August 23, 2009
“How many people, on their deathbed, wish they’d spent more time at the office?”
What will your last words be? Presumably you won’t be wishing you’d spent more time at work! Most people start up in business because they’ve had a great idea. Or because they know they can do a better job than the competition. Or because they’re passionate about the goods and services they’re selling. The sad thing is that so many of the things you’re obliged to do to run a successful small business are dull, repetitive, complicated or just not ‘you’.
It might be dull but business owners still often find it hard to let go of the small stuff. They get bogged down in detail when they’d be much better off concentrating on the bits of the business they’re interested in and passionate about. What’s the solution? Outsourcing. Find someone you can trust to tackle your admin, PA support duties, business support and accounting.
The trick with work is to control it rather than letting it control you. If you hit the right balance you’ll reap the benefits. There’s a best selling book doing the rounds at
August 5, 2009
“Eat less, taste more.”
As a small business owner you’re probably deeply involved in every aspect of your business from the bottom up. But if you had less on your plate, would you be more free – and able – to appreciate the big picture? And do you have all the different skills needed to keep all the plates spinning?
Unfortunately there isn’t an equation or calculation that’ll tell you exactly when it’s time to
hand over the reigns, or at least some of them, to someone else. But here’s a quick checklist. If you answer ‘yes’ to more than a couple of these you’re probably about to drop into admin hell. Which means it’s a good time to grab yourself some good quality, common sense, expert freelance business support before things start to topple!
• Do you get time to invoice your customers regularly?
• Do you chase late payments?
• What about marketing… do you do any promotion or are you too busy chasing your tail?
• Is your order book full?
• Is your electronic filing and admin system up to date and accurate?
• Are you prepared for the tax man / VAT man?
• Is there a pile of paperwork on your desk to address that you never seem to get around to?
• Are you full of new ideas but have no time to bring them to fruition?
July 15, 2009
Grammar can be a sticky subject. Unless you’re hot on punctuation and the correct use of written English the whole thing can be baffling. But even if you’re desperate, steer very clear of Microsoft Word’s grammar checker. A recent article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer included some dreadfully bad advice from Word’s grammar check facility. ‘Marketing are bad for brand big and small’ was approved without a murmur. And it advised someone else that ‘Bill Gates do good Marketing job in Microsoft’ is grammatically correct. Blimey. And it rarely picks up missed apostrophes.
There are loads of free non-Microsoft grammar checking solutions available online. But they all suffer from the same big problem. They have to interpret a language that isn’t always logical. Many words have several different meanings. The context of a word can make a huge difference. Despite all the technology at our fingertips these subtleties are almost impossible for software to fully understand.
So what’s the solution? I recommend you use a human grammar checker. Find someone who knows what’s what and let them read through your text, letters and marketing copy before you release it. More than one pair of eyes helps enormously. And just keep it simple. If you go rambling off into all sorts of complicated concepts and explanations you risk coming a cropper. Write the way you speak (within reason!), use short sentences and simple words and you’ll avoid most of the scariest grammar pitfalls.
July 11, 2009
Have you ever heard of ‘mirroring’? It’s all about body language. When two or more of us get on well, we’ll find ourselves unconsciously mirroring each others’ posture and gestures.
As a business owner you can take advantage of the phenomenon.
Have you ever spent time wondering how to end a letter or email? These days it is perfectly fine to sign off an email with Best wishes, All the best, Cheers, Thanks, Many thanks, Regards, Best regards… I could go on.
A lot of businesses stick to the traditional Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully for business letters and direct marketing. But times are changing people are getting creative with their letter sign offs too.
It’s basic psychology. If someone has emailed or written to you, mirror their communication style by ending your reply the same way. If they say Regards, say Regards back. If they end their email with Affectionate Regards and Big Hugs, grit your teeth and reply in kind. It’ll make them feel imperceptibly warmer towards you.
The business advantage? Everything you can do to get a customer or prospect ‘on side’ as opposed to going to a competitor, however small and simple, is worth doing.
June 29, 2009
As a Virtual Assistant, I get involved in all sorts of projects. Because I’m an outsider I see things from a fresh perspective. Which comes in really handy.
Immersed in something for any length of time, you can lose perspective and insight.
If you’ve handled your marketing materials from start to finish it’s easy to get word blindness and miss mistakes. You might have developed processes and procedures ‘on the hoof’ which a fresh eye might improve with a few tweaks. You could be so deep into your business that you’re missing small but crucial opportunities. A handful of small improvements can stack up into a decent commercial advantage.
The moral of the story: never underestimate the power of someone who knows next to nothing about your business!
June 23, 2009
Are you confused about who you can and can’t market your business’s products and services to? Not to worry. Apply a few common sense rules and you should be fine.
Business to business:
• If your company operates business to business, you can email and mail offers and marketing materials to your target market without getting their permission first
• Even so, it is best practice to offer a polite, clear opt-out up front every time you contact them. And make it easy for them to do so
Business to consumer:
• Does your company sell goods or services to consumers? If so you can’t email them without getting their express permission via an opt-in. Otherwise you risk being accused of spamming
• If you want to post offers to people at home, take care. If someone is registered with the MPS (Mailing Preference Service) you can get into real trouble mailing them. It is always sensible to buy a good, clean, legal targeted list from a reputable supplier. You don’t want to waste your time, money and reputation marketing to the deceased, moved, repossessed, reluctant, disappointed and disappeared
• Even if you’ve bought a lovely clean list, give people the choice to opt in or out. Put it up front. And put a process in place so they can tell you never to darken their doors again clearly, easily and quickly
June 16, 2009
Sometimes you just have to give in. Gird up your loins, exhibit a stiff upper lip and bite the bad grammar bullet.
These days even mellow-toned BBC News presenters proclaim that they’re ‘sat in front of the Houses of Parliament’ rather than ‘sitting’. And everyone writes ‘roofs’ instead of ‘rooves’ and ‘leafs’ instead of ‘leaves’.
But writing is all about communication. If everyone’s sat on the roofs you have no choice but to join in. When something becomes so deeply ingrained it suddenly becomes right. And moving with the times – even if it goes against the grain – is always good for business.
June 8, 2009
Every time you contact a customer, for whatever reason, you’re given an opportunity to boost your relationship with them. You don’t have to sell something to them every time – you’d drive them nuts. But strong, clear communications at every stage support your brand.
Do you have a clear picture of your sales process? One really good way to get a grip on the opportunities your sales process presents is to create a simple flow chart containing every point of contact. Include all elements of the customer journey from initial enquiry to order fulfilment and billing, refunding to discounting, extending or withdrawing credit, repeat orders, reports & accounts, shareholder communications… and literally everything in between.
The letters, emails, leaflets and other materials that drive all these processes are a valuable – and often overlooked – part of the marketing mix. Even complaints deliver fertile ground for positive action. Making every single communication that flows from your business – whatever the medium – as effective as possible, looking and sounding as good as it possibly can, will help you steal a march on the competition.
It isn’t always easy to see the wood for the trees. Any anyway, you’re probably far too busy running your business to optimise the opportunities inherent in your sales process. If so, no worries. That’s what Virtual Assistance is all about!
June 3, 2009
In the olden days business letters were extremely formal beasts packed with henceforths and hereforetos, thereafters and hereafters. Full of fluff and padding. In fact until the 1980s, they weren’t so much about communication as one-upmanship, power and superiority. Look back at a thirty year old insurance claim letter and you’ll probably be shocked at the language and the way it is presented; distant, cold, officious and overly-elaborate.
The 1980s’ customer service revolution put the power firmly in the court of the consumer, who became king. In reaction business letters slowly turned with the tide into helpful, plain language pieces of communication. Then came the internet, which made elegant, succinct, warm, human business communications an absolute must.
Of course there are still occasions when you need to put your formal hat on. But today’s formality is relative. It no longer means pulling Dickensian phrasing out of the hat and scaring the recipient into submission. These days ‘formality’ is all about clarity and courtesy.
Whether you’re writing to a supplier, a debtor, solicitor, insurer, customer, fellow business person, industry contact or prospect, it’s your job to do so succinctly, pleasantly and firmly. With good cheer and immaculate manners.
