blog

Tell Me What To Do!

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:39:55 +1200

Far too many sales letters, web pages and other marketing material fail because the reader isn’t told what to do, what action to take, where to go or how to order what’s being sold.

Imagine you read an advertisement for something you really want, or can’t live without a moment longer. And what if there’s nothing at the end of the advert which tells you how to order? Wouldn’t you be annoyed? You sure would.

But this sort of negligence seems to pop up everywhere. Sometimes it’s less overt in that the contact details are all listed, but there’s no statement that says, “Order now!” or in any other way encourages you to buy. And, there should be if you want your brochure, flyer, advert, web page or sales letter to be taken seriously.

This device is known as the Call to Action and it should be on every piece of communication your company produces. Why?

Because if you tell your reader what you want them to do, and if you’ve set the rest of the letter or page up correctly, they will go ahead and do exactly what it is you’ve asked.

So, before you begin constructing your piece be clear on exactly what action you want your prospect or reader to take. And then, ask them to do it. You do need to make sure they can, however …

So check that the phones are being answered, the click-through link works, the fax machine has paper in it and that emails are being responded to. Otherwise you will have unhappy customers (which you may never know about) on your hands and will be leaving money on the table. And that is always a waste.

Hello, hello, anyone there?

Tue, 01 May 2012 11:04:11 +1200

I phoned my girlfriend on Sunday night to see how she was after an operation. A strange male voice I didn't recognise answered with, "Hello?". I apologised, said I had the wrong number and hung up. I checked the number and redialled. Same response. Strange, unrecognisable male voice.

It eventually turned out that a visitor to the house had decided to answer the phone without consulting the owners. Perhaps he saw that as being kind. It might have been kinder had he brought the phone to them and them do the actual answering.

I found this all very rude. It embarrassed his hosts, it wasted my time and he made himself look like a dork. Answering the phone by identifying yourself is not just civilised, it's sensible. All he needed to say was, "Parker residence, this is Paul" and he'd have turned what was a tricky situation into something everyone felt comfortable about. Because, sure as eggs are eggs, his hosts wouldn't have been able to front him about his behaviour. They'd have had to just suck it up.

I hate it when other people answer my phone. I find it rude and see it as taking liberties. That's because they usually don't stop and think how to do so properly or in a way that won't offend me or the person phoning. I'd have no objection if they did so in a professional manner - whether it was a personal call or a business one.

But a ringing phone seems to turn perfectly normal people into a frenzied fiend. Phones don't have to be answered the moment they start to ring, that's why we all have answerphones. But if you are doing to make a run for the phone, do so intelligently and politely. Please.

Come to the fair!

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:43:07 +1200

I love fairs! Anywhere there's a bargain to be snagged, you'll find me rummaging through the boxes, tables and car-boots for undiscovered goodies. So, it was with great excitement that I received a flyer in the mail for a fair at a local college.

At least, I think it was a fair. It said so on the front, but I couldn't read the back. Printed in a miniature font size, the typeface was one of those overly fussy, hard-to-decipher, serif with a double-f kinds. Even the headings were made more difficult to read thanks to underlines and exclamation points. Plenty of white space was left unused, which could have been filled up with larger print.

There was a map that might have been useful if only the letters correlated simply and easily with those in the text, but these were well buried.

The entire effect was to make me go, "Whoa! I can't easily see what there is to do, and I can't be bothered to make the effort." So, the flyer was consigned to the round file. And the college missed out on my bargain-hunting, plus other spending I'd have been likely to do. After all, who can resist the aroma of hot dogs and chips?

The lesson for anyone tasked with producing a fundraising flyer for an event is this: make it readable! That's all. Hardly rocket science. But for Columba College it was a stretch too far. Pity.

5 Ways Facebook's New Timeline Will Help Your Business

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:39:00 +1200

Now that the new look of Facebook has been around for everyone's pages for a couple of weeks it's time to check we're all using it to its best advantage.

Have you put up a great generic cover photo? If not, you're wasting a huge opportunity to convey your business in pictures. Which can be very powerful online. If you have a great photo (a montage works well), you will need to update it regularly to keep it fresh.

Are you using the star or highlight option? You can highlight a story for seven days which appears to make it larger (it runs across the whole page) and is then the first item that visitors see, even if you add other posts later.

Are you using pics in every post? It makes a big difference to the look of your page if you do. Facebook has become much more visual, use it to your advantage.

Have you thought about advertising on Facebook? It doesn't cost a lot and seems to be a very successful way of adding fans to your page. I have two clients who are doing this and they are steadily increasing their support base. You can also easily control how much you spend.

Have you looked at the metrics which tell you how widely your messages are being received? Take time to study these so you can understand what is working for you and what isn't.

Like most new things, Facebook's new features will be trial and error for a time. The important things is to dive in and try them out, see what they do for the look of your page and monitor the feedback you are receiving. It will be very instructive.

What it takes to be a great leader

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:14:15 +1300

I’ve been fortunate to interview some fascinating people this last week for articles I’m writing for the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

One of those was Sanchia Yonge, managing director of workplace survey provider Kenexa | JRA.

She shared with me the qualities she believes that today’s leaders need to have to be effective:

The ability to communicate, the willingness to collaborate and the inclusion of employees in decisions.
Building high levels of trust: People move around to different organisations so leaders need to be straight forward and trustworthy. This promotes solution-based organisations that work lean and where people solve their own problems.
A broad set of skills and be able and willing to roll up their sleeves.
The drive to empower their employees.
Clearly communicating and demonstrating the organisation’s greater purpose. The best organisations set a vision for their team members to get behind.

Sanchia says most organisations tend to be top-down in management style, even those that aspire to be modern (adaptive with high levels of team worker engagement). If they want to become modern they must achieve and sustain high levels of collaboration, communication, customer focus and be prepared to be adaptive.

To Allow Pinning or Not?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:32:04 +1300

Pinterest has released code that allows website owners to block their images and videos from being pinned on Pinterest. This is good news for companies like photographers which don't want others to steal their material. But it's bad news for pinners.

It brings into question a whole raft of copyright issues which widespread sharing across the Internet seems to have pre-empted. Could it eventually mean the end of coyright as we know it?

Read the full article here.

5 Common Newsletter Mistakes

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:36:56 +1300

Many companies decide that producing a newsletter is a great idea. And it is. But there are some really important things to remember if you're going to make it an ongoing success.

1. Don't give up after just a few issues. If you're going to commit to a newsletter, commit to it for a certain period of time. Same with social media. One of the most common mistakes I see is people deciding it's not working or it's too time consuming and giving up after producing only a few. It takes time to build momentum, so when starting out make a decision to stick with it for 12 months to give it a decent shot.

2. Make it relevant to your readers. If you're in fashion, make each item related to fashion. Don't include recipes, for example. If your readers wanted recipes they'd be signed up to a recipe newsletter, not a fashion one.

3. The exception to number 2 is articles about your business or industry. It's perfectly acceptable to tell readers what's going on in your industry, after all you're the expert. It's also perfectly acceptable to tell them about a development in your business that might be of interest to them.

4. Keep your articles relatively short. People have short attention spans. This advice is especially true if you are sending your newsletter by email. If the topic deserves more space than just a few paragraphs, put a longer article up on your website and include the link.

5. Use your newsletter to connect people with your social media sites. Include your Facebook and Twitter links, tell them where they can go to read your blog. Connect all the communication dots for them. Make it easy for them to find you - and make it easy for Google to find you.

Business survival tactic: communicate

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:36:21 +1300

2012 may be the year when our very business survival depends on the relationships we have developed with fellow businesses. There’s no indication the international economy is going to improve any time soon, in fact Europe is looking increasingly precarious and while we may be on the other side of the world any fallout will most certainly drift our way.

So, we can’t really expect much improvement, if any, in our local economy. In other words, things could get worse before they get better. We may need to look to our own resources and abilities instead to find a solution. One of those resources is the people we know and the businesses we already have a relationship with. Our network, if you like.

Keeping in touch with these people is no easy task, in fact it’s a lot like hard work. So how are you going to achieve that?

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

A series of semi-personal emails sent over the course of the year
A regular, printed or emailed newsletter
Personally hand written cards
Social media or online updates.

You’ll find a free communications plan template right here. Take a few minutes to work out what resources you have or need and then match it with what you want to achieve. Sketch out a time line with deadlines and you’re set to go.

Making Communication Personal

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:57:21 +1300

The holiday season is traditionally a time to send messages. Messages to family, friends and business colleagues. These days those messages can take a number of forms: an email, a card, and these days even a Facebook post.

Looking at those I received, the ones which were most appreciated were not the bulk emails or the group texts, and they were not the messageless and therefore meaningless cards from businesses. What was most appreciated were the cards where somone had taken the time to handwrite a personal message. This meant they cared sufficiently to use their valuable pre-Christmas time spending a few minutes with me, even in absentia.

Of course, I also appreciated those cards which came with the annual letter. It gave me a chance to catch up with their activities over the year and is especially valuable when you haven't been in touch during that time. I know my English mother-in-law always appreciates it when I write one of these, so I make a special effort to do so and even ensure she receives it in time to be able to show to her extended family during Christmas events.

Few of us have time these days to spend hand writing letters, which is why they are so valued by the receiver. So, here's Word Wizard's first tip of the year - buy a set of nice cards and send at least one per week to someone you value. Write a personal message and put your heart into it. Your recipient will be very pleased that you made the effort, especially as it isn't even Christmas.

News Wins At Google

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:13:33 +1300

Have you caught up with the latest changes to Google's search algorithm? News stories are now going to be given the highest priority.

This means two things: first, you won't so often come across pages from 1428 so much any more (isn't it irritating when you come across old stuff?) and second, it will be more important than ever to update your website's news pages. If you want to show up high in Google's rankings, you're going to need a flow of interesting, useful and possibly even entertaining news stories.

As a copywriter with an extensive journalistic background, I'm pleased to hear this. As a Google user, I'm pleased to hear this because the items I'm searching for will more readily come to the top of the page.

But it makes me concerned for clients who are not taking this new development into consideration in their communications strategy. It worries me that they will lose their previously high rankings. If you're concerned about your Google position, and want to be sure you retain your ranking, get in touch and let's chat it over.

A story of a sign

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:21:58 +1300

We run a small road-side stall from our property selling plants, preserves and seasonal vegetables. A small sign on the lamp post outside was all that alerted potential customers to our stall's existed. And until recently buyers would trickle in in the smallest of numbers. However, two weeks ago we put up a sign that was much more visible, from further away, and detailed what we sell - with prices. The response has been enlightening!

I had assumed people could see my initial (expensive) sign. But not true - it turns out that many of our customers have never visited us before and didn't in fact even know we were here. Our new sign is a simple homemade affair - a blackboard - but for sheer effectiveness it's a winner.

I've long believed that a business with no sign is a sign of no business but I hadn't realised that poor signs are about as useful as having no signs.

The message herein, for me anyway, is that what we think is true and what is actually true for our customers may be two different things. Could your business' signage be improved - your literal signs, or your metaphoric signs such as your website, flyers and advertisements? Are you leaving money on the table, as I was, simply because you believe you have already done enough, that no more is required? Consider it from your clients' point of view: are you giving them enough information to stop what they're doing (in my case driving past), and have a look at what you're offering? They may not buy from you today but now that they know what you do they'll be back.

Pause, reflect, celebrate and plan

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:55:38 +1300

Yesterday I had the great good fortune to talk with the CEO of Ray White Ltd about his approach to goal setting. It's coming up the time of year when we start planning for the year ahead and look back over the year just gone, and on this subject Carey Smith had some very interesting things to say.

One of which was his approach to goal setting. Each year when he's on holiday he writes himself a 1-2 page letter about what he sees as being important in the year ahead. Part of the process is opening the letter from the previous year which has been sealed and kept safe by his brother over the intervening 12 months. He likes doing his goal setting this way because, he says, it's easy.

Most of us believe we should track progress towards our goals on a regular basis but Carey Smith's approach is very much hands-off. He believes that if they are truly important, they will be achieved without him having to look over his own shoulder.

Smith divides his goals into family, health, business and financial, a more holistic way of doing it than most methods. He also includes "stop doing" items which in his case this year included not buying a house (somewhat difficult given his profession, I imagine) and going to bed by 11pm.

When he finally does open the previous year's letter, Smith doesn't dwell on it too much because, he says, our past doesn't dictate our future. Our current and future actions do that. And that just may be his most valuable lesson of all.

NZ's reputation doomed?

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:29:42 +1200

I fear for the reputation of New Zealand during the Rugby World Cup. We already have a dismal record for customer service and I believe many overseas visitors will go away feeling they’ve been horribly let down.

This prediction is based on what happened to us just last week in one of the country’s most notable tourist areas – Queenstown. The quality of customer service there is generally much higher than anywhere else, except it seems when it comes to accommodation.

We stayed two nights at the Bella Vista. We’d booked well in advance, impressed by the images we’d seen on the Internet.

When we arrived, the room was so poky there wasn’t enough room to swing a mouse, let alone a cat. With two beds (a double and an unneeded single) crammed into space designed for one, the only place where one person could walk past another was the bathroom. There was no couch to curl up on, no table to sit around, just two beds and a couple of chairs crammed anywhere they could be stuffed.

There was no hot water. To his credit, the owner did try to fix it, albeit not very successfully. A plumber failed to show up until the middle of the next afternoon. (Should have called Adams!)

With time on our hands we decided to watch a bit of TV, but the sound was so tinny and volume governor set so low that it was impossible to hear a word unless sitting almost on top of it.

We returned from a wonderful dinner out (the Tandori Palace, since you’re asking – where the food actually tasted as though it could have been authentic and the service was superb), and hubby decided to heat some leftovers in the motel microwave. Bad mistake. A huge boom followed by masses of flames.

We stuck with it, however, because we felt the owners and staff were doing their best, pleasantly and politely. That was, until we struck THE WIFE. She didn’t show up until after we’d left, when two hours later hubby received a phone call from her that could at best be described as unpleasant.

Where did we think we were, she demanded to know, the Hilton? Surprisingly perhaps, we didn’t think that staying at the Hilton was prerequisite for having hot water or a serviceable microwave. My other half received a severe tongue lashing along the lines of no-one else had complained (perhaps they were too frightened by her) and who did we think we were and by the way there was nothing wrong with the microwave, an electrician friend had looked at it. (Any business of this size that doesn’t have a contract in place with a property service company is not taking the business seriously.)

Then she hung up in the middle of the discussion and charged us the full amount – no consideration whatsoever for the lack of hot water, the inconvenience of an exploding microwave or having to put up with her rudeness.

But what’s concerning for the country at large is that this woman clearly believed she was behaving rationally and was within her rights to treat her customers that way. The only problem is that customers who feel belittled and spoken to rudely never come back. Plus, they also tell as many people who are prepared to listen.

This woman could have turned our entire experience around by being conciliatory and helpful. Instead, she let her ego get in the way and it all ended very nastily.

And that is why I fear for New Zealand’s reputation internationally over the next two months. Many tourists will come across others like Mrs Bella Vista and will return home to tell their friends and family to stay away from New Zealand because of the appalling service we offer.

Making tiny cars roomier

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:43:34 +1200

As small, ultra fuel-efficient or electric cars become more popular as urban runabouts, automotive designers are looking for more ways to maximize their interior space.

One possibility is to get rid of the steering wheel. Of course, you need a steering wheel for driving, but the engineers are working on one that folds up and retracts into the dashboard when the vehicle is parked. They claim it would make getting in and out of the car considerably easier, particularly for elderly or disabled drivers. Not to mention those wearing short skirts!

The proposed wheel would have two handles that lock in place when the car is being driven, but that would fold inward to reduce the wheel's area once the engine stopped. The entire steering wheel would then retract into the dashboard, creating more cabin space.

When the driver next gets into the car and starts the engine, the wheel would automatically move back into the usual driving position.

We could start to see retractable steering wheels showing up in cars within the next five years.

Which rather begs the question, what else can engineers come up with to solve everyday vehicular problems? How about retractable wheels for when you have to leave your car in a dubious neighbourhood and want to be certain you’ll still have wheels when you return. How about following the lead from airlines and having seats that turn into beds. That way, if it’s necessary for you to be to living in your car, you could at least do so in some comfort. And, since so many women put on make-up in their cars, how about a mirror that can be pulled down closer to your face? Now, I start to think about it, the possibilities are endless.

How NOT to give bad news

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:22:55 +1200

A friend of mine has just had her application to join a local branch of an international service organisation turned down. She is quite hurt, especially as it was both at the 11th hour and totally contrary to what she had been given to understand would be the outcome, but what has completely outraged her is the manner in which she received the news.

While she was away attending the second of two funerals in the same week, she received a message on her home answerphone to say she had been "rejected". There was no explanation and no number left which she could phone to find out why she was not deemed acceptable to join this group.

How then can you deliver bad news well? There are many wrong ways to deliver bad news and only one right way. It's no easy task and the tone you take - whether you are delivering the news by letter or by phone call (which should always be in person, not left as a message or sent as a text) - will have a great deal to do with your success or failure.

Consider the person receiving the bad news. Do you want them to feel rejected or reassured? Are you treating them with respect? In the example above, the answer to both those questions is obvious.

Getting the tone right is all about using the right words and trying not to use those like rejected, declined, failed, wrong or unsuccessful too many times. The recipient will be listening to or reading your letter several times in order to take the message in, and likely both showing it or reporting it to others. So, make sure your tone is friendly, not distant and harsh.

Quick tip: beware of the word but and what it communicates. The reader will tend to focus on what is said or written after the but and forget the positive message that comes first. For example, Your references from your previous club were impeccable but we are nevertheless rejecting your application. The solution is to cut the sentence in two and drop the but.

Here's a useful formula for communicating bad news:

Shake hands with the reader - introduce yourself and say why you're writing.
Give the relevant background information, including any positive information about the reader's application etc
Communicate the bad news in as positive a way as possible
Reassure the reader.

By using this structure, you are able to form a relationship and set the tone before giving them the bad news. Point four aims to restore the reader's confidence and leave them feeling, if not exactly good, not completely devastated.

Top 10 Weight Loss Secrets 2

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:23:15 +1200

Food sensitivities and weight gain

It seems to me that the key to successfully losing weight is eating quality food that my body likes rather than being intolerant to. That’s because you tend to put on weight when your body goes into hoarding mode, which it does when you give it some that, to it, is unpalatable. And when it stores food it doesn’t know what to do with, it stores it as fat.

The other problem is that your body can react rather negatively to food it doesn’t like. You could find yourself with sudden and unexplained energy loss, highly irritated with strange mood swings or generally feeling out of sorts. We don’t usually associate these difficulties with what we eat but they are closely connected.

My body has made it quite clear that it is not a fan of high carb food – potatoes, rice, bread, sugars etc – so I tend to avoid them, especially when I’m dieting. This is much easier to do when you’re in the right mindset and focused on dieting, but move away from the diet and it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking “just one won’t hurt me”. Now, when people try to cajole me into breaking my diet by saying exactly that, I tell them it will hurt me; actually, it will make me very sick. They don’t have any comeback to that, and to some degree it’s true. I will certainly feel pain, whether it’s stomach pain or pain on the scales the next morning.

One thing I have learned to do – belatedly – is to listen much more to what my body is telling me. It is very hard to do because we generally have strayed so far from being able to hear the messages our bodies are giving us. However, as I have lost weight I have found it easier to hear because my body reacts much more quickly to what is put into it. Recently, I added banana to my breakfast fruit, the first time I had eaten bananas for some months. Within two hours I experienced the most excruciating stomach pain, lasting 20 minutes or so before disappearing. It was hard to believe that something that is relatively low carb, a fruit, and so good for you could have that effect. I was devastated because I love smoothies, and they don’t seem like smoothies without banana. But you can be sure I won’t be eating them again!

I also tend to steer away from foods where I’m not sure about the contents or ingredients. This is quite difficult to do in restaurants where you can be fooled by the descriptions into thinking you’re ordering something quite safe, when what is delivered is contrary to what you want to be eating. Many cafes are difficult places for non-carb eaters, like me, but restaurants are usually fine because you can order a steak, omelette or fish that is not coated in batter or breadcrumbs.

I think the most important aspect of eating well is knowing what is in your food. And with anything processed you simply don’t unless you’re an expert on all the numbers the food industry uses to disguise the identity of what you’re eating. Reading labels simply isn’t enough, you need to make your food from scratch to be absolutely certain of what you’re eating.

The argument against this is, of course, time. But it takes no longer to cook a healthy meal from scratch than it does to get in the car, go to the supermarket or takeaway, buy your food, come home and then cook it or reheat and serve it. In fact, it often takes longer merely to take the food out of the packet, prepare and cook, than it does to make something from scratch. And making it yourself is a great deal cheaper too. At the time of writing – mid-winter 2011 – the world’s economies were in financial meltdown, the impact of which could be felt on food prices. Even fruit and vegetables have become hideously expensive, which gives additional ammunition to those companies producing processed food. People who naturally gravitate toward unwholesome food (and isn’t that most of us?) instead of fresh food, find it even harder to make the best choices. It’s hard to turn away from something that’s cheap and quick and easy.

But I believe for our own long-term health, and for the long-term health of the planet, this is exactly the choice we need to make. And, where possible, we need to be growing our own food, too. That way you know exactly what is going into it. Plus you can be certain that it’s not been inundated with unwanted herbicides, pesticides and waxes.

Nutritionally, today’s soils are very poor. A combination of intensive farming, chemical rather than natural fertilizers and no rest for the soil (in earlier times called being left fallow) means our agricultural soils are depleted of the essential nutrients our bodies need for survival. But because the effects are subtle rather than overt, we don’t notice the gradual decline in different aspects of our health. And often once we do we notice, we don’t take action or the correct action. We try to blame it on something else, but I’m convinced that not eating good quality fresh food (preferably organic) is a major contributor to many of the diseases and disabilities we struggle with today.

Over the year it has taken to lose my 30kg, my diet has changed enormously. First to go (or be cut down on, if I’m honest, I still have the odd glass) was alcohol. And that alone made a big difference to both my weight (probably accounting for much of the first 10kg) and my state of mind.

Next to exit was caffeine. Always a big coffee and, more latterly, tea drinker, this was a biggie. I had not realized how much of this drug I was putting into my body, but the reaction when I stopped was astonishing. Not someone usually given to suffering from headaches or migraines, it took two weeks for the headaches to disappear to my utter astonishment.

Cutting down on tea drinking had the automatic corollary of increasing my water intake which, like most people, is never enough. Two litres of fresh water a day is the widely accepted recommended daily intake and is hugely important in the weight loss process. That’s because when the water is eliminated from the body it takes with it the fat cells which have been broken down in the dieting process. In other words, it’s crucial to detoxification, which is what weight loss is all about.

The next major step was saying goodbye to simple carbohydrates – pasta, rice, bread, cakes, biscuits, and even high starch vegetables (although some of these are back now albeit in their raw form). Everything I read about nutrition, from authors I respect, leads me to the conclusion that starches are no good for the body. Any body, but particularly mine. I don’t intend to go into the scientific reasons for this here when so many others (eg Leslie Kenton) explain it so much better, but suffice to say that a high carb diet is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of mankind. It is highly likely no coincidence that in today’s high-carb world the incidences of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer are rising. Certainly, obesity and high carb eating are closely connected.

I should point out here that some bodies are better able to assimilate carbs than others. Some react immediately, while others take longer to show the effects, which makes it much more difficult to be certain of the cause. The more in tune you are with your body (and that includes daily weighing), the more likely you are to notice when you eat something that your body does not handle well.

Once carbs had gone, the next to follow was dairy. This was a touchy one for me because I’m not naturally a sweet lover but I adore cheese and consider yoghurt a breakfast essential. I gave up milk when the tea went, using only one tablespoon a day in the one cup of tea I still allow myself (although this has now been replaced by hot water, lemon, freshly grated ginger and a cinnamon stick). I noticed that mostly in the monthly milk bill, which has dropped by $20. My problem is that I find the mucous that milk generates to be quite comforting, so losing this has been quite difficult. I do, from time to time, have feta cheese and low fat cottage cheese, but I watch the portions quite closely. Dairy, too, my research shows, is not something that mankind has always partaken of in such large quantities. In earlier times our calcium needs were met through fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables. And we are the only mammal that drinks the milk of other species through our entire lives.

All this may sound to you like huge deprivation. I admit it’s not been easy. But the news is just about to get a whole lot worse because now that I am at my goal weight (famous last words!) I am discovering the joys and benefits of raw food.

One of the problems anyone who is trying to lose weight suffers from is feeling hungry. For a time we’re able to live with it and maybe even get used to it. But it is a fundamental human need to eat when we feel hunger, which is what makes it very difficult to stick to a diet for any length of time. When you’ve lost a great deal of weight you need to change your eating habits in order to keep it off. The combination of these two problems – feeling hungry and needing to adopt new ways of eating – has led me to raw food.

Like most effective eating regimes, raw food is not new, nor is it a fad. In fact, our earliest ancestors ate a great deal of their food raw so the human body is well adapted to it. But as we have become more industrialized, more sedentary and generally less hardy, raw food has slowly but surely exited the dietary landscape. Many people no longer eat any raw food except in the form of fruit. Others also eat salads, but usually as an adjunct to a meal, rather than forming the basis of it. Even the word ‘salad’ has negative connotations for many who equate it to “rabbit food” and refuse to eat it.

The toughest time of year to eat salads is, naturally, winter. And this year has been the first that I have been living in the cold deep south during which I have been able to eat salads in the chilly months. It has been a revelation. Far from feeling cold, they warm me up, they fill me up and – most miraculously of all – they keep those hunger pangs at bay. Plus there’s the advantage of being able to eat as much as you like. Always a bonus.

I liven up basic salads by including such moreish tidbits as eggs, feta or cottage cheese, chicken or tuna (for protein), sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, avocado (either chunked or turned into a dressing), and a super-yummy dressing made from either olive oil, flax oil, avocado oil or even sesame oil. I tend to steer clear of mayonnaise because I cannot be trusted to have only a small amount! I often add fruit, too, especially to a coleslaw when grapes, kiwifruit, mandarin or apple make a yummy addition.

I tend to have two types of salad: a lettuce, spinach or other light leaved base or a cabbage base. This is for main dish salads, if I’m looking at a side-salad I use fewer ingredients. Me, I tend to throw in everything that takes my fancy!

The idea of a eating a high proportion of my meals raw is a very new concept to me so the jury is still out. But as I read recently, “no-one ever got fat eating fruit and vegetables”, I’m hoping it will continue to provide the benefits I’ve already noticed – a long, slow energy burst and a much happier digestive system.

Does your website work?

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:31:49 +1200

Last week I happened upon a website run by a quasi-government organisation that simply didn't work. By that I mean it had so many bugs it was quite impossible to use. After trying twice over two consecutive days I gave up.

As a result of this less-than-happy experience, here are 4 things to make sure actually work before your site goes live.

When offering a drop-down menu, make sure there really are options visible.
If the choices are not listed and people fill in their own, make sure the website will accept them.
If the person filling in the form has to leave the site before completing it, make sure that what has been filled in can be saved so they don't have to start from scratch when (or if) they return.
If offering help in the form of visitors being able to send an email, make sure the address is still active. It will super-annoy people if they can't reach you via the method you've made available.

Before letting your website go live, make sure that everything is working correctly. Let different people test it for as many variables as possible so that once it's online you can be certain visitors will have an easy experience rather than a difficult one. Nothing gets rid of visitors faster than a non-functioning website.

Make Communication Personal

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:31:11 +1200

Sales letter wizardry

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:04:17 +1200

Receiving an unsolicited sales letter is an athema to most people, but I love it. I'm always optiistic they will contain some new technique or gimmick I don't already know about that I can use in my own writing. Usually I'm disappointed but sometimes, just sometimes there's something that gives me a eureka moment.

While I'm waiting, here are five things about sales letters I do already know:

Always, always, always use a headline. Preferably an attention-grabbing one. Not sure how? This article explains.
Should you have a salutation (dear so-and-so)? Probably, and the best is one that mentions the person by name. For example, Dear Lynnaire is better than Dear Customer. However, do make sure your mail merge software is operating correctly; recently I received a letter which began Good Day Johnston. That did not make a very good impression.
Remember your audience. Your interests are less important to them than theirs, so always write with WIIFM (What's In It For Me) in mind. Put their needs front and centre. This means making your sales letter strongly benefit oriented rather than being all about you. Identify their needs, then show them how you can solve their problems.
Use testimonials. Your clients are great ambassadors for you. The use of testimonials increases your credibility because they are third party endorsements which makes them more powerful than you saying how clever you are.
Write your sales letter as if you were talking with someone. Forget formality and corporate-speak. Write as if the reader was a friend and you were having an animated chat about something important you wanted to share. That way your enthusiasm will come across loud and clear.

If you want more help with sales letters, the articles in the Knowlege Bank on this website will help you. Alternatively, you can contact us for assistance. We'd be glad to help.

I love junk mail!

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:54:57 +1200

I'll let you into a secret - I love junk mail. I know most people find it a huge irritant and many don't even bother looking at any direct marketing material that's not personally addressed to them, but I can't wait to fish it out of the mail box. That's because what I find there teaches me so much - whether it's a new technique I've not seen used before, or reminders about what not to do. Unfortunately, it's usually the latter.

I can't help but wonder if that's because we generally have such a low opinion of it (as the term 'junk mail' implies) that very little effort goes into making a company's flyer, brochure or marketing material innovative and compelling to read. If direct marketing material had greater mana and was more widely read, would companies be more inclined to turn out a higher quality product?

So often they ignore the basics - an attention-grabbing headline, a call to action and plenty of benefits - which perpetuates the whole problem. I'm certain that if the quality of New Zealand marketing material was higher, it would be better read, which in turn would lead to higher sales. Instead, a great deal of time, effort and money go into putting together marketing materials that only end up in the rubbish.