TashWord

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

Do you ask too much?

Published 4 July, 2011 | By TashWord

“Never ask your customers to do something that you, yourself, wouldn’t do” GuyKawasaki.

A useful quote to remember when working on your business communications. It may sound really obvious and simple, but I know I have often come across businesses where they do ask more than I am willing to give.

Here are a couple of examples of businesses asking too much of customers:

ask for excessive information in an online form.
I recently waws looking for some quotes and used some online tools to obtain them as part of my descision making. Most sites took the basic information and gave me a price – I knew it may move a little once I gave more details but it was enough for comparisons and to get me started. One site not only asked a lot more questions, they wouldn’t even finish giving me a price without my mobile number so they could SMS me a code to then compete the online form! I don’t want to give out my mobile number so I left their site, never to return.
Lesson – check your forms and check you only ask for relevant information people accept you need for the stated purpsoe of the form
make people search your site for information
Two examples that come to mind here are the business expo site that effectively hid the expo dates and the Government site linking to their own homepage
lesson – put key information in multiple, obvious places and use deep links to make things easy to find
force people to use another medium to get answers
Hard to believe, but I was once in a bank asking for help and was directed to call their customer service line (and they had a phone in the bank for this purpose!) Surely bank staff could help me directly – or have called on my behalf to ensure I got the right answers!
lesson – if someone is dealing with you in one way, keep the interaction that way whenever possible. Certainly don’t send people off to a phone or email program when they are standing in front of you asking for help!

Do you have any examples of being asked too much? How did you respond to those businesses?

Next time you are reviewing your website, brochures and other communications materials, ask yourself if you are asking more of your clients than is reasonable.

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Leave a comment

The cover or the writing?

Published 1 July, 2011 | By TashWord

The mythical they always say to never judge a book by its cover and I think I found an example of it today.

I found a book in a bargain bin – I hadn’t planned buying a book today but I just can’t reists looking at a bargain bin of books… It caught my eye because it’s written by Pearl Buck and I remember her book,
The Good Earth, as excellent when I read it some years ago.

I picked it up, read the blurb and though ‘why not?’ and bought it.

As I put it on the counter to buy it, however, I noticed the front cover for the first time. I had to double check what book it was as the cover looked like a cheesy, trashy romance novel cover – and I choose not to read such books as there are so many books I would enjoy in my limited reading time.

If I had seen the cover first, I would not have even read the blurb to be honest, or noticed the author. So it goes to show that the cover is important for getting noticed and influencing decisions.

Once I’ve read it, I’ll let you know if the cover or the author was a better guide to its value!

Posted in bit off track, writing | Tagged author, book, cover, value | Leave a comment

Take a reading…

Published 30 June, 2011 | By TashWord

Tomorrow is the first of July and first of a new financial year.

One task I noted for today was to check my odometer readings so I can finish last year’s care records and start this year’s. Even if you don’t use the car a lot for business, it is still useful to note the readings at this time of year.

What other things do you need to take note of today (or tomorrow) to track your business for marketing and growth purposes, as well as accounting purposes?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged financial year, measure, odomoter, reading | Leave a comment

So when is it?

Published 28 June, 2011 | By TashWord

I just followed a link to a site about a small business expo/summit to see if it would be of value to me.

The link showed a list of presenters but where and when were more important questions for me. Fair enough, I followed a link so I didn’t go to an introductory page so clicking to another page is reasonable.

Link important information carefully

“Where is event” is in their menu which is fantastic so I now know it is in Sydney.

It took 5 more clicks (including clicking on the “program” link in the menu – the program just lists times on a Wednesday…) before I found it is on July 27. To be fair, I then checked the home page but it isn’t listed there either.

It’s a pity an event supported by big business and with Government speakers can’t make it easy to find critical details on their website, but it’s another lesson for those of us responsible for communicating to clients and prospective clients – identify the key information and make it easy to find.

Making key data easy to find is more than putting in on one page, too – if people enter the site at different pages or read a few pages before looking for the key data, you want them to find it easily too.

So include key data on every page (in a footer or a graphic for example) or have a clear menu item on every page.

What is key data? Well here are some examples:

contact details
location where relevant (don’t assume an online store doesn’t need this as people like to know which country they are ordering from if nothing else)
event details like dates and locations
who you are – a business, organisation or personal name should be prominent
shipping information (for an online store)
terms and conditions (it may not be the first thing I look for, but when I need to know the terms I must be able to find them)

How do you react when a website lacks (or hides, deliberately or by poor thought) key details you are after? And, no, I am not going to that expo (although not entirely because the date was obscured).

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged business, data, date, detail, expo | 2 Comments

Brilliance in contingency planning!

Published 27 June, 2011 | By TashWord

Unfortunately, we have seen many instances supporting contingency planning this year – earthquakes, floods, fires, tsunamis.

Wendy Davie has shared a tip from a Christchurch client which I think is great. Having a disaster kit somewhere accessible but protected could be highly valuable in a natural disaster or other catastrophe, and Mary’s idea of using a wheelie bin is blindingly simple.

I wanted to say I love how we all respond to someone grabbing the obvious as a solution to something. A wheelie bin has obvious advantages for a disaster kits (waterproof, portable, easy to get, affordable) but how many people actually thought to use one like that? I see it as a good reminder to stop over thinking things, maybe step away completely and be a little creative – you never know what you’ll come up with!

While Mary’s idea was about life-saving disaster supplies (water, blankets, first aid, and so on), a similar concept could apply to business, especially businesses in disaster prone areas or at least in areas on high alert. If a disaster occurs during business hours, the same materials will be important (water, first aid kits, batteries, pen & paper) for the safety and comfort of you and your team. But, as a business, you may include a few extras such as a list of contacts (including contacts for all employees and their families), a copy of your contingency plan and checklists and weekly back up discs (if your kit is secure enough).

What’s your ‘wheelie bin’ idea for contingency planning?

Posted in bit off track, business info & tools | Tagged contingency, creative, disaster kit, wheelie bin | 2 Comments

Finding a guest blogger to suit you

Published 24 June, 2011 | By TashWord

Having a guest blogger write in your blog has advantages for you and your readers, but how do you find the right person to do some guest posts for you?

You may be lucky and have someone offer to do some guest posts for you when you are ready for them, but if you want a guest blogger without any leads for one, here are ideas for finding a guest blogger:

do a blog post announcing you are looking for a guest blogger! If you want to be a little more subtle, add this information to your about us page or your blog policies
do some research on your regular commenters – those that contribute constructive comments may well be suitable to do some guest posts for you. In fact, their comments may inspire the guest blogging idea so they can expend on something useful they have written as a comment
look at your suppliers – do any of them have a blog that showcases valuable information for your audience? If so, ask them for some guest posts – they get increased exposure and they are helping a client (you!) so are likely to be agreeable
ask for guest bloggers through networks (both real life networks, online forums and social media) but be aware that you may get a lot of responses and not all will be of value
look at your favourite blogs – would any of those people have anything to say that is relevant to your blog audience? You already know they can write blog posts that attract readers!
do a search (in a search engine or through a blog directory of some sort) of blogs in your industry
ask any of your suppliers if they know of anyone who could provide relevant expertise – if they supply you there’s a good chance they’ll supply related businesses
advertise in unusual places and see who responds. For example, if you run a blog on parenting or helping children with homework, put an ad in a school newsletter as you will reach many parents

Good luck – and let me know which of these ideas worked for you in finding a guest blogger for your blog.

Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged blogger, find, guest | 2 Comments

Writing enticing headings

Published 23 June, 2011 | By TashWord

The headings you use in blog posts, tweets, articles, ads, media releases and the like are a critical aspect of your ongoing success. This also includes sub-headings, titles of tables/images and other stand-out text.

Busy people will only read on if the heading promises something they value right now.

People surfing the internet will only read more if your heading catches their attention, and holds it.

So it is worth putting some effort into making your headings enticing so you maximise the number of people reading whatever your heading leads to. Here are some tips on making your headings more effective:

where feasible, use ‘you’ to personalise and catch attention. It also helps you to remember to make your message aimed at your audience
apply ample alliteration 🙂 Repeating a letter is attention grabbing which gives your headings more impact.
use questions – it is like building some suspense as people are interested in learning the answer
be interesting or unusual, possibly even a little controversial, within the bounds of the message and brand you are portraying. This can be as simple as choosing a less common word such as Clydesdale instead of horse or scoop instead of update, or taking a different approach to a common subject (eg. ‘finding quirky blog content ideas’)
include a number to introduce a list, such as 5 tips to support email marketing
make an offer they can’t refuse like “the secret of getting twitter followers” or “meaningful posts people love to read“
keep it short – two-part and too long headings are not as visually appealing and don’t belong in any form of marketing, especially not digital media where short works best (consider the 140 character limit on Twitter!)

Can you remember any effective headings? Do you know why it was effective?

Posted in writing | Tagged attention, effective, headings, question | 5 Comments

The value of guest blog posts

Published 22 June, 2011 | By TashWord

A few days ago, I raised the question of reading guest blogger posts in a favourite blog.

I think there are a number of reasons to value a guest post in a blog, although I do agree that too many guest posts could detract from the person I visit that blog to hear from.

If the guest blogger is filling in for my favourite blogger so that I continue getting content, that consistency and committment is of value to me. Of course, this is of less importance if the blog is erractic in providing content anyway, but we’ll ignore that for the moment!

Assuming that the blog has carefully selected any guest bloggers and the topics they post on, then the guest posts could provide me with an alternative point of view which can be really useful. It could also provide me with a new blog to read and gain information from.

A different person writing may also inspire different people to comment on my favourite blog which again can lead to new conversations, ideas and leads.

And on a more superficial level, if I comment on a guest blogger’s post, that guest blogger may then know of me and my blog…

While there are obvious advantages for the host and guest bloggers, I think guest blogging also holds advantages for the readers. What do you think?

Posted in blogging | Tagged blog, content, guest, ideas, post | 6 Comments

Getting marketing emails read

Published 21 June, 2011 | By TashWord

While there are a number of factors involved in a successful email campaign, I think there are two important points to remember in every marketing email you send out.

1. keep it short – no one is going to read an email that is full of text for pages. Keep sentences and paragraphs short and as few of them as possible, then use white space and images to make it look appealing and quick to read.

2. focus on getting them to do something – usually the call to action is to phone you or visit your website as that is where you can then provide a lot more information

Posted in marketing, writing | Tagged action, email, focus, short | 2 Comments

Include everything you should…

Published 18 June, 2011 | By TashWord

I just read a newsletter that arrived a couple of days ago and spotted a huge error. They provided a recipe, introduced it, gave the heading of ingredients and then listed the nutritional value and method. Literally.

In other words, not one ingredient was listed – some were explained in the recipe itself but most didn’t have quantities listed and ‘dry ingredients’ could include a few things!

So learn from their mistake and check you always include all the important details – then check again as part of your proof reading!

Posted in bad writing examples, writing | Tagged details, include, recipe | Leave a comment

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