the sales brought in translate into good profitability.
Bear in mind that reinvestment in any business is essential, as otherwise there is a high risk that the business model will stagnate and the business eventually die a sad and slow death. No-one wants to inadvertently not do something they should have done resulting in that kind of euthanasia. So making a profit is more than just making enough take-home pay.
Marketing experts and strategists bang on about ROI {return on investment}, COS {content optimization system}, CR {conversion rates} AIDA {attention/awareness, interest, desire, action} and all the rest, all of which are essential parts of marketing know-how and strategy. But the savvy business owner needs to be active not just in the marketing or show arena but also in the all-important ‘training’ at home arena.
As an advanced level equestrian competitor and now worldwide clinician, I know that the real training work is done at home. Yes, we just go to the shows to collect the ribbons and prize money. It’s where we reap the financial rewards.
In your business model, consider that what you do in your own business backyard is the cornerstone of your ultimate success. When you are able to showcase not just stellar sales, but at prices that bring profit and products of such consistent quality and innovative design that they cannot be surpassed by your competitors, then you will succeed.
Your ‘show’ team that supports you is your customer service staff and their level of competence; the training you give all your employees to succeed and love their jobs both front line and back office; the investment of your marketing mavens and their understanding and integration into your team even if working remotely (which is commonplace). And as any successful equestrian athlete knows, the team depends on your talent holding the reins to lead the field. A leading role that is no small task to accomplish and requires great fortitude, vision and caring.
As a marketing strategist and not just a marketing content provider (and by the way the writing of original content with thought leadership is not disappearing, AI not withstanding), I’ve learned that building new markets is as important as developing existing ones.
Not sure where to start to develop new marketing angles and create new markets? Give me a shout, a ring, a holler. As part of your team I’m ready to help you bring your business to better health and develop better sustainability for your brand.”
You are invited to visit Nikki Alvin-Smith, Horse in a Kilt Media Inc., to learn more about Nikki’s stable full of marketing skills as an artful content writer, equestrian blogger, columnist, and marketing specialist and strategist. As a British/American professional Grand Prix competitor/coach/clinician she brings a unique experience/angles and thought leadership/authority to her wordsmith wizardry.
About Nikki:
Internationally published writer, content creator, PR/Marketing specialist, photographer and equestrian Nikki Alvin-Smith offers “Engaging Content that Engages Riders to Read,” with unique and fresh material for your horse or pet related business, magazine, website, newsletter, blog, and email blast sales machine. Her portfolio of works is extensive and includes equestrian and pet features that have been published worldwide in over 250 different magazine titles. Her clients include do/have included: equestrian and “B” list movie celebrities for whom she regularly ghostwrites and provides PR services; manufacturers of equine and pet related medical devices, feedstuffs, supplements, grooming supplies, fencing and barn equipment, horse transport, horse structures and professional equine service providers; profit and non-profit initiatives and organizations; and non-equestrian related businesses/publications in the pet industry, investment, real estate and international travel and rural lifestyle.
Nikki Alvin-Smith is a British international level Grand Prix dressage competitor/trainer/coach/clinician. Together with her husband Paul, who is also a Grand Prix dressage rider, Nikki operates Willowview Hill Farm , a private dressage yard and organic hay farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The duo provides ‘team’ clinician services to clients worldwide to riders of all levels and many riding disciplines.
Contact: Nikki Alvin-Smith: Content Writer; PR/Marketing Specialist
Email: Nikki@NikkiAlvinSmithStudio.com
Websites: https://www.horseinakiltmedia.com/
https://nikkialvinsmithstudio.com/
Cell: 607 434 4470