Whenever I create content, I think about my target market. And that leads me to the buyer personas I’ve created. I find it so much easier to write any content, be it social media posts or blog posts, because I have a particular person, or group of people in mind.
What is a Buyer Persona?
A buyer persona is a kind of fictional mock-up of your ideal client. This is based, not only on demographic, geographic and psychographic criteria, but also more specific data, such as what motivates them etc.
Each buyer persona you have, (and I recommend at least 3-4), will represent a particular group to whom you are going to aim your advertising, your content and your sales pitch. You couldn’t do individual ideal client or buyer personas, because obviously all your clients are different, but it just helps you to focus your communications.
When you are writing your content, you want to:
attract potential customers to your website or online shop
engage, educate, entertain and inspire
gain their trust
convert them into paying customers
retain their custom and hopefully, make them an Ambassador for your business
In order to do all of this, you need to know who your potential customers are, then it’s easier to do all of the above! You need to make sure that you attract the people who match what you have to offer. For example, it’s no good aiming your content at people who hate sport, if you sell football boots!
How do you create this buyer persona?
First of all you need to research your target market, as this will help you create a realistic persona.
Step 1
Look at your current client base and see what your current customers do, what they like and dislike. Are there any similarities between them? Make a note of everything that is similar.
If you have regular customers, you could ring them directly and ask them questions about their buying decisions. Alternatively, if you have an email list, you could send out a survey to your customers asking them things like:
What kind of content would you like from me?
Why do you buy my products or use my services?
Do you have any problems or challenges in your business/life that you’d like me to solve?
Do you have any questions about my business?
This will then give you a good basis for creating your personas.
Step 2
The next step is to narrow down the information you have even more.
What are their demographics? For example, age, occupation, marital status, salary)
What are their geographics? Are they local, regional or in other countries? (You would do one persona for each of these.)
Psychographics – what are their interests? Do they have any hobbies? For example, are they interested in your products because they’re eco-friendly? Take a close look to see if you can align your products/services to their hobbies or interests.
What about their behaviours? What do they like to read about? What kind of programmes do they like to watch on TV, Netflix etc?
How do they learn? This would be important if you are planning to teach something or run a training webinar. Do they learn through being shown how to do something, or through step by step instructions?
What are their pain points?
How often are they happy to have emails from you? When do they look at their emails? What attracts them to opening emails?
Step 3
Now you can start to create your separate personas. You can organise the information you’ve gathered into groups, and each of those groups will be a separate buyer persona.
You could have a group that have similar challenges or pain points, for example.
I give my buyer personas a name, as I find it easier to identify with that group and it makes it easier for me to write for them.
For example:
One of my buyer personas is called Jennifer.
Jennifer is in her late 30s
She is married with two small children, both at school
She runs her own small crafting business. She makes craft items that she sells at local markets, and she has an online shop.
She likes to buy things that are eco-friendly and looking after the environment is important to her.
She struggles with juggling time in her busy day, so her social media posts, although consistent, don’t always sell her business well. She knows that marketing her business is important, but doesn’t have the time or money to invest a lot in this important aspect. She’d like to know more about how to promote her business and get more clients.
I have six of these specific buyer personas, all made-up people, but all of them have one thing in common – they own their own small business. I target my blogs and my social media content at them, aiming to help them with their marketing. They are loosely based on clients I have or have had in the past.
The importance of buyer personas
Now that you have your different buyer personas, you can tailor everything you write or create to those groups of people. You have put a human element to your buyer personas, so everything you create, from social media post and webinars, to podcasts and video etc., can be targeted at your ideal market.
You’ll find that people will engage more with your content and take more notice of your emails, as they will be specifically targeted to them.
If you need any help with identifying your target market, or pulling together your buyer personas, feel free to email or message me. I offer a free initial consultation.
Blogging is a huge commitment for most of us…it takes up valuable time and energy to produce your once a month, or once a week blog. And whilst you may write your blog for fun or to purely engage with your audience, there will come a time when you want to try and make money from it. So, what can you do to help make that happen?
Absolutely know your audience
I find myself writing this all the time when talking about marketing, but it is really so important that you know your audience, especially when you’re writing content for them. Your audience will dictate how you write and what you write…and the language that you use. For example, if you write for a young, gaming audience, you will write for them – you wouldn’t write a blog the same way if it was aimed at a business audience or an older audience.
I’m a marketing consultant so I sometimes have to reign myself in when I’m writing. I love writing about marketing, but when I read my blog back, I have realised in the past that I’m writing for my own peer group of marketers…and that’s not who my audience is! My audience are owners of small businesses who want to increase their own profile online, engage their audiences and of course, sell their products or services. My aim is to teach my readers about marketing, so they have the choice to have a go at it for themselves, and of course, I want to help them with their choice, but ultimately I want my audience to come to me to help them with their marketing and content creation. It’s a fine line!
Just knowing who your audience is isn’t enough – you need to find out a bit more…ask these questions…
What age are they?
What gender, if appropriate?
What is their marital status?
What do they do for a living?
What are their interests outside of work?
And the biggie…What are the problems and challenges they face?
Once you have this information, you can pull together a profile of your ideal customer and use this to direct your blog content at.
Choose the right subject to write about
You’ve sorted out your ideal customer and you know what problems and challenges they face. Write them all down and work out how you can solve those problems.
Once you have a list of solutions, there’s your content. If you’re helping your ideal customers solve their problems, they’ll know that they can turn to you. The right way of course, is not to provide all the answers, which is something I’m guilty of! But this doesn’t mean you don’t provide a detailed article about how they can solve their problem – you can give information that is useful and actionable, but leave something that they can come to you for.
Call to action
It’s important to leave room for a CTA (call to action) that will draw your audience in, make them want to know more, or ask you for more help. I don’t mean asking directly if they want to employ you. It might be you encourage them to sign up for your newsletter, join your mailing list, download a freebie, listen to your podcast or watch a webinar you’ve set up. This won’t immediately make them a customer, but you’re leading them down the right path, and can help them see how you can add value to their business, or to their life.
For example, say you’re a life coach. You write a great blog post, and your CTA could be you point your readers to your website. You might talk about a particular subject and point them to a free webinar where you talk in more detail about that subject. You might have a free social media group they can join to talk to other like-minded people. Ultimately, this could lead to them booking a coaching session with you.
Content and the buying cycle
Think for a minute about your own buying cycle. Let’s take a recent example at my home. I was out on our sit-on lawn mower and it stopped working and made a strange whirring noise. I told my partner about it when he got home. I know nothing about lawn mowers and certainly wouldn’t have a clue how to fix it.
So, our first problem was THE NEED to get it fixed, but we’re not sure how.
The next obvious step is to find out what could be wrong. My partner goes onto YouTube and investigates the problem. He tries to work out whether it’s worth trying to fix it himself or whether it just needs a new part. This is the INITIAL RESEARCH stage. His research tells him that he needs a new drive belt.
My partner now has a solution to the problem. Now we have to find out who sells drive belts and where we can buy it. This is the FINAL RESEARCH.
Finally, the PURCHASE stage and we order the drive belt and pay for it.
If you are writing a blog with the idea of getting customers from it, you need to be targeting those that are at the INITIAL RESEARCH stage. Then you can give them the answers they’re looking for. But, it doesn’t stop there – you also want to make your content give total confidence in your product or service, so the blog takes them from that initial stage right through to the purchase…and show that your business is the right place to do just that!
The content needs to be in long-form, so that you have time to engage your readers, gain their trust and ultimately help them to see that you have that perfect product or service that solves their problem or meets their needs.
Content needs more than that…
OK, so you’ve let them see that you’re the perfect fit for what they’re looking for, but not all our readers look at an article in detail, so it’s really important to think about the format of your blog.
If you just write plain text, they might miss the point, so you need to make your content visually appealing.
Use bullet points to draw their attention to the important bits
Use short paragraphs
Use subheadings
Make sure that the font you use is easy to read and a decent size
And of course, use images to break up the text
If you want to draw attention to a particular part, use CAPITAL LETTERS or BOLD text…or both!
Include testimonials
How many times do you buy something without looking at the reviews of a product? I know I always do, as it gives me an idea of the product I’m going to order. For example, with shoes, some reviews will say ‘buy one size bigger, as these shoes are on the small side’. This helps me to make my decision to buy or not. So, include a testimonial in your blog if you can to sway your audience that your product is the best. Find a testimonial that says why your product is the best.
Don’t digress
Don’t go off on a tangent and start talking about something else, make sure that you focus on the one product or service that you’re trying to sell or engage your audience with.
By all means, lead up to your point slowly and build a picture, but try not to get too distracted and don’t use too many links, as this will distract your reader.
Buy now!
Try and create some urgency around buying your product or service. I’m sure you will have heard of FOMO – personally I hate this expression, but in marketing it’s an effective tool. The ‘fear of missing out’ on something makes us want to buy it now.
Using language that suggests an urgency to buy can persuade your audience that it’s now or never. Things like:
For a limited time only
Only three spaces left on my course
At this price for a limited time only
You get the idea!
And if you’re building up to a sales pitch, using one of those FOMO phrases…
Start using shorter sentences.
It makes you sound breathless.
It’s urgent.
You need to do this now.
This makes your readers read faster and they’ll feel the urgency.
Don’t be too salesy
Finally, don’t be too salesy. Your audience will know you, they’ll follow your blog because they like to see what you have to say. They don’t want the hard sell all the time.
You need to be giving advice and showing a solution to a problem and that should take up most of your post, but you can weave a subtle sales pitch into the content. Selling your product or service is only a small part of it.
Your readers trust you and trust your content. As my readers, you’ll know that I rarely use my posts to sell my business. Rightly or wrongly, I enjoy writing as it’s my happy place and I’m passionate about helping small businesses to grow. If I suddenly came over all salesy, I’d lose that trust and I’m sure, a lot of my followers.
It’s about getting the balance right. You don’t want to sell so hard that you destroy your reputation and your credibility. Writing a blog lets people know that you are an expert in your field and your followers will be confident that you know what you’re talking about. They may take a while to get to know you, but if they can see that you are knowledgeable and helpful, they will come back, and that will increase the chance that they will buy from you, or work with you in the future.
There are more people than ever online these days – the pandemic has definitely contributed to that as people are looking to buy things they can’t go out to get. But, mainly it’s because technology has improved and become so popular. Searching online for what you want, be that information or the latest gaming device, has never been easier or more accessible.
It seems to make sense that if you’re a small business, you absolutely must be on the online space. That could be with a website, blog, shop, or on social media channels. But with so many people trawling the internet, the competition for business is fierce and converting someone to a customer is a whole new ball game.
Customer engagement strategies are the answer, but what kind of strategies can you use to engage consumers and then convert them to buyers? Here’s a few ideas:
Maximise the customer experience (CX)
The customer experience is absolutely the key to any business and you should do everything you can to make your customers happy. They buy your products and services, so every single touchpointneeds to leave them with a ‘warm fuzzy’ feeling, not a ‘cold prickly’ one! The customer experience covers everything, from the very first time they come across your business, through the awareness stage, attraction, interaction, purchase, use of that purchase and of course support and promotion.
Customers are connecting more and more via mobile devices, so being found online is vital. You have just seconds to make a good impression, so your online business needs to be visually pleasing and impactful. It’s important to think about the how your customers will interact with you, so ensure that you are contactable and easy to do business with.
If you have employees that deal with your customers directly, make sure they understand the importance of excellent customer service. Everything they do will reflect on your business. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hataway once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” This is so true, and quite a sobering thought.
Never underestimate Word Of Mouth Marketing (WOM)
A happy, satisfied customer will be loyal to your brand, and will do some of your marketing for you, by telling all their friends and family how good your products or services are. A satisfied customer will also give great reviews, which always helps your brand’s reputation and makes you stand out from the crowd. Word of Mouth Marketingis probably one of the oldest forms of marketing, but is still very much alive and kicking today!
Relate to your customers
Your customers want to feel that they are valued and important to you. So it’s absolutely crucial to understand their needs and to show that you care about them.
Don’t use a ‘one size fits all’ approach – they are all different. Respond to emails, messages and any communication promptly and positively. If there is something a customer is concerned about, address it immediately and try to work with them to find a solution.
Keep communications personal and make your customers fall in love with your business.
If you get a complaint or any negative feedback, do not ignore it. See it as a challenge to win the customer round…find out exactly what the complaint is – talk to the customer, by phone if possible. It may be a simple misunderstanding, but if it isn’t, do everything you can to solve the problem. Sometimes problems can’t be solved and if this is the case, apologise and give a refund or suggest an alternative…or give a discount for their next purchase.
Surprise them!
How often do you surprise your customers? Surprising them means you do something that they’re not going to be expecting.
That might be a phone call to welcome a new customer or to catch up with an old one.
Send them a completely personalised email
Give a free gift without expecting anything in return…an eBook, checklist, tips or advice
You could use a pop up to deliver a personalised message to a new customer to your website. If you’ve done the pop up well, it can encourage a potential customer to buy from you.
Use Social Media platforms
Most businesses are on social media platforms. And, as a business, you don’t have to be on them all; it would be far too much to manage! But choose two or three and learn everything you can about that platform. Then use those platforms as a tool.
Use it to connect with your audience
Identify questions that they need answers to
Research other platforms, influencers in your niche and find out what problems people have – then you can solve them!
Create content that speaks to your audience
Business pages on social media sites are not all about selling your services or products. It’s about engaging your audience. So use your posts to entertain, educate, engage and inspire. They will get to know you and your business and trust that you know what you’re talking about. And, they’ll also feel that you care about them, not just about the money they can throw your way. Be genuine and authentic!
Listen to your customers
This one is short and sweet, and says what it is on the tin. Listen to your customers. If you want to know something about your services or products, ask your customers. They are in the best position to answer you.
Send out a survey, and give a small incentive to respond. Send it to your customers, the recipients of your newsletter or followers to your blog.
You can also set up a survey and put a link to it on your social media pages. Ask your followers to do the survey and to share it with their friends and families.
Provide valuable content
You might write a blog or send out a regular newsletter. And you most likely do use social media. Ensure your posts or articles are valuable to your customers. As I have said previously, they should entertain, educate, engage or inspire. Ideas for posts could be:
Introduce yourself and your business with a photo or video
Share something personal or share a photo of your workspace
Share an inspirational, funny or work related quote
Create educational posts giving tips that will help them. For example, I am a small business marketing consultant, so I share tips that will help with marketing, or tips to help people grow their small business.
Show that you are an expert in your niche or field.
Ask questions – can be trivial or specific to something you want to know
Create polls – again they can be fun or serious
Use good images
Use video
Above all, show your passion and share your enthusiasm for your business with your customers and potential customers. If you invest the time, effort and engagement into your business, your customers won’t be able to help but get caught up in your excitement and will want to be a part of that.
2020 has been the year of working from home. Are you looking forward to going back to work or is it just another day NOT at the office for you for the foreseeable future?
According to the English newspaper, The Guardian, it has been reported that “only 34% of British white-collar workers had returned to the office, compared to 83% in France and an average of 68% among major European counterparts.” So, if you are working from home, how do you cope? For some, this has been a massive transition.
I’m lucky enough to always work from home, but I also live in rural France, where it is very quiet. I’m not sure how I’d fare in a city with noisy neighbours or sounds of traffic. The only problem I encounter on a regular basis is the inefficiency of my internet provider – being in a rural area means the signal is not always great. But I’m learning to manage that. But I guess that, so long as you don’t have neighbours who suddenly decide that DIY with noisy machinery is what they want to do all day, it works well…and the Covid pandemic means that more and more workers have had the chance to experience what it’s like. But of course, there are other factors to think about. Here are some handy hints and tips for working from home.
Start the day promptly
It’s very easy when you work from home to procrastinate and ‘just do’ a few things before you get started. So, try and think of it as a normal working day. When you go to the office, you get up, shower and get to work. Try and do the same at home. Try and stick to your normal routine. Get up, shower, have a coffee and breakfast and set yourself a time to start work.
Structure your day
Get a normal structure going, as you would if you were at work. Have a ‘to do’ list and break your day into segments. For example, you might trawl through your emails first thing to see if anything urgent needs doing. Then get on with the tasks you’d normally do in the morning. You can stop for a coffee break/comfort break, as you would at work and of course, have a break away from your screen and desk at lunchtime. But don’t be lulled into the false sense of security of allowing yourself an extra half an hour to scroll social media or watch a daytime TV programme. This can seriously impact your efficiency. I know as I’ve been there and done that!
Have a dedicated work space
Rather than sitting on the sofa with your feet up and laptop on your lap, try and create a dedicated work space, with an office ‘desk’. This could be your kitchen or dining room table, but having this space encourages you to focus more and feels more like you are ‘going to work’.
Eliminate distraction
For me, the biggest distraction is social media and email. If I have them switched on when I’m working, I can’t help but respond to every ‘ping’ I hear. This is counter-productive and a huge distraction, causing lots of wasted time. I schedule a time to look at my social media pages, answer questions or comments on posts, and answer DMs etc. I also schedule time to post to my own business social media pages. Other than that, I switch it all off, so I don’t hear those enticing pings!
Know your most productive times
We all work differently, and working from home is a different experience for everyone. What is the best time of day for you to get the harder tasks done? For me, it’s in the morning. I write better in the morning and have more concentration. So, I schedule the most important, urgent or difficult tasks for the morning, and leave the things I find easier to cope with for the afternoon.
From research I’ve done on the subject of working from home, most articles advise that you save all your calls until the afternoon. However, I find that checking emails, responding to requests or phone calls are better done in the morning, before I start writing. If I think the calls are going to take me a long time, I might do them straight after lunch, but I think better in the morning, so it’s better for me to do them then. You may feel completely different – it’s about doing things in the order that best suits you.
Have some planning time
As an ‘at-home’ worker, I tend to do my planning for the next day late afternoon, or even in the evening. Whatever suits you best, ensure that you do have time in your diary to plan your next project, or plan the tasks that need to be done the following day. There will always be times when all your plans go out of the window and something happens that needs your immediate attention – that can’t be helped, but having a plan means that you’re ready to get up and go each day, knowing exactly what you need to do first.
It can be lonely
I think that the pandemic has probably taught a lot of us that isolation can be a big problem in working from home. Before lockdown, you could always relocate for a morning at the local coffee shop, so you are around other people, but lockdown means that bars and cafes are closed, so you are stuck completely at home. This is where technology comes in – you can keep in touch with other work colleagues or friends using messenger, Zoom or FaceTime calls. You can also join virtual meetings in the same way, so you don’t feel quite so alone. And it is good to check in with your work colleagues to chat about a particular project or ask advice. Sometimes just to chat through your day.
I know quite a few people who work from home in rural France. I know that a lot of them have a music playlist in the background to help them concentrate. Having some kind of noise in the background may work well for you. I even read somewhere that one lady has The History Channel on quietly in the background as that helped her concentrate. Again, it’s what best suits your situation and how you work.
Manage the family
This is where I am lucky, as I live with just my partner. Our children live in the UK, so chats with them, and with each other, tend to be in the evenings. If you have your partner also working from home, or maybe retired, and children at home, then they have to be considered and their expectations managed. Just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean you’re home, so they need to learn to respect your work time and not constantly disturb you. Having set hours that you work does help with this and they will also know what time you will be finishing, for lunch for example, so can chat and interact with you then. Obviously this is not always going to happen if you have young children at home, but it’s about trying to manage whatever situation you’re in as best you can.
Take breaks and have a finishing time
Finally, make sure that you do take regular breaks. I usually start work around 9.30 – 10am and don’t take a break until around 1pm. I’ll have a snack lunch, and sometimes have a wander around the garden. I might put washing on the line or do a bit of tidying up, or maybe half an hour weeding the flower beds, but I keep my lunch break to about an hour, so that I get back to work at a reasonable time.
I sometimes have another short break around 4pm and always switch off my PC between 6 – 6.30pm.
Above all, be kind to yourself and if you have the odd day where every plan goes out the window and you’re just not feeling it….don’t! And don’t feel guilty about it. If you’re not in the right frame of mind, you won’t get anything done and will find yourself procrastinating. Get some fresh air and focus on something else for a while and you might find you at least gain back some of your day. If you don’t, don’t punish yourself, you’re only human and sometimes there will be days when it’s just not happening.
For most, I’m sure that 2021 will see some sort of return to work. Some of you may be lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it), to carry on working from home. It’s about what works best for you and only you can really know that. The tips in this article are meant to help with a bit of organisation, but you may find other ideas that work much better. It’s important to look after yourself and I wish you all the luck in the world to do what works best for you and your situation.
I’d love to hear from other home workers and how they’ve found the transition from busy office to working remotely. Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to email me.
Here we are, nearly at the end of another year, and it’s time to look at our year-end review. What a year 2020 has been! The year of a world-wide pandemic, which is still seeing businesses unable to open and more people than ever working from home. Words we’d never linked to our everyday lives before are now the norm; lockdown, covid, furlough and I’m sure loads more. We wear masks wherever we go and we are restricted on when we can go out of our homes and who we can visit.
And all through this we still have to try and run our businesses from home. This has meant a huge upsurge in the number of people online, selling their products and services like never before. So this year end is even more important than any we’ve seen before; it’s even more crucial to do an end of year review and to start planning for the year ahead. With a possible vaccine in our sights, hopefully 2021 will see a more positive outlook for small businesses. That is, at least, something we can do for ourselves and our businesses. We can use what we’ve learned this year to plan for next year, taking into account the new skills and tips we’ve picked up to push business forward and still be successful.
So, where to start…
Review of 2020
Your business and your products/services
First of all, go back to basics. This helps you look at your business in a whole new light. Ask yourself the following questions:
Who are you and what does your business do?
What are your products or services?
What went well and what didn’t go so well?
What products or services were popular? Is there room for improvement?
Do you have any new products or services planned for next year?
Due to the changes you’ve had to make this year, are there any expenses you need to take into consideration for next year, e.g. for training, new technology, new equipment?
Your competition and your area of business
How, look at your competitors.
Do you know who your competitors are? If not, do some research and find out about them and what they offer.
What is your USP (your Unique Selling Proposition) that sets you apart from your competition?
Looking at what you do and comparing yourself to your competitors, are there any trends, any opportunities you haven’t picked up on or any threats you hadn’t thought about?
Are there any changes in your industry that you need to be aware of or address?
Do you adhere to all the new GDPR rules that came about in 2018? For example, does your website comply with those rules? Are you doing everything you can to protect your customers’ data?
I hate to use the ‘B’ word, but have you considered Brexit, due to hit the UK in January 2021? Have you thought about how this will impact your business? – Can you still get access to materials for things you make? If you can, will there be any export charges? – If your business involves travel, either to or from the UK, depending on where you live, what impact will Brexit have on travel? Parliament have already passed the bill to take away freedom of movement, so how will this affect you?
Customers
Our customers are the most important aspect of our businesses. Do you know your customers well? If not, do some in-depth research.
Who are you selling to? Build up a picture of at least six customer personas, so you can tailor your products and services to them.
What are your customers’ needs and wants?
What are they buying and why?
Has their buying behaviour changed? For example, where are they buying? Is it more online?
What are your customers’ challenges? What are their problems and can your products/services solve those challenges or problems?
Are there any new markets or new groups of people that could benefit from your products/services that you haven’t yet considered?
Customer behaviour will constantly change, so it’s important to keep ahead and know what they want. If you have customer personas or profiles that you’ve created in the past, how have they changed and evolved?
Marketing your business
Marketing is a hugely important part of your business. This is an area that you really need to review. Take a step back and look at what you’ve done this year to market your business.
How are you talking or interacting with your current customers? Can that be improved?
How do you approach and talk to new or potential customers?
How are you positioning yourself in the marketplace? How are you promoting yourself and your business?
Look at your brand; what does it say about you?
Take a look at your pricing. Is it relevant to what you offer? Do you need to put your prices up to compete in your market?
Look at all your social media channels. How are your using them and how engaged are your audience?
Are there any new platforms or ways to market on social media that you’re not currently doing, but should…such as video?
What are your competitors doing with their marketing? Is there something you could take or use from their example?
Think about new campaigns or activities for 2021 that will help you stay connected to your current customer base, and also attract and engage new customers.
Resources
Look at your current resources.
Do you have anyone working for you? Do you have a business coach or Virtual Assistant? If you do, do they meet all your requirements? Is there anything more you can outsource to them, or anything they shouldn’t be doing anymore?
Do you have any skill gaps that you need to fill? If you do, look at what courses you can take to get you up to speed.
Is your workspace or office space big enough? Does it suit your needs? Do you need to update any equipment?
Do you need to update any technology or invest in something new?
If you buy in materials, are you getting a good deal? Sometimes we stick with one company to supply materials because we know them well, or just because we always have. That doesn’t mean they’re the best supplier, so take a look at some alternatives.
Are there anything you’re currently paying for that you no longer need?
If you post your products to customers, do you have a good deal? There are so many new companies that have sprung up, you may be able to find a much better deal than you currently have.
Finances
OK, now we’re at the biggie. The one we don’t like to think about, but a very important part of your year-end review.
What was your turnover in 2020 and what was your profit?
What is your projected turnover and profit in 2021?
Do you have a healthy cash flow or is your business having cash flow problems? If you’re having problems, what can you do about it? It’s not a good idea to ignore it!
Do you have any capital or any excess cash?
Are your books all up to date and ready for the tax man? I know I said the ‘T’ word, but it’s important to keep your business afloat. If you need an accountant, shop around and ask friends who are in business. If you have an accountant, ask him/her to give you all the relevant figures for 2020.
Do you have any operational costs or employee costs for 2021 that you haven’t planned for? How are you going to pay for that?
Do you need to look for external funding or any kind of investment to reach your goals for next year?
Do some projections – they don’t have to be exact. Maybe start with monthly projections, or where you’d like to be this time next year. And then, what you’d like to see for your business in 3 years’ time or 5 years’ time.
Once you have completed your review of 2020, you’ll have all the relevant information you need to start planning for 2021. Now you can start planning your goals for next year and thinking about where you are going to take your marketing.
Over the past week, I’ve heard lots of ‘oh, here we go again’, type comments and lots of negativity around businesses with the second wave Covid pandemic upon us. A lot of us are now experiencing the inevitable second lockdown, which I know is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. It’s not only businesses that are suffering, it’s also our mental health; something that seems to be more highlighted this time around…probably due to lessons learned from last time.
So, what can you do to make the most of a bad situation?
Developing a growth mindset for your small business
We all know that our businesses are going through the mill all over the world – it’s one of the most radical changes the world has seen in the history of work. And lots of us are struggling with this new environment; this new ‘normal’. Big companies, and even the NHS, are learning how to work, manage and lead their employees from a distance, whilst they work from home. But what about the small business? How can you cope during these very stressful times? It’s very hard when there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight, despite what we’re being told by our various governments. I think it’s time we took charge and helped ourselves – obviously this isn’t as easy as it sounds and will involve changes, but sometimes change can be good.
One way is to develop a growth mindset and think of other ways to manage your small business. Hopefully this article will give you some ideas. You CAN do it and you WILL still manage some growth in your business.
How can I develop a growth mindset?
I don’t have all the answers, but after thinking about this at length, this is what I have decided on for my business. I’ll share my thoughts and hopefully this will help some of you.
First of all, decide that you are going to welcome the challenge and embrace the changes you have to make. For us small business owners, the most important thing we can do is maintain the relationships we have built with our customers and communities. You already have good relationships with them and they trust you, so effective communication during this time will be key to keeping your business going.
For some businesses, who have physical premises that have had to close down, it will be a matter of working out how best to still reach your customers. It will also be important to plan what you’re going to do when you can reopen – you’ll be more experienced this time, having been through it once.
Social Media
Most businesses are on social media, so use this to your advantage to regularly update your customers, even if it’s not totally business related. And if you have an email list, or send out a monthly communication or newsletter, now is the time to use it to your advantage. Share funny things, share your thoughts and ideas for the future, so they know you have plans in place for after the lockdown. Make short 30 second videos just to say ‘hello’ and keep in touch. No matter what business you’re in, this is a good idea – people love videos and a short message from you could brighten their day. If your business is suited to gift vouchers, Christmas is coming, so sell vouchers for when the lockdown ends.
Ask Questions or Create Polls
Ask questions or create polls to find out information about what your customers are struggling with in your niche. For example, if you are a beauty consultant or hairdresser, ask if your customers have any problems with their skin or hair. You can then use that data to do social media posts or videos answering their questions.
Offer 1:1 sessions
You could offer 1:1 phone, WhatsApp or FaceTime calls for a small charge, giving personal advice, if they have a problem they’d rather not discuss publicly on social media. For some of your customers, it will be enough to simply be able to speak to you…and this will reinforce how important and valued they are.
Can you offer physical products?
If you have products that you can sell, can you offer special bundles that your customers can buy from you. If I use the beauty or hairdressing scenario again, can you bundle up a few products that you sell into a set? This could be a skincare set, a body care set, a shampoo-conditioner-deep cleansing hair mask combo for example.
If you have a crafting business, give suggestions with photos of your products that would be suitable for Granny, Aunty, Dad or children. Show your customers the end result – what and who are your products aimed at? If you make decorative items, can you adapt them for Christmas? Sell a Christmas tree set or a set of Christmas items for the mantelpiece or Christmas dinner table.
All of these ideas come from thinking about growth and how to grow when you can’t physically be there for your customers.
Social media is huge and we know from previous experience, that during the last lockdown, internet use soared. Orders to online companies grew at an alarming rate, so it makes sense to put your small business out there.
Go ‘to work’
Another way to help with a more positive mindset, is to actually ‘go to work’ every day. Set up an area where you can have your ‘office’, preferably a quiet, private space where you won’t get too distracted or suffer from interruptions.
Set rules with your family, so they know that from, say 10am to 2pm, you are working, so not to be disturbed. I know this could be more difficult if you have small children in the house.
If you are able to work all day, make sure that you take regular breaks to make a coffee, to have lunch or to just sit with other family members for half an hour. I always work from home, so for me this is normal. But I do take breaks and I find I’m much more productive if I have lunch at a certain time, and take a half hour to an hour break mid-afternoon.
During lockdown, it’s good to try and maintain some kind of structure. This is not only good for your business, but also good for your mental health.
I hope some of these ideas have been useful and given you food for thought on how you can manage a growth mindset during this awful time. If you would like to receive my monthly Marketing Tips email, packed with valuable and constructive ideas for marketing your business, please click here to sign up. In the welcome email, you will receive a code to enter a member’s only space on my website, where you will find loads of free resources; checklists, templates, worksheets etc. to help you push your business forward.
If you have any other ideas, which would help other small businesses, or want to ask any questions, please feel free to comment below or email me at cindymobey@outlook.com
It’s a term we hear a lot as marketers, but what does it actually mean?
Market Segmentation is the process of dividing your target market into groups; these groups will need different products or different types of marketing to pull them in.
How do you divide your target market into segments?
First of all, you need to absolutely know your target market or target audience. Who are they? What motivates them to buy? What are their interests etc.?
Once you know who your target market is, you can then divide them into different groups. The groups need to be big enough to give you a solid customer base.
You can use several different ways to segment or divide your market.
Demographics – this includes age, family size, occupation, job
Geographics – this is all about the location of your market – could be local, regional, nationwide or international markets.
Psychographics – things such as lifestyle, values and personality – for example, someone might like to visit the gym, have a Vegan lifestyle, focus on mental health, and be environmentally aware…this list is absolutely endless in possibilities – but all hangs on knowing your target market.
How to identify your segmentation groups
OK, so you know your target market – now it’s time to break that down into smaller groups.
Try and create a detailed description of your ideal client – a persona that describes them in detail.
For example is you sell children’s’ books, one persona might be female, aged 25 – 45, stay at home Mum with young children. Interested in eco products and the environment, and healthy eating for her family. Her hobbies could be reading, family time, socialising with friends and hiking in the countryside.
The questions
Once you have this persona, you can more easily target that audience with specific books that would be interesting to that target group.
You will most likely need to work on several different personas. I give each persona a name as it makes them more real for me!
Here are some questions that might help you sort out your different segments.
What are your highest and lowest value customers regarding the revenue they bring to you and profitability?
Are there any things that your customers have in common – or any patterns of buying you notice that they have in common?
Can you divide your customers into demographic information – age, income, gender?
Can you divide them into location?
What interests and hobbies do your customers have?
Have you noticed that customers with a particular interest or value are interested in your services/products?
How much do your customers know about your industry, products or services?
Do your customers buy online? If you have several online outlets, which is the most popular?
Do your customers need to have a consultation before they buy anything from you, or is the purchase just a transaction?
From your reviews and records, are your customers more likely to be satisfied with a particular purchase, or are they likely to want to exchange or return it?
Do customers ever make a suggestion to improve any of your products or services? Again, look at your records to see if any have the same opinion. Maybe that’s something you can improve and then target that audience?
The more information you can find out about your current customers, as well as your potential customers, the easier it will be for you to segment your market. You will find groups by age, which is quite a broad spectrum to target, but if you look at feedback and reviews, you may find other things that certain customers have in common. For example, it could be how they found out about you? They may have googled your products or services, or maybe had a recommendation. It’s good to know these things.
Segmentation allows you to aim at the right market for your products. It helps you to focus on the way you interact with your customers, based on their interests, hobbies and behaviours.
This article wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t give you a quick overview of the pros and cons of segmentation. This gives you lots of information so you can make up your own mind as to how you would segment your market.
The pros of segmentation
You can look at each segment and determine if your current offering satisfies the needs of that segment. If not, you can adapt your products/services to make sure that you do – this might involve new products/services.
If you have a marketing budget, knowing who you want to target and how, you can better allocate that budget.
Segmentation helps you to set realistic targets or goals for your business.
Understanding your market in more detail, can help you when looking at what your competitors do.
The cons of segmentation
The cons are around, quite simply, costs.
If you are serving several different segments with different wants and needs, you could find costs escalating due to the increased number of products or services, or product variations.
Marketing costs will also increase as you will be serving different groups of people with different marketing. If you do paid ads, you’d need to do more than one to target the different segments.
I think the benefits outweigh the downside, but you need to take everything into consideration if you’re going to go this route.
Donald Norman, an American researcher, professor and author, once said, “Market segmentation is a natural result of the vast differences among people.”
This is so true, even people with the same hobbies or interests have huge differences between them. It’s just about finding those differences and how you can use that information to your best advantage.
Seth Godin, an entrepreneur, best-selling author and speaker, has been quoted in saying, “Don’t find customers for your products; find products for your customers.”
This absolutely puts it all into perspective. If you can work out exactly what your customers want and work to improve or change your products/services to meet their needs, you’re there! Customers always buy for their own reasons, not ours!
In a previous article I’ve talked about the 7 Ps of marketing, which are a set of key principles that are at the heart of all marketing strategies. They are often referred to as the ‘Marketing Mix’.
Today’s article is about the 7 Cs of marketing and why you need to get your business online. These Cs are the ones that I think are important. Others may prefer other Cs!
Credibility
Millions, yes millions, of people from all over the world go straight to the internet first when they want to buy something. Be it products or services, we all check out the internet for advice and information.
If your business, small or large, is online, then you are more likely to be found for what you do or what you sell. Potential customers can see your reviews, can look at your pricing and products, find out a bit about you etc. etc. And this gives your business more credibility.
Having a website is the obvious choice as you can explain everything you do all in one place. You can show your products or talk about the services you offer in detail. People can see who you are and what experience you have; you can list your qualifications and experience and more importantly, your website shows you are human. Your website will have contact details, so you can be reached and your potential customers can therefore get in touch if they want or need to.
Customer
The customer! Ah, yes, now this is what everything in your business hangs on. No customers? No business.
This is why your business marketing strategy is so very important, (and why I bang on about it a lot with my customers)!
Your marketing strategy helps you find your ideal customer or your target audience. You discover where they hang out, what they’re interested in, how you can pull them in. Your strategy is about getting into the head of your customer and you can only do this by getting to know them.
Any content you put out needs to speak to your customers, be engaging, entertaining or educational. Once you’ve posted content, on whatever social media site you choose, or online, ensure you reply to every comment. Reply to those comments with a question and get a conversation going. And post consistently. You won’t hold your audience’s attention if you are posting once a month, but every day or every couple of days will keep their attention.
Doing your target audience research will let you know which social media sites they use, so you can target that site. Make sure your business is listed in ‘Google my business’, so you can be found locally. And there are loads of free, online business directories out there that you can be part of. Anything that helps your business be found online.
Consistency
I’ve already mentioned this, but consistency really is a key factor in marketing. You don’t just show up once, or just when you feel like it. You need to be showing up, delivering valuable content and products to your customers day in, day out.
If you have a website, which I highly recommend, start a blog and show your audience that you are an expert in your field. Share your blog to social media sites. Show up every day on social media and give something that is engaging, entertaining or educational. Make your audience laugh, teach them something new or point out something that they didn’t know.
Give your customers confidence in your ability to engage with them. They will see you as the ‘go to’ person and in time, this will convert to loyal customers. Consistency is what keeps your customers attention…it takes a long time to build up a customer base. And minutes to lose it. If you are not delivering, your customers will go elsewhere.
Creativity
For me, creativity is about being original. Not about being the same as everyone else. For this reason, rather than use everyone else’s 7 Cs of marketing, or the industry standard, I’ve gone with what I feel is important. When I am helping small businesses with their marketing strategies, these are the things I concentrate on.
Creativity is HUGE! We are all constantly exposed to all sorts of advertising and, if you’re in marketing, you have to find new, creative, innovative ways to target your audience and get their attention. Creativity gets your brand noticed and makes your messages more memorable.
A lot of people out there buy things using their emotions, not for practical reasons. Being creative with your messaging enables you to communicate the emotional reasons for buying from you.
Every touchpoint you have with your customers is an opportunity to be creative and help your customers experience your brand in a positive and unique way.
Community/Communications
I’m going to cheat here and do a ‘2 for 1’ offering! In my opinion, these two go together. Marketing is about communicating great messages to your target audience that reflect your brand, engage them and eventually convert them to customers. By regularly posting on social media, you will build up a community of people who follow you, who like your posts and engage by making comments, or asking questions.
You can set up your own social media groups, so customers can sign up for more in-depth information from you, or maybe coaching in a particular subject. They have to be a member to get access to this information – you may have a few freebie checklists, or helpful hints, or maybe even an e-book that they will get if they sign up. Building this kind of community really helps establish you as an expert and you gain the trust and respect of those who sign up. You’ll be recommended by them and so will grow your audience and also your customer base.
I haven’t mentioned communications specifically, but it runs through everything I’ve just talked about. Digital marketing, or online marketing, is without doubt, the most effective way to communicate with your target audience. You can talk to millions of people from all over the world.
Communication is at the heart of every business, big or small. Regularly communicating with them allows your customers to ask questions; it makes them care about your business; be loyal and recommend you to their friends and families. Most important of all, communicating shows you care, shows that your customers are valuable to you, that they matter and that you value their opinions.
If you have a website, set up a monthly newsletter and ask your customers/potential customers to sign up. They will then hear from you every month. You can use that newsletter to talk about new trends, new ideas, ask questions, teach them something, share your blogs, share new products and show them your human side by sharing what you’ve been up to away from work. The list is endless, but it will be engaging, entertaining and educational which is what marketing is all about.
Customer Service
I can’t stress enough how important good customer service is. Whether you’re looking for new customers or making sure you keep the ones you have, it’s important to make them all feel valued and wanted.
When you have been in business for a while, you will start to recognise the problems that your customers face. If you can answer those questions and solve those problems, they will become loyal customers who will recommend you to their family and friends. If you have a list of common questions that you know your customers need an answer to, put an FAQ section on your website and point to it from your social media pages.
Monitor your social media pages and email – if your customers ask a question, make sure it is answered promptly. You might be trawling a group chat or forum and see a question that you know the answer to – don’t hang around, answer it straight away. Show you are an expert.
You can also give your customers incentives to keep their interest and reward them for being good customers. You can offer freebies or special deals if they join your mailing list…or membership to a closed, member’s only Facebook group.
And, most importantly, say ‘THANK YOU’ to your customers. Make them feel valued, that you care and that you appreciate their custom.
Conversion
There are lots more Cs I could use, but this has to be my seventh…Conversion. It’s the reason we do all the marketing, spend hours on blogs and engaging content. We are trying to get new customers…that doesn’t mean this is the be all and end all, but it is necessary to pay your mortgage and bills!
Knowing your audience and what they want…what their pain points are, will all help you to convert your audience into paying customers. The first thing to do is to make sure you keep track of your customers and potential customers. If you have subscribers to your email, they will all be at different stages in the marketing funnel. Some will be at the bottom, just starting to engage with your business, taking an interest in your content, products or services, but not yet ready to buy. These still needs lots of nurturing by producing that all important engagement, entertainment and education that I keep banging on about!
Next up are the ‘Market Qualifying Leads’ (MQL). They might have come to your email via a free download, (checklist, workbook etc.). And they might have signed up to your newsletter to find out more about you and your business and what you have to offer. They will respond well to receiving more information, but not necessarily to the hard sell. They won’t want to feel any pressure to buy, nor will they want to be bombarded with sales emails. That will just put them off and they will unsubscribe and you’ll have lost them.
The next group are ‘Sales Qualified Leads’ (SQL). This group may have been subscribers to your email for a while, downloaded several freebies, and maybe taken part in some free training. They will be engaged with your online content, following you on social media – and maybe a member of your social media private group. They will be familiar with your business, know how you work and what you stand for. There will already be some trust and respect for what you do. They might start asking specific questions which qualify a meeting. They’ll already know that you can solve their problems, and that you know their pain points, and will now be ready to move on to get the solutions for themselves. They might be open to coaching, or paying for a course, buying an eBook, or buying your products or services.
Always make sure you follow up on new contacts, engage with them as much as possible.
Ask questions, show an interest in them and be genuine!
Always listen to your customers. You may hear something that you hadn’t thought of – another way that your products or services can solve their problems. Or you might hear something that the customer doesn’t realise is a problem, so you can then educate them into recognising that problem – then offer the solution.
Whenever you put content out, make it easy for your potential customers to contact you. Add a Call to Action so they know what they need to do next.
Include testimonials so you have proof that what you offer or do actually works and that you give value.
And…I am at the end of my list of 7 Cs of marketing. I hope you have found this useful. Please follow my blog for more articles to help you with your marketing.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”
Content marketing isn’t anything new, and those that still prefer the more traditional marketing route would probably argue that content should be just to advertise. But content marketing is one of THE most important parts of marketing for small businesses today. Your business will be left behind if you don’t use it.
I’m not saying that traditional marketing shouldn’t be used anymore as there is obviously still a place for it. Here are the differences!
Traditional marketing vs Content marketing
Larger businesses will typically use traditional marketing as it is the kind of content that is pushed into the view of the public. For example, TV commercials, radio ads, print ads, brochures etc. You will see traditional marketing everywhere; on billboards, sides of buses, the ad breaks in the cinema, but they are all high end marketing which require a big budget to reach that large audience.
For the small business, content marketing is the way to go; it involves having a content marketing strategy, which comprises of all types of content being created and then published online in multiple locations. Instead of forcing your content on the public, your content will sit online forever, with the end goal of attracting your ideal audience or customer.
There is of course still a place for traditional marketing – you may want to have an ad in print in a local publication or have a brochure or catalogue for events. Some small businesses also get invited to speak about their business on local radio – and of course you’d want to do that!
Content marketing is different in that it doesn’t concentrate on just advertising your products or services, it’s about drawing your audience in by providing useful information that is helpful and solves problems. Your readers can follow you on social media to read more of your content, or follow your blog, in order to find out more. This helps you gain a loyal audience who trust you…and ultimately buy your products or services. It can also help encourage them to sign up to your email list.
What kind of content can I share online?
When your audience find your content useful, their connection to you and your brand is strengthened. They will share your content, so that your audience widens further. There are many different types of content – all of which can be posted, shared or used on social media to point to other things you do, such as a podcast on YouTube, your website or blog. These are just a few examples…
Your website copy – yes, this isn’t something that immediately springs to mind, but it can be useful to post about something on your website – it might be a particular item in your shop, it could be to point your audience at your services – or even to your about page to find out more about you.
Your Blog
Videos
Podcasts
Infographics
E-books
Printables
Quotes
Case Studies/testimonials
Lists/articles
Educational content
The list is endless, but to make your content really work for you, it needs to be optimised for your target audience and it needs to be relevant to the niche you are in.
How do you market your valuable content?
Now you have your content online, what do you need to do to market it?
Website
If you have a website for your business, you can add a blog to it, so you are creating content that people will see when they visit your website.
Email
Do you have a ‘subscribe to email’ button on your website? If not, do it! When you have subscribers, you can send them a monthly email as a newsletter. You can include:
Links to any blogs you’ve written
Details of new products or services
Special offers
Send links to videos you’ve produced on YouTube
Links to any podcasts you record
Links to any articles, news or videos you think they might be interested in (not necessarily ones that you’ve done)
Generally talk about new trends in the marketplace, a little bit about you and what you’ve been up to, ask questions make them feel like part of an exclusive ‘club’.
You can also enable buttons so that your audience can follow you on your social media channels
Social Media
Share your content to all your social media pages. You will have different audiences on Facebook to those you have on LinkedIn for example, and again different to those you connect to on Instagram.
You can schedule your posts, so you’re not constantly on social media (and therefore getting distracted by other things!).
Share the link to your blog in your profiles on social media.
Ask questions linked to your content and respond to anyone who makes a comment. In fact, respond to any comment you get and thank people through messenger or private DM for following you.
Share you blog posts as soon as you publish them. The more immediate responses, likes and shares you get, the more credibility your post gets.
Share your blog posts more than once…share again the next day, with a different caption and image. And again a week later. This way, you will pick up people you have missed, or who didn’t see your original post.
If you notice that an old blog post went well and got lots of engagement, then share that again…not all of your posts, just the ones that had great stats.
Posts with imagesget better engagement, so really think about the images you use to entice your audience in. There are lots of free image sites out there (such as Pixabay, Pexel, Unsplash and Canva) that you can download licensed images for commercial use. DON’T just google images and use one as you could be fined for copyright.
Join groups on social media and participate in group discussions, giving advice, answering questions etc. This helps get your name known and helps you get seen as an expert in your niche. They also have ‘share your blog post/business page’ type events, which help get your content in front of a different audience.
Although not as popular as they once were, I’d still advise using up to 5 hashtags to help categorise your content for your audience.
You can also pay to boost your reach on social media.
Write a guest post for someone else’s website or blog – you then tap into their audience.
Make sure your blog/website has social media sharing buttons, so your audience can click to go look at your social media sites.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Choosing the right keywords or phrases will help your content get seen.
If you write a blog, include keywords and variations of it throughout the blog.
Optimise your social media posts by adding keywords. Just be aware not to stuff too many into anything you publish or it will be seen as spam!
You can find out more in-depth information in my other blog posts that specifically cover this, as it would be too much to include in this post!
Headlines
A headline really matters – the ones that seem to get the most traffic are lists, how to, or a question. Also, headlines that contain numbers, e.g. 101 ways to …….
Emotional headlines also seem to hit the mark too, as well as some of the more controversial headlines!
Images
Using great images can help market your content. Images don’t just have to be photos; it can be GIFs, infographics, graphics or video. These help capture and keep the attention of your audience.
If you have a Pinterest account, make sure your images can be pinned (shared) by other Pinterest users.
If appropriate, also put a caption on any image as this helps with search engines – images alone won’t necessarily be picked up by search engines, but if there is text, they will be.
Revisit and repurpose your content
Revisit your old posts and content regularly. Revisiting content means you can update it with new information, add new images/infographics and maybe add a short video you’ve made on the subject.
You can also repurpose posts into e-books, video or a podcast. You can also use ideas from them to make social media posts.
Conclusion
There are lots of different ways to market your content, but the most important thing to keep in mind is to always have your customer/target audience at the heart of everything you do. Do it for them, aim it at them, and make sure it’s something you know that they will be interested in.
Keep your brand in mind and write in your own particular style – don’t try and copy anyone else. Keep your content original and engaging. Remember, content should always entertain, educate and engage your audience.
Happy content writing and please get in touch if you need help with your content!
Yes, it happens to everyone at one time or another. You have been staring at a blank page and can’t even begin to think where to start. You might be writing a blog, trying to think of what posts to write for Facebook or Instagram, or stuck on a vital part in the book that is going to be the next big thing! It doesn’t really matter what you are writing, it will strike you at some time or other.
If it happens to you, what do you do? Do you even know why it happens?
What causes writer’s block?
There are various reasons why this affliction suddenly strikes. Sometimes it helps to know that you’re not alone, it happens to the best of us. Some of the common causes are…
You want everything to be perfect before you start. You make sure you have time, and you’re mulling over ideas in your head so you can get it down on paper, right first time. Trouble is, your brain suddenly starts wandering off in another direction! You pull it back and try to concentrate again, trying to get the wording just right in your head before you write it down. ‘Did you switch off the oven?’ pops into your head, or ‘Did I reply to that important email?’ It’s easy to get distracted and, if you’re in this position, it’s time to take a break and do something else.
Timing is another common cause. You’re not being distracted by anything; your mind has just suddenly gone blank. It might simply not be the right time to write – you might need more time to think about your ideas a bit more – have a brainstorm instead.
Fear is also a big factor in writer’s block. Some people never become writers because they are simply too afraid to put their writing out there and risk criticism. They are afraid of other people reading their work. It might be that you are afraid to finish your book/article/blog because it might not be good enough. Hitting that wilderness can cause panic, anxiety and a host of other unpleasant things…but it’s good to know that you’re not the only one who this happens to – many of the great writers suffer from a block; I’d even hazard a guess that they all have at some point.
What can you do to solve this ever present block?
Well, there’s no definitive answer that will suit everyone. We are all different and all suffer with writer’s block for our own reasons. I can’t tell you exactly how to fix it, but I can share some solutions to help you get your focus back.
Possible solutions to writer’s block
Here are some ideas – some I have tried and some I haven’t…
Get away from your desk. Go outside, take deep breaths and maybe go for a walk. I live in the French countryside, so I often take a stroll round our field and just sit for a bit.
If you love to exercise, you might try a bike ride or a run – get your blood flowing.
Play a game (but set a time limit or you’ll find the day is gone!)
Spend time with someone who you like to be around, someone who makes you feel good.
Call your family for a chat.
Read a book.
Google some inspiring quotes about writing that will get you going.
As I said above, get rid of the distractions. I’m easily distracted by email/social media posts popping up, so I switch off email and social media when I’m writing.
Listen to some music – I really like this one…or play an instrument!
Brainstorm some ideas and just put them in bullet points in a word document.
Write something else! Leave the writing you’re struggling with and start to write about something different. I often do this with blogs. If I’m really struggling to find the right words, or just can’t think how to string a particular sentence together, I stop! And I start writing a different blog about something completely different. Often, I don’t go back to the original for days, sometimes weeks. Then it suddenly jumps out at me and I can do it.
Take a shower! No, not because you smell or need it! Have you ever noticed that you always get your best ideas when you’re in the shower or just about to drop off to sleep? Occasionally, I have to get out of bed and just jot down a few ideas.
Routine helps
I find that having a writing routine makes me sit down and get on with it. Plan your ‘to do’ list and make sure that your writing forms a big part of that list. It’s the same as ‘hitting the wall’ when you’re running. You have to push through it. So, forcing yourself to commit to a certain amount of time every day or every few days is key to getting out of the doldrums and kicking the butt of writer’s block.
I write blogs, as well as having a couple of books on the go. Sometimes my blog writing doesn’t go well simply because I haven’t done enough research on the subject I’m writing about. So, for me, I go on Google and search for more articles on the subject I’m writing about and see if I can get inspiration for a different angle.
Sometimes you can just write through the block. This is one way to deal with the fear factor! To coin a phrase, ‘Just do it!’ It doesn’t matter what you’re writing about, or if it doesn’t feel right, just keep on writing – you can always edit it later. From time to time you are so full of self-doubt that you can’t see past that. This often goes along with fear. So, push through the block as I said before and, like the runner who gets a stitch, keep going and eventually it will go away.
Finally if you are really struggling, get away from it.
After all tomorrow is always another and new writing day! You could always go shopping for shoes instead!
The Write Way 