What do you do next when you’ve set your New Year business goals and worked out what your marketing needs to look like? Think about who you want to work with. Writing content that speaks to your ideal customers means you get to work with people you love, which makes everyone happy. So, who do you want to talk to in the New Year? Here are a few ways to work it out.
Your favourite customers
Having good relationships with your customers makes life a whole lot happier. They benefit from great results, and you can work with people you like and get repeat customers. It’s essential to my business. If we don’t get on, you’re less likely to show me your personality so I can share it in your content.
Think about your favourite customers, what they have in common, and how you talk to them. That way, you can use the same language in your marketing.
Creating a connection
What do your customers like about you? We connect with people for all sorts of reasons. You might share the same sense of humour or have a similar background. Maybe your business grew out of an interest that your customers share. Sometimes, they choose your business over a similar one because they like you or your approach.
Understanding where that connection comes from helps you to write in a way that engages your current customers and attracts new ones.
What gets people talking?
If you’ve looked at your numbers, you should have a good idea about the content that engages your audience and gets people talking. I often find that my most engaging social media posts are the ones that only have a tenuous link to my work. If it’s the same for you, dig a bit deeper. What type of content gets the best response when you talk about your work? Even if it’s only a few likes, it can help you to create new ideas or use similar language.
Are you being yourself?
Putting your personality into your marketing lets you relax and have a conversation with your ideal customers. That’s the theory, at least. I know I’m not the only person who worries about oversharing and putting people off.
As you create new content, ask yourself whether the words are flowing easily or not. If you find it easier to speak naturally in videos, transcribe them and turn them into written posts. Alternatively, you can work with a writer like me who’ll listen to you talk about your business and write new content for you.
What are you offering?
Do your products and services help the people you want to work with? For example, I love working with business owners who have a marketing plan and want a writer to deliver the words. I get excited about working with new people because I want to be part of their team. I still have products and services to help people who are learning, but it’s not what I spend most of my time doing.
Ask yourself whether you’re offering services that don’t get you excited or products you’ve fallen out of love with. Could you drop them and still help the people you want to serve?
If you’ve created a plan and want help writing engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.
Or, sign up to my mailing list for hints and tips straight to your inbox every month. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.
“Of course, I didn’t realise I’d just seen a murder.”
They all stopped talking when I said that.
“You saw a what?” Thomas said, his mouth half full of the mince pie he’d shoved in moments before.
“A murder. I mean, when I saw them together, I thought they were just getting some air and he slipped. They said it was an accident. But now I look back, none of it made sense.”
“Anna, are you serious?” Vanessa was staring at me, leaning on the back of the sofa with a glass of sherry in her hand. It’s funny how all of my cousins had got to thirty and suddenly turned into our grandparents.
“Of course I’m serious. It was the view that made me remember.” I realised that my pause had lasted rather too long when I saw Daniel out of the corner of my eye, gesticulating with the remains of his mince pie. His sister Catherine was staring at me, looking rather pale.
“You know how we all joke that Gran and Gramps always put us in the same rooms as if we’re still nine instead of thirty-nine?”
“Speak for yourself,” Thomas replied. Was he still chewing the same mince pie, or had he crammed another one in?
“OK, thanks for the reminder. Anyway, I was looking out of the window in my room earlier and realised I was looking at the same view. The snow on the drive and top of the gateposts and the frosty trees beyond. It felt like I was a little girl again.”
“When was this?”
“Thirty years ago. Thomas, it was your first Christmas, so I must have been nine. Ness, you’d have been six, which means you two would probably have been too young to remember.
“But – who was m-m-murdered?” Catherine sounded terrified. There was a question. What was his name?
The Christmas routine in my grandparents’ house hadn’t changed since 1958, when they brought their first child, my Dad, home from the hospital. Christmas Eve was for church, Christmas Day for family, and Boxing Day brought their friends from the village for lunchtime cold cuts and pickled onions, followed by drinking and nibbles that could go on until the early hours. Each Christmas celebration blended into the next. The only difference was that one of Dad’s three siblings occasionally added a new cousin for me to play with. I tried to remember the man who died that day. He was a big man, tall with strong, broad shoulders and dark hair. Loud voice, too. I remember being three years old, mute and wide-eyed, when he’d burst into the room and shouted ho-ho-ho down at me. What was his name?
“Brendan. I think. Something like that. I’m sure he had an Irish accent.”
“Oh, him!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Yes, I remember him a bit. Absolutely massive and with a habit of pretending to be Father Christmas even though he never wore the suit.”
“Yes!”
“I don’t remember anything happening to him.”
“Do you remember ever seeing him again?”
Vanessa frowned slightly, then shook her head. “Now you come to mention it, I thought – actually, I don’t know what I thought. I can’t say I missed him.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t remember anyone mentioning him again.” Vanessa’s brow was still wrinkled. “Is that odd?”
“Of course not,” Daniel replied, “would you talk about it if someone had died in your house?”
“It wasn’t in the house, though. It was out there.” I waved my hand towards the bay window. The moonlight reflected off the snow, but I could only see the outline of the cars parked outside and the gateposts beyond.
It didn’t matter whether you were a baby or a teenager. In Gran and Gramps’ house, all the children went to bed at seven o’clock. By the time Vanessa and I were teenagers, our parents had learned to bring a stash of snacks and moved the TV from one of their rooms into one of ours. As long as we kept the volume low and our giggles muted, we could chat and watch cheesy Christmas shows until we were actually ready to go to sleep. At nine, I was old enough to feel slighted at being forced into a baby’s bedtime. I had hoped that Vanessa, only three years my junior, would have joined me in protest. However, our traditional post-lunch Boxing Day walk had worked its magic, and Vanessa had to be carried up to bed halfway through the teatime buffet.
I was left, grumpy in my nightdress, to amuse myself in a bedroom that smelt of fresh paint and musty curtain fabric. Mum had left me with a torch and a copy of ‘Matilda’ along with my bedtime milk, but I was still wide awake after I finished the last few chapters. I wriggled out of the tight layers of sheets and blankets and found an eiderdown in the blanket box at the bottom of the bed. If anyone caught me, I could say I’d been cold and needed an extra blanket. It was a complete lie, of course. Gran’s bedmaking resembled something from the ‘Princess and the Pea’, except most of the layers were on top instead of underneath.
I wrapped the eiderdown around me and shuffled to the window. My room was above the drawing room, which was Gramps’ way of describing a place with sofas but no TV. The party was rumbling on below me, with indistinct music and the occasional shriek of laughter. Light from the vast bay window illuminated the snow at the front of the house and turned the parked cars into dark shapes. I recognised the outline of Dad’s trusty Ford, although the snow that had settled on the roof since we arrived on Christmas Eve gave it an odd, lumpen look. The trees kept watch in the distance, reaching their branches towards the dark velvet sky.
I winced and shrunk back from the window as the lights blazed before me. Was there a car? The sudden flare reminded me of headlights, but I couldn’t hear an engine. As I edged back towards my vantage point, I realised that someone had turned the lamps on. They were never lit, and I’d always assumed they didn’t work, but there they were, halogen bulbs blazing and turning everything behind them white. The front door swung open below, and two men emerged. I recognised Brendan immediately. He was the biggest man at the party by half a foot and at least two stones. His companion was harder to identify, but he was obviously a member of the family. All of my male relatives have the same walk—a loping gait that looked like a shrug was travelling forward. At first, I thought it might be Dad. Then the other man turned, and I realised it was Uncle Arthur. My Dad’s youngest brother was the only one of the four who hadn’t contributed any grandchildren or even a significant other. He was the funniest man I knew, always ready with a joke. At Christmas, he’d pull chocolate coins from behind my ears as if by magic. But this wasn’t the Uncle Arthur I knew.
As he turned, I saw his face, screwed up in fury. I leaned closer to the glass but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Even so, I could tell he was shouting. His mouth moved quickly, releasing droplets of spit and foam. He finally paused, and I saw Brendan amble towards him, his arms moving slowly. It was the first time I’d seen that movement, and I didn’t understand what he was doing. Now I do. He was trying to calm things down. It didn’t work. Uncle Arthur started shouting again, except now he was crying too. Why didn’t anyone else come to stop them? Were they watching from the window, expecting it all to blow over? Uncle Arthur put his face in his hands, and Brendan moved to put his arm around him. Big mistake. My Uncle grabbed him and pushed him away. Brendan slid towards the gatepost and hit it head-first. At the time, I thought it was a horrible accident—an error in judgment. Now, I remember seeing Arthur grab Brendan and check the gatepost’s position before throwing him. I remember the expression he wore as he turned back towards the house after seeing his friend’s head split open on the corner of the post. He was happy. Smug, even. I watched as he deliberately rearranged his face and screamed in horror, calling the family to help him. As the others emerged, speaking of ambulances and doctors, I realised I’d been holding my breath. I sunk back through the curtain and buried myself back under the blankets.
“Oh my God.” Everyone was wide-eyed, and only Thomas spoke, “What happened then?”
“The police were there when I got up the following morning, but I was kept out of the way. I overheard someone saying it was an accident then clamming up as soon as they saw me. There was a weird atmosphere, too. No one seemed to want to talk to each other. We all stayed together until New Year’s Day, but it was as if Gran and Gramps, and our parents, had had all the fun sucked out of them. Then suddenly, Uncle Arthur was gone.”
“I don’t remember him,” Catherine said, “is that why?”
“Yes, I think so. A few months later, Dad told me he’d got a job in Australia. I thought that meant we might be able to go and stay with him, but we never did. He never came back to visit, either. I asked about the accident once, a few years later. I wondered whether he didn’t come back because he didn’t want to think about his friend. Everyone looked at me like you did just now. Later, Mum told me I must never mention it again.”
“So, did they just send him away? Did nobody think it might just have been an accident?” Daniel looked at each of us in turn. “Couldn’t they have tried to protect him?”
“I think that’s what they were doing. Sending him away so he’d never have to face suspicion.”
We all drained our sherries and drifted off to bed after that. The last ones to turn in, perhaps as a way to finally rebel against all those early bedtimes. We might never find out why Brendan died that night and why Uncle Arthur had to leave. Perhaps someone was protecting him from suspicion. Or maybe they knew he’d meant to do it. I couldn’t have been the only person looking out of the window that night.
As we head quickly into Christmas, it’s easy to become swept up in the need to provide a perfect Christmas for those around us. We are bombarded with images of elaborate elf antics, picture-perfect Santa visits, magazine-worthy Christmas trees, matching pjs, the best presents and a list of Christmas traditions to enact.
While there is nothing wrong with finding joy in any of these activities and moments, they can easily add to our stress levels and impact our well-being in the run-up to Christmas. Here’s 5 ways to help maintain some calm and find the joy again.
1. Recognise when you are in comparison mode.
Naturally, we are interested in what’s going on around us and what others are doing. It’s in our nature to feel the need to fit in so we can feel more drawn to following what others are doing. However, we are often looking at ‘the best bits’ snippets of people’s lives and trying to recreate them, then when we bump into the normal struggles of life, we can be left feeling like we don’t quite match up. So take a moment to recognise when you are comparing your every day to someone’s best moment, then switch your focus to the best moment for you that day.
2. Take time out.
It can feel counter-intuitive to take time out when we are busy, but we need breaks. Our brains need downtime; however, the brain isn’t actually resting in downtime. When we allow our brain time to wander its actually really busy organising, sorting and often connecting the dots, it needs time to do this without us consciously giving it more tasks. So go for a walk, take a shower, have a cuppa, read a few pages of a book, find the things you can do even if it’s just for a few minutes to give your brain a break.
3. Write a list.
Every time something pops into your head that needs to be done write it down on a list. When it’s wrote down it’s easier to organise and prioritise it. When we are trying to hold everything in our brains, we struggle to prioritise and decide on its importance – everything starts to feel ‘most important’. So, write it down and then pick the thing that needs to be done first.
4. Move your body.
We are designed to move, but modern living often takes away natural opportunities to move our bodies (online shopping, electrical appliances, cars). So we have to be intentional in making sure we are moving and exercising our bodies everyday. Find the ways that work for you and try to build them in everyday, until it becomes a habit like brushing our teeth.
5. Sleep.
It’s easy for our sleep to be impacted in the run up to Christmas, but try to keep the boundaries around it. Build in good sleep habits like winding down for bed (devices off, warm baths, cool rooms etc). Its particularly important in the winter to try to get out in the daylight as soon as you can in a morning. It helps set our natural rhythms and sleep patterns.
Remember to bring it back to what you and those around you need. We are all so different and it’s ok to focus on what works best for us, I hope these tips allow you to find some calm in this period and if you’d like an extra boost head over to: https://www.vickyhaig.co.uk/try-relaxation/ where you can listen to my relaxation track for free, just make sure you are in a quiet calm place where you’re not having to do anything else, but relax.
You might not think words and numbers have much in common, apart from co-existing on a school curriculum. However, your analytics can tell you a lot about what content is striking a chord with your audience and helping you achieve your business goals. Here’s my guide to help you look at your numbers and write engaging content.
Plan your business goals
I’m not going to tell you how to set business goals. For one thing, it’s not my department. For another, your version of success might look very different from mine. However, when you’ve decided what targets you want to hit next year, think about what your marketing needs to do to achieve that. Do you need to reach more people, improve your social media engagement or increase your email subscribers? Knowing where you want people to go helps you focus on the right platforms.
Look at your numbers
You can use your marketing analytics to work out what’s working in terms of the marketing platforms you use and the type of content you create. Reviewing your numbers helps you see what’s working so you can do more of it or tweak things to test a different approach. When you talk about your business, some posts get a better response than others, often due to the language you use.
Remember that what your audience responds to can change over time; regular reviews help you stay up to date.
Think about keywords
I’m hearing more marketing professionals say that SEO is getting less effective. While that’s probably true, there’s still a place for it. Google is the first place many of us ask questions, and if you offer a service in your local area, there are still plenty of people searching ‘service + town’.
So, look at your website analytics. What keywords attracted the most visitors? Where did they go next? Did they leave or visit another page? Look at keywords, but think about the customer journey, too. When people land on your website, what do you want them to do next?
Are your sales pages working?
As the name suggests, sales pages focus on selling one product. Everything on there should be targeted towards persuading someone to decide to buy. If you’re getting lots of visitors but not many sales, look at your language. Does it help your customers understand how buying from you will help them? Does it focus on their needs or your product? If you have some sales pages that work while others don’t, compare the words. Spotting the differences can help you update existing pages to improve their performance.
Social media engagement
If reaching your goals means getting more eyes on your content, look at your social media reach and engagement. Reach is good as it means the algorithm shows your stuff to more people. When your followers engage with a post, it’ll also start showing your posts to more of their friends.
Check your analytics to see which posts got lots of reactions and comments. It shows that the post struck a chord and that you used engaging language. You can create more posts with similar subjects and analyse your tone of voice. Are you using a different style on different posts, and how does that affect the response?
If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.
Or, for regular writing tips straight to your inbox, sign up using the form below. I’m a vegetarian so I hate spam and I’ll never share your details with anyone else.
Do you want to avoid Christmas clichés in your marketing? You might automatically say yes, but they can have their benefits. People like familiarity because it makes them feel comfortable. At the same time, they can be overly predictable, taking all the wonder out of what’s meant to be a magical celebration. If you use too many Christmas clichés in your marketing, you also run the risk of blending in rather than standing out.
How do you find the right balance? Here are a few tips to get you started.
Share some pop culture
Sharing your favourite Christmas pop culture references is the perfect way to help you find your people. Ask about their favourite Christmas film, song or story and share your own. Start a conversation about whether ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie*. Show your personality and tailor your content to your audience, whether they love Christmas or can’t wait for it to end.
Put a spin on a cliché
You can use Christmas clichés, but give them your own twist. A simple option is to create a new version of ’12 Days of Christmas’. Choose twelve things related to your business or send emails with twelve offers.
Alternatively, share something funny that starts with a Christmas classic but ends somewhere unexpected. Like this:
Think of a new angle
Finding a new angle on Christmas can get your audience thinking and offer something useful. You could talk about avoiding stress, staying active, or making Brussels sprouts edible. If your business has nothing to do with Christmas, think laterally; I saw a great blog post about the most common issues HR professionals have to deal with after the Christmas party.
Be serious if you need to
You don’t have to be jolly just because it’s Christmas. If you’re talking about domestic violence and mental health issues or highlighting how many families are homeless at Christmas, it’s OK to be serious. The idea that some people are struggling as you’re getting ready to celebrate will hit home with your audience and make you stand out.
What does Christmas mean to you?
‘The true meaning of Christmas’ is one of the biggest Christmas clichés going, but that doesn’t mean you have to avoid it. Just be honest. Posts like this can start a conversation, and you can even use them to ask for help. If you feel as if you’re trying to meet everyone else’s expectations and have forgotten what you’re doing it for, ask people what they’re looking forward to.
If you have unique family traditions, talk about them. It lets your audience see the person behind the business and could inspire them to try something new.
Do what makes you happy
Ultimately, you don’t have to talk about Christmas unless your business depends on it. By December, I’ll be talking about planning for next year. If you love talking about festive things and making your Christmas images sparkly, do it. If it makes you want to cringe, don’t, and tell your audience why. They might just agree with you.
*Yes, of course it is. You can’t get much more Christmassy than a disastrous work do.
If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you at Christmas and all year round, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.
Or, if you’d prefer to get content writing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month, sign up using the form below. I’ll never share your email address with anyone else, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like. Plus, I’m a vegetarian, which means my business and I are 100% spam-free!
No matter how you do marketing for the rest of the year, Christmas is a little bit different. The way your audience is feeling will probably change. They might have warm and fuzzy feelings, be completely stressed out, or even a combination of the two. Even if your business has nothing to do with Christmas, the language you use in your marketing may need to shift to reflect that. Whether you’re aiming for Christmas sales or New Year bookings, read on to discover how to talk to your audience at Christmas to make it happen.
Be emotional
There’s no getting away from it; Christmas makes people emotional. That means you get to use emotion in your marketing because it’s more powerful this time of year. Knowing how to talk to your audience at Christmas means understanding how they express emotion. You might have customers who wear their heart on their sleeve, are a bit more reserved or just hate the whole thing.
They might be stressed because they love Christmas but feel the weight of expectation is too heavy. Speak to how your audience is feeling, and your content will resonate.
Keep it short
You can make an exception for blog posts; otherwise, keep your content short and snappy. You’re speaking to people who either have too much to do or can’t be bothered but know they’ll be in trouble if they don’t buy at least a few presents. No one has the brain space for long social media captions.
Write short and snappy tips or gift recommendations, and your audience will be much more likely to read them.
Make your audience smile
Laughing is good for you. It reduces stress and helps you sleep better, so it’s the ideal antidote to Christmas stress. Even if you don’t have a Christmassy business, you can still give your audience a giggle to make them feel better. Even cheesy cracker jokes can help people bond over a collective groan.
Alternatively, post something calm to let them stop and relax for a couple of minutes.
Be direct
Keeping your posts short is great, but it’s also important to be direct. Tell your customers if a product is the perfect gift for their mum or someone who wants to make their garden more environmentally friendly.
A quick tip like “Here’s something you can do in less than 5 minutes to deal with X” will show your audience how helpful you are and win you new fans.
Show your personality
OK, this applies all year round, but it works really well at Christmas. You might be the sort of person who loves everything about Christmas, which probably means you want to attract customers who feel the same. Alternatively, you and your customers might enjoy Christmas but still feel stressed. There’s loads of preparation to do, and even the nice things, like the school carol concert, involve a full-on diary juggle.
Don’t worry about what people expect of you. Be honest about how you’re feeling, and you’ll attract customers who feel the same.
If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you at Christmas and all year round, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.
Alternatively, for writing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month, sign up for my mailing list using the form below. You’ll get a free copy of my eBook ‘Stop hiding your business’ as a thank you from me. I’m also a vegetarian, which means that my business and I are entirely spam-free!
When I tell people that I’m a financial adviser or a financial planner, I hear all the time, “I don’t need financial advice because I don’t have any spare money”. It is a common misconception that you need to have lots of money to need advice. I help my clients feel more confident about their finances, make informed decisions, and have a financial plan for their future that is appropriate for them.
Often, very small changes made early enough can make a huge impact on your financial future. One of the first things we do is assess the income coming in against the essential expenditure. Essential expenditure is everything that has to be paid every month. For example, mortgage/rent, utilities, phone/internet, etc. Then we look at the discretionary expenditure, which might be things like gym membership, children’s activities or eating out, etc. These expenditures are still important because they are things that will give you the lifestyle you want. It is always amazing, though, after we’ve done this exercise, how much surplus income there still is ‘on paper’. Most of my clients will say things like, “But there’s nothing left at the end of the month”. This is not unusual as most of us live to our means and spend what comes in each month. This simple exercise usually helps point out the amount of money that is ‘frittered’ away each month. This is not me pointing the finger, as we all do this, me included. What it does do, though is it allows us to see where we could be making better choices that could really change our futures.
Where does your money go?
A simple example could be as follows:
‘The average takeaway coffee costs around £3.40 per cup’ (at 23rd July 2023)
Let’s say you had 3 takeaway coffees a week (156 cups per year), that would cost around £10.20 per week, £44.20 per month and £530.40 per year.
The most popular takeaway coffee is a Latte, you could buy a pack of 8 Latte sachets from around £2.50 (source: Poundland). So, the equivalent would be that 20 packs of 8 sachets would be needed, costing a total of £50 per year. This could save you £480.40 per year.
If we then utilised the saved money and put it aside for our future. Saving £480.40 per year over a period of 15 years, assuming an interest rate of 5%, you could have a savings pot of £10,366.
That’s saving just over £10 per week!
This is obviously just a very simple example of an exchange that could be made without compromising your lifestyle but rather just making a simple swap that could free up some available cash to put away for your future.
Financial planning can help you save for the future
I am a huge advocate for saving in a pension plan as they are an extremely tax efficient savings vehicle. If we take the same example as above, but now take the £480.40 available capital and put it in a pension plan the additional tax relief could help this money grow even more.
For example:
£480.40 grossed up to include 20% tax relief equals £600.50.
£600.50 invested in a pension every year for 15 years, assuming a 5% interest, could give you a savings pot of £12,958. That’s an additional £2,592 without paying any more money in yourself.
This is a very basic example of what some simple financial planning could do to help you save for your future and create the lifestyle that you want.
For more information you can find me using the following links
Having regular customers is a great feeling. They’ve experienced your customer service and come back for more. Some of them might even have recommended you to their friends. On the other hand, encouraging people to buy from you for the first time can be tricky because they don’t know what to expect. Here’s how your marketing can give your customers peace of mind before they buy.
Explain the process
Before your customers buy from you, they need to know what will happen next. If they buy a product, they want to know how long it’ll be before it’s delivered. If they book a call with you or come for an appointment, will they be able to go away and think before they decide, or will you expect a decision straight away? What should they wear to class, or is there anything they need to bring?
Clear information about what they’re getting into is reassuring and means they’re more likely to take that first step.
Show them behind the scenes
Showing your customers behind the scenes of your business helps them to feel like insiders. They can see new products being created or how you set your studio up for a photo shoot. It can help them feel more comfortable about working with you too. Showing a fitness class with bodies of all shapes and sizes lets people know they won’t be the only person with a wobbly belly.
Make it easy to get in touch
If you offer a bespoke service, you’ll often need a conversation with a prospective customer so you can tailor your service to their needs. Make the process clear and easy to follow wherever people find you. You could have a contact form on your website or want people to message you if they find you on social media. Make it obvious what you want them to do next.
Equally, if you’re offering a class or selling a product, make sure the link to book or buy is easy to find so they don’t have to search for it.
Use straightforward language
I feel as if “don’t use jargon if your clients don’t know it” could be my catchphrase, but it bears repeating. This is especially important if you work in a professional or technical field like finance or law. Your clients want to be reassured that you’ll help them rather than bamboozle them with jargon.
Don’t feel as if you need to use fancy words for things. Write as you’d normally speak, then edit.
Include FAQs
You can answer FAQs anywhere, from your website to social media to a sales page for a specific product or service. If you can use real customer questions, that’s great because other people will probably ask them too.
FAQs are great for SEO because they’re the questions potential customers will also type into Google.
Put yourself in your marketing
If you’re a one-person business, letting your customers get to know you helps them to trust you. Showing your face in your marketing helps people distinguish you from others who offer something similar. They see your face or hear your voice in a post and remember you because you don’t look or sound like everyone else.
If you want to write content that puts your customers’ fears to rest and lets them get to know you, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, sign up below to get useful content writing tips straight to your inbox every month.
It’s nearly Hallowe’en, so my thoughts turn to the spooky side of life. The thing is, what if your business is the scary thing? You might know that you and your business are lovely and not terrifying, but your customers could still hesitate. Here are the top five reasons your customers are scared to contact you and what you can do about them.
They don’t know what to expect
Contacting a new business can be like the first day of school; exciting but also terrifying if you don’t know what to expect. That’s why schools send out loads of information to parents and have settling-in days for the kids.
Use your marketing to share what happens when people get in touch, book an appointment or come to a class. Tell them what they need to bring or what to wear. They’re more likely to get in touch when they can see the path ahead.
They think they won’t understand you
This probably applies to you if you work in law, accountancy or anything technical, particularly with lay clients. When I was a solicitor, legal speak created a shorthand to use with other lawyers, but I never used it with my clients. Your customers might be putting off something important because they think you speak gobbledegook.
If your customer doesn’t speak the same technical language as you, don’t use it in your marketing. Show them you’re a normal human being who’ll explain things in a straightforward way.
They’re worried about pressure sales
I hate pressure selling. When I got married, we immediately rejected the photographer who offered us a 50% discount, “but only if you sign now.” Does that ever work?
If you use sales calls in your business, there’s no single way to reassure people that you won’t do this. You can share case studies and testimonials and talk about your process on your website, blog, and emails. Knowing they’ll have time to think things over will reassure people and encourage them to book a call.
They’re scared of asking a stupid question
No one wants to look stupid or feel like they’re being a nuisance. Your future customers might have a question whose answer is the difference between them booking and walking away, but they’re afraid to ask it.
The best way to deal with this is to use FAQs. You can use these as a list or a single post on any marketing platform. Answer questions that people have asked you, but make some up, too. Talk to people in your networking groups to see what they’d ask. I love coming up with questions for clients. I’ve lost count of the number of blog topics that came out of me asking a client how something works.
They don’t know you
What’s the biggest first-day-of-school fear you can think of? Yep, will the other kids be nice? Will I make friends? When you put yourself in your marketing, you help your customers get to know, like and trust you so they aren’t scared to get in touch.
Your marketing can show people who you are before they ever meet you (if they’ll ever meet you). When you write your marketing, be yourself, and you’ll ease your customers’ minds.
If you want to write content that puts your customers’ fears to rest and lets them get to know you, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Alternatively, sign up using the form below for helpful hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.
Getting people to sign up to your email list gives you a whole load more control over what your audience sees. It’s true that your emails may end up in someone’s unopened backlog. However, they’re much more likely to see your content than if you rely on social media, so your email marketing can turn subscribers into customers.
The question is, what do you do with your subscribers once they’ve signed up? Read on to find out. (If you’d like to learn more about how to persuade them to subscribe in the first place, read this)
Create a nurture sequence
“What’s a nurture sequence?” I hear you cry. It’s the email equivalent of introducing yourself, welcoming someone into your business and showing them around. You can tailor what you offer them based on what they’re interested in (more on that in a minute), but your aim is to send around five emails to let them know what to expect from you and your business and give them an overview of your services.
Offer a low-cost product
Fear is one of the most common obstacles that prevents anyone from buying from a business for the first time. They don’t want to waste money on something that doesn’t deliver (literally or metaphorically). Offering a low-cost product to a new subscriber helps because they only take a small risk. Depending on your business, you could choose something digital or a small physical product.
Make an offer
Emailing your list can achieve several different goals. Your emails help people get to know you, let you share valuable tips and tell your subscribers how they can work with you. Don’t be afraid to share your services and tell readers how they can book an appointment or buy your newest product. You can also offer them something special…
Make them feel special
Feeling like you’re part of a community can be really special. Your emails can offer that to your subscribers, making them more likely to buy and keep that feeling going. You can make your readers feel special by offering something just for them. That could be a discount, early access to new products or subscriber-only content and events.
Involve them in your process behind the scenes
Showing your customers what’s happening behind the scenes helps them get excited about new products or understand more about your services. Case studies work well for service-based businesses or share images to show what you’re working on. Sharing with your subscribers first gives them that sense of exclusivity and lets you preview subscriber-only deals, but you can also do this on social media.
Include valuable content
It’s important to talk about what you’re selling in your emails, but your subscribers will get fed up if that’s all you do. Share content that helps them learn about what you do and DIY if they need to. Sharing a couple of blog links in your nurture sequence gives new readers quick insights and helps them get more out of your lead magnet.
Tell a story
Telling a story in your marketing helps your audience relate to you as a human being and not just a business owner. It can show them that you understand what they need or how your lives are similar. There are loads of ways to do this, but remember that it’s OK to talk about your life and experiences using your own voice.
Personalise your emails
Your email software should allow you to include someone’s name when you email them. Personalisation can go further than that with the right tools. You can segment your list and contact people interested in specific topics. It’s much easier to turn subscribers into customers when you’re only sending people information about services they’re interested in.
Don’t be shy
If you’ve ever held back from emailing your list because you don’t want to bother them, stop. They signed up to hear from you. If they change their minds, they can unsubscribe, but if they don’t know what you’re offering, they can’t buy.
If you want to write content that will turn subscribers into customers, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts and emails to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.
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