TashWord

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

6 reasons to use a professional

Published 30 March, 2011 | By TashWord

As a business owner or manager, there are always many tasks to do, and often not enough time for them!

Yet many people hesitate in getting outside, professional help for things like writing, design, website updates and bookkeeping; for some, they don’t think they can afford help, others like to maintain complete control, some think it will take longer to find someone than to just do it themselves and another group just wouldn’t know where to start looking for help.

Whatever your reason for putting off getting help, here are my reasons to look and ask for help…

a professional will do the job well – so might you, of course, but at what cost in time? Sure, I could design a website – it would look horrible and cheap, but it would be done! So for things out of my skill set, it is worth looking for an expert
it saves you time – even if it only takes you an hour a week to maintain your blog or two hours a month to update your accounts, think what else you could do (and how much money you could earn) in that four to eight hours a month…
it clears your head as you don’t have to worry about fitting in that task anymore nor the details of how to do it. A clear head lets you be more productive, creative and relaxed
a professional will probably do it much faster than you – meaning the job will be done and potentially increasing your profits much sooner, especially if you factor in that you would do the task around all your other responsibilities
a professional may be more objective which can lead to better results. For example, I write very concisely and to the relevant point so often cut out a lot of information the business owner includes because he or she is passionate about the topic
the professional can offer an outside opinion and fresh ideas. I don’t know how many times designers I have worked with have taken my outline and come up with something perfect and totally unlike what I had envisaged – in fact, I often ask designers for their input rather than giving them rigid briefs

I know it can take time to find the right professionals to work with. I know it may seem out of budget (but factor in time savings and better results and you may be surprised at the affordability). And I know building trust in others to care as much as you can be hard. Yet I believe it is often worth talking to a professional to find out how they could help.

Do you have any stories about an outside professional helping your business?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged better results, expert, expertise, faster, outsource, professional, reason, save, time, use a professional | 2 Comments

Have promotional articles seen their day?

Published 29 March, 2011 | By TashWord

On Sunday I wrote about the value of promotional articles, but I thing there is another important question – have they be over used? are they just a waste of time?

My answer – no!

There are certainly a lot of promotional articles available, and many are not worth the time to read (or write!), but for a well prepared article there is definitely a return on the investment of preparing promotional articles.

A couple of reasons promotional articles are still worth considering to promote a business:

people still want content for sites, ezines and blogs – promotional articles save them time and provide a variety of information for their readers
things change so there is a need for current articles to replace out dated ones – for example, articles about employing staff in 2010 would not cover paid parental leave responsibilities
each topic has many angles so even if there are 50 articles on running a business as a parent, you may be able to suggest a different perspective or a new method
search engines and people want fresh content so even if Joe Blogs wrote a fantastic article on email marketing it could be time someone else wrote one so we don’t read Joe’s article in five different newsletters
we all have different approaches to learning so the way you explain something in an article may be a better way for some people to understand it

In short, the internet has put us into an information age and there is power to those who provide quality information. Promotional articles are an excellent way to share information so we have not seen the end of their value.

If you’re still doubtful, think about the last time you searched for information online – what were the most useful sources?

Posted in business info & tools, marketing, newsletter content, writing | Tagged article, content, fresh | 1 Comment

Between these words

Published 28 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Are you aware that among and between have quite distinct meanings and can’t be used in the same way?

among: surrounded by, part of, included with
Divided among a team of ten, five oranges didn’t go far.

between: fitting in, across or along a spectrum or group
They will provide between $2 and $5 per person for catering.

So you need to use between for two items, and among for more than two items.

Posted in Monday Meanings | Tagged among, between, items, meaning | Leave a comment

promotional articles worth the effort?

Published 27 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Business success is not guaranteed and there is no magic button to push that will get your business moving the way you want it to. Repetition of information and tasks is necessary, regardless of how boring it may seem. I have often heard that if you aren’t doing something then you don’t actually know and understand it – for example, if you drive fast you really don’t understand speed limits and why they exist.

If you have read a lot of my blog and heard me speak then you know I believe in the power of promotional articles. Well, the potential power as many have no idea how to use them properly and therefore fail with them.

What’s so good about promotional articles? In other words, why I do keep writing and talking about them, and giving tips on improving them?

Well here are some of the reasons:

you only have to write them once and you can get long term traffic to your website – for example, I wrote about chickenpox in 2003 and it is still one of the most popular articles on my site
you can build your credibility by showing you truly know your topic and are willing to share some of your knowledge – higher credibility means more trust from potential clients
you can get exposure to new opportunities – I have been approached to do media interviews because reporters have googled a topic and found one of my articles
using them on your site may mean fewer questions from people – this can save a lot of time from people just after information without ever planning to pay you
people will share your article (either giving a copy to a friend, linking to it or including it in a newsletter for instance) in a way that an ad would never be shared
it only costs you to produce it – having it on websites and in newsletters is free. Compare that to paying for an ad to be designed and then to place it anywhere…
it provides you with website content that search engines will reward you for – again, this equals more traffic

So do you see any value in using promotional articles for your business?

Posted in business info & tools, writing | Tagged article, content, promotional, traffic | 5 Comments

5 tips to support email marketing

Published 25 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Do you use email marketing for your business? Let’s face it, it can be highly effective and relatively cheap so is always worth considering.

No matter how great your email is, though, you need to support it on your website – and this is something many people forget so here are some tips for you:

use the same branding and style in the email and the web page the email leads to. Sounds obvious but the obvious is often missed when we’re busy and caught in the middle of a project.
match the message in the email and your website. For example, if your email is about a sale but links to your homepage which doesn’t mention a sale you will find a lot of people will just leave and those remaining will be annoyed at having to search for the information. If you have specific graphics in the email, they should be visible on the site too – or versions of them – so the connection is immediate
Remember to link to relevant pages, not just your homepage – again, this saves people having to search your site and it can also help your search engine results (especially if a copy of your email is online)
it is part of your branding, but to be crystal clear on this opint – keep the same tone in the email as on your website. If the friendly, young sounding email attracts someone, a formal, old-fashioned webpage will alienate and confuse them.
ensure the contact details given in the email are correct and that someone is available to respond to them. An ad in a magazine may result in calls over a period of days or weeks, but the majority of responses to an email will come within hours of sending it out – it’s not a good look if you send out an email inviting calls and no one answers the phone or emails for a few days!

If you looked at your latest email campaign and the related web pages, would you see the connection or would they clash? Try the above tips as a testing process and see if you can’t improve the campaign for next time.

Posted in business info & tools, marketing, writing | Tagged brand, email, marketing, support | 2 Comments

repeat the boring stuff…

Published 23 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Do you get bored with hearing the same stuff a number of times? What do you do about repeated information?

As I wrote a few days ago, some repetition of stuff is necessary to succeed – either because it takes a few goes to really understand it or the timing wasn’t right initially or even just as a reminder that it is still important.

I agree with Jack that looking professional is important – and that includes care with grammar, spelling, effective links and care of details. So I write about those topics quite often, which may seem boring to some I know, but I do try to cover a range of topics within clear and professional communications.

Given the amount of poor writing I come across every day, I see there is a need for a repetition of grammar and spelling tips, too!

If you are good at grammar and spelling – my apoliges for repeating what you already know! But why not take this opportunity to tell me what other topics you would like me to write about?

Posted in business info & tools, grammar & details, writing | Tagged grammar, repetition, spelling, topic | 2 Comments

No magic bullet

Published 19 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Would you like to find a ‘magic bullet’ that will suddenly make your business a success and bring in all the income you hope and plan for? Sounds wonderful doesn’t it but I don’t think it really exists – although you may find various ways to make improvements (especially if you are new to business).

I came across a list of 5 essentials to a healthy business which basically reminds us that we have to repeat the basics, not matter how boring, to make our business succeed.

Have a read and let me know if you agree with Jack’s list .

Use your words wisely!

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged basics, boring, healthy, repeat | 1 Comment

Growing your blog readership

Published 17 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Starting a blog may have sounded like a great idea (and it often is!) but is maintaining it harder than you expected? What do you find particularly hard about it?

I think a key to having a useful business blog (personal blogs have different measures of success so it may be very different) is frequent posts. From personal experience, I know the number of people viewing my blog are higher when I post every few days than when I miss a week or so – even when the popular posts at any given time are not the most recent ones.

So here are a few tips from me on building a good business blog that people will keep reading:

post regularly – if it suits your style, choose particular days to post so it becomes habit which also helps your readers know when to look at your blog
remember that posts don’t all have to be long – the occasional short one can be effective for variety and to maintain the frequency
link to other information from your blog – previous posts of your own, your own website, blog posts by other people, relevant websites. This gives people further information, shows your commitment to sharing information (rather than just chasing a sale) and also has search engine advantages. Note this doesn’t mean having a big blog roll…
encourage a community within your blog – ask questions, answer comments and share other input (for example comments from people you met in real life)
how much do you promote your blog? Just having a blog and writing in it won’t get you hundreds of readers – you need to let people know it exists which you can do in many ways, including joining blog carnivals, commenting in related blogs, using keywords effectively, getting listed in directories, adding your blog URL to signatures and business materials, and being a guest blogger.

If time is a big hurdle in your blog development, consider delegating some of the tasks so it builds momentum without relying on you as much.

If finding things to blog about is causing you worry, set aside an hour or so and brainstorm potential topics. That list can then be used any time you need inspiration.

If you have been blogging for a little while and are worrying about its popularity, think about these points:

a niche or tips blog will have fewer readers than a blog associated with a major newspaper or movie star so don’t judge your success against blogs that are totally different to yous
depending on your topic and style, people may read your blog but not comment – either your audience is not the type of people who want to comment or perhaps your topic just doesn’t inspire comments (for example, a controversial news story will generate discussion but if you are giving 5 tips on how to care for your lawn, not as many people will have anything to add)
in a business sense, a successful blog could have a number of purposes – building credibility, developing trust, sharing expertise, bringing in more website traffic – so look at more than the number of comments as a marker. Other factors such as number of new leads, visits to your main website and number of time-wasting emails may show you the effectiveness of your blog

Back to my original question though – what do you find hard about maintaining your blog? Let us know and you may just get some solutions to rocket your blog success!

Posted in blogging, writing | Tagged blog, information, readership, useful | 5 Comments

Is your business well presented?

Published 10 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Last month I wrote about selecting good business partners, so it was interesting to come across an article about presenting your business as a ‘good catch’ – in other words, making your business stand up to the type of close scrutiny to put on others.

So how good a catch do you think your business is? What areas most need some finesse to truly stand out?

Some of the areas I’ve covered in the past include

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged brand, presenting, scrutiny | Leave a comment

Most tips are simple!

Published 7 March, 2011 | By TashWord

Most is a term of quantity – ‘She scored the most goals’ and ‘He ate most of the cake.’

Almost is a measure of qualifying something else – ‘We are almost there’ and ‘You’re almost to the top.’

Although the two words are similar in sound, they are very different and should not be used in the same way. A simple way to remember the difference: Almost is nearly all done

Posted in writing | Tagged almost, meaning, most, qualify, quantity | Leave a comment

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