You may have met Luna, my furry-faced pup, in my previous post. Those whiskers seem to be an instant ice-breaker with pretty much everyone, and she’s very affectionate towards any person or dog. This is, of course, a positive thing because she’ll need all the social advantages she can get to counter any intimidation she instils with her high-energy German Pointer nature.
So far so good then, but her name often causes comment, which surprises me. [Read more…]
This is Luna, my part-German-pointer pup, back in March, at 12 weeks old.
She is quite a bit bigger now, still kind of goofy-looking and becoming much more knowledgeable about things.
Things? Well, after where the best cow pats are in the neighbour’s paddock (for, unfortunately, rolling on top of and snacking on), then also, how effective each of my commands are and which ones are easiest to ignore.
Luna likes my brand. It is a brand that says to her: affection, well-being, security and good food. But some of my carefully thought out marketing catch-phrases (well, ok, dog commands) don’t always get the correct response.
Here’s a useful list I made in 2011 of all sorts of style guides accessible online to help make your writing consistent and more easily understood.
I thought I would revisit it as a United States reader of this blog recently found a broken link to the NASA grammar and punctuation guide I had listed, and very kindly sent me a working link. Thanks, Liz!
That pushed me to check all the links and update them where needed. So … a very useful page and fresh links: Fill your boots!
Podcasts — like a DIY radio show but delivered via the internet — provide another way of connecting to your customers and social media audience: but are they worth doing and do they get results?
This month a Kiwi-made podcast, IMTalk — which is solely about Ironman triathlons, posted its 400th episode. The podcast has more than 20,000 listeners in around 100 countries. It’s a great example of how to be successful with podcasts — choose a niche topic you know heaps about and keep publishing!
According to online comment from IMTalk producer and fitness instructor Bevan James Eyles, the podcast makes money through advertising and is praised by its advertisers for its effective returns.
Bevan was commenting under a Stuff blog post a year or so back that asked if the podcast trend was dying. He disagreed, and — funnily enough — while that blog post no longer seems to be on the Stuff website (so I can’t link to Bevan’s comment), the IMTalk podcast is going from strength to strength.
Bevan said that with 20,000 listeners his podcast show would be “a waste of time” to mainstream media, “but for myself and the other guy I produce the show with we have been able to make good money from the show. Being niche is our advantage… our advertisers know that they are talking directly to people who love the sport. All of our advertisers have told us that we are where they get the most effective return from the advertising they do with us”.
I think, that like IMTalk, podcasts have the potential to deliver business owners real immediacy and cut-through with targeted audiences. Below, to give you more information, we’ve pulled together a range of tips for successful podcasting from a bunch of clever, online experts.
Obnoxious and we loved them for it when young. Still obnoxious but not quite so endearing as middle-aged gents.
If your website sells stuff or promotes a service, the words you use have to be focused in a way that works in cyberspace. It’s totally different to writing a hard copy brochure or article.
For a start, your writing should be short (some people say make it short, then go back and edit it back 50% shorter again!), clear and benefits-focused. Below are links we’ve compiled to some knowledgeable people who explain it clearly.
So, you have decided to commit to writing a blog for your business. A blog can be a great tool — it lets you communicate directly with your customers and can really boost your online presence.
But it does take time and effort, like all good things; and I know well that it’s not always easy coming up with fresh ideas.
I’ve been writing this blog for four or so years now. I don’t update it as often as I should but it is an important part of my communicating with clients about what my business does, what we know (this is important for a service provider) and a bit about who we are.
So, where can you get ideas for regular and effective content? Brainstorming will bring up a few, but it pays to have some resources on hand for when you hit ‘blogger’s block’.
Here are some thoughts on what to do to keep those creative juices flowing and to stop you heading off on the wrong track.
See the title of this post? And see the date of my previous post? Yes, I know!
One of the big problems for small business owners is the time and thought involved with keeping social media fresh. Without dedicated comms staff to do the leg work, social media participation can easily become a burden on top of managing clients, staff, bookwork, etc.
If you don’t have the time to do it well, or the budget to outsource, an option is to have a website purely as a static brochure (as, otherwise, you will be totally invisible online) but to forgo the blog or the Facebook or Twitter account. A poorly maintained social media account is a worse marketing strategy than no account at all. You may have more targeted methods for reaching your clients.
Having said that, a regularly updated blog does show you as a thinker, a knowledge centre and a communicator in your industry and is very helpful for giving potential clients some idea of your expertise and suitability for their projects.
It also lets customers build a relationship with your organisation by posting comments under your original post and so starting a dialogue with your business.
On top of that, search engines love blogs, they are always looking for fresh content. The more you blog, the more search engines will index your site, giving it potentially better visibility in search results.
Communication is good … just don’t wait 13 months before before writing your next post!
Just back from the TCANZ 2012 conference in Auckland where it was good to have two overseas speakers pushing us to consider ‘technical communications’ as a brand, even if most of us are so deep in the trenches doing the work that we don’t get often a chance to consider how to market our ‘profession’.
But that was their main argument — that we can’t really call technical communications a profession just yet, as it lacks the infrastructure that professions require, especially the standards, independent certifications and professional development that established ‘professions’ (law, accounting, architecture, for example) have. And that having that type of infrastructure is the best base from which to build the brand.
TCANZ this year has started a process to see what steps could be taken to introduce such measures in NZ and Australia. And, with training fairly ad hoc for most practitioners in New Zealand, I am very supportive of this work. I think with measurable standards we will be more clearly able to articulate our value to employers and clients.
The working party has though decided that the sector may be too small to support a full-blown certification programme but it is continuing its work to see what would work in a market our size.
A mentoring programme is one initial suggestion — so senior practitioners would help newcomers to the sector; and that sounds a good start.