Writing to Promote Yourself or Your Business

Recently a four-color, glossy handtag advertisement was delivered in our neighborhood. The business owner clearly wanted to make an impression on people to entice them as potential customers for his business. He had one major problem: incorrect grammar and spelling throughout the ad! Whether the mistake was made by the owner or the printer, the result was the same. It showed a lack of professionalism and attention.
   Perhaps no one else cared about the misspelled words and lack of punctuation or incorrect grammar. But it certainly drew my critical attention. I wanted to call the owner and ask why I should trust my car to him when he couldn't pay close enough attention to his advertising to make sure it was correct. Did he repair cars with the same carelessness? Who knows? Would you trust your car to someone who produces sloppy work?
   When you communicate with people, it is important to make sure your work is good. Excellent is even better, but for some folks good is good enough. At least that shows you care enough about yourself, your business and the other person to do the right thing. Poor communication skills send the wrong message to people. You can come across as uncaring, unprofessional, lazy, or unable to perform the work. The message tells people something about you and your abilities. Make sure your message is really reflecting what you want it to say.
   The way to avoid poor communications is to make sure you take the time to think things through, write carefully, have someone read and edit your work, and review the final draft several times before placing something in the public view. If you don't have time to do it right the first time, you don't have time to redo it, either!
   If you cannot write or don't want to write, hire someone who will do the work for you. Your business or personal success can turn on your ability to communicate clearly.
   Good luck and have a terrific day!
Patricia

How to Get Your Customers' Attention

Are you searching for more ways to get your customers' attention? There are a few things you need to know before you make decisions, especially decisions involving spending your hard-earned dollars.
First, people tend to look online instead of the telephone book. Most people look for online sources and recommendations first. Printed copies of the Yellow Pages are out-of-date the moment they leave the printer's business; people are now trained to look online for everything; most businesses advertising in the Yellow Pages fail to give a reason for choosing them over a competitor.
Old habits die hard, however.
There are effective ways to stay in contact with your current customers and to entice new customers to come through your front door. The way you communicate with your potential customers makes a difference in how and who you will attract. One key to attracting attention is to tell stories. People love stories, stories are more interesting than a sales event, and stories set you apart from other businesses.
If you watch television, you'll see that the company Drivetime is running new commercials that tell stories about their potential customers. These ads grab your attention because they are different: instead of promoting a sales event, they promote problem solving for ordinary people. People who need a car but have some trouble in their financial background. We get caught up in wanting these folks to get what they need so they can go to work. We get involved whether we intend to or not because the story is compelling. That's an effective use of television air time.
You can use similar methods for finding new customers. Being creative doesn't have to cost a lot of money; but it does require a fresh look at how to use your resources wisely.
Need help with some communications?
Send me an email and let me know what you're thinking.
Have a terrific day!
Patricia

Keeping Up with the People Next Door

  When you want to share something with your customers, do you consider what your competitors or other business owners are doing? It is an exciting time to keep in touch with your customers because you have many choices that you can tailor to your own taste. For instance, if you want to use social media to connect with people on a more casual and frequent basis, you can use a few techniques or go full out and hire a social media manager.
  You might want to just send a Tweet every day or week, or post some updates on a Facebook page. You could start a blog to share your musings or educational or technical information. I follow a blogpost for writers in a writing community. This helps inspire me as a writer and it also leads to additional book sales for the author.
  You could be a plumber who wants to teach people about the use, or not using, drain clog cleaners. You could instruct people on how to shut off water in their house or apartment in an emergency, or how to find the main shut-off valve outside the house. These are quick ways to stay in touch with people while passing on useful information.
   Monthly newsletters are a terrific way to send a soft touch to your customer base. The newsletter doesn't have to contain anything about your business other than your name. The best way to ensure people will pay attention to you is send them something to brighten their day, make them smile, give them a little bit of information in a generic form, and offer a special event notification.
  Staying in touch is crucial to your business. If you need help or more tips, contact me. I will be delighted to help you.
Have a terrific day!
Patricia

Thriving rather than surviving

Some people hate January because it's cold, dreary, no fun holidays with bright lights or romance, the nights are long and the days short. Take another look at this month and change your mind about you can accomplish.
This is the time for some quiet thought and reflection. If you didn't write your yearly goals, get them written now. Where are you and where do you want to be? How do you get where you want to be and what is your timeline? These principles apply to your physical, spiritual, financial, personal, psychological, family, business and community life. If you don't plan your life, it will slip away like quicksilver. Don't just let things happen to you, plan how you choose to live!
If you do not know how to communicate your ideas and feelings to the people around, get some help. Remember that we're never too young or too old to continue our lifelong learning.
When my daughter was in elementary school one of her teachers started the class on a project of developing a lifelong notebook. The exercise required the children to think about what they wanted to learn and what interests and passions they possessed that needed more information. Just for fun, I made my own lifelong notebook and wrote about all the things that interest me, the things I wanted to study, the skills I wanted to sharpen, and a rough road map of where  and what I wanted to be when I grow up.  I love reading those notes now and measuring my progress against my ideas. My goal this year is to continue growing and learning and to let go of things that waste my time and energy.
I hope you see that you can learn new skills, engage in interesting learning and apply everything you learn to a more informed, passionate life lived to the fullest.
Have a wonderful day!
Patricia

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you! This is my favorite time of year so I am enjoying spending time with my family and friends. My prayer for you is that you all are also enjoying your family and friends at this special holiday.
   Because this holiday also coincides with the end of the year, we naturally turn to the idea of old things passing and new things arriving, just in time to temper the winter doldrums. Winter has just peeped into our time, so spend this time wisely for the next three months. If you are planning on changes in your personal or business life, this might be the perfect time to implement them. Keeping your goals in mind is a priority. I highly recommend visiting Dan Miller's website, 48days.com, and printing out his Goals for 2012. We have several different areas in our lives and making separate goals for each area keeps us honest and focused on what is most important to us.
Perhaps you have difficulty deciding what is the most important priority in your life. Use this time to make that priority list and recognize that you are responsible for your own happiness and success. Discern your calling, if you have not already done so, and plan a new life around that calling. Keep in mind what you really want to tell people about yourself, your desires, what you have to offer to others in each area of your life. We all have a purpose in life and ways to bring our best service to make a difference in the world. This is the week to explore, write down musings, and make your plan. If you need more help, read what Dan Miller has to say. Have a wonderful time with your family and friends.
Have a terrific day!
Patricia

Gratitude and Attitude

   In recognition of Thanksgiving, it is an appropriate time to talk about gratitude and attitude. These are two of the major ingredients to having a successful business and in your customer relations.

   Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions you can experience and express. There are few people in this world who do not have many things for which to be grateful. If you live in a country that recognizes you are created by God and have certain rights given to you by God, you should feel enormously grateful. In the United States we are about to celebrate our gratitude for the success of many of the first people who came to our shores and built homes, businesses, churches and schools. Those first New Englanders knew they survived by dint of the efforts of their neighboring Indian tribes. Without their help the first Pilgrims would not have survived.

   Our nation has done more than survive…we have thrived. We have more reasons to be grateful than to be contentious. Despite the difficulties in our nation and in our world, we are all living better than anyone has in history. Most Americans live better in 2011 than wealthy people lived in the past. While we have problems now, we can overcome. This year give thanks for your life and everything in your life. If you have family and friends you are blessed. If you have a place to live, food to eat, clothes to where, and a place to work, you are very blessed. If you lack any of these blessings, you can live in hope that things will get better.

   In addition to feeling gratitude, it is time to examine your attitude about life and what you are doing. Whether things are great or you’re struggling, your attitude informs the quality of your life. If you remember to be grateful for everything good in your life, your attitude will improve, and so will your day. Even the pain we feel can teach us something and might be used to help other people live through their own difficulties.

   However and wherever you spend Thanksgiving, try to remember how God has blessed you, your family, and our nation in so many ways. Reach out to people in need and share some blessings with them. We all have something to give back to the world and not just this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay, Let's Go!
   Every morning the two dogs circle around me while I put the kettle on the stove to boil water for the French Press coffee pot. Then I feed them, give them fresh water, give the cats their food and water, run outside to pluck the paper off the driveway, and hustle back inside. When the coffee is ready, with the cup of very hot, black sustenance in it, I wander toward the back of the house and the sunroom. The dogs follow me and stop dead at the step down into the room. Their habit is to wait at the step until I put the coffee on the table, flick on the lamp, turn around and extend an invitation to go outside by saying, "Okay, girls, let's go!" Only then will they set foot on the sunroom floor and head for the back door. They don't do this the rest of the day...they usually knock me to the side in their rush for the back door. But they have developed this game of waiting to start their day and I invite them to go outside! The habits we form, whether animal or human, are indeed powerful!
   The reason I relate this little story about the dogs is to remind you that you are in charge of your day and how you want to start that day. You don't have to wait for permission to get on with the business of living, or the business of business. If you wait for an invitation to talk to your customers, it could be a long wait. You can find ways to talk to them frequently. It helps to remind people that you are in business, that you seek their patronage, and that you might just have the solution to their problem. Just don't be like the dogs and wait until someone calls your name!
Have a great day and send me an email if you need some solutions for your writing problems in your business.
Patricia