More givers are needed to give away their favourite books and help to spread a love of reading and books – but you have to sign up by 1st February.

Books selected for World Book Night 2012 are:

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

The Player of Games – Iain Banks

Sleepyhead – Mark Billingham

Notes from a Small Island – Bill Bryson

The Alchemist – Paolo Coelho

The Take – Martina cole

Harlequin – Bernard Cornwell

Someone Like You – Roald Dahl

A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Room – Emma Donaghue

Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

Misery – Stephen King

The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella

Small Island – Andrea Levy

Let The Right One in – John Ajvide Lindqvist

On the Road – Cormac McCarthy

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell

The Dammed Utd – David Pearce

Good Omens – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

How I live Now – Meg Rosoff

Touching the Void – Joe Simpson

I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith

The Book Thief -  Markus Zusak

Choose your favourite and apply to World Book Night to be a giver.  You can do this in the UK, USA and Germany.

As well as being a reminder of books read and enjoyed,  the list has brought books to my attention that I meant to read and have not yet opened.  This year is a good opportunity to read (or re-read) Dickens as it is his anniversary year.  In my book group we have decided to go for Bleak House which I have never read.  I have been meaning to read The Book Thief, and was halfway through The Road but for some reason gave up.  Better get back to it!

I think my favourite on the list is The Time Traveler’s Wife although I did love Pride and Prejudice and Rebecca when I read them a long time ago.  Touching the Void is amazingly inspirational – even though i have never been mountain climbing.

I am a big fan of reading.  I used to work in a publishing company and it was next step to being in heaven!  Good writing is inspirational, and helps you with your own writing.  Reading is also a great way to unwind from work.  It is more relaxing than TV I find, and  time immersed in another world gives me a greater sense of clarity when I come back to the everyday.

What about you?

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Keep a record of your passwords on a spreadsheet, or in a notebook.  It can be very easy to forget them and sometimes the hassle of generating a new password not worth the effort.

If it is the password of a product or service you have bought it is an even better idea to record what you paid, when you bought it etc all in the same place.  You need this information for your taxes, but having it to hand easily helps you to get a return on your investment and put in the work needed.

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Choose passwords that are “strong” ie 8 characters long and include some letters and some numbers. Very often you will be told about the strength of your password by the software, but it is better to have a default plan.

Weak passwords include the word “password” as well as straightforward sequences of numbers.  If any of your passwords are in the Top Ten of weak passwords change them!

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No – me neither.  After all how many royal weddings have turned into good marriages? The track record is fairly dire.

But I love celebrations so planned to watch it with a group of friends and go to two street parties afterwards.

The wedding turned out to be inspirational.  Not just for me but for the sceptics in the room using it as an excuse for a glass or two of bubbly. (and for every one else as well)

So what made the Wedding magical? It was a combination of what is at the heart of any good business.

1. Connecting with one person.

Kate and William made their vows talking quietly to each other. It transformed a public event into a private wedding. .. which millions happened to watch.

Their connection to each other was communicated in the brief smiles and exchange of looks.  They could easily have been more formal as “befits” a royal occasion.

Connecting with one person is the key: This is just as true of a royal wedding as an email, a speech, a website, a blog post or any form of communication.  Don’t shout to be heard.  Talk to one person – the right person.  Speak in a conversation with a whole person.  We work with people not roles, job titles or companies.  People.

2. Know who you want to talk to / work with / attract / help.

Make choices about the type of client you do want to work with.  The “person” is unlikely to be a prince (or could be?) and may be a mix of real people you know or would like to know.

Imagine your client as one person and get to know everything about them. Their hopes, fears, problems and what they hope for and want.  (This can help you say No to the wrong people.)

3. Plan your environment to suit you.

The simplicity of Kate’s dress, the small size of her bouquet, the green and white flowers in Westminster Abbey, the trees going to Highgrove were all choices made to enhance the feeling of a genuine intimate wedding.

Choose your environment carefully to suit you.  If in doubt choose a place you really like to meet potential clients.  Dare to have your office in the colours that delight you.  The more you make choices that reflect the values of your business the more you will communicate to the right people.

We tend to think the business card and the website are all that matters but of course it is so much more.  Clients may choose to work with you for all kinds of reasons.  People have chosen to work with me because of my shoes.  Choose your shoes with care and be confident about the choice!

4. Be seen.

You are unlikely to travel in an open top horse-drawn carriage and wave at the crowds, but you can let people see you being happy!

Or being whatever the type of inspiration that comes naturally to you and is what your clients need. Don’t lock yourself away  we need to see you!

Being seen and remembered is more important than the precise details of your product or service.

5. Use technology

How many people would have known about the wedding at all without the media?  Help yourself with all the low cost and free internet-based media available today.  You can send your message round the world faster, and more effectively…and best of all you don’t have to shout or spend a lot of money doing it.

May the feel-good of the wedding remain long in your business!

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Are you a book lover?  Does the smell, the feel of the book in your hand, the joy of just looking at the covers  please you even before you have read a word?  If yes, you are definitely a book lover. Me too.

Have you bought a Kindle? Or have decided against one on principle?

As a book lover I am reluctant to spend even more time in front of a screen.  Computers and TV’s seem to take up far too much of my time, so I have not – so far – been persuaded to get a Kindle or one of its alternatives.

However many of my book loving friends are enjoying theirs – and say they are easy to read.  Of course as a reader it is always a problem to know what or how many books to pack to go on holiday – and whether they justify their weight.

I was at my neighbours’ house when they had the “book talk” before their recent three week holiday.  After a big discussion she (a non-reader) felt that 8 was the maximum number of books it was fair for her husband to take in their baggage.  He  (voracious reader) thought that was reasonable, but had real difficulty prioritising.  Another point of negotiation was what to do with the books once read.  She was keen that he simply left them behind once he had read them, but he as a book lover could not bear to be parted from the book itself, and argued passionately that he had to bring them home.

I followed this up when they got back, and apparently 8 was the perfect number, and yes he brought them all home, and their holiday was a great success!  I am not sure that a Kindle would have made life easier in their case as the books were important in themselves.  But we can all change and maybe a Kindle could solve the issue next time.

E books outsold physical books in the last quarter of last year on Amazon, so many people are changing their reading habits – and not just for holidays.  E readers are far more commonly seen on commuter trains and the Tube, and likely to become even more popular.

Many ebooks are information products which have been sold on the web at a far higher price than is possible with a printed book.  The big change may be cheaper fiction ebooks, and shorter stories.

Ereaders are encouraging reading of the short story.  One publisher, Fourth Estate, has teamed up with the Sunday Times to produce Fast Fiction – a downloadable short story for 99p.  The market for print short stories has never been strong in the UK, although more economically viable in the US so this could be a great way to revive the genre.  It fits, of course with our shorter attention span and need for immediacy.

There are some wonderful short stories by well-known writers which are not so well known as their major works, but could be a fantastic introduction.  “The Signal-Man” by Charles Dickens is one that I particularly enjoy. Once you have the Kindle you have access to many classics and digitised out of print books completely for free. I think I am talking myself into getting a Kindle.

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There is no hard and fast rule these days as spelling mistakes used to matter more than they do now.  If spelling mistakes matter to you and your audience then it is a good idea to check and double check that they don’t appear.  If your customers are perfect spellers they may find it difficult to trust you if you make some obvious – and key – mistakes.

A good test is to ask yourself how you would feel if a spelling mistake in your website, email or report is pointed out to you?

If you feel nothing more than mild surprise it probably didn’t matter, anyway.  Some of us can spot spelling mistakes at a hundred paces and some – even if not dyslexic – would never see them.

On one occasion I found a spelling mistake in the heading of a friend’s business email and let him know so it could be amended for the future.  He said 6 of them had studied the email before giving it the OK..they had been looking for mistakes but didn’t see them.

Another time I remember being asked to SING not SIGN up for technical WordPress blog information. When I remarked on this in a conversation later the site owner said it had been like that for 3 years and nobody had commented before. The audience hadn’t noticed, and probably didn’t care if they had. (Actually it could have been more interesting to sing than sign up – I did feel mildly disappointed!).

But a good professional reputation is earned through attention to detail as well as the big picture. Spelling a really important word wrong could do damage.  I did find a site talking about ROUGE traders not ROGUE traders which turned a serious business proposal into comedy.  I have also recently seen FUNITURE not FURNITURE and PHOTOGRAHY not PHOTOGRAPHY.

Spelling mistakes (also called typos) can often creep in especially if you have been working on something for a long time.  After a while you cannot tell if it is spelt correctly or not.  Computer spell checkers can add to the confusion if you are not a good speller and may be set for a different region than the one you want.  The key is to

• take a break from it, and come back fresh,
• get another person to read it through.

Some spellings are correct in one region and uncommon in another.  Here in the UK I think we are more tolerant of US spelling because we are used to seeing it.  I have just written a website and deliberately chosen to spell “install” in the US way rather than “instal”.  The double l just looks better, but I pointed it out to my client because their literate UK audience may notice.

There are many common words which are spelt differently CENTER (US) or CENTRE (UK), ANALYZE or ANALYSE, CURB or KERB, even ADVISOR or ADVISER seems to divide across the Atlantic.

There is no right answer.  Once the proof-reading is done, the only question worth asking is does it matter to your audience?

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As a marketer I am always interested in how events and people communicate their brand.  Quite apart from the training (which I will save for another post) I did have two overwhelming impressions even before the first speaker spoke the first word.  The list of speakers was announed on a video screen, and I watched in amazement as man after man was announced.

All the speakers were men.  Every single one.

Once I had got over that, I was intrigued by the one-liner underneath each picture.  In the vast majority of cases the speaker was presented as the expert in a particular aspect of internet marketing which was briefly described, followed by the word “guy”. So we had  the webinar guy.. the easy cash projects guy.. the lead generation guy etc.

What a nice easy word “guy” is.  It sounds warm and approachable but with a hint of ruggedness and reliability.  It is more relaxed than “man” and even “gentleman”.

Even if there had been female speakers wall to wall what is the equivalent modern word for women?  I don’t think there is one .  Which is why there is a whole slew of “divas” and “queens” and goddesses”.  There simply isn’t a relaxed word.   “Gal” or Girl is OK for someone younger, Chick can give the wrong impression, Lady is very formal, Woman sounds too dull.

C’mon guys ( I mean women / gals / you gorgeous ladies  what can we call ourselves?

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Email marketing that is so valuable your readers pay you would be a great way to make money – provided your emails are valued by your readers.  In reality your emails are in hand-to-hand fighting in the inbox with spam and other email messages and could be beaten.

One way round this is the new idea that emails are on a pay-per-read basis. On My attention people are saying how much they would charge a reader.  The real question is of course, how much would people pay to read.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that in the original days of the postal system it was the recipient who paid the man on the horse delivering the mail. Before you broke open the seal on the letter, you would decide whether it was worth it!

Improving your chances of getting your emails read is the first step – whether or not paid-for email becomes a reality.

1. Write to people you know (or who have heard of you).  It is spam to send to strangers, anyway, but the principle of a small list of fans rather than a huge list of connections is useful, so you build up genuine communication.  Your marketing generally will help to get your name into the minds of people in your target market, so the list can grow.  If you are writing from your name it is better to carry on, even if at some point this task is performed for you.  Your name is valuable.  Once your name is known, the chances of email being read, letters being opened and phone calls being received are increased.
2. Be consistent.  This sounds easier than it is!  Even if you have decided to write a monthly newsletter only, commit to it, and make it a top priority.  If in doubt be consistent, and then build up to frequenqy.  In some ways writing more often is actually easier, and the ideas flow, but the worst thing is to start in a blaze of enthusiasm and then stop.  It happens a lot, so don’t worry if it has happened in your business.
3. Write a headline which is interesting for the reader so they will want to open it.  At the start you have to provide excellent value.
4. Write a headline which can be read in one eye span.  Headlines that are too long will be cut.  Short and snappy is best.
5. Relate to your readers’ life and issues.  The more closely you know what life is like for them, the more credibility you and your company will gain.  Modern email systems let you target sub-groups without wasting trees or spending long days slaving over a hot computer.
6. Once you have written your newsletter, take a break. When you come back to it you will look at it with new ideas.  Often ideas develop during the writing, and you may be able to focus the content more clearly.
7. Check to see that you are providing value. You can be a guide-post to interesting and relevant stuff, as well as give it yourself.  You will know if you have done something amazing because people will tell you.  However, it is worth asking customers when you see them.  If your market is not very computer confident, they might prefer to tell you in person.
8. Don’t be 100% serious. We all like entertainment, and we all want to relate to real human beings not machines. Once you have gained trust, let people into your world.  The more you enjoy sending email, the more likely it is that your readers will enjoy reading it.  A few surprises can be good, too!
9. If you are giving good value it is fine to ask for a response. It could be to click a link, make a phone call, buy something.  Once you are the authority for your market, you will be doing them a disservice if you do not let them know about other opportunities.  Shake up the ratio of value to response – never just hit people to buy.
10. Deliverability and Reports. If using your own servers make sure you get the information about opened emails, bounces etc. If you do not have your own servers use a good third-party email software company.  Sending a lot of emails could get you banned, but in addition to delivering bulk email, the software will give you reports on opens, bounces etc, and will integrate easily with your website.

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Poetry inspires us by getting to the heart of it all.  Suddenly we see things in a different light, we think and feel in a new way and then become renewed ourselves.  We all need constant inspriation in our work, as a way of connecting with ourselves as well as an alternative to the constant busy “doing.”

As it is National Poetry Day today I am publishing a poem.  Having recently read it in a blogging workshop I feel more encouraged to let it see the light of day!

To my creative self

I thought at first that you liked things Done Properly

You know, new notebook, Time to Do It,

Focus, Discipline, and bingo, Results.

But I knew that wasn’t me so I tried to outwit

you, disarm you, prove I was right.

a poem on the back of a bus ticket

in a scruffy diary, while I was walking

painting my bedroom wall, travelling somewhere,

drawing in the margin of my work life.

And all the time you were just with me,

Wherever I was.

And now I have acknowledged you

Given you proof of your existence

Enjoyed the flash of recognition between us

The matching of equals

Now I feel your stubborn ness.

You’re not going anywhere.

It doesn’t matter how I do it

You won’t be shaken off

You are holding me fiercely

But that’s not enough for you

You need more

You want us to be together side by side

Step by step.

I don’t yet know how to be a partner

With you

my creative self.

© Jean Wolfe

January 2003

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The trouble is that jobs often drag on, and change shape without having a sense of completion.  In fact your customers may not really know whether you have done a good job or not, but they will certainly be able to tell if the project is not completed.

I was reminded of this recently as I discovered a leak in a radiator and needed to call a plumber urgently.

My normal plumber did not reply, so I called another who had been recommended as good value and reliable. He came promptly, and all seemed to be well, and I was thinking that I could use this new plumber in future as he is much more local.  The carpets were getting soaked, and water was pouring down walls so I didn’t get comparison quotes – I needed quick action.

After the new radiator was installed, and the plumber had gone I glanced outside and noticed the old radiator propped up against a wall.  Now I may not be an expert on plumbing but I certainly know customer service when I see it.

I expected the old radiator to have been taken away.  It is extremely heavy, and I have no way of disposing of it at all.  So I had to phone the plumber up and ask him to take it away.  He did so, but without an apology and rather grudgingly.

Dirty old radiator not taken away at the end of the job

I have no reason to believe the plumbing is not first class, but I am not capable of judging it fully.  The leak has stopped.  However I can judge  customer service, and in my opinion it fell short of what I expected.  So he did not wow me.  The next day my original plumber returned my call as he had been away on holiday and apologised.  Next time he will – yet again – be my first phone call.

Even if we are not plumbers we still have radiator-removal in our business, so we finish the job cleanly.

The final parts of a project are in many ways even more important than the beginning.  Where things have gone wrong it is a chance to get back on track, and where they have gone right you can look back together knowing the work has been completed well.

The final assessment, or even a thank you helps to cleanly finish one scope of work, and tidy up.  It brings a sense of completeness and helps you to look good in your customer’s eyes.  Doing it really well brings that wow factor which is the best marketing in the world.

Mmm perhaps I’ll retrain as a plumber!

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Recently the comments thrown up by Akismet are more complimentary.  They have been along the lines of “This is a very interesting post, please write more” or “This is a long and worthwhile post. I look forward to reading your next one.”  or simply “Please write more”.

Am I flattered?

Of course!

Do I want to believe they are genuine?

Yes.

Do I actually think they are genuine?

No.. although some may be, and I don’t delete them all.

Recently I read a blog post by Michel Fortin the well-known copy-writer where he talks about instigating a zero tolerance approach to Fake Friendly Comments.  As a well-known authority he receives a lot of genuine comments, and an enormous amount of spam comments which recently have been dressed up as compliments.

Now, thinking about it some more I realise when you first start out to comment on someone else’s blog it is in fact quite difficult to know what to say.  You don’t know how the blog writer will respond, and as a normal good natured human you do want to spread good around the world. And despite everything that goes on via the internet, most people are good natured!

So writing a complimentary sentence or two is a natural first step.  After all you wouldn’t force your way into some else’s house unless invited in, and caution is an appropriate response.

So the spam writers have been clever. They have in fact caught what happens in real life.. where people do make vague compliments about each other.  Whether you are writing or receiving a comment on a blog or getting comments that value your business the easiest ones to write are generally non-specific and broadly complimentary. eg

” I have worked with ABC company for years and they are very good.”

“I would recommend John Smith highly.”

“XYZ company are my first choice”

This is the sort of thing people say in real life.  Very often they are the types of comment that my clients think will look good on their website.  They may have tried to get something more substantial from their clients, but they have waited a long time.  The trouble is these comments don’t look real .. even if they are .. and – even worse – they are not interesting to read.

There are no details, no rough edges, no interesting snippets that bring in some life.  Nothing about WHO the writer is, HOW the company has helped, WHAT has changed – with real figures, or real results,  WHEN it all took place, or indeed WHY there was a problem at all.

Once some of these details are written down, the vaguely complimentary comment becomes a great deal more lively.  It is more interesting to read, and becomes of use to the prospective buyer.

“ABC’s financial knowledge has helped us increase profitability by 12% each of the 5 years we have been in business.”

“John Smith’s design work has allowed us to bring in bigger target customers and position the company more confidently in our sector.”

XYZ have consistently cleaned our offices to a high standard.  We have moved to larger premises in Anytown a number of times and they are the number one company we call each time.”

In fact it may be quite a relief to just tell the truth and not have to be complimentary at all!

So too with blogs.  While a warm tone is of course preferable as the conversation is more interactive, responding to the meat of the blog post is preferable to a vaguely complimentary sentence.

It also means that your comment looks more authentic and is less likely to be deleted as spam.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

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