Word Constructions

Aside from the content of the survey itself, it is very important that any surveys or feedback forms are well prepared in other ways.

I just answered a survey that included at least three of the following mistakes and it has left with me with the impression that those business owners don’t care about details or consistency - so why would I trust them with promoting my business (their apparent service)?

So before you make a survey available to your customers, check how it presents and do a test run to see it really does work - better yet, get someone else to do the test run for you.

1. Be careful of what you make a compulsory questions/answer. If a compulsory response isn’t included, the person can’t submit their survey and may get frustrated and move on which means you don’t get their feedback. And most people won’t tell you they had this problem, either.
   So if you do make a question compulsory to answer, ensure there is an answer for everyone so all can answer - even if one answer is “don’t know”, “prefer not to answer”, “none of the above” or similar.
   And if you give a range of answers including ‘other’, make sure that ‘other’ is an acceptable answer. I have done surveys where I can’t submit unless I choose a response instead of ‘other’ - forcing me to choose an inaccurate answer as well as my true comments.
2. Most small (and even larger) businesses use a third party to run surveys. This generally means the survey appears more professional and can be easier to use - for example, not many businesses can afford the programming to do an online survey each time. While this is a valid practice, minimise the third party as much as possible.
   For example, if you complete this business branding survey, which is run on a third party survey site, you will be directed to the host business’s website once you click on ’submit’. This way, the business itself is being promoted and gains more traffic from people doing the survey. The other option is to let people go to the third party’s homepage once the survey is complete.
3. Brand the survey as much as possible. If the survey is a serious part of your business, it should continue your brand. That means add a logo, use your corporate colours, use the same style of writing, use your corporate fonts and use relevant images as applicable. You may not be able to make it match your web template or change fonts, for instance, but brand it as much as possible.
4. Keep it as short as possible - you probably want responses from a range of people, not just the bored and those who love surveys, and busy people don’t have time for long surveys unless they see a potential benefit from it.
   Be careful with the number of questions - if one more question or comment will create a new page, review it. Someone scanning a survey will see there is another page and decide it is too long which would be a pity if the next page was only one question - or worse, if the next page is simply a “thanks for doing our survey” message.
5. Look at the presentation - is there too much text so it looks complicated or time consuming? Does it look professional or just thrown together? Is there a nice mix of multiple choice answers and written responses, or just written responses? Does it look easy to complete?

Once you are confident you have good questions and a well prepared survey/questionnaire, the next step is to announce and promote it appropriately. Remember that many people won’t fill in the survey just because you want them to - you have to give them a reason to want to do it themselves.

And then make sure you make use of your survey results!

Use your words wisely!

Earlier this month I wrote about one aspect of business card etiquette (i.e. not just giving cards out to people at random), but there are other aspects to this etiquette.

I came across a blog post that discusses how different cultures have different expectations about how business cards should be given/received. It is interesting to note these differences and I think it is respectful to use these different ideas when dealing with international people.

However, I think many of those differences can be used routinely in Australia, too.

For instance, in Japan it is considered rude to give a card with one hand - they pass it over with both hands and presented in a way that the other person can read the card as it is given; the other person then carefully takes the card, reads it and gently places it in a pocket. Ok, giving a card in two hands and bowing may raise some eyebrows between two Aussies, but but why not show respect and read someone’s card as they hand it to you? Why not make sure your card is the right way up when you pass it to someone? And I think etiquette in any language is to place the card carefully somewhere once you have it - don’t shove it in somewhere or screw it up/fold it/whatever.

I also thought it interesting to note that a multi-lingual card (or different cards in various languages) is almost a must in some cultures. Personally, I only deal with English speaking cultures (because there’s no way I could write professionally in another language!) so an English card is sufficient, but I see the value in using another language on the reverse of my card if I was to frequently deal with people in that culture. It shows respect but also makes it easier for them to understand who I am and how I can help them.

Do you have separate cards or techniques for dealing with international business dealings?

Happy writing!

I just saw this fantastic video and felt I had to share it…

It is about leadership (relating to a Californian company, but that is not noticeable until the end) and how we can all make a difference to our world; but it is also about being a decent human being and ending each day satisfied with ourselves and our lives.

Thank you to Donna-Marie for sharing this in her blog for me to find, too.

I hope you find it as inspirational or encouraging as I did.

A style guide is simply a set of rules as to how your business produces it’s communication materials (including website content, letters, emails, marketing documents and promotional articles.)By having a style guide, you can ensure everything you present to customers and potential customers is consistent and supports your brand. For instance, if someone reads a formal letter from you then visits your casual website, they will notice the difference and probably feel uncomfortable with it.

Style guides can be in bullet point on one page or they can be comprehensive manuals - it depends on the needs and size of the business. If you want a style guide, you can always start with the key points and slowly build it up as you gather further information to include.

A style sheet is a summary of a style guide that lists common words and hwo they are to be presented. FOr instance, does your bsuienss write Internet or internet? Or is Aussie acceptable or must it always be Australian?

Many small businesses find it challenging to fill a monthly (or weekly) newsletter, so adding a blog to their to do list makes them question the value of having both.

Although the value of each will vary with each business according to its client base and product/service range, the following points may help you decide whether a blog, a newsletter or both is the best solution for you.

Newsletter

• it reaches people’s inbox so they are reminded of you without any extra effort on their part
• most people know about email but a lot don’t know about or like blogs
• maintain consistency if you have had a newsletter for some time
• it can seem more personal and intimate as it is not generally available online; it is a one-to-one relationship between you and many people
• can be quite short and link to articles/products/news on your site or in your blog
• can attract advertising revenue - advertising on blogs is less common
• can be passed onto to other people - they may well read a newsletter but may not get around to clicking on a link for a blog

Blog

• easy to include up-to-date information
• entries can be very short or as long as you like - variety in length is good but a variety in newsletter length may not be so positive
• if on your domain name, it can greatly impact on your site’s traffic and ranking
• people can access older posts easily
• people can comment and give you feedback; you can build a community
• individual posts can be linked to by other sites and other pages within your blog/site
• a younger demographic may relate well to a blog

If you decide to run your own blog and newsletter, you can save yourself some time by

• using information from one to fill the other - for example, your newsletter can refer to a blog post. However, don’t overdo the repetition as some people will read both
• using articles from Word Constructions or article directories such as The Repozitory or Evan Carmichael (not all Australian)
• inviting guest bloggers to write for you
• write things in advance - fill newsletters or pre-date blog posts so that you aren’t faced with thinking of a topic and writing it the day it is due out

My newsletter has been sent out today. It is fairly short this time round - an article on file names, a correction of a bad writing example and a guest article about personalised gifts.

The Word Constructions newlsetter is also available online each month for anyone who wishes to read it but hasn’t subscribed.

What is outsourcing and why should you care?

Outsourcing is simply getting someone else to do a task or tasks for you. It can be a simple task (e.g. getting someone to stuff envelopes or do a letterbox drop for you) or a skilled task (e.g. hiring a professional web designer, accountant, writer or photographer)

Some of the benefits to you if you outsource are:

• save time as someone else does some of the work
• you gain expert knowledge in many cases
• you can potentially learn from the supplier
• you can gain an outside perspective (great as a sole trader)
• you may get a more professional result which will attract more customers
• the project is likely to be finished sooner than you could do it on top of the other tasks you are performing

Although there is a cost to outsourcing, that is often paid for with the advantages above - for example, Brad designed his own website and it took 9 months before it was ready to launch. Later he realised that he could have paid Jim to design it and it would have been launched within a month, giving Brad an extra 8 months of sales to help pay for Jim’s service.

So if you are feeling overwhelmed in your business or are desperate for another day every week, I would recommend considering outsourcing.

I would write about the advantages of blogs, but I found this great post by Kenton Newby so I thought I’d link to that instead Kenton wrote ‘Why every business owner should have a blog’ If you are running a business and don’t have a blog, this is a post worth reading and thinking about.

 If you do decide to start a blog, you may find the audio and notes from the blogging for beginners talk I did last week useful, as well as my posts on blogging.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the use of style sheets to help you keep your writing consistent. The next step is a style guide.

What’s the difference?

A style sheet is short (usually only one page) and lists very specific items, such as preferred spellings of particular words.

A style guide is a comprehensive set of rules to keep everything consistent. A full style guide can list the logo colours, spelling style, formatting, design and more, and would include everything in the style sheet as well.

Often, a style sheet is a summary of frequently used details from the style guide.

Which is better?

A style sheet can be on your desk or wall as a quick reference you can refer to as you work. So it is great for everyday items.

A style guide is important to maintain your brand. It can be used by your suppliers as well as by staff to ensure that everyone uses the same rules to keep consistency regardless of who does the work.

If you are a sole trader, you may not think a style guide is worth the effort as you control everything. But as your business grows or if you leave someone else in charge when you take a break, a style guide can keep your control in place. It can also be a very useful tool to offer potential buyers if you later to choose to sell your business.

For a professional appearance, a style sheet is a great start, but I would recommend a style guide as something to aim for over time.

I have just discovered blog carnivals. Essentially, someone hosts a ‘carnival’ and includes links to various blog entries that are relevant to the carnival topic.

There are apparently hundreds of carnivals happening so you’ll probably find one you like, or at least one on a topic you like!

It seems like a great way to find new blogs on interesting topics, and just to learn about a particular topic. Most carnival hosts review the blogs first so the blogs listed in a carnival should be relevant, good and spam-free.

So far, my blog is included in two carnivals:

The She Blogs carnival

 Mothers in business carnival

What carnivals have you read and enjoyed?