Saturday, 29 July 2023

Me, an author?


Currently, the boot of my car has a couple of dozen copies of the latest book I’ve produced, The Reputation Gap, written with my co-author, Peter Roper.  It’s not my first book and I’m currently well into the next one.  As a writer, it’s probably not surprising that I’ve written lots of books, but when I suggest to some of the people I meet that they should write a book, they look astonished, quickly followed by a denial that they have the potential to be an author.

The process of writing, publishing and marketing a book is not one to be embarked on without a little thought, but there’s really no reason why anyone should not write a book, if they’ve got something worth saying.

Reasons why … not

There are multiple reasons people offer as to why they can’t write a book.

I can’t write

That doesn’t really matter.  If you can get your message out verbally, there are many ways to convert what you say into written words.  That might be working with a transcription service or with a ghost writer.

I don’t know what to write

There has to be reason to write a book; it’s a means of getting your message out.  However, if you’re running a business you have almost certainly have specialist knowledge and a wealth of experience to draw on.  You just have to decide what your core purpose is.

There are already several books about my subject available

Every book is unique – and what makes it unique is the author.  Your take on things is what will make your book different to all the others.  To be honest most mainstream publishing companies are not looking for something totally new, they’re looking for something they know already has a market.  If someone is interested in a particular subject they will buy several books about it by different authors.

I don’t have time to write a book

You will need to have some time to plan, but if you have blogs, long social media posts, articles in print, and other material you already have content to work with.  A good editor can work with you to create a structure and then use existing material to populate that.  You may need to add material, but it’s certainly not starting with a blank sheet.

It’s hard to get published

It depends on the route you take.  If you want to get a contract with a mainstream publisher, you will need to put together a strong pitch, as well as providing sample text from your book, a synopsis, etc.  However, these days self-publishing is common and there are some great independent publishers around.  Yes, it costs more, but it’s an investment in marketing.  There’s nothing like the kudos of being an author for enhancing your marketing impact.

Don’t let these reasons hold you back.  If you’re always dreamed of becoming an author, it’s within your reach – all you have to do is take that first step.

Wednesday, 19 July 2023

What’s on the menu?

Over the years website navigation has changed.  In the early days the menu generally appeared on the left in a vertical column.  Then it migrated to be a horizontal strip under the main banner.  These days it’s frequently presented as a ‘hamburger’ (three little lines on top of each other), a device created to use less room on smaller screens, now many of us access websites on mobile devices.

However, there are some rules of navigation that haven’t changed – but are frequently ignored.  At the core of all these rules is clarity.  How easy is it for your website visitor to find what they’re looking for?

How long should a menu be?

When it was in a column on the left, the length of the menu could be as long as you wanted (that doesn’t mean that a long menu is good practice), but when it went to a horizontal presentation a long menu looked clunky, because if it was longer than fitted on a single line, it wrapped onto another line and that almost always looked untidy.  

It was a good discipline to ensure everything fitted on a single line, no long page tags and fewer of them.  It meant that the site owner had to think carefully about how the site was organised.

Yes, there are sites with hundreds of pages, but they still only have a limited number of choices on the navigation, that take you to submenus with additional options.

Some sites have more than one menu with one above the banner – usually for the standard pages, such as ‘About, Contact, and maybe the blog or news page, leaving the main menu below the banner for the main content pages.  Often, another menu may appear in the footer, with more options too.  Frequently things like the privacy notices, terms and conditions, disclaimers, etc are all tucked away in the footer.

There are all kinds of reasons why multiple menus are poor practice.

  1. People don’t always see things that aren’t where they expect them to be
  2. Most website visitors are familiar with a single menu and, if it’s not on the main menu, they assume it doesn’t exist
  3. Nobody HAS to visit your website, if finding what they’re looking for is hard work they’ll probably search for something ‘easier’.

What goes on the menu tab?

The first website I ever wrote was for a company I was director of, it had menu tabs that advised:

What we do

How we work

Who we are

I thought this was quirky and a bit different to Services, Contracts, and About Us.  What I hadn’t realised was that nobody was interested in us, they were only interested in what they got.  They weren’t immediately sure what these notations meant.  They weren’t looking for What we do, they were looking for ‘Services’ or, even better, given we were a training company, ‘Training courses’.

Steve Krug says it very well in his book Don’t Make Me Think; 

When I’m looking at a page that makes me think, all the thought balloons over my head have question marks in them.  When you’re creating a site, your job is to get rid of the question marks.

In other words, don’t get clever – go for the obvious!

The secret to good navigation is ‘keep it simple’!


Sunday, 9 July 2023

Put your best foot forward

When you’re running a business there are plenty of times when you need to blow your own trumpet – as loudly as possible!

  • When you’re presenting to a client.
  • When you stand up at a networking meeting to tell people about your business.
  • When you’re talking to a potential joint venture partner.
  • When you’re talking to your bank manager or a venture capitalist about funding.
  • When you’re entering for an award.

These are all marketing presentations and it’s important that you keep that in mind when you’re having that conversation or writing your pitch.  However, they each have a different focus, because the outcome you want is different.

The client wants to know ‘what’s in it for me?’, in other words what problem will you solve for me?

The people in your networking meeting need to know why they should refer you.

The joint venture partner wants to know how much effort they will need to make and what the returns will be for them.

The finance people want to know about your track record, your plans, what you’re prepared to do to ensure the plans come to fruition and how safe their money will be.

The award judges want to know what makes you stand out from others and more deserving of the award than any of the other entrants.

Sketch out your plan

I like to use mind-mapping for this kind of presentation.  It’s a great tool to gather information together in a logical format, while being creative enough to add data, anecdotes, quotes, etc.  But use a method that you feel comfortable with, whether that’s scribbling on a piece of paper or using a spreadsheet.

The first thing is to be clear about the focus. Think about the person or people who you are aiming to impress (because that’s exactly what you want to do) and identify what’s important to them.

Of course, you’ll have lots of things you want to tell them – but if you know what they want to hear, you can position your message so it targets that.

Then you’ll need all the supporting information that underpins that message.  What will help to convince them?

When you’ve got everything together, you can start to put your presentation together.  Even if you’re going to present verbally, it’s worth having it written down.  Not only will that embed the key points in your mind, but having notes to refer to just shows you’ve done your homework (which will win you brownie points).

In some situations the person you’re pitching to will expect you to provide supporting evidence.  In the case of a bank or VC they’ll expect a lot of paperwork in detail!

Don’t be a politician!

When you’re making your pitch, there are bound to be questions.  Always answer the question that has been asked, not the one you’d like them to have asked.  Politicians are famous for not answering questions they don’t want to – but you won’t win any prizes for employing that strategy.

Being honest, straightforward and focused is the key to success.  Will you present your business in the best possible light?  Yes, of course, and you should, but avoiding questions will only make you look a bit dodgy!

End on a high

Finish your presentation by reiterating how the other party will benefit from your proposal.  Often in award presentations the last question or one near the end is ‘Why should you win this award?’  Even if it’s not there, it’s a question you should answer.  The same applies to each scenario – why choose you?  What’s in it for them to do so?  Give them a great reason to say ‘yes’.