Julie Lawford Notepad and News

Social Media: Harnessing the opportunities

Thu,12 Jan 2012 15:15:01

Many organisations are still finding their feet in the social media arena. Some have yet to fully understand or embrace it and they're missing out on the opportunities it offers. Others patrol it relentlessly, searching for signs of discontent, their fear being the damage that unhappy customers could do to their brand.

But social media is a powerful customer engagement tool, and there are now many examples of organisations which are finding creative ways to capitalise on its rapid spread.

Take coffee giant, Starbucks, for example. They have almost 2 million followers on Twitter, nearly 27 million ‘likes' on their Facebook site and their own YouTube channel. On Twitter they answer questions and retweet what people are saying about the brand. On Facebook, they post content such as videos, blog posts and photos and fans have a place for open discussions and comments. Starbucks actively seeks ideas from customers on a website called ‘My Starbucks Idea', where a blog by employees provides updates and feedback. Lately, they've been running a social media campaign encouraging followers/fans to 'Find the Roast You Love Most', which is spearheading the launch of a new roast in the US.

Starbucks is gaining valuable customer feedback and market research through social media. At the same time they’re building brand loyalty and encouraging advocacy. Not bad for a day's work on the keyboard.

Horses for courses

Sun,09 Oct 2011 14:31:27

These days, the trend is very much towards outsourcing your non-core activities. Services have sprung up to meet the demand – marketing, HR, IT, telemarketing and more have all become services which the SME business can acquire on the basis of a few hours or days per month.

As an outsourced marketer I’ve noticed an increasingly positive attitude towards buying-in non-core services as and when they are needed. The advantages are clear:

You get expert, professional support, when you need it, and it doesn’t cost you the earth.

Then there are the less tangible benefits:

You get something done that you may have been putting off for months – your telemarketing campaign, your database, your proposals, your case studies, your blog, your server upgrade, your HR manual, your new web site – rarely do these jobs make it to the top of your priority list, and getting them done by an outsourced specialist allows your business to move forward.
You get access to a network of complementary services which have already proved themselves with your outsourced specialist. For example, as a marketer, I work regularly with graphic designers, web designers, e-marketing specialists, translators, printers and telemarketers, and I’m able to recommend ‘trusted partners’ to my clients.
You become free to focus on the core activities of your business, safe in the knowledge that you are receiving professional advice and support where you need it.

So, all together now.... what's stopping you?

Mitigating buyer's remorse

Thu,01 Sep 2011 15:14:42

For many buyers, coming to a purchase decision is hard enough. They often need reassurance, after they’ve contracted to purchase. Many of us sell products or services which people do not buy on a regular basis; they may never have purchased before and whilst we know that we know what we’re doing, because we’ve done it a hundred times before, our customer or client may feel unsettled, worried about the process or their experience of the service, or unsure about the impact of the changes they’re about to make. They may need guidance or reassurance.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and imagine you know little or nothing of the product or service you’ve just purchased. It may be worth considering some of these ideas:

Never assume that your buyer knows what to expect. If there is a time-lag between order and supply/installation, send them a ‘what happens next’ communication
Assign a project co-ordinator to advise on preparing for the job/installation or answer any questions etc
If your customer needs to prepare in some way for supply of your goods or services, make sure they know what to do – it may be obvious to you, but it probably won’t be to your customer
If you provide a personal service (eg, personal training, consultancy etc), issue a ‘what to expect from our time together’ document. This is just as useful in minimising unrealistic expectations as it is in setting realistic ones
Send a ‘thank you for your order’ letter or card, or make phone call
If you’re not the person who ultimately provides the goods or services, pay your customer a visit or make a call on the day the job starts, just to make sure that everything is going to their satisfaction.

A few thoughtful touches, that show you’re not taking your new customer’s order for granted, will pay dividends and get your new business relationship off to a much stronger start.

Holiday, what holiday?!

Fri,29 Jul 2011 12:48:04

For some businesses, August can be a quieter month. With people away on holiday, progressing deals and projects can be difficult. But that makes August the perfect to take stock, think and plan, and get yourself and your business into the most effective state, ready to storm through the last few months of the year. So here are a few questions you could be asking yourself:

How do you want to finish the year? Is your business on track to achieve your sales or financial targets? If not, what needs to change? Are your team members performing – staff, outsourced services, partners and dealers? If not, what do you need to do to boost their effectiveness?

Are there marketing initiatives you could be setting in motion? Why not check out the forward features lists for your industry publications or web portals and see if there is anything against which your company could make an editorial contribution. What about trade shows and exhibitions? September to November is a lively season for these and you could benefit from last-minute deals if you want to exhibit. Are you planning direct mailing or email marketing campaigns for September? Now is the time to get your letters and emails drafted and check out your data sources. Is the time right to launch a customer newsletter or blog? Does your marketing collateral need refreshing or updating? What about your web site? Whatever it is, do it, now!

Are there network contacts you intended to follow up, but never quite got around to? Are there people or businesses you believe could assist you, but you haven’t yet connected with them? Bring to mind the names of five people who could help you take your business forward. Now call them and get your show on the road.

Do you have ambitions to develop your business in a new direction? You have some ideas, but have never taken the time to think them right through. You want to branch out, but haven’t yet begun to explore new directions in detail. You get excited by the thoughts, but haven’t yet turned them into action. Well, now is the time. Ask yourself, what one thing can you do today, to take your ideas and begin to turn them into reality?

And you could always take a holiday too, I guess.

Agnostic? I don't know...

Fri,22 Jul 2011 12:07:08

Since when has the word agnostic changed its meaning?

I work in the technology sector and you see this phrase everywhere these days: platform agnostic. It’s used to mean that it doesn’t matter which hardware or telephony platform you own, the solution in question will work with it. Go back a few years, and the accepted phrase was platform independent – used for software that is independent of any platform constraint, therefore can run on any platform.

Look up agnostic in the dictionary and you’ll see it means unknown or unknowable and it relates specifically to the existence, or otherwise, of God. What these misguided corporate marketers are actually saying, is we don’t know, not it doesn’t matter. And I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

So why reinvent the word agnostic to replace a perfectly acceptable term which everybody understood?

I found this article which describes the take-up of the term platform agnostic in recent years. It says what’s happened, but it doesn’t explain why. So I offer this as a thought; every marketer seeks to differentiate. Somewhere, a few years ago perhaps, in a shiny air-conditioned unit on a landscaped Silicon Valley campus, in a 6 foot square cubicle decorated with a thousand colourful giveaway gadgets, gismos and graphics designed to show what a quirky, creative individual the occupant is – a quirky, creative individual without a full grasp of the English language coined what he determined was a new and different way of describing an old and well established concept. His colleagues, none apparently in possession of an English dictionary, congratulated said quirky, creative individual on his quirky creation, and the phrase was launched on the techno-marketing universe.

And I don’t know, but somewhere, in a damp crypt in deepest rural England perhaps, an ancient scholar, a teacher of Latin, a lover of language, from the first or second century, turned silently in his grave.

It's a gift!

Sat,25 Jun 2011 14:15:37

So, you’re considering ordering some branded promotional gifts or ‘freebies’. Maybe they’re to complement your presence on a trade show stand, or to give you something to hand out to prospects at seminars or to customers at training events, or to leave with people you’ve met with to discuss your services. But why do it? What purpose are they to serve for you?

Everything you do in marketing has the power to either positively or negatively influence your audience. So start by knowing what positive influence you want to have. Before you place your order decide what you want your freebie to do for you.

Your objectives could include:

To broadcast your name/logo/strap-line to improve your brand recognition
To advertise or emphasise some new or upgraded aspect of your service
To help ensure you are remembered in a positive way by prospects you visit
To show your appreciation to valued customers, course attendees etc
To promote some characteristic of your company, its attitudes or values
To get your phone number or web address on to your customers’ desktops
To get people to come to your trade show stand
To drive traffic to your web site

It’s a Matter of Choice

As with every aspect of marketing, your objectives will determine your purchase. Whether you go for prestige or plastic; novelty or utility; whether you find something with plenty of room for branding, or just enough space for a logo; whether your budget is £20 or 20p per unit.

Here are some things to consider:

For long term impact: Whatever its cost, your freebie will have maximum value if it is in front of your customer on a regular basis. Ensure you choose something that is durable and either smart, or fun to have around. Whether it’s a toy novelty or a useful desk or personal accessory, or even that old favourite – a pen – the more visual appeal and quality it has, the greater the long term impact.

For broadcasting your name, logo, or stand number quickly: Use very low cost items that you can afford to distribute with near reckless abandon. There’s no point having a ‘broadcasting’ freebie and then being cautious about handing it out because of the cost!

As a thank-you or token of appreciation: Aim for higher quality or uniqueness, or else your thank-you may look horribly like an insult. A high quality or unusual giveaway, if presented with care and respect, can generate valuable goodwill.

To advertise or promote: There are plenty of items which offer space for full address details, strap-lines and other promotional wording or graphics. Consider choosing something which relates to the service you’re promoting, or phrasing your promotion in a way which links with the gift (eg, on a mug: “don’t be a mug, call … … for the best deals”).

In terms of avoiding any negative influence, here are some thoughts on what you might wish to avoid, depending on your objectives:

Things that go home to the kids: Stress balls, cheap jotter pads, juggling balls, stickers and furry bugs are all very well, but you want your name in front of your customers, not in the nursery.

Things that get used up quickly: For example, mints and chocolates. Whilst they are great for instant recall (eg, at a trade show, conference check-in or in a seasonal mailing promotion), they make little long term impact.

Things that look and are ‘cheap’: This is a dual-edged sword. You may prefer to go for cheaper options in order to get wide coverage (and you can get very wide coverage with pens, for example, costing just a few pence each). However, if yours is the cheapest pen in the pen-pot, or the one that never works, or the one that leaks, be mindful of the impression it may be leaving.

My Top Ten Freebies

To close, and to leave you with a few ideas, here are my Top Ten freebies:

Note holder/paperweight – useful, always visible and desktop
Coasters – very low-cost and again, they stay on the desktop
Pens – ditto coasters, but beware the very cheapest can be counter-productive
Paperclips (Adclips) – cute, useful and will travel around the company
Memo blocks – low cost, practical, a desktop success; who doesn’t use one?
Desktop mobile phone cradles – practical and they stay on the desktop
Key-rings – whilst not desktop, they are in use several times a day
Tangle (stress toy) – completely useless but irresistable
Mini (keyring) Maglite torches – another higher-value item, but still under £10
USB Memory sticks – high-value, highly useful and available in almost every design you can imagine.

Show me the money!

Mon,16 May 2011 18:44:15

What do you want your marketing campaigns to achieve for you? How much are you prepared to spend? Most sales managers want marketing to present them with a desk full of qualified leads; people champing at the bit to buy. Mostly, they would rather it cost them little or nothing at all. Unfortunately life’s not like that.

So how do you decide how much to spend on which activities, and what to expect in return?

Click here to find out.

Either it is. Or it isn't.

Fri,06 May 2011 12:26:50

Since when did the definition of the word 'unlimited' change?

Unlimited = limitless, infinite, boundless, indefinite, unrestricted.... need I continue?

Why then, do the Validation Certificates for my shiny new Ford Fiesta say "Unlimited mileage is to a maximum of 100,000 miles"?

Of course the missing word in this grammatically dubious sentence is... yes, you guessed it, 'limited': Unlimited mileage is... ahem... limited to a maximum of 100,000 miles.

I'm all for language evolving – new words being brought to life, outmoded grammar being laid to rest, but why the double-think? Either it's unlimited, or it's limited – what could be clearer?

Somewhere in the bowels of Ford Headquarters, there are people who compose this stuff. Who educated them?

Grump.

My top ten tips for creating winning proposals

Sat,16 Apr 2011 14:53:23

One job in which I’ve been involved many times over the years, both directly and for my clients, has been writing proposals, and material for proposals. From my years selling contact centre software and telephony and drafting lengthy, complex proposals and responses to tender, through to working as a freelancer and drafting my own (far shorter) proposals, and assisting clients with their own output, there’s nothing in the proposals arena that I haven’t had a hand in, in some form or another; Q&A databases; standard proposal frameworks; proposal layouts and structure; proof-reading and quality control; corporate text and product descriptions; features and benefits; products and services; from massive multi-phase corporate tender responses to making a two-page quotation into a selling document. Along the way, I’ve helped transform some dire documents into strong sellers.

Click here to download my Top Ten Tips for getting it right when it comes to crafting winning proposals.

Making sponsorship work for your business

Sun,13 Mar 2011 14:58:44

Event sponsorship comes in many shapes and sizes – from branding hand-outs and lanyards to signage, feature articles in show guides or delegate packs, speaker opportunities and more. And let’s be honest, some sponsorship offerings are worth a lot more than others. If you’re invited to sponsor some aspect of a trade show, conference or event this season, here are some points to consider, in order to get best value from your spend.

Appropriateness: Does the show or event align with your strategy?
Does it promote products, solutions and approaches which complement your own product or service offering? Is it targeting the same audience, or a sub-set of the same audience that you are targeting? Is it aimed at an appropriate level of delegate – strategists and decision-makers for example, or managers, supervisors, users, technicians etc.

Objectives: What do you want sponsorship to do for you?
Is it simply about being visible – having your logo sprayed across the room or the biggest stand in the best position? Or is it about communicating some aspect of your proposition to a targeted audience? Is it about meeting people to whom it’s difficult to gain access directly? Is it about providing a networking opportunity for clients and prospects and your own salespeople? What about the opportunity to host forums, sit on expert panels or deliver presentations? Most organisations provide for different levels of sponsorship, depending upon your objectives – so ensure that you customise your sponsorship package to your precise requirements.

Resourcing: Aside from the money, how much effort will you need to put into it?
Sponsorship is not just a matter of shelling out cash – to cover an event properly demands that you spend time preparing and provide often considerable human resource and collateral to ensure your messages are properly communicated. If the event isn’t directly relevant to you, or the sponsorship offering doesn’t meet your needs, it’s a lot of money, time and effort to squander. So make sure you fully understand what’s expected and know how you’re going to resource it. Remember to include any additional activities that may run in parallel with your sponsorship; for example, to gain incremental press coverage or provide client hospitality.

Value: How will you assess the return on your investment?
The role of marketing is to open the door and the sale may still be months away. However, there are ways to assess if you’re getting value from your investment. For example, using average order values and your lead-to-sale conversation ratio, you can work out how many leads you need to acquire in order to break-even on the event. Or identify in advance how many valuable hard-to-access contacts you expect to meet. Collect business cards or contact sheets to add to your database or pass to your salespeople. Assess how much press coverage you want to achieve and then track it. Solicit feedback from existing clients who visit the event.

Follow-up: How are you going to nurture your new contacts?
If you make new contacts as a result of your sponsorship, they will go to waste if you don’t have a follow-up plan. Make sure you have a lead development strategy in place which ensures your new contacts don’t fall through the cracks.

Twitter - Content is king?

Sun,13 Mar 2011 15:01:52

In the UK in days gone by, we used to wrap fish and chip suppers in yesterday’s newspapers. All that news, comment and analysis, covered in salt and vinegar. So here’s the thing. Content is interesting. Sometimes it’s fascinating. Occasionally, it is ground-breaking. Often it is spectacularly well written (prompting waves of jealousy from yours truly) and worth reading for the pure pleasure of the words alone. But…. But…. Just how much content do we need in our daily life? Are our days the richer for reading it, or the poorer for skipping over it? Perhaps, sometimes, by skipping over, we might just miss something interesting. But is that really a crisis? Will our businesses fold? Will we lose all our friends? Will the world come to an end?

One thing is certain; there will be more content tomorrow.

What's in a name?

Sun,16 Jan 2011 15:36:03

Many years ago, when I first entered the world of work, the part of my company that dealt with computer based information was called Data Processing - DP. From its punch-card and green-stripe beginnings, the technology environment evolved faster than anybody would dare imagine. Data Processing became Computing, then became Information Technology - IT. With the increasingly more sophisticated combining of voice and data, IT became Information and Communication Technologies – ICT. Now we add all manner of on-line business and social media into the mix and today's terminology for this all-encompassing environment is TMT – Technology, Media and Telecoms. I wonder, where next for those two- and three-letter-acronyms?

Twitter - I just don't get it

Thu,25 Nov 2010 14:36:10

I first engaged with Twitter about 18 months ago, because I thought I ought to learn what it was and what it could potentially offer my clients. I figured people would be asking me about Twitter soon enough and even if they didn't, I needed to be prompting them to consider it as part of a social media marketing strategy. I didn't set out to be a social media champion. SM thought leadership is the province of deeper thinkers than I – try the brilliant @markwschaefer and his blog, {grow} for a start. I wanted to know 'just enough'.

I don't know if it hasn't caught on (yet) in the UK the way it has in the USA, or if it is the nature of my client base, but in the last 18 months, not one of my clients has ever asked me about Twitter. More than that, when I bring it up with clients in the context of developing a social media strategy as part of their general marketing, what I get is blank stares and looks that scream, 'oh no, not another thing to think about'.

But I persisted with Twitter because I felt I should, not because I particularly warm to the mini-message environment. I never intended it to happen, but I found that hours and hours were being leeched from my day in pursuit of thought-provoking content, signposted in one Twitter message after another. Much of what I found was indeed fascinating – plenty of insightful, forward-thinking and analytical writing. Oh yes, and a whole load of funny and diverting stuff too – the sort of stuff I ask people not to send me on email as I don't want to be distracted by it. Yet there I was, distracting myself, time and again, every day, following the breadcrumb trail from one blogger to another.

I participated here and there too, engaging in 'the conversation'. Interacting is a great thing to do, especially when you work solo, as I do. I'm not knocking it. But when it comes to time spent versus return, the argument for Twitter – for me at least – got a bit flaky. One day it got to me. I thought, what on earth am I doing with this? What's it doing for me? What's it doing to me? Where is it taking me? What I was doing wasn't working for me - I had to take a new approach.

Clearly Twitter has been a great leap forward for many businesses and it's clear to me that I just don’t get it in the way they do. But I’m not a technophobe and I do have more than half a brain. So what am I missing? Until I get it, I’m just another business professional feeling their way with new technology, not wholly convinced that it isn't just a great big song-and-dance about nothing - a suit sewn from invisible thread - and a great big insidious way to claim time from us all, under the misplaced notion that we cannot afford to be left behind.

Reputation is everything

Sun,31 Oct 2010 11:38:40

Over the last few weeks I've once again been selling a few previously loved but no longer wanted items on EBay. Apart from generating a small pot of PayPal cash for odds and ends, I've cleared some valuable cupboard space.

In order to trade successfully on EBay you need to acquire and maintain a good reputation. In EBay, this translates to receiving good feedback, both from those who buy from you, and from those who sell to you. In order to receive good feedback as a seller, you need to do a few simple things well: describe your for-sale items accurately; be fair about postage and shipping costs; communicate effectively, and ship your goods to the buyer promptly.

Potential buyers can tell from reading the feedback left by others,whether you are a good EBayer. If you are, it gives them the confidence to bid on your items and spend money with you, even though they don't know you personally.

Call it feedback, or call it case studies, customer quotes and testimonials, or call it your reputation; it's the same for everybody in business. Buyers gain confidence and trust from learning of the positive experiences that others have had in transacting with you. Your reputation as a provider of quality goods or services grows, helping to generate more customers. Whether you're shifting unwanted gifts on EBay, or providing a service to the local community, or selling complex technology solutions to global enterprises through a network of international office locations, your reputation makes a vital contribution to your success.

On EBay, buyers and sellers are all supposed to leave feedback; in reality, some do and some don’t and in the wider world of commerce nobody has to do it unless they choose to. I found an effective way of encouraging people to leave EBay feedback was to enclose a small thank you card with their purchase.

When you believe you have delivered good service, don’t be afraid to ask for a testimonial or a reference, and encourage your buyers to tell others about their experience with you. In time, along with growing your reputation, you'll build a resource of positive feedback, which you can use on your web site, in your brochures and advertisements, in marketing letters and more, to attract even more customers.

Worst airport in the world?

Mon,20 Sep 2010 12:56:18

Somebody posed a question recently - which is the worst airport in the world? They were on the money suggesting Charles de Gaulle in Paris, but I have a great contender too – Atlanta Hartsfield, USA. I love Atlanta, I really do, but its bright and shiny airport was the place of nightmares for me. When I used to travel regularly for business, it was so bad I even wrote about it once. I don't travel like I did, so I don't know if things have changed in the last 6 or 7 years – but I hope for the sanity of a million international travellers that they have. Here were my thoughts at the time:

Well, I did it! I finally escaped... It took nearly 2½ hours, but at last I'm out! I’m free!

It's Atlanta airport, it killed me! It’s like no other airport on the planet. It's hard enough that you have to squeeze all your jollups into little bottles these days and carry them around in a plastic bag. It's hard enough that the flight is a crushing 9 hours in the cheap-seats. But then you have those incomprehensible forms to fill in for Immigration, and woe-betide you if you get something wrong! Those guys at the desks are truly intimidating... And they get you when you're at your weakest too – you've run, yes, literally, run to the queue, to try and get towards the front, yet somehow there are already more than 100 tired and fretful fellow passengers lined up in front of you. The endless snake-queue moves so slowly, and don't step out of line, whatever you do, or they'll be at you!

It's bad enough that you end up feeling like a criminal under interrogation. I'm only here for two pitiful days... please, just let me in so I can get on with my business and get home again! I'm not even going to alter my watch, I'm here for such a lightning-quick visit.

But then Atlanta Hartsfield International really gets its claws into you... Don't get me wrong, I'm sure if you’re on an internal flight, you have it really easy here. It's a light, modern airport with loads of facilities – thanks in no small measure to the Olympics a few years back, I'm sure. But if you're arriving into the International terminal, and you managed to get through Immigration without being turned around or clapped in irons, you're not home-and-dry – don't even think it. Your stress is only just beginning!

You were in the queue for an hour. They've kept you long enough – surely – for your luggage to be offloaded and ready for you. Ah. No. There's just a little more waiting time before you see your possessions again. (OK, so I'm a girl, I can't manage for two days on hand-luggage and there's the ever-present two-ton laptop as well, of course). But that's not it. Hartsfield is a huge airport – so big it's got its own mini railway with, oh, maybe six stops – one for each terminal. Yes, and they're not on top of each other either – if you’re ever there and think of walking, think again. That's a mile or more and – yes, of course – the International terminal is right down at the tail end.

To get on the train – to get to the exit - you have to re-check your baggage. Yes, you heard me right. But before you do, you’ve got to open that bursting suitcase (OK... so I couldn't decide what to wear – a girl's gotta keep her options open) and squeeze into it that little plastic bag of jollups you’ve been carrying (and you better pray they don't leak on your new suit). Then, having abandoned your luggage for a second time – and almost weeping with exhaustion by now – you have to do security again. Yes ... take your coat off. Take your shoes off. Just one more security arch in the great scheme of international airport security. So now everybody's happy you’re not packing something dodgy in your loafers and you get to take the little train. It’s a neat arrangement, but by then, you're way too tired to care. You climb off at the far end of the track around 12 minutes later and – wait – where's the luggage now?

As you emerge into the concourse you meet a scene of Armageddon-like chaos. Well, it's a busy airport, what do you expect? But there in the distance, right by the exit doors, are a couple more baggage claim belts. But these are for everybody - every international flight – so it's anybody’s guess which one will yield your bag. So you wait and watch. And you watch and wait. And you dance backwards and forwards between the belts. And you look around, in case there's anybody off your flight that you recognise. But since you watched the movies all the way over, you probably wouldn't recognise them even if they were there, would you? Hopefully too, nobody is making for the exit, just a few feet away, with your bag. The exit.... so near, yet so far.

OK, so I'm just about holding it together. I can see it's beginning to get dark outside already and for me it's already close to 11pm in my head. I wait a full 40 more minutes before my bag finally arrives and I can go find the courtesy bus for my hotel. There are two dozen courtesy buses outside and I'm losing the will to live, but then somebody takes pity and I get some good directions and at last the bus is away and at last, I'm stepping off at the fabulous Westin Buckhead, ready for the heavenly bed...

A dilemma

Sat,11 Sep 2010 12:26:27

What do you do when a client corrects something you know is right and in doing so, makes it wrong? Do you put it right, because it needs to be right to make them look good? And if so, how do you do it without embarrassing your client? Or do you leave it, because "the customer is always right", even though they aren’t.

I tend to take a view. If something is a whopping blooper, I re-correct it. If it's a spelling mistake, I re-correct it. If it is some odd thing that's more about being technically accurate than creating clear, understandable copy; if the copy is just as articulate and the error doesn't stop the reader in his or her tracks, then I leave it. Sometimes that goes against my perfectionist streak, but hey, that’s my problem.

The advent of social networking and text-speak has spearheaded a far greater informality in language and many of the more formal grammatical rules and structures seem to have become almost optional. There’s a right way, but then there's often another way or several other ways, which are just as clearly understood, even if they are grammatically less than perfect. As time goes on, the alternative usages cease to be wrong and become tomorrow’s norm and since language is always on the move, why is there anything wrong with this?

Language today is less formal and more rapidly changing than at any time in the past. So, is the job of a humble copy writer to cling perilously to the vestiges of yesterday's terminology and style, or acknowledge that change happens for a reason and it isn't always bad and embrace the brave informal new world?

So am I a writer yet?

Sat,11 Sep 2010 12:39:25

I've loved writing and the written word ever since my school days. I enjoy crafting stories, essays, long exam questions, proposals and all kinds of marketing material – anything with words. Yes, really, I love it! I find it absorbing to develop documents in different styles, to meet diverse client expectations and address varied audiences.

I've recently begun to get more seriously into writing fiction and I would say this is my ambition – to become known as a novelist. It is early days, so I'm not going anywhere just yet. I’m around 25,000 words into my writing project, which I'm just about ready to start calling 'my novel'. I've written a small handful of short stories and I'm in the process of adding to this very small portfolio so I can have something suitable to enter into one or two writing competitions over coming months.

When you’re starting out as a writer, there is a wealth of advice available to you. One thing you're always hearing is 'just do it'. It's obvious, but it's also surprisingly hard to 'just do it'. You don't yet see yourself as a writer and almost everything you try to write feels somehow pretentious and in a strange way, impudent. I remember starting out as a salesperson in the technology world and feeling like an imposter, and that feeling has returned lately as I exercise my fiction writing muscles and get used to the words 'my novel'.

But I know how fortunate I am, as I’ve been earning my living from writing for years, which is more than many budding novelists can say. So my challenge of late is to balance the needs of my present and very satisfying employ – putting other people's words into well crafted professional documents to present a positive brand image to their customers – with the excitement I feel about spending time creating fiction – and a world populated by people given life through my own simple imagination.

Something's a-footer

Sat,11 Sep 2010 13:14:14

I was at a networking event a while back and it struck me, how many of the 25 or so networkers around the table had really great memory hooks. When it came to my turn to speak, I asked for a show of hands as to how many of these enthusiastic networkers used their memory hooks or other similar strap-line in their email footers. Just 2 hands went up – and it made me think…

Your email footer or 'signature' is a great place to promote your business. Apart from your name and company name, your email footer should of course contain your contact details (telephone numbers, web site address, even your full postal address). For maximum impact, it should also contain a line or two to help people to recall you and your business. Your strap-line or memory hook might be perfect for this.

In addition, consider using your email footer to mention any of the following:

A link to any business networking profiles (eg BNI, BRE, Athena, 4Networking)
Links to your LinkedIn profile, Facebook business page, Twitter feed
Notification of trade shows where your business will be exhibiting
Any special offers, sales or other promotions
Any awards you have recently won or any other industry recognitions
Customer testimonial quotes (with permission of course)
A link to any recent press coverage which is accessible on the internet

You clearly don't have to type all this into every email – just set up a signature. You can set up 2 or 3 versions for different situations, or you can update or change your signature every few weeks, to keep it interesting.

Whilst there are plenty of marketing activities which will lay claim to your budget, don't make the mistake of ignoring no-cost promotional opportunities like this. It’s 'free money'!

Holiday reading

Mon,23 Aug 2010 10:51:12

Singled Out is my first published short story. It won first prize in the monthly short story writing competition in Writing Magazine and was published in the June 2010 issue. You can read it here.

My top ten ridiculously easy ways to generate hot leads

Wed,07 Jul 2010 18:16:02

For small businesses owners and solo-preneurs who love what they do but hate selling it! This cheery paper is available to download here. I wrote it a while back, but somebody recently asked me for it. I thought I’d post it online one more time, in case anybody else fancied a peek.

Who's the VIP?

Mon,14 Jun 2010 10:10:51

Who is the most important person in your business? Is it you? Or is it your customer?

Take a look at your brochure, or the home page of your web site. Count how often the words we, us and our appear. Now count the number of times the words you and your appear. What conclusions might your potential customers draw from what you see?

Many people make the mistake of using their web sites and brochures to boast about how great they are, in the mistaken belief that their prospective customer will be so overwhelmed by this fact that he or she will beat a path to their door.

Customers come to purchase a product or service because it solves a problem, not because they fancy doing business with the biggest or best company. You need to communicate, in a very few short paragraphs, the fact that you understand your customers and the problems they may be experiencing, and you can offer them solutions.

Your brochure or web site home page needs to be about your customer, not about you. It needs to be about the problems they might be experiencing and the way your products or services can solve those problems, not about how fantastic, substantial, well established, or experienced you are. Those things can come later, once your customer has realised that you understand what they need and knows they've come to the right place for a solution.

Small beginnings

Wed,05 May 2010 15:05:16

My first published short story has appeared in print and I'm quite absurdly excited about it. If you're interested, you'll find it in the June issue of Writing Magazine, which is in the shops (WH Smith and others) this week. It's a short tale about two people who go to a singles night in a local bar in the hope of finding love, but first have to overcome their crippling shyness.

I hope you'll forgive me - I'm allowing myself to bask in the glow of this modest success and dream of the day when I can, without hesitation or a sense that I'm being in any way fraudulent, call myself A Writer....

For now, it's back to the day-job!

Are You 'Attractive' Enough?

Mon,26 Apr 2010 08:08:39

No, I'm not getting personal... I'd just like you to think about a different way to approach the marketing and promoting of your business.

If somebody asks you, "What do you do?" how do you normally reply?

Many people make the mistake of answering a completely different question, and in doing so, limit their chances of attracting new customers. When somebody asks, "What do you do?" they hear the question as "What are you?"… As a result, their answer often begins with "I'm a …" and ends just one or two words later, in a dead full stop. You've probably heard it before; you may even have fallen foul of giving the wrong answer to this not-so-tricky question yourself. I'm a.... dentist, solicitor, accountant, coach, clothing retailer, telephony supplier, business owner, printer, computer analyst... The fact is, in marketing terms at least, these are not very attractive answers.

In order to be attractive and draw potential customers and those with the power to open the door to other potential customers to you, your answer needs to deal with two key points – you could call them your 'Attraction Messages':

- To whom do you provide your goods or services (ie, who is your customer)?
- What problems do you solve (ie, what do you do for them)?

Did you notice anything missing there? At no point in this introductory Attraction Message is it necessary to answer the question "What are you?"

Sometimes however, in giving your Attraction Messages in response, you may accidentally divulge clues to the "What are you" question that nobody asked you, maybe even causing people to guess the answer to the question they never asked. But that's ok, since the answer you're giving them is considerably more attractive than baldly announcing the name of your trade or profession.

The whole point of your Attraction Messages is that they’re not about you. They're about your customer. And if formulated well, they achieve several objectives:

They help your target to identify for themselves whether they might be a potential customer. Whilst you’re talking, they’re asking themselves whether they are the sort of person to whom you provide your goods or services, and whether they are experiencing the sort of problem or issues that you solve. This is particularly important, as most people like to keep their cards very close to their chest, until they've built up enough confidence to announce themselves as a potential customer. They need to be able, in the first instance, to identify themselves to themselves.
They provide an entry point through which you can engage your target in a more productive conversation. These Attraction Messages practically demand that your target responds with a request for more details! They’re a 'teaser' statement, which engages your target in conversation and begins the process of building rapport.
They help your target to appreciate that you're the sort of supplier with whom they might like to do business. People warm to others who are, or appear to be, more interested in others, than in themselves. It shows you're an open, engaging person and starts the process of building trust and confidence. This in turn encourages your target to identify themselves to you.

In starting a conversation by telling people what trade or profession you're in, you are in effect pushing yourself at your targets. In delivering your Attraction Messages, you are pulling your potential customers towards you. Push is all about you, the supplier; pull is all about your customer.

Compare a few alternatives and feel how they make you react:

Push: I'm a personal trainer
Pull: I motivate, train and support people who want to build healthier, fitter and better-toned bodies

Push: I sell telephone systems
Pull: I help small businesses implement telephony systems which increase efficiency and improve customer service

Push: I'm a chauffeur
Pull: I help busy executives reduce the stress of long journeys and arrive in comfort, well prepared and rested

Follow up your Attraction Messages with a question which engages your target, and you're well on the way to creating the bond you need, and finding out whether you’re talking to a prospective customer or someone who could introduce you to other prospective customers.

Your Attraction Messages can be delivered face-to-face, for example in a meeting or networking environment, and they can be delivered through your marketing material – your brochures, letters and advertisements can all convey the same customer-focused spirit. All of these contribute to demonstrating to your potential customers that you care more about what you do for them, than about who you are – and that makes you a much more 'attractive' person to do business with.

Making an Exhibition of Yourself

Sun,14 Mar 2010 15:58:41

Trade show season is getting underway. This can mean a big investment for exhibitors in terms of time, effort and money. Having spent several years managing trade show stands, I've seen the good, the bad and the downright ugly - stands that work and stands that fall flat on their proverbial faces. Whether you're raising a simple pop-up behind a table in your local shopping centre, or a two-storey island exhibit at the NEC, there are some basic rules you can’t afford to forget.

Objectives: Decide in advance what you're there for. Is it to get as many names as possible for your contact campaigns? Is it to identify new prospects - if so, how many? Is it to meet and entertain customers you don't often see? Is it to get publicity for a new product launch? Or is it because you know your competitors will be there and you can’t afford to be absent? Whatever your objective, it will drive everything, from what position you choose and what size your stand is, to how you allocate your budget, what you do on the stand, who you get to staff your stand, what hand-outs, gifts or hospitality you offer, what sponsoring opportunities or promotions you participate in… The list is endless, and without deciding in advance what you want to achieve, these decisions will be random at best.

'Kerb appeal': Having determined your objectives, your stand needs to be designed to have 'kerb appeal'. Think about how a casual passer-by in a crowded aisle will see your stand. Will it be easy to see who you are (obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people get this wrong), and what line of business you're in? Will it be easy to distinguish company representatives from visitors? If you’re demonstrating, will there be space to do this effectively whilst making eye contact with your prospect? Will your stand be welcoming and inviting? Will you want people to have ready access to brochures? Will there be a gimmick, competition, or presentation to which you want to draw attention?

Manpower: The best way to get value from your stand is to staff it with a well-briefed and motivated team. Think about whether there should be a dress code or team shirt too, as this can often make it much easier to identify company representatives. Make sure everybody understands the objectives and any particular messages you want to communicate. Set goals or targets for stand representatives, and be prepared to motivate them with small rewards or incentives. Have enough people there that they can take frequent breaks to sit down away from the stand to have a coffee, handle phone messages or meet a client. But don't have too many - that intimidating line of sales representatives waiting to pounce will scare people away. And one very important point - make sure you have sufficient, secure 'backstage' cupboard space to store raincoats, briefcases and laptops. It will help keep your stand looking tidy and professional and avoid costly losses.

Practicalities: Stands don't happen by magic - there's an army of people handling builds and teardowns. But don't rely on other people! Arrive at your stand 5 minutes before the show opens, only to find there isn't enough carpet, or the electricity hasn't been laid, and it's too late to fix it. Be prepared to 'stage manage' the build and teardown, to ensure your stand is serviceable on the day, and re-usable for the next show. By way of a cautionary tale, I remember supervising a stand tear-down one year where it became apparent that a single stand was left untouched as all the others were coming down around it - the tear-down team had failed to arrive. A flat and empty hall soon surrounded this rather substantial and no doubt very expensive island - and that was just before the bulldozer was moved in to demolish it to make way for the next day's show.

Follow-Up: So, you've collected hundreds of business cards, or completed dozens of enquiry forms. That's great! But what are you going to do with them? Part of your forward planning should be to design a lead handling process, which should at the very least involve sending a 'thank you for visiting our stand' letter or email and perhaps making a follow-up telephone call. Here's an exercise - if lead generation is your prime objective, take the cost of your stand, plus the cost of staffing it, plus the cost of your giveaways and hand-outs, and divide it by the number of leads you collected. That's the value of each of those leads to you. Now decide if you want to squander that money by leaving that box of leads in the back of your car for 4 weeks, or strike whilst the iron is hot.

In these days of tight budgets and diminishing returns, it's dangerous to make costly marketing mistakes. But with a little forward planning and a clear idea of what you want to get out of your stand presence, your trade show budget can be money well spent.

Reading and Learning

Sun,21 Feb 2010 12:48:29

I'm soaking up everything I can find on writing fiction at the moment. OK, that's not strictly true. There is far more written than I can possibly find the time or energy to read, especially if I want to find some time and energy for... writing. Apparently, much of it is of questionable quality too, so I'm told. But here are a few books I've already found helpful:

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by Jack M Bickham. Good advice, practical and entertaining at the same time.
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. I'm glad I waded through the impenetrable first half of this much recommended book, because the second half turned out to have some very sound advice.
Your Writing Coach by Jurgen Wolff. Easy to digest and good advice from the perspective of a writers' coach.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. Advice on technique from a Master, combined with fascinating biographical insights. A must-read, whatever your preferred genre.

I'm also now reading fiction that doesn't immediately appeal to me as being "my sort of book", watching for technique and writerly skills as well as the pleasure of a good story, well told. Today it's a cold and soggy Sunday and I can think of no better way to pass a few hours than to make a comfortable nest on my sofa, line up a mug of coffee and a biscuit and stick my head in a book.

A Leading Question

Sat,20 Feb 2010 16:05:59

You probably know the old quote, attributed to US department store merchant John Wanamaker in the late 19th century: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half."

It's all very well to spend money on all sorts of marketing initiatives – networking, advertising, web sites and SEO, trade shows and events, telemarketing, direct mail, social networking etc – but if you don't know where your new clients or customers have come from, how can you know which of those initiatives were cost effective and which were not? If you want to find out which half of your marketing budget is working, you need to know where your leads, and perhaps more importantly, your successful sales, come from.

This is easy if you have small numbers of clients whom you know personally – you can simply ask them what prompted them to contact you. It's harder if you work in the sort of business where you don't have face-to-face contact with each individual client, or your customer volumes are high. Here, your salespeople can be prompted to ask; your web site enquiry form can contain a drop-down list of possible search or advertising sources; your coupon response can include a code identifying the source; you can create source-specific special offers. For business via the internet, web analytics and email marketing services can provide vital data on which prompts led to the highest click-through rates, and even how long people spend reading your web various pages.

Analysing your lead sources will yield so much vital business intelligence, for example:

Where your leads and sales come from
Where your most profitable or highest-value clients or customers come from
What were the verbal, written, visual or personal 'triggers' that created the best responses
Whether it is worth investing in achieving high on-line search rankings
Which lead sources gave you the highest conversion of enquiries into customers
Which advertisements worked and which didn't
What advertisement size or positioning works best
Whether exhibiting at a trade show is worth the money and effort
Whether entries in directories and web portals are paying for themselves
Whether you're getting value from your membership of networking groups or business associations
Whether adding brochures, case studies or other material to mailshots makes a difference to response rates
What newsletter articles or web site content works best for you
Whether writing a blog or building your presence on Twitter is a cost-effective use of your time and energy
Whether time spent on seminars or speaker slots yielded results in terms of new business.

It's relatively straightforward to work out the effectiveness of your lead sources. For a given time period, take the total value to you of all the leads generated, or all the business generated from each source, and divide by the cost of that lead source. You will need to allow for the fact that not all your marketing activities are directly or solely about lead generation, but are about raising awareness, conveying brand messages etc. However, it should become clear what's working, and what may not be working, and you may be surprised by the results. But then at least you can make informed decisions about how and where to spend your marketing budget and your efforts in the future.

Beginner's Luck?

Sat,13 Feb 2010 12:49:24

Is this "beginner’s luck"? Is it a flash-in-the-pan? Or is it a taste of things to come? I've just learned that one of my short stories, submitted to one of Writing Magazine's monthly competitions, has won First Prize. It's actually the first story I've ever submitted, anywhere. I had to re-read the 'congratulations' email several times, to make sure I hadn't misunderstood it. Then I bounced around the house whooping and singing - I couldn't help myself! It feels quite absurdly brilliant, that a story I've conceived and written has been judged worthy of publication.

Years ago, when I sold computer/telephony systems to new customers, each win would feel like a mini triumph. The feeling that you had, by virtue of skills and commitment, persuaded a buyer to make their decision in favour of you and your company's offering - that was pretty good.

But this, I think, is better.

Getting creative at Arvon

Mon,25 Jan 2010 12:52:25

A few weeks ago, I took myself away on an Arvon Foundation creative writing course at their Totleigh Barton centre in deepest Devon. It was so incredibly stimulating to dedicate time and energy purely to playing with words, absent of all the normal distractions - phones, email and the general background noise of life. It was fun to follow the discipline of completing a prescribed exercise in 20 or 30 minutes; to produce something you might (or might not) feel brave enough to read out; to see whether your efforts were rewarded with words of encouragement and support, or awkward fidgeting and averted eyes. It was delightfully sociable and mentally challenging, and it reminded me how much I enjoy making words come together to bring stories and ideas to life.

Over coming months, I'm looking forward to developing some creative writing projects of my own, alongside the projects I work on for my clients.

It all adds up to.... an award winning client!

Sun,22 Nov 2009 13:49:16

Document and copy writing skills get called upon for all sorts of projects. A few weeks ago, I was engaged by a new client, Pinner-based accountancy firm Sobell Rhodes as they prepared a submission for the 40th Annual Accountancy Age Awards, in the category of Medium Firm of the Year.

The Accountancy Age Awards are the UK’s premier awards for achievement and excellence in the accountancy profession. They recognise innovation in client focus and services, as well as structural and financial improvements, year on year.

Having assisted Managing Partner Andrew Rhodes with the format and presentation of their award submission and seen them shortlisted, I was delighted and honoured to be invited by Sobell Rhodes to share their table at the glittering awards dinner at Battersea Park Arena last week.

Our firmly crossed digits were not in vain, as Sobell Rhodes, one of 5 finalists in their category, found themselves the winners. As the Sobell Rhodes team stepped up on-stage to receive their award and a handshake from celebrity event host, Rory Bremner, I just about managed to stop my hands from shaking as I captured the record of their win on a mini video camera. You can see it on You Tube here.

It just remains for me to offer Sobell Rhodes my own huge congratulations on such a notable achievement, and to thank them for being a most delightful client to work with.

The thing is....

Thu,24 Sep 2009 18:51:32

..... is..... there is no second 'is'. One 'is' is enough!

Do some things people say really get to you? Make you shiver, like fingernails scraping down a blackboard?

No? Maybe it's just me then, being a bit of a linguistic fusspot. But there are one or two little clunkers that really get to me. The thing is, is this is one of them.... the way people make a big thing out of the word 'is'.... One 'is' really is enough! Unless, of course, we're in the process of creating a new word..... thingis, as in: The thingis, is we're mucking up our beautiful language, one little word at a time.

Oh dear, now I've probably spoiled it for you. That little extra 'is' will be jumping out at you from every radio interview and TV vox-pop you encounter, from friends and family, colleagues and customers, maybe even from your own lips....

The thing is, it might just make a few people do away with that little surplus-to-requirements word.

Twitter for Customer Care: Vodafone makes it work

Wed,12 Aug 2009 15:36:17

If you're one of the many who haven't yet seen a value in Twitter, you may be interested in my recent experience.

I needed to upgrade my Vodafone contract and phone the other week. It took a while, but I eventually got through to a very helpful Vodafone rep, who listened to my requirements and found me the perfect tariff. I was delighted. Until, that was, I received in the post from Vodafone, the "quick reminder" of what I'd signed up to, and realised that what Vodafone thought I'd agreed to, wasn't at all what I believed I had agreed to. Several phone conversations later (it's never just one call, is it?), and I think I had managed to rectify the disparity. But I wasn't confident, and there was still another unresolved issue outstanding.

I'd been considerably irked by one particular call during this process, and at the end of a long day, I was turning into a bit of a Grumpy Old Woman where Vodafone was concerned. I needed to poke somebody, so I went on the hunt for a Vodafone feed on Twitter. And what do you know, I found one.

I Tweeted a rather petulant "harrumph" about the service I'd received. That same evening I received a cheery and genuine 140-character response, a desire to understand what my problem was, and find a way to help. It seemed there was a real person at the end of the Twitter feed. A short exchange of emails later and my issues were swiftly, efficiently and fully resolved – by a real person, blessed with common sense, courtesy and a really great attitude to customer care.

So this is a note of my respect and appreciation to @VodafoneUK and in particular to MatC (you know who you are), on the case on Twitter, for the Web Relations Team. MatC, you may just have got Vodafone another 13 years of my custom!

I'm going on a Twitter Diet

Wed,22 Jul 2009 18:25:19

I've been shocked by how swiftly Twitter sank its teeth into me. For the first few weeks, I was in and out of Twitter every few hours, sometimes every few minutes. I 'followed' eagerly at first. I found friends, colleagues and associates, local information on my borough, people who Tweeted on marketing topics and social networking trends, business networking and entrepreneurial Tweeters (or is that Twitterers?) and home-workers who told the world every time they went off to make a cup of coffee (yes, really); I even found a cheery elderly lady who Tweets from her nursing home. Soon I was following almost 50 people. For those who 'follow' thousands of people, that might seem a little sparse, but I naively assumed one should actually read the Tweets of those people one follows. OK perhaps that's just a bit obsessive-compulsive...

People use Twitter in many different ways though. There’s a place of course, for people who want to follow and be followed by thousands, but I’m not one of them. I believe there's just so much information one person can cope with at any one time. I don’t want to drown in it, however useful it might possibly be – and in a world flooded with information-on-the-move, I've decided I'm not afraid to miss something.

So maybe I will miss the odd vital nugget by being a bit selective, but in limiting my 'follows' to less than 30, and 'un-following' anybody who bungs up my Twitter screen by Tweeting more than 6 times in quick succession (now that's another story), I'm handling Twitter in a way that just about works for me.

Cutting through the noise of Twitter

Thu,18 Jun 2009 11:06:45

I spotted a sharp and insightful article on Twitter in The Buzz, the Internet World show's promotional e-newsletter. This year's show may be history but the article, 'How you can cut through the noise and appreciate what Twitter offers your business' is definitely worth a read, if you're thinking about whether to Tweet for business. It's full of practical, no-nonsense pointers, beginning with..... yes... 'have a strategy'.

Twitter-curious?

Mon,15 Jun 2009 11:55:16

What is this Twitter thing all about? I wanted to know, so a few weeks ago, I got myself a Twitter account and I've been looking, learning, cogitating and inwardly digesting the whole Twitter experience.

The idea behind Twitter is that you answer the question "what are you doing"; in a maximum of 140 characters - the length of a typical text message. Not seeing the point of telling my 'followers' what I had for breakfast, I confess I was Twitter-sceptical at first, and, like many others, I still am. But my aim was to find out how it might be of value within the marketing strategy for a small or medium sized business, as well as for my own business, so I blocked my ears to the hoots of derision and ploughed on.

So here you have it, thoughts from a Neophyte Tweeter. This is the first of a series of Twitter postings - my thoughts and opinions only, for anybody considering using this unique new social media phenomenon.

No 1 Rule - have a strategy: As with any marketing, you must have a strategy. Without it, you are adrift in a sea of idle banter. Decide what you want your presence on Twitter to achieve, then Tweet, seek out and respond to others, and engage fully in ways that help fulfil your objective. If you allow yourself to be distracted, Twitter will suck time out of your day like a black hole sucks light from the universe.

My strategy is to use Twitter to encourage clients, potential clients and my wider business network to visit my web site, register to receive the newsletter and/or RSS feed and ultimately make contact to discuss projects or opportunities. My Tweets, which need to convey my professional expertise and style, will be focused on 3 areas: (a) marketing ideas and strategies, (b) persuasive/creative use of language and (c) current projects and activities.

Follow me on Twitter and look out for future Twitter postings here soon.

Every connection is an opportunity

Tue,02 Jun 2009 12:22:28

Here’s an interesting lesson in the value of networking. I’ve recently exchanged emails, courtesy of LinkedIn, with a former marketing colleague from over a decade ago. He had been made redundant and was connecting with past contacts, in search of potential opportunities. We arranged to meet for a chat. This morning, a few days ahead of our meeting, I received the following email:

“Hi Julie, I’m just about to accept a job offer with a company called [... ... ...] to lead their marketing in Europe. However, I think I will need to access skills like yours. Therefore, if you’re still OK to meet up we can do it on the basis of me being a prospective client.”

Every connection is an opportunity; you never know where something will lead.

Backups - a cautionary tale

Mon,25 May 2009 14:30:42

I suffered a fatal and permanent hard-drive failure the other week. My hard drive simply stopped working. I won’t bore you with the sorry tale of the next few days, but I do want to say a word about... backups. If you’re part of a larger business, somebody else is probably taking care of backups. If you’re a solo worker or a small business, the job of backing up your PC is most likely down to you. It’s possible that you don’t give this issue much of a thought – but you should.

Imagine... tomorrow morning you sit down at your PC. You push the start button, but within moments, you’re staring blankly at the ‘blue screen of death’.... Something’s gone badly wrong.

If the critical fault has resulted, as it did with me, in total loss of all the data on your hard-drive, you could be facing a crisis - depending on the state of your computer backup. So, how healthy is your backup at this precise moment? What client or customer data or projects are not fully backed-up? What sort of backups do you keep of your customer contact database, email or diary appointments?

I was reasonably fortunate. It was my habit to do a weekly backup, which I had thought was sufficient. My backup data was actually not very badly out of date, and it wasn’t too much trouble to retrieve the few missing items. Even so, I now do a daily backup instead, as I no longer feel my weekly strategy is good enough.

Your personal backup strategy must be based on the assumption that the worst can happen, and that if it does, you and your business would be able to pick up where you left off. If you can’t afford to lose it, make sure it’s properly backed up. If it would cost you valuable time, money or credibility if you lost it, back it up. If it would leave your life, work, finances or commercial relationships in chaos if you lost it, make a backup. And then keep it up-to-date.

What does your brand say about you?

Mon,04 May 2009 16:14:30

How are your customers greeted when they arrive at your front door? What happens to them when they go on-hold on your telephone system? When you say you’ll do something by a given date, can you be relied upon? What about your salespeople, and your customer service team? When you send information or a proposal to your prospect, how does it arrive – a jumble of brochures and leaflets in the wrong sized envelope, or a personalised suite of useful information in a smart folder? Do your written materials reflect an easy-to-read ‘house style’ or does everybody do their own thing? What’s the first thing people think of, when they hear your company name?

Your brand – your company’s identity and values – is communicated to your customers and prospects in many ways, and every one of them is an opportunity to reinforce strong and positive messages about the quality of your offering, how you do business and how you value your customers.

Think of how you felt, the last time you got put on-hold and fell into a silent telephony ‘black hole’. Or when a crushed and damaged envelope scattered its miscellany of un-matched leaflets, brochures and just-in-case odds-and-ends all over your desk. Did it give you warm feelings about your potential supplier’s attitude or professionalism? Did it give you confidence, or make you feel dismayed and irritated?

Your brand is about much more than having a nice logo. Every one of your staff represents your brand when they meet or talk with your customers. Every one of your brochures, fact-sheets, proposals, letters and business cards represents your brand. Your office, meeting rooms and trade show displays represent your brand. Even your coffee mugs and coasters! Everything makes an impression – small or large. Everything. They’re all clues from which your customer builds their opinion of you, and their confidence in you. And every time you get something right, in the eyes of your customer, your brand goes up in value.

To build your brand, first be clear about what you stand for as a company and how you want to do business. Then make sure that every interaction, of every kind, with anybody at all – customer, prospect, supplier, colleague or passer-by - endorses and reinforces those values.

Coffee Break Stories

Sat,02 May 2009 23:23:45

I've collated 4 of my favourite Coffee Break Stories for you to sample with your next cuppa. You can download them here. They were all written for my client, Customs Clearance Ltd, a specialist customs broker.

Julie's web site gets a facelift!

Fri,01 May 2009 23:23:54

No, not me, it’s my web site. It’s been in need of a fresh coat of paint for a while. I’ve been working on the new design and layout for the last few weeks. The new-look site at www.julielawford.co.uk has just gone live. I hope you like the fresh new colour scheme and layout. Take a moment to check out the Notepad feature, where I’ll be posting short articles, comment and news. You can receive these posts as they appear by subscribing to my RSS feed (click here to find out more about RSS feeds). I’m also starting up my regular Newsletter again, and you can subscribe to receive issues by completing the form on the Contact page. If you have any feedback on the new site, I’d love to hear it – use the contact form or email me.