TashWord

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Tash is a professional writer who loves helping people communicate clearly and effectively.

Twitter for relationships

Published 1 August, 2011 | By TashWord

When twittering, it is about conversations and building trust so why not be personal?
Tonight, I got multiple tweets within half an hour from someone I don’t know or follow. She was using a company name as user name but talking about the business as ‘they do the hottest websites’ etc. Here’s my response to her tweets…

It’s not very personal to say they when she could have chatted to me about how she could help me – and it looked stupid for XYZ to say “see xyz.com – they do the hottest websites”. No credibility and she lost the opportunity to get to know someone (someone who had just posted about businesses needing good designers, too)
She obviously hadn’t read my reply which said ‘ no thanks, I’m not looking for a designer’ as she kept telling me to look at this design company. She didn’t build my trust or respect at all.
She made no attempt to have a real conversation with me. I twittered about not just using anyone to help with setting up a new website which would have been a perfect opening for her to agree, ask questions about why I tweeted that and perhaps give some tips on choosing a good designer. But she preferred to tweet me repeatedly with a sales pitch – and even a newbie to Twitter like me knows that rule #1 is don’t do a sales pitch!
If you are going to take the time to respond to a stranger’s tweets, and send them a number of tweets, surely you could take a few minutes to look at their profile and get some idea of who they are or what they do? One of her tweets listed various industries ‘they’ have designed for – none were my industry so she missed another opportunity there by not targeting her spiel.
Sending multiple emails telling me to ‘hit their website’ annoyed me (both in the repetition and in the terminology!) so I blocked her. Frankly, I considered her tweets to be spam and I don’t like being spammed.

In other words, she actively lost a client by her actions so totally wasted her time. It would have been so easy to have written ‘we’ instead of ‘they’, and have a conversation with me.

Do you follow anyone who talks in the third person about their business?

I don’t know that she’ll had learnt anything by being blocked, but maybe someone reading this post will learn from her mistakes instead!

Posted in marketing, social media | Tagged conversation, personal, sales pitch, trust, twitter | 3 Comments

6 steps to getting a website online?

Published 1 August, 2011 | By TashWord

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about getting your business online. Even if you are not yet sure you will start a website, the aim is to give you the information to make an informed decision for your business.

So let’s start with the basics of what you need to do to get a website up – and let’s make it a decent website that your business doesn’t need to be ashamed of! (We could get a website up in about 10 minutes but it may do more harm than good!)

get a domain name – I suggest doing this even if you don’t add a website for some time. Keep the name for your use and you can use it as an email address even if there is no functioning website yet
get a web host – this means you are paying someone for some space on the internet. There are many hosting packages available, covering various features and a huge price range – it is feasible to get hosting for under $100 a year so look around. We’ll cover hosting options later in this series, but I strongly recommend my host, Digital Pacific.
get some information online – you can start with a very simple one-page site that explains who you are and how you cane contacted. You may be happy with that in the medium term, too, but it certainly gets you online while a full site is being developed.
get your site designed – yes that means someone makes it all look nice but it may also mean getting the right programs in place to suit your business needs.
add content to your website – content is critical if you want to get the right message to the right people, and if you want to do well with building your website traffic. Look through my blog for numerous examples of websites let down by poor content – I suggest you plan your content (we’ll cover this during the week, too, but make sure your key pages have great content from the start)
let people know about your website – this is a big ‘task’ and will be ongoing for the life of your site, but there are some simple starting points to action straight away

Does a website seem a little less intimidating when there are only 6 steps? remember that you can (and probably should for many of the steps) get help with the actual implementation of each step.

As a website without a host is pretty hard to manage, the next in this series will be on hosting…

Posted in Business Communications, business info & tools, web content | Tagged content, design, host, start, website | 8 Comments

Having a website helps more than you

Published 29 July, 2011 | By TashWord

A New Zealand study has just shown that businesses with a website are helping their economy – or more to the point, businesses without a website are missing an opportunity to help themselves and their local economy.

So do you have a website?

I’ve written before about the value of a website, and I think it’s importance has only increased with the growth of social media and mobile access and apps, but I hadn’t thought of it as a major factor for a national economy. Results showed businesses with an online presence had significantly more sales and profits – who’s going to argue with increased profits!

As great as it is to grow your business with a website, I found it staggering that 70% of those without a website have no intention of getting one. I understand that not everyone is comfortable with technology (but you can get people to set it up and mange it for you) and time is a big factor for small business (hey, I have four kids and a business!) but a basic online presence is just so important.

Over the next week or so, I will do some posts about how to get your business online to help business owners who are feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all – and to help the Australian economy!

If you have any questions about getting online, now is a great time to ask!

Posted in business info & tools, marketing, web content | Tagged economy, get online, profits, website | 4 Comments

Selecting the ideal guest blogger

Published 28 July, 2011 | By TashWord

Where to start searching?

Inviting someone to be a guest blogger in your blog has advantages for everyone concerned so you may be excited at finding someone to be your guest blogger.

Of course, those advantages disappear if you use a guest blogger who doesn’t work well in your blog and results in you loosing readers and subscribers. So it is important to select guest bloggers carefully.

If you have found a potential guest blogger or been approached by someone wanting to post in your blog, here are my ideas on what you need to consider:

does your guest blogger have some expertise in a relevant field? It may not be the same area as you blog about but it must be related. For example, if you are a car mechanic your guest blogger may be a motorbike mechanic, a panel beater or a car detailer, while a business coach may invite a professional writer, accountant or lawyer to post some business tips from their perspective
can your prospective blogger write well? They don’t have to be Shakespeare but it is important that any posts they write can be easily understood by your readers – and that includes someone who will write without a lot of jargon your readers won’t know. Reading their blog is a good first step in deciding if their writing is appropriate
is the person reliable, as best you can judge? For a one off post this may not matter but if you are promising your readers a guest blog post every week for 4 months, you want to be fairly confident they will deliver
does the person’s style suit your blog? An ideal guest blogger will match their style to your blog (to some extent – it doesn’t have to be identical or it may as well be you posting!) but if they don’t do that you need to be sure their style is acceptable. For example, if they swear in their own blog but you want a family-friendly blog, you need to be sure they will tone down their language

Depending on the arrangement you are putting in place, you also need to be sure you totally trust the guest blogger before you give them any passwords or access to the backend of your blog. There is less risk in getting the posts sent to you and posting them yourself, but it takes time and may defeat the purpose of why you are getting a guest blogger.

Personally, I would want to see some potential guest posts from anyone before I let them post onto my blog, and possibly insist on knowing all topics in advance of them being posted.

Is there anything else you would do to check on a someone before selecting them as your guest blogger?

Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged blogger, guest, ideal, selecting | 3 Comments

Victorian small business info line

Published 28 July, 2011 | By TashWord

Consumer Affairs Victoria has opened a free phone line specifically for small business people.

As a small business in Victoria, you can now get

free information about your rights for products and services that don’t meet your expectations (did you know small businesses have rights to repairs, refunds and replacements like other consumers?)
free information about resolving disputes between businesses
a better understanding of relevant laws
somewhere to report scams aimed at small businesses

You can access the info line by calling 1300 098 631 or emailing small bu******@ju*****.au – or find out more on the CAV website.

If you’ve used this service, what was it like? Did it help you get thins sorted quicker than you could have done by yourself?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged info line, small business, victoria | Leave a comment

Discussing automating social media updates

Published 26 July, 2011 | By TashWord

I admit there’s a lot about social media I don’t yet know, although I am getting a grasp of the basics now.

There’s one topic I have noticed floating around that I’m not sure I agree with, although I see the argument presented. So I want to ask what others think…

Should you use software to automate your posts on social media such as facebook and twitter?

The argument against it is that it looks impersonal and like you haven’t bothered to log into the specific platform to post something. Some make an exception for automatically sending a message about a new blog post if (and only if) you post other things around the blog post messages.

Here is my thinking on that argument…

I may not have logged into the platform but I did still take the time to write whatever the message is
if I didn’t use automated software, I’d have less time to post on social media so would do less – surely someone who values my input cares more about getting the messages than how I post them?
personally, I take little (if any) notice of the icon showing how someone submitted their comment – it is the comment I am interested in (or not!) Am I the only one who doesn’t notice the icons?
I think I might actually respect or at least understand someone’s use of automating software as they are sensible enough to manage their time

I am busy and while I do sometimes log in directly, the reality is that without tools like Tweetdeck and leenk.me, I just wouldn’t be able to manage a social media presence along with everything else. I certainly don’t want to give a bad impression by using such tools, but I need them and can’t see me logging into each platform multiple times each day (multiple because I manage more than one account on some platforms).

How do you feel when you see a link showing I posted without logging into the platform?

Posted in social media | Tagged automate, facebook, posting, social media, software, twitter | 1 Comment

Unintended meanings

Published 25 July, 2011 | By TashWord

I was recently reminded that it is important to take care not to communicate anything different to your words and intentions. That is, your words may tell one story but the context will also communicate a message and you want them to match.

A sign in our motel during last week’s trip to Canberra read

Due to “health regulations” no pets allowed in rooms

The quotation marks are completely unnecessary and mean either the person writing the sign didn’t know that (not a great message to send out, but common enough) or they were making a point about the regulations. That is, the writer thinks the regulations are silly, inappropriate, ineffective, irrelevant or such and therefore calls them “regulations’ to point out they are not well accepted.

Maybe disagreeing with the regulations shows some support of pets and pet lovers, but to me it is not very professional or reassuring. If you have no respect for the regulations, how can I be sure you are sticking to them in ways I would want you to? If a health inspector visits, how will they respond to implications of inferior regulations?

When you consider every word you write, remember to also consider the surrounding details such as punctuation, images and placement so that you are not giving any unintended messages.

Posted in grammar & details, writing | Tagged comunicate, implication, message, punctuation | 1 Comment

Client perception is your brand

Published 23 July, 2011 | By TashWord

Heading to Canberra in winter generally got a response along the lines of “but it’s so cold why go there now?” I know last time I went there in winter (for a conference some years ago) it was also freezing so I was expecting the worst this trip – and yes it was very cold.

Talking to people in Canberra, I got comments like “but you’re from Melbourne! You must be used to cold!” as people in Canberra and Sydney seem to have this idea that Melbourne is colder.

Reality – one city must be the colder place (or they are equally cold) but both places perceive the other as colder. The facts may be available but perceptions are strong and especially if held by a number of people.

So it is important to get a feel for how people perceive your business rather than assuming it is seen the way you want it to be seen. Social media is a great tool for measuring perceptions, but it is not the only tool available to you.

If you are not communicating the image you want, you can then change how you are miscommunicating but it may take some time to change perceptions.

By the way, Melbourne had it’s coldest night in years recently – it was 2.8. Every night we were in Canberra it was below zero – there was still thick ice on the windscreen at 9.30 one morning and I was told it was -3 mid-morning one day! If you are from Canberra, does that change your perception of Melbourne?

Giving facts alone is not going to build (or correct) the brand you want – you have to blend everything to give the right perceptions, too.

Posted in business info & tools, marketing | Tagged brand, communicate, perception | 1 Comment

The rewards of hiring a business writer

Published 21 July, 2011 | By TashWord

Occasionally I am asked what return on investment (ROI) people can expect from hiring a professional writer. And now I have your curiosity peaked, too, I can’t give you a straight answer – sorry!

I can’t give a dollar figure (or even a percentage) as there are too many variables to factor in – the type of business you run, what aspects you get professionally written (eg just an about us page or your entire website), your profit margins and how you utilise the words the writer scribes for you.

However, I can give you some ideas to assess how a writer can reward you and your business so you can decide on your own ROI…

at the worst, you gain time for selling and servicing customers. So if you hire me to do two hours writing for you, that’s two hours extra in your working week – in fact, if you don’t write as fast as me, you’ve saved more than two hours which you hopefully spend on making money!
for online content, remember that content is king. Fresh, quality content will result in more links and traffic which ultimately increases your chances of making sales
sending out a clear message and ensuring that your website answers all key questions competently will save you phone call and emails asking basic questions. In reality, that saves you frustration, time and the time it takes to get back on task after such interruptions
polished and professional content will build your image and reputation as much as your message does, and possibly more so. A stronger reputation builds your credibility which will have a long-term positive impact on your sales
a proposal that flows, is spelt correctly, etc is more likely to win you work
a well written website will have a higher conversion rate (ie will turn more visitors into buyers) than a site that is hard to understand or uses poor grammar and spelling – remember that doubling your conversion rate will double your turnover…

Have you experienced a good ROI from hiring a business writer?

Let me finish with a quote from Brad Sugars, entrepreneur and multi-millionaire, author and investor:

Communication is the lifeblood of business, and when it comes to sales, it’s vital. It has a direct relationship with sales. You see, the better you are at communicating, the better your sales results will be. You can almost measure the one with the other… Let me put it another way. True communication is the response you get. So if you’re not getting the response you want, you’re not communicating properly.

Posted in About Word Constructions, Business Communications, business info & tools | Tagged money, reward, ROI, time, writer | 2 Comments

Missing out on comments

Published 20 July, 2011 | By TashWord

I just came across a great blog post and wrote a comment in response. Part of the process was answering a security question to avoid spam which is fine.

The questions was “what is one plus three?” It wasn’t a challenge to find the answer but I did wonder if I should write ‘four’ or ‘4’. Given the question used words, I did too.

Unfortunately, the comment form just disappeared with the message “You got the spam message wrong” in its place. Not only was my beautifully crafted response gone forever, I wasn’t given the opportunity to write a replacement comment – and that blog misses out on another comment.

If there is any ambiguity about a compulsory question, there must be a second chance at answering it. Better yet would be clarity about the expected answer – for instance, it could have asked “what is one plus three? (answer in digits)” or “Give the number (in digits) equal to one plus three”.

A simple error yes but the consequences are that they missed getting a comment – How many comments do they miss each week because of this spam question? – and they have lost credibility as a site that values clarity (sorry to say it was a content writing service site, too).

What sort of spam protection do you hate or love?

Posted in blogging, business info & tools, web content | Tagged blog, clarity, comment, spam | 2 Comments

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