Is business networking a waste of time and money during the festive season?

It is that time of year again when, depending on your industry, business either speeds up or slows down and many business owners prepare to spend special time with family and friends.

For those of you who are experiencing a slowdown –  you may be forgiven for wanting to go into hiding.

Indeed, a client asked me the other day whether it’s worth going to networking events in the festive season especially as nobody makes decisions at this time of year.

For me – whether it’s quiet or busy- this is the season to have some fun and meet people!  My diary has filled nicely with leisurely one-to-ones and seasonal events that replace the formal networking events.

I tend to spend more time and money on networking at this time of year than at any other – why, you may ask?

I find that this is the one month where people seem more relaxed and happy to get to know each other in a less work-oriented atmosphere.  This represents a great opportunity to join in, particularly for those who don’t usually enjoy networking.

I have learnt over the years that networking in a social way at this festive time will pay real dividends in a few months (maybe even as soon as January!)

So if you’re considering slowing down your networking this month – especially if your diary is also crammed full of family commitments – please think again.

Don’t write this time off just because you are too busy – try to think of new and imaginative ways to put yourself out there.

And another myth I’d like to dispel for those of you who are wondering, please don’t write off this month for social networking either.

Not everything stops and not every decision maker takes a digital break over Christmas, even if it may seem that way to you.

If you want to connect or stay in touch, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and all the other platforms will be there to serve you, as usual.

Some of my best leads and referrals often come from being visible and eager to connect with people during traditional, and supposedly quiet, holiday periods.

If you would like to keep a step ahead of your competitors, always try to be flexible, and open to new ideas and new ways of doing business. You never know, this could be your mantra not just for the festive season, but for the whole of next year!

Ute Wieczorek-King | Success Coach, Trainer, Mentor, Blogger & Owner of Success Network. Ute helps busy women to be visible, focused and profitable in business. Connect with Ute via Twitter, or Success Network Recipes on Facebook. Or sign up to her monthly newsletter on the Success Network website.

Copyright 2011-16, Ute Wieczorek-King

Inspiring tips for female bloggers who want to attract readers

Have you started a blog to help you promote your small business? Or are you a personal blogger who’d love to turn her blog into a commercial venture?

Many people have great hopes for their blog but in reality they struggle to keep it going.

Whatever the reasons, as Darren Rose said “99% of great bloggers are not awesome on day 1. Their awesomeness is the accumulation of the value they create over time.”

It’s so true… you’re not ‘awesome’ from day 1 and to achieve results can take some time. You don’t just have to ‘create value’, you also have to be able to promote yourself and your blog effectively.

Many women (especially those who are older and a little shy) don’t know how to do that. Or how to attract the right readers in an authentic way that feels comfortable.

If that’s you, please let us inspire you via Attract Readers™ – it’s where Marketer Jean Wolfe, Fairy Blogmother Alice Elliott and I (Ute Wieczorek-King) help female bloggers to promote themselves and their blog better.

Here is a just small selection of our blog posts:

How a blog can help the ‘know like and trust’ factor

Four reasons why consistency is important in blogging

How to explain confidently to others why you blog

10 reasons why writing lists posts is good for your blog

How not to let lack of motivation stop your blogging

We’ve also written about why you don’t need to be pushy or worry about SEO,  whether you need images, how to make blogging easier, and much more!

And if you like our posts you may also like our complimentary download “Four Key Mistakes Bloggers Make Who Fail To Attract Readers”

Come on over and let us know what you think!

www.attractreaders.com

Five steps to winning customers (and keeping them too)

Three years ago I compiled a blog called “How not to fail in business”, with useful tips from some of my Inner Circle members how to survive the recession as a solopreneur.

During those tough years most of us with established businesses had to adjust our approach to getting and keeping clients. You just couldn’t take anything for granted.

And it seems you still can’t three years on! That’s despite the fact that the economy appears to be improving.

But spending is not yet back to pre-recession times and many business owners are still feeling a little cautious. Even consumers must be wary as the seasonal sales show – here in the UK they seem to be starting earlier every year!

So whether you run an established solo-business or a new start-up, you probably want to know the best ways to win and keep new customers … and naturally keep your existing ones too.

Here are five useful strategies

• Avoid undercutting your competitition

Firstly, it’s worth remembering that whatever you offer, your customers are bound to be able to find cheaper suppliers.

Please don’t ever let that put you under pressure to reduce your fees! Be confident, stick to your pricing and focus on making sure you really know and understand your customers and their needs.

That way you can be sure to deliver something that’s 100% relevant to them and they will value that!

• Research what else clients might need

Do this at least once every year and set some time aside to think about all the options. The summer period (or the end of a year) can be a perfect time to do your research.

When your service is always fresh, innovative and up to date, you make your offering potentially more desirable than your competitors’ and it will be highly relevant too – whatever the state of the economy. (Being innovative has worked well for me for over 20 years!)

• Try different ways to grow your business

Two great ways to get more work and grow your business are to either identify new offerings for current clients or to sell more of your current offerings to a new target audience.

This can be especially worthwhile when potential customers in your new market are willing to pay appropriate or higher fees than customers you currently sell to.

• Care about your customers … and care some more

Every week I hear stories of business owners who have lost business. Sadly they often realise too late that they should have communicated better and more regularly with their customers.

The solopreneur businesses I see flourishing are the ones who do that really well. They talk to their customers and listen attentively too.

So try to fully understand what your existing customers really want, then go the extra mile in order to provide added benefits and greater value.

Whether the value is in how you deliver or how you maintain the customer relationship after delivery, it can help to differentiate you from the competition. And it may then also lead to new referrals and new business. (There are several added bonuses here!)

• Make the payment process really easy

This is such an easy but often over-looked way to add value. For example, you could break big projects into manageable and affordable chunks (where applicable), and work with stage payments – a method often used by web designers.

Several of my solopreneur clients have adopted this approach, much to their customers’ delight!

Offering different payment options can be useful too – for example, don’t refuse cheques, credit card or PayPal payments because they are costly or inconvenient for you.

By understanding YOUR customers’ preferred choice of payment you will make getting paid much easier which may also help with your cash flow.

So, I’ve shared with you five important strategies to help your solo-business win and keep customers and … ultimately… thrive!

What are yours? Why not share your ideas in the comments below?

About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is an experienced mentor and blogger who helps passionate midlife women to stay focused, work smarter and stand out from the crowd. If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit” ebook.

PS. The above is an updated version of a post first published here in 2013.

One of the best ways to get new business

In recent years we have seen an explosive rise in social media use by freelancers and micro-businesses in the service industry. It seems that many small business owners are now casting their net wider and further afield in an attempt to make new connections and, thus, attract new business opportunities.

It probably goes without saying that to win new business you need to be known and trusted, and be ‘seen’ regularly in different places.

However with the lure of so many online opportunities, I think many people don’t realise that looking closer to home can actually be much easier, quicker and potentially more rewarding too!

People often forget about their existing network, both virtual and real, especially when it hasn’t yet delivered new business.

The thing is, the people you know may already trust you — a real bonus when you would dearly love to receive more leads, referrals and new business. But sometimes we expect contacts to provide us with leads, when they are not quite ready to do so.

Perhaps our relationships aren’t quite as strong as we think they are. Or they are too busy and you are not the first person they think of when a business opportunity presents itself.

Here is what you can do. Start by asking yourself some important questions:

• How can I help my existing contacts to get to know me better as a person as well as the ‘expert’ in my field?
• Do I share my knowledge and expertise fairly regularly and am I generous enough?
• Do I really understand their needs and desires so I can help them accordingly? How can I get to know them better?

Enhancing existing relationships can be quite simple:

• Arrange regular informal 1-to-1 meetings over a coffee or lunch.  You’ll find out about your contacts’ latest developments and how you can add value to their business
• Always follow up after each meeting — it will help them to remember you!
• Stay in touch by forwarding articles or blog posts (not just your own!) that they will find useful
• Invite them to events that you think they’ll be interested in
• Refer them when you know that they would benefit from meeting one of your other contacts

Keeping in touch with people you already know on a regular basis (without selling to them) really does pay off!

If, reading this, you think that all this may be too time-consuming for you, then my guess is you haven’t yet enlisted the help of online social networks for networking purposes.

If you treat social networking as your personal assistant and use it to stay in touch with your existing network, you simply can’t go wrong!

• Status updates help you to give people bite-sized updates on what you’re up to
• Wall posts or brief private messages on sites such as Facebook Messenger, Twitter or Linked-In allow you to communicate much quicker and more efficiently than via email (and there is no danger of your message disappearing in someone’s junk mail folder either!)
• A blog or newsletter may be less personal but they will remind your contacts of your expertise and your ability to help them

Building strong relationships, both offline and online, always takes time but ultimately, it is generally much harder and more time-consuming to start relationships from scratch than to re-connect with people who already know you.

P.S. Why not add to the above tips or share your own experiences by commenting below?

About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is an experienced business coach, mentor and blogger who helps passionate midlife women to stay focused, work smarter and stand out from the crowd.

If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit” ebook.

Please note, the above article is based on an older version first published here in October 2010. 

Don’t know what to write? Here’s 6 ways you can find content for your blog

I often get asked this question – how do you find something to write about in your blog?

Once you start blogging, you need to change how your view the world. I call it clicking into my blogging mode.

You need to train your mind to be always on the look out for possible blogging fodder. You should become susceptible to recognising suitable post material wherever you go, what you read, what reacts with you or whatever you bump into.

There’s nothing more irritating than forgetting a brilliant idea. So whenever something pops into my had, I scribble it down in a notebook so that I remember it later. It will remind you what you want to write about when the time comes, rather than scratching your head and kicking yourself for forgetting.

So where can you find stuff to write about?

1. Your in- and out-boxes in your email system is a fabulous place for content. You’re probably fending off questions at work all the time, and if you’ve managed to write a successful or relevant reply to a particular query, why not rewrite it as a post so that more people can benefit from your wisdom?

2. Subscribe to as many blogs as you can within your industry or niche.  It’s good to read what other people write about in similar subjected blog. This could inspire you to write about the same things in your own style and from your own point of view. What other people are writing about is probably what your readers will want to read.

3. Set up Google Alerts to receive prompts from other blogs.  Subscribe to ScoopIt, Feedly and other news feeds as well. This is how you’ll find out which projects and topics have successfully caught the search engines. Reading and commenting on ‘hot news’ will draw attention to yourself, but show you are riding the wave of ‘now’.

4. Be vigilant on social networking sites. Visit and participate on various social groups and communities to find out what’s happening. I got the idea for this post from a LinkedIn group. Check out the bookmarking sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon, where there will be lots of new material to read, learn, respond to and share with others.

5. Researching which keywords are ‘a la mode’ right now. Go to Google Keyword Tools to find out popular long-tail keywords the search engines are responding to at this moment. Base your blog post around it, but remember to write for your readers, not necessarily for the search engines. Using too many keywords could be detrimental.

6. Go for a walk with the dog to let the creative juices flow. A change of scene can work wonders. Doing things outside of work will stimulate new ideas, and sleeping on a problem will allow your subconscious to work overnight. Speak your ideas into a dictaphone or scribble them in a notebook so to not lose them before your write your next post.

–o0o–

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides jargon-free and highly visual WordPress training to solopreneurs. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply” to inexperienced bloggers and enables them to increase their visibility and reputation through successful blogging.

Has social media communication made you sloppy and presumptuous?

Image by Ute Wieczorek-King

We are all exposed to so much information these days that it is tempting to skim read emails, blogs or newsletters in the same way as a fast-moving Twitter stream – a vain attempt to take in as much information as quickly as possible.

Reading and writing information online can be fraught, particularly for non-native English speakers like me. But even native speakers are at risk of causing misunderstandings, by inadvertently misreading the written word in front of their eyes.

Online communication is confusing

We may see two messages – the message that is conveyed by the words you read, and the unwritten message, or meaning of what’s potentially being said between the lines.

English is a very subtle language where a simple sentence such as “They will never agree to that“ can mean lots of different things depending on whether you stress the word ‘they’, ‘never’ ‘agree’ or ‘that’!

So, when writing you may mean one thing but your reader may read another into it.

For example as a German speaker and otherwise confident writer (and reader) of English, I don’t find it easy to understand emotions in written communications, such as when someone is subtly trying to hint they are angry or sad without explicitly using the words to say so.

My personal preference would be to actually say that I am angry or sad but unless you come from a culture or work in an environment, where direct communication like this is the norm, it is better to be a little less direct and explicit.

I therefore rely on emoticons such as 🙂 to show that what I am saying is to be seen as a light-hearted rather than serious remark. But some people ignore these – perhaps they don’t understand them, find them irritating, or have a preference for a more formal writing style such as in letters.

One way to avoid misunderstandings in business communication is to reserve emails and social media updates mostly for facts and leave anything else to be discussed in person where both parties can clarify and ask questions to avoid misunderstandings, wrong assumptions or judgments.

If ever you have received an irate blog comment or email because something you said has been misunderstood, and you are finding yourself having to clarify, you know how confusing and frustrating this can be for both parties.

Worse still, what if the receiver goes quiet and doesn’t reply because for them – perhaps for cultural or personal reasons – it is not the right thing to do?

So what can you do?

Next time you are skim reading a blog, email or an online update and think the information is crystal clear, think again… or read again.

And if you are not sure about something (and it is important for you to get the meaning right) simply ask the question….’Can I clarify that I have understood XYZ please’ before replying with potential accusations or assumptions.

And when you know somebody it’s probably best anyway to pick up the phone to ask a question.

If you are the writer, don’t just assume that your message is clear and will be easily understood. Or, if you don’t receive any comment or replies, that your reader is purposely ignoring you.

Let’s face it … your blog, update or email may not have been read yet because the reader is simply too busy. What is a priority for you may not be a priority for them!

And if that’s not the case and for whatever reason you’ve upset someone, you can count yourself lucky if they tell you. Then, perhaps, the only way to move on from this is by apologising or contacting them directly and keeping the communication as open as possible.

I’d love to read your tips or hear more about your experiences with online communication. Why not share them below. 

 

About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is a UK-based German mentor and blogger who helps passionate midlife women to stay focused, work smarter and stand out from the crowd. If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit” ebook.

PS. The above is an updated post – the original was first published in 2011.  

 

Want to get new business? Look to your existing contacts!

I once read a networking tip on the Harvard Business Review site which literally stopped me in my tracks:

Build outward, not inward. Don’t waste time deepening connections with people you already know*

As someone who has built a strong offline and online network for years, I question that statement on two accounts.

• Firstly, how do you gauge that you know people enough to not have to deepen the connection?
• And why would you ever not want to deepen that connection?

If you build your network outwards, you’re not unlike a spider that keeps growing a web in the hope of increasing its chances to catch prey.

Photo by Sophia King

But just like a spider web, a network grown outwards can also be quite fragile.

In fragile relationships you may not know enough about how you can help your contact, whether they would help you if you asked or who their connections are – and, importantly, whether they’d allow you to access those connections.

By diluting your efforts you may miss something crucial: the glue that holds relationships together and that creates the “know, like and trust” effect that leads to referrals and people helping each other generously and willingly.

So, the best way to win new clients is to build inward, not outward!

Don’t keep making the mistake I see so many (not just new) business people make: spreading themselves thin, like a butterfly moving from one networking opportunity (or social media platform) to another.

Let me share a secret with you!

Even when winning new business from new contacts seems easy, it is never as personally or financially rewarding as business that comes from strong, long-term relationships. These are far more likely to lead to referrals and repeat business which makes building your business much easier in the long-run!

One of the key themes from the ebook From Contact to Advocate™ I co-authored a few years ago, is how to build authentic relationships, online and offline, with the people who matter.  

I know from personal experience and the recommendations and repeat business I get, that the principle works!

About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is a UK-based German mentor and blogger who inspires passionate midlife women to achieve business success by simplifying and staying focused on what really matters.

If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit” ebook.

New this year: Online blog coaching programme ‘Attract Readers; Gain Impact’ with The Fairy Blog Mother Alice Elliott, Marketer Jean Wolfe and Ute Wieczorek-King.

PS The above post is an updated version of a post first published here in 2011.

Copyright 2011-15, Ute Wieczorek-King

*http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/managementtip.php?date=091611

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How to get your readers to love your content

If you’ve been blogging for a while but haven’t attracted your ideal reader with your content, you may like this infographic:

 

Have you found any good tips here? By following them, you won’t just attract readers, they will love your content so much, they will keep coming back!

Ps There is more where this came from! The above tips are just a small taster of the topics we are covering in a new online blog coaching programme called “Attract Readers”.  

If you’d like nothing more than to attract more quality readers to your blog, then why not take a look at attractreaders.co.uk.  Whist there you can sign up to our priority list so you’re the first to hear about our next start date!

 

 

Ten things you might not know about me

If you read my recent blog about trying to be a little more personal in my business blogging then you’ll know that this touches a bit of a nerve with me. But having decided to share a little more about the person behind the Success Network brand, here’s a small glimpse of what I’m all about:

1. I love starting my day in a slow and gentle way with a mug of Earl Grey. That first cup in the morning rarely gets cold unlike the endless supply of black coffee I drink whilst working. Switching to decaf in the afternoon helps me to feel I’m not addicted to caffeine, but maybe I’m just kidding myself.
2. I am just as productive in a buzzing coffee shop as I’m working in my home office. I have even written course plans and blogs on my iPhone in airport lounges! So why don’t I like working to background music at home? Odd!
3. I also use my iPhone to write down some of my dreams! I have promised myself to join them all up one day and write a script for a science fiction movie.
4. I have three cats, one of whom must think he is a dog. He follows me around, sleeps near me when I work and waits by the front door in the hope I’ll take him walkies.
5. I hail from a tiny village in middle Germany where everyone knows everyone else. My street in England reminds me a little of that. But what I like best is that my lovely neighbours know the perfect balance between privacy and being there for each other.
6. I found networking and promoting myself quite challenging at first. Feeling a little shy didn’t help and neither did having to adjust to cultural differences. But in time, I learned to love it. Perhaps I’m a poster girl for the theory that you can learn anything you put your mind to?
7. That said, humour is a language I may never learn. This pains me greatly as I love a good joke, but the hidden subtext in British humour can be a tough nut to crack for an outsider. Tell me a joke and if you’re lucky, I’ll start laughing five agonising minutes later.
8. The first time I took a risk as an inexperienced entrepreneur felt like standing right on the edge of a cliff. But I jumped — metaphorically speaking of course — and took on my biggest-ever client well before I felt ‘ready’. Knowing that I had everything to gain and little to lose helped. Little did I know then how positively this ‘jump’ would influence my business career!
9. I thought I knew what happiness is but nothing prepared me for the moment when my first grand-baby started to greet me with a huge smile. Now, whenever I feel stressed or sad, all I need to do is remember his happy little face.
10. My camera aka iphone is always ready to capture a moment that means something to me. I have to thank my daughters for introducing me to Instagram which is fast becoming my ‘visual voice’. If you love images too, please visit me there and say hello!
    

    http://instagram.com/utewieczorekking

 About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is a UK-based German mentor who inspires passionate midlife women to achieve business success by simplifying and staying focused on what really matters. If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit ebook or read her motivational business tips on Facebook.

When blogging gets personal — how to overcome your fears and give more of yourself

I looked at one of the topics I received on Susannah Conway’s creative blogging course and my heart sank. Susannah is a great photographer and blogger with a touching writing and teaching style I much admire.

So why am I, an established business blogger, on her course? After all I have already published over 250 business blogs and some even on Huffington Post.

My mission has always been to inspire and empower midlife entrepreneurial women. But now I feel it is high time to give my informative blogs a more personal touch. By that I mean I want to share more of my own experiences, my feelings and my learning.

Are you hiding in the corner?

Nevertheless, my heart sank when this topic came up: “10 things you may not know about me”.

It didn’t take me long to recognise a familiar fear

A fear I can only liken to the stage-fright I used to feel just before starting to present to a room full of people I don’t know. Seeing 100 people with expectation written on their faces, all I could think was, would I be able to give my best and not disappoint them? Would they like my direct Germanic style?

So here now I am sitting at my desk with a blog title that is pushing me out of my comfort zone.

And the questions are back.

Do I want to reveal ten things that you, my business blog readers, may not know about me? Would you actually want to read things about me? Would you care? And how would knowing more about me make a difference to you or your business?

Hmm, so many questions!

Most of my clients who also blog, share my fear — I know — especially if they have an introverted personality.

When building a business you most likely want to act professionally at all times. For me, this means not doing anything that might jeopardise my reputation.

And so I focused more on my expertise and less on me.

I couldn’t risk doing it any other way so as not to upset the view I thought my clients and readers had of me — readers who, after all, could have become future clients.

But there is something I failed to grasp fully until quite recently

If my readers just wanted expert advice they could easily find it on any other reputable start-up or business resource on the web!

I got an idea of the effect a personal story can have when I received lots of positive feedback about a blog I wrote about my mum.

However, I had to read lots of other people’s business blogs first to fully appreciate the amazing impact a personal story can have on business writing and on building a connection with the reader.

What happens though when you get it in principle, but the stage-fright is still too strong?

Or should I call it ‘blog-fright’?

Well for me I know the time is right to face my fear — and do it anyway — as Susan Jeffers advocates.

And to make it a little easier for me I have decided to be a little kinder to myself. Reminding myself that I just can’t please every single reader is a start. It will also help not to worry about the ones who click away, and how they may see me.

And whilst I definitely won’t be ‘baring all’, the fear has lightened and I now look forward to writing about ten things my readers might not know about me.

For me that feels like a step in the right direction.

And you, how are you managing your ‘blog-fright’ or if you’ve already overcome it, what has helped you?

 About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is a UK-based German mentor who inspires passionate midlife women to achieve business success by simplifying and staying focused on what really matters. If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit ebook or read her motivational business tips on Facebook.

So what really makes a blog attractive to its readers?

An attractive blog doesn’t necessarily means a pretty blog.

I know this is subjective, and many women bloggers are adamant that if their readers came across a horrible theme, it would turn them off and they would never return.

OK, this may be true if your blog looks hideous, or is terribly outdated, or appears really tacky and cheap. But since there are lots of extremely good free themes and templates available, this issue really shouldn’t arise.

And if you want to spend loads of money on an expensive web-designer, go ahead, but what really makes your blog more attractive to your readers isn’t what it looks like, but how it performs and how it is seen by your public.

Content is always King

First thing to consider is how and what you write. Remember your posts should be of top quality, the best you can possibly do.

Now don’t get in a tizzy about improving your writing skills, what you need to concentrate on is your style – oh, and your subject matter too, of course.

Let’s look at style. If you examine the most popular bloggers, you’ll notice how they communicate with their readers. Their posts resemble conversations. They tell stories. Even when they’re providing information or showing off their expertise, it’s done in a forthcoming, friendly manner their readers can relate to.

And now subject matter. Write stuff their readers want to read. Present everything in your readers’ point of view. Use the same words as them. Give them practical and actionable advice. Bring your content up or down to the correct level without undermining them.

Get to know your audience

One thing blogging gurus bang on about is developing your niche. But remember, you’ll need lots of knowledge and passion to make that niche exciting and readable, bursting with continuous content people are falling over themselves to read.

And even if you’re obsessed with it, will your readers be too?

To make your blog more attractive, you need to totally understand who your readers are. How they think, what they do, what they want to know. It’s almost that you need to become like them, empathise with them, experience their problems and participate in their successes.

Make it easy for them

You may have splashed your cash to get your blog looking fabulous, but how easy is it for your readers to do anything on your blog?

What I mean is this: will your readers instantly recognise what your blog is about? Are your posts clear and legible? Is it obvious how readers can share your posts or leave a comment?

Sometimes a theme can be so fancy, it detracts from the blog’s raison d’être. You want your readers to realise they’ve come to the right place, stay and read your posts, and then take action by interacting (commenting and sharing). You will also want them to sign up to your newsletter, or browse your blog to read other posts or pages.

So as well as looking pretty, your blog needs to be practical, in a digital marketing sense, to encourage longer stays (less bounces), more content read (other relevant posts), and to make connections (subscriptions).

And what about the search engines?

Do you know something – even if you spend tonnes of dosh on an exclusive digital agency, who will happily spread-eagle your poor blog over the Internet, exposing it to all sorts of shenanigans to get Google to notice it, would it draw in the kind of traffic you really want?

Traffic is just numbers. Faceless, worthless and irrelevant. It makes your blog’s attractiveness only appear skin deep. OK, you could apply simple search engine optimisation to help your posts a bit, as it’s always nice to see them high in the search results, but this is only temporary, quickly evaporating away.

Traffic is not the same as readers. What you want are those who would regularly return to read what you have written, who would feel comfortable to add their feedback, follow you on social media, and join in a conversation.

What you want are readers who are interested in what you have to say, who will be willing to share it with their friends, who say something worthwhile in your comment box.

So what does attractive mean to you now?

Pretty colours and nice graphics are all very well, but an attractive blog is also a successful blog. Consider the points above: produce content people want to read, take action to build up your readership, make efforts to retain them, and who knows what will happen next?

One thing for sure, you’ll feel a lot happier about your blog!

–o0o–

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides jargon-free and highly visual WordPress training to solopreneurs. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply” to inexperienced bloggers and enables them to increase their visibility and reputation through successful blogging.

 

Why starting small is good for your online marketing (and your business)

Everybody who has a business strives to be bigger, better and more successful. Of course you do, or why would you be in business in the first place!

But I think it’s wise to try and achieve lots of small successes first before you branch further afield. I read somewhere that entrepreneurs always see the bigger picture, and many are so impatient, they want to run before they can walk.

If you are a sure-fire entrepreneur, go ahead. But if you are of more mortal stock, stand back, gather your resources, increase your expertise to dizzying heights and gain the necessary reputation within your chosen niche before you take the next step.

And if you are successful in accomplishing all you can within your locality, or your chosen social platform, watch how your reputation spreads through natural marketing methods:

Word of mouth, referrals, retweeting, subscriptions to your RSS feeds, comments on your social media profiles and blogs, requests to speak at events, being talked about when you’re not in the room, bombarded with questions because you’re the first person they thought of, LinkedIn profile groaning with recommendations, meetings diary booked up months in advance – I could go on…

Where are you within this picture?

What are your strategies for getting your business seen online (and offline)? What are your successes so far? What more do you need to know…?

–o0o–

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides jargon-free and highly visual WordPress training to solopreneurs. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply” to inexperienced bloggers and enables them to increase their visibility and reputation through successful blogging.

 

How to easily position yourself as an expert in your field

Let’s assume for a moment that you meet a potential customer who is choosing between you and another supplier.

Would they decide to choose you?

Would they consider you as the go-to person for what they need?

Let’s also assume that they don’t know you very well but like both of you — we do enjoy doing business with people we like, don’t we? But here’s the thing: will they trust you to deliver exactly what they need?

If you don’t yet have an established reputation and doubt that potential customers might choose you, you’re definitely not the only woman who is worrying about missing out on potential opportunities.

In my experience, positioning yourself confidently as an expert isn’t something that comes naturally to women.

Firstly, you may not feel comfortable calling yourself an expert and would prefer to wait for someone else to think of you that way.

But what you may not appreciate — especially if you’re a quiet, introverted and perhaps more mature businesswoman who likes to take things slowly – is that any hesitance on your part may leave your potential customer feeling unsure.

Unsure that you will have the right experience to help them, they may choose the expert they believe will solve their problem more satisfactorily.

That kind of rejection has happened to me too in the past and it really doesn’t feel very nice!

If that resonates with you, there is a simple (and far less scary) way to communicate the things about you that will encourage them to choose you.

So my task for you is to review communications like your elevator speech and the ‘About’ page on your website and check that you are not hiding your light under the bushel.

Ask yourself:

–        What can you do outstandingly well?

–        What can you do that nobody else can? And how do you do that?

–        What experience can you bring to your work and business that is invaluable to your customer?

Once you know the answers, try to let those important snippets of information flow gently into your conversations.

Sharing them as little stories will feel and sound more natural.

Include some detail about how you helped a specific customer and be sure to mention the outcome.

By not holding back, you will not only come across more convincingly, but also feel a lot more confident in your abilities.

And when you do it well, you’ll attract better clients, receive more recommendations and may find it easier to increase your fees too.

That’s not a bad reward, isn’t it?!

About the author: Ute Wieczorek-King is a UK-based German mentor who inspires passionate midlife women to achieve business success by simplifying and staying focused on what really matters. If you’d like to take your small venture from good to great, why not  download Ute’s free “Passion to Profit ebook or read her motivational business tips on Facebook.

What’s the easiest way to build relationships across boundaries?

Guest post by Rebecca Wheatley, Founder of Five Brand Communication

I’ve been building a business in Switzerland, which isn’t my home country for the last two years. I’ve worked hard at learning German and how things are ‘done’ here. I’ve adapted the way I work to fit this.

I have also started to work back in the UK, where I originally come from. I’ve thought to myself, this should be easier. I can speak English and people will trust me more. Right?

Wrong. They are two very different places – yet incredibly very similar.

There is so much material out there to help you understand others. Culture, language, coaching, training. None of it really comes into play though unless you learn one thing – everyone is a human being.

There are different ways of doing things, sure. But it’s easy to forget that language is just clothing for feelings. And feelings are always rooted in basic human needs.

I run sessions with my customers on knowing your audience. We sit down. We work through an audience persona. We take facts, surveys results, insights and we think about what their ideal customer or buyer really wants, needs, desires.

Interestingly, regardless of which country we do this in, it always eventually comes back to the same thing. Security.

Taking into account that there is air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat, what does security look like? Family & friends. Money to live a decent quality of life. Social acceptance.

Culture and society attribute many different things to how people behave and make decisions – ego, power, anger – but they are just layers on top of the fundamental human framework.

This is why marketing techniques are always outdated and will always need to be on the move. People adapt. They are wiser, quicker and language is less of a barrier than ever in our globalised economy.

To truly reach your audience, you just need to be yourself. Of course, think about the layers on top of their basic needs. Think about their challenges. What makes their day to day lives and jobs that little bit easier. But don’t forget the foundation where all this sits.

Use this information to form your communication messaging. Say it how it is – don’t overcomplicate it and always get feedback to help you be as clear as possible, as well as evolve with the market.

You can dress it up however you like, but if you don’t live who you say you are, people will see through it. Relationships built on trust, a common understanding and good intention will win out. That goes for B2C brands and B2B relationships alike.

So put language and culture to one side and focus on the person you are dealing with. What do you do that would make their lives better?

Now, tell them about it.

It’s really that simple.

About the author: Rebecca Wheatley is Founder of Five Brand Communication – a business that works with teams and initiatives across UK & Switzerland to build their brands from the inside through brand identity, employee engagement and social impact led communication strategy. She also blogs about her personal development and art projects at Life in Zuri.

Adapt your writing style to make a bigger impact with your reader

How a piece of writing is presented will have a big effect on how it is read. If it is placed in the wrong place, it will instantly become more difficult to read, understand and appreciated within the environment it finds itself.

As a writer you need to think what you want to achieve, as well as how the writing should be delivered and in which context. Is the media suitable? How legible is it? How would it attract readers? Does it entice people to read it? Would they manage to get to the end?

Writing needs a purpose: to convey a message, to impart information, to educate or entertain, to encourage reactionary feedback, to get people to take action. Also how will it make the reader’s life better, and put you as the writer into a better light. Therefore its location is imperative to get the best results.

On the printed page

Reading print is a totally different experience than reading online or on a mobile device. Light bounces from an external source back into your eye rather than from the screen, which means that design and typesetting are imperative if the publication is to be legible, readable and therefore an enjoyable experience.

Old fashioned book design may seem boring, but it’s the best because it works! Text should be diverted away from the edges with margins, columns separated with ample gutters, and fonts should be legible – the latest trend can hinder quick reading and sometimes prevent comprehension and focus! And keep to white paper and black text for a good reason – it’s much easier to read!

Column width and quantity also either helps or hinders reading pace. Magazines mainly provide leisurely reading, so the columns should be wide to cope with longer paragraphs. Whereas newspapers are for short and quick fire presentations, as their information doesn’t hang around for long, so narrow columns promote faster moving text and shorter paragraphs.

On the screen

Reading online (computer, Kindle, tablet or whatever) has that light behind the words, making colours brighter and more accessible. Light backgrounds are always better than dark ones, as the same rules apply: black words on a white page is much easier to read (as you can see on this blog’s body text compared to its sidebars).

Good webdesign that follows old fashioned typesetting styles usually fares the best: full margins bring the eye inwards, navigation placed underneath the banner and widgets found in the sidebar, not the footer where they may be missed. Web content needs clearly defined parameters to prevent visitors getting confused: the usual route for a reader’s eyes on a website is in the shape of an F, so place the most important stuff at the top left hand corner going across, and remember a second arm spreading to the right half way down.

Blogs represent online magazines or newspapers and therefore will show varying column widths. When choosing a theme, consider how the content will be read: leisurely perusal of communicative posts requiring a wider body space, or multiple narrower columns presenting information for quick selection. The type and size of font will also have an affect, larger for slower reading, smaller for listings.

Social media varies its column use to accommodate constantly updated content. Facebook and LinkedIn have a wide central column as their content tends to stick around, Google+ and Pinterest use multiple narrower columns to accommodate the rapid inclusion of new material. People read things fast in Twitter (they have to) and applications like Hootsuite and TweetDeck that keep abreast of the many streams use multiple narrow columns that aid faster reading.

How does this affect writing?

Actually this affects how you write and for what medium. Do some research into what you are writing for, and whether it is in magazine or listings mode. Articles are slow, so can afford to be wordy with long paragraphs. Brochures are informative and contain a lot of pictures, so should accommodate both leisurely and scanning reading activities. Blogs tend to be more newsier, and are more frequently scanned before a decision is made to read the remainder. Social media is very fast moving, responding to instantaneous and reactionary information and communication.

Writing style needs to be adapted to ensure easier and faster reading. Social media thrives on conversations, sometimes incomplete as the threads get mixed up. Blogs communicate more thoroughly and can explore a concept or subject over a wider area. Newspapers fling facts at their readers. Brochures spend time to educate their readers with relevant information. Articles ramble on for ages to extend an idea and present references and examples to back up their claims.

You can see how these would benefit from different design to accommodate them. You can’t place an article into Twitter! News wouldn’t work in a brochure. Websites have blogs to showcase their information in a quicker and more accessible form. Pinterest is a social platform that presents multiple images for selection and viewing, and news360.com is a listings website of the latest posts it recommends. Each have their own style of design to present their information in the best possible way.

–o0o–

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides simple, jargon-free, highly visual WordPress training for beginner and post-beginner bloggers. She specialises in before-and-after screen-shot e-courses that make no assumption of prior knowledge, constructively beginning at Blogging Level 0 to ensure a good foundational training. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply”, relating her teaching to each learner according to their lifestyle and ability.

Home truths: your homepage isn’t your website’s front door any more

Alice Elliott

Back in the old days it was common to think the homepage was the front door of your website. It was the first thing people looked at when they arrived there, so the answer was to pack as much as you could into it to reassure the visitor they’ve come to the right place.

But now with the rise of more sophisticated search engine use, this isn’t the case any more. Visitors can enter a website from any page, as long as it’s live. And this is done through links and keywords.

Let’s look at links first

Links are like doorways from one website to another. If they are left unlocked (do-follow) they allow both humans (visitors) and search engines (spiders) to go through. Locked (no-follow) links allow people to visit another website, but prevent the spiders from indexing it. Whether you leave your doors locked or unlocked depends how much you care about where they lead to and what happens on the other side!

Links are a vital mechanism for gaining traffic back to your website. They also allow you to pinpoint exactly where you want your visitors to go, for example, to your blog to read your latest post, a squeeze page to sign up to your newsletter, or a sales page to buy your product.

I also mentioned keywords

Search engines match up search requests with specific keywords, and if that particular keyword is present in a specific page in your website, the visitor will be directed there. It’s like a game of snap, and search engines always look for the most appropriate match, which certainly won’t be your homepage.

Therefore to take advantage of this phenomenon, it’s wise to think which keyword is the most suitable for that webpage, and how to can attract the right kind of visitor or customer. This is the basis of search engine optimisation (SEO), which is the practice of appropriately populating a webpage with keywords and links to make it more attractive to the search engines.

Create mini-homepages

Think how you can adapt each webpage as a sort of mini-homepage. Whenever the visitor lands there, they need to be able to be reassured they’ve come to the right place, recognise the subject or purpose of that page, and understand what they need to do before leaving.

A canny webpage will take advantage of the visitor by not only providing valuable information, but will collect their details for further communication, entice them to share the contents on social media, or guide them further into the website. Getting a visitor to stay or explore further prevents them from ‘bouncing’, a term that refers to when a visitor doesn’t do anything or leaves immediately. Bounce rates in analytics are an indicator of how good you are at encouraging your web visitors to interact and respond appropriately.

What’s the homepage for?

Don’t assume your website’s homepage is redundant. Think of it as the front door only for posh or first time visitors. It needs to be welcoming, explanatory, directional and reassuring. It’s like entering a fancy hotel’s foyer with a smiling receptionist guiding you where you need to go, and the bell hop taking your bags to your room.

Whereas some people don’t need to enter that way. You may know more a direct door into the hotel, understand how to negotiate the back stairs, and get to your room more quickly and efficiently. Or your friends may know the extension number direct to your hotel room without having to go through the telephone exchange.

When not to use the homepage

One thing that is terrible, especially in online advertising, is when the link directs the visitor to the wrong page rather than the correct sales or squeeze page. For example, the advert offers a good deal on some garden furniture, but the link either goes to the homepage of the business, or to another page that has nothing to do with the product. In both cases this will result in no sale and a bounce.

Direct your visitor to your homepage rather than the more appropriate webpage, and you’ll lose them. They will be confused because it won’t match their expectations. They will have to negotiate the navigation options and may get distracted on the way. They will lose patience because they will have to work to get what they want, rather than having it given to them directly. You will lose their trust and willingness to do business with you.

A website is like an open house, with many doors, so make sure all of them are welcoming and can guide the visitor where they want to go and give the information they want quickly, easily and efficiently. And come to terms with the fact that the only access isn’t via the homepage any more.

–o0o–

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides simple, jargon-free, highly visual WordPress training for beginner and post-beginner bloggers. She specialises in before-and-after screen-shot e-courses that make no assumption of prior knowledge, constructively beginning at Blogging Level 0 to ensure a good foundational training. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply”, relating her teaching to each learner according to their lifestyle and ability.

When is the best time to launch your new service?

‘Idea’ by Ute Wieczorek-King

So you have had a new idea for a new business or service and want to bring it to market as quickly as possible. How will you decide when it’s ready to present to your target audience?

When I first founded my Inner Circle business clubs in 2007, it took me nine months from idea to launch. My idea was to create a collaborative group service, different to a networking, mastermind or workshop format. Nine months was rather a long time, largely due to the fact that I had to do the creative thinking, planning and creating of marketing materials in my spare time.

Seven years on, my circles have evolved but with the core idea — collaboration — still going strong. Since then, I have learnt that there are easier ways to launch that save time, money and effort. Hindsight is a great teacher!

How to launch sooner and avoid costly mistakes:

• Carry out some market research to find out what people (really) want
• Experiment with different content ideas and collect feedback throughout
• Test the ‘almost final’ idea to leave room for improvement
• Reduce your expectation for the final product and its delivery to be perfect
• And in the same vein, understand your customer’s expectations — your idea of perfect may be much higher than theirs!
• Promote the benefits and outcomes, not how your idea works
• Ask the participants to determine the value (rather than you putting a price on it)

As you can see, some of these are quite basic and obvious marketing tasks. Sadly, they don’t get taken seriously enough by many solopreneurs who work in isolation and don’t necessarily have people around to bounce ideas off. If that’s you, you need to ask yourself why you might prefer to struggle alone to get something absolutely right — it could be time-consuming and costing you money!

Here is how to get your new idea ready and launched at the right time

Working alone can make it difficult to see with certainty when your idea is ready to launch. And so, in an attempt to make it perfect, we hold on to it, keep thinking about it and tweaking it. We might not even realise when we go round in circles or an improvement isn’t actually an improvement.

Here’s what to do:

• Follow the marketing suggestions I made earlier to be sure you are delivering what your customers actually need.
• Set yourself a deadline — say four weeks for a service — to focus on your core idea, its key outcomes and benefits. Most of us focus far too much on the detail and the content ‘WE’ want to deliver — please make this a no-no from now on.
• Involve your ideal customer(s) (as a test-person or two) very early on and let them help you to refine your service to make sure it is definitely something they want. Trust me; this step will make it so much easier to sell and deliver your service in the long run!
• You can offer your new service to them either completely free (depending on what it is) or at a reduced price in return for valuable feedback and some useful testimonials.
• In case you’re worried about confidentiality when releasing something that’s not quite ready, get your early users to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). You may be able to find a free template online.
• Beware of being a perfectionist when creating something new. Your customer may be 100% happy with 80% of what you’re offering, so ask them. Always involve them at every stage.

If I had known about these tips 7 years ago, I would not only have launched sooner, I wouldn’t have promoted my complete idea the way I did. Sadly it got copied very quickly, but hey that’s another story and more important learning!

So next time you’re wondering whether you’re ready but something is holding you back, find out the reason. And always remember you are in business to make your customer happy first and foremost, not yourself.

About the Author: Ute Wieczorek-King is an experienced Mentor who helps passionate, midlife entrepreneurs to be focused, effective and profitable in business. Connect with Ute via the Success Network Community on Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter. Or sign up to her monthly newsletter on the Success Network website and receive a free ebook.

 

Are you harnessing the power of images to promote your business or remove obstacles?

A guest post from Hélène Cooper:

In our increasingly crowded world, standing out and getting a message across in seconds is fast becoming essential, especially online. The best way to tell it all in an instant is visual. An image speaks particularly well to busy people. If it grabs their attention they will stop and look in more detail.

I don’t know about you, but I love images.

My husband would tell you how I am click mad with a camera, especially since we have joined the digital age. And worst of all I find it almost impossible to thin the pictures down (even the poor, blurred ones), because each, in its own way, tells something special.

Some could argue I am not a particularly good photographer and it is true I do not have the patience to wait for the perfect setting, lighting… but I know the reason is just simply because I find images often express something way beyond what words can say.

They capture emotions as well as ideas. They also empower and engage those who look at them to reflect on what they see from a new perspective.

That is why I use images in my coaching, mentoring and training too. For example, images can help clients define their USP.

Indeed, I am always surprised by how much images can help! They can clarify what someone wants, generate new ideas or discover and remove a block that stands in the way of success. They can inspire clients to move forward in a positive way.

Using the words of a well-known piece of brand advertising I guess you could say: “Images can reach parts words cannot”

What’s your experience with using images in your work or when you’re promoting your business online?

About the Author: Hélène Cooper is an EMCC accredited business coach-mentor and supervisor who empowers people to move forward in the face of change.

How to ask what your customers really want

If you start thinking in questions, it will benefit you to:

• focus your mind on what your customers really want or need
• ask your customers what they are asking for
• work out what your own business should be asking for
• then aim to provide what your customers are searching for

This sounds deep, but it isn’t really. It’s not worth providing something nobody really wants.

Years ago I designed wedding stationery which many people told me was beautiful. But it wasn’t what brides wanted. It’s no good designing beautiful stationery that 99.9% of brides don’t want. I spent 2 years of my business life churning out stuff nobody wanted because I didn’t ask. The trouble was, when I eventually found out what brides wanted, I didn’t want to produce it because to me it seemed so tacky. If only I’d known, I wouldn’t have wasted all that time and effort.

Do you really know what your customers want?

Do you think it would be a good idea to ask questions to find this out? Are you willing to adapt or change it if necessary? It might make all the difference to your profit margins…

Think of five questions that would provide you with all the information you require. They should be designed for you to find out whether you are giving your customers exactly what they want. Make sure the questions are open ended so they aren’t replied to with a single word, and are carefully structured so the answers don’t go off on a tangent.

Go to a questionnaire source like surveymonkey.com to compile your questionnaire and send it to all your contacts.

If the questions require a full answer, put them onto separate pages: it will facilitate a better response. Include an explanation as to why you are asking these questions, and provide some sort of incentive to get a reply, like a free gift or prize. And once they’ve been completed, don’t forget to take heed of the answers and undertake some sort of process in analysing them.

More information = better informed = higher value = greater success

About the author: Alice Elliott is a Digital Marketer whose award winning Fairy Blog Mother blog provides simple, jargon-free, highly visual WordPress training for beginner and post-beginner bloggers. She specialises in before-and-after screen-shot e-courses that make no assumption of prior knowledge, constructively beginning at Blogging Level 0 to ensure a good foundational training. She is well known for her ability to “explain things really simply”, relating her teaching to each learner according to their lifestyle and ability.

Are blog comments dying?

I suppose some things only have a finite life; even good, valuable things like blog comments.

Blogs have been plagued with spam for quite some time, and spammers have become more and more clever at getting their comments through the spam-filters. Humans have replaced robots to get past the CAPTCHA systems and spam comments now consist more than the brief ‘Nice post’ that gave them away in the past.

Good comments have become a rarity

‘Tis a pity that I very rarely get a real, publishable comment on my blog nowadays. I usually have to ask a friend to write one for me, or I leave one on another blog in the hope they might return the favour. But what I get in ever increasing quantities are smarmy, ingratiatingly nauseating responses that drip oily compliments, usually squirming around my ankles with very bad English and equally awful grammar, contributing no value whatsoever regarding the post they are attributing to.

But hang on, didn’t we receive and give more comments in the past? What’s happened to prevent our readers from expressing their point of view or continuing the conversation?

The readers aren’t declining (hopefully), but the mechanisms put in place to deter spammers are also putting them off. I’m afraid these are necessary, as moderation helps to protect our blogs not only from inappropriate spam, but prevents their detrimental links from undermining our blogs’ ranking within the search engines. We are living in an increasingly toxic world that sometimes it feels we’re losing the battle; we’re damned whichever way we turn: not enough comments makes the blog look neglected and unread, whereas too many spammy comments causes untold damage.

Where have all the readers gone?

So where are the readers, if they’re not on our blogs?

In the wonderful world of RSS (Really Simple Syndication), blog posts can be read within social media without needing to visit the blog itself, or if they do have to venture in, feedback and comments are distributed elsewhere and not in the blog comment box. This is probably another of the main reasons why the area below a post looks like a desert without so much of a camel on the horizon.

People are so much more used to interacting within social media. There is little moderation here, no restrictions to prevent spam and no commenting hurdles to jump over. Unfortunately if something unpleasant does arise, or contributions are submitted that don’t conform to best practice, even though they may be published before removal, it seems tolerance is strong within social networking circles, even with self-regulation occurring. Spammers have yet, so far, to make a proper impact here.

Conversations and discussions expand rapidly and readily within social media. Contributors can enter a ‘thread’ midway without embarrassment and with full acceptance, and people are able to express themselves freely to share their knowledge and information. There is a relaxed sense of informality that encourages comments, and makes it easier to submit them.

Nothing seems permanent any more

Of course there is the point that, unlike their blogs, writers don’t own social media so have no ‘claim’ over the comments they receive. There are plugins that ‘collect’ these comments to show them below the posts, but should the social media rules or algorithms change, there is no staying power or permanence regarding these response contributions. Whereas real blog comments written on the blog can be kept there in all perpetuity for everyone to read.

But some bloggers see comments as fluid and merely a continuation of the discussion generated by the post itself. They are an expression in real-time and don’t need to be ‘owned’ or archived. They are responding to the moment and should be enjoyed in the context of the receiver’s positioning at that time. It doesn’t matter if they fade away as the post grows older, or even require renewal should the post receive another flush of SEO activity.

Does this mean blogs will start to permanently close down their comment facilities, or even be built in the future with this feature removed or unavailable. Don’t forget this was the reason why blogs were different from websites; back in the early days of Web2.0 it was exciting to be able to comment on the post you had just read, writing a response there and then in the same platform and seeing it published almost instantaneously. ‘Tis a pity this particularly special feature is now viewed as a nuisance or a breeding ground for undesirable practices.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below – go on, be controversial and go against convention!

–oo0oo–

About the author:
Alice Elliott is a online marketer and blogger whose website Fairy Blog Mother teaches beginners and post-beginners how to blog using ordinary, everyday words with easy to understand, highly visual workshops, e-courses, videos and e-books.