It may be cold outside, but don’t rest on your laurels…

In today’s Telegraph the Centre for Economics and Business Research has suggested that the snow disruption will cost Britain's economy £1 billion for every day that the icy conditions disrupt travel and business operations such as retail.

With the cold weather continuing, many have decided to write off this period and look ahead to the New Year, but in terms of sales it’s worth being proactive. Despite the impact the snow has had on business operations, many people are still in the office planning and budgeting for 2011, so take advantage of what may be a quiet time to follow up warm leads and start building opportunities for the new year.

The leads are out there, and marketing automation software through Profunnel can help you nurture them for the future, so don’t rest on your laurels while the cold continues to bite – make the most of this time so you’re in a prime position for 2011.

2011 – Make It A Year of Growth

According to a survey by Deloitte more than 90% of businesses in the UK have predicted growth in revenue in the New Year.

Deloitte’s annual Entrepreneurship UK report revealed that over 50% of business leaders that were surveyed forecast that there will be at least 10% revenue growth in 2011. This figure highlights the positive shift in UK business compared with 2009, when 20% of entrepreneurs predicted declining revenues in the oncoming year.

With more companies predicting growth this is a great opportunity for businesses to boost their sales effort and increase revenue. There are many different ways to achieve this, from implementing new approaches to lead generation, more effective online strategies, next generation email marketing and social media campaigns, to strengthening customer relationships through more targeted communications.

With the business outlook for 2011 looking more positive, why not find out more about how new approaches to lead generation can help grow your business and increase your revenue?

How will the ‘digital hub’ affect business?

As the Government unveils its plans to create a ‘digital hub’ in every community in the country, as part of an £830 million strategy to make sure the UK has the best broadband network in Europe by 2015, the new plans are set to have a huge impact on business.

Faster broadband will mean increased Internet usage for both consumers and business, enabling people to more easily research their options, make an informed choice and buy online. As a result, it is even more important for businesses in both the B2B and B2C sectors to build their customer understanding and use online marketing to maximum effect.

With more potential customers surfing the web, you need to interact with them and nurture them from the start to help win their business - and this is where the latest marketing technology can really help such as marketing automation. The boost in broadband is set to help us all, but as a business you need to capitalise early on the opportunities out there.

Visit the BBC article for more information on the Government’s broadband plans.

SEO is Only the Beginning

Web activity and maximising online visibility through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become a critical component in lead generation for businesses in all sectors. But strong SEO is only the beginning for companies.

While SEO is an important marketing tool, it cannot be solely relied upon to increase sales. Attracting visitors to your website is the first step of the new business chain – but once they are there, how do you make sure they keep on returning and ultimately purchase your product or service? The key to this is building understanding of these visitors – where they have come from, what they are interested in on your website, where they are in the buying cycle and more.

So how can you achieve this? Next generation web forensics (tagging & tracking individual activity) enables companies to really understand potential business, nurture it, communicate more effectively with individuals, and manage those relationships. Not all web forensics offers this ability, so now’s the time to get ahead of the competition, find out more about improving your Lead Generation