Author: Kirsty France

This year, I decided that I wouldn’t make any resolutions until spring.  Basically, it’s all about getting into the right frame of mind but if you’d like more detail than that you can read my previous blog post here.  I’m also keeping it simple.  I’ve made one business resolution and one health related one.  I’ll be talking about my business resolution in another post, but for now I need to get down to brass tacks with the health one.

My health goal

I’m aiming to run a 10k by the end of this year.  For some of you that will sound like an epic challenge, I know others who do that distance as a warm up.  I’ve done a few 10k races before but the last one was on Boxing Day 2015.  My last run was a Santa Run for charity at the beginning of December 2016.  When I ran, it prompted me to make other good choices.  I’d still have a drink but not so many that I couldn’t get up and go out in the morning.  I lost weight and had more energy for my kids.

I can give you all sorts of excuses about the slow decline in my running performance.  My kids won’t be among them though.  I ran my first official 10k at six months pregnant and I’ve only slowed down as they’ve got older.  The main reason is pain.  My back started to seize up during runs and at first I struggled through, then gave up completely thinking I would do some yoga and stretches and start again when things improved.

They got worse.

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Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?  How are you doing with them?  I know we’re all supposed to feel happy and bouncy at the prospect of a New Year, making a fresh start, etc., etc.  The way I look at it, it’s January.  The weather’s awful and we haven’t even got Christmas to look forward to any more.  It all makes me want to pull the duvet over my head and hibernate.  The only flaw in that plan is my two small children.  The youngest in particular is likely to jump on my head before stealing the bedclothes and running away cackling.

The fact is, I’m just not motivated to do anything in January, or February for that matter.  So, this year, I resolved to shift my resolutions back a bit.  The weather is warmer, I’m cheered by the sight of daffodils outside my window and I’m ready to take action.

The question is, what happens next?

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Do you remember that Nationwide advert that had the tagline “Brand new customers only”?  It succeeded because it hit a nerve.  People were fed up with the idea that attracting new and shiny customers was more important than looking after the ones they already had.

When you think about it, looking after your existing customers isn’t just polite, it makes good business sense.  You’ve invested time and money in marketing or networking to change that person from a lead into a customer, so why waste it?  Your existing customers already know, like and trust you and you can build on that.  So how do you go about it?

It’s all about value

There are a lot of similarities between content marketing and taking good care of your existing customers.  Content marketing allows you to build a trusting relationship by sharing your expertise.  Your prospects can see that you understand their problems and will offer a solution.  Showing existing customers that you will continue to provide them with valuable information demonstrates that you’re not just looking to take their money and run.

This can take any form you like; sending regular updates, sharing blogs or even emailing a contact directly with an interesting article that’s relevant to their business.  You don’t have to generate all of the content yourself.  The fact that you’ve taken the trouble to get in touch keeps you at the forefront of your existing customers’ minds.  It’s easy to assume that they will remember you and get in touch if they need your services again, but that isn’t always the case.  The marketplace is crowded and there will always be a competitor with a tempting new offer.  Reminding your existing customers of the service you provided increases the prospects of securing repeat business.  If you’d like to know how this can fit into a marketing strategy that avoids the hard sell, you can get sign up for a copy of my free guide on the subject here

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If you’d told me eighteen months ago that I would grow to love networking, I would have laughed in your face.  The idea of standing around a room trying to make small talk with people I’d never met before was my idea of hell.  Then I decided to become self-employed and realised that if I couldn’t talk to people face to face I would be creating huge problems for myself.

Initially I thought, quite logically, that I could network in writing.  That is, after all, how I communicate best.  The reason I became a solicitor and not a barrister is because I do better with a written statement than I do with a spoken argument.  I didn’t do badly when I had to speak during hearings, I just realised that I couldn’t spend my entire life with my heart pounding in my throat.

Talking to people

Then I realised that writing isn’t just about writing.  It’s about engaging with people.  Whilst it’s true that publishing a blog post or LinkedIn article gives me the opportunity to reach a bigger audience, it’s often speaking to people about my work that helps them to understand it.  After all, you’re not going to read something if you don’t think it applies to you.

So, I grasped the nettle and headed out into the world.  Firstly to networking events with other creatives and then to an expo where I could terrify myself by wandering around stalls and talking to people who still had corporate jobs.  Finally, I found a networking group where I could have a lovely lunch and talk to like-minded business women.  They’re not frightening at all.  Well, most of the time.

Looking after my networking contacts

Now that I’ve been out networking, what am I left with?  Well, the first thing I’m left with is a big pile of business cards to sort through.  I’m trying to be disciplined and add them to my contacts list as well as sorting the cards into boxes.  I have dividers for clients, potential clients and people whose services I might need one day.  That’s not to say there isn’t any overlap, but it makes it easier to search through them.

I also have to think about how to look after my contacts and keep in touch with them generally.

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Do you have an email list?  Is it bringing you much business?  I admit that I probably don’t do enough to look after my subscribers so if any of you are reading, sorry!  I’ve resolved to get better at using email.  For one thing, I want to be helpful.  If there are people on my subscriber list who just want to know about blogging, there’s no point me writing to them about time management.

At the moment, I send out a monthly update which has the same content for everyone.  I know I should do things differently so I’ve resolved to improve.  If you’re just sending out a newsletter once a month (or less), read on.  I’m learning from my mistakes so you can too…

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There’s nothing I love better than a shiny new project.  For one thing it gives me the opportunity to learn something new.  I chatted to two other copywriters recently and we were comparing notes on the most unusual subjects we’d had to write about – snail slime was definitely the winner on that one!  In case you’re wondering, no, it wasn’t me.

I wouldn’t have started my business if I didn’t love writing.  Of course, that isn’t the whole picture.

The jobs I hate

Maybe hate is too strong a word, but you know what I mean.  Give me words in virtually any form and I’m happy.  Present me with numbers and I start to struggle.  I had to pass exams showing that I understood accounting rules for solicitors and could prepare and interpret a basic set of accounts as part of my legal training, but I’d be hard pressed to explain any of it to you now.

My method of account keeping probably leaves a lot to be desired.  Thankfully I have a friendly accountant who hasn’t winced at me too much – yet.  Equally, I’m not keen on doing admin and I don’t imagine I’ll ever come up with a truly stunning piece of graphic design.  I don’t mind trying but I get frustrated at the length of time it takes me to come up with something vaguely reasonable.

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Have you ever been lectured about pricing?  Or do you have to work for a fixed fee that you didn’t negotiate?  I’ve done both.  The benefit of being self-employed is that you can set your own prices.  Of course, you might have a client who wants to negotiate but ultimately it’s up to you whether you take the work or not.

The truth is that dealing with either situation requires proper planning.  That could be at the beginning before you issue a quote.  Or you might have to do it when you’re presented with a task that has a time and/or cost limit imposed.

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If you believe the statistics, we change careers between five and seven times in our lives.  I’m already on career number four – if you count the student bar work and terrible admin jobs, that is.  In reality, I’ve changed jobs at least that often, if not more.  But what does that have to do with supervision, I hear you cry?  Good question.

The truth is, I’ve very rarely left a job because I completely hated the work.  Casual jobs aside, I’ve mainly decided to leave because I couldn’t live with my manager any longer.  The one exception to that was when I decided to leave the law.  I’d changed, so had the work, and it just didn’t fit me anymore.  My last supervising partner was great.

These days I don’t have to deal with dodgy supervision.  I haven’t had to sack a bad client yet but there are a few people I’m trying to avoid!

What’s your style?

Maybe you don’t need to supervise anyone yet.  If you’re a sole trader or a junior in the team, take note.  Your day will come and it’s better to be prepared.

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You might have an easy answer to that question.  Either you delegate all the time and you think you’ve got it right or you don’t delegate at all.

If you’re a sole trader, delegating can feel as if you’re handing your baby over to a complete stranger.  Either you’ve decided to take on an employee or you’re preparing to work with a freelancer.  Potentially, choosing to outsource to a freelancer is less risky.  If things aren’t working letting a freelancer go is much more straightforward than if they were an employee.

Equally, if you’re in a larger business supervising a team of employees, their work will reflect on you.  You need to make sure that they’re being entrusted with work that suits their abilities.

I’ve been on both sides of the delegation table.  Mostly the tasks I was given were entirely appropriate.  However there was the odd occasion in my years of legal practice where I’d express concern about my ability level and be told to get on with it.  I suppose that’s more of a supervision issue, which is a whole new blog post in itself…

Good delegation can be difficult.  When you’re busy, often your team are too.  I’ve always been a planner but even with the best intentions it doesn’t always work.  I was occasionally guilty of handing a ridiculously short deadline to another team member and it doesn’t feel great.  Equally, an over confident but inexperienced colleague once lulled me into a false sense of security.

No matter how your team is constructed here are a few key ways to ensure you delegate effectively.

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I’ll be honest.  For years, the idea of networking made me cringe.  I always felt as if a ‘network’ was something other people had.  You know, the ones who wanted to climb to the top of the corporate tree.  I used to go to professional networking events and end up talking to my own colleagues.  .  I’m fairly sure that wasn’t the idea. The main problem was the fact that ‘open networking’ always meant ‘milling around drinking’.  Whilst I’m certain there are people who can march up to a total stranger and introduce themselves, I’m not one of them.

Of course, building a network is incredibly important to me now.  It’s a source of support, knowledge and, increasingly, work.  Thankfully I learned that there are different ways to network.  Networking in person can involve sitting down for a delicious lunch rather than lurking in a corner with a cold cup of coffee.  If the idea of meeting face to face is really too daunting, you can head for social media.  Some of my first clients were online contacts that I met on LinkedIn or via Facebook groups.

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