How to write a staff profile
Sorry. But there’s no escape. Even if you work all on your ownsome. You’ll still need a well-written profile – for the About Us section of your website, sales credentials, proposals or professional association membership. Follow these top tips for profiles with pizzazz: Don’t give your competitors a plug. If you’ve head hunted the head of marketing from your arch rival, well done. But it’s best not to name your competitors. Instead try alluding e.g. ‘Wayne brings with him experience gained...
In which the writer gets in the way
The writing shouldn’t come between the reader and what’s being described. And the writer shouldn’t get in the way, like a small petulant child tugging at your elbow: “Look, look at this. Let me show you something.” Look at the following sentences, all of which contain unnecessary attention seeking words: The problem: Please provide information about yourself and your work area to help us understand your responses. (We can safely assume this is the case, unless you’ve asked for the response to...
Why you need to be newsworthy not snoozeworthy
I worked on the When You Find Out You're Pregnant – Tell Me public health campaign. The aim was to encourage women to contact their midwife as early in their pregnancy as possible. If only Beyonce had been available as a poster girl. Announcing her pregnancy resulted in 8,900 tweets per second. Was there anyone on this planet who hadn’t been told the news? Twitter can be useful for breaking news, but also suffers from that common complaint of social media updates, blogs and news section on...
Why you will never finish your website and why it doesn’t matter
Accept that you’ll never have as many Twitter followers as Stephen Fry. At least not at the same time as running a business. The news section of your website will be forever ‘under construction’. And those people who signed up to your newsletter will continue to wait in eager anticipation. Stop feeling guilty. You’re running a business with a thousand demands on your time and energy. Stop torturing yourself by comparing, and finding yourself wanting, against those entrepreneurs who seem to be...
How to be a business: not a cliche
Failing to look at what your competitors are up to can trigger the ‘looky-likey’ trap. Signs that you are hurting your business by resorting to stereotypes include: If you are a hairdresser or beauty salon you will ‘listen to what our customers want’, always offer an ‘indulgent pamper package’ in a ‘calm and relaxing salon’. Just like the one round the corner. Restaurants, pubs and cafes only ever use ‘locally sourced produce and the finest seasonal ingredients’ with ‘a diverse menu to satisfy...
Would sir like a book to go with his blog?
Hear that? Shhh. Listen. There it is again. A creeping, stealthy, resurgence of print formats. Silently returning to laugh in the face of online. Or more likely, hold hands and form a union towards cooperative working. Maybe I’ve had my head turned by digital too long, but I’ve noticed signs of a comeback for print: A friend’s blog will soon be available as a book. Hosted on Tumblr, A Lot Meant blogs progress on a Linligthgow allotment from dirt patch to harvesting the courgettes via double...
Brevity is the soul of wit
I’m reminded of the sticker by Glasgow artist, David Shrigley. Simply says: ‘You can’t help looking at this’ Or a sign on a cake display ‘Remember fly pies? Eccles cakes £2.99’. Sometimes less is more: Stop being polite. Get to the point. Put the main point first when writing for the web. Users skim paragraphs. They will pick up the point from the first sentence. And may read no further. This seems rude when we’re used to writing for print, where getting to the point can take a few sentences....
Teeth whitening, nail bars and Zumba listen up
This article first appeared on: Bitsy - the friendliest B2B marketplace on the web For various reasons I get to see a lot of website for starts ups – laser teeth whitening, nail bars, salsa and Zumba classes pepper my waking hours. And I’m usually trying to help gain customers or sales. I just wish they’d meet me half way. My biggest bug bear is websites. So listen up: Think of your website as significant chunk of your business. It is not an optional extra. It is as essential as a phone...
How opinions can help your business
This article first appeared on: Bitsy - the friendliest B2B marketplace on the web In sub zero weather I stood outside an old Prussian public toilet on a traffic island under a railway bridge eating a burger. Complete strangers had led me, a woman in a foreign city, to stray way off the beaten tourist track. Why had I paid attention? Because according to real people sharing their opinions on review sites Burgermeister is probably the best burger joint in Berlin. Thanks to word of mouth...
Dumb dos and don’ts of smartphones
Today’s phones enable people to do most of the things they used to use computers for. It’s therefore worth considering how this affects communication. Here are 5 issues to bear in mind when communicating with smartphones. Quick Response (QR) codes. Black and white boxes which when scanned by a mobile phone camera take the user to a weblink. Flourishing, because of the take up of internet-enabled phones. Do consider using them on your print items to provide an instant connection to your...