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I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential. Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!Tash

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Making an offer

Published 20 August, 2009 | By TashWord

A few days ago I wrote about a beautician sign offering 50% off clients, focussing on the poorly communicated message.

I have another issue with that sign, and their special offer for new clients.

Offering new clients a major discount (50% is big) may well bring in more customers and keep them busy, which is obviously a good thing for  business. However, there are some other parts to this offer:

  • how many of those clients will come back to pay twice as much for the same service? Does the business make enough profit from one half price service to warrant the discount if they never return?
  • are they cheapening their services with this offer? are they giving a message that their services are so over priced they can afford to take off 50%?
  • are they concentrating on new clients at the expense of existing, repeat customers?

There are other ways they could attract new clients through specials, such as:

  • new clients get a discount voucher for their second visit – even if it is the original 50% discount, at least they have paid full price once and you are teaching them to come back
  • customer rewards where they get a free {specific service} every five visits
  • new clients get a free {extra service} when booking over $x in services
  • new clients get a goodie bag on their first visit – include discount vouchers, relevant product samples, vouchers from complementary businesses, a chocolate, a branded pen/magnet/etc, and so on

What’s imortant to remember with special offers is that you continue to make a profit and that the offer won’t hurt you more than it helps.

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

A company is singular

Published 19 August, 2009 | By TashWord

Most people understand that the verb needs to match the number of subjects – that is, if the subject is singular, the verb is the single tense, but if the subject is plural, the verb must be the plural version.

For example:

the boys go to the park daily  OR the boy goes to the park daily

they sing very well   OR   she sings very well

my friends eat quickly   OR   my friend eats quickly

Where people sometimes get confused is with words that appear plural when they aren’t, or singular when they are plural. For example, children, women and men are plural even though they don’t end in s, and words such as crowd, group, herd and pack are singular even though they have multiple parts.

When writing about a business, it is also a singular word even if it sounds plural (for example Woolworths and Brambles are both singular so ‘Brambles is in Australia’s top 100 companies’ is correct.)

Remember that the business name could be replaced with the word ‘it’ so match the verb with ‘it’. A business or a company is a thing (the people behind it are its staff or owners) so does not use the pronoun ‘they’, although is a common misuse in conversations.

Posted in grammar & details | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

New weight loss system?

Published 16 August, 2009 | By TashWord

I was on a walk yesterday, and I noticed a sandwich board out the front of a beauty shop. As well as the usual details, it included some text to the side as if to attract attention. The text was:

50% off new clients

If you are very overweight, you may be happy to know they could remove 50% of you (I wonder if you get to choose where the 50% comes from?) If you aren’t overweight enough to want to loose 50%, we can only hope they don’t remove other parts of you!

Of course, what they really meant was new clients pay half price on their usual services – but it is important to write what you mean rather than assume people can understand you.

How could it have been better?

50% off for new clients {yes, adding one word makes all the difference!}

OR

half price for your first visit {longer, but very clear and also shows the discount is for only one visit}

Have you read your marketing messages to be sure they say what you mean them to?

Posted in bad writing examples, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ask before sharing emails

Published 11 August, 2009 | By TashWord

We all hate spam. Most of us get too many emails to deal with them all properly. We don’t have time to read every enewsletter, not even time to read all the good ones, so we can’t subscribe to them all and stay sane!

So why then do some business people think it’s ok to subscribe to you their lists without your permission?

Just because I am your friend or I have done some work for you does not mean I want to read your newsletter – rather, I may want to but I probably don’t have the time to read something I haven’t carefully selected.

A number of people have added me to their lists because they know me, or because I wrote for them or because I gave them a quote to write for them! None of these behaviours is acceptable to me – sure send me a copy and invite me to subscribe, but don’t just subscribe me.

A couple of specific recent examples that will hopefully help you avoid annoying potential (or actual) clients…

  • I attempted to watch an online seminar. I gave my email address purely for access to the seminar (there was no disclaimer I was signing to a newsletter) and she started sending me 3 or 4 emails a week. What’s worse is the seminar never worked so I have no reason to read even one of those emails
  • I responded to a newsletter which mentioned a particular offer; I asked for a few details so I could decide if I was interested. Next thing, I am getting emails from two totally unrelated people. What’s worse, both those people are including me in a cc field with a whole group of people! So not only am I getting unwanted emails from people I never gave my email to in the first place, they are sharing my email with other people! Not the way to impress me into using their services I assure you
  • someone who contacted me two years ago, and who has not maintained a relationship with me, recently added a new arm to her business and has subscribed me to that new arm’s newsletter. I have never contacted her or shown an interest in her services, so why can she assume I want her newsletter?

    • So to avoid annoying people and therefore potentially loosing clients and getting bad word of mouth, remember:

    • don’t subscribe people to your newsletter. EVER. Send a single copy and invite them, but do not subscribe them without their knowledge & permission
    • if sending a group email, use the bcc field not the cc field unless it a discussion and all parties are aware of each other. Especially as emails can be forwarded so who knows where my email address would end up…
    • don’t give someone else’s email address to others for their newsletter. It’s one thing to give it as a referral (e.g. “Email Tash on … as she’s a great writer”) but otherwise you should protect the emails you have been entrusted with. If in doubt, ask if it’s ok to pass on someone’s details

    Posted in business info & tools, newsletter content | 3 Comments

    Accountable communications

    Published 29 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    What are accountable communications?

    It simply means giving a message that is justified and that you are willing to stand by.

    For many jaded consumers, the marketing message in many ads and business materials is not trusted because there have been too many hyped up, false promises in the past. And people understand that marketing companies use many techniques to support their message .

    To make sure your message is seen as trustworthy and is accountable

    • avoid exaggerations (the occasional obvious one may work)
    • justify any claims
    • only give it in appropriate ways (i.e. don’t spam or annoy people)
    • check the details
    • use an appropriate look – colours, layouts, font sizes and so on all influence how your message is perceived. For example, the long letter with yellow highlights style of webpage doesn’t build trust in Australians as much as it appears to in the USA

    What messages have you seen that didn’t come across as accountable or reliable?

    Posted in blogging, newsletter content, web content, writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Use of electrocution is shocking

    Published 27 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    This word is misused so often it is scary – or shocking if you can excuse the pun! In fact, last week I heard a TV host admit to murdering half of his contestants on national television!

    electrocution: dying from electricity being applied to the body
    He was electrocuted when he touched both live wires.

    Electrocution, electrocuted, electrocute – whichever form of the word, it means being killed by electricity. Yet so many people talk about being electrocuted themselves – if you believe in ghosts, that could be possible but otherwise if the person is talking about it they were not electrocuted!

    An electric shock on the other hand means feeling electricity through your body but you surive the experience – it can be as mild as the shock you get from synthetic carpets through to an almost fatal shock.

    As for our TV host, he had given many of his contestants an electric shock but I’m pretty sure he hadn’t killed them despite saying he had electrocuted them.

    Posted in Monday Meanings | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

    Importance of words

    Published 26 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    I have been reading an old newsletter and came across a message I thought I’d share with you – words are important to humans.

    Think about the impact of the words you choose and use.

    Think about what words have done to/for our world:

    • started wars
    • made people cry (or worse)
    • made people laugh
    • started deep emotional relationships
    • ended people’s lives
    • made people rich
    • given a lot of pleasure (doubt that? Think of your favourite book…)

    Think of the impact of words on the careers of

    • ACDC, Midnight Oil, Silver Chair, Michael Jackson and Cold Play – would their music be as popular without their lyrics?
    • Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Kate Winslet, Cameron Dias and Bud Tingwell – how good would their movies had been without a script or with a mediocre script?
    • Kevin Rudd, Barack Obama, Julia Gillard, John Howard, Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi – a speechless politician wouldn’t get very far
    • your favourite school teacher, sports coach and music teacher all needed words to make a career and help you

    So remember the importance of words, and using the right words, when planning your business and your marketing. Don’t be fooled – the words you choose in your promotions and materials will impact on your success – or not.

    Words are important so

    • choose appropriate words
    • proof read to be sure your spelling and grammar support your choice of words
    • check how words are perceived, not just what they mean (as a drastic example, the word gay means happy and cheerful but many people perceive it differently now)
    • use as few words as necessary to get the message across – think of words as important and limited

    Use your words wisely!

    Posted in writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

    Clear and repeated communications

    Published 24 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    Again, I am continuing on with a discussion of the Edelman Trust Barometer from February this year. (You can read the business trust and blog trust posts for background.)

    Their media release states “Swift and accountable communications: Respondents said they need to hear information 3-5 times before they believe it. Companies should inform conversations among the new influencers on blogs, in forums, and bulletin boards. Australians under 34 are twice as likely to share both positive and negative information about a company online as their older counterparts – this trend will only grow. ”

    The repetition of a clear message is important in getting people to trust you (your business) and accept that message. For example, any good presenter/teacher will summarise key points at the end of a topic as that helps others absorb that information.

    When planning some marketing, remembering that people like to hear a message 3 – 5 times (and many have long said 7 times) before buying it means:

    • you may not get great results from your first attempt at marketing
    • consider how you can present your message in multiple ways rather than spending your budget on one ad
    • use images and layout to enhance your message – a stronger message may need less repetition than a hidden or weak message
    • every interaction you have with people in your demographic (and beyond) can reinforce or damage that message so make sure all ads, blogs, your website, your business card and so on are consistent, professional and appropriate for the purpose

    Prompt communication is important in this information age – discussing an event well afterwards must be managed carefully so it doesn’t appear you are out of date. For instance, I could write that people affected by the February 7 bushfires are rebuilding and still need support all year but just writing ‘donate to the bushfires’ now looks very old.

    Blogs, emails and social media are obviously key ways to making communications immediate and relevant – which is why I find it hard to believe they aren’t trusted forms of communication.

    Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

    Clear definitions…

    Published 24 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    I looked at a website today that is trying to explain technical terms to enhance their sales – a good concept of course, but if the definitions aren’t clear I think they’d be better off without them.

    This is pretty much the first thing on their site:

    What is “Domain Name”?
    Compared with IP address, Domain Name is a character sign which is like a doorplate number on internet, it’s used to identify and orient hiberarchy of computer on internet.

    Ok, English isn’t their first language, but their site is in English so it needs to be understandable in English! Even if we change ‘hiberarchy’ to ‘heirarchy’ it still doesn’t help explain a domain name – and I actually know what a domain name is!

    Moral of this story – make sure a definition is easier than the term it is meant to explain! I suggest using the simplest words possible when writing  definitions so people can concentrate on the definition rather than the words you use.

     

    P.S. Try my article for a longer but simpler explanation of domain names.

    Posted in bad writing examples, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

    Blogs and trust

    Published 20 July, 2009 | By TashWord

    A few days I wrote about the Edelman Trust Barometer and the reduced trust in Australian business.

    One statement made by Edelman that I didn’t mention was “Digital communication such as blogs and social networking sites are not trusted sources of information. ” I left it for a separate post as I think it is worth more discussion.

    I think that statement is simplistic, especially as it is not backed up with statsitics or specifics. For instance, are no blogs trusted or just those run by big companies? Does the style of blog or age of the respondent make any difference to their answer?

    Instead of writing an essay on this topic, here are just a few of my thoughts, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, too:

    •  reading a blog gives you insights into the person behind the business, making it more personal and therefore more trustworthy
    • blogs doing things like overusing keywords, be ads trather than information, ignoring comments (especially negative comments) and not providing meaningful links are not going to build trust – but many others avoid these behaviours
    • blogs and social media are very different – and the perception is probably bigger for those who don’t use tweeter, FaceBook, and so on
    • regular blog posts show a commitment to the business and clients – much more than a website or promotional materials that are only updated once a year or less
    • blogs are a quick, easy way to communicate information quickly. I have a client whose customers requested more updates on the business and industry, and their web stats show the blog is attracting a lot more traffic. I believe it is building their trust as they know about changes well in advance of an annual report or quarterly newsletter

    Do you trust blogs in general? Do they help you trust the busienss providing the blog ?

    Posted in blogging, business info & tools | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment
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