Getting investment

Before I begin, let me say, I’m not a financial expert and this won’t give you advice on the right investment sources for your business.  However, I have worked with many people who have been putting together business plans with a view to getting either a bank loan or an independent investment.  I’ve also worked on various crowd-funding campaigns.  This is about getting the pitch right.

Some people think a business plan is all about the numbers – they are important, but not the only thing that’s important.

There are two things that are critical:

1. You know who your client base are.
2. You know how what you do or sell makes a significant difference to them

If you haven’t identified your market – or markets – clearly and in detail most investors (including your bank) will be reluctant to commit money.

Knowing that there is a demand for your service or product and the impact it will make underpins that.

This is just as important if you’re crowd-funding your investment.  There are thousands of crowd-funding products that never really gain enough traction to generate the funds they need.  This is almost always because the pitch simply isn’t clear and compelling.

It’s not enough to be excited about your offering – it has to make sense to the readers of your pitch. 

• Why will this take the world by storm?  
• Who will benefit from it?
• What will those benefits be?
• How will they impact their life, business, relationship, health...?
• What exactly is the plan for the investment?

Woolly wanderings won’t work!  You have to be crystal clear about all these things so the reader can envisage it all in action.  Your words have to capture their imagination and bring it all to life.  Then they’ll be ready to get on board and invest.

Yes, do your figures – and base them on achievable results – but never underestimate the power of words.  If you get it right people will be willing to get behind you and support you in achieving your goals.

Spiked!

In the newspaper business when an article gets ‘spiked’ it means it’s been dumped.  In the old-style newspaper office a metal spike mounted on a wooden block was on every editor’s desk.  Articles that didn’t make the grade were spiked – and then the office junior would come round and collect the paper to throw away.

In today’s world health and safety wouldn’t allow dangerous spikes in the office, but there’s no need as hitting the delete key takes much less effort!

So what will get your press release or article spiked?

• Blatant sales promotion
• No story that will interest the publication’s readers
• Doesn’t match the type of item the publication normally prints
• No facts, quotes or topical connections
• Nothing new or interesting

There is never any guarantee that your press release will get published, but to give it the best chance you need to think about what will get the editor’s attention.  You need a hook to draw them in. 

A hook could be:

• Saying something controversial (as long as you don’t resort to libel)
• Stating a strong opinion – as long as you can back it up with a rationale
• Something that relates to a topical issue – as long as it’s relevant for this publication
• Notable statistics – what can you prove, the more unexpected the better, but don’t invent these, you’ll need to provide your sources
• Something that has an impact on the local community

Make sure your hook shows up in the headline, the opening paragraph and the subject line of the email you send it in.

If you’re coming down strongly with one point of view, be prepared that the editor will be looking for someone who holds an opposing opinion to give the item balance.  They may even ask to interview you both to develop the article, so be ready for a debate – just remember to remain professional and don’t descend into insult-throwing.

An alternative might be a human interest story, but there does need to be a story.  This might be:

• A case study showing unusual outcomes
• A profile of someone in your team with an interesting history or who has achieved something exceptional 
• The journey from idea to production of a new product – as long as there’s an interesting twist to create the interest

‘We’ve opened a new office’
‘Joe Bloggs has joined our team’
‘We’re launching a new product’
‘We’re putting on an event’

Will almost certainly be spiked.  They may be interesting to you, but not to most of the other people in the readership.  The latter two will be spotted by most editors as direct promotion – and, while they understand that any press release has an element of promotion, they don’t like being used for free advertising.

Be creative, learn to think laterally and you’ll start to see hooks that will avoid being spiked and actually appear in print.

Are you throwing your money in the bin?

I go to lots of networking events and I collect lots of business cards – these are useful as it provides a means of getting in touch with people who may become suppliers.  I also get lots of leaflets about services, forthcoming events and promotions – most of these end up in the paper-recycling bin.

The problem with leaflets is that they don’t ‘fit’ anywhere and end up cluttering the place up.  Also they’re usually paper, so they’re easy to scrunch up and throw away.  Quite apart from the issues around resources and environmental conservation, that’s your hard-earned cash that’s going in the bin.

It’s not only the cost of the paper and printing, but the design cost too.  If you’re grinning now because you designed it yourself and printed it off on your office printer (or photocopied it), I have one word for you – reputation!

Unless you happen to be a graphic designer most ‘home-made’ flyers and leaflets look like what they are – home-made.  And the subliminal message is ‘amateur’ or ‘cheap’, neither word is one you want associated with your business.

We’ve all done it and produced something in a hurry at the last minute for a networking event and hoped that nobody would ‘mind’.  They don’t mind, but they don’t value it either.  So you need to aim at the other end of the spectrum and put something of substance into their hands.

I like to have things printed on card, rather than paper.  It’s harder to scrunch up and chuck in the bin. 

If you have some valuable tips printed on the reverse side, this is much more likely to be looked at than a paper document, which people tend not to turn over, you’re creating retainability (no, that’s not really a word, but you know what I mean).

Think about the size and shape of your document – how easy is it for people to carry?  A card that is one-third A4 and fits in a DL envelope, also fits easily in jacket pockets and bags or pops inside a notebook.  The tips mean it tends to stay around longer too.  It’s the next best thing to a promotional gift with your brand on it.

Do you really need to print?

If you’re trying to keep costs down without looking cheap, how about creating special web pages with the information on them and then giving out envelopes containing the links instead of using up lots of ink and paper creating leaflets?

In most cases people who are actually interested will be willing to look at a website.  Those who aren’t will take a leaflet anyway as they often think you will be offended if they don’t – and then dump it as soon as they get back to the office.

A low cost promotional item may be affordable.  In fact, when you add up the design, printing and paper costs, it may even cost less.  Talk to a promotional gifts specialist who will come up with all kinds of clever ideas – and you’ll be much more memorable than dishing out a piece of paper.

What other creative ways can you think of that will capture the people who are genuinely interested without having to distribute a tree every time you run a promotion?

LinkedIn: personal profile or company page?

So many people ask me if they should have a LinkedIn company page – and those that do complain that they find it difficult to build followers on their company profile.  That’s because most people search for YOU, not your company. 

Even if they do search for your company, the list that is presented includes all the people who are identified as working for the company.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a LinkedIn company page, but it does mean that it may not be the focus for most of the connections you make.

Personal means PERSONAL

Quite apart from the fact that the LinkedIn terms and conditions state that you must use your real name and your photo should be a recognisable likeness of yourself, complying with them makes good sense.

Think of it as the equivalent of meeting someone at a networking event.  You don’t introduce yourself “Hello, I’m Bigshot Images Ltd., what company are you?”  You introduce yourself – and others by name.

If your name is Christopher or Robert or Samantha and you’re known by Chris, Rob or Sam – how would you prefer people to address you?  Whatever that is, use that name.  The other side of that coin is that, if someone has put Christopher as their name, always start your messages with that name, until they tell you otherwise.  As someone whose shortened name (Les) I hate, it’s the fastest way to turn me off someone if they call me by that!

Similarly, you don’t introduce yourself as “Jane Bloggs, FRSA, CIPD”.  Don’t put your qualifications in your name – there is a place for that elsewhere in your profile.

When you’re out networking in the real world you don’t have a mask that has a picture of your products, a caricature, a shot of your business premises or anything else covering your face.  This is why a good headshot is essential.

The key elements of a great profile shot are that:

• You are looking directly at the camera, it’s the equivalent of making eye contact (and we all treat people who won’t make eye contact with suspicion).
• It is JUST head and shoulders.  When your profile picture appears on the site as an avatar, you become unrecognisable if you’ve put a full length shot.  Your face is just a small white smudge!
• You aim for friendly and approachable – in other words smile at the camera.  
• It’s a professional shot – not one cropped from a party you were at or a recent holiday.  That just shrieks ‘unprofessional’ and people make judgments, even if you are the most professional business person on earth!

Your company page

Do create a company page – and write an interesting introduction.  Add showcase pages for specific products or services. 

Don’t forget to link your company page with your current role in your experience so the logo appears on your personal profile.

You could include a link to your company page in the summary and ask people to visit it and follow it (if you think that’s important).  However, don’t worry too much if you only generate a handful of followers.  If your personal network is growing and you’re having useful interactions with people, you will find that your company page is a ‘nice to have’, rather than an essential.