Monday, 31 October 2022

Make your editor happy

The good old press release is far less effective than it used to be.  Editors have access to massive amounts of information and are no longer reliant on what their reporters dig up and what businesses send in.  A couple of clicks and they can get gobs of information through their chosen search engine.

From a business owner’s perspective generating an interesting press release regularly is challenging.  Very few businesses have many real news stories and are resorting to:

  • A new member of staff (who is interested, besides the family of the new team member?)
  • A special offer (editors just see this as a sales pitch and hit ‘delete’)
  • A bigger and better office (only interesting to people who work there or need to visit for some reason)
  • Launch of a new product (unless it’s really ground breaking, editors will see this as a sales pitch too)
  • New client (apart from you and the client, most people won’t be interested)

A blanket press release isn’t very effective.

The way to go is bespoke

You’ll get much further by selecting a handful of publications that you know your target audience read and getting to know what kind of material these journals or magazines publish.

If you actually talk to the editors about what they would find useful/valuable, you’ll get a lot further.  Typically, you can then suggest some titles for articles that would fit into the kind of article they publish.  Then you can write it knowing that it’s already got the seal of approval.

What kind of articles might work?

  • Thought leader articles where you explore your take on an area where you’re an expert.
  • How to articles, where you explain something and share the steps to success.
  • A profile:  Your journey to success, how you overcame setbacks and what gave you that vital boost
  • Q&A:  a series of questions that you answer.  Some publications have a format for this or get someone else to generate the questions that would make an interesting article.
  • Hot topics:  things that are in the news or are making waves (as long as you have relevant knowledge/expertise)

Don’t waste your efforts on a ‘one-size fits all’ approach, create dedicated articles for specific publications and you’ll get a lot further.


Monday, 24 October 2022

Warm and fuzzy feelings

If you send out a newsletter, regularly or irregularly, what is the purpose of it?

There are lots of answers to this:

  • To remind people what we do
  • To keep people up-to-date with what we’re doing
  • To introduce new team members to our list
  • To let people know about new products or services
  • To tell people what we’ve achieved
  • To sell our products or services.

However, I’ll put money on the fact that most recipients of your newsletter don’t value any of those reasons much.

Why not?

They’re all about you – not about the reader.

What does your reader want?

We’re all pretty self-absorbed and when I’m going through my inbox I know I delete anything I don’t perceive to be of value – particularly when I’m busy.  I don’t have time to read every newsletter that arrives – or I wouldn’t do much else.

Mostly, I unsubscribe from regular emails that don’t give me anything of value.  Those I keep getting either deliver value in every issue or deliver enough occasional value for me to give the headlines a once-over and read the bits that look interesting/useful/applicable to me or my business.

What about you?  What do you delete/read/skim?

Now rethink that in relation to what your newsletter delivers to readers.  What do they want and how can you deliver that?

Reposition your message

Ideally, when someone gets your newsletter it gives them warm and fuzzy feelings – like they’re getting a gift.  So how well do you know your readers and what they want?

What would they find valuable?  What can you share that they could actually put into practice and reap results?

The more good stuff you give, the more likely people are to not only choose you when they need your kind of help, but also recommend you to other people.

Monday, 17 October 2022

Does social media still work?

I commented to one of my clients that their social media needed revamping as the posts they were scheduling weren’t really effective.  They pointed out that I had originally written these posts – five years ago!  They hadn’t considered how much social media has changed in that five years.

Even a couple of years ago the holy grail for social media was engagement.  Today that’s much harder to generate as people’s attention span is shorter and there is a tendency to read, observe and not engage.  It doesn’t mean that content isn’t interesting, it just has to rock the world to get enough emotion to get someone to actually respond.

The question my clients ask is “Is it worth bothering with social media if few people actually engage?’.  

My answer “Give up posting for a couple of months and see what happens.”

OK, that might be a bit cynical – but if you lose visibility, it will have a long-term impact on your business.  Even if people aren’t engaging, it doesn’t mean they’re ignoring you.

Build a community

If you really want to get dedicated engagement you need a community of raving fans.  People who value what you share and will rave about you to others.

Give away your valuable information and people will start to rate your expertise and authority.  

If you’re rolling your eyes and saying “But if I give it all away, how do I get people to pay me?”  That’s where you’re missing a piece of the jigsaw puzzle.  As online content guru Peter Thomson says “Give away lots of good value and the pay wall will be breached.”  In other words, when people start following you and valuing what you share, they begin to see you as an expert and there is a level of reciprocity i.e. they owe you (at least in most people’s minds).  When they need an expert, guess who they’re going to call?

Roger Hamilton, futurist and creator of the Entrepreneur Dynamics profiling, believes that in Society 5.0, a high tech and high touch approach with the mobile workforce who want to work whenever and wherever they choose is the way forward.  He also advocates giving away information to establish your reputation as an informed leader and expert.

A new approach

If you want social media to ‘work’, you’re going to need to know your target market inside out.  What is important to them and what are you prepared to share in a community that will keep them coming back for more?

This is where a group will work better than a page as people are more likely to visit a group and get involved.

By all means post on your Facebook Page and company page on LinkedIn, but you’ll need a different kind of content for your group.

Invest time in developing the kind of content that your audience will love.  This can be a combination of tips, video information, processes, opinions, entertainment and more.  Be creative and you’ll find social media still works – if you work at it.

Monday, 10 October 2022

Is your reputation bankable?

There is an argument that you can’t put a price on your reputation, but what happens when something happens to dent your reputation?  You don’t want negative feedback on Google or TrustPilot or any other platform – because it influences what people who don’t know you think about you and your business.

It takes time to become known in your local area, build an online network and be able to reach the people who will become customers or recommend you to others, so you definitely want to protect all that hard work building your reputation.

In effect your reputation is based on trust.  Trust isn’t gained overnight; it takes time and effort to build.  Unfortunately, losing it is the work of a moment.  It doesn’t take much to destroy a reputation – one thoughtless post on social media, a rant about a difficult client or even a genuine mistake that is blown out of all proportion by someone else and is outside your control.

The fallout

If your reputation has taken a knock it can definitely have an effect on your bottom line.  While existing clients may forgive you if they know you well and realise that whatever has happened was a mistake – and everyone makes them – potential clients aren’t privileged to know the real you and may simply decide engaging you is too great a risk.

It depends on what the problem is.  If you’ve made an error of judgment publicly then don’t hope it will go away.  The internet doesn’t have a long memory, it has a cache and nothing ever completely goes away.  Rectify the error – be transparent and up front.  Apologise – and mean it.

If the problem stems from someone else’s statement, contact them privately – don’t enter into an online conversation, it never ends well.  Ideally phone them or, better still, invite them for coffee on neutral ground.  Find out what has caused them to say whatever they have.  Try to remain reasonable and understand their point of view, it will make fixing the problem more of a possibility.

Dealing with difficult people

If they’re just being irrational, it may be that they simply don’t want to engage in a conversation about it.  Be willing to listen to them and don’t try to argue or disagree with whatever they say.  Let them get it all off their chests and eventually they will run out of steam.

It’s difficult to refrain from chipping in when they say something you know is wrong or unfair, but bite your tongue and let them run their course. 

Now you can ask questions to ensure you really understand why they’re upset/angry and tell them what you are prepared to do to rectify the situation.  If they accept your offer then treat it as an emergency and do whatever you’ve promised.  If they’re still unwilling to play ball ask them what would make things better for them.

Once you’ve done whatever you’ve promised do follow up.  Find out if they’re happy with it.  Listen to whether they say ‘OK’ or ‘… OK’ – one means ‘Everything is good now,’ the other means “I suppose it will have to do.”  If it’s the latter, you might have to dig a little deeper.

Repairing the damage

If the original dent was made publicly you could ask the person you’ve now satisfied to revisit the post or group and tell them what happened and how they now feel about it.  In most cases someone who has had a problem that has been satisfactorily solved is more loyal than someone who has never experienced a problem with you.

If they’re reluctant to stand up and admit they made a mistake you could tell the story yourself, explaining what you did.  At worst, it shows you’re willing to go the extra mile (don’t you love a good cliché?).


Monday, 3 October 2022

Blog writing for dummies

If you’re not a writer the idea of producing content regularly can be daunting – and prone to slipping off your to do list in favour of other tasks that you feel more comfortable doing!

So what can you do to keep up with producing articles?

Brainstorm your schedule

Spend an hour or two planning for a few months.  Subjects should be your areas of expertise as that’s what you want to show off.  Think about the questions people often ask – those are good subjects.  What tips do you have on each area you’re an expert in?

Keep track

I keep a spreadsheet with the dates I plan to post on, the category each article will be about and the article title.  This keeps me on track and lets me check back on what I’ve covered recently.

Schedule writing time

I have a diary appointment every month to write the articles for the month ahead.  So this article you’re reading is being created during that time that was blocked out.

Don’t reinvent the wheel

An article can be used in many more places than just on your blog.  You can post it on your LinkedIn profile as an article (a post, rather than an update), you can use it as the lead item on your monthly newsletter, you can take quotes out of it for social media, you can turn it into a video or a podcast too.  

If you’re worried that people will think that’s ‘cheating’ - don’t!  Most people will only see/hear one version and if they do happen to have seen your blog AND get your newsletter, for instance, all that happens usually is a validation “Oh yes, that was a good article.”

‘People never consistently do who they aren’t’

This is a quote from Peter Thomson – and, while it’s grammatically incorrect, it’s very true.  The point is if, after trying to write your blogs consistently, you’re still falling by the wayside, it’s time to find a different solution.

  • You could dictate them, if writing isn’t something you enjoy, and get them typed up.
  • You could delegate them to someone in your team who does write.
  • You could talk to a writer who will take your ideas and write them up for you.

If you need some help, our team does this for lots of clients so please give us a call on 01245 473296.  You might find investing in help frees you up to do the things you’re good at.