Expert marketing advice, PR strategies, and business growth tips specifically tailored for the equestrian and rural businesses. Learn how to elevate your country brand, secure press coverage, and reach your target audience

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It’s Podmas #7! With Amanda Marshall, Tracey Cole and Faye Harlequin

horseshoe hearts tracey cole nlp and 3 donkeys

Podmas is back for 2022, and I am so excited to be sharing some of the brilliant people from inside the Small & Supercharged Mastermind group with you.

It’s Podmas #7! With Amanda Marshall, Tracey Cole and Faye Harlequin

On this episode, I catch up with Amanda Marshall from 3 Donkeys Clothing, Tracey Cole from Tracey Cole NLP, and Faye Harlequin from Horseshoe Hearts & Home.

We chat Pegasus, cows, fire, aggressive turkeys, Barker & Sloane, freezing time and SO much else too. Sounds like a festive chat, doesn’t it?!

Enjoy!

Music credit: “Jingle bells” by scottholmesmusic.com

To find out more about Amanda Marshall and 3 Donkeys, visit the website.

To find out more about Tracey Cole NLP, visit the website.

To find out more about Faye Harlequin and Horseshoe Hearts, click on the names and you’ll head off to the relevant website!

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Podmas, Small Business Saturday, Your Horse Live and lots more!

Podmas, Small Business Saturday, Your Horse Live and lots more!If a podcast could be a newsletter, this would be it!

Podmas, Small Business Saturday, Your Horse Live and lots more!

As we start Podmas next week (eek!), I wanted to share a bit about that with you, and when I started chatting about that and how it all works and why, I then wanted to share some other bits with you too!

These include:

Small Business Saturday– this BRILLIANT campaign, created by Small Business Britain which is run by the fabulous Michelle Ovens, helps to promote small businesses and how incredible they are to the wider world. Falling just after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday encourages us all to take to the streets- or shop online- and support our favourite small businesses. On the run up to the event, Small Business Saturday also offers lots of support for businesses through webinars and one to one mentoring opportunities. Not only am I one of the very lucky #SBS100 for 2022, I’m also giving a webinar and providing mentoring sessions as part of the campaign. I’m really delighted to be involved.

Your Horse Live– I’m heading over to Your Horse Live for a few different reasons, but one of them is that I’ve been invited to speak on the stage each day and I am genuinely so excited for this. Each day, I’ll be interviewing some brilliant influencers to talk about what it takes to be an influencer, the highs and lows along the journey, and we’ll be answering questions from the audience too. It’s going to be brilliant. In addition to this, I’ll also be helping the BETA team at the event as they have a stand there to help promote their work and the trade, and Dr Diane Fisher will be hosting a live Rider Clinic on the stage each day too! Exciting stuff!

 

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Finding a way, not an excuse, with para showjumper Evie Toombes

 

evie toombes

Evie Toombes is a truly inspiring equestrian. Not only does she showjump competitively and create really beautiful content, she’s also tube fed 20 hours a day and has a number of significant health issues that impact her day to day life.

Finding a way, not an excuse, with para showjumper Evie Toombes


Her influencer journey started when she was just 11 and a school bully decided to ‘expose’ her health issues. Instead of waiting for this to happen and feeling powerless, Evie took control, started a blog, and started telling her story, in her own words.

This open approach is a theme through everything that Evie does, from her work with schools to help promote understanding and conversations around invisible illnesses to her honest social media. This is an absolute joy to follow and gives an insight into what she has to do to not just compete, but also exist.

I had the pleasure of meeting Evie in real life at  Bolesworth in the summer and knew I had to get her on the podcast. She’s great fun, so interesting, and I learnt so much that I had to get her on to chat!

Evie is one inspiring lady, and it’s an absolute joy to share this podcast with you. Prepare to feel very inspired…

Make sure you follow Evie online too- she’s very active on Instagram, and you can find her here.

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6 things you can do to get ready for Christmas RIGHT NOW

 

6 things you can do for Christmas RIGHT NOWChristmas really is coming. We’re probably just days away from hearing Mariah or Slade on the radio… and yet some brands are very badly prepared for Christmas. But don’t worry, I’m here to help!

6 things you can do to get ready for Christmas RIGHT NOW

Christmas is a big time of year for many retailers with profit made over the next few months carrying them over into Winter, and yet, there’s the tenancy to be a bit last minute about it all, isn’t there?

On this episode of the podcast I share six things you can do right now to help your business grow and thrive during the festive season. I hope you find it useful… it’s a good one!

Some of these are time consuming, some not so much, but all are free at an entry level, so there’s no excuse not to get cracking!

  1. Make a plan. Whether you like to make plans on paper or the computer, make a plan. I’m a fan on planning with pen and paper, but you do you! You can use a smart and snazzy planner, or you can head over to Google and print off a month to view. Think of the key dates for you. Things like Black Friday, last order dates, last postage dates, write them all down. This will then help you to see what you’re aiming for and when and it can help you to plan your content to let people know what’s happening and when too. If you’re a brand ambassador, reach out to your brands. If you want to be a good brand ambassador (and who wants to be any other type, right?), make sure you reach out to the brands you work with and ask them what they’re up to and how you can help them achieve their goals.
  2. Get the dates.  If you’re working with magazines and websites, reach out to them and find out when their deadline are. And please, please, comply with the guidelines any magazine or website details. If someone asks for 50 words, supply them with 50 words. There are NO prizes for sending 1000 words. Actually, quite the opposite, you probably won’t be picked…
  3. Strategic gifting. Think who you may like to gift products to on the run up to Christmas. These might be influencers or even customers. However, do the work now. Make sure you’ve identified who you might like to work with, do the research, then reach out and start to get people ‘booked’ in so you can start to formulate a plan.
  4. Grow your mailing list. If you haven’t got a mailing list- NOW IS THE TIME TO START. If you have a mailing list, then put some time into building this and really thinking about the value that you can offer to people, to help incentivise more sign ups. Also plan when you’ll be emailing your people, and what you’ll be contacting them about.
  5. Collateral. Start working on your images, videos. graphics and the other marketing collateral that you can create ahead of time. This means that when things get really busy on the run up to the big day, you’ll have all your imagery ready to go, which will be SO useful for you. Trust me on this.
  6. Your own content. Make sure you’ve spent some time on your own content. Your own blogs, gift guides, etc etc. It’s important we take part in the guides of others, but it’s also vital we make our own content too.

Are you ready?

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

 

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5 reasons to invest in yourself

 

5 reasons to invest in yourself

The media is full of negative news- there’s no denying that- but even with all that’s going on, today, I want to urge you to not skimp on investing in yourself. More than that, I want to encourage you to invest in yourself more than ever. Don’t worry- I haven’t completely lost my mind, there are LOADS of ways you can invest in yourself for free, and there are loads of them in this podcast!

5 reasons to invest in yourself

 

With everything going on in the world at the moment, you may have decided to cut any learning budget in a bid to save money. I’m not here to say you must spend money on your growth and development if there’s nothing left in your budget- but what I will say is stopping all forms of training and investment in your personal growth is never a good idea.

The good thing is, you don’t have to spend a fortune on training- really, as with a lot of things in life, you can generally invest time or money (and maybe even both!) to broaden your horizons. From super high ticket courses through to free podcasts, audiobooks, video trainings, books, webinars- the list is nearly endless and there is plenty out there to suit any budget. I promise.

Why should you invest in yourself now?

  1. If you’re not learning, you’re going backwards. If you’re not trying to grow, develop and upskill, you’re losing ground if your competitors are committed to learning. Just because you’ve stopped, it doesn’t mean everyone else has. You don’t want to be lapped by taking your foot off the pedal when it comes to growth, training and personal development.
  2. You’re not alone. If you work for yourself, particularly if you work from home on your own, it can be really lonely. But the thing is, what you’re experiencing won’t be unique to you- you’re not alone. If you invest your time and/or your money in a community full of likeminded people, you will reap the rewards, feel more supported, be able to find shortcuts and expedite your growth.
  3. It can save you time. If you learn from others and their experiences and mistakes, you’ll likely save yourself a huge amount of time. The investment needed for this benefit is time. If you opt for a group like Mastermind, it’s money too, but if you go for a free group, it’s time. You can also get involved with free online trainings, books and lots of other methods to help progress your learning and save yourself a lot of time.
  4. Community and connectors creates opportunity. Connecting with people, whether in real life or through groups, can lead to huge opportunities. It’s a side benefit of why you should invest in yourself- time or money- because just one connection can make an introduction that can change the trajectory of your business, maybe even your life!
  5. It can help your business to grow in challenging times. We all need inspiration to help us grow, but particularly when times are tough, it can be harder to ‘dig deep’ and find these. That’s why investing in yourself is key. Investing in your education can help encourage different thoughts, new ideas and connections. And these are vital to surviving and even thriving when times are tough.

 

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Is it all doom and gloom? (Spoiler alert… I don’t think so)

The news has been full of doom and gloom of late- from the challenging costs of diesel and petrol alongside rising costs of food and more of now, to increased pressure, price rises and even scarcity of fuel, food and lots more to come. But is it all doom and gloom? No… I don’t think it is.

Is it all doom and gloom? (Spoiler alert… I don’t think so)

The news has been full of doom and gloom of late- from the challenging costs of diesel and petrol alongside rising costs of food and more of now, to increased pressure, price rises and even scarcity of fuel, food and lots more to come. But is it all doom and gloom? No… I don’t think it is.

I’m not here to tell you that things aren’t going to change, but hopefully this podcast will provide you with some steps you can take to help your business over the next few months. I also look at the evidence around how some businesses grow and thrive during recessions- so while sweeping generalisations about doom and gloom are dramatic and create good headlines, the evidence doesn’t support this… and it’s worth having a look at that too.

I hope you find this one useful… I think you will.

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Ask A Masterminder- it’s the little things

This article was first published in Absolute Horse Magazine– to read this issue and any of the others, go to the Absolute Horse website

Ask a Masterminder… it’s the little things…

Small & Supercharged Mastermind is an online group supporting small equestrian and rural businesses and, as such, is bursting with amazingly knowledgeable people with lots to share. In each issue of Absolute Horse, we’ll be asking them a question and members will be sharing their top tips… this issue’s question is…

It’s the little touches…what do you do to go above and beyond your customer’s expectations?

Joanna Wood, Joanna Fair Photography  www.joannafairphotography.co.uk

Surprising my clients with little extra details after booking a shoot with me and beyond is very important to me. I always send out a save the date card to pop on their fridge so they are reminded every day about their upcoming shoot. One I have brought in this year (and one thing they do not expect) is three fine art printed images as a gift a couple of months after their image viewing and we have said our goodbyes. Such a simple gift for my fabulous clients but one they will cherish forever.

Tracy Ormrod, Dressage Test Pro www.dressagetestpro.com

With our app we are not directly involved with the purchase as the Apple and Google Play stores handle everything. We are always available to support customers if they have a technical issue in some way. It is not uncommon to receive a late night message via social media from someone due to compete the next day and they are having problems with their phone! There have been occasions when I have sat on a beach answering a support call!

Helen Goddard-Watts, Fetlox, www.fetlox.com

At Fetlox we love to make our customers feel special when they receive their order.

Carefully wrapping them in tissues paper, enclosing a thank you card, some Look Book cards and finishing them off with a sweet treat.

When the customer opens their package, we want them to feel wowed…it’s the little things that matter.

The orders are then sent out in recycled packaging with a little sticker saying – ‘Love It, Share It, #Fetlox’

Amanda Marshall, 3 Donkeys Clothing www.3donkeys.co.uk

Adding that personal touch is very important to me and 3 Donkeys®. I personally package every order and apart from our coveralls which have their own bag including a hand signed card, they are wrapped in craft paper tied with rafia. I want every order to be ‘gift giving’ ready.

Tracey Cole, Tracey Cole NLP www.traceycolenlp.com

I always offer my full support after certifying NLP and hypnotherapy coaches. Graduates can contact me to chat about business set up, client cases or how to run their latest mindset workshop. In fact, my virtual office door is always open!

Chelle Mullen, Storm & Grace www.stormandgrace.co.uk

We aim to exceed our customers’ expectations with every order – we can custom make designs with stones/metals/initials/hearts etc to suit.  Complimentary cleaning cloths and advice, handwritten dispatch notes, horsehair returned in a card, and the option for gift wrapping and sending direct to the recipient if required.  Oh, and free postage!

Emily Hamlett, Glorious Grouse www.gloriousgrouse.com

The act of a handwritten note or card seems to be a dying art, however, we all appreciate it, today more than ever as it shows effort and thought over and above an email or a text. I think as a small business I feel I need to provide something that the larger businesses can’t always do, and that in my opinion is the personal touch and show you are buying from a real person! I really appreciate people purchasing from me and I like to show that by way of a little note hoping that they are delighted with their purchase. The note always seems to be the first thing people mention in their feedback! I also offer to write out greetings cards and send their gift to the recipient direct, which saves the purchaser time and further postage costs, so they receive a beautiful country themed gift with a personal handwritten card. Isn’t it the best when you get a package from someone and it’s packaged up beautifully and inside there is a little note, and you know that as well as receiving a lovely item you are also supporting a small business!

To find out more about the Small & Supercharged Mastermind group here.

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Safety and equestrian standards with Claire Williams, Executive Director of BETA

Claire Williams BETA

The second Summer of Safety podcast with the British Equestrian Trade Association is here, and today we’re chatting all about safety (obviously!), standards, fitting and lots more too.

Safety and equestrian standards with Claire Williams, Executive Director of BETA

On this episode, I caught up with Claire Williams, Executive Director of BETA, to chat all about the standards that apply to riding hats and body protectors. We also chat about the importance of a good fit and why buying online can make hat and body protector fitting a challenge.

To find out more about the British Equestrian Trade Association, see the website here, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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Really easy Reels

Reels have been in the social media news a lot of late, and whilst many people like watching them, creating them can be a bit of a time consuming chore.

Really easy Reels


And yet, if you try and shun these short-form video snippets, the chances are that you’ll be losing out on reach and getting your message and content out to the people you really want to see it.

So what can you do? On today’s podcast, I talk you through some really simple, fast Reels ideas that anyone can do in moments. I promise.

Are they going to be as good as the incredibly timed masterpieces we see on the accounts of influencers whose job it is to create content? They’ll be different to these, and that’s fine too. But through using the tools inside the app and changing your thoughts from ‘no, I don’t want to’ to ‘how can I make this work for me?’, you have a much (much) greater chance of Reel success and Instagram growth.

How to create Reels in next to no time…

  • Check out Templates on Reels. Templates allow you to take your Reels to the next level without spending hours and hours trying to get every single transition in the right place in time with the music.
  • Gather content during your day to show a process. Set up your phone and get it to film something during the day or during a process. You can then speed it up for Reels.
  • Reels don’t have to be videos! An easy way of doing Reels is to use images, or use an image and then add timed text for that dynamic element.
  • Find trending sounds and use these over relevant videos. Really easy and very effective.

 

Small & Supercharged Mastermind

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#ad #spon #aff … let’s talk labels and influencer marketing

Oh, this is one of the most requested podcasts, so I am delighted to be able to bring you a podcast all about labelling your sponsored/gifted/affiliate linked content. This is a MUST listen for anyone who is or would like to be an influencer. It’s really important…

#ad #spon #aff … let’s talk labels and influencer marketing

This is a subject that is a constant point of annoyance for me, which makes being able to share more about it so important. Be clear- I know that everyone makes mistakes and everyone needs to learn- but when I see repeat ‘offenders’ who really should know better at the same time as seeing others really scared to do the wrong thing, well, it just doesn’t sit well me me at all. So hopefully, this podcast- the information within it and the addition resources available mentioned- should really help those who want to do the right thing.

I do understand that it can be really confusing, but I always refer people to the guide available on the ASA’s (Advertising Standards Authority) website that helps talk people through it all. So I reached out to the people over at the ASA and I’m really thrilled to say that they have listened to this podcast and have said they’re happy with the content. Why did I do this? Because it’s so important to me that everything is as accurate as it can be. I want you to listen, learn, check out all the free resources and no longer be confused about what to label your content (when you need to, of course).

This is a podcast for influencers- yes- but it’s a podcast for anyone who has ambitions to be an influencer, who receives free products or payments (but maybe doesn’t see themselves as an influencer), and also brands. Yes, brands, I’m talking to you. It’s really important you know how this works too.

We need to be doing a better job of labelling content correctly. I see so, so many examples of incorrect and misleading ads. We need to do better. And this podcast should help.

Some key points to remember about labels and influencer marketing

  • If you want your audience to trust you, label things correctly. People need to know when they’re being sold to.
  • There is a code that relates to influencer marketing. Get familiar with it but don’t fear it.
  • It’s against the law if an ad isn’t clearly identifiable.
  • Don’t promote something as unbiased and generic when you’ve been incentivised to do it. This could be because you’ve been paid to say it or even if the product has been gifted.
  • ‘Payment’ isn’t just money. Payment is also the loan of a product, a free trip, or a gifted item.
  • Any payment needs to be disclosed. Affiliate links also fall into this category.
  • Ads must be really easy to understand and clear. This means putting your ad label upfront- on social, the front of your caption. The first word.
  • You don’t have to use the word ‘ad’, but there’s more information in this guide about what words can be used, and some that you might want to avoid.
  • If the label isn’t easy to understand for a normal person, that’s not a good one to use.
  • If the label is hidden at the end of the caption, that’s not advised as it’s not clear.
  • You can get help if you’re stuck- check the guidelines PDF here, but you can also find info relating to the copy advice line and more.
  • Make it clear. Always. If you take nothing away from this podcast or blog, please let that be to make it clear. Read the guidelines here.

 

And remember, when we, as consumers, see people labelling ads as ads, can we support them? If it’s something that creator is passionate about, shouldn’t we be supporting them anyway? Don’t not react or engage because something is an ad!

 

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