Successful Blog

Do Your Customers Speak Your Language?

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The teacher sent me a lengthy email about the upcoming DBQs the kids would be working on, as well as the IGPs that were coming up. While I appreciated the proactive communication, I had NO IDEA what she was talking about.

I’m picking on educators because she was in the top of my inbox this week. But it’s not just educators who use “inside baseball” jargon.

Your industry probably has concepts, acronyms, and special names that mean something only to insiders. If you’re sprinkling them into your marketing communications and content, you may be talking straight over the heads of your prospects and customers.

Remember, this problem can pop up in your emails, marketing copy, website content, presentations, sales materials, and verbal communications (like product demos or pitches).

5 Ways to Get out of the Jargon Trap

  1. Run your copy through a readability tool or jargon detector. Many of these tools are free online, and you can get a paid subscription if you write a lot of copy. While you’re at it, check for buzzwords too!
  2. Show it to someone outside your industry as a “sanity check.” It’s great to have an editor as a second set of eyes, but if your editor is someone who sees through the eyes of your target customer, even better.
  3. Spell out the first instance of any acronym. Especially in long-form writing, don’t assume that your reader knows the meaning of your acronyms. Spell it out the first time, and then use the acronym afterwards. Ideally, limit your use of acronyms in the first place!
  4. Do more reading outside your industry bubble. Don’t get caught in the rut of only reading industry insider journals, blogs, and news. The more you permeate your thoughts with the limited culture of your particular niche, the less you will notice the buzzwords and jargon. It will be normalized for you. Make an effort to consume content that is outside your comfort zone.
  5. Pay close attention to the way your customers write and speak. Set up a repository in your notes where you can track key words and phrases they use (bonus – these can then also become keywords if you’re running ad campaigns). This will help you write in the voice of your customer, which will feel familiar and attractive to prospects.

Conclusion

Writing is a critical skill, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, creator, or small business owner. Incorporate some routine checks before you hit “publish,” and you’ll be speaking your customer’s language in no time.

Photo by That’s Her Business on Unsplash

5 Metrics for Measuring Business Process Improvement

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By Kayla Matthews

You’re well aware improving your business processes means a more profitable business with less downtime. Anytime you implement a new process, you should define some key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you see if your business and employees are meeting the correct criteria. Speed isn’t always the best indicator of productivity for example.

Around 99.9% of the businesses in the United States are small businesses. When you run a smaller company, not meeting one or more goals can be completely devastating to your bottom line. Tracking your success along the way is vital so you don’t spiral into failure.

Measuring how well changes work isn’t always an easy task. Fortunately, there are some metrics offering clues to how well procedures work.

1. Flowchart

A flowchart defines the entire process and how you move from Point A to Point B. Understanding the different ways your team accomplishes tasks can help you see areas for process improvement.

Make sure you follow the tasks from the beginning to the end and take careful notes so your flowchart is complete. Then, bring in a neutral party to look at the flowchart and identify any areas for concern.

2. Handling Time

If you aren’t reaching your goals and feel production backs up, look at handling time as a measure of productivity and see where things might be sped up. If you don’t have a concrete way of measuring handling time, talk to your employees about how long different processes take and if they have any ideas for speeding things along.

If there is one bottleneck in the system, you may need to hire more employees, upgrade equipment or offer more training. Think about the capacity for each person and each machine and if it meets your current inventory demands.

3. Return on Investment (ROI)

Every brand has some products or services that have a much higher ROI than others. There are many reasons you might implement a lower ROI product, including attracting new customers who then become rabid fans who buy additional products.

Factor in all the reasons you sell a particular item and then see if the ROI measures up or not. Look at the lowest-performing items first and their processes. What kind of manpower does it take to deliver that good and is the payoff worth it? Is there any way to reduce the cost and increase the profit? Knowing your ROI allows you to make tough decisions about products that need removing from your inventory.

4. Turnaround Time

How long does it take to fulfill a customer’s order? If you make a customer wait too long, you risk losing them to a competitor. Brands such as Amazon, who deliver orders within two days for Prime subscribers, have changed the landscape on how long people are willing to wait for a delivery.

In order to improve turnaround time, you have to look at the entire process of ordering and logistics. From the moment the order comes through until it leaves your building, you are in control of the process. Look at how quickly the order gets picked, packed and shipped. You should also consider the shipping company used and how quickly they deliver or if you need to make some changes in shipping carriers.

5. Error Rates

Measuring error rates is a little trickier. Your employees may fear their mistakes will result in a lost job. Start by bringing everyone on board and explaining why you want to improve your error rates for better customer experience (CX) and that you are measuring the rates not to reprimand them but to figure out how you can all work toward a better CX for your company.

You may never be able to completely track every error, but you can track when customers call in with a complaint. Fix any issues immediately. Think about the new Domino’s Pizza ad where they say they’ll replace a pizza if it isn’t right. You should have a similar attitude. Strive to get the order perfect and look at why it went wrong in the first place so you can avoid the same issue in the future.

Pay Attention to Detail

Measuring your business process improvement isn’t an easy task. Processes are ever-changing and there are dozens of different metrics available. Focus on the things you have the most control over which will afford maximum improvement to your business.

With attention to detail and a little effort, your business will become more successful and your processes smoother.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Photo by Thiébaud Faix on Unsplash

How to prepare a disaster plan for your business

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Every business should have some minimal type of disaster plan.

Even if you’re a solo entrepreneur or have a remote team, you need to be ready for disrupted communications, the potential for lost data, and project delay due to a disaster.

We had to shut down and evacuate our Charleston, SC office last year due to Hurricane Matthew, so these insights are based on that (rather eye-opening) experience.

Your disaster could be something totally different…a fire, earthquake, incapacitation of someone on your key team, or an emergency you can’t even anticipate.

But there’s no need to panic if you have done some preparation ahead of time.

Here’s a basic checklist to run through now, while all systems are normal:

  • What types of natural disaster are more common in your location? Our Charleston office is in the hurricane zone, but our Seattle office went through the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. You might have offices in wildfire or flood zones. Tailor your plan accordingly.
  • Consider insurance on your physical site (are you renting, do you own your furniture/IT equipment, what’s covered). Is your landlord responsible for utilities, repairs, access during an emergency? Do you have “key man” insurance if needed?
  • Where is your data stored? Are there backups? Does your data center have its own disaster plan? Do your employees back up their data individually, and do you have access from a central location if their access is interrupted?
  • Do you have multiple Internet service options?
  • Where will you go if you have to evacuate? Have you shared that plan with your colleagues?
  • If you have a team of far-flung remote workers, is there a way for everyone to “check in” and say they’re safe? (Facebook has added a feature called Safety Check that helps with this.)
  • Is your office fire-ready? Do you have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers? Does your staff know how to use them?
  • Have you had a fire drill? Do you have an emergency meeting spot outside the building?
  • Who is in charge if the person in charge is not available? Who makes decisions?
  • How will you communicate during the disaster, with colleagues and clients?
  • Who is responsible for public messaging on social media, etc.? Do they have passwords and access available remotely?
  • Who gives the “all clear” for staff to return to the office? How do they communicate that?
  • Have you done cross-training as much as possible? Especially for small teams, be sure that critical responsibilities are double covered for continuity if a key staffer becomes ill or injured unexpectedly (payroll, client billing, etc.).

Once you’ve considered all of the above, and come up with your answers, don’t forget to share and communicate the plan with the rest of your team. You may even want to share some elements of the plan with major clients, so they know what to do in case of emergency.

Be sure to store your plans and instructions in an offsite, accessible location (that’s where services like DropBox come in handy).

Have you gone through a natural disaster with your business? What tips would you add to the list?

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

How to Stand Out as a Brand When You’re a Young Company

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By Rachel Fowler

A Princeton survey reported at SmallBusiness showed that not less than 67% of Americans favor small business.

With this in mind, I decided to try my best in small business in America right after graduation. It has been a long journey with lots of painful mistakes. So to save you time, I decided to give you some of my personal tips on how to stand out as a brand.

Make it clear what your brand is. Merchandising, products and logo are very important but not as important as your brand. It is mostly about the experiences of your customers summed with visual elements and customers’ interactions. Take into account that your PR company, your internet publications, mentions and even your social media should be presented in the exact same tone to get your customers’ trust.

Stand out from the crowd of competitors. Unless you have designed a new source of power that can replace oil and gas, you have to be different in order to stand out from the crowd of competitors. Pinpoint your strong sides that make your brand unique. Don’t forget to include your differentiation in your marketing materials.

Make great products. No one will doubt that the key to being successful among small business companies is to have great products. If your product is lacking quality or service, no PR company will help you. Word of mouth is the best marketing tool and you should use it well. Getting your customers to recommend you to their friends is a big deal, which shouldn’t be underestimated. 

Ensure that your customers know the face behind the product. Most small businesses fail because of the repetitive absence of the owner. Take the “Kitchen Nightmares” television show as a simple example- no restaurant can stay open, if the business is being run by itself. You have to be everywhere and literally know everything that goes on in your company. Your employees will look up to you and if you are not engaged, neither will they be.

Make a recognizable name and logo. It is important to make an effective logo at the beginning. Changing logo and worse the name of the company can be quite costly down the road. It should be recognizable and reflect the nature of your product as much as possible. For example, if you have a dog company, your name should be closely associated and recognizable among your target audience. Take “Woofies” and “Doggone Natural” as examples. Both names reflect the nature of the product and are easily recognized by customers.

Make a value proposition. This shouldn’t be confused with a price. The value means to think what your customers need, instead of thinking what you want from them. Put yourself in their shoes, spend a day with your customer, and see what he/she likes, what are his/her hobbies, day routine, job, budget problems. Only after you understand the needs of your customer you will understand the value of your product.

What are your lessons learned starting out as a young brand/company?

This is a post by Rachel Fowler, a recent graduate from NYU. Right now she works as an independent contributor at http://pumpic.com/

Featured image via Flickr CC: kenda bustami

10 Tips: How to Stay Focused through the Coming Year

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By Robert Morris

We are already almost one month into the new year, so it’s time to really buckle down and make sure we can stay focused in 2014. Many people make resolutions and they promise to realize them every New Year, but somehow those aspirations tend to fade away after the first few months.

Don’t you wish to do things differently this time? The following practical tips will help you work on your habits that will help you stay focused on the aims you set.

1. You need daily rituals

No matter how spontaneous you want your life to be, sticking to daily routines is what will get those things of the list realized. You cannot have high levels of focus if you don’t follow a routine that will keep you within the boundaries of productiveness. Pay attention to your sleeping and eating patterns, plan some time for personal satisfaction and make sure to plan breaks that will give you more energy to tackle all daily challenges.

2. Visualize your goals

Creating a vision board will give you a great presentation of your dreams and goals, making them more real. You can add images, as well as souvenirs, articles, or quotes related to your great yearly goals. When you visualize your aims clearly, you will work harder towards their achievement.

3. Don’t set too many BIG goals

Your list has to contain one or two big goals that you plan to accomplish. Don’t set too many of these big goals, because you will overwhelm yourself and then end up disappointed, but don’t leave your list without any great expectations either. Check in on those goals every month and think about what you have done up to that point.

4. Don’t leave things uncompleted

The only way to stay focused on your goals is to complete everything you start. Don’t give up on a task you have started, because that will weaken your mental strength and leave you with diminished self-confidence. Stay determined and always do your best to complete every single task you start. Success in life is guided by a simple rule – without doing your best, you won’t achieve the best possible outcome.

5. Give yourself some daily time alone

No matter how active your life is, you won’t get anywhere without spending some time with yourself and your thoughts. Constant involvement in social life depletes you and results in an inevitable burnout. If you are overly active, it’s only a matter of time when your body and/or mind will give up. Spend some time doing things you love – take long walks, listen to good music, read great books, meditate, do yoga, or whatever else that pleases and relaxes you.

6. Multitasking is good, but do it less!

Multitasking is sometimes a beneficial skill to master, but the truth is that you cannot accomplish your best at everything when doing too many things at once. When you focus your brain on a single task, you will devote yourself fully to it and the outcome will be much better.

7. Make daily to-do lists

Making daily to-do lists is a great strategy to train your brain to stay focused. When you end the day with all tasks crossed out on the list, you will have a feeling of accomplishment and you will be happy to repeat that every single day. Plan your goals by organizing your tasks into a few categories and separating the things you need to do today, tomorrow, this week, and this month. Making to-do lists is also a great way to make priorities and keep your energy focused on the most important tasks.

8. Have goal buddies

When you have people with similar goals, you will support and motivate each other to stay focused on their achievement. Your “goal buddies” will remind you about the things you promised to achieve, and their success will push you to keep up.

9. Learn how to avoid distractions

You convince yourself that checking your e-mail, Facebook and Twitter every few minutes relaxes you, but the truth is that this bad habit is a huge distraction from the really important things. Make sure to complete every important task you have for the day before you allow yourself the luxury of spending time on Facebook. When you finish everything faster and more efficiently, you can reward yourself with virtual socializing.

10. Learn how to be focused on staying focused

Staying focused is a skill that’s really simple to explain: you concentrate your mind on a single thing and don’t allow it to be disturbed by anything else. It’s not impossible; it just requires a lot of practice, commitment, and dedication. Your daily relaxation or meditation will help you free your mind of all distracting thoughts, and you will soon notice how you are getting better in controlling your habits and emotions and staying focused on your goals.

Be prepared for the fact that the upcoming year won’t be free of distractions and problems no matter how hard you work on your goals, but the most important thing is to stay within the routine you establish and don’t attach yourself to the results.

Author’s Bio: Robert Morris is a freelance writer from essay writing service NinjaEssays. He loves writing tips and tricks for students. He is interested in improving his writing and learning through technology. Follow @Ninjaessays on Twitter!

Savvy Blog Growth Tips for Small Businesses

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By Christopher McMurphy

The phrase “adapt or die” has proved true in the animal kingdom, and it has a place in the wild world of marketing as well. Monumental shifts in the advertising landscape since the advent of the Internet have only served to buttress this point. And while larger organizations often have the full weight of entire marketing departments at their disposal, it can be difficult for smaller operations to keep up with the trends. And failing to move with the times can spell certain death for any outfit.

But those small businesses that feel they lack the means to mount an effective online marketing campaign are sorely mistaken. Any organization, big or small, can utilize modern, proven methods to convert leads into customers and generate that attractive ROI. Here’s how.

Set a schedule

Those running an operation themselves may rightly feel they don’t have much time to commit to crafting and posting regular blog posts. That said, there’s no need for the frazzled business owner to overextend him or herself. Owners should commit to a preliminary schedule that involves making at least one post per week. Once a firm schedule has been set, owners can then focus on increasing the output over a period of time, such as to multiple blog posts per week.

Hire out

Some owners may simply be too busy to even commit to one or two posts per week, and that is understandable. However, that is no reason to forgo a blogging strategy entirely. Time-strapped owners can outsource their needs and hire writers from across the web. There are plenty of quality guest bloggers out there, all with the skill and expertise required to contribute authoritative, original blog posts on a variety of subjects.

Engage

In the world of blogging, the hard sell is anathema to success. The most successful bloggers reach large audiences by getting personal with their readers. When it comes to small businesses, owners are going to want to craft an overall theme to their blog posts (helpful DIY tips, Top-5 lists, etc., etc.) and engage while staying on message. Oftentimes owners find success in this manner by adding personal details and experiences within the content.

Offer help

The best (and most successful) blogs contain content that is of some use to the reader. The average web surfer is highly likely to bypass all blog posts that contain nothing more than sales pitches on their way to more helpful content. That means the blogger needs to be credible in the field in which they write about. An auto parts business, for example, should consider publishing posts on DIY auto repair, as this is of use to their target audience.

Be honest

One of the best ways small business owners can achieve success through blogging is by being honest. The most successful blogs around are transparent and forthcoming about what it is they represent. Fine print doesn’t translate in the blog world, so business owners should air on the side of prudence and gain trust through total honesty.

In the end, if there’s one thing that all small business owners and operators should take away from this article, it is the need for consistency. All the content in the world won’t matter much unless it is visible on a regular basis. That means being diligent in adhering to a firm blogging schedule is paramount for any successful content strategy.

Author’s Bio: Christopher McMurphy is a seasoned blogger and expert in the field of digital marketing. Among other things, he focuses on SEO, copywriting and social media.