Small business, big plans: why it’s time to think like a brand

It’s time to get your ducks in a row

Real talk: times are tough. I’m not here to sugar coat it! Challenges are coming at us from all angles right now. We’re emerging from lockdown into an unknown, we’re moving our lives and businesses online, we’re trying to stay safe and we’re bombarded every day with more and more news that is a struggle to process. How do you make your business seen and heard by the right people? How do you ensure you stay relevant? Well, it comes down to your brand. And before you tell me you aren’t a ‘brand’, you’re just a ‘business’, just give me 5 minutes and then tell me what you think!

What is a brand anyway?

Your brand is a collection of things that convey your personality and influence your audience’s perception of your business, either positively or negatively. It encompasses things such as:

• your logo, the colours and fonts you use and your imagery, which are some of the things that make up your visual identity

• how you portray yourself as a person and a business through the way you speak and your written content

• the values and culture of your business

• the experience your customers or clients have when they buy from you or work with you

How do I create a brand?

Well, the good news is, you already have one! The core of your brand is you, because your business was conceived inside your brain. All you need to start thinking like a brand is to define and document what your business is about and what you stand for. The truth is: you will never be able to scale successfully until you have thought bigger and wider than yourself. Imagine where your business could be in 10 years time? If you had a team of 20 people working for you across the globe, what sort of information would they need in to provide your clients or customers with a consistently unforgettable experience?

Time to get your big girl/boy pants on

The first thing on your list is to figure out whether your current branding matches up with who you’re talking to, what you offer and what you’re really about as a business. Do you have a clear vision of where you want to head with your business in the next 5 years, or 10? Are you really clear on what sets your business apart and what your values and culture are about? Asking yourself the right big picture questions will help you clarify your brand strategy. Once you have a strategy, you can get a handle on where your brand is right now and what you need to be doing to have the brand you want in the future. Then you can crack on with some of the documentation you will need in order to scale e.g.

• brand guidelines that set out your logo, how it can and cannot be used, your colour palette, your fonts and other visual devices

• a tone of voice document which sets out the language and style of writing

• a values document that sets out key values that underpin the culture of your business

What if I need to rebrand?

Don’t worry - this is a perfectly normal part of owning a business! As your business grows and scales, what you offer and who you offer it to will naturally evolve. After all, successful businesses are those that adapt to survive. A rebrand can help you align yourself with a different target market, or shift the focus on to different products or services, but it doesn’t have to be an arduous process. Sometimes, a subtle tweak to your logo, strapline or imagery bank can make all the difference. As always, please get in touch if you feel you might be feeling this way about your business. It’s crucial you get your brand strategy spot-on first. This ensures any time, effort or money you invest is well spent and the end result is a business and a brand you are really proud of. If you’d like to get your brand strategy back on track, just hit the button below and book your free 30 minute call.

Turn on, tune in: how to choose the right marketing channels for your business

Analysis paralysis

You’ve got something new to say, but where do you start? Maybe you want to launch a new product or service? Or you’ve decided to niche down your target market? Maybe you’ve made a big change in your business, such as taking on office space, or going completely virtual? If you’ve got something to shout about, how do you know where to start? You need to know you’re going to make the best investment of your time, effort and money. There’s so much choice when it comes to marketing channels these days, with new channels popping up every day (are you on TikTok yet?!) Don’t worry, I have the answer. 

Real talk

It’s actually simpler than you think! And here’s the real secret: all these marketing channels you think you ‘could’ or ‘should’ be using? They don’t really matter. I know, I said it! The underlying problem you’re facing is probably not that you’re faced with too much choice. It’s likely to be one of two things: either you’re not confident in what you’re saying, or who you’re saying it to. The bad news: if either, or both, of those are true for you, then you aren’t in a position to make the most of the channels you OWN. But all is not lost, you can absolutely turn that around!

Let’s talk about control

So here’s the deal: marketing channels can be broken down into three categories: OWNED, EARNED and PAID media. You might have even heard someone in marketing or sales fling these words before. All it really comes down to is the level of control that you have over the content they contain.

• OWNED media includes you (and what comes out of your mouth!), your website, your blog, your social media profiles/accounts, your mobile app, your email and any printed materials you produce. The key here is the content they contain is WITHIN your control.

• EARNED media is that which you ‘earn’. For example word of mouth, referrals, shares or mentions on social media, or customer reviews. You cannot directly control what people are saying about you, but if you’re doing your job well then you can ‘earn’ additional free marketing because other people are doing it for you (This is easily the most powerful form of marketing!)

• PAID channels are essentially advertising. This encompasses anywhere, like social media, TV, radio or print, where you are paying money in exchange for exposure. This also includes things like Social Media influencer marketing, pay per click advertising and affiliate marketing.

How to get started

The most important place to start is ALWAYS your owned channels, because guess what? They’re the most cost-effective! But before you consider spending money to broadcast your message, you need to know how you’re really talking to and why they need to hear what you’ve got to say. What symptoms do they have? And how does your product or service not just take away the symptom, but solve the underlying problem?

Move over Funnel, meet the Flywheel

Once you have nailed your message, how do you organise your channel activity accordingly? Well, it’s easy once you’ve met The Flywheel! The traditional funnel totally works when you’re planning how to bring in new leads, warm them up and encourage them towards becoming a sale. However, it doesn’t work as well for marketing. Maybe that’s why it should just be called a sales funnel! The Flywheel is different because it takes into account the MOST IMPORTANT part of the process: the bit AFTER you make a sale. The reality is: marketing is no longer a one-way broadcast channel, it’s a two-way CONVERSATION. As I hinted at earlier, if you are nailing your customer experience and encouraging your happy customers in the right way, they will walk around doing a tonne of marketing FOR YOU. Imagine that? Sounds like heaven, right? All you need to do is ensure your OWNED marketing channels are working in harmony at each point of the Flywheel. Think about the emotional temperature of your audience at each stage. Where would they like to hear from you and why? This will help you organise and tailor your content, so that it lands every time.

Need some help?

Last year, after being told they needed to throw a tonne of money at paid social media ads, I helped a client of mine to unleash the power of their email list, saving them time and money, whilst significantly increasing their engagement. If you would like to do something similar, or you need help with messaging, your ideal marketing flywheel or anything in between, please do get in touch. I would love to help you OWN your OWNED channels! Hit the button below to book a free call today.

Choosing an SME email marketing platform? Here's the top 5 things you need to know...

Small business life is tough, no doubt about it! You’re permanently short on time but you need to be 100% sure before you invest in new platforms or systems. And they need to be cost-effective! So how do you choose the best email marketing platform for your small business? Never fear, I am here with the top 5 things you need to know PLUS a little bonus should you wish to sign up with my email marketing platform of choice. You’re so welcome!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Real talk: I only write and share information about companies that I truly believe in.

Ok, so you might be thinking, why do I need an email marketing system? I’ve got Gmail, or Outlook, thats enough right!? Listen, I feel you! Although it can sound complicated or overwhelming at first, trust me when I say it will be a worthwhile investment for your business and I promise we can keep it simple! There are a million reasons why you need a proper email marketing platform, but let’s keep it to the top 3 for now:

1. Time - even if you only speak to a handful of people on a semi-regular basis, it’s going to save you a tonne of time! Templates are your friend.

2. Data - you’re going to be able to get data back on how many people opened and clicked your emails. Just think of all that insight!

3. Automation - you’re going to be able to set up emails that get to the right people at the right time, without you having to do A THING. Sounds good, right!?

The reality is, email marketing is a no-brainer, no matter what your business offers. So, what are the top five things you need to think about when considering a new email platform, or implementing a new one? Here’s a little checklist I’ve put together especially for you…

1. Integrations - it doesn’t matter what a platform can do if it’s a giant ballache to integrate with your existing systems. Most important ones to assess: does it integrate easily with your website and CRM system? This is key, especially if your website has e-commerce.

2. Functionality - you’re looking for a system that does segmentation, triggered emails, workflows and solid analytics at a minimum. In layman’s terms: 

   -segmentation = the ability to split your audience into different groups, so you can speak to them in different ways

   -triggered emails = emails that can be set up to send as soon your customers do something e.g. buy from you, leave you a review, visit your website etc. Imagine your email platform doing your marketing for you, without you having to life a finger. Ideal!

   -workflows = a sequence of emails sent to customers to encourage a type of behaviour or acknowledge where they are in their purchase journey. For example, a welcome email series to welcome new customers to your business, educate them about your offer and encourage them to find out more about you

   -analytics = numbers you get back from each email you send on how many people opened, clicked, unsubscribes etc. 

3. Interface - is the system easy to use? You’re looking for drag and drop; you do not want to be worrying about HTML! Is the interface intuitive? Does it have a bunch of nice templates you can use without having to create your own? Can you upload your logos, colour palettes and brand imagery easily? Does it walk you through the process in a clear, understandable way?

4. Cost - is it a flat subscription fee per month or does it rise with the number of contacts? Does it have a free basic level that you can sign up for and have a play around with? Are there any hidden extra costs?

5. Support - no one knows more than us small business owners that good customer service is worth its weight in gold. I highly recommend checking out what support is offered and how - is it via online chat, email, telephone? What resources will you be provided with - training, best practice guidelines, industry trends?
   
   So how does this look in practice? Well, when I was recently looking at changing email systems I reviewed Klaviyo, Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Mailer Lite and Flo Desk. Here’s the results of my investigation…

1. Integrations - the priority for me was integration with my Squarespace website. This needed to be direct, simple and straightforward to implement. I am a big Klaviyo fan but its lack of integration with SquareSpace meant it was a no go. Some of the others required another plug in (like Zapier) to bridge between the two - again a no go for me as I wanted integration to be straightforward. This put Flo Desk at the top of the list straightaway. 

2. Functionality - they all offer similar functionality but for some, the options scaled with the subscription package. I wanted a low cost package where I got access to ALL the functionality, obviously! Again, Flo Desk came out on top. Active Campaign has lots more CRM tools (CRM = Customer Relationship Management) but at present I’m really just looking for email management.

3. Interface - they all look pretty good from the demos I looked at. MailerLite reminded me a lot of Klaviyo, so I was drawn to it’s familiarity. However, Flo Desk blew me away with it’s user experience, literally walking me through my first campaign without me having to think too much about anything. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy to use.

4. Cost - apart from Active Campaign, they all have a free basic option, but most of the subscription costs will then scale with number of contacts, number of emails sent, or addition of more functionality. Yep, you guessed it, Flo Desk is just a flat rate, no matter what. Dreamy.

5. Support - to be fair they all score pretty highly on this - lots of resources, webinars, industry advice etc. All the good stuff you want to ensure your email marketing stays on point.

Whatever you’re looking for in an email marketing system, make sure you have a good think about what’s important in each of these areas for you and your business. And if you’d like to give Flo Desk a try, you can get 50% off if you sign up with this link - enjoy!

Guest Blog: FIVE BIG LESSONS learned from starting a fashion business

Setting out into the big wide business world on my own had been a long time dream. My family are quite entrepreneurial and so working the 9 to 5 had never sat quite right with me. With the birth of my little boy, I was soon adding other priorities like work/life balance and time at home to my list of reasons to start up alone. People say that starting a business whilst juggling a newborn is a little crazy but I know a number of women who have done just that. I think sometimes it helps to give you the perspective of exactly what you want in life - and the drive to go for it!

Being a mum is the most rewarding thing I've ever done and I have to say, despite the hard parts, I'm loving every minute of it. What caught me by surprise though, was how much I lost my own identity. Nearly all of my clothes didn't fit, and when they did they were hardly practical or appropriate. I wandered around shops thinking 'What would a mum wear?'. It took me a while to 're-find' myself and my new sense of style. So on a summer evening, after plenty of brainstorming and dreaming (and disastrous style choices!), Mother Knows Best was born.

Mother Knows Best hosts a range of playful, ‘tongue-in-cheek’ Tees for stylish mamas out there, unashamedly winging their way through motherhood. Because sometimes mums need to focus on themselves just as much as their babies.We’re still in our infancy as a business, so although I'm learning every single day I have learned a few big lessons so far.

1. YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL

At the beginning I ordered blank T-shirts with a plan to somehow do it all myself. Apart from that being impossible, I lacked the skill or the equipment to create anything worth buying. Research your product well and put your trust in others. Hire the expert, get the help and learn from them.

2. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Pay peanuts, get monkeys. I learned this the hard way at the very start. It sounds crazy I know but I looked to Facebook Marketplace to find a designer. The plan was to save money but instead I paid upfront and received nothing from one and something I could have created myself from the other. I was conned because I was looking for a cheap solution. A harsh but brilliant lesson!

3. SET YOUR BUSINESS HOURS AND STICK TO THEM

I'd wanted to set up my own SME to give myself a better work/life balance but I actually ended up working more. There was never an off-switch and my passion for my company meant it started to become the main focus. Setting specific hours and delegating work to suppliers has helped me work smarter.

4. LEAN ON FRIENDS AND FAMILY

I've always been a bit of island. I think I can do it all on my own and wince if I have to ask for help. That simply doesn't work when you own your own business. Sit down and think carefully about your network, who can help you and how, write it all down and get talking!

5. WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN

It's so important to have a clear vision of what your company is about and where it's going. Knowing that I wanted my T-shirts to 'do good' meant that my business plan led me to giving charity donations from each sale. There are plenty of websites offering sample plans. Having a crystal clear idea of exactly what you want will help you get there quicker.

Good luck!

Laura Claire
Mother Knows Best

www.mkb.org.uk

Forget the funnel, it's all about the flywheel

We are probably all familiar with the sales and marketing funnel. The idea is that your sales and marketing strategy is like a great big bucket; your marketing activities should be filling the bucket at the top with people who are new to your brand and telling them why they should buy your product. All these activities should gradually then move those people through your customer journey, down the bucket to the sales bit at the bottom where they hit BUY NOW and become your customer. It’s a pretty straightforward way of looking at it and makes perfect sense, right?

Well, the thing is the world of marketing has moved on since the funnel, leaving it a little bit out of date. The key reason why the flywheel works is that it takes into account the biggest shift in marketing over the last 15 years: that your audience are now in charge of your brand. Yes you heard me; your audience are in charge. It doesn’t matter how slick your branding is or how powerful your message, if you don’t deliver a great product or service (or both) your audience now have the power to undo all of this work. With the advent of social media, review culture, and a generally more advertising-savvy audience, your customers are now able to tell you when you’re not doing a good enough job and to vote with their feet, voices and keyboards to spread that message far and wide. Marketing is no longer a one-way broadcast channel, it’s a two-way CONVERSATION. Instead of a linear ourney where the funnel neatly takes your customer from point A (where they know nothing about you) to point B (where they buy your product), the flywheel takes into account that a large chunk of your marketing effort will end up being done by the customers themselves. Well, the happy customers at least!

So why is this important? It’s important because if you don’t listen to your customers, you do so at your peril. Bad reviews not only damage your brand but if you don’t learn from that feedback your business will never move forward. In today’s review culture it’s too easy to chase after five-star reviews and to want to minimise one star reviews, but you can learn a lot more from your unhappy customers about what improvements you need to make. Human beings learn far more from failure than they do from success.

As a Small Business Owner, what can you do? To start with, fill out your own flywheel! Think about which marketing channels you are using at each stage of a customer’s journey with your brand. How do your customers interact with these channels? How do they interact with each other during these times?  If you are a heavy user of two-way marketing channels at any point in your flywheel, make sure you are actively engaging with your customers – happy and unhappy alike. You’ll be amazed how quickly you and your business can move forward, fast! As always, don’t forget you can talk to me too! I love to work with Small Biz Owners about their customers and their marketing activities. Book in a free consultation and let’s chat!

Streamline your morning

You know how it goes; weekday mornings are generally a blur of snoozing your alarm clock, choosing what to wear, checking your work emails and wondering whether your tea is going to be too hot to down in one before you leave the house. Throw in a wilful child/dog/cat or multiples of the above and you have a healthy dose of chaos to deal with on top. Unless you’re one of those people that springs out of bed at 6am, full of the joys of life, then mornings are probably stressful, blurry and punctuated by lockjaw-inducing yawns. Fret not, dear reader, I am here with some suggestions of how to get that morning routine down to a finely tuned art. You might not like some of them, but you don’t get anything in life for free…

WAKE UP, GET UP

I hate myself a little bit for writing this and I am guilty of not taking my own advice, but this one is crucial. Whether you wake up naturally, with a wake-up light, or via alarm clock (electronic or human), probably one of the best ways to start your day is to take a leaf out of those morning people’s book and spring out of bed. Ok, you don’t have to spring, but just make sure you’re sticking a leg out and following it with the other one less than 60 seconds after you open your eyes. Whether you have the chance to lie in or not, the sad fact is that even if you doze off, those minutes are not going to do you any real good in terms of sleep. If you find that even opening your eyes feels like a feat of engineering, consider your bed time and whether it needs to be earlier. Personally I’ve learned that anything above 7 hours of sleep a night does not buy me extra energy, so if my eyes flick open at 6am it’s because my body is done sleeping. The great thing about this approach is that you are setting the intent to start your day. And hey, if the rest of the household is still asleep, why not treat yourself to a few extra minutes in the shower, or a cosy cup of tea whilst staring out of the window?

THE WORK WARDROBE

My brain is almost completely incapable of decision-making prior to around 8.30am and my entire morning tends to run on autopilot, which is not necessarily a good thing. I even have to put my clothes out the night before, otherwise I put together the weirdest outfits! Although picking your outfit the night before is a great idea, I was recently introduced to the concept of the work wardrobe. I appreciate I’m probably a bit late to this party, but the idea struck me as genius. The key thing that blew my mind is that, with more and more companies opting for a smart casual dress code, or no dress code at all, we are suddenly faced with too much choice every morning. Therein lies the problem; there is no division between what you wear to work and what you wear at home. So, unless your work has a super smart dress code and you’re in a shirt and suit 24/7, it’s worth considering a separate capsule work wardrobe to limit your choices. If you want to incorporate your style, you still can. Maybe have a set of statement necklaces, or ties, or colourful socks. Lay it out the night before and bingo, one less decision to make in the morning. You’re welcome.

FEED THE BODY, FEED THE MIND

I highly recommend making your lunch the night before and taking it with you to work. Batch cooking at the weekend can also be a great way of ensuring your lunch is ready to go with no effort. Have you ever added up how much you spend on lunch, coffees and snacks throughout an average work day/week/month? I did this a few years ago when I was working in central London and the monthly figure was terrifying. I know it’s one of those things that can be seen as a bit ‘naff’ but making your own lunch not only saves you money, it also ensures you’re eating delicious healthy food (unless you’re making yourself hot dogs or something, in which case I don’t think I can help you). The other great thing about taking your own lunch is that if you are on a diet, or trying to make healthier choices, your lunch decision is made for you and that is going to help reduce temptation. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating having your lunch al desko and spending your lunch break working. Even if you don’t need to go out to buy lunch, you still need to get away from your desk or get out for a short walk. This is a great way to help to boost your productivity for the rest of the day.

LOOK FOR EFFICIENCIES

This is a tough one to describe as it will really depend on your own personal circumstances, but spend some time thinking about your morning routine and imagine you had 15 minutes less to achieve the same tasks. What would you do differently? What could be done in parallel? What could be done the night before, later in the day or in the evening instead? If you live with someone, what could they do differently? Here are some examples of ways I have trimmed down the morning routine:

• Simplifying my make up routine - I had a free make up consultation at Boots a few months ago and have changed how I wear my make up, trimming down the time it takes to apply and also giving me some 2 minute ‘light’ options for when those other minutes are needed elsewhere. If you take public transport to work, could you do all or some of your make-up after leaving the house instead?

• Laying out my son’s clothes the night before (after checking the weather forecast!). As well as knowing what I’m going to wear, I also remove decision-making from my son’s wardrobe too. Those morning minutes before nursery drop-off can whizz by, especially if you throw in a toothbrushing-related tantrum, and I love having one less thing to think about.

• Having breakfast at work instead of home - I often find this means I’m less hungry come mid-mid-morning as well.

NO SURPRISES

This takes a bit of planning but it is achievable. Spend some time thinking about the things that have tripped you up or caused you to be late recently - were they avoidable? For example, did you forget to renew your season ticket and get stuck in the queue at the station, or get in the car only to find you’re out of fuel? If you’re anything like me, the old grey matter is not at it’s finest first thing in the morning and any major disruptions to the expected flow can really throw me off for the day. Allocate yourself some time on a weekly basis, maybe on a Sunday night, to think about the week and when some of these things could crop up. Could you pop out one evening to get fuel so you’re not having to do it in rush hour? Could you renew your season ticket automatically online? Could you get in the habit of leaving your phone, bag and keys in the same place every night? This is all about being kind to your sleepy morning self and making sure you have the minimum of things to concern yourself with. 

So, in summary, I think there are few key themes to take away. Firstly, shake a leg as soon as you’re awake and remember those minutes dozing are not doing you a heap of good. Secondly, don’t give yourself any surprises and prepare the night before: clothes, food, extra things that need to go into work or school. Lastly, remove as much decision-making as you can. Mornings are hard enough, especially when you feel like you’re being raised from the dead. Think about how to give yourself the bare minimum to achieve. Trust me, it’ll turn that frown upside down in no time!