What does your content do for you?

Your reputation is being shaped in rooms you're not in — by people who've only ever searched your name – or your business’s name.  So what are you doing to ensure that they get the impression you want them to get?

Every time you hit your keyboard, you’re shaping your reputation – whether that’s a headline for your website, a social media post, a blog article or an email (or any number of other written communications).  How much thought goes into those communications – before you hit the post/send/publish button?

No idea?  You need a system

There are dozens of content generation systems out there – and, of course, a variety of AI tools that can help.  My advice – keep it simple, but use a matrix approach to turn one idea into many pieces of content.

A matrix pairs your main skill areas with the subjects that sit under those headings – or with an approach.  So, for example:

Main subject:       Copywriting

Subjects:              Style, tone, written English, using AI, content management

And there are five posts or articles (or podcasts, videos, value-led emails, etc.  right away.

Four more skill areas, with 5 posts each – and you’ve got another 20 posts.

And, I bet you have more than one thing to say about each of those things!  On day 21 revisit your first post and write something else about it.  You’re the expert, share your knowledge and skill.

But I’m giving away my IP for nothing!

This is always the first response I get when I suggest sharing your expertise; “If I tell people how to do it, they won’t need me.”

Yes, there are some people who will try and follow your advice – and a few will succeed, but we’re talking about a tiny percentage.  Why?

Let’s look at it from another perspective.  I’d put money on the fact that you’ve downloaded free giveaways with lots of valuable information – in an area you’re not an expert in.  You intend to read them and take action, but given the choice between what you do best and what you love doing and learning to do something you don’t really want to do – you actually don’t do anything.

You might read through a checklist or document and intend to do something with it – but it never happens.  So, there’s still a gap in your business that you’re not addressing as well as you could. 

What you need is an expert to support you in that area that you’ve been avoiding.  And who better than someone who has already shown they know their stuff?

Does this sound familiar? 

If you’ve been through this process – lots of other people will have too – except the kind of expert they need is you.  The more you demonstrate you know your stuff, the more likely it is that you’ll be the first person they think of when the light dawns that they need your kind of help. If you’re getting brain freeze from the whole idea of content creation – give me a call and let’s see if I can improve on anything AI can produce.

But creating content is hard

If you’re getting brain freeze from the whole idea of content creation – give me a call and let’s see if I can improve on anything AI can produce.

Is this what you were looking for?

Websites have changed so much over the years – both to reflect latest designs and also to satisfy user behaviours.

There was a time when visitors would actually read 300 words of copy – not any longer!  If the headline doesn’t give them the information they want, they’ve gone.

The days of intriguing headlines that require the visitor to make an effort to find out if the copy will give them what they want are pretty much ancient history.  People want instant gratification.

What does this mean for your website?

The first headline they see needs to tell the visitor – ‘We’ve got what you want’ – or, better still – ‘You’ll get the information you came here for easily and quickly’.

And, put your phone/email right in your banner where they can see it – so they don’t have to start clicking around your site to find out how to get in touch.

And, don’t fall into the trap of putting a ‘phone us’ button.  That works fine if you’re browsing on the phone, but not if you’re using a desktop/laptop.  By all means create a button, but put the phone number on it where it can be seen.

Don’t distract people with images that move, or that don’t deliver your message clearly.  A bunch of happy people sitting around doesn’t say ‘Your solutions are here’ – they’re just eye candy (and probably scream ‘I’ve been playing with AI software’). 

With the wealth of AI tools, you can get help with clear, reader-focused headlines AND images that underline your message.

Don’t waste time with telling your business’s life story – that will work really well on your About page.  Give me easy links, with benefits, to your core services or products.

Keep copy brief and focused on the reader – so, in ‘you’ language, not ‘we’ language.  There’s a big difference in response to ‘We do this’ (low) to ‘You can have that’ (high).

Be proud of your brand

If you’re at the design stage of your logo – or planning a revamp – make sure that you have a version that reproduces clearly in the relatively narrow brand banner that’s at the top of every page of your website. 

If the logo is too small your brand looks like more of an apology than something you’re proud of.  If your current logo doesn’t work when reduced in size, you either need to ask your logo designer to produce something that will work or you need to get creative about how your logo appears on your website. 

A good looking website ticks the first box on your user’s list, but the message must be crystal clear and navigating to what they want should be a no-brainer, not an exercise in problem solving!

The Psychology of Unsubscribing

Nobody likes to see that unsubscribe notification pop up. But it's going to happen. The question isn't whether people will leave your list; it's why they leave, and what you can do about it before they get to that point.

Understanding why people unsubscribe is one of the most useful things a B2B business can do to improve its email marketing. It forces you to look at your newsletter through your reader's eyes.

It's not (usually) about you

Most people don't unsubscribe because they dislike you or your business. They unsubscribe because something shifted in them, in their business, or in what you're sending them.

The most common reasons people leave a list are:

Too many emails: This is the number one complaint.  In a B2B context, your readers are busy professionals.  Their inboxes are already overwhelming.  If your newsletter lands too often, or worse, if you add people to multiple lists, you'll be unsubscribed faster than you can say 'quarterly round-up'.

The content stopped being relevant: Maybe they signed up during a particular phase of their business and they've moved on.  Maybe you started out writing specifically for them and gradually drifted into content that feels more generic. Either way, relevance is everything.

You went quiet, then suddenly reappeared: This one surprises people.  Going silent for months and then landing in someone's inbox out of nowhere is jarring.  They've forgotten they signed up, they don't remember who you are, and the unsubscribe button is the logical response.

Too salesy, too often: There's nothing wrong with making an offer in a newsletter — in fact, you should.  But if every single email feels like a pitch, readers start to feel used rather than valued.

The emails just weren't very good: If your newsletter is dull, hard to read, or doesn't give the reader anything useful, they will eventually go.  They might not unsubscribe immediately – many people just stop opening – but they're already gone in spirit. 

The 'silent leaver' is more common than you think

This isn’t talked about enough: most disengaged readers don't actually unsubscribe. They just stop opening your emails.

In some ways, an unsubscribe is honest feedback.  The silent leavers – the ones sitting on your list with a zero open rate — are quietly distorting your data and costing you money if you're on a platform that charges by list size.

If you haven't done a list clean-up recently, it's worth running a re-engagement campaign.  Send a simple, direct email to anyone who hasn't opened in six months or more.  Ask them outright: do you still want to hear from us?  Give them an easy way to say yes — or to leave gracefully.  The ones who stay will be genuinely interested.  That's the list you want.

What you can actually do about it

The psychology of unsubscribing tells us something useful: people leave when the value runs out.  So the solution is not to make it harder to unsubscribe — that's both bad practice and bad manners — it's to make the value undeniable.

Be consistent.  Show up regularly so readers know what to expect from you and when.

Be specific.  The more clearly your newsletter serves a defined audience with defined challenges, the more likely those people are to stay.  A newsletter that tries to appeal to everyone usually appeals to no one.

Be honest about what you're sending.  If someone signs up for a weekly tip and starts receiving a daily digest, they'll feel misled.  Set expectations at sign-up and stick to them.

And finally — make it personal.  The newsletters that people keep coming back to are the ones that feel like they come from a human being, not a marketing department.  Your personality, your perspective, your experience — that's what keeps people subscribed.  

An unsubscribe is rarely a disaster.  Often it's just a list becoming more honest about itself.  The readers who stay are the ones who are genuinely interested in what you do — and those are exactly the people worth writing for.