business tools Archives - Kirsty France Writes

Posted on 22nd November 202125th November 2021 by Kirsty France — Leave a comment

What do you get a business owner for Christmas?

Business owner with a gorgeous Christmas gift — Photo from freestocks.org via Pexels

I know that when you buy Christmas presents it’s because you love the person you’re giving it to and you want to give them a treat. Buying them a business-related gift can feel a little bit boring. It doesn’t have to be. If you ask most business owners what they want you’ll get something along the lines of more sleep, snacks, alcohol and financial security (that last one applies every year, but especially now). The thing is, you can make their business owning life better and still give them a great Christmas present. Here are my top 5 ideas for great gifts you can buy your favourite business owner this Christmas.

1. Entertainment

A business owner’s mind is constantly buzzing, so get them a present that helps them switch off. That could be a film to watch at home, or cinema or theatre tickets for a night out together.

If they love reading, a Kindle could be perfect. I resisted one for years until my husband got me one for Christmas. I still love real books, but now I can carry a whole library wherever I go. Alternatively, buy them your favourite book or vouchers to choose their own.

2. Stationery

Stationery addiction is real and occasionally necessary. I get through notebooks at a ridiculous rate so tend to shop at the budget end of the market. (I’m looking forward to being back at expos where I can snaffle them for free.) One of my favourite gifts was the beautiful pen and pencil set that I use every day. It’s a small thing that makes life better. You could choose lovely pens or a classic Moleskine notebook. You can even get fab digital notebooks if you prefer.

3. Time saving Christmas gifts

No-one can buy time, but you can buy help. If you want to outsource to a particular VA/designer/writer but can’t afford it, drop some heavy hints. Share this post on Facebook and say, ‘did you know Kirsty does gift vouchers for her blogging packages (or service of your choice)?’

If that feels weird, choose something fun that will save time in other areas of their life. A nifty gadget, meal subscription or some chloroform to help them get the kids to bed. (Joke. I hope that was obvious.)

4. Lovely things for their office

A lovely office space became more important during lockdown, when we couldn’t easily go out for a change of scenery. I have a miniature chimp and a couple of plants on my desk, it’s very cheerful. A good Christmas gift could be a plant or a beautiful print.

You could also choose a gadget that makes their office a more pleasant place to be. Would they like to work to music but don’t have the kit? Could an office water bottle help them stay hydrated?

5. Things to eat and drink

Yes, I know, this is a gift you could buy for almost anyone. The truth is, I’ve never known so many snack addicts since I started hanging out with other business owners. Buy one of us a snack basket with biscuits, crisps and chocolates and you’ll have a friend for life. Tea and coffee will also be gratefully received.

It probably goes without saying that alcohol is always a win. I know a few freelancers who don’t drink, but not many.

What do you want to ask for this Christmas? Leave a comment and let me (or your family) know!

If you’d like to treat a business owner to my services this Christmas, visit my shop to find out more! (Or if you just want to treat yourself to some high quality content in 2022, let’s have a chat.)

Alternatively, why not start the New Year with regular content writing hints and tips straight to your inbox? I hate spam (I’m a vegetarian), I won’t share your details with anyone else and you can unsubscribe any time. I promise I won’t cry. Much.

Posted on 22nd June 202022nd June 2020 by Kirsty France — Leave a comment

Networking: The business resource that keeps on giving

I’ve been thinking about the resources I use in my business a lot recently, trying to work out what’s working and what isn’t. I keep coming back to networking, mainly because business is often about who you know and partly because there are so many options. As I mentioned in this blog I’ve found that paid networking events have given me more solid relationships than free ones. But then I talk to other business owners and realise that not all networking is created equal. It got me wondering about the kind of networking I do and why it works for me.

Timing

There are so many networking event that you could feasibly spend all your time going to them, but you wouldn’t get much work done. The demands of family life rule out both breakfast and evening networking events for me which helps me narrow them down.

It means that I only go to daytime events, which has a massive impact on the kind of people I meet. They’re often senior employees of larger businesses, which usually means they have money to spend. (Yes, I’m totally capable of being mercenary.) I’ve also met people who’ve built up their side hustle or who threw themselves in at the deep end like me.

Connecting with people

Building a business is about creating relationships. Some of the people I’ve met networking have become customers, but others have become my unofficial ambassadors in their own networks.

My main networking group is women only and hugely supportive in lots of different ways. There’s always a listening ear and great advice. While approaches differ between business owners and employees, there’s still one common thread. We all promote each other, even though that’s not a requirement of membership. My network has widened because we mention each other on social media and attend each other’s events.

Follow up

My favourite networking groups have become my favourites because they make it easy to build relationships. I’ve no problem with making the time to follow up with new contacts individually, but it’s easy for your email (or theirs) to get lost in the midst of a heaving inbox.

While social media can be equally busy, the memberships with Facebook groups have brought more lasting relationships. Other members ask questions or share their content and the hive mind gets to work. People don’t just learn what you’re about in a chat over lunch, they see reminders all the time.

Other networking groups

I often turn down events because they don’t fit with my schedule or my budget. But I’ve also said no without really understanding why. I look at some of the people I’ve met over the years and marvel at the connections they have and the events they’re invited to. Often the only difference between us is that they’ve been in business for longer and have more contacts.

Yet sometimes I think I hold myself back through fear. What if they’re just better than me? Maybe they’re ‘proper’ business owners and I’m just someone who’s going to be found out one day? I think it’s something I need to address.

If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s to look at the events you’re going to (or not going to). Are they the right ones for you? Is avoiding some holding you back? The reason I tell you this story is not because I have a networking event to sell (I don’t), but because I hope it’ll help. It’s also because being honest and sharing my story has helped me to build my business and meet some amazing people along the way.

If you want some help sharing your story in the right way, just get in touch.

Posted on 8th June 20208th June 2020 by Kirsty France — Leave a comment

Where do you need to spend money in your business?

Spend money in your business - image shows woman at laptop with credit card. — Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.com

Let’s face it, when you’re a brand new start up it’s unlikely that you’ll be rolling in spare cash. Unless you’ve got a trust fund or have managed to attract a massive investment, there are going to be areas where you need to economise. That doesn’t mean cutting corners. There are lots of free resources that you can use to build your business (I wrote about some of them here) and they can be amazing. Even if you’ve been in business for years prioritising your spending is hugely important. But if you’ve just started your business and are taking a DIY approach to things, there are still times when you need to spend money. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Coaching

Getting the right coaching has transformed my business. It’s helped me to set goals and learn what’s getting in the way of me reaching them. (Sometimes it’s my own brain.) It’s something that I couldn’t do by myself, so it’s been worth the money. I’m not going to tell you what kind of coach to choose as what works for me could be completely irritating to you. You can find everything from spiritual guidance to coaches who’ll create your business plan for you and everything in between. My coach never tells me what I ‘should’ do (which is good because I’m deeply stubborn). She challenges me and asks great questions which let me uncover what’s actually going on.

Training

Generally speaking, when you spend money to learn a specific skill it’s because the person offering it has invested time and money in knowing their stuff. It also means that you can ask questions if you need to. YouTube tutorials are great for smaller stuff but they won’t give you feedback if you get stuck. There’s also the fact that you’re fishing around to find what you need. There’s no-one to tell you if you’ve missed something important.

Of course, there could be things that you need to learn but where you don’t have the budget for one to one training. Online training and books can give you well organised, useful information for a fraction of the cost.

Branding

I hesitated over including this. Branding is important for building your profile but a full branding package can cost you serious money. You may not have that to spare when you first start and I’m not convinced that it’s always necessary.

If you’ve got a clear idea about who your customer is and how you want to be presented the right designer can work with you to create a logo and images to get you started. You can always change things later. It’s also worth investing in a few good quality photos that are unique to you. I asked a student friend to do mine – I saved some money and she got new shots for her portfolio.

Networking

When you get together with other business owners you create relationships that help you in all kinds of ways. I’ve experienced a definite difference between free and paid events. It could be because people who’ve paid want to get the best out of their sessions. In some cases a paid membership means that you need to attend regularly to get the most from it so you build better relationships. Maybe everyone’s just in it for a decent lunch! All I can say is that the people I’ve met at paid events are the ones who’ve turned into friends and supporters along the way.

So, where do you spend money in your business? Let me know in the comments.

Resources

Need some blog writing training? Find out more about my 121 and small group sessions here.

My no-nonsense, stubbornness defying coach is Jo Lee at Life Atlas Coaching.

If you’re a woman in business check out the Love Ladies Business Group for networking throughout the Midlands and in London.

Posted on 1st June 20201st June 2020 by Kirsty France — Leave a comment

The top 5 marketing tools you need for your small business

Marketing tools - image shows a smartphone, laptop, glasses and coffee. — Image by Dominika Roseclay via Pexels.com

One of the biggest challenges a lot of us face as small business owners is knowing where to spend money. You might have some cash to invest in essential resources. Maybe your business depends on buying stock or equipment. But when it comes to marketing the choices can get a bit trickier. Do you pay someone to do it for you or buy some tools and take the DIY option? If there’s a free and a paid option which is worth having? (I’ll be talking about that one in another post.)

I take the view that it’s always worth doing your own marketing to start with, so you can get a feel for what works. Here are some of my favourite marketing tools to get you started.

Creating graphics

Great images will help your posts stand out on social media as well as making your website look good. I use Canva to put my brand colours and logo on my images as well as creating quotes, memes and all manner of other stuff. The free version is fab and there’s a premium option if you need more features.

It’s worth paying for your own photos but I supplement mine with copyright free images from Pexels and Unsplash.

Email marketing tools

I’m with Mailchimp, even though the recent changes mean that some of the features that used to be free to new subscribers aren’t any more. I’ve heard a lot of recommendations for Mailerlite’s free account and also for Active Campaign as a paid option.

When you choose, look at the advanced features too. You might not need them yet but it’s much easier to move to a paid version of something you already know than to shift to a whole new platform further down the line.

Know your numbers

You might not think of analytics platforms as marketing tools, but they are. Being able to see where your customers and enquiries are coming from means that you can focus your marketing there. You can track which pages get the most traffic and what people visited on their way to your contact page. Your business social media accounts have their own analytics functions to tell you which posts were the most popular.

Of course, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that you get a message from someone who hasn’t interacted at all, but it’s still a good guide.

Planning and scheduling

Planning your marketing stops you from winging it and creating social media posts in a panic. I have a marketing planner from The Girls Mean Business where I can map out what I’m promoting at any given time and what posts I’m going to create to tell people about it. Then I tick each post off when I’ve created and scheduled it.

Ah yes, scheduling. Scheduling platforms are great marketing tools as they allow you to spend a few hours creating posts to go out later. Then you know it’s all done and you can move on to something else. I use the inbuilt Facebook scheduler and Hootsuite for everything else.

Get some help

There is tons of information out there to teach you how to market your business. It ranges from completely free to really expensive, with the cost often depending on how much the person selling it does for you. Free is great but you might have to spend time wading through information that doesn’t help you that much before you find something useful.

Alternatively, you might want to buy a book or sign up for a course that organises the information for you and offers a bit of support as well. That way you spend less time searching and more getting organised.

Tag: business tools