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Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
13 August 2024
As a business owner you will probably need to make a presentation at some point. Whether for a business meeting, an opportunity to speak at an event or (most often) at a WIBN networking meeting, that time will come when you need to stand up in front of a roomful of people and express yourself for 10, 15 or 20 minutes.
It is said that more people have a fear of public speaking than death – though I’m not sure when that research was done or how valid it is now. Whether true or apocryphal, knowing what to say and how to say it is one area where there is no reason to worry.
Here are my top tips for presentations from a content perspective:
Prepare your presentation in advance
As soon as you know you have a presentation coming up, set aside the time to prepare it. Nothing is likely to make you more anxious when facing the prospect of a presentation where you know it isn’t ready, or you haven’t given yourself enough time to get comfortable with the content.
Even if you are planning to repeat a presentation you’ve done before, this time it will be different. There will be a different audience, and things may have changed for you, for them, and for the wider world. You may have more or less time, so you’ll need to adapt to fit the new timings.
If you are giving a new presentation it can help to create a level map of key points, even starting by just brainstorming all the possible ideas you could include before winnowing them down. Only then do you go into more detail (you can even write a script if you like) and finally you can consider what props, aids, and tools you might want.
Know your Audience and outcome
This is the key factor as you are planning your presentation.
Who is in the room? Why are they there? What is the idea or concept you most want them to grasp?
I find the easiest way to get clear on this is to ask myself one simple question: “If my audience only walk away with one thing from my presentation, what is it?”
That helps me discard a lot of the ideas and possible topics I’d originally thought I’d include (and thus means I won’t waffle).
You know your stuff, they don’t!
In knowing your audience, it will help you pitch your presentation to the right level.
Think about what they already know and understand (which is often less than you might like to imagine) so you can be sure your content makes sense.
In preparing, this can sometimes mean you need to take the time to explain things which are obvious to you. As an example, I heard a builder recently explaining that DPC these days doesn’t need to be as deep as it used to be. Those who work in the construction industry were all nodding wisely, fascinated by what they were hearing. I felt lost! (It means ‘Damp Proof Course’ by the way).
Is your audience knowledgeable in your field?
Do you have a room full of novices?
Is it a mixture?
It is usually best to cut out any jargon, spell out acronyms, and assume at least one person in the room needs you to explain what you are talking about.
Also plan to go more slowly when presenting your material. You audience needs to digest your content, which means you need to give them more time and avoid trying to cram too much in. It comes back to that “one thing” question. If all you achieve is they understand the main point, you’ve done a good job. Some will take away more – and that’s a bonus. But the last thing you want is for people to walk away feeling they didn’t understand a thing!
Slides aid the audience (not you)
In your planning you may have written out a script to help you prepare. If you then decide to use slides to aide your presentation (and they are not obligatory, by the way) please do not transfer that script to the slides.
I see this all too often. A deck of slides goes up with a lot of bullet points, stuffed with words. Then the presenter simply reads them.
It’s deadly! Its boring! It keeps you locked to the slides with your back to the audience. And most people read faster than they listen, so they are already at the bottom of the slide before you are halfway through and now want you to get on with the next one.
Worse still, something packed with text comes up and the presenter says, “I don’t expect you to read this” (and then goes on to read it to you instead!).
Slides are only there to illustrate what you are saying, so use pictures and diagrams as much as possible and if you do need to use text limit it to one or two words for each idea.
I often use slide builds – one line or image at a time to build up the idea – but only do this if you have access to a remote control (aka ‘clicker’) to move the slides along and feel comfortable with the multitasking involved. And do please avoid getting over excited with slide animations. Words and images leaping out from the sides and bounding across the screen can be really distracting.
Rehearse till you are sick of it
You know what you are going to say and have materials assembled. Job done?
Not by a long chalk…
Now you need to practice. Even if you’ve presented this material before, and even if you are certain, you’ve got everything right, start running through the presentation.
It allows you to gauge for time, so you know you won’t get caught by a two-minute warning with 70% of the presentation still to go.
It means you can test that everything flows as you want it to, and you know how you will transition from one idea to the next.
It means you know the materials well enough that you don’t need to stay glued to your notes and can make eye contact with your audience.
Run it through a few times on your own and then, if you can, get a friend, colleague, or mentor to be a test audience for you too.
The more you practice, the less you will be worried about the content and that really brings down the nerves on the day.
Be ready for all the tech to fail
Have you asked yourself what you are going to do if your slides aren’t there for any reason. This usually comes down to a projector not being compatible with your laptop or the bulb going, but I’ve known for presentations to be scuppered by power cuts, a change of venue (so no one knew where anything was) and a previous tech delay resulting in the presentation time being halved at the last minute.
So, what is your backup plan?
Although I use my own PC when I can, I always also email my slides to the host and bring them on a USB drive. Plus, I know how I could manage if I had no slides at all. I also know someone who has a pocket projector which he can use if the in-house one fails for any reason.
If I’m reliant on images or diagrams for any reason, I have printed versions ready to pass round the room (not enough for one per person but enough that everyone can see in good time).
Technology will fail – so be ready for that to happen.
Don’t just read the script….
Remember what I said about reading your script from slides being boring?
The same applies to reading your script from a piece of paper when you come to present. Avoid it if at all possible.
If you’ve done enough rehearsal, you are going to know the overall shape and flow of what you plan to say, so you don’t need a script. Those who have the gift of a great memory can do without anything but their slides as a prompt (lucky them) but if not, create a list of the key points, to remind you what comes in what order.
I use small cards for this, with one or two points on each card and my logo on the back (looks really smart!), but one sheet of paper, a notebook, or even writing on your hand (if it will fit) will all work.
Then, most of your eye contact will be spent on the audience, not on the words on a page.
Breathe
Another advantage of index cards, is that at the bottom of each one, I write the word “Breathe!”
Presenting, even if you are experienced and enjoy it, generally leads to nerves. When we’re nervous, our breathing gets shallow, or we forget to breathe at all – and that tells your body there is danger around and it increases the fear response.
So, remember to take a few breaths, and pace yourself. Those short silences, which might feel like an eternity to you, will be comfortable to the audience. It gives them thinking time and time to process what you’ve already said, ready for the next point. And it can really add impact to a presentation as it can build suspense and make sure you have everyone’s attention.
Don’t forget a call to action
This is so important!
You’ve done the hard work in winning the audience, in sharing your story, getting your points across, building rapport…
So, now what? What’s the next step for them and for you?
This could be as simple as having a slide with your contact details at the end of the presentation so people can follow up but, the clever presenter has an offer ready.
You can give people discounted access to a course or a free taster session or assessment. You can tell them where you’re speaking next, so they can book in. You can even invite them to come and speak with you afterwards for more information.
But don’t miss this opportunity to take the audience beyond the presentation.
If you would like help creating the content for a presentation or would like to book Cate to speak on content, get in touch today.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
16 July 2024
Top tips for writing website content
There are very few cases these days where a business doesn’t need a website. Anyone thinking of working with you is going to want to check you out on your website. If you don’t have one, they may ask themselves why and wonder if you’re a legitimate business.
That said, the words you use on your website are at least as important as how well the site functions technically. So, when you come to write your website content, what are our top tips?
Know where your website fits in your business and in the visitor journey
What you include on your website depends very much on why people come to visit it. For a typical business, the website is part of the marketing and sales process, so think about where it fits in the customer journey.
Do prospects find you on Google, for example, so the site is ‘first contact’? Or do they find you elsewhere (referrals, maybe) and this is second step? Or is it even later in the journey – they visit to do due diligence before signing a contract? Or is it where you send customers to place the order once all the sales process is complete?
The content you use will be quite different in each of these cases.
And, if none of these apply, that’s okay. Just be clear on who visitors are and what they’re looking for.
Once you know this, you can tailor your website content to answer the questions in your visitor’s mind.
Don’t wait for ‘complete’
One of the most common conversations we have with people writing their own website is, “I’ve written some of it, but I’ve still got some pages to write.” My advice is always, “Don’t wait to get your website live.” A site with just a home page is going to be more effective than no site at all, so if that’s all you have written so far, publish it. As long as you have a call to action (‘Contact Us’ for example) and the home page touches on the most important things your site visitor wants to know, you can add more pages later.
Talk to your audience – the 3:1 ratio
Take a look at your home page and count up how many times you use “I” or “We.” Now see how often you say “You.” The ratio should be three “You’s” to every “We.”
In other words, talk about your audience and their concerns, not about you and what you do. Frankly, on a home page no one cares about you. They have come to see if you can solve their problem, so answer their question.
To support that, put testimonials high on the home page. Don’t make your visitor hunt to find proof that you’re good at what you do (because, usually, they won’t bother). So many sites have an engaging first section and then go immediately into talking about themselves.
If someone wants to know about you they can look elsewhere.
Take care of your About page
Which leads me to the ‘About’ page.
This is the second most visited page on most websites. That doesn’t mean it’s the second place someone will go but, in most cases, they will keep coming back to it throughout the decision making process. Make sure everything that’s needed is included here, and keep it up to date.
Talk about your company values, who you love to work with and why, the history of the business and your credentials. Tell your visitor all the things they need to know about you and your team to make a confident decision.
Maintain your website content regularly
We’ve all been there. We’ve visited a website which is still telling us about the COVID protocols they have in place: masks, 2 meter distancing and the like. In other words, no one has looked at the website for several years. Or you take a look at the blogs, and they are all dated July 2017.
The message this sends out is either “we’re no longer trading but haven’t cancelled our web hosting,” or “We don’t finish what we start.” In either case, your visitor will quickly go elsewhere.
Don’t fall into this trap. Set aside time every three months or so to give your website a once over. Add anything recent to the history; check the services or products you offer are still current; test the links to be sure they still work.
A quick check every three months makes this an easy and simple task. Leave it too long and you’ll have to rewrite large sections of the site and it becomes harder to do.
Whether you’re setting up your first website or know it’s time to give your existing site a revamp, getting the content right is key. That’s where our new online course, ‘Website Gold’ comes in – click here for all the details.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
18 January 2024
Newsletters are the cornerstone of email marketing. A regular update to clients, staff and other interested contacts makes sure you remain in mind and are adding value on a regular basis.
If this is something you are planning to do as part of your marketing strategy here are some top tips to make sure it has the desired effect.
Have a newsletter!
It sounds a bit obvious but if you have contacts you want to remember you. Whether they are past customers who you want to come back, clients to whom you want to provide additional value, potential clients who need to know more before they make a choice or a wider audience with whom you want to build a relationship, a newsletter is a great tool to use. It is more personal and targeted than social media posting and not as time consuming as telephone follow up. So add it to your marketing mix.
Know your audience
This is a top tip for any content. Make sure you know who you want reading your newsletter, what would be valuable to them and what action you want them to take from reading your newsletter. Then craft your newsletter for them. There may be other subscribers on your list and that’s fine but you don’t need to try and please everyone – just write for your target audience.
Set the frequency of your newsletters
Sending a regular newsletter means making a time commitment to create content on a regular basis. Set a frequency for the newsletter which you can sustain and which your audience will tolerate.
There is no point in announcing that you’ll send a weekly newsletter and then find you are struggling to find the time for it so it becomes inconsistent.
Similarly, weekly content might be more than your audience wants and too much content can lead to them unsubscribing from your list.
Think about when your newsletter is going to be sent too. Are your audience more likely to open it during the working week, or on a Saturday afternoon? Even the most basic emailing tools can schedule your newsletter to go out at the most advantageous time.
Invite signup via other channels
If you send a regular newsletter, make sure everyone knows and can sign up for it. Have a button on your website, a link in all your social media profiles, a link in your email footer…
You never know where subscribers will come from and who might find your content of interest so make it as easy for them as possible.
Email vs LinkedIn newsletters
LinkedIn newsletters are on the rise so can be a great tool. If you are a regular LinkedIn user with an audience already consuming content you post, then putting your newsletter there is worth doing (there are some specific settings you need to have for this). If your audience is on a mailing list, then stick with email. There’s nothing wrong with doing both if you have an active audience in both mediums.
Have a regular shape to newsletters
Give your newsletter a structure so you know what you need to include. The Creative Words newsletter always follows this pattern
Link to blog
Client news or testimonial
Upcoming offers or events
Call to action
Added value vs sales and offers
Be clear on what you want your newsletter to offer and in what proportions. Look at other regular emails to see how others do this and then you can decide what will work for you.
Many E-commerce companies, for example, focus heavily on offers (10% off your next order) and link-selling (get a free hairbrush with your next order over £50). This is effective for product sales – and most people love a bargain. Usually, they are short messages, sent frequently.
If you want to deliver a different kind of value to your customers, you may want to consider insights, fascinating facts, and news about your team. This builds a relationship with customers and is better for longer lasting customers. Look at the ‘Who Gives a Crap’ newsletter for example. They sell eco-friendly toilet paper, and their newsletter is packed with fun things to do with toilet rolls and news about the team and their antics. It is really showing their values and growing brand loyalty.
Reuse content
Don’t feel your newsletter always has to be brand new content. It could work just as well as a round up of other content you’ve published elsewhere. Our various newsletter clients include videos from YouTube channels, testimonials from the website, top tips from online courses and advice on products from care leaflets. Make your life easier by resharing content that your audience may have missed or forgotten from other times and places.
Look at your results
Whether you are using an email tool, LinkedIn newsletters or both, it should be able to get some basic information on how well your newsletter is received. How many people opened it? And followed on a link to more content? Which links do best? And how many people unsubscribed? These will all tell you something that you can then use to improve the newsletter over time.
If you’d like help with regular newsletters to add value to your contacts, contact us to arrange a conversation.
Posted By Karen Livingstone, Marketing Consultant,
07 November 2023
Unpacking Their Value for your Small Business Social Media Planning
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, we are all constantly seeking creative ways to engage with our audience and boost our brand visibility. One strategy that has gained popularity in recent years is using awareness days, also known as national or international observances or holidays as part of social media content planning. But are these awareness days just hype, or do they offer genuine value to small businesses? Let’s take a deeper look into this topic to understand their potential impact on your social media strategy.
The Power of Awareness Days
Awareness days are designated occasions that draw attention to specific causes, issues, or themes. They vary from the well-known International Women’s Day and Earth Day to more niche observances like National Coffee Day or National Pizza Day. These days offer several benefits for small businesses:
1. Content Relevance: Awareness days provide a timely opportunity to create content that resonates with your audience. Aligning your social media posts with relevant days can make your brand more relatable and engaging.
2. Trend Relevance: Joining the conversation on trending topics can help your content gain more traction. By participating in awareness days, you can tap into existing online discussions and reach a broader audience.
3. Showcasing Values: Many awareness days revolve around social or environmental causes. Participating in such observances can showcase your business’s values and commitment to making a positive impact.
The Potential Downsides
While awareness days offer several advantages, it’s crucial to consider the potential downsides before diving in headfirst:
1. Oversaturation: Some days have become so popular that they risk oversaturation. Your content might get lost in a sea of similar posts unless you find a unique angle to stand out.
2. Relevance: Not all awareness days will align with your business. Posting on unrelated days can come across as disingenuous or opportunistic. It’s vital to select the ones that resonate with your brand and target audience.
3. Planning Challenges: Keeping up with awareness days can be time-consuming. Small business owners often have limited resources, so planning and creating content for numerous days can be overwhelming.
Maximising the Value of Awareness Days
Here are some tips to ensure you don’t fall into the hype trap:
1. Content Strategy: Prioritise the days that align with your brand’s values and resonate with your audience. Develop a content strategy that outlines how each awareness day fits into your overall social media plan.
2. Creativity: Instead of simply acknowledging the day, find creative ways to participate. Share unique stories, create engaging visuals, and provide valuable insights related to the observance.
3. Consistency: Don’t limit your engagement to awareness days alone. Maintain a consistent social media presence throughout the month. Awareness days should complement your regular content, not overshadow it.
4. Measure Impact: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your awareness day posts. This data can help you assess the actual impact of these observances on your brand’s online presence.
5. Quality Over Quantity: Focus on a select few awareness days that genuinely matter to your audience. It’s better to create high-quality, meaningful content for a few of the days than to participate in many with shallow posts.
So, in my opinion, awareness days are not just hype. They can be valuable tools for a small business owner looking to enhance their social media strategy. However, the key lies in strategic planning and thoughtful execution. By aligning your content with the right days and consistently delivering meaningful messages, you can use these days to boost your brand’s visibility, connect with your audience, and showcase your business’s commitment to important causes. Remember, it’s not about the quantity of awareness days you participate in; it’s about the quality of your engagement.
If you need help with planning out your monthly content, why not consider booking a Social Media Content Planning Session with me over Zoom? Email me at karen@littleacornmarketing.co.uk for more information.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
27 October 2023
Why do I have to juggle so many different people to set up a website?
This is it – the time has come. You’ve decided it’s time to upgrade your website from a self-built template site to something built by a professional. Fantastic!
So, you hop online and search for someone who can build your website – and what do you discover? That you don’t need a ‘someone’, you need a collection of someones.
Web developers, web designers, graphic designers, copywriters, site hosting, domain hosting…. Who are all these people and why can’t you go to one person to do it all?
It all comes down to skill-sets
When you look at a website (any website) it will always seem as if you are looking at a single entity, but in fact a website is made up of different elements.
There are the words, images and videos – known as the content. A content writer (such as Creative Words) will help you create that.
There is the design – colours, styles, branding and so on. A graphic designer (or a web designer, who is a graphic designer specialising in websites).
There is the technical functioning of the site – when you click on a button, where does it take you, for example. That’s what the web developer does.
There is its presence in the online world – so that when you type www.name-of-my-website.co.uk in a browser bar, your website loads and can be viewed by visitors. This is ‘hosting’ of your site.
And there is the name of your website – your domain
Add them all together and you have a website. This is quite a simplistic overview, by the way, so don’t shoot me if you are an expert in this field because I didn’t go into lots of detail and mention HTML and JavaScript and CSS and the like.
Each of those elements requires skills and talents which are quite different from each other. The web-developer is an expert at coding, the graphic designer knows all about colour balance and contrast. The site hosting expert knows about server capacity and data security. And we, as your content creator, know about words and how to string them together in engaging ways.
Is there a one stop shop?
Well yes…. And no….
I’ve yet to find one individual who can write cracking content, create a fabulous looking design, build it so it is technically whizzy and then manage the hosting and updates.
But there are companies which will offer a complete package. No one person will do it all within that company – it just means they will do all the project management and juggling.
Or, of course, you can find someone to work with who can play well with others and do all the co-ordination so you don’t have to.
Guess what we do at Creative Words
The concept of Content Alchemy is a ‘done-for-you’ content creation service. So, if you come to us asking for a website, we can help.
We’ll work with you to figure out what content you need, help you decide on the pages, and then create the content. We can also find great images to go with your written content, as well work with ones you’ve provided and make sure they are the right size. We can even help you put together videos that you can use on the website.
Then we’ll bring in a graphic designer we know and trust to design the site so that it matches your branding. Don’t have a brand? No problem, she can do that too!
And we’ll work with one of our trusted web developers who can take the design and content and build the site, arranging for it to be safely hosted and launched onto the internet.
We manage the process, so you don’t have to – and we’ll explain what is going on throughout, in as much or as little detail as you feel you need.
Want to find out more about how we can help you launch your website? Contact us for an initial call.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
03 July 2023
One of the master keys to feeling on top of your content is by planning ahead. This will not only help you produce content, but also maintain an audience who are more likely to follow your work. Here are my top tips for planning.
Think about the audience and the value you can bring to each.
Before you get into what you want to say, get to know who you’re writing for. Think about the different audiences that might be attracted to your work, and consider what each of them are looking for.
For instance if you’re a chef, sharing recipes online, your audience will include other professional chefs as well as enthusiastic amateurs looking for a fun cooking experience. It’s important to tailor your content for both groups by focusing on what each person is looking for.
Ask people about what they’d like to see you talk about.
Never be afraid to ask potential audiences what they’d be interested in seeing. Even if it’s just talking to your friend and asking them “if you were reading my blog, what would you like to see?”.
Think about the comments that you receive on your posts on social media. What are the common questions that people ask? If there is something that people are clearly interested in, think about how you could turn that into content.
Listening to your target audience is the best way to know what you should write about next.
Set themes to simplify the planning
The Creative Words blogs have been separated into series, all revolving around a different topic. You can do the same.
Decide on a theme and then produce a range of content, so your live-streams, videos, blogs and social media posts all cover the same messages. Once you have a theme, separate that into four or five key ideas to cover- each one representing a week of content.
This is a great way to make planning easier for you so you’re not scrabbling for ideas to write about, as well as keeping your audience engaged.
Outline everything in advance.
As I mentioned in my blog Think Pyramid the best way to write is to structure all your ideas around a key idea. You can do this with any type of content you produce.
Once you’ve got your topic for the series, grab all the ideas you can and link them to four or five main ideas. This makes writing easier and ensures you don’t get stuck at the last minute. Having an outline also means you won’t keep saying the same things over and over again.
Be realistic
Don’t overstretch yourself by setting an expectation for an unsustainable amount of content. Try do a few content types really well and stick to these until you’ve mastered them. Then add another one or two which add depth to what you are saying.
Don’t forget to set aside time to produce and refine the ‘static’ content such as fliers, logos and banners that don’t change too often but which need to be kept up to date.
In my previous series I covered a lot of tips for planning out individual pieces of content. Remember that these tips don’t just relate to writing, you can use them for other types of content too. Try planning out a content series of your own, think about your topic, key ideas and types of content you’d want to produce.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
15 March 2023
Forgive the sensationalist headline – far more tabloid than you might expect of me, but I’ve been asked this question quite a lot recently along with “have you tried…?”, “what do you think about….?”, plus a host of other questions along similar lines.
Since the release of ChatGPT in November last year, everyone seems to be wondering if machines are soon going to be replacing humans. Of course, we’ve been wondering that in various forms for a long time – HG Wells touched on it in The Time Machine in 1895 – and it hasn’t happened yet, so I suspect the end of the world isn’t quite nigh.
I’ve been looking into it recently, so here is my take on the current rise in AI content creation and whether you should use it.
AI has a place
I suppose a good place to start is for me to say that I find technology fascinating (little known fact: my degree includes a minor in computing), so the research to create a ‘thinking machine’ is one I can appreciate. While AI content writers might not yet pass a Turing Test (developed to assess whether a machine can display intelligence) they certainly seem to be getting more and more sophisticated. The capability of the developers who have brought it to this point should be applauded – from a purely academic standpoint.
ChatGPT is still a developmental tool of course and one developed from the world of R&D so it isn’t yet considered to be a ‘product’ for commercial exploitation. Every time I go to try it out, it is ‘at capacity’. I was mildly amused that the first thing it did was verify I was a human…. There are others, however, which claim to offer the same, or similar, services – Jasper, Grammarly and Creaitor to name a few.
And, if you are short on time and on budget, using AI to generate content for you seems a useful solution, especially when it can give you 500 possible blog topics that might work for you. Fantastic!
I know that web developers are very keen on the AI code development features that are available too – great for solving knotty coding problems and for debugging.
Can AI replace a writer?
This, of course, is the knub of the issue. ChatGPT can write poetry and has written a sonnet in the style of Shakespeare. It’s very creative and interesting but ‘in the style of…’ isn’t Shakespeare. Part of the glory of Shakespeare is the style and meter and the way it scans. But surely part of it is the sheer glory that a person created those wonderful words. He sweated over them, to get them just right. He didn’t go though 100,000 word combinations at a million operations per second until he found a match.
I think it all comes down to what you, as the business owner, want from your content.
Pages of fast copy?
Or something authentically you?
Science? Or Art?
If you are looking for ideas or a first draft that you can then edit to match your own tone of voice and generate the ides you can then rework, then it seems a reasonable thing to do. Mind you, Google is already saying it will down-rank content created by AI, so if you want to optimise your website for search engines, it could well work against you. I’d be interested to find out it’s capability for differentiation too – if four people ask an AI for an article on the same topic, will they get the same article?
A question of ethics
We now come to the knotty problem of attribution.
When you publish an article, blog, book or web page, you are implying that the content is your own. If everything has been written by a clever robot, do you need to declare that?
You don’t if it is written by a copywriter – although any good writer would have spent time with you to understand your values and perspective, so anything published under your name reflects your opinion. If you review and edit a computer-generated article, is that any different?
To my mind, though, using a professional writer to create something for you feels less ‘transactional’ than using AI. It lacks the human touch (literally) and it feels like a deceit for your audience.
What about copyright and intellectual property?
I don’t imagine this is an issue that is yet to be fully addressed but consider this:
You use AI to write you an e-book and prospects can download it free of charge from your website. It creates a relationship which, later, leads to you making a sale. Who is entitled to that revenue? You – most would argue.
Okay – seems fair. What about this one:
You use AI to generate an eBook which prospects download for a small fee. Who owns that revenue?
And what if it isn’t an eBook, but a business book? Or an online course?
Who is entitled to the revenue? Who owns the copyright? And who owns the intellectual property?
A quick chat with a solicitor friend of mine confirmed that this particular ‘copyright time-bomb’ hasn’t been explored but that someone, somewhere is likely to light the fuse.
AI is still a machine
Whichever tool is used, artificially created content is still a creation of technology and not of heart and mind. The developers of ChatGPT admit that it ‘lacks critical analysis’ which means it can draw information from the internet and come up with a wrong answer. And, more worryingly, it lacks moral and ethical judgement. It can be asked to comply with local laws, for example, but won’t necessarily reflect your own values or a current sway in public opinion. The site itself warns you that information may be inaccurate, harmful or biased.
The implications of that worry me a little. I was chatting to someone last week who is using ChatGPT to write the management reports on his team performance. He makes notes each day on what they have done and at the end of the month says “Hey, ChatGPT can you summarise these into a report using a professional business style?”
But he wasn’t checking them….
Which means, if he had a bad day and one of his team did something stupid, that prompted him to write a thoughtless note about them, ChatGPT would simply include that in the report. It wouldn’t think, “That’s a bit harsh” or leave it out because performance on other days was fine and reason that this poor performance was an isolated incident. Nor would it know that that was a ‘bad day’ and not a fair reflection on the manager’s feelings.
Outcome: Grievance, or someone quitting because they felt undermined, to name but a few consequences.
I pointed this out and the possibility hadn’t occurred to him. He will now check the reports before submitting them.
This is one example but, for those who put faith into technology we could be seeing a rise in mis-information and hurtful content.
So, am I for it or against it? And would I use it?
AI is a tool like any other. Tools are useful if used correctly.
If used incorrectly, they can be downright dangerous. If you choose to use AI to generate content, do so with an enquiring mind and with your eyes wide open. Check it, add your own tone of voice and values to anything it creates and check the facts it presents. And be aware that, some time in the future, you might need to declare or credit AI content (just as you might for a guest blog), so make a note of what content is your own work and what is the work of a machine.
As to where I’d use it, I have, finally, managed to create a ChatGPT account and I will play with it to find out its capabilities – after all I love technology and it is really clever. I have tested its ability to come up with a list of blog titles for a specific industry and target market and I can see myself using it for that.
For actual content though? No – I see writing as an art form and content gold comes from the glory that is human. So, our clients can expect only actual intelligence creating content alchemy for the foreseeable future.
Want to join the discussion about AI content? Add a comment below. And if you want to see how Creative Words can give you real, authentic, bespoke content, contact us for a chat.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
21 December 2022
You need to do more with your content! You know it and you know it will help grow your business - so what’s stopping you producing it?
Here, from my experience, are the four main roadblocks to getting going.
What do I have to offer?
You may think you couldn’t provide valuable content but that’s simply not true. Everybody has something they can produce which will add value to the audience.
Remember that your audience are not looking for a unique concept, they’re looking for new perspectives and new ways of explaining things. There are no new ideas, but there are always new viewpoints.
Your skill set is a valuable source of content, whether you’re a restaurant owner- sharing recipes, a carpenter with DIY advice, or a content alchemist- explaining how to develop content.
You wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t have value to offer. Content is all about explaining that.
I don’t have time!
Unfortunately there’s no easy solution to this, other than to simply make time. When considering my time limitations, I often think of this quote:
“If it is important, you will find time, if it isn’t you’ll make an excuse” (Anon.)
Assuming you get things done on time for clients, use this approach to get things done for yourself. When producing content, you’re effectively your own client.
Make sure to get help rather than battling with things, too. For instance, if you have a choice between spending several days producing a flier, or hiring a graphic designer who knows what they’re doing and can do it in an hour, seriously consider each approach. More than anything else, value your own time.
If you were working for a client, what could you be earning rather than struggling with content?
‘Perfectionitis’
It’s a common problem where someone spends a disproportionate amount of time trying to make their content perfect. True perfection is impossible.
Instead the level of perfection should directly relate to the lifetime of the content. For example, a flier needs to last longer than a single email. This means that you can afford to make that email less than perfect, but the flier might require more time.
Some things matter more than others but ultimately perfection is less important than whether or not you’re getting the message across, or the value is clear.
There’s a blog post on this in my last series entitled “Spoiling and Grammering” which should help you here.
I really hate….
If you hate producing a certain type of content, the quality of the content will probably suffer. Livestreaming, for example, is great and extremely powerful, but if you dread being in front of the camera, don’t start there.
It’s important to experiment with a range of content, but build your confidence by starting with content you’re already comfortable with. Remember, if you enjoy doing it, you’ll produce better content and it won’t even feel like work.
When you’re ready to use something else, consider re-purposing existing content. Take a blog, far example, and turn it into a livestream. This makes the new format less intimidating.
With these blockers out of your way, you should be well on your way to producing great content. And, if you feel there are other road-blocks in your way, comment below or contact us and we’ll be happy to see how we can help.
Posted By Cate Caruth, Founder and Director,
23 November 2022
‘Content’ is such a buzzword these days – it is a concept surrounded by myths and anecdotes. There isn’t a small business owner who hasn’t been told “you need good content.”
Yet, when you dig a bit deeper you find that ‘you need good content’ creates a lot of confusion and anxiety and, as a result, no one really understands why they need good content or, even, what is really meant by ‘content.’
So over the next few blogs, let me unpick that for you. Let me show you how to Make Content Work For You. And let’s start with the absolute basics.
What is Content?
Google the word content and you get a range of definitions (depending on how you pronounce it). The two that are closest for our purposes are:
the material dealt with in a speech, literary work, etc. as distinct from its form or style.
information made available by a website or other electronic medium.
Frankly, I’m not mad keen on either of these. They don’t really help you work out what you need to do, so I’ve found a better one. Content is:
anything which adds value to an audience
Okay, we’ve got a definition – and we’ll be coming back to that in a moment to make it more meaningful for you, but let’s pause for a moment and consider another really important question
Why does content matter?
There are broadly four reasons that content can help you if you are in business or running a charity or wanting to make a statement for any other reason:
Visibility: by producing a regular supply of content, you are showing up to show that you have something to say in your market
Attracting new customers: people may not know that your product exists so you have an opportunity to explain hat you do and how you do it in a way that appeals to them
Differentiation: This is really important in markets which are over-crowded. Why should someone chooses you over all the rest? Answer: Because of the value you offer – and content is explaining that.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), if someone searches online, the more new content you have the higher up the list you appear
So, we have what and we have why. Now let me debunk the three biggest myths about content so you can start to think about how content can work for you.
Myth 1: My content has to appeal to everyone.
Your audience is unique to you, so tailor your content to that audience. Don’t try to make it universal . By doing that you risk alienating the very audience you sought to cultivate. For example, if you’re writing a computer guide aimed at IT experts but waste time on basics, you risk the expert audience getting bored and switching off even though they should be your primary concern. They want to the nitty-gritty technical stuff. And yes, your average home IT user will be baffled – but that doesn’t matter.
What does matter is knowing who your audience is. And it won’t just be your customers.
Let’s take another example. Let’s say you make printed football shirts for youth teams. In this case the audience is diverse. We have:
Customer- The team manager who is buying shirts for his team
Prospect- The manager of a team which needs new shirts.
Supplier- Who has provide shirts in all colours and sizes
Community- The people of town in which the team plays
End user- The children who wear the shirts
‘Connected users’- The parents who have to wash the shirts
Staff- Your team who take orders, make and pack the shirts
Regulators- The Football Association who have rules about football strip
Your situation will have just as many potential audiences and many more. So think it through and identify them.
Myth 2: Value is about money
If content is anything that adds value to your audience you could be forgiven for thinking that’s all about financial value. In this context, however, value is anything which your audience might find useful. Let’s take the previous example of football shirt printing and think what value you can add to your audience.
Entertain- Feature videos of football being played, football memes, the latest scores, etc.
Give ideas for other users- Maybe some users don’t play football, but the shirts look good off the pitch too.
Inform- Show the ‘connected users’ how to wash the shirts so the colours don’t run
Educate- Demonstrate what the manufacturing process for the shirts is
Support- Post images of the local teams to help them find sponsorship
Align – Show what your values are as a business so others with similar values feel a connection
It is always worth working out what are the different values you can bring for your own specific audiences. Knowing what they want will really pay off.
Myth 3: Content is written
Content is anything which adds value to the audience.
It can, of course, be written in blogs, social media posts or articles, but it can also be:
Audio– Podcasts, radio, songs
Video– Facebook Live videos, Youtube clips, DVDs
Visual – Photos, infographics, memes
Personal – You in person at a networking event, training course or presentation
It can be Anything…. REALLY Anything
Going for a cup of coffee and a chat is content!!!
What you should be getting from this is that your skills are the basis of the content.
If you own a restaurant, your recipes and techniques are the content.
If you install kitchens, advice on adjusting doors is content.
If you’re a Content Alchemist, advice on developing content is content.
Now that we’ve gone through these myths, I hope you feel more confident to go out and produce your own content. You might even have gained some new ideas for your next content project. If you have, post them below – I’d love to hear them.
Want more help with your content. Visit my blog for more hints and tips.
Posted By Karen Livingstone, Marketing Consultant,
30 June 2022
So, you’ve been online and everything you’ve read about marketing is telling you that having “a list” is key. Or to put it another way, everyone is telling you to build a large database of subscribers who have signed up to hear from you by way of your newsletter. And that seems simple enough, doesn’t it?
The answer
Well, yes and no. An effective newsletter is a great way of keeping yourself “top of mind” of all your fans, helping spread the word about your business, and with luck (or hard work) win new clients.
So far so good, but if you’ve ever written a regular newsletter, you’ll already know that getting those subscribers and creating great newsletters is hard! And getting subscribers to actually open your newsletter and click on those all-important links is even harder.
So, what’s the magic formula?
Actually, there is no magic or mystery to newsletter success. The real secret is to always keep in mind a few standard but golden rules:
1.Know your objective and get organised
It’s all too easy to think, oh cr*p, it’s newsletter day I better just get something out. But in fact, like all marketing tools, you need to have some clear objectives in mind:
What’s the overall objective of writing a regular newsletter (more visits to your website, increased brand awareness, more phone call enquiries)?
What’s the objective of each individual newsletter? Promotion of a particular product or event?
Hand in hand with objectives goes planning. Your newsletters will perform better and be much easier to manage if it is thought out and planned well in advance so that it dovetails nicely with your other marketing activities. You also need to consider how you’re going to organise the content you include. If you just chuck everything in, don’t be surprised if it looks a bit like lumpy porridge.
2. Quality and relevance
When I’m writing a newsletter, I always start by reminding myself that my readers are very busy. And if they’ve been kind enough to allow me into their inbox and better still, if they’ve given me 5 minutes of their time to read my newsletter, then I better make it worth their while, or they might just dump me. Think about your own behaviour when you’re busy and your inbox is filling up. The chances are, you’ll only read stuff that you know is going to be interesting or useful. And won’t take too long. So that’s your mission when writing your own newsletter, to deliver something worthwhile… every… single… time. In a nice succinct and easy-to-read way.
The other thing to bear in mind is that although it’s called a newsletter, just telling readers all about your news and what you’ve been up to is rarely interesting enough. There, I’ve said it. Your readers are much more interested in themselves than they are in you, so unless your news is somehow of use to them, less is more!
3.Frequency
Frequency is going to be dependent on the point above, namely how much really interesting and relevant news can you generate consistently? If you’re writing lifestyle newsletters with regular recommendations for great things to do (a weekend away, a new restaurant, a local wine) then weekly newsletters just before the weekend may be absolutely fine. But if you’re writing about widgets, honestly, how much do your clients really want or need to hear from you? Would monthly be more than enough?
Consistency is also key here. If you’ve announced to the world that you’ll be publishing a weekly newsletter, that’s what you’ve got to do. Every week. However busy or boring your world has been.
4. Length
This is super tricky and again depends on your audience and what else is in your newsletter. Does it have links to articles on your website, links to external content, lots of photographs, and testimonials? I’ve seen newsletters that are just one sentence long but have perhaps four links (with a compelling Call to Action with each) and it works really well. What you don’t want to do is write too much. Nobody really has time to read for more than a minute or two so a couple of paragraphs is usually sufficient.
5. Keep it simple
OK, so you’re one of those lucky businesses which have lots going on and lots of great information to share. Great, but don’t overwhelm your reader. Remember your objective? Do you want them to visit one particular page of your website perhaps? Well then don’t include 6 links to all sorts of other places. And don’t forget to make it really clear and simple what you want them to do… or they won’t do it. Keep the design and format clean, and make sure every aspect of is it easy. That usually means one clear Call to Action.
And while you’re thinking about your design, go back and look at your newsletter sign-up page. Is it clear and compelling? Does it tell subscribers what to expect from your newsletter and give them a reason to sign up in the first place?
6. Not too much sell
Of course, ultimately you want to get more sales, but nobody wants something rammed down their throat. That means keeping a healthy balance. Focus on delivering really interesting, valuable content and keep the sales to about 10%.
7. Spend time writing a “wow” factor email subject line
Most of your readers will decide whether or not to open your newsletter based on the email subject line. As internet users, we’ve all become pretty good and using these one-liners to filter out the stuff we don’t think is interesting or might be spam. That means, in order to get your readers to even open your newsletter, your subject line has got to be pretty damn compelling. Don’t write it as an afterthought. Tempt them, tease them, let them know what amazing things are within. Use emotive and sensory language, be playful… but never, ever promise something in the email subject line and then fail to deliver. It’s a breach of trust and you will lose subscribers.
8. Promotion
Spend a little time thinking about how you will promote your newsletter. Will you invite people to sign up in your social media posts, or as your Call to Action at a networking event. Think about the wording you will use to encourage people to sign up. These little snippets can be as important as the newsletter itself but can easily be neglected.
9. Have faith
There are simply hundreds of newsletter gurus out there that will promise you that if you sign up to their course for a small fee (for which read large), they can give you the magic formula to 10,000 subscribers in less than a week (or something like that).
They can be tempting but the bottom line is newsletters take thought, and time and require dogged consistency. But stick with it if you can. Make it a religion. Make it the one thing you do exceptionally well and keep going!
Or, of course, if that all sounds like too much hard work, you can always ask me to write them for you!
Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
I have connected with lots of new people which wouldn't have happened had it not been for WIBN. I highly recommend joining to help you grow your network and develop your business"
Joanna Lorente-Chapman
King's Cross Group
“Every year, the revenue generated through networking and the connections I’ve made via WIBN has increased year on year”
Anne Iarchy
Golders Green & Finchley Group
"WIBN has been integral in my business growing from strength to strength through the networking of like-minded women. I have gained business and referrals that have been profitable and had the opportunity to make connections
that have been beneficial and hopefully have been able to do the same for other members."
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