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Websites, developers and designers
Is there a foolproof way to get a website built?
There's a lot of confusion about the process of building a website and where developers, designers, copywriters and other professionals fit in.
We asked Graphic Designer and Front End Developer Richard Slade to answer questions about the best way to get a great website built.
Richard has over 20 years experience in the design industry working in the public, private and charity sectors with some of the top names in design. He produces highly creative work for brands and organisations across the UK and his work covers a wide range of disciplines, including web, print and corporate identity. His portfolio can be viewed at sladedesign.co.uk
This is a transcript of a live Q&A.
Does everybody need a website?
Q. Why would I want a website? It would seem that people can find me ok via LinkedIn.
Richard Slade The difference between any platform like LinkedIn or Facebook and your own website is that you own your website and you have no control over the other platforms. They could be changed or taken down with no notice.
If you're selling a product you might use a platform like Etsy and they'll take a cut of your profits and suggest buyers look at your competitors whereas if you could have a bespoke shop to fit your needs on your own website.
When you post on LinkedIn or any other platform they change their terms /layout /processes and privacy with no reference to you. You could lose all your articles, posts, pictures and connections. If you own your website with a blog and a mailing list, its your property.
Should new businesses start with a simple site?
Helen Lindop I have some experience of people new-ish to business who want to leap in with a website that is more complex than I think they realise. E.g. someone who has a main offering but also wants to make an online course and they want a booking service and payment options... and so on. I know it depends on the individual, but do you recommend starting with a small, simple website then add features as they grow? Or does that risk expensive re-designs later on?
Richard Slade I would always recommend, you can't go wrong with using a CMS or Content Management System, as this can adapt and grow as the business grows with no cost implications for migrating sites, or changing platforms if the existing one doesn't have all features.
Recommended Content Management Systems
A Content Management System is software that helps users create, manage, and modify content on their own website without the need for specialised technical knowledge.
Helen Lindop What sort of CMS would you recommend?
Richard Slade The most widely used are Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal.
Wikipedia cite WordPress as being used by more than 60 million websites including 33% of the top 10 million global websites.
Its also an open source platform, which means that millions of people worldwide maintain it but no-one owns it so this makes it very easy to find people who do even the most complex sites and you're not going to get stuck if your developer disappears or if they use bespoke code that means you have to pay for every change.
This is a chart of the most popular Content Management Systems
Wix, SquareSpace, Wordpress.com (not Wordpress.org which is different) all fall within the online builder category. This means that all the content (images and text) is stored on the providers platform. If they decide to change their platform, as in free to chargeable, or go into liquidation or get bought out, your site would be affected.
The manual, software and CMS categories ensure you retain ownership and copyright forever.
Own your Domain Name
Having your own domain name, website and email addresses will give you and your business a more professional look. You should always own these yourself, irrespective of who builds and hosts your website. Owning your domain name also helps to protect copyrights and trademarks, increase brand awareness, and search engine positioning.
Domain names can be purchased as part of a package with Wix, SquareSpace, Wordpress.com etc or independently.
Domain names can be purchased at any time. Even if all you have is an idea you can secure the domain name and let it sit dormant for years.
What's the process?
Ann Hawkins If someone decides to have a site built, what comes first? Designer / developer / copywriter? Who manages the whole thing?
Richard Slade With new builds, for me, the process starts much further up. Knowing what the site is for, what the owner expects it to do, and what results they want. Then comes a discussion about what you want people to do when they land on your site. This will help to inform the choice of platform and design concept. The process comes first then the layout. If there is any complex interactivity like shops, event listings, forums etc. its important to know where they fit into how the site will be used.
Once all that is determined I'd do a simple wire frame - this is a very simple drawing of what goes where in a very basic layout and shows text blocks, images, buttons etc.
This is a simple example of a wireframe.
My advice is to find a designer based on their previous work and whether the sites they showcase are kept up-to-date. All the sites I list as my work, I check in with regularly as they directly reflect my reputation. Plus I'm a little OCD about stuff which helps too.
Before work starts on building the site, its a good idea to have all the copy and images ready so that everything can be planned out to a realistic timetable.
===================
This is huge topic and there are many more aspects to discuss. If you have any questions you can get in touch with Richard at www.sladedesign.co.uk or on Twitter @SladeDesign
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How to have a healthy relationship with money
Does thinking about money make you anxious, or is is just a tool that gives you choices?
Business owners often transfer their feelings about their own money to their business and this can cause lots of problems, so we asked Money Coach, Dennis Harhalakis, to answer questions on "How to have a healthy relationship with money"
What is money coaching?
Dennis Harhalakis I spent many years working in the finance industry and I noticed that most of the people I worked with were pretty bad at managing their money.
The whole industry is set up to take your money and do things with it, but there was very little understanding about what enabled some people to have healthy saving and spending habits, whereas others - and there is no relation to income or social standing - struggled with everything money related.
In the late 90's there was a book called the Millionaire Next Door and this analysed the behaviour of people that built wealth over their lifetimes. They identified 4 positive financial behaviours:
1. Frugality - spending less than you earn
2. Confidence - financial literacy and learning about how the system works
3. Responsibility - taking ownership of your financial outcomes
4. Social indifference - not being influenced by what other people are buying and what society tells you should have.
Understanding the emotional aspects of your relationship with money is the key to developing these behaviours.
It's hard to budget if thinking about money causes anxiety.
It's hard to be indifferent to the opinions of others if your self-esteem is low.
So, money coaching helps people to recognise and understand those patterns so you can make the changes you want.
Using money as a measure of success
Q. There are many ways to define and measure success but in business, money is the usual measure, why is this?
Dennis Harhalakis Money is the simplest measure society has for success. As hierarchical mammals our brains are always looking out to see how we compare to others. It's a core survival issue and it's totally subconscious.
Q. Some people are easily able to separate how they deal with business money and how they deal with their own. So its obviously not money per se that's the issue but having a different relationship to ownership. Is that right?
Dennis Harhalakis Yes correct. Our relationship with our own money is entirely emotional. Money is a core survival need and so dealing with it triggers our core survival processes and responses. That's why it's so emotional. For small business owners, the problem is often that there is no neat separation between personal money and business money. So, personal issues with money will leak over into the business side. This goes beyond simple competencies, and extends to issues of self worth which can then limit your ability to drive your business forward.
What we learn from our parents
Q. In your experience, what's the most common thing that gets in the way of having a healthy relationship with money?
Dennis Harhalakis The biggest cause of unhealthy relationships with money is bad messaging during childhood. Depending on how the adults behaved, money becomes associated with anxiety, shame, conflict. In households where money wasn't talked about it's really hard to develop a positive relationship. The sad thing is, children tend to internalise this and we find ourselves ashamed that we cannot manage our finances properly.
Q. I've found it's not too hard to understand where my beliefs about wealth and money come from but it's much harder to change them - what do you advise?
Dennis Harhalakis We often don't understand how and why we feel the way we do, but we blame ourselves. As a society we don't talk about these feelings and we are embarrassed. If I had to give you one message only, it's that we all have money issues and it's perfectly normal. Unless your parents were incredibly enlightened, you will have some negative patterns.
The path to developing positive emotions, patterns and behaviour around money
1. Understand your money story
2. Moderate extreme behaviour
3. Change negative patterns and scripts.
This is really, really hard to do on your own because you brain will shy away from things/thoughts that make is feel uncomfortable.
Understanding your neurobiology - how the brain works - how the brain handles money - is probably the key to all of this.
The aim is develop greater consciousness in your behaviour around money. What is driving those emotions, what is driving your behaviour.
95% of our behaviour is subconscious and driven by deeply ingrained processes that keep our species alive for millions of years.
The good news is that it's possible to change all these lifelong habits and beliefs and there are incredible benefits to it.
Technology and money
Q. Technology is changing the way we handle money and that this is something that looks set to grow significantly in the future. Do you see technology improving peoples relationship with money?
Dennis Harhalakis Technology will help us to deal with the complexity of managing our finances - I love Monzo and Money Dashboard - but the emotional dynamics of our relationship can't be changed by technology per se. If technology can be used to support financial literacy and budgeting, then yes... it is extremely useful. But there is also a downside. When spending becomes frictionless, we spend more.
Q. Is that because we cannot manage/control our own desires or that we just don't follow the figures?
Dennis Harhalakis We are wired for instant gratification. As we evolved, if we saw something we needed, we just took it (and usually ate it). We don't need to do that now, but the urge is still there. So, when the process of instant gratification becomes frictionless, it becomes really hard to control.
Q. What about pay forward systems where you have a self imposed limit to your spend?
Dennis Harhalakis All friction is good..... and 'control' mechanisms will vary from person to person. It's about choice architecture and designing the process that will achieve the outcome you desire. Neurologically speaking, handing over cash versus waving a card or phone are completely different processes.
Resources and help
Q. So many books/resources/experts on relationships with money rely on new age ideas like manifesting - can you recommend any that are based on things like psychology and solid financial principles instead?
Dennis Harhalakis The resources page on my website has a good list of useful books and I suggest you have a quick look at those that seem interesting. If I had to pick 1 it would probably be Wired for Wealth and I would also highly recommend Money Magic by Deborah Price. She is the founder of the Money Coaching Institute and has been doing amazing work for over 20 years. I trained with her.
https://cambridgemoneycoaching.uk/resources-2/
Dennis Harhalakis is the founder of Cambridge Money Coaching and a Certified Money Coach (CMC)®. Money Coaching deals with the unconscious patterns, beliefs and behaviours around money that we all have. Understanding these behaviours and patterns is the key to achieving true financial independence and success. This understanding is particularly important when facing the challenges of a sudden change in circumstances.
With over 30 years’ experience in financial services, Dennis offers clear, practical guidance on how to address the common problems associated with money choices, patterns, and the day-to-day management of money issues. He holds an Investment Advice Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI).
Dennis believes strongly in supporting financial literacy and helping young people prepare for the challenges of today’s world. He has been a Business Adviser with Youth Enterprise and worked with Cambridge schools as a mentor and guide to careers in Finance.
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How to close more sales with email marketing
Are you worried that email marketing comes across as automated spam?
Do you know how to manage your mailing list so that your messages arrive almost by magic to solve your customers problems at just the right time?
Helen Lindop helps small businesses set up lists that make your customers feel special, not just an anonymous part of your sales and marketing machine.
This is a transcript of a live Q&A.
Helen Lindop I'm not going to teach you sales tips because I'm not a sales expert. But one thing I see a lot is people assuming that email marketing is just another marketing channel (and an older, less-sexy-than-the-latest-social-media-platform one) and therefore just one more marketing job they don't have time for.
But I'd like to give you a different perspective. Think of your other marketing channels as ways of reaching out to new people and starting off a relationship with them. Email marketing asks them to go a step further - usually offering a gift of some kind in exchange for an email address - and that means it's about following up, carrying on with the relationship-building, then closing the sale.
If you've ever been frustrated by not selling as much as you'd like on social media, it's very possible that you're missing this piece of your marketing strategy, or at least leaning too far towards reaching out to new people and not putting enough focus on following up and closing. This is also good for people who feel a bit uncomfortable about selling... because an email does that bit for you - if you do it right.
How to avoid looking like spam
Helen Lindop There are lots of ways to avoid the dreaded spam label: First make sure you're following the rules - GDPR fills a lot of people with terror but it's not so daunting for small businesses and a lot of it is just transparency and courtesy anyway.
Then, send info that people actually want to read - help, educate or entertain them. Send something they'll look forward to reading.
Check your stats e.g. if your unsubscribe rate is high, drop the frequency a bit and see if it improves. Test your headlines to see if they have spammy words in them - many email marketing platforms have a headline checker.
How you gather email addresses matters too. If they already know and like you from social media or a presentation you ran then you already have a relationship with them before they subscribe. Then you need to develop that.
Don't let GDPR put you off
Helen Lindop For any micro biz owners nervous about GDPR, this might be reassuring https://ico.org.uk/.../assessment-for-small-business.../
Q. What's the most effective way to get replies? Is it header/content/CTA? or a combo? I'm sure it depends on what the relationship I've built with them is, and where they're at in terms of sharing info with me and when we can meet. Ideally I want to meet up and chat as that's when my 'sales' get done :)
Helen Lindop If you want to move them towards interacting with you I'd encourage that right from when they subscribe. So in the welcome email, ask them a question like 'What's your top challenge with x? Hit the reply button and tell me, I promise to reply'. That way they know you're a real human being and will respond. Often people assume email marketing is a one way communication so they need a bit of encouraging. Then write your emails as if you're writing to one individual, make it feel really personal. Similar to the way you approach social media, nothing like a dry newsletter.
How to get started building a list
Helen Lindop Start with a goal - what do you want to achieve with it? E.g. more design clients? I know that sounds really obvious but it's surprising how much this varies. E.g. I had one client who was an accountant who didn't have any space for new clients so the only purpose of her list was to stop people forgetting she existed when she did need a new client!
Q. That's pretty much my goal - attract more clients and remind existing ones I'm still here. However, I don't feel comfortable adding existing clients to a mailing list. Obviously I'd ask for their permission, but "can I add you to my newsletter list" just sounds lame.
Helen Lindop I think 'newsletter' is a very boring word with undertones of 'I'm going to try to flog you stuff from time to time'. Can you think of a way of giving it a brand all of its own that it makes it sound like a product in its own right, e.g. The Design Times. You can still be transparent about what's in it on your landing page.
Q. OK, so I've created a landing page and sign up form... how best to get people to actually sign up? (Is it a good idea to have a sample amount of content or similar?) Then publicise the new landing page on social? What's the protocol for inviting existing clients to sign up - send an email inviting them to do so, or be more subtle, just adding a link to it in my email footer etc.
Helen Lindop I think you need to sell it a bit - it's fine to put it in your footer but in itself I'm not sure you'll get many subscriptions from that. With clients you speak to I'd just drop it into conversation. A landing page with good 'what's in it for me' copy is a great idea, I'd just treat it like a product you'd sell...except it's free. In a way it is 'a sale' because they are paying for it with their email address.
There are loads of ways of promoting your list - a really effective one is to do some kind of event that's closely related to The Design Times - online or off - and mention it there (more on that here https://helenlindop.com/.../how-to-build-your-mailing.../ ). You can do a straightforward tweet or social media update with a link telling people why they should sign up, I put mine in related blog posts, too.
How to build your mailing list using online workshops
Using the right platform
Q. Should all bulk emailing be done via a dedicated platform and not from a personal email address and why?
Helen Lindop Yes, definitely do it from an email marketing platform because to bulk mail from your own email address looks spammy. And it's WAY easier to manage it from a platform. Plus there are all kinds of data security issues with bulk email from your own address.
Q. What kind of numbers of people would you consider bulk email Helen?
Helen Lindop You can get email plans that start from free (Mailerlite for example) so if you have any intention of building a list I'd start right now with one subscriber. That's not to say free is best, it depends what your goals are - you might be better with one of the paid platforms. But it's just not worth the risk and hassle of emailing even 10 people with your personal email.
What if no-body buys anything?
Helen Lindop If you find yourself with a list of people who love your content but don't buy, then check things like are you making offers frequently enough? Are they hidden in a load of text that people skim read over? Are they the right offers for that audience? Are they at the right stage of the buying process?
Some people are so scared of being spammy that they never really sell anything in their emails.
Q. Helen Lindop Is this a good subtle way to do business or a fear that needs overcoming??!
Helen Lindop Often it is a fear that needs overcoming and it's hard to get over it unless you do it. Both from a point of view that it gives you confidence that you can do email marketing without people hating you (you totally can), and you've then got some stats to work with.
It's subtle in one way in that you don't need to sell face-to-face, but you still need to be confident in presenting offers in emails.
Q. How does it work to segment a list so that people who are interested in one thing don't get offers for things they're not interested in?
Helen Lindop Most email marketing platforms allow you to tag subscribers, so you could tag someone who subscribed at your event with #event and someone who has shown an interest in online training with #onlinetraining. Or even both, because most allow you to have multiple tags. You can apply tags manually e.g. if you import subscribers who signed up on a sheet at a live event, or you can set it up that subscribers that join your list from a specific landing page are tagged #event, for example. This means that you can send emails about events to those people who are most interested in events. That's a really simple example, you can also tag people based on what they bought in your online store, whether they've clicked a specific link on your site, if they've abandoned your shopping cart and many more.
In terms of platform, Convertkit and Active Campaign are great for doing this, Aweber is a good lower priced solution that's maybe a bit less powerful but still good, Mailerlite is not that strong but does have some features, Mailchimp is infuriatingly clunky. *other opinions are available!
One significant change with GDPR for email marketing is that you can no longer say 'download my freebie' then subscribe them to a mailing list and sell them stuff. You either have to a) be transparent on the landing page that they'll download the freebie and be added your mailing list where they can expect to receive x, y and z or b) let them download the freebie then get their consent to add them to your mailing list after. Many people got so scared by this they either stopped giving away freebies or added a load of confusing tick-boxes to their landing pages. Just wanted to mention this as it is still possible to use lead magnets, and they can still be very effective.
If you are stuck for what to write to your subscribers I have 9 free templates you can copy, paste and fill in the gaps here (yes that's my freebie!)
Newsletter and awesome freebies
If you have any other questions for Helen you can find her at www.helenlindop.com on Twitter @HelenLindop and LinkedIn
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How to structure and plan your business story
How to tell your business story
Telling your business story might feel daunting. Where do you start? What should you include? How will people respond? What if they don't respond? Will it feel like a school assignment?
We asked Rachel Extance, who helps businesses find their stories and tell them effectively, to be our Ask The Expert and tell us how to plan out our stories, what structure to use and how to share them. She covered what to do if you're faced with blank page syndrome, how to tell stories if you think your business is 'boring' and how to not feel awkward about sharing stories.
This is a write-up of a conversation between our members.
What are your business stories?
Q. Is it best to have one overall story for your business then break that down over a series of different blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts etc? Or maybe have mini-stories that slot into the main one?
Rachel Extance Your business will have lots of different stories:
- Your main story is the one about how you fit in to your perfect customer’s life. What difference do you make? How is their world improved by you being a part of it?
- You have your origin story. How did your business come about?
- You have your personal/founder story. This may be similar to your origin story (if you started a business because you were made redundant for example or you have always had a talent for making something) or it may be different. How did you become an accountant? Or come to be in a different city/country?
- Then you have other stories:
- Case studies
- Stories about your products
- Stories which help people understand how what you do can help them
- Stories about what is happening in your business
- Stories about things you’re doing which indirectly relate to your business
- networking events you have been to
- a place you have been
- anything which gives people an insight into your world and helps them get to know you
It’s important that your stories have the key components of a story (see next section).
So those are some examples of the stories you can tell. And you can see from those two lists that some of those stories are ones which can be told time and time again. They will be on your website, you can share them on social media, you can tell them to people when you meet.
Others will have a shorter shelf life. It might be something which is relevant for a day or a week.
Ideally, you want a mix of stories so you always have something you can share to help people coming across you for the first time to get to know you and how you can help them, and for people who are already in your network to enjoy and have a chat with you about.
Q. Thank you, really helpful! How do you fit those into some kind of strategy/framework or whatever so that eg. you don't bore people by telling your origin story too much or you end up telling lots of smaller ones that don't hang together that well?
Rachel Extance Think about where and how you are going to share your stories. If you're using Twitter for instance, you can share the same thing quite a lot without people getting bored of it.
Also think about all the different things you can pull out of your story to share. So if you were to take your origin story you could have a post which says: "How I overcame ... to ...."
Then: "Why I....."
Another could be: "I was really struggling with...."
If your post has sub-headings, these can all be individual tweets.
Also quote yourself. Look for lines which stand out in your story and use them as tweets.
You can probably get at least 5 different posts out of one story (I've seen people talk about 10x or more).
Spread them out and share them on different days. So one month put it out on Tuesday am, the next month Thursday lunchtime, next time Saturday evening.
If you are blogging/recording regularly so you have new material to share, shout about it. Your followers don't want to miss it. You can say it's new and put it out every day for a week at different times.
On Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, things have a longer shelf life. But there's nothing wrong with recycling a piece of content round again after a break.
If in doubt, have a look at the timeline of a brand or person whose work you really enjoy and who posts regularly. See if you can spot how often they put out the same post with a different message.
Reposting also gives you the opportunity to experiment with different messages, timings and imagery.
Plan your posts out over 3 months. You'll find you don't need to repeat that often.
What is a story?
Rachel Extance A story has some key ingredients: a beginning, a middle, and an end.
It also needs:
Characters (the who)
Action (what, where, how, why). The ‘why’ is important. People need to know the motivation and want to know what happens next or they will stop reading/listening/watching.
A resolution (how did it end?)
It needs to be relatable and it needs to create an emotional connection.
Posting a photo of a cup of coffee or what you ate for breakfast (no matter how pretty it looks) is not, in my opinion, a story.
However, it can become a story if you can talk about your favourite cafe and why you love going there and that the owner, Michael, makes the best carrot cake in town. Or that you are drinking coffee while working on a new chapter of your book/planning a workshop/developing a new service and tell people a little about your process and when they can expect to be able to see the result. This kind of story can be helpful for keeping you accountable. If you’ve told people there will be a book, there needs to be a book by x date. People will want to know the latest stories about how the book is coming along.
It’s vital that your stories resonate with your audience. What’s your story giving them? Is it information? (Stories are a great teaching tool.) Is it entertainment? Does it help them get to know you and remind them how much they enjoy working with you?
Q. Really helpful. I forget that stories can be really short. I keep thinking I need to write a 1000 word blog post as a minimum!
Rachel Extance stories can be very short.
Just to add to this, the 'end' doesn't have to be 'the end'. (You also don't have to start at the beginning). If you think about a soap opera, there are lots of stories running at the same time. Some are begun and resolved in an episode, some run over several episodes. And it's all one long story with people coming and going for years. 'The end' just needs to be a means of rounding off your story so people aren't left hanging, wondering if there's more to come or what happened to a character.
Q. Got it! It's like Doctor Who... you've got the overall story that's run for over 50 years, the story of each incarnation of the Doctor, the story of each series and the story of each episode. All nested together. Then I guess there's the story of the alien who only shows up for 5 minutes. 🤣 (And the guy who gets sucked out of an air lock).
Rachel Extance You get bonus points for relating it all to Doctor Who :-) Yes, exactly that.
How to tell your business story without feeling awkward about it
Q. Sometimes I'm a bit too close to my story and can't tell whether it's going to resonate or just feel a bit cheesy or self-congratulatory. Any tips for writing stories that are 'ooh' rather than 'urgh'?
Rachel Extance There is nothing wrong with telling people a story about success.
If you don’t tell your stories, no-one will ever know. People can’t know that you are brilliant at writing emails which achieve a higher than average open-rate, or that you won a client an award, or that you’re feeling pleased because you figured something out that’s been bugging you for ages, unless you share it.
Sharing success stories is important in influencing people’s buying decisions. People often don’t approach you until they have made that decision to buy. Seeing good reviews of you and stories from you about work you have done with others helps them make up their mind.
How often do you get talking to someone you haven’t seen for a while and it turns out they don’t have a clue what you do for a living? They might be a potential customer, or they might know someone else who is.
Humans are wired for stories. We love hearing them and reading them. Why else do we spend a stupid amount of time on social media when we all absolutely have better things to do with our time? We want stories. What are our friends up to? A clip from our favourite show, a bit of nostalgia, we cannot get enough of stories.
When you're sharing a story, give people reading/listening/watching something they can use. You’ve just successfully done something for a client: this tells other people looking to do the same thing that you can help them. You could also share a tip or two which your audience can benefit from.
Tell people the difference it has made to you or your client. Figuring out this issue means you can now take Friday off and you’re going to go shopping. Or it’s enabled a client to make x new orders this week.
For example, “I made £5000 this week" sounds boastful. But try: “I'm celebrating the launch of my new product line which I’ve been working on for the past 6 months. We knew people really needed help with x so we developed y. I held a launch party at z with so-and-so (or went live on Facebook) and was really nervous but then the orders came flooding in and we sold £5,000! This is my best launch so far and I’m really grateful to companies x, y, and z who helped me make it happen”
You’ve shown people there was a process. You didn’t just make £5,000, you worked hard for it. You listened to customers and met a need. You stepped out of your comfort zone and did a launch. You didn’t just do it by yourself, you had others to help you.
[pullquote]Humans are wired for stories. We love hearing them and reading them. Why else do we spend a stupid amount of time on social media when we all absolutely have better things to do with our time? We want stories.[/pullquote]
Selling with stories
Q. What about the balance between telling stories and selling? Do you have any tips for selling using a story so it feels authentic but not pushy?
Rachel Extance I have struggled with 'selling' since I started out. But over time I've reconciled myself with it and I believe we're all selling all the time.
I mentioned earlier that people have often made up their mind before you hear from them. This is the Zero Moment of Truth. Telling stories helps people get to know you and understand what you're offering, whether they are in the market for your products and services or not.
I'm personally not a fan of stories which start with some shock, horror click bait intro. But that's probably because I'm a cynic.
I do believe that every business has stories to tell. We're all human. And that telling our stories creates connections and helps us come to mind when people are looking for someone who does what we do.
I should say that people who advise you to write 'shock horror click bait intros' do so because the stats show that they work.
What stories can 'boring' businesses tell?
Q. Any tips for those people who feel their business subject is just too dull to have any juicy stories? (People have told me this as I've been trying to plan out their email newsletters with them - so this is their opinion rather than mine!)
Rachel Extance If you have started a business then it can't be that boring. It must also have a market, otherwise you're not going to make any money from it, therefore people must be interested in it.
How does water supply impact on your customers? What does it enable them to do?
What are the benefits of someone doing your books for you?
Another way to approach it, if you're a service industry, is to talk about the interesting jobs/business your clients have. How does your SAAS product enable these cool kids to keep doing amazing things?
Being authentic when you have a challenging story to tell
Q. Challenging stories. I don't want my back story to isolate people but it's a big part of my narrative and impossible to skip over lightly, is there a tone or way to share that is inclusive.
Q. That's a really tough balance. I know social media experts say you should be authentic and you'll attract the right people, but what if you go a bit too far and start putting off the right people? Also, where do you draw the line between authentic and just a bit too personal?
Rachel Extance There is no right or wrong answer to this. Your story is important and part of who you are. As with talking to people face to face, how much you share and where you share is down to you. You don't have to give people details you don't want to give them. You have a right to a personal life and to keep that personal. Equally, sharing your story can help others who have similar experiences. Being authentic just means being you. It doesn't mean getting into conversations you feel uncomfortable with.
What if you're shy about telling stories?
Q. Any tips for the reluctant clients that know they should be doing these activities but are too 'shy' to commit?
Rachel Extance This is one of the many situations in which I'm not sure school did us a favour!
We feel there are rules.
We feel we're going to be judged.
We're scared about how permanent it is.
People are going to look at us.
But:
The chances of you doing a Gerald Ratner are incredibly small. Really. What could you possibly do that's going to sink your business?
My guide on this is always: would you be happy to see this splashed across the front page of a newspaper?
Put yourself in someone else's shoes and consider whether they will see something in what you have written or recorded that they are so appalled by that they will boycott your business or ring up a newsdesk.
Sometimes people do make innocent mistakes, it's true. But when it happens it's newsworthy because it is very rare, particularly if they are working with a professional.
Q. I think often online 'failure' for a small business means that it doesn't resonate and nobody reads to the end or shares it. You need to be pretty big to have a viral disaster. So the worst that can usually happen is that nobody sees it.
Rachel Extance Blogging/video/podcasting, you name it, builds over time. If you give up after the first one, or 3 or 10, it is never going to be a success for you.
Keep putting your newsletter out there. Keep writing your blog. Keep recording video, whatever it is. This article about formats for storytelling has good advice on this.
Then make sure you share it. So many people (including me) create things and then don't have time to share them. Draw up a posting schedule and put aside some time to load up your posts.
People might not see it the first time or they might not have time to read it. Scheduling it several times increases the chances of it reaching a wider audience.
If you have a clear idea of who your customer is and you know why you have created the piece of content with their needs in mind, then it will resonate.
How to overcome blank page syndrome
Q. I often have email marketing clients who say they don't have time to do the writing and can't think what to write anyway. I know one answer is to ask you (Rachel Extance) to do it for them, but I'm sure there are some easy ways to get over 'blank page syndrome' and produce some stories fast - do you have any tips?
Sometimes I think it's just that they have so much they could say and don't know how to extract a good, concise story from it. Often we've been taught a business or academic style of writing and felt we haven't written stories since primary school.
[pullquote]Blogging/video/podcasting, you name it, builds over time. If you give up after the first one, or 3 or 10, it is never going to be a success for you.[/pullquote]
Q. I have a few design clients that wonder why a blog page on their website for the same reasons, the 'blank page' fear and what have they got to say. I know from working with them that they have a story to tell but that extra push seems to be confidence?
Rachel Extance 1. Write! I know this sounds crazy but seriously, write. Whatever comes into your head. It doesn't matter. No-one is looking. You can scrunch the piece of paper up and throw it in the bin. Or have a file on your computer marked "drafts do not publish". It doesn't matter but write.
This is about to move into content marketing but it helps with telling stories because you need to kickstart your brain into being happy to put things out into the world.
2. Start with a list of the most common questions you get asked. If nobody's asked you yet, then look online for what people ask about. Try
- Answer the public
- Google search
- Looking at chapters in books (they're not going to be there if people aren't interested in knowing)
- Amazon listings all have reviews and a place where people ask questions. What did they like? What did they want to know about? What was missing?
- You can do the same thing with online course reviews.
3. Make a list of questions, you could start with 3, and write a detailed answer to them.
- how does someone book you?
- what information do you need to know from them?
- how does x service benefit them?
You now have three things which you know are helpful to prospective customers which you can share.
Another simple thing to do is imagine you are having a conversation with someone in the pub. You can do this with a friend/colleague/relative and record it on your phone. Otter.ai is a handy dictation tool. Tell them a story. Then read through the transcription and turn it into a blog post or re-record it as a piece to camera or audio.
How to structure your story
Q. How is the best way to structure a story when there’s so much to say?
Rachel Extance Another good question. Try to make it as simple as you can.
Can you tell it in 12 words or less?
This makes you focus on the key details. What did you put first, before you ran out of words?
Next, break it into 3 sections: beginning, middle, end.
Start with the key details you identified at the beginning. Focus on your audience. What do they want to know? Why are they going to keep listening/reading? Is that detail you feel is important actually relevant?
If it helps, give yourself a word limit for each bit. 20 words for the beginning, 100 words for the middle, 50 words for the end, for example.
Or try writing it as a tweet, 280 characters.
Depending on where you are telling your story, you can then go back again and expand the middle. You might need to explain a key concept. Or put in a quote. Or share an analogy which will help your audience understand.
But you might well find that while you could say a lot more, you might not need to. Or that you can break down the big thing you wanted to talk about into bite sized things which makes it more accessible.
How far ahead do you plan your stories?
Q. How far in advance do you plan? or advise your clients to plan? Weeks, months, quarters?? Having a plan means the output is so much better than constantly winging it IMO.
Rachel Extance I would plan at least 3 months ahead. This enables you to create your own story arc which could go something like:
Origin story
Founder story
Product spotlight
Customer case study
An event
Product spotlight
How we helped...
A cause we support or supplier we want to showcase
Product spotlight
Member of staff we want to champion
Something new we're working on
A look back over the last 3 months/a look forward to the next quarter
Product spotlight
You're able to present a well-rounded view of your business, talking about different aspects of it, and highlight your core offerings. This ties in to Helen's question above about selling.
You then know what you need to create and when you need to create it by. Having a content plan means you're unlikely to hit Friday and say: "Oh we didn't put a newsletter out or post this week's blog/video"
I would then look at what's coming up each month. Does it still fit? Has something else happened? Perhaps you're up for an award you didn't know about at the start of the quarter so you want to slot that in.
You also need to give yourself enough time to create your content, including pictures/video, get sign off from anyone if need be, do SEO, and leave enough time to create social media posts.
You can also batch content creation. Set a specific time every week or month aside when you create 2 or 4 articles/videos and create the social media posts. If you know what your plan is, it's very easy to do this.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch with Rachel Extance at The Story Cave or talk to her on Twitter.
What's the point of networking?
For some people the whole point of networking is to find new customers.
Unfortunately this has given networking a really bad name and many people avoid networking events because they don't want to be sold to.
And that's a shame because building a great network is one of the most useful things that anyone in business can do.
Ann Hawkins, founder of Drive the Network is well known for her views that the point of networking is not about selling but building great relationships, as she explains in this Q&A.
Q. I read so many comments like 'I hate networking' in small business Facebook groups, then when they expand on that it turns out they mean the type where people hand you a business card, bore you senseless with what they do, then move on to the next person. Which isn't networking. Can you explain what GOOD networking is? And that it can actually be fun?
Ann Hawkins Everyone has a different idea of "good" networking. For me it's so much more than finding out what people do in their business. I want to know if I like someone, if I can trust them, and if they'll be useful to other people in my network. The last thing I'm thinking about is if I can sell my services to them. It's definitely not giving them an elevator pitch (which I don't have) or "binning" them if they have no need of my services! Even for an introvert, finding people you really like and would like to meet again can be HUGE fun!
Find what you enjoy
Q. Can you give us your thoughts on the different styles of networking, from the very structured ones where you have to bring in a number of leads every week to the ones where there's no pressure at all. Is one better than the other or is it more about personality?
Ann Hawkins It's partly about personality: some people like ritual and knowing exactly what to expect from every meeting, and some businesses do very well from the sort of groups where only one of each type of business is allowed and members have to pass sales leads to each other. However, many small B2B businesses struggle to give 'real' leads consistently. The pressure to provide them and the judgement people face in their groups based on the of number and apparent monetary value of leads means people sometimes make them up and that's a waste of everyone's time. I also find the thought of meeting exactly the same people week after week and being forced to pass business to people I don't like or trust, quite bizarre. I believe in recommending someone who is a good fit rather than someone who happens to be “in my group”.
On-line or Face to Face?
Q. Is face-to-face networking more effective than online?
Ann Hawkins I don't believe it is. I have great relationships with people I've never met face to face and there are people I hate being in the same room with and spend all my time avoiding. It's much easier to avoid boring people on-line and also to get a more complete view of someone's character by looking at how they interact with others and what their interests are outside of business.
The other advantage of on-line networking is that while you're talking to one person, several hundred or even thousands can be observing, learning, and finding out who you are, what you're like, and how you behave in all sorts of circumstances. Its the most effective way I know of building a reputation among people you've never met and don't even know exist. I've got lots of work amd referrals from people all over the world who enjoy the content I share on-line and the way I help people to connect
Q. I know lots of people are nervous about showing up to networking events for the first time - do you have any tips?
Don't walk into a room full of strangers!
Ann Hawkins These are all great tips! But there's really no need for anyone to walk into a room full of strangers these days. I'm amazed by people who just pitch up, don't know what sort of event it is or who anybody is, and sometimes don’t even recognise the speaker – there’s really no excuse for that! Going round the room asking everyone what they do is really bad when a few minutes research beforehand will give you enough information to make a real impact. Imagine walking up to a stranger and saying. "I've really been looking forward to meeting you. Your website / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook Page looks great!" Or better still, connect with them on-line first so you can have a real conversation when you meet!
Q. The behaviour some people display at a networking meeting feels like they park their normal self in the carpark and think it's OK the be this, in your face, sales obsessed, inhuman idiot for the period of the meeting, than get back in their car and resume a 'normal' life – its weird.
Ann Hawkins I think that's partly because some networking organisations "train" people to deliver a 60 second pitch and "work the room" so they literally do put their normal self aside and go in with no curiosity about people except to find out if they're a prospect, and if they're not to just ignore them and move on.
Q. What's a good way to follow up after, I'm amazed at how few people do this.
Ann Hawkins Sending a blanket cheesy email that just repeats your elevator pitch or trying to set up a meeting is definitely NOT the way to follow up. That's kind of why I set up Drive as it is. I don't believe its ever necessary to go to an event without knowing who you're going to meet, check them out and have something to say to them when you get there. Same with the follow up. Connecting on line and continuing the conversation like two human beings is easy. I believe every event organiser, especially for paid events, has an obligation to set this up. I've been doing this for people who attend my events since 2009. It's not hard.
Of course it relies on people actually booking and not doing all this last minute "I'll try to get there" or "I might come" stuff. If you want to get the best out of any event, make a commitment and do your homework before you turn up. You and everyone else will enjoy the conversations more and its much easier to follow up.
Q. Networking will very rarely have instant results and I believe that's the major reason a lot of people shy away from it. We live in a world of quick fixes and that doesn't work in networking. It's a long game. How long would you tell a networking newbie to attend a group or meeting before making a judgement call on whether the group is for them?
Ann Hawkins I don't think you need to go to a meeting at all to decide if its the style you like. If you're a ritual person or intent on making sales, there are tried and tested styles for that. If you're open minded, curious and want to learn, you'd choose a different style. If a networking group has an active forum or on-line community it adds so much to the networking experience and removes the barriers of geography, or other other things that stop people joining in. You don't have to be "in the room" to build a great network.
Actually building a trusted network takes a long time. You need to feel comfortable with people, know their values, and how good a fit they’d be with others before recommending them and then get some feedback about their work before you know if they really trustworthy. Building that level of trust takes a long time and consistent action from everybody.
Q. That's my frustration when people say, “I've never got any clients from networking”. It usually means they've showed up to a few events but not done anything beyond that.
Ann Hawkins They've also missed the point that although the people in the room may never hire them, if they put in the work and help other people, every one of those people knows at least 150 other people who may become their clients. (Dunbar's Number)
Networking for Impact
There are two ways to create impact when we're networking:
We want people to remember us for the right reasons, and although its corny and much used, this Maya Angelou saying sums that up beautifully:
The second aspect of creating impact is in the usefulness of your network to others. If you go out just to find people you can sell to, you're missing 99% of the reasons for building a network. The value is in the impact it has on others when you introduce people to each other - people who can help or are just fun, and people who know other people and are happy to keep building that extended network. When you become the "go to person" for others to find who they need, that's the biggest impact of all.
Talking to people with real curiosity about who they are and not just what they do means you can be of most help to both them and the rest of your network.
You can see Ann talking to Martyn Sibley about Networking for Impact on The Martyn Sibley Show.
Read The Art of Subtle Networking
Find more from Ann at Inspiring Entrepreneurs on Twitter @AnnHawkins on LinkedIn
Martyn Sibley - How to be a World Changer
Did you start your business to make a difference - to make the world a better place?
Martyn Sibley had a fierce determination to be independent and in the process, became a world changer. In 2009, he started his blog - martynsibley.com to raise awareness of the barriers and also the opportunities open to disabled people.
Martyn has had Spinal Muscular Atrophy since birth. He has never walked and has always needed care for most activities of daily living.
His accomplishments include a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in marketing. He has always sought new adventures and has travelled the world, with both mobility equipment and his care team. His passion to experience all that life has to offer has included scuba diving and flying a plane.
In 2011, sitting on a beach in Los Angeles, and having just completed an extensive road trip around California, Martyn conceived the idea of an on-line magazine Disability Horizons. This now has c.50,000 unique website visitors every month, c40,000 social media followers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, and 6,000 email subscribers.
Martyn also co-founded Accomable, an accessible travel site which was bought out by Airbnb. He is extremely good at making a case for inclusion without ever preaching or making people feel guilty for not being disabled, has a wicked sense of humour and a thirst for adventure that leaves most people feeling like a couch potato!
This is how Martyn describes himself and what he's good at:
Martyn Sibley Being in a wheelchair has shaped, but not defined, a lot of my life experiences.
My vision is for a fully inclusive world without any barriers.
I've learned a lot about the following:
- blogging and social media
- being a spokesperson in mainstream media (tv, radio and print)
- building a community to make social impact
- consulting for businesses, governments and charities
- speaking on global stages
- coaching and teaching social change professionals
- running Disability Horizons magazine (managing a team, working on the business model, updating everything based on the readers needs)
- selling an accessible travel website (Accomable) to Airbnb
- more recently I'm working on health, personal growth and work/life balance because I want to keep changing the world way into the future :-)
I think some of the thirst for adventure comes from wondering what life as a disabled adult would be like if there were no barriers. In seeing all these opportunities I just want to grab them all! Moreover I want our community to enjoy them too, rather than focusing on what they can't do.
This is a transcript of a live Q&
Berenice Smith I run an infertility and loss awareness site which doesn't generate income but really ought to. I've been looking at offering add ons and I wondered how you analysed/planned the monetary side and also how you became a spokesperson.
Martyn Sibley On martynsibley.com I never wanted to directly monetise the site. But by becoming an influencer, I get paid work as a result of my free work. I'll come back to the media question afterwards.
- on disabilityhorizons.com we aimed to grow the audience enough that we'd get advertisers. This was a struggle but its working.
Then we created Accomable (vetting accessible properties for disabled holiday goers) which had its own business model and new life of its own.
After selling to Airbnb, I tried to solve the DH business model by offering information products to the community. We had some backlash about charging for things. Our 4 mission pillars are: content, digital events, social and holiday meet ups, and education programmes. I've been working with Ann and Brian, a professional fundraiser, on approaching corporate partners.
Media spokesperson question. I would say being a blogger taught me and enabled me to reach beyond my community.
In August 2009 when I started my blog I had no idea about writing, vlogging and podcasting but because I had a mission and plenty to say, I just learned as I went along.
In getting better at writing and speaking, plus with a growing following; charities put me forward for media opportunities, then the media found me, and now I even have an agent 😊
Helen Lindop You have bigger barriers than most of us when it comes to achieving what we want in life and business. How do you stay positive in the face of what must be some really frustrating situations?
Martyn Sibley I still get frustrated from time to time. But I've learned to focus on things I can control, and not give energy to things I have no influence on. I'm lucky that I've got a positive and optimistic disposition, but I do believe empowering attitudes can be learned. I can see things are, slowly, getting better amd it helps when we see progress!
Andy Boothman I would like to know more about your business planning and strategy Martin. For example do you work to a 5 year plan or something longer or shorter? Have you used investment or self funded? What are the pro's and con's of both?
Martyn Sibley For strategy and planning:
My initial plan, whilst still in a job before 2011, was - start blogging and see what happens.
Then it was to ensure I had enough freelance work to pay the bills. Which is still a priority.
With the bigger visionary ideas, I do plan for the objective/strategy/tactics, and work on a vision/mission. But particularly the tactics side need updating regularly.
In terms of funding, Accomable had a social grant and angel investors. But my World Changers community and Disability Horizons are totally bootstrapped.
I prefer bootstrapped. However, without investors Accomable could never have scaled enough to pique Airbnb’s attention.
The reason I prefer self funding is that you serve the community, using your vision, and there’s less risk of anything being derailed from investors looking for the financial return.
Obviously there are investors looking for social impact or longer time to see returns. But this is less common.
I just love how we can have an idea today, ask the community what they think, and if its positive we can do it in such a lean way.
As mentioned to Berenice funding a social cause is trickier. But with a mixture of aligned businesses, I'm positive we'll crack that on Disability Horizons this year
Helen Lindop Can you tell us something about your community building strategy please? Eg do you research where your audience hangs out, design content for them, encourage them to join your mailing list, that kind of thing? Also, does blogging still work as well as it did when you got started?
Martyn Sibley A lot of what I do solves a personal need. Of course I'm aware that a blind person has different barriers to me, and not all social change professionals struggle with what I did. But as a disabled person and social change professional I've experienced things very similarly. This is a big factor.
My social media strategy is; tell my story, build my community, give calls to action.
Part one and three are more simple. I blog on my experiences, and invite the community to comment or join an event etc.
To build a community, this took a long time and refers to your point on research. In 2009 I spent an hour or two every night after my day job engaging with relevant people. Its vital to give and serve without expecting something. In the end magic happens, but community building can't be forced or hurried.
Berenice Smith Have you been copied or imitated and if so, how do you handle people who try do that?
Martyn Sibley I know that I'm unique from my genes, my experiences and my way to execute so I don’t spend time worrying about being copied as its not possible. If peopletry to copy you, its confirmation you're doing well and flattering.
This book puts my point into a business perspective https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/what-is-blue-ocean.../.
Always look for the new ideas, your first mover advantage will always pay off.
Helen Lindop Is your freelance 'pay the bills' work primarily as a marketing consultant? And if so what kind of work do you do/ who do you work with?
Martyn Sibley Its partly my speaking gigs. Otherwise my clients are all generally in the inclusion space too.
I run an online community for people with my disability for the national charity SMA UK. I'm a panel lead for Open Inclusion who do market research for big businesses on inclusive practises. I make podcasts for them and Cambridge based Iansyst (who help businesses employ disabled people).
Supporting these organisations with social media is definitely a potential strategy to help fund Disability Horizons too.
There are lots of opportunities to expand the work I'm doing, to help more people and build a great business, and I'm excited to be working with people in the Drive Tribe to share ideas and expertise.