Kirsty France Writes

Are you taking time off over the Christmas holiday?  I certainly am.  It might be freezing but as long as it isn’t raining I’m happy.  I’m partly Scottish so I partially subscribe to the idea that there is no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.  My children may have to be wrapped up until they resemble mini Michelin men but we’ll definitely be going outside.  Then of course we’ll have to have some hot chocolate to warm up again afterwards.  It’s a tough job, but I’ll struggle through.

The thing is, as much as it might pain me to turn work away, I can if I want to.  As far as I know all of my clients are off over Christmas.  (OK, I’m crossing my fingers as I write that.)  I’ve got enough control over my workload that I can do a few extra hours before the holiday to get myself up to date.  I just have to make sure that people know when they can get hold of me.

But what if you have employees?  Maybe you can’t just shut down for the Christmas break.  There might be some tough decisions to be made but good communication should make it easier.

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There’s no getting away from it – we’re well and truly into the office party season.  The great thing about being a freelancer is that I don’t have to go to any work Christmas parties if I don’t want to.  I could hold my own but it would just be me, pulling a cracker, on my own.  Not exactly festive, I think you’ll agree.  Luckily a couple of clients have invited me to theirs – sadly I can only get to one of them but it should be fun.

Of course, I’m mindful of the fact that I’m not an employee so I definitely have to be on my best behaviour.  The last thing any of us want is to build relationships with clients only to have them wrecked because we had one too many sherries at the office do.

So what do you do if it’s your business and you’re the one hosting the Christmas party?

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Do you want to create winning landing pages?  The anatomy of your landing pages is really important as it allows your customers to skim read and still get the message.

That means that the information that’s relevant to them needs to be written in a way that’s short and to the point.

It’s also worth remembering that different people respond to different approaches.  The good news is that by using sections you can tailor your message so that it will still hit home.

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Do you have a lead magnet?  If you don’t, take a look at my previous blogs to find out why you should.

Done?  OK, so what do you do with your customers when they’ve clicked on your lead magnet?  Send them through to a generic sign up page for your email list or something else?  If you really want to get someone onto your email list it needs to be the latter.

Imagine you’re out shopping and you see an interesting looking food packet.  It’s an ingredient you’ve never come across before but the image on the front looks appealing.  You pick up the packet to find out how you might use it and perhaps an idea of what it tastes like.  But when you start reading the back of the pack it gives you a list of ingredients and that’s it.  What do you do?  Do you gamble and buy it anyway?  Or do you put it back on the shelf?  Maybe if you’re adventurous or the item is cheap you’ll give it a go.  However, if there’s helpful copy that tells you it goes well with something you already like, you’re much more likely to buy.

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Creating a great lead magnet that your potential customers will love depends on specificity.  If you’re wondering what on earth a lead magnet is and why I’m waffling on about them, take a look at my last blog.  It’s OK, I’ll wait.

Ready?  OK, let’s get down to brass tacks.

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What’s a lead magnet?  I hear you cry.  You might not have heard it called that, but it’s basically a freebie.  Whenever you see an advert saying something like ‘download this free guide’ or ‘click here for your free sample’, the free thing is a lead magnet.

It’s something that a business offers to potential customers in exchange for their email address.  As we all (hopefully) know by now, email marketing is a powerful thing.  Offering your customers something they want for free is a great way to get them onto your list.

The ability to create a great lead magnet mainly depends on two things; knowing your potential customers and offering them something they need.

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If you work in a team, communication is always going to be a challenge.  If you’re in charge you get to choose the team yourself.  Even better, if you’re working with freelancers you can change personnel if something isn’t working.  But issues in team communication can still pop up.

I always think building a team is like organising a night out.  I have friends that I love but would never introduce to each other.  They’re just too similar.  I’d spend the whole evening stressed trying to keep them apart or refereeing an argument and that’s no fun at all.

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Are you your business?  Perhaps you’re perfectly happy working on your own and see no reason to change.  Maybe you think you’re getting a bit too busy but still think it’ll be OK?

Or you’re not busy.  You might have been working in the same way for as long as you can remember and you’ve hit a plateau.

Could it be time to find a team?

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We’re always hearing that we need to look to the future.  No sense dwelling on the things that have gone before.

That might be true if living in the past is preventing you from moving on with your life.  But as philosopher George Santayana said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Learning from your own history won’t just allow you to learn from your mistakes.  If you share your knowledge and experience with others it could help them too.

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This is my Grandpa, Jimmy.  Handsome chap, wasn’t he?  I don’t often do Throwback Thursday but it would have been his birthday today so I thought it was a good day to tell you about him.

He died in the 1980s when I was only a child but his influence is still with me.  He would be astonished by the way the world has changed in the intervening years.  Back then mobile phones were in their infancy and needed a battery the size of a suitcase.  The internet hadn’t been invented.

Today, I get annoyed if I can’t get phone signal.  I recently went on holiday where there was no internet connection.  At the time it didn’t particularly bother me but when I got home I barely made eye contact with the rest of the family while I caught up with Facebook.  I know – sad, isn’t it?

I wouldn’t have much of a business if I didn’t have the internet.  I find the vast majority of my clients online and pretty much all of my marketing happens on Facebook.  I sometimes think that the way I run my life is completely separate from the way my grandpa would have done things.  Then I realise that his influence is still with me.

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