SEO Low Hanging Fruit

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

Today I have been revamping an ailing website. After a meeting with the owner of the business it was clear that the website was set up long ago, then left. This is great news.

Solid Foundations

This particular business owner is fairly typical of many small business owners, her time is spent ‘flat-out’ keeping the business running. She is doing a great job, loyal customers are walking in through the door and leaving with products that are available (may seem obvious but it happens, read my previous article), revenue is steady and constant. This is a well known company serving the local community with products that are in demand. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ springs to mind. The website, however, is a whole different ball game.

A Website That Needs Fixing

The website was built some time ago and on the face of it, it looks OK, only OK. This business owner has neither the time nor the inclination to deal with it so the website has lay dormant on ‘the back-burner’ for years. Not many people see it. The owner’s skill-set is in the successful running of her business, her time is valuable and is spent far more productively at the helm. The site is a ‘blank canvas’ with plenty of room for improvement. As SEO changes by the minute and Google’s algorithms frequently change, there is much that can be improved, short, medium and long term.

SEO Fixes – Low Hanging Fruit

There are so many simple and easy steps that will immediately have a positive impact. Step one has been analysing what the owner wants from the website:

  • Will it become an online shop?
  • What is the main call-to-action?
  • What are the KPIs we need to measure?

After discussion I created a list for each of us. My approach is holistic and multi-dimensional. My client’s easy ‘to-do’ list includes:

  • Fostering reviews and testimonials from customers for use on the website and across social media
  • Requesting inbound links from suppliers
  • Listing relevant trade magazines for me to approach about contributing articles
  • Provide a list of products to enable me to create content/pages
  • Take advantage of a relative with photography skills to produce a list of shots for the site

My list includes writing unique content for the pages of the website in a logical sequence. I have applied the usual SEO fixes to the ‘skeleton’ of the site and replaced redundant pages with pages that will work hard for the business as its online presence evolves. I am making the short-term fixes with the long-term in mind. This business is time-poor and needs to know that the website will provide a positive impact on cash-flow, revenue and profit without draining time or resources that are required elsewhere. As the revenue increases the owner will be in a stronger position to create a budget for marketing, and so the upwards spiral begins. I love my job!

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More SEO articles in my somewhat disorganised Blog (A work in progress)

 

 

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Is it Too Late to Save Our High Streets?

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

In the light of the news that Cambridge has won the award for ‘Healthiest Retail Centre‘, ahead of Oxford Street among others, I thought I would take a look at our High Streets.

A Week in France

I have returned to France for a final week of the Summer, I’m pleased to say I’ve been productive whilst enjoying this relaxed pace of life, keeping up with work. We have visited several ‘dusty towns’ (so named by the children on previous visits) and picked up minimal provisions for survival, le vino, le fromage, du pain, the week wasn’t about shopping. And here’s the thing…No matter the size of the town, there seems to be a thriving, well supported core of shops: boucherie, charcuterie, boulangerie and usually a bustling market. It sounds quaint and old fashioned doesn’t it.

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Historic High Streets Surviving in a Modern World

How Is Your High Street?

My local town in the UK has an ailing and ever transient High Street. In the years I have lived here, we have seen shops come and go, many quickly falling by the wayside. The town has little to offer now, coffee shops, charity shops and a few cut price outlets. It is easy to be clinical about it but the truth is, each failing business carries with it a story of hardship for the people who worked within it. I know that businesses fail for many reasons, but the dramatic shift in consumer habits has a large part to play. How many of us are guilty of going in to a shop, finding something we love, recording it somehow then going home to shop online? I confess, I have done it myself. When faced with the prospect of saving a large sum of money or the convenience of delivery to your door, it’s understandable.

Is a Change as Good as a Rest?

In the years we have been coming to France, we have seen slow but definite change. Outside the larger towns, super marches have appeared, super prices, super range…not so super for the local shops. We were here a few weeks ago, I wrote about the local traders who told me that the people don’t come any more. It appears that the majority of these local shops still enjoy their rest, closing for lunch for around three hours is normal. We can predict the future easily and I fear for many, it may not be bright. So what is the solution? Do they enter the world of hard and competitive marketing? Fighting for survival, deploying every weapon in their arsenal to get custom? That just wouldn’t be right for the restful people of these beautiful villages.

Any Suggestions?

Perhaps the story doesn’t have to end negatively, maybe the ending has yet to be written. What could be a positive outcome? How could our High Streets evolve to serve a community, to support local people and to draw people from the giants?Maybe we just haven’t thought of it yet but there is a happy outcome out there.

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When You Are in a Black Hole, Don’t Give Up

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

This post has sprung from a conversation about illustration. We are staying in a farmhouse in France with friends who are great conversationalists. I happened to mention how I have used Canva for a long time now to produce illustrations. I regularly recommend Canva to my clients, it is quick and easy to produce professional looking illustrations that enhance your work. I specialise in words, writing content that improves SEO and increases sales, being artistic is not my strength so Canva is a perfect solution.

Adding Life To Words

The discussion led to the power of good illustrations and then on to this example of a Professor Stephen Hawking lecture entitled, ‘Do Black Holes Have No Hair’. An organisation called We Are Cognitive were commissioned to bring Prof. Hawking’s lecture to life. Here is the result, for those of us that are visual learners, it is out of this world (pun intended).

When You Are In A Black Hole, Don’t Give Up

As an aside, the message behind the lecture seems to be, ‘when you are in a black hole, don’t give up’. There is opportunity to reappear in a different universe, all is not lost. Optimally, it might be preferable to recognise that one is headed towards a black hole and change course, far less unpredictable I feel.

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Is Poor Marketing Worse Than No Marketing?

Posted on September 1, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

What inspired me to write this post? I have recently received marketing emails telling me, in a carefully crafted box, to…

‘Chose Now’

It didn’t evoke feelings of trust in the knowledge and professionalism of the company. Similar ‘turn-offs’ are irrelevant or too frequent emails. Is this kind of marketing worse than no marketing at all? I would argue that marketing should at the very least, make you look good. 

Marketing Goals

I have recently begun working with two new clients. One is a business start-up, the team have a strong background in marketing, I am producing content, they know how to market it, perfect. The other is a small business in the Fens serving trade and retail customers. The latter business is doing OK with little or no marketing, they have a loyal customer base who choose them because of their products, their service and their prices. They want to enhance their offering by sorting out a ‘sedentary’ website to optimise its performance. With both clients, we are creating a clear set of achievable and realistic goals.

Realising Marketing Potential

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Hiring a good content writer is an investment

Both companies have plenty of opportunities for increasing their potential. The new start-up have knowledge and experience of marketing and they have employed the skills of a good copywriter, we are working well as a team.

The small business in the Fens have the luxury of an existing customer base who know and trust them. They now also have the potential to improve, increasing turnover through well-written copy and search engine optimisation of their ‘blank canvas ‘ of a website.  We can realise the potential logically and sequentially, starting with the optimisation of the website then beginning a marketing strategy that is relevant and useful to the audience as well as being well written!

More musings on marketing here and here. What kinds of marketing annoy you? What makes you unsubscribe? Conversely, what do you love to see? What makes you click  ‘BUY NOW’?

 

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Subscriptions for Success

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

Over the weekend I read an article that highlighted a subscription to shaving products from Harry’s, ‘A Great Shave for Great Britain’ is the brilliantly inclusive strapline. I don’t need their products but I felt compelled to have a look, if I shaved, I would sign up. Like ‘Shave Club‘, it is providing a service in response to a need, that need is not going to go away. We are all time poor these days, fewer of us are browsing round the shops to find exactly what we need. A subscription means we sign up at the click of a button and it is all taken care of.

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Could you create a subscription model?

Building a Subscription Product

Years ago I created a subscription model for a client, the market we were aiming at was any adult who needed to regularly buy gifts for a child. I chose and created a series of gifts that would gradually build to become a whole play set. I wrote a story to go alongside each month’s gift, adding another dimension to the recipients’ experience and making our subscription stand out. the developing story also served as a hook to retain customers for the duration.

In this particular case the product was a train set, easy to build on from a basic starter set, adding in a desirable addition each month to create an impressive end product of high perceived value. The excitement of the experience for the recipient was matched by the ‘brownie points’ earned by the adult paying the subscription. This customer is probably time-poor and the convenience of a subscription based product ticks all of the boxes. Everybody feels good.

The Subscription Business Model

The subscription model has great potential, many businesses have been propelled to stardom, The Honest Company is a great example. Since beginning in 2011 it’s valuation in August 2015 was $1.7 billion. Have a look at your offering, do you have products or services that people would need/want to buy regularly? Think how you could help by taking care of it for them.

Benefits of the Subscription Model

Convenience/Ease – Your offering must represent convenience for your customers. The subscription ‘takes care of it’ for them, saving them time/money/effort. For your business, cashflow is more predictable, budgeting becomes easier, future revenue is assured, more time is available for running the business.

Customer Loyalty – You are providing a service to your customers, retaining their business in the long term. Whilst building the relationship with your customers you increase your understanding of their needs and preferences and therefore your marketing power. Use the opportunity to obtain valuable testimonials, your subscribers chose you for a reason, ask them to tell you why.

Marketing Potential – Regular subscribers are a ‘captive market’, ripe for relevant, useful communications that provide a chance to upsell. The potential for scalability is at your fingertips. Marketing, invoicing and communications can be automated to release your time and reduce outgoings.

Control – The predictability of demand gives you more control of stock and purchasing. As well as that, it affords more control of your budget and the opportunity to place advance orders and release funds for future projects/investments.

Cash Flow – Manage cash flow with more certainty, the predictability of knowing income and outgoings gives you the information you need to make strategically important decisions.

Benefits of subscriptions include increased revenue, higher profits, enhanced customer loyalty and a vastly improved cash-flow. All you need is a product/service that is needed regularly, and clever marketing and content writing to show customers why they need to subscribe.

 

 

 

 

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Can You Beat This Customer Service?

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

Just setting the scene

My parents, creatures of habit, have shopped in the same Sainsbury’s in Cambridge for 42 years. More than that, barring extraordinary circumstances, they go on the same day, and to the same checkout assistant. In that time they have exchanged numbers, and become well acquainted.

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An exceptional example of customer service

Image credit: Sainsbury’s

An Unfortunate Incident

Mother is gardening and steps back into a full watering can. In the fall she breaks her femur and the radius in her wrist. There is no visit to Sainsbury’s that week. Enter Jean Harfield. DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

  1. Jean noticed my parents had not appeared that week
  2. Jean phoned them up at home and asked if they were OK
  3. Jean arranged to meet them at the store the next week at the end of her shift
  4. Jean does their shopping while my father pushes mother (AKA Director of shopping) in a wheelchair
  5. Jean has arranged to repeat the exercise as required
  6. Jean hasn’t mentioned that she is doing this to anyone, she just wants to help

Exceptional Customer Service

What is it that has stimulated Jean Harfield to undertake this extraordinary act of kindness? I dare say that this isn’t something covered in the Sainsbury’s staff manual. In my line of work I see a lot of cheesy marketing ploys to increase sales and profit. This isn’t about sales; this is simply an act of human kindness from one extraordinary person. This display of altruism has meant the world to my parents and their family.

So Jean, I know that you have arranged to help them again this week. As you slip on a cardigan to avoid time-consuming questions from customers about where the tomato puree is, know that you are an amazing human being. I hope that Sainsbury’s realise what a treasure they have in their midst.

Update: I  gather Sainsbury’s presented Jean with a £10 voucher.

Customer Care, Above All Else

Customer service is everything, have a look at a few of my other posts e.g. This article was written after trying to book flights, apparently your seat isn’t included in the price. This one during a recent visit to the U.S. Think you can top this story? I would love to hear about it.

Look after your customers above all, they will look after you.

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Is Your Content Reaching Your Buyers?

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

You may be producing amazing content, it might be reaching and entertaining a wide audience, but are they your buyers?

Reach Your Audience

In previous posts I’ve talked about knowing your audience and talking directly with them through your content. You need to reach them on a deeper level and trigger an emotional response that inspires them to act. They need to believe in you, enough to choose you above all of the competition out there vying for their attention. So what’s the trick?

Know Your Customers

For small business owners, there is no marketing team dedicated to slicing through the treacle that is the internet and grabbing the attention of  potential customers, not like ‘the big boys’.  If you get your content marketing right, you too can have your share.  I am working on the assumption that you understand your brand and know your product(s).  From there, the place to start is honing down on exactly who your target demographic is. Where to start? Get a huge piece of paper, some felt-tip pens and invite every person in your team, supply biscuits. Now ask every question you can think of: What do you KNOW about your audience?  What do they do? When do they buy? What do they buy? Why do they buy? What device(s) do they use? Who do they buy for? What are their interests? How much time do they have? Who’s in their family? What do they like? The list is not exhaustive, at this stage, there are no stupid questions.

Speak to Your Audience

Once you have built up a clear and complete picture of your target customer, speak in their language. This is about written content, it always needs to be clear, accurate and relevant but the intonation and style need to bring out the personality of your product/service and speak on a subliminal level with your customers. When I produce scientific content I know that my audience, generally PhD and above, is comfortable with technical terms, I am safe to use scientific language. If your products are aimed at business people, use a more formal style, exhibiting your professionalism, invoking trust, bear in mind they are ‘time poor’. If your potential customers are thrill-seekers looking for adventure, use a style of ‘speaking’ with them that they will engage with.

Content Writing Isn’t For Everyone

Content writing is not a skill that everyone can acquire. If your skills lie elsewhere or literacy is not your strong-point, don’t spend your valuable time on it. Use your time and skills elsewhere and invest in an experienced content writer who can create content that works for you. Your aim is to reach and engage your target audience with relevant, well-written content that creates trust and inspires them to act:

Buy now/Click/Call/Share/Like. Marketing Graphic-Targeting Your Audience for Sales Content Marketing My Words Work For You

 

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How Important Is Nomenclature?

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

Today Clarks Shoes are the latest victim of a media frenzy, they have been accused of sexism, fairly or unfairly?

A Marketing Faux Pas

Clarks have released their latest range of school shoes; somebody in the Clarks ‘shoe naming department’ has deemed it appropriate to call the boys’ shoe ‘Leader’, while the equivalent girls’ shoe has been awarded the name, ‘Dolly Babe’. It is an atrocious choice, I understand that. Who on earth has been paid money to think of that name? Why did nobody else in the organisation think to change it? The shoes in question could have been called so many names that empowered their wearers.

Are boys ‘Leaders’ while girls are ‘Dolly Babes’? Certainly not.

Product Naming Can be Effective

Perhaps a more effective marketing ploy would be to engage their audience in a shoe naming competition. Alternatively, strive for aspirational names that increase the desirability of the product. Clarks could have been very clever and ‘imagined up’ a range of names that appealed to parents and their children. Clearly when choosing shoes, the fit is the priority, but product names can influence the buyer.

Marketing – Make it Desirable

Many years ago I was content marketing for a toy retailer. I chose to name a range of nursery mobile animals with humorous and quirky names. The result was a dramatic increase in sales. Why? Well the names I chose were aimed at engaging the target market (adults), invoking an emotional response. It worked. Each toy transitioned from an inanimate object, to a character with a back story and the potential to bring joy into the lives of all who entered the nursery. Personification is a powerful marketing tool, we all like to identify with what we are buying. There are myriad intelligent ways to approach marketing, and many are yet to be thought of. 

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

Clarks could have walked this path more wisely, of course ‘Dolly Babe’ is a ridiculous and demeaning name but ultimately, the important thing is the quality of the product. Is it fit for purpose? Clarks have a well-desrved good reputation in the shoe industry and sensible parents have trusted the welfare of their children’s feet to experienced fitters for many years. On a personal note, we have left Clarks with no new shoes on more than one occasion, the result of having a child with oddly shaped feet, ethically minded fitters have refused to sell us ill-fitting shoes.

I am sure lessons will be learned and Clarks will produce more sensitively named shoes in the future.

Would this ‘slip-up’ stop you from buying from Clarks? 

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Content Writing To Preserve History

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

Do you know anyone with a story to tell?  In the words of Max Ehrmann, ‘listen to others…they too have their story’.  What happens if the story isn’t recorded? Is it lost forever?

Preserving History

Since childhood I have cared about preserving people’s stories. As we ‘shuffle off this mortal coil’, our stories go with us. Those left behind get on with living and creating memories of their own. The tragedy for me is when those who have  lead meaningful existences pass on, taking their lives and their memories with them. Pieces of history lost forever.

Story of an Evacuee

I have lived in this Cambridgeshire village for over 19 years, in that time we have developed friendships with people throughout the community. One of my dog walking buddies talks about his experiences as an evacuee in World War II. For years I have encouraged him to record it, he has desperately wanted to, but it just hadn’t happened, you know how it is. The time was right, and a local publication needed a new article, so my friend and I sat down and preserved his story.

Living History

Word got out. The local primary school were learning about the war, ‘crocodile lines’ of children had walked to the local train station carrying their ‘gas mask boxes’ to be evacuated. If only they could meet a real evacuee… So an amazing afternoon was spent seated under a tree, answering a multitude of questions from enthusiastic budding historians.

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Living History

The Work Continues

The editor of the magazine has contacted me asking if I could write a regular feature. My next project is a ‘Village Elder’ who has lived here all his life. He knows stuff, I can’t wait to share it. Another lovely post about making people feel good here.

 

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Variety is the Spice of Working Life

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Nicola Dunklin

How varied is your work? Is every day the same or do you get some variety in your working day? Maybe every day is different and you never know what to expect? The wonderful, and essential, thing about nature is variation of the species, humans are no exception. Thankfully, we are all different, we have different preferences, outlooks, needs. It is ‘horses for courses’, having every day the same will suit some people down to the ground, some will find unpredictability challenging. This post is not aimed at those people.

Content Writing

I am very fortunate. After four years of content writing I have learned to be selective about the clients I work with, This is not motivated by selfish gain. I have learned from experience that it is far more beneficial to the client if their content writer believes in what they are writing. I have been working in Chicago with a client carrying out Human Factors medical research. This has certainly added variety to my working life, and some extraordinary experiences!

Blue Man Show Chicago Business Support My Words Work For You

The Blue Man Show Chicago – Difficult to explain, you kind of need to be there

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Annual Duck Race, we only popped out for lunch, and this was happening right outside. The winning duck owner receives a car, it’s a big deal!

The Importance of Being Happy

Considering the average adult will work a total of 92,120 hours in their lifetime, being satisfied with your working life is tremendously important. According to the Office of National Statistics’ Assessment of National Well-Being, 42% of the individuals surveyed across 18 different measures, felt that they experienced no overall change in their feeling of well-being in the last year. In case you are wondering, the figure of 92,120 was based on 39,2 hour X 47 weeks X 50 years.

A Working Week

After returning home tonight I will be meeting with two potential new clients and I will be trying my hand at something new. This will bring new challenges, a chance to upskill as well as benefiting existing clients, all positive. Every working day is different as I write content for a carefully selected range of clients. Chellenges for me come from scientific content writing. I provide scientific content for two clients that enable researchers to make discoveries across the globe, that gives me great job satisfaction as well as stretching my brain  and keeping me up-to-date. I support a client to carry out Human Factors research, again, positively impacting lives of people suffering from a range of diseases. Fun comes from contibuting articles for blogs on a range of topics and writing human interest articles for publications. Largely, I can manage my working week to bring something different every day and beat client deadlines. I am fortunate.

How is Your Working Week?

Do you have opportunities and challenges in your work? Do you have variety? What keeps you interested in your work? What makes you smile as you wake up and realise it’s a work day? I am really hoping for you that the answers are positive? If not, don’t worry, now is as good a time as any to assess and evaluate. Are you happy? What could change? There is always something.

Why is it so Important?

If you experienced variety and challenge in your work what benefits would it bring to you and your workplace? This list is by no means exhaustive, I imagine you could add many of your own, feel free to add your ideas in the comments.

  • Motivation
  • Aspiration
  • Productivity
  • Happiness
  • Physical and mental health
  • Improved quality
  • Added value and employability

How Could You Add Variety?

Again, everybody’s circumstances differ, many more may apply to you.

  • Additional training
  • Volunteering
  • Training others
  • Taking on new responsibilities
  • Applying for something new
  • Up-skilling
  • Speaking with and listening to people in roles you are interested in
  • Changing your routine
  • Speak with colleagues and employers about flexibility

Lots of articles on this topic and many more in my Blog, enjoy!

 

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