Business Marketing Plan

Get your comprehensive free report and video presentations to help you with business marketing strategies, starting own business, write business plan, marketing plan template, starting online business, find clients, increase customers, and attract and get more clients.

5 Marketing Lessons From The Muppets

What can Kermit and Co. teach companies about online marketing? A lot! In this video, Andrew Davis of Tippingpoint Labs takes a fun trip down memory lane to look at the 5 marketing lessons he learned from working at The Jim Henson Company. 

Marketing strategy by Philip Kotler

Let's practice Business English listening to Philip Kotler lessons on Marketing Strategy

Marketing: Brand power by Philip Kotler

Let's listen to the world's most prolific marketing author. Professor Philip Kotler explains to us how brands create power and how the art of marketing is partly the art of branding.

Steve Jobs on marketing and passion

Let's learn marketing from a leader

Learning English At The Restaurant

If you travel abroad and get hungry you may need this lesson...
Enjoy this video!
Practice makes Perfect!

Learning English At The Airport

This is an easy learning English lesson... Just enjoy watching the video!
Practice makes perfect

Office Phone Practice

Learn the most common phrases and expressions for making phone calls in English. You will learn how to answer the phone, how to ask to speak to someone, and how to take a message. If you ever need to make phone calls in English you will find that this lesson has all the most useful phrases you will need to be polite on the phone.

Business English Tips: The art of persuasion in 5 steps

You´re in a meeting and you need to persuade a colleague, a client or a supplier. What technique do you use?


Monroe´s Motivated Sequence (MMS) is a simple and highly effective technique to logically order your ideas to persuade. There are 5 steps.


1) Get their attention – ask a question or use an usual fact.
Have you ever wondered why…?
What if…? If I told you we could…, would you be interested?
It’s hard to believe but…    Did you know that…

2) Explain the other person´s need
The problem is due to…
The problem is because of…
The problem is caused by…

3) Solution
Doing (solution)….will give us… (benefit).
(Solution)…. ensures we can… (benefit).
(Solution)…. will help us to do…(benefit). 

4) Visualise benefits – positive
Under this plan, we could see as much as a 35% increase in…
Imagine this, with a…
By implementing this plan immediately the company will see…

4) Visualise benefits  – negative
Without quick action the situation could…
If we don’t do anything the situation is going to…
If we don’t adopt this proposal there’s no telling what could happen.

5) Take action
We need quick action and we need it now. I recommend that we…
I need your help to implement a winning solution for all of us.
The first thing we need to do is….

Practice Makes Perfect!

Business English Practice: How to end a phone call quickly and professionally

Don't you know how to end a phone call in English to get along well with a customer or international supplier?
Is it hard to end a phone call without being rough in English?
Sometimes a phone call in English arrives at the wrong moment but we cannot avoid answering it because it can be someone from the Head office, an international customer or supplier. The stress that this call causes us is our worst enemy.
I offer you four key phrases to complete the call and  get along well with your interlocutor.

1. – Pause– “Sorry Mr. Chen, I can’t talk now, as I have an important meeting right now. Can I call you on Wednesday at 4:00pm?”

2. – Pause – “I´m sorry Mr. Watson, I can’t talk now, because I have a client waiting for me. Can I call you on Thursday at 09:00am?”

3. – Pause – “Sorry Ms. Shah, I can’t take your call now, because I have an urgent matter to attend to. Can I call you on Tuesday at 10:00am or 11:00am?”

4. – Pause. – “I´m sorry Ms. Sousa, I can’t take your call now, as I have a client lunch. Can I call you tomorrow at 5:00pm?”

• First, stay calm and wait for the first pause to interrupt .
• Second, apologize. Use Sorry Mr. X or  I'm sorry Mr. X.
• Third, tell him you can not attend him now and explain why. Use I can’t take your call now, because… or I can’t talk now, as...
• Fourth, give him another schedule when you are going to call him back. Use Can I call you tomorrow at 5:00pm?” 

That's it!  Practice makes Perfect!

Business English Learning: Intercultural e-mail communication tips

Here are some tips and strategies for writing more effective e-mails when working with a particular culture (colleagues, clients, providers, etc).

These tips are provided by the experiences of professionals who work in international environments.

“Beware humour. Irony, self deprecation, etc. are good for cultures that do that, as they break the ice, but can at best leave your recipient cold if they do not come from the same background”.

“Title them by all their names. You do not know their marital status, sex, their appetitite for informality, whether they have done the Haj, or very often even the correct order; so just use all names”.

“Sports references are good but make sure you know what you are dealing with.
Don’t talk basketball in Europe; football in America; or American football
anywhere outside the U.S”.

“Japanese e-mail writers, when writing in English, tend to write one sentence, and then use a new paragraph for each next sentence”.

“Relationship-focused cultures (like Latin America or the Arab world) need some opening and closing statement that reinforces and maintains the all-important personal relationship (“How is the family”, “How did the local football team do last night?” etc.).

“The substantive business issues should be in the body of the e-mail, but do not fail to include these kinds of personal comments in every communication.”

Here are some tips from a professional who has worked for many years with German speakers.

For example, if I write an email to somebody in the US or another English

speaking country, I will address the person and add a sentence of small talk

(how are you and the family, how is the weather etc.). However, if I send a

business email to somebody in a German speaking country, this would be

considered inappropriate and by some even as rude. Private comments or

questions do not belong in business conversation (verbal or written) unless you know the person very well.

In German speaking countries it is very important to greet the person by

name at the beginning of the email and have a salutation and your name or signature at the end.

The way you word your email is done the same way you would speak to the

person you are writing to. So if you are formal with the person in a

conversation you would write your email just as formal. If you send an email to a group, you would always write the email as formal as you would talk to

the person you know the least of the group.

In German speaking regions it is quite common to get right to the point,

which some expats from the US/UK view as rude or harsh.

However, the way we use small talk (even in emails) in the U.S .is viewed as a waste of time or fishing for private information. This is something a German speaking coworker would not appreciate”.

Here are some tips from a professional who has worked for many years with German speakers.

For example, if I write an email to somebody in the US or another English

speaking country, I will address the person and add a sentence of small talk

(how are you and the family, how is the weather etc.). However, if I send a

business email to somebody in a German speaking country, this would be

considered inappropriate and by some even as rude. Private comments or

questions do not belong in business conversation (verbal or written) unless you know the person very well.

In German speaking countries it is very important to greet the person by

name at the beginning of the email and have a salutation and your name or signature at the end.

The way you word your email is done the same way you would speak to the
person you are writing to. So if you are formal with the person in a
conversation you would write your email just as formal. If you send an email to a group, you would always write the email as formal as you would talk to
the person you know the least of the group.

In German speaking regions it is quite common to get right to the point,
which some expats from the US/UK view as rude or harsh.

However, the way we use small talk (even in emails) in the U.S .is viewed as a waste of time or fishing for private information. This is something a German speaking coworker would not appreciate”.

Business English practice: telephone tips....

Get a meeting

So you have just come back from an international trade fair / event and you want to set up some meetings. What do you say? Here is script to help you in 3 situations.

Situation 1

Receptionist: Hello Ms.Diwani´s office. This is Isha how can I help you?

You: Good morning Isha. I recently met Ms.Diwani at (event) and she asked me to give her a call. Is she there?

Receptionist: I´ll put you through.

You: Hello is that Ms.Diwani. Hi this is (your name). We met recently at (event). You suggested i call you to talk about (their main problem). Do you have a few minutes to talk now?

—————————————————————————–

Situation 2

Receptionist: Hello Ms.Diwani´s office. This is Isha how can I help you?

You: Good morning Isha. I recently met Ms.Diwani at (event) and she asked me to give her a call. Is she there?

Receptionist: No she´s in a meeting.

You: When would be the best time to speak to Ms.Diwani?

Receptionist: I´d suggest calling at 0930am tomorrow.

————————————————————————-

Situation 3

Receptionist: Hello Ms.Diwani´s office. This is Isha how can I help you?

You: Good morning Isha. I recently met Ms.Diwani at (event) and she asked me to give her a call. Is she there?

Receptionist: I´m not sure. What is it referring to?

You: Ms.Diwani. told me about (their main problem) and we talked about how our we solved this problem for (important client). She suggested meeting to discuss (their main problem) in more detail. Does Ms.Diwani have a few minutes to quickly talk now?

Business English Reading: The art of good conversation

 

L'arte della buona conversazione

Nel mondo della diplomazia, si dice che l'arte della buona conversazione è la dinamica di diverse considerazioni che le persone fanno, invece di argomentare il contrario.
Per sviluppare la nostra capacità di conversazione in inglese suggerisco le seguenti linee guida:

Mostrare interesse, fare domande aperte, utilizzare l'ascolto attivo e partecipare alla conversazione.


Ma facciamo un po' di pratica in inglese... Reading

1) Show interest 
When we converse with somebody we want the other person to show interest in what we say and vice-versa. So how can we show interest in what the other person says?
We can nod our heads occasionally.
We can also encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments:
“Yes”, “uh huh”, “I see”, “That’s interesting”, “Really”.

2) Ask open questions.
If we only ask yes or no questions it’s difficult for conversation to flow naturally. Try to ask open questions about things you have in common with the other person (e.g work, the sector, topics, news, events).
Open questions usually start with (What, how, when, where, why)
“What do you think about….?”
“How do you feel about…?”
“Where is the best place to…?”

3) Two-way conversation 
Remember boring conversations we’ve had, it usually involves either the other person or ourselves doing all the talking. Remember don’t be afraid to change the conversation.
“What about….”
“Have you heard….”
“Did you see…..What did you think?” 

4)  Active listening
We all do it, we think we’re listening to somebody and then we start thinking about something completely different. The other person catches us doing it and thinks we are not interested. End of conversation.
A key part of good conversation is responding appropriately at the right time.
"I see what you mean"
"I know what you mean"
"That´s true"
"I can understand you’re point of view"

Top tips for international socialising

Experts say....

1. Be proactive – break the ice

Ask most non-native speakers of English how they feel about socialising and starting a conversation (breaking the ice) and the answer will be nervous and unconfident.

The only way we can overcome that is practice. The more we practice being proactive and breaking the ice (starting conversation) the more relaxed and confident we will feel. We suggest preparing simple questions you can ask.

How are you enjoying the event?

Is this your first time to…?

Do you work for…?

What did you think of…?

2. What to talk about – safe conversation topics

This is all about talking and asking questions about 5 safe conversation topics.

- weather (What´s the weather like where you come from?)

- jobs and responsibilities (So what do you do exactly?)

- travel ( How was your flight? )( Have you ever been to….?)

- business (How’s business at the moment?)

- interests (So what are you interested in?)

3. Focus on them – not you

Focus on the other person in social situations, even if this means talking for an hour about something which you personally find boring. It´s a good way to find things you have in common to talk about as well as their interests.

4. Active listening – give positive feedback

Show and tell people you´re listening, nod your head and say “ah-hum/ ok/ i agree/ i know what you mean”.Also use positive body language such as smiling, making eye contact and keeping your arms open and not crossed.  It may seem obvious but listening styles differ greatly across cultures and across personalities.

5. Inspire others

As a speaker we should try to ‘inspire’ people listening to us so that when they walked away they would be thinking positive thoughts like That was a really interesting conversation. / He’s a really nice guy. / That was fun. etc.  If we can achieve this people will remember us and the law of reciprocity means they might even want to help us because we gave them something.

6.  Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm in a conversation means being open and enthusiastic about what you say and what the other person says. For example you can practice this by changing your responses from ‘It was fine” to ‘It was excellent.‘, from ‘It was quite interesting.’ to ‘It was amazing.’

So, put them in practise now and have a good conversation !