How to use storytelling to attract customers
"Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make but about the stories you tell"
So says one of the world's great marketers, Seth Godin.
This Ask the Expert spot is in the capable hands of Rachel Extance who is answering questions on how to find the stories in our businesses, how to tell them in a way that connects with our customers and how to adapt them for different media.
This is a summary of a live Q&A.
You might be wondering:
❓What have stories got to do with business?
❓What kinds of stories can I tell?
❓ Do I need to be a good writer to use stories?
❓How do I know what stories my audience will be interested in?
Why should anyone care?
Q. I sometimes hesitate because I'm worried my stories will be a bit cheesy or even why on earth would anyone want to listen to stuff about my life anyway?
Any tips for overcoming that?
Rachel Extance It's an objection I hear a lot 🙂 It's also not true. It's a story we tell ourselves and part of resistance. You have lots of brilliant experience and knowledge to share. You talk to other people all the time. This is no different except that you are writing it down, videoing it or talking on a podcast. Treat storytelling like talking to someone in the pub or coffee shop. What do they want to know? How can you help? Is there a great story you have heard which you would like to share with others?
What have stories got to do with business?
Every business has stories to tell. These create touch points for your customers, they make you memorable.
We all tell stories all the time. About our day, the things we’ve heard, things which have happened to us.
Humans have been telling stories since our earliest days. They create an emotional connection. While you are telling a story, your listener or reader is there with you, seeing the same things as you and empathising with your situation (or that of the person in the story). Stories help us make sense of the world around us and see how things can be relevant to us. Telling stories brings customers into your world.
Q. How do you know what's a good/right/helpful/engaging/appropriate story to tell for your business? I've seen people tell stories that show they are human but they've gone to far and made me doubt how good they are at doing the job! Also, do you have any tips for brainstorming story ideas when you don't have any? Asking for a friend.
Rachel Extance That's a great question. Storytelling isn't about baring your soul (unless you really want to).
I subscribe to the BBC mantra of Inform, Educate and Entertain. These three things will hold you in good stead. For example, a few weeks ago Instagram introduced IGTV so if you were into social media or marketing, you could tell a story telling people that this has happened. You could then have another story educating people about how to use it, tips and tricks. And then stories entertaining people with it. These could be your own IGTV stories if it's a platform that works for your business.
Stories don't have to be your own. You could tell stories about how others have done something.
Tips for brainstorming: think about the articles you have read or videos you have watched over the last couple of weeks. What stuck in your head? Is it a topic you could write about too by adding your insights.
What questions do people regularly ask you? Could you create content answering these?
Write down a list of 10 topics. Keep adding to it. Not every one will make you a story but the more you think about ideas and write them down, the more you will get used to thinking about stories.
Your business is interesting. You offer a product or service people want. Tell them about it.
What kinds of stories can I tell?
There are creation stories (the oldest of all) about how you founded your company, the problems you wanted to solve, how you built your team, designed your branding, came to be in your location.
Then there are stories about your people: you, your colleagues, people you collaborate with, and of course, your customers.
You can also tell stories about your products or services. How people can make use of them. Recipes are a form of story. You start with some ingredients, they go through a process and there is a delicious dish or sweet treat at the end.
How to... stories are useful. People want to learn about what you do and we all have plenty of knowledge to share. How to make a cake, create a flower arrangement, make a raised bed, choose colours. And then you can tell stories about the individual elements as well. Talk about the plants or fonts or colours or herbs. Tell people about their background and uses.
Do I need to be a good writer to use stories?
No. It's not about writing. It's about telling people a story and bringing them along with you. You don't need to write stories at all to make use of them. You can use pictures, record videos (nothing fancy, a piece to camera on your smartphone) or create a podcast.
Think about it as if you were talking to friends in the pub or over a coffee and what they would want to know about.
How do I know what stories my audience will be interested in?
A really good place to start is to see what people search for online. Then create stories about those topics.
Pay attention to the news. Is there a new development in your industry? Or is there something in the wider world which you could make use of.
For instance, I read a story yesterday about a woman who was encouraging girls to study science by writing Wikipedia articles about female scientists and their achievements. It's a great example of how stories can make a difference and influence people so it's one for me to share.
Q. I’m always a bit nervous of including too much personal stuff in stories in case of being judged or rather misjudged. Any advice?
Rachel If it's something you are happy to share and by sharing you will help others going through something similar, it fits with your brand and your audience, then you should be fine. If you think you're going to spend the next week or two cringing about it, then probably best not to share. There will always be critics. Ignore them.
Q. Any tips for making your story into bite sized pieces. There's no point creating a beautiful 5 minute video, 2,000word blog post or whatever unless you can break that down into small accessible and informative chunks.
Rachel When you've created a story you need to make it pay its way. You've spent time on it and you want as many people to see it as possible.
You can share it on your social media platforms several times. Vary the time of day between posting, have two or three different version of the message and also think about the image you are sharing with it.
You can pull out quotes for instance and use them to create an image using a tool like Canva.
Another way of repurposing blogs is to turn them into short videos using Lumen 5.
Break your post into bullet points to give you the message you want to convey and layer with images.
You will be able to share a story at least 5 different ways.
If you'd like to know more about business storytelling and how to reach and influence the right audience, connect with Rachel at www.extance.co.uk or on Twitter @RachelExtance
7 Reasons Why I Changed My Mind About Goal Setting!
Do you struggle with goal setting?
Business owners are always being told they need to set goals but the reality is that many just go with the flow, doing what they can and hoping for the best.

Helen Lindop recently had a revelation about goal setting that has transformed her business and her life.
In this Q&A from the Drive Ask the Expert session, she explains what changed and what benefits she experienced.
What are the main advantages of goal setting?
Helen Lindop I've saved so much time. I have far fewer blind alleys now. If something isn't working I know quickly and adjust. I underestimated the mental effort of making decisions. It's much easier now because if something takes me closer to the goal I do it, if not, I don't.
Here’s me arguing with myself about the reasons I didn't used to set goals and now I do. You might relate to a lot of these!
1. I'm a one-person business, I can respond to whatever comes in anyway.
Yes, but it's going to save a lot of time and effort if I can replicate what I do, or at least parts of what I do. It'll make my life easier and be more cost effective, too. And it'll be much easier to get a team member to take it over when I'm ready.
2. I'd been trying for years and never stuck to them more than a few weeks.
Most goal setting systems seem to run for a whole year, which is far too long for me. When I found the 12 Week Year I realised this is a much better fit because it's long enough to get stuff done but not so long that I can't see the end of it.
3. I had a young family, so I frequently had to drop my plans to deal with a sick child etc. What was the point in having detailed plans?
One of the big problems I had with most goal setting programmes, is that they don't acknowledge how messy life can be. That made me not bother with them at all for many years. But I started to treat my goals as more of a compass to point me in the right direction rather than a stick to beat myself with. If you have a compass it's not a big problem to stay on track, you just look at it regularly and adjust if you wander off. And even if some days it's two steps forward and one back, at least you're going in the right direction instead of in circles!
4. Part of the reason I became my own boss was to not have to do this stuff.
I think this is often overlooked by many experts - for many of us the whole point of going self-employed was to get away from boring stuff like this! Obviously, you can't fly completely by the seat of your pants, but I think we need to at least acknowledge goal setting doesn't always sit well with an entrepreneurial streak and find a way around it, rather than go straight into the hard-core YOU MUST SET GOALS EVERY JANUARY FOR THE WHOLE YEAR approach. 😀
5. The main goal of running a business is to sell as much stuff as you can, did I really need another set of goals?
Yes, but there are many, many ways of selling as much stuff as you can and that goal is FAR too broad. The goal is about how you sell as much stuff as you can as well as building the infrastructure to do it well.
6. It was one more thing on my scarily long to do list.
I used to think setting goals was one more thing for the to do list when in fact it reduced my to do list. I was trying to do everything at once and not doing anything well. By setting a goal I was deciding what was most important I could put many items on the backburner and make progress on the things that were important right now. Some of the 'backburnered' things got crossed of the list completely. I found out that goal setting was often about saying no to stuff.
7. I was pretty jaded with the whole coaching/personal development scene, if I'm honest.
I think a lot of the personal development 'industry' isn't working very well and I could no longer filter out the useful stuff from the junk. But it is worth panning for a gold nugget or two, keeping things simple, and finding something that works for you.
Q&A
Q. How do you stay focused?
A. Apparently, there never used to be a plural form of "priority". Choose one thing to do first and when that's done, choose the next one. Don't list every single thing you want and need to do, or try to do it all at once.
I had another breakthrough when I realised I had two types of goals 'business as usual' goals (e.g. bookkeeping - had to be done by a certain date, but wasn't strategic) and strategic, growth-based goals. The business as usual stuff tends to get done anyway because you eventually have clients or HMRC etc breathing down your neck if you don't 🤣. The strategic stuff is where I procrastinate, talk myself out of it and generally go around in circles unless I have a plan to keep me in line.
Goal setting and perfectionism
Q. I find it difficult to set goals because the perfectionist mindset is 'what if I can't achieve it?' I am working on 'good enough' but it does mean I struggle to set goals, not knowing what I can achieve. Hope that makes sense.
A. Don't even think about perfect. Just work out one thing you want to have done in the next 3 months and write down the series of steps you need to take to get there. Add a few milestones e.g. what do you need have done by August to fit it all in by September? Then every week check the list and see what needs doing that week. Tick off when done.
By doing the things on the list you'll realise your plan isn't quite right anyway, because some things you don't know until you try them, or you need to take a morning off to get your car MOT'd etc. So adjust the list. No perfection required. :-)
I found the compass analogy helped me a lot with that. A goal guides you and keeps you going in the right direction. Rather than being something you shoot for and either hit or miss.
Managing the day to day actions
Q. How do you make your goals part of your day-to-day? What do you do to "not forget about them until you realise you've forgotten about them"? :)
A. I break my them down into tasks (some weeks it all goes wrong, but that's just life!) and put them in Asana (a project management tool) and add a due date. Every day I look at the calendar in Asana and see what needs doing. Then I check them off when they are done.
Q. Was it a case of building a new habit (checking Asana) that made the biggest difference Helen?
A. No, the goals came first. You have to start with what you're aiming at then do the software thing after. Otherwise the software just makes it worse. 😂
If you'd like to know more about goal setting or using Asana to manage tasks, Helen is happy to answer questions. Connect with her on LinkedIn or at www.HelenLindop.com
How to build a great network
Most small businesses find new customers by networking.
Like most things, some ways of networking work better than others!
You just pitch up and sell your stuff to anyone who'll listen, because we're all there to network right?
You only have to put yourself in the position of the person being sold to to understand why this is the least effective way to build a great network!
Ann Hawkins, a reluctant networker and founder of Drive, the Collaborative Network, answers questions and shares her tips for building a great network by combining on-line and face to face networking in a seamless process that is about collaboration and support.
Getting started
When Martyn Sibley decided that he wanted to leave his full time job and start his own business he spent three hours a night, for two years, building his on-line network. Six years later he was voted No 3 in the Power 100 list and is a major influencer in his field with frequent TV and radio appearances and paid speaking gigs at major events all over the world. (He even has an agent ... )
There is no quick way to build a solid, trust based network but there are good habits to adopt that will help to grow it consistently.
Good habits to adopt:
- Share other people's stuff as much as your own. If you help other people, they'll help you.
- Show up regularly, not just when you've got something to promote - show up to build relationships and to help other people to connect.
- Before you go to a face to face event, research and connect with the people who will be there. Get an idea of the person behind the business, their values, interests and their extended network. It makes the meeting much more meaningful.
- When you meet someone (on-line or face to face) connect with them on Twitter & LinkedIn. Find out if they've got a FB Page and if they have, like it. In each instance, start a conversation.
- Don't be all business. People connect with you, and are more likley to buy from you, when they share your values and interests.
Q. I have a large number of contacts but I'm rubbish at staying in touch with them. What’s a good way of keeping track of your network, in terms of keeping up with folks over time?
Ann Hawkins You can't have a meaningful relationship and understand how each person relates to the others, with more than 150 people (see Dunbar's number) so choose the most important / useful ones and work on those. If your motivation is to learn more about them, be genuinely interested in them and connect them to others it gives a different perspective and reason for developing the relationship.
A CRM is useful and many of them now will fill in social contact info, so for things like events that can be quite good. However, the relationships in a CRM are all one way and individual – from you to them. In a network, you're helping others to build relationships and that makes you a useful / valuable person to know, so others seek you out.
Two of the things that need to be present to build a great network are trust and reciprocity. It can't all be about you!
Q. What about mailing lists?
Ann Hawkins Giving people a reason to stay in touch with you and inviting them to sign up to your mailing list is the best way ever to keep in touch but its still only one way – you to them.
Never, ever, EVER add people to your list just because your connected to them on a social network. (I don’t really need to say that, do I? Judging by the number of lists I get added to by LinkedIn connections, yes, I do!)
Q. How much do you need to trust that other people’s stuff is any good before you share it? I’ve met people I really like and I want to support, but I haven’t actually experienced their service or have evidence they are any good! I can research them, but how deeply? Or is that not what is important here?
Ann Hawkins It's vitally important to only recommend things you believe in. Once you've built trust you don't want to risk losing it. I agree that we all need someone to take a chance on us when we’re starting out but I'd always do some homework first! It's generally quite easy to check people's credentials on-line. If you do promote or recommend someone ask for feedback from people who have worked with them.
Q. What proportion of your time would you put into dedicated network building, Ann? (Assuming one is an established micro business)
Ann Hawkins Face to face networking is obviously more time consuming so it's important to make the most of that time by researching and connecting with people on-line before the event. Don't wait until you get there to try and find the people you're most interested in. After the event you can actively maintain and build the relationship on-line - it can turn a very business-like connection into a fun, social one where you get a much deeper understanding of people's values and also see who is in their extended network. Once you're established, a few minutes a day on each of your chosen platforms is enough to keep building your network - but it has to be about conversations and sharing other people's content not just pushing out your own.
Where does your target market hang out?
Q. How do you identify the best network events to attend so as not to waste time and effort at events riddled with other consultants and/or advisors all trying to sell themselves? Getting away from the serial and very boring networkers who only seem to push themselves and selling, selling and selling, can be problem!
Ann Hawkins I’d never go to anything where I couldn't check out the attendance list first. (Or ones that ask everyone to introduce themselves with an elevator pitch, or those that practice "exclusions" or "competitor lock outs"!) However, there's no reason to avoid events with competitors - people will buy you on your values. It's always about how you interact with people first. Drive is built on the philosophy that collaboration will benefit more people than competition and this is proving to be true in the number of collaborations that crop up all the time and in the genuine, wonderful way new people are welcomed to the group by people in the same type of business.
Q. Going back to Martyn's 3 hours a night for 2 years building a network - how much time (how often/how long) do you recommend setting aside every week to build your network? Or maybe it's better expressed as a % of time spent on your business?
Martyn Sibley I think it comes back to strategy. Who are your customers and how are they best reached? If research shows social media is the best marketing channel, you just do as much as you can. The more time on it, the quicker you'll get there. Not to say going slow is a bad thing. That also depends on the priorities and strategy.
Ann Hawkins If your target market is larger organisations, corporations or members of the public you won't find them at small business networking events, but you will find them on-line, in professional or special interest groups.
Twitter is especially good for interest groups and influencers. Use hashtags and Twitter searches to find the right people. You can have conversations with almost anyone on Twitter without any barriers! Once you've got some quality (it's never about quantity!) you'll find it grows exponentially. People you don't know will find you because of something someone else has said or shared. Be interesting and useful and people will refer you to their wider network.
It can be harder to make connections on LinkedIn but a good tip is to find the people you want to connect with and see if they're on Twitter. Connect with them on Twitter first and they're more likely to accept you on LinkedIn.
Share, share and share some more!
Ann Hawkins I can't stress enough how important it is to support other people in your network. If you think no-one notices that you don't share their content (where appropriate to your followers), they really do and so do the many, many lurkers that you may not even be aware of! Only turning up when you've got something to promote will get you ignored.
Don't support other people in order to get kudos or for some fake karma. Just do it because you can. Even if nothing comes of it, you'll feel good because you've helped someone.
It's also important to be a fully rounded human being, not a business automaton. Being social (not too personal!) is what encourages connections. People will be attracted by your values and interests, even if they're not an obvious prospect for your business and then they share and recommend you to their wider network.
There is no quick fix or fast track way to build a network. If you have interesting stories to tell people will connect with them, but never expect an instant hit, it just doesn't happen, especially on social channels where it's much more of a drip feed process. Networking is a constant activity, It's like so many aspects of business development, it's easy to get disheartened by networking, but if you keep going there's immense value to be gained on lots of levels.
The other thing that is sometimes overlooked is the fun you can have with on-line networking! Some people who rarely speak in a face to face situation really show their sense of humour on line - as we know from this group! When you're having fun and building trust your network will be its most valuable!
How to create an effective growth strategy for your brand
What do you need to do to take your business to the next level?
Where do you want your business to be in 12 months? What about 5 years? How are you going to get there? This is one of those business tasks which requires time, a big sheet of paper, and asking a lot of questions. Dan Ince, of Brandworks, has 20 years’ experience in developing effective brand strategy as Head of Marketing for Dorset Cereals, Jordans Cereals, Mr Kipling, Ambrosia and Pataks. We asked him to take the chair for an Ask The Expert session on how to create an effective growth strategy for your brand.
Dan talked about the importance of SWOT analysis and how to do it; how to make choices to develop an effective growth strategy; and identifying the marketing levers that will help your brand grow.
This is a transcript of a live discussion.
What is a brand?
Q. What would you define as a "brand"?
Dan Ince Great question and loads of definitions. My view is your business is a brand these days whether you think about it as such or not. Ultimately everything your business does, what it looks like, how it acts etc is your brand. What a brand isn't is just a fancy logo applied like a thin veneer. In today’s interconnected, transparent world customers see straight through a business that says one thing and does another.
How to do a SWOT analysis for a brand
Ann Hawkins Would you give us some examples of what might show up in a SWOT analysis for a brand Dan?
Dan Ince SWOT is a fantastic tool and where I always start when developing brand strategy. Done well, it gives a fantastic view of where your brand is at and the challenges it is faced with.
Initially, to populate SWOT I ask the following questions:
- How things are currently going for your brand?
- Are you growing or declining?
- How are market trends affecting your performance?
- What's happening with your consumers, shoppers and trade customers?
- What are your competitors up to?
- How does that affect the market and your brand?
- Which of your brand activities are working? Which aren't? Why?
The challenge is to get as long a list as possible by asking yourself what's happening (the surface issue) and why (the root cause).
SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses (internal factors), opportunities & threats (external factors) and allow you to plot most of the issues your business is faced with in one place. But like any tool, you get out what you put in, so keep your SWOT fact-based and tightly focused on just the main points per area.
It looks like this:
Three golden rules of a SWOT analysis
When putting your swot together from your brand audit, there are 3 golden rules to remember:
1. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors while Opportunities and Threats are external. Don't mix them up!
2. Challenge your internal Strengths and Weaknesses by assessing your brand against your competitors. If it's not a strength vs. competitors, it's not a strength, it's just wishful thinking!
3. Keep it tight – 4-5 by area.
To really get under the surface & identify what's important, its useful to ask yourself (or even better have someone else do it) lots of WHY? Questions. By asking WHY? 3-5 times, it forces you to really drill down and understand what the underlying drivers are...this is where you'll find the most juicy stuff.
Q. Do you mean something like: My strength is '---', why? Because '---', why? because '---'.
Dan Ince Yes - just like a 3 year old, keeping challenging til you get to something meaningful. There's always a tendency with SWOT to put statements in that are flattering to you but if it's not a strength vs. a competitor, it's not a strength, it's just wishful thinking!
Ann Hawkins How do small businesses separate the brand from the rest of the business, or is it all the same?
Dan Ince For small businesses it's often the same, the owner/brand and business become very interchangeable.
Q. What are common pitfalls you see businesses falling into time and time again when it comes to SWOT analysis and how can you sidestep them?
Dan Ince Mixing up internal elements (S & W) and external (O & T). Making the SWOT too long & complex. You're gunning for 4-6 statements per S W O T segment. SWOT shouldn't contain everything about your brand, just the big things you're faced with.
How to research your audience
Q. Thinking about micro businesses, what's the best (with a heavy emphasis on cheapest) way for them to research their audience/potential audience?
Dan Ince The cheapest and most effective way is to work out who you think they are, then go talk to some. This doesn't have to be fancy paid for research. Get out and about where you think your target will be and get chatting, business to business, at networking groups, conferences, trade shows, to the end consumer, in the supermarket (if you're selling consumer products), go online, run Google searches and use Google trends to see what other people are searching for. This will give you great insight into what your target audience want.
Q. Thinking about developing the brand/business strategy, could you give a rough break down of % time people should be spending post SWOT developing what they're going to do - research, planning, implementation, testing, delivery etc etc etc.
Marketing is an action sport!
Dan Ince Great question...marketing is an action sport. so while getting a clear SWOT, identifying your BIG issues & opportunities and outlining your next 12-18 months marketing plan are vital to give clarity & focus. You then need to execute activity to see what results you get. It will also vary based on size of business/brand etc. but I tend to work on 30/70% split: 30% of time spent developing strategy and 70% executing it.
For a large brand like Dorset Cereals, we'd spend 2-3 months planning & the rest executing, reviewing and modifying our activity as needed.
Q. A micro business can be much more agile than this though...right?
Dan Ince Absolutely. I've worked with some minor businesses where we've nailed brand positioning, SWOT & developed our strategy roadmap in a few days. As an example, in the Small Business Marketing Bootcamp we cover SWOT & strategy development in just one day. We use the same tools, but move quickly as within a micro business the founder has a great sense of all elements of the brand.
The most important thing is to give yourself some time/permission to step out of the day to day 'doing' to really evaluate where you're going and what you'll need to do to get there.
How to develop an effective growth strategy
Q. What are the choices one needs to make to develop an effective growth strategy?
Dan Ince I use the output from the SWOT analysis to start identifying the big issues & opportunities that the brand is faced with. The important thing is to make choices by identifying the 3-5 biggest things that will drive your business forwards (or backwards if you don't address them).
To help do this, I use a prioritisation grid like this:
Dan Ince Mapping the issues & opportunities your business is faced with on the grid, helps you work out where to focus by forcing you to identify the areas of greatest impact and ease of delivery.
Q. What would go in this grid?
Dan Ince I take the output from the SWOT analysis, turn them into actionable statements such as 'how can I drive awareness of my brand locally to build my customer base' then plot the statements on the grid to help me work out where to focus.
Your biggest Issues and Opportunities will be in the top half of the grid...and this is where you should focus 80% of your resources (time, ££, effort). If the low hanging fruit is really easy to deliver, then by all means go after it, but recognise that as it isn't making a big impact on your brand you may end up a busy fool. Its all about focus!
Must haves v time sucking money pits
Q. What sort of things would you class as a 'must have'?
Dan Ince These are things that will have a BIG impact on your brand but may be hard to do...the fizzy drinks market needing to make a choice to either reformulate their recipes due to sugar tax or put prices up would be a good example of something that isn't easy, but will make a big impact on their business and brand now and in the future.
Q. Are there things people think are a Must Have but actually turn out to be time sucking Money Pits?
Dan Ince This can happen, which is why you need to really challenge yourself on whether this action is needed because it will have a BIG impact on your business...it's a judgement call, but if it’s hard to do (time/cost etc) and isn't going to have a BIG impact, its a time sucking money pit!
How often should you look at your brand strategy?
Q. Would you advise doing a brand strategy (swot) when starting or after a year or two of running a company?
Dan Ince Annually, as it will change over time as your business starts and develops.
Q. What about companies that are just starting? Do they do it at the beginning or once they have some data to work with?
Dan Ince Doing it at the start is equally important...you may have less data/evidence, but it's still a useful exercise to do. At startup, you'd still want to be clear on your strengths & weaknesses (one of which could be lack of reputation/awareness in your market)...as well as understanding the opportunities & threats you face in your chosen market…
Armed with this knowledge, you can then decide where you'll focus your effort...eg weakness...we're unknown in this market...possible action 'how can we build expert status as quickly as possible'...
How to use levers to grow your business
Q. What are marketing levers?
Dan Ince Levers are all the different things you can do to grow your brand...most people have heard of the 4P's...price, product, promotion & placement...but I use around 7 different P's to help focus marketing plans.
The key is to consider which levers would make the biggest growth impact for you and use this to develop marketing activities that are right for your business.
1. Product
Would redeveloping your existing products or adding new products increase your distinctiveness and standout?
2. Pricing
Is your pricing too high or too low?
Often brands stand out more strongly and are more successful when they’re premium priced. Just ensure you always offer great value to your customers.
3. Packaging
For most product-based brands, packaging is a most important, but often overlooked, awareness tool.
DON’T follow the herd.
How can you use your packaging to communicate your distinctiveness and standout?
4. Place (where your brand is sold or enjoyed)
Are you being seen in the right places?
Make sure your brand is available where your target consumers go and isn’t available where they don’t.
Think broader than just where your brand is sold…for example, Dorset Cereals is often seen in upmarket B&B’s.
5. Promotion
How could you use promotions to encourage consumers to try, buy and repeat purchase?
6. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is by no means as powerful as it once was…but whether online or offline, paid advertising can have a role to play in building brand awareness and maintaining loyalty.
If you do pay for advertising, can you ensure what you deliver is new or different?
7. Communication
There are loads of communication tools that can be used to build awareness and engagement with your target customers.
The tools you use will vary however; social media, your website, email, newsletters, sampling and events all allow you to engage directly with customers.
Generating word-of-mouth marketing through PR is a vital element in helping your brand stand out. Publishers love to share engaging content with their audience. How can you leverage this?
Q. That's a really useful rundown. So, I take it from your comment above that I focus on some but not all of these to achieve my main goals.
Dan Ince Yes, focus is key. the question to ask yourself is which levers will deliver against the BIG issues & opportunities your brand is faced with. Most businesses will use 3-6 levers...they could have multiple activities under each lever...but if you try to do everything you'll struggle to achieve much (no matter how big your resources).... with micro businesses, the lack of resources (time, ££) is very useful in driving focus.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch with Dan Ince. Follow him on Twitter @brandworksmktg.
Top tips for business and life!
Want some tips from people who are running a business?
Drive the Network members (our Drive Tribe) are constantly learning about running a business and how to live a good life. They love to share what they learn.
The Index Card of Power is an idea from Adam Brooks, illustrated by Anne-Marie Miller.
Big thanks to Drive Tribe Members for their words of wisdom! What's your favourite?
- Don't try to do everything in your business yourself. This is guaranteed to stop you growing. Your business will be more effective if you delegate the tasks you're not so good at to specialists in that field (you can always learn from them so it's not 'giving up' in that area).
- Don't be afraid to ask for help (look at the amazing help and contributions the Drive team give each other all the time. Often something that seems huge and impossible to you is really no biggy for someone else,
- If you're thinking of making an online course or any digital product, *start* with the marketing - make sure people will be prepared to pay for your course beforeyu write and record it. Really understand what they want. Even better, run it first as a series of webinars so you can listen to questions and incorporate the answers in the course. Also, with a webinar if nobody signs up you haven't wasted much time.
- All businesses need to be dynamic. It's not enough to do what you've always done. Continuous improvement and changing with the times are the only way to guarantee success and longevity.
- It´s impossible to succeed alone. Involve people in your business.
- Listen to your clients. Listen to other people in business. Follow what's happening in your area. Don't be afraid to say, 'I don't know'. And the Drive Tribe is an amazing resource. Check out the Learning Hub.
- Quick fixes are like trying to put a band-aid on a broken leg, they often break more than they fix.
- If you can't work out what you're doing, find someone who listens properly to explain the whole thing to. You'll probably find it's the process of explaining it that provides the insight you wanted, not the person you're explaining to.
- Never underestimate the power of self care, whatever that means to you. It might be a daily or weekly break or perhaps a bigger break less frequently. It might be for your body, mind or soul. Big, small. Expensive, free. Know what works for you and you'll work a lot better.
- Know your numbers. How much do you need to invoice to make it worth getting out of bed in the morning? Never discount. If you need more money put your prices UP - you'll attract much better clients. And remember - you're not running a charity!
- Automate as much as you can, whether it's using your accounts software's repeating invoice functionality, or setting up rules to automatically file client emails in the right folder and add the task to your to do list. Just because things need to be done it doesn't mean they need to be done by you (or even by a human!)
- Make sure you have your payment terms and bank account details on your invoices. Sounds obvious, but make it as easy as possible for people to pay you!
- Value yourself! Value your time, your health and your worth.
- If you are happy to pay someone else for their services, ask yourself why you feel awkward charging people for your own!
- Don’t sit down all day! Build regular movement into your day. Walk, stretch, workout, cycle, dance, play, do classes. Your health, wellbeing, creativity, productivity and business success depend on it. Do what feels right so that it revitalises you. Listen to your intuition.
- People buy from people so spend time being interested and curious about other people even if they're not your obvious market. You never know who other people know and if they like you they'll recommend you.
- You get what you pay for.
- From a 'big picture' perspective, move on from things that don't work for you quickly, rather than holding on for too long. That doesn't mean move on when things get difficult; but do so when you know they're not for you.
- While you can't buy time, if you know your 'worth' per hour, you can automate, delegate & outsource tasks which 'cost' you less so you concentrate on what does make a difference to you and your business.
- Be true to yourself...on every level, if something doesn't feel right, it won't be right. Identify what it is that makes you happy about the 'work' you do. As you develop your business sense check that the 'happy' factor still exists and fulfils you. If it doesn't, make changes. Do it and do it quickly, politely and efficiently.
- Don't look back at the what if's.
- Remember to pat yourself and others on the back for all the things we have achieved this week - and to not just focus on the ones we haven't!
- A desire for control can turn negative when we feel helpless. By learning new skills, feeling worthwhile and coming up with effective strategies, we can move forward with a healthy level of control.
- You really do get what you focus on. If you tell your brain that your focus is X it'll quietly steer you in that direction. The flip side is that what you don't focus on doesn't get done.
- Downloading tasks from your brain onto paper or an on-line tool will free up bandwidth for your brain to do its thing.
- Some people either don’t want to listen or just want to give their opinion no matter what.
- Learn to love selling because it’s about sharing what you offer rather than forcing people to buy something they don't want!
- If you surround yourself with and collaborate with awesome business people, then you can achieve great things! It’s important to have a strong team - a virtual one is just as good - and a bank of experts you can call on in times of need.
- "You have to prime the pump first", which is to say don't expect the good stuff to come up straight away, at the start of your endeavour. Get used to producing unusable stuff and don’t look at early attempts and assume you’re not up to the job! Keep going and keep getting better.
- It's all about who you know... sharing, helping, supporting and working with other like-minded people.
- Laughter and fun are just as important in your working day as anything else, sometimes more so.
- Time and space are simple elements which we need to offer ourselves to step away from our busy minds and daily missions and use to reflect on other matters.
Avoiding the feast or famine sales cycle
Does your marketing stop when you get too busy?
Have you ever found yourself so busy with client work that you ease up on your marketing, only to find yourself with no clients because - you guessed it - you didn't do enough marketing while you were busy? I think we've all been there at one time or another!
Andy Bargery has been running marketing agency Klaxon, since 2006. He didn't have a sales pipeline when he started Klaxon and although the business went well, when he started his property investment business, Andy wanted the sales process to be less stressful and more predictable.
The secret is pipelining.
In Andy's words, pipelining is 'the process of systematically finding prospects and moving them through your sales cycle'.
To begin, you need to know:
- Your sales target
- Your average client value
- How many clients you need
- Your conversion rates - how many contacts do you need to generate an enquiry? How many many enquiries to get a new client?
Andy's Powerpoint presentation gives a great example of some figures on page 12:
Feast or Famine PowerPoint Slides
First decide how many sales you need to reach your target, then how many contacts you need in order to convert 10 of them to clients. E.g., to get 10 new clients you may need to contact 400 prospects.
This is your target for the year.
Then you need to
a) have a sales process and to move prospects through it, and
b) have a way to track your activity and your progress towards your target.
Andy mentioned a couple of models that help with the sales process, one is ICECAP, which you can see on page 13 of his presentation. The second is the BANT model.
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is the best way of managing and tracking progress through a sales process. Andy admitted that CRMs are a bit like marmite. Many small business owners have been put off them because they can be too complex, confusing and have too many expensive upsells. Nevertheless, do give them a chance, especially Pipedrive as recommended by Andy. Once again, his PowerPoint presentation has examples of a project in Pipedrive.
How good graphic design will make your business better
What to look for when thinking about your business branding
Almost everything in our lives has been designed. From our homes to coffee cups, computers and coins - but what about your business? Have you employed a professional designer for your branding? Would you like to but are not sure how? Or what to ask to ensure you get a design you will love?

Step forward award-winning graphic designer Berenice Smith, who took on these questions and more from Drive members wanting to know how to get substance from style.
This is a summary of a live discussion.
How do you feel about design in your business?
Berenice Smith I’d like to kick off this q&a by asking you a question! Do you have any design aims with your company? Is design something you’ll get around to when you have time/budget? There isn’t wrong answer to this but I am interested in how the group generally feel about the relationship of design in their business.
Q. I think design is VERY important however budget constraints prevents me having all of my collateral designed, which is a shame. However, I need to create the budget to do this at some point this year.
Berenice Smith Okay, that's a great point. I'd encourage you to chat to designers about ways to make it cost effective. Doing more research and being hands on can all reduce budget.
Q. I had my logo designed professionally, it was the first thing I paid for. It was important to me that I had it as it dictated colours and fonts etc I'd use later on. I don't know ow much about branding but knew it needs to be consistent.
How design can support you
Berenice Smith First impression matters. The logo, the email signature, the website.. all things that require the creative touch. I also like to add that designers are clients and if we see poor design, we might just walk away as it can make us wonder how much care is taken in other areas!
Design tells a story. It’s vital that people get a feel for what a business does even if they’ve never heard of it before. Thoughtful design evokes the right image in client’s minds. The concept for a nursery would be completely different than that of an accountancy firm but both create an impression.
Design converts. A cool website is nice to have. A supercool website that converts is even better. Design isn’t just about making things look pretty; effective design should entice and persuade. A well-crafted cover or leaflet compels readers to keep turning pages.
Q. Entice and persuade... does effective design also act/create signposts for the reader so they don't get lost?
Berenice Smith Part of my postgrad degree was wayfinding as a physical thing - signage etc, and that sort of approach can apply to any designed piece. Think of a shower tap - does the user know which way is hot? That's a sign post there.
Does a small business need brand guidelines?
Q. Is it important for a small business to have guidelines to follow so their brand is consistently represented and more easily recognised?
Berenice Smith Good question with several answers I think. Branding is a great way to create a consistent approach as the company grows. Attention to design can really help a small business stand out, too. A visual communication plan or branding serves many purposes, and making the business unique should be one of them.
It makes it much easier too if you have to commission services say to a VA. It's much easier to explain an ethos to a supplier if the branding message is in place.
I think branding is such a great support for anyone who sees their business expanding - so it's about clients, the business owner and the people they may employ.
Q. I use Canva a lot. I use Camtasia a lot. I use PPT a lot. Can a designer create a style guide/brand guidelines that are transferable across all media? OR, better still, can a designer create templates that can be used across all media?
Berenice Smith Absolutely Louise, I don't mind clients using Canva to get creative and then asking me to polish - a great example of hands on. The other great tool is Pinterest. And yes designers can create templates to drop into say Word templates etc too. And, with logos and styles, it's really critical to go through applications clients use to ensure the right logos are supplied.
The importance of talking to your designer
Ann Hawkins How can businesses be sure they're getting what they pay for?
Berenice Smith Talking to designers is critical and chatting to those who have logos you love, finding out who did them is great - word of mouth is a brilliant way to start to find a designer.
Be wary of anyone who can't give a good explanation of their design process. You have to work with this person and I firmly believe that relationship has to work on both sides.
What questions should you ask a designer?
Q. I understand that designers have areas of speciality. How can a small business choose the right designer for them so they don't end up with a great web designer who can't design for print? What questions should design gnomes be asking when what we (I), unfairly, want is someone who can do it all!
Berenice Smith Look at their portfolio and chat about their skill and examples, read through their website text. Look at their qualifications. If they have a degree in graphic design and sound experience then that's a great grounding. Ask them to write a brief proposal and see how that fits. Don’t be afraid to batch up the work to different suppliers or find a place that subcontracts.
How to get started with design
Q. Any advice for businesses that are bootstrapping and maybe testing out a new concept so aren't ready to hire a designer for full-on branding yet? Obviously this is a big compromise and not as good as hiring a pro, but do you have any tips to help people get started. E.g. I've read that getting a logo from Fiverr is a really bad idea, but is using Canva for some social media graphics a reasonable compromise?
Berenice Smith I think doing as much research as you can, looking at your competitors, even playing with Canva, looking at brand guidelines for other companies can be useful. But talk to a designer and see what you can work on in small stages too.
It can be as simple to start with as being consistent in what you're using. That encompasses colour, fonts and photography/graphics. Don't go to Fiverr or 99 Designs! I've known people get stung by stock imagery giants such as Istock / Getty because they've bought designs off cheap suppliers and it's basically been nicked from somewhere else. (See Berenice's blog post below on How Not to Design)
Q. Berenice, do brand guidelines include stuff like style of photography?
Berenice Smith Yes they can, I do offer this as I am experienced in photography and it can be either be advice on style or it can be selection from images libraries.
Should design speak for itself?
Q.I’ve seen design proposals where they have gone to great length to describe why certain choices were made and what they represent. Sometimes it’s so much on a tangent that you wouldn’t have known without having to read about it. Do agencies do this to try and justify what they are doing and do you think this is all needed or should, ultimately, the design speak for itself?
Berenice Smith Yes I've seen that too. I think that design is collaborative and to a degree the proposal is a summary, it shouldn't be unrecognisable to the client. I think complex communications can really turn people off design! The reasoning behind using certain colours and fonts can be fascinating if you're into all that but what the client needs to know is about legibility, market appropriateness and perhaps a little boundary pushing.
Would you like to know more? Contact Berenice Smith and follow her on Twitter at @hihellolovely.
How to make the most of your blog
How to drive traffic to your website through your blog
Do you have a blog on your website? In today’s ever-changing social media landscape it pays to have material which will draw people in to your website. A blog is useful for keeping your customers up to date on changes in your industry, current trends and giving them a look behind-the-scenes. A well-written blog which your audience enjoys is also a useful way to generate email sign ups so you can grow your list.
What should you blog about and how do you get your articles in front of people? We asked communications consultant Rachel Extance for her tips.
This is a transcript of a live discussion.
Where do you start with blogging?
Ann Hawkins Give us your top tips for someone new to blogging.
Rachel Extance My top tips for someone new to blogging are:
1.Be realistic. Blogging takes time. It's not just the writing but coming up with ideas, sourcing pictures and having the time to put it on your website.
2. Make a list of blog titles. What is your audience interested in? And what do you want to write about? The two might be different. Be sure you're not going to get bored of your blog! You need a good match of the two.
3. Use a site like Answer The Public to find ideas.
4. Make a start! It's like any writing, you have to do it.
5. Don't get disheartened if you don't get lots of hits. Blogging is a slow burner. It takes time to get noticed. Make use of social media to get your work out there.
6. Be consistent. This is why it's important to be realistic about time. Better to only blog once a month than put one up and it be months before you write another one.
Additional point Have a sign up box. There's nothing more frustrating than finding a blog I like and not being able to subscribe to get new posts as they're published. It's also such a waste - if someone likes what you do you want to be able to keep in touch with them!
How can we make the most of our blog?
Q. I blog fortnightly. Any guidance on how to make the most of our blog would be great, and how do we make our blog stand out amongst all the other blogs that are out there!
Rachel Extance Always write with your audience in mind. What do they want to know about? There's a brilliant site called Answer the Public which you can put a search query into and it will come up with a list of who, what, where, when, why, how questions. You've got a list of blog titles right there!
Pay attention to search engines too. Make sure you have headings and sub headings, marked up as H1, H2, etc (as this blog does) which answer additional questions. The code for these is picked up by the search engines. For example, if your blog post title was: "What do I need to take with me to a holiday cottage?" a sub heading could be, "What is in the kitchen at a holiday cottage?", then another could be, "Do I need to take towels to a holiday cottage?" It's worth thinking about how you would ask this to a person because people using Google Assistant or an Amazon Dot might just ask the question, rather than going to a search engine and looking it up.
Something you can do if you're trying to get people to read a post is to signpost to them what they will get from it. Write a one line introduction and then say: "This post will take you through how to make sure nothing is left behind, what you need to clean, and what to do if something has been damaged." Then they know if they are reading the right article for their needs.
How to drive traffic to your blog through social media
Rachel Extance Another thing to make sure you are doing with your blog is publicising your content. Don't just put it out on social media once. If you have evergreen content, schedule it to go out once a week. Vary the text of the post. You can quote yourself or use different pictures.
You can also turn your blog posts into videos. There's an app called Lumen5 which is good for this.
Q. We're not very good at recirculating our material so that's good advice to get a bit more exposure with it.
Rachel Extance It's worth setting aside a couple of hours and just inputting them. Some schedulers are better at recirculating content than others. I use SmarterQueue but there are others. You just put your posts in, tell it how often you would like it to be reposted and let it get on with it. You can post the same blog each month or possibly even every other week if you change the wording of your post and vary the time of day so it catches a different audience.
Q. We always worry about over doing it but varying the time of day would help. We tend to try and hit people early evening but I guess that is a popular time.
Rachel Extance I would experiment. Think about who your audience is and when they have time to go on social media and read something which might take them 2 minutes.
How do you get people to comment on blogs?
Q. How do you best get people to comment on the blogs. I've been blogging for two years consistently and only have a handful of comments. It would be good to get conversations going...
Rachel Extance This is a great question. It's really hard to get people to comment on blogs. People tend to passively read things rather than responding. I would ask a question at the end or ask for people's feedback. Make it clear to people you want to talk to them.
Ann Hawkins I think you're on a hiding to nothing with this. People used to comment on blogs before social media but now even veteran bloggers have given up trying to get comments. I find people respond much better on Twitter, especially if I ask a question in the title.
Q. OK. Thanks. So how do you effectively promote your blog on Twitter? FB and LI seem intuitive as you can basically put an intro in and ask them to click if they want more. Twitter seems more tricky...
Rachel Extance I would say Twitter is easier but that's just me. Pull out key messages. So on Monday, you could post it with "What is the magician?", on Wednesday you could write "How to find the magic in your life", on Saturday you could post and ask a question like: "What do Obi Wan Kenobi, Dumbledore and Aslan have in common?"
I'd just post a bit of text/question, and then the link to the blog post. Twitter should automatically include in a little mini window showing the featured image, intro blurb. Just the same as any link you might want to share on Twitter.
Ann Hawkins I just write the post with the question in the title and so any link pulls that out.
How do we get other people to link to our blogs?
Q. We're still trying to get our blogs posted or shared on other sites. For example a recent 'Taking a dog on your cottage holiday' blog shared with dog websites etc. We are not getting anywhere with this. Any tips?
Rachel Extance In part you're at the mercy of their social media strategy. Have you tried approaching them and asking if they would like a guest blog?
Should I transcribe videos on my blog?
Q. I'm wondering what kind of content works well on a blog? I'm not keen on writing but if I include a video should I do a transcript?
Rachel Extance I like a transcript if I'm looking for an answer to something but it's not necessary. I would signpost the content, like I mentioned above. Say what the video is about and what people will learn by watching it. I would take the time to caption your videos so people can watch without the sound on. There's no need to write a full blog post or transcript if you don't want to.
Q. I was going to ask a similar question r:e: transcripts. Is there software to do this? (Videos and podcasts) Sometimes, I prefer to read the transcript.
Rachel Extance You can send it off to people to transcribe it for you. If you're posting a video on Facebook, it has built-in caption software.
Ann Hawkins I rarely watch videos - I want to scan the page, pick out the headlines, read the paragraphs I'm interested in and skip the ones I'm not. I rarely read any post from start to finish and hardly ever watch a video with sound on.
Rachel Extance Most people watch videos with the sound off.
People scan. They often haven't come to a blog post eager to read a beautifully written piece of work but to find something out. Always ask yourself: what would bring someone to this and why should they click on it?
Q. Also, transcripts can be good for SEO.
Should you update previous blog posts?
Q. My question would be about recycling content and updating previous posts.
Rachel Extance It's well worth setting aside time, every few months to go through your blog posts and update them.
It helps if you keep an index and have a note of which ones are:
1. Definitely evergreen
2. Ones which could be evergreen so long as something external doesn't change (so for social media managers, last week's Facebook announcement has meant everyone needs to rewrite their advice on business pages).
3. Which ones are seasonal (are there blog posts which only work in winter or relate to Easter?)
4. Which ones are one-offs. They work on that day, and could possibly be posted on social media for a week.
You then need to make a note in your business planner (or whatever works for you) to check back on them at the right time and see if they are still up to date.
This breakdown is also helpful for your social media scheduling.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch with Rachel Extance. Follow her on Twitter @RachelExtance.
An Introduction to Xero by Emma James
Emma James, aka The Number Ninja, takes us through a step by step guide to getting set up with cloud based bookkeeping system Xero.
If you have any queries for Emma, please contact her at The Number Ninja
How to get to grips with your books
What do you need to do to keep track of your business finances?
Few people go into business to do the books and many find keeping their accounts up to date a pain.

We asked The Number Ninja Emma James about how to keep track of business finances, her recommendations for software to make it easier and which numbers really matter.
This is a transcript of a live conversation.
Keep things simple
Emma James I'd always recommend a separate bank account, even for a sole trader. If you have a lot of foreign currency transactions and prefer to use a separate account for this (I use Revolut as their exchange rates are excellent), then keep this separate to personal use. Paypal can be a nightmare, so have separate accounts for business and personal. It makes it a million times easier in the long run, which in turn means you're much more likely to want to spend time keeping your accounts up to date.
Ann Hawkins Do you recommend a business bank card for all cash payments so everything appears on the same statement and scanning receipts with an app instead of keeping paper ones?
Emma James I scan everything. Apps such as AutoEntry or ReceiptBank are great as they link directly with Xero and QBO. You can also scan directly with the Xero and QBO apps.
How to budget for your business
Q. As a non-number ninja, how do I come up with a realistic budget forecast for the next 12 months?
Emma James I look at 3 main areas: sales, profit and loss, cashflow. For each of the next 12 months what do you expect your sales and costs to be (don’t forget that some costs will increase as a direct result of more sales)? You’ll have some costs that are fixed, that you have to pay no matter what, and others that are a bit more optional.
Next think about your plans for the next year, if you think you’ll want to take on an office put some guide costs in their so you can see what effect that has. Your profit and loss forecast will tell you what your expected profit will be (and you can then work out likely tax), whereas your cashflow forecast will tell you when you can actually afford certain things.
As for realistic, the key is to review regularly. The whole point is that they're there to help guide you, if you take on an employee partway through the year your costs will definitely increase, as will your sales most likely, so if you hadn't expected this when you originally forecast you need to update accordingly so that you're taking this into consideration for the rest of the year.
There's a bit more to it than this, as some business have the option of just basing everything on cash, but essentially you've got the cash basis which is when the money actually physically enters or leaves your basis (your cashflow), and the accruals basis which is when the business is affected by the transaction. Say you buy a ticket to a conference in January but the conference is in April, this hits your cash flow in January, but you don't get the benefit until April so that's when it should show on your profit and loss.
Q. Is there a set proportion of income I should be setting aside for tax etc?
Emma James For tax, it really depends on how much detail you want to go into and how much time you want to spend on this. As a sole trader, if you put aside 20% of your sales you'll definitely have more than enough come tax time. I like to look at my profit on a weekly basis and work it out in more detail, but I love looking at this sort of stuff! If you're on top of your bookkeeping you can look at your profit regularly and do a more detailed estimation.
Q. What's the easiest way of keeping track of what's coming in and going out? I currently have a spreadsheet.
Emma James For keeping track of incomings and outgoings I would definitely recommend software, such as Xero or Quickbooks. Spreadsheets are perfectly fine, but Xero/QBO, etc can do so much more: link directly with your bank, create your invoices, email your invoices, automatically remind your clients that they need to pay, etc. As well as all of the reporting information you get. I love a good spreadsheet, but I'd struggle to run my business without Xero as everything is always up to date, ready for me to do my daily review of my accounts. You can also take photographs of your receipts on the go and send these straight to Xero/QBO, which you can't with a spreadsheet.
How to get to grips with cashflow
Ann Hawkins The thing I see people struggling with is cash flow - what's a simple way of checking what is due in and out and how much cash is available at any one point?
Emma James This is something that a lot of the major accounts software lacks. Accounting is generally backward looking, which is reflected in the software. I use software that integrates with Xero for forecasting, so you're not having to enter information twice, but you get that forward look. I use Dryrun, but other are available. Xero and QBO both have great reports that show which sales invoices have not yet been paid, and if you have your bank feeding into it too you'll always know what is expected to come in and go out. Having said that, I do like a spreadsheet for this too, although that's a bit more effort as you have to update manually. It really depends on what you're going to use and update regularly and what you prefer.
Q. Cashflow forecast is something I just don't understand. I have to use QBO because that's what my accountant uses and it is always up to date. But I have no idea how to do a cashflow forecast.
Emma James Do you have access to something like a cash summary report in QBO? That will give you the historical information, which you can then use to inform your forecast. For example say you issue your sales invoices on 14 day terms, but 80% of your clients actually pay after 45 days, then this is going to have a huge impact on when the money will actually come in. Start with sales and when you're likely to actually receive the money, then look at your costs and when you actually pay them.
There should also be a report that will tell you how quickly (or not) your clients pay their invoices. This will help with cashflow forecasting, as unfortunately too many businesses pay no attention to due dates and pay whenever they fancy.
Can you really forecast cashflow over 12 months?
Q. This is my question too. Moving over to Xero has definitely helped, but I'm not sure how possible it is to look at cashflow for the next 12 months...?
Emma James The dashboard will give you basic cashflow information, in terms of when your sales invoices are due and when you need to pay for your purchases. But forecasting isn't the main focus of accounting software, so is generally handled outside of things like Xero. The easiest way of doing it is with a spreadsheet, and using the Xero reports to update this.
Q. Emma, do you have an example of a spreadsheet you could share? I have no idea what goes on a cashflow forecast spreadsheet. But I do now understand your point about accounts packages look backwards and forecasting looks forwards.
Emma James Freeagent have quite a good basic template https://www.freeagent.com/guides/cash-flow-forecast/
If you want software, I'd suggest looking at Dryrun, Float and Spotlight.
Q. I find that people are genuinely scared of preparing a cash flow forecast either because they don’t understand the “how” or they’re concerned about making proper use of the data they see when monitoring. A forecast is only useful if it’s regularly reviewed and used to be aware of potential cash shortfalls thus allowing you to manage the problem well in advance of it being a problem.
Emma James There's no point in creating a forecast if you don't review it and update regularly. I look at mine every day, and always scrutinise it before I make a decision such as whether to go to a conference or offer a new service that will insure additional costs.
Xero: can one account do two businesses?
Q. Can I run multiple (two) businesses on the one account or do I need two separate accounts? As you can tell I'm only just looking at this so excuse the novice question.
Emma James You'll need a separate subscription for each company, but you can do this through the same billing account and you'd only have one log-in (you swap companies using the hamburger in the top left). I'm pretty sure you get a discounted subscription on the second company, but they may have stopped this now.
I've assumed that the businesses will be completely separate, e.g. with their own bank accounts and registered as separate companies. If that's not the case, you could use the one Xero account and use a tracking category to split the income and costs for each. But I'd only recommend that if it's another revenue stream of the one company rather than separate businesses.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch with Emma James.
How to create online courses
Would you like to share your expert knowledge with others by creating an online course?
There has been a boom in the online course industry in recent years as it has become ever easier to learn a new skill on your computer or even on your phone sitting on the bus.
It’s a way to demonstrate your expertise and also earn some money. We asked Helen Lindop, who teaches people how to make online courses, how to get started, how to choose a platform and how to make your course stand out from the crowd.
This is a compilation of a live Q&A.
How do I decide on a platform?
Helen Lindop Start with your strategy - what do you want to get from your course? e.g. a free lead generator? To primarily make money from course sales? To help position you as an expert and then sell services on the back of it? Once you've worked that out there will be a solution to fit, because there's so many out there now.
Q. Other than Udemy, are there any hosting platforms you would recommend? [I would like] to primarily make money from course sales with additional mentoring as part of the sale or perhaps the mentoring can be added as a monthly sub?
Helen Lindop In that case I'd probably not start with Udemy because the discounting is so deep that you need to sell a lot of courses to make much money. My current favourite is Zenler, because it's easy to use, there's no upfront fee and being UK based they take care of the EU VAT for you.
Q. Is there an optimum length for an online course?
Helen Lindop I'd say you're best to work out what you want your students/clients to achieve then design your course to meet that goal. So make it as long as it needs to be.
Also, longer isn't necessarily better. We're all up to our ears in info, so sometimes a short course that achieves a lot is just what's needed.
Q. Do you have any practical tips on assessing what students/clients need to then be able to design the online course?
Helen Lindop I'd say keep it simple and just talk to them about their problems, then design a solution to those problems. Yes, you could design a load of questionnaires but if you're just starting out, listening to someone say 'THIS is what's driving me nuts' is a really valuable starting point.
Ann Hawkins Udemy suggests breaking modules up into small chunks so people can see where they've got to and pick up where they left off. I find it annoying but is that something you'd recommend Helen?
Helen Lindop Definitely avoid an hour long video, because if a student has to stop mid-way and then find that spot later it's a pain. Keep in mind that people are taking courses on the move now, so on their smartphones, on the bus. Make it easy for them to dip in and out. But on the other end a whole list of 2 minute videos gets irritating too.
I think Udemy may have an ulterior motive too in that a course made up of 10 short videos looks more valuable than one with the same content in a single video! And they have a point - there is a lot of competition out there so making a potential student see the value in the course will help make the sale.
Just to add I meant Udemy is very competitive because your course is up there alongside other similar courses.
What level of support should you offer?
Q. I wanted to ask you about support for an online course. Would this need to be clarified beforehand or offered on an AdHoc bases?
Helen Lindop Do you mean offering tutor support alongside (say) pre-recorded videos?
Ann Hawkins I did this with my premium Work Smart Not Hard Course, Jo. I offered the option of sending back worksheets to get my comments. Then I offered a cheaper version without that option. It works really well.
Helen Lindop Courses with support tend to be more effective because the students can ask questions and there's accountability. It does depend on the subject, though. E.g. if it's basic software training you might need little support, if it's like Ann's - building a business - then tutor support would be really helpful. You do need to price it right though because tutor support can take up a lot of your time. And as Ann says, you can often offer both options.
I also offered a course with a fairly basic level of support then added a 1 to 1 coaching option on top. So people had a choice of course including email support or course+email support+ 2 coaching sessions.
Q. I’ve seen courses where they set up a group chat for others doing the course to support each other - does this give value?
Helen Lindop It often does, but it can depend on the subject and the audience. If it's personal then people might be less willing to share (or possibly more willing in the right setting?) I've had people on my courses who are 'just give me the info and I'll work through it myself'- types. Which is absolutely fine too. So not everyone is a sharer. The only way to tell is to try it.
Helen Lindop I think if you're in doubt it would be a good idea to run a pilot course with email support, then add a Facebook group later when you're fairly confident you've got the numbers to make it work.
Should you offer a tutor alongside the course?
Q. How would you suggest organisations promote hybrid learning, that is on-line integrated with classroom learning? Is there a tendency do you think for people to skim the online learning?
Helen Lindop There's definitely a temptation to skim online courses! It makes a huge difference to have tutor support, so someone to answer questions, check students have done the work and understood etc. Unfortunately a lot of organisations now think they can roll out a pre-recorded online course, get everyone to watch it and job done. We aren't machines and we don't work that way.
Helen Lindop The challenge is that having a tutor is more expensive and less scalable than having a course that's 100% automated. Done well, it's a lot more effective, though.
How do you cater for students with additional needs?
Q. How would you accommodate any students who may have additional needs e.g. dyslexia?
Helen Lindop I'm really not a dyslexia expert I'm afraid. But in my limited experience I think technology used in a sensitive way can generally make learning easier for people with dyslexia. I'll see if I can dig out some info.
In general it's good to offer content in a variety of formats so video, transcript, checklists, worksheets, quizzes (if your platform allows that)
I just found these http://theelearningsite.com/.../elearning-with-dyslexia.../ and a scientific paper http://www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S1877050915012673
How do you set yourself apart from the competition?
Q. There seems to be an awful lot of competition for courses. Do you have any tips on how to promote them? How do you rise up the list?
Helen Lindop Having free content out there helps a lot, so people can try before they buy. Also, having a range of courses is good so people can see the value they get from a low price course before they buy a bigger one.
It can also help think in terms of the value that people will get from the course rather than the fact it IS a course. So if you're buying a book the fact it's a book with 250 pages (or whatever) for a tenner is a really tiny consideration compared to what you're going to get from the content.
Q. So it's like everything else really, focus on the value.
Helen Lindop Yep, and marketing is very much like marketing anything else. Get in front of people, help them get to know you, give value.
Another angle you can take (assuming you're not selling in a marketplace like Udemy) is to say 'it would cost you £££ an hour to work with me one to one, or for me to do the job for you, but I can teach you to do it yourself for £'. (Add numbers to suit!) That's a good way of getting across value.
Should you pre-sell your online course?
Q. I have seen some suggestions that it is a good idea to pre-sell a course to test the waters before you have even finished making it. Is that a good course of action? Seems a little risky to me.
Ann Hawkins As long as you've got all the info you need to produce the course so the lead time isn't too long, I think that's definitely the way to do it Chris. I'd never write a "bums on seats" course without pre-selling it.
Helen Lindop I'm not a fan of pre-selling a recorded course until you've had some practice and you know exactly how long it'll take to produce each module. When people start out there's such a lot to learn (platforms, marketing, video editing, structuring a course) that they underestimate how long it will take (#beenthere) and that adds a lot of pressure.
That said, a good half-way house is to do a webinar-based course because they tend to be a lot quicker to produce. And if you do it live you can sell the replays after as a self-study course. If nobody shows up you don't do the webinar.
Another good thing with webinar-based courses is that you have to commit to showing up so you can't put it off.
Ann Hawkins I think the main thing with any strategy is to be sure there is a market for what you produce before you put a lot of time / investment into making it!
The expert’s top picks for online learning
Ann Hawkins What's your favourite online course Helen?
Helen Lindop Such a hard one to answer because I do loads and all for different reasons! For business skills I like Lynda - this is for the kind of thing where you're basically downloading a new skill into your brain so you don't need much or any tutor support.
I've also taken longer courses from Internet Marketing experts where you get more detail on mindset and strategy, which makes a big difference.
But I was genuinely surprised that I've learned more about art and design from cheap online courses than I ever did in school. I think the reason I've learned such a lot about art and design online is because it has to be structured incredibly well. The teacher can't just say 'today we'll paint this vase and I'll give you feedback on it'.
Skillshare is good for art and design courses.
Whatever and wherever you learn it's really important that you apply and implement. I think this is often glossed over both by people teaching and taking online courses.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch with Helen at Speedy Digital. Connect with her on Twitter @HelenLindop
How to pitch a story to journalist
Press releases are more effective when you follow the rules!
Most businesses would like to get press coverage and, believe or or not, journalists need us to tell them what's going on.
The trick to getting your news noticed is to make it easy for the journalist!
That's why we asked award winning journalist and communications expert Rachel Extance to give us some tips - and we got a lot a more!
Rachel helps businesses to draw people in and communicate with them so that they become loyal customers, fans, and advocates.
This is the transcript of the Ask the Expert session.
What comes first?
Q. Before writing a piece is it worth making contact to see if there is interest or do you send the article in first to gauge interest?
Rachel Extance Send an email setting out what's it's about and asking if it's of interest. Look up who is the best person to send your email to or ring up the organisation and ask them.
Q.Typically how many words should an article be?
Rachel Extance A press release should ideally fit on one side of A4. It needs to be clear to the person receiving it what it is about and why it is of interest to their readers. If you would like to write something more in depth (or you would like the publication to) then have a chat with them about the potential.
Q. Is there a format one should follow. Not layout, but structure e.g. summary, beginning, middle, end?
Rachel Extance Make it clear from the start what your story is. Are you holding an event? Have you invented something amazing? Or is it a human interest story, in which case focus on the person's story and set the scene. Put a note at the end saying 'for further information' with your contact details and any brief notes you think will be helpful like a web address where they can see your organisation or a line or two about what you do. Always include your email address and a day time contact number.
Attention grabbing headlines
Rachel Extance-Virr A headline should be short and to the point. The journalist or a sub editor will write the headline which goes on the final article. So for local interest, something like "Cambridge woman climbs Everest to raise money for Addenbrooke's", or if you're going for something more general: "How one woman overcame her fear of heights to scale Everest"
Q. When pitching a story, are there things to avoid? What do journalists particularly dislike?
Rachel Extance Don't ring up and say: "I'm just calling to see if you got my press release". Don't format your press release oddly or use pdf. It needs to be possible to copy and paste it. Don't use double spaces.
Avoid jargon and make sure you spell check it. I have seen press releases where the name of the town was incorrect or the person's name was written two different ways.
They will welcome a well written press release about a local event or company as long as it is of general interest to their readers. Try to follow their writing style. Include a quote and a good picture.
Q. Is it best to put press releases in the body of an email rather than as an attachment?
Rachel Extance Put it in the body of the email and then you don't need to worry about an attachment getting lost.
Who to approach
Q. Is it worth researching different journalists before approaching them?
Rachel Extance Yes. Get to know who is the right journalist to approach. Unless it's a very small publication where one or two people write everything, they will each have a different role. On a local paper this could be looking after different geographical areas or a subject matter like education or health. On larger publications they will write on a particular topic or for a certain section. If you're not sure who is the right person to send your press release to, ring up the paper and ask who deals with the topic.
Q. Are there any tips/tricks one can use to capture a journalist's attention?
Rachel Extance It needs to be a good story. Make it grab the heartstrings or talk about something which they can see is of value to their reader. Be helpful. If you read a newspaper/magazine regularly you will spot there are columns like 'A day in the life...' or 'My morning routine' and they will need people to fill these slots. Find out who compiles the column and send them an email saying why you would be a good fit. Don't just look at the business ones. You will find ones about music tastes etc. Spot the opportunities.
#JournoRequest
Rachel Extance Most journalists are on Twitter. You can develop a relationship there. Also keep an eye on #journorequest on Twitter. This is where journalists sometimes ask for help.
Top tips for great press releases
Rachel Extance Here are my top tips:
- Do your research. Make sure you are familiar with the publication you are pitching to.
- Pitch to a journalist. Most journalists are on Twitter or you can ring the publication up and ask who deals with the topic or section you are interested in.
- Keep up with the news agenda. What’s happening? Can you offer a useful point of view?
- Look for ways to be helpful. There are often slots to fill which a journalist will welcome someone putting themselves forward for. Look for regular columns like ‘a day in the life of…’ or ‘a moment that changed me…’.
- When you outline your story make sure you cover who, what, where, why and how. If it’s an event, don’t forget when. You’d be amazed how many people don’t put the date and time.
- Make sure the story is clear from the start. Don’t bury it in the 3rd paragraph - or worse, the second page. (There shouldn’t be a second page.)
- Focus on people. If you can tell a story about a person, whether that’s you or someone you have helped, this is a great way to create an emotional connection with your subject.
- When is the deadline? Get in touch in good time. This could be two weeks in advance or for magazines it could be months. Work on Christmas really does start in the summer.
- Include a good quality picture. If you are pitching to TV/radio outline what will lend atmosphere to the piece. No-one is interested in talking heads if it can be avoided.
- Follow up. If you pitched about an event, whether it got coverage or not, you have a second bite by sending them pictures and a report afterwards.
- Blog. I saw someone the other day say they got national coverage because a researcher saw their blog. It means when the journalist is checking you out, they can get an idea of what to expect from you.
If you'd like to get more help from Rachel, contact her at Rachel Extance Communications Consultant and on Twitter @RachelExtance