Category: Free Access

In this month’s Grab Bag webinar Ben and Clare dive into the do’s and don’ts of how to source and use images online.

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Ben and Clare are joined by Dave Hargest (Selmach Machinery) and Jack McCaughtrie (Core Tree) to discuss the impact AI chatbots are already having on marketing.

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We open the club and invite two guest members Barnaby Tompkins (Coltswold Hound) and Alison Creighton (Doodle Dogs) to have a website & marketing review where we will share SEO tips, content ideas and different ways they can draw more traffic to their website.

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Ben and Clare are put in the hot seat as they answer SEO Marketing questions! From findiing out how to find your Keywords to trying out Open AI to generate website content.

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For the final IMC episode of this year we thought we would do something a bit different and hosted a live festive quiz show down. Join us and five of our members as they battle through our general knowledge, creative and interative activities to win a tasty prize…

We open the club and invite two guest members to have a website & marketing review where we will share SEO tips, content ideas and different ways they can draw more traffic to their website.

This is a fantastic session where you can sit in the wings and glean ideas for your own website! This month we are joined by Jo Biggadike (The Ambling Press Printmaker) and Ruth Twiggs & Jon Parsons (The Cotswold Cabin Company)

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We were joined by Paige NeJame who shared the journey behind, The Carbon Almanac. This book provides a powerful tool to help us create change, right here and right now and be greener with our marketing. When it comes to the climate, we don’t need more marketing or anxiety. We need established facts and a plan for collective action.

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Ben and Clare go through the grab bag questions from customers focused around planning looking at where you should start with your marketing, how to work out your marketing budget and different ways to track your return on investment.

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During this weeks session we open the club and invite guest members Frank Szucs (Bauxit Painting & Decorating) and Holly Foskett-Barnes (Bristol Illustrator) to have a website review where we share SEO tips, content ideas and different ways to draw more traffic to their websites.

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This grab bag episode focused on marketing questions around blogging and content writing. We were joined by Catherine Every (Pippin Copywriting) who helped us tackle some of the questions we received.

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Ben is joined by Helen Davies (Citrus Web), to revisit a book they wrote back in 2014. Be Sociable brought together marketing strategy and social media concepts based on their own unique experience. In this episode they’ll be looking at what’s still relevant and where marketing has moved on to.

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During this weeks session we open the club and invite guest member; Italian Interior Designer Marta Rossarta to have a website review where we will share SEO tips, content ideas and different ways she can draw more traffic to her website.

This is a fantastic session where you can sit in the wings and glean ideas for your own website!

During this week’s webinar we will be joined by Claire Walmsley-Moss who will help us find ways to make our business marketing more environmentally friendly and sustainable. No ‘greenwashing’ here!

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Ben is joined by guest Copywriter, Catherine Every (Hello Pippin) to discuss how to review your blog to find the best-performing articles and which ones need cutting away.

Notes

Guest Copywriter, Catherine Every (Hello Pippin)

What is a blog review and why do we do one?

• Remove thin content / consolidate articles 
• Aim: to focuson content quality, improve search visibility, build traffic 

Casestudy
Communion Architects www. communionarchitects.com 
They have built up a lot of posts over 8 years some with good traffic but could be improved.

Collecting the data

• Collect data over a full two year period 
• Export article pages from WordPress 
• Marry up article pages, GA, GSC data into Google sheet Compare which pages most visited from search 
• Find low performing pages and review

Blog Review

• Start with the low performers (<10 visits) 
• Then tackle pages with >50 unique visits 
• Make notes on pages actions to take

Review Process

• September 2019 and January 2020 
• Review all posts, make notes 
• Start with the easy stuff: delete or fix broken links, images 
• Combine posts: Read, outline new content, collate, rewrite 
• Review in a day or with Alex (client) 
• Key challenges

Review Checklist

• Can content be deleted and redirected? 
• Can content be merged with other articles? 
• Should the article be split up and extended? 
• Can URL, title be improved? Keywords added 
• Can content be improved 
• Is it in the correct category? 
• Any missing images or broken links? 
• Can any relevant images or videos be added? 
• Does it have a link to a landing page? 
• Are there any content gaps?

Tidying Up

• Site audit to make sure everything works 
• All deleted posts are redirected to new ones 
• All internal links point to new articles 
• Note content ideas for future articles
• Be careful not to change URLs for key pages

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I’m joined by Jack Nelson (Photographer) to discuss why great photography is crucial to show your property in the best light.

Notes

The importance of great photography

• Why is it worth the time and money?
• Examples: Exterior Croome Court, Interior Croome Court & Heath Town

Get the lighting right

Examples: Kensington Palace & 3D Render image comparison

Staging

• Interior or exterior
• Make sure everything is neat and tidy
• Image examples: Airbnb Slide 17 & Airbnb Slide 18
• Light and bright  
• Dark and Dull  
• Trace of life

Video walkthrough

• Drone or Handheld
• Understand the layout and flow better than photos
• 3D Experiences

3D Experiences

Matter Port

• User lead, Immersive, Fun
• System to capture and display 3D Photography Visitors explore in their own time
• Ideal for estate agents, also great for holiday lets and shops 
• Make your own Matterport 3D on iPhone
• Matterport demo on https://bengoughproperty.com

Augmented Reality (AR)

• Move freely within 3D space View products in situ 
• Communion AR example and commentary video
• www.apple.com/augmented-reality/

Ben shares his website design process from planning to going live as well as reviewing some of the most popular website platforms to chose from.

Notes

My Process

• Series of calls
• Client and dev team working together 
• Planning > Content > Design > Go Live > Review Iterative design
• Objectives – What must the site do?
• Audience – What do they need? How the website will help? Competitors – What are they doing well?
• Site plan – Main landing and supporting pages + other content ideas 
• Add everything to a Project Plan

See my full Website project checklist

Project Plan

• What are your website’s objectives?
• Vision – What do you want to be known for? 
• Outcomes -Downloads, sales, signups etc
• What content needs to be on the site 
• Sites or styles your customers like 
• Deadlines and dates

More information on What to think about when planning your website

Audience

Watch #11 Understanding your customer

Competition review

• Search as your customer
• Review the top three results
• What do you like? What are they doing well? What can you do 10x better?
• Placement and use of keywords
• Outline site plan 
• Landing page based on keywords 

Content Gathering

• Focus on content, not design
• Wireframe – Copy site plan into real pages on dev website SEO
• Identify keywords people use when looking for a product 
• Review existing content – What to keep, discard or made new

 “If you create a page on a keyword that is 10x better than the pages being shown in search results (for that keyword), Google will reward you for it, and better yet, you’ll naturally get people linking to it!”

Check out Moz.com for a Beginners Guide to SEO

• Start with the snippet
• Write title and description – This is the first thing people will see 

Landing page SEO

Watch #6 SEO Strategy
Watch #16: Improve landing page SEO
More information on Creating and supplying content for your new website

Design & Build

• Confirm pages / page elements
• Refine content on each page to best enable a visitors objective.
•  Add supporting content. Such as FAQs, PDFs or blog articles 
• Review the internal linking structure
• Design around content to help it stand out (where it needs to)

Landing page

• Titles and Headings include keywords.
• Use a variety of content: headings, lists, images, tables Include keyword variations in the content
• All related supporting pages link to LP
• Use FAQ and other schema markups
• Include social proof
• Include Call To Action: Signup, buy, download

Supporting pages

• Help someone, add value
• Questions you get asked a lot
• FAQ Misconceptions people have of your industry 
• Mistakes people make
• Things you wish more of your clients knew 
• Provide insight into you and your business 
• Customer interviews and case studies – 
• Testimonials Benefits of your product
• Link back to LPs in the first paragraph

Images and video

• Increase time on page
• Helps people scan content
• People more likely to read if the text is broken up with video and images

 Watch #8 Image Editing to learn some key skills

Go Live (before)

• Test site on different browsers and devices
• Test all contact forms, checkout process, downloads Review site plugins and extensions
• Make migration plan – Set up page redirects Check for missing pages or page errors

Go Live (after)

• Add SSL certificate
• Check for missing pages and issues (again)
• Verify site on Google Search Console (GSC) and add XML sitemap 
• Add Google Analytics (GA) tracking code
• Test GA code is collecting data

Watch #7 Google Analytics for a primer
Watch #17: Google Search Console (GSC) walkthrough

Review

• Review of the site against objectives
• Review GSC to make sure there are no errors
• Improvements and future ideas

Website CMS (Content Management System)

Ways to make a website
Help keep up to date Balance of price / complexity

WordPress

Shows the dominance of WordPress that it is still growing
https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/

• Has an active community and developers 
• Can get started for free on WordPress.com 
• Completely flexible when self-managed Lots of plugins such as ecommerce 
• Best control over SEO
• Two options: Managed (like Wix or Squarespace) or Self Hosted
•  New layout editor

Wix

• Quick to set up with simple questions
• Lots of templates
• Setup process helps refine 
• Simple blocks & prompts help write content 
• Additional apps for appointments and ecommerce

Weebly

• The platform I have the least experience with Plenty of themes
• Design editor allows too much freedom 
• Free account available

Squarespace

• Lots of control over design Interface can be a little fiddly at first Ecommerce quite basic
• Can adjust template code

Shopify

• Used by 18% of ecommerce websites 
• Simple setup, ecommerce focused 
• Customisable templates
• Has a point of sale app
• Simple editor but very quick
• Geeks can dive into template code 
• We make our mini projects shop in it
•  Easy to manage products, even from app

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In this episode Ben talks you through how to use GSC (Google Search Console) to find your website Google rank and page errors.

Notes

What is Google Search Console (GSC)

Tool that shows data from Google Search Understand how people find you online What keywords get the most clicks Identify problems on your site

Setup and verify

• Domain or specific URL
• Example mydomain.com for Domain or https://mydomain.com for URL
• Prefer verifying with GA

Overview

At a glance look to make sure there are no issues

Performance

• Compare traffic you are getting with clicks
• Impressions are times snippet show in search results
• Clicks are when people clicked through to website
• Queries are the search terms people use

Identify traffic issues

• Filter on blogs
• View traffic to pages. Why lots of impressions but not many clicks
• Click URL to filter on specific URL and view queries
• View average position, are things headed in right direction
• View page snippet and page content, do they make sense

SERPS

• What search engine ranking position you are for certain keywords (Add new query)
• Add new query for ‘marketing club’
• Just started optimising. Starting to get impressions but lacking clicks
• View page snippet and page content, do they make sense

URL inspection

• Make sure a page is indexed and if not expedite indexing
• Adding or refreshing a sitemap can also force Google to index your site again sooner that it would otherwise
• Check snippets work

Coverage

• Start with errors first
• Next any pages that are blocked from index
• Email domain believed to be from client’s posting email link on website
• If issues fixed you can re-verify

Excluded pages

* Why are they indexed? Are they linked on your site?
* How to find links that appear on your website site:ratherinventive.com “email.ratherinventive.com”
* This year we changed over the site. Found lots of old URLs still in Google index and have setup redirects to new pages
* Yoast also had an issue where it made all image into pages

Sitemaps

• Add sitemaps to make sure google indexes all your pages
• Also helps highlight if there are pages in the sitemap aren’t indexed
• On WordPress Yoast SEO plugin makes sitemap Yoast > General > Features > XML Sitemaps (click question mark), then see the sitemap

Removals

• Useful if you must have a page removed from the index
• Temporary measure. Make sure the actual content has been removed, marked as 404 or no-indexed

Enhancements

• Mobile had an issues, fixed it and asked to ‘Validate Fix’
• Make sure no issues with bad or missing structured data
• Recommend listening to interview with Duene Forester on structure data and why you should use it https://ratherinventive.com/blog/duane-forrester-yexts-vp-industry-insights/

Manual Actions

Make sure there are no penalties against your site

Links & Settings

• Interesting to see what domains are linking to you
• Add other users. Only give full permission if they really need it

Connect Google Analytics (GA) to GSC

Allows you to view the search data and landing pages in GA

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Ben shares how to improve landing page SEO by optimising a specific page of your website to rank higher on Google.

Notes

Improve landing page SEO

Optimising a specific page of your website to rank higher on Google 

What is On page SEO?

Work on your site to improve SERP (Search Engine Ranking Position)
All in your control (website platform dependant) Watch session #6 for general SEO Strategy.

Selmach Case Study
Sell high value metal working machinery a Competitor was starting to win business and their Laser landing page was not ranking in Google results.

The Method

Competitor Analysis | Make Changes to Page | Measure Result 

Step 1: Competitor analysis

Compare the Competition’s SEO to our page Keyword Correlation Report and interpret the findings into action.

Process 

• Group call – Client, SEO, Web dev
• Review the report – Needed interpreting
• Decide on easy wins
• Basecamp to assign actions 

Observations 

• Category Landing Page (LP) not in 100 SERPs
• Title tag not using optimised keyword
• Poor/few internal links
• No external links to landing page 
• Increase word count to over 1400 per page
• Add keyword or variations into content more 
• Use variety of content: Lists, images, tables 
• Use schema markup
• Page not in index. Yoast issue 

Step 2: Make Changes  

•  Made observation changes to the landing page. 
•  Add links from other pages.
•  Create the ultimate guide 

What we did 

•  Add keyword to heading: CNC Fibre Laser 
•  Optimise meta description. Not too long and include keywords 
•  Added product info, testimonials, FAQs, images, comparisons 
•  Add keyword variations into content 
•  Added FAQ schema markup 
•  Add links from related news articles back to LP 
•  Another review to check progress 

Step 3: Measure & Tweak 

• Measure SERP (Search Engine Ranking Position) Content update took one month
• After two months jumped to #3
• Then to #1 one month later 

What is a Keyword correlation report?

Comparison of your page against competitor pages based on keywords you want to rank for.

On page SEO tips 

• Title, Meta Description and Heading must include keyword 
• Great the ultimate guide. 10x better than competitors 
• Use variety of content such as headings, lists, images, tables 
• Include keyword variations in the content 
• Make sure all related blog, product and supporting pages link to LP 
• Build external links from other websites to the LP 
• Use FAQ and other schema markup 
• Check in GSC that page is indexed!!! 
  

Helpful Links

• Why Use Schema, Duane Forrester shares some helpful insights on a previous podcast interview.
• Mark up your FAQs with structured data
• Comprehensive website SEO report to improve your search position and ranking against competitors.
• Book your Super-Correlation Keyword SEO Report for focused optimisation on your landing pages

Ben shares everything we do to create our Rather Inventive podcast, including lessons learnt, stats and helpful tools.

Notes

What is a podcast?

• On-demand radio show
• Daily, weekly, monthly
• In a series
• Generally audio only

• Over 550,000 on Apple Podcasts in more than 100 languages (June 2018)
• 49% people listen at home
• Podcast listeners are loyal and affluent
• 81% of people take action as a result of listening to a podcast

Sources
https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/
https://rainnews.com/spotify-shares-podcast-stats-and-advertising-examples/

Why did we start a podcast?

• Used to record radio shows on tape recorder
• Chatted with Al regularly, good to share
• Great opportunity to meet people
• Wanted to learn

If you’ve not subscribed to the podcast please do at https://ratherinventive.com/podcast/

• April 1st 2014 First show with Nick Van der Walle
• November 2018 – First video podcast
• December 2018 – Moved entire podcast to video
• October 2019 – Interview with Nick again!
• March 2020 – Latest podcast with a magician

Over 90 recordings!

Format

‘Two guys chatting’
Interview show
Reporter / NPR
One voice

Our process

Prep

Structure has evolved
Show notes
List out questions
Practice your start and ending
Script for Podcast running order (template)

Guests

It started with an interview
Interview people that inspire you or youraudiencee
Scheduling – Doodle, Calendly
Script for Inviting a guest onto your podcast/vlog (template)

Recording

Audacity, Quicktime
Zoom, Demio
iPhone (front and back cameras)
External microphone – reducing echo (I use Shure MV5)

Editing

We edit for audio consistency
Audio only – Fission, Quicktime, Audacity
Video – iMovie, Final Cut, Adobe Premier, Shotcut
Music – Intro, background music, Envato Elements (£13/mo, Free account 12 free files/month)

Publishing

Titles – Informative / funny
Graphics – Find the smile
YouTube (free), SoundCloud (£125/yr) / Libsyn (£52/yr)

Sharing

Share on Twitter and LinkedIn. I prefer LinkedIn
Better to share direct link to video/media or teaser clip
Tag in any guests. Share link by email

Sponsorship

How to ask. Pitch an idea Insert or live read Industry standard CPM £10-20
Charge what you think it is worth
Script for Asking for sponsorship (template)
Starting something newTakes a lot of effort and planning
Want to focus on RI, not just guests
Build up IMC
Marketing currently too diverse
Re-use current material

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Need some Video help?

Learn why you should start asking for video testimonials. I share my tips on filming & editing including my recommendations on which software to use.

Notes

Why you should start asking for video testimonials

• Helping people make a decision
• Adding value
• Educating potential customer

Stats

• 92% of customers read online reviews before buying
• 70% of people trust reviews from strangers
• Customer reviews create 74% increase in product conversion.
• Videos trigger emotions. We mirror people
• Video has a higher retention rate compared to text Videos are easier to share

How to ask for a video testimonial

‘Can you do me a favour’
Opportunity for customers to get involved

View full list of email templates

Interview formats

Formal Interview

• Traditional / professional
• Interviewer behind camera or facing each other
• Considered response
• Take longer to organise and film

Quick ‘Vox Pop’

• Casual, more authentic
• Capture opinion and emotion
• Quick to film and request
• Risky for live broadcasts, if unplanned

Video Conference

• Easier to schedule, less travel
• People feel more comfortable in own environment
• Difficult to control audio/visual quality – Internet speed!
• Limited camera angles

Selfie

• Authentic / intimate
• Easy to request and schedule
• Mostly concise. Ask one question
• Rely on technical ability of customer
• Easier for people to say no. Incentivise?

Questions to ask

• Impart trust and proof of your service
• Get a testimonial
• Share something secret or a tip

Questions to ask

‘What’s your name and who do you work for’

‘What do you do and how do you/your company help people’

‘What’s one thing you do that people remark on or enjoy’

‘What one area have [insert company] helped you in your business’

‘If you were to recommend [insert company] to a friend or colleague, what would you say?’

Sample questions you can use for your own interviews

Tips for filming, editing and publishing great video
Filming. Audio first, then lighting

• Use external mic, close to mouth. Get rid of external noises. Soft room
• Outside or face a window. Turn on all lights. Not backlit
• Turn camera on early, avoid starting. Practice run
• Sit dow to relax and prevent moving in the shot. Table in front for protection Be positive and be relaxed. People will echo this
• Allow time, don’t rush. Remove distractions and pressure

Live or recorded?

• Shared immediately
• Cannot correct or fix
• Make sure to warm people up Record ‘as live’

Cut aways

• Filming extra footage ‘B roll’
• Buildings, products, people milling (soft focus)
• Get more than you think you need
• Use another camera for alternate angles

Editing. Story is key

• Jump cuts or hidden edits
• Make notes of good takes.
• Use mini whiteboard
• Start with the best interview clips
• Edit out dupes, cough, ems etc Remove waffle

Hiding edits

• Two camera angles
• Behind interviewee’s head
• Noddy shots of interviewer
• Cut away shots that relate to conversation

Publishing

• YouTube / Vimeo
• Create your own Thumbnail. Optimise for smiles
• Embed on blog post or client page
• Add mini text transcript to video or add to blog
• Title for SEO so people can find e.g. ‘Avigilon camera review’

The kit Ben uses

• iPhone 7. iPhone 11 has better cameras
• Shure MV5 mic. Tie clips would be better for formal interviews
• Clips on iPhone for quick social posts
• iMovie or Final cut for formal edits (macOS / iPhone)
• Manfrotto tripod.
• Joby iPhone mount
• Mini whiteboard (new idea)

Ben shares his thoughts on how to make better use of your time so that you feel more in control of your workload.

Notes

Productivity books / Concepts / Workflows etc

So much info out there but much of it is fluff

Getting Things Done (GTD)

• Ben’s first productivity book
• Capture actions in a trusted system
• Do the small things first

Capture everything

• Note down ideas, actions and thoughts in a trusted place.
• Use Apple Notes, small memo book
• Helps stop your mind racing

Process your inbox(s)

• Clear to zero – Paper inbox, capture system, email Do, Delegate, Delete – Don’t skip anything
• Process your inbox each day
• Set aside time in the calendar

Is it actionable?
Yes: Do, Delegate or Defer
No: Delete, Incubate, Reference

Weekly review

• Collect your thoughts
• Note down in trusted capture system

GTD Podcast

Really interesting podcast, even if you don’t do GTD https://gettingthingsdone.com/category/podcast-2/

Working with email

• Archive emails, don’t file them
• Search when you need them
• Use a clear subject line, so you can find it later
• Only include people that need to see it Filter email (if you can)

Default diary

• Block out regular time
• Share with your team / partner

Don’t let time be stolen from you

• Keep meetings short / request short meetings
• Turn off notifications
• Plan time for social media etc

Don’t write it twice

• Think like a lazy programmer
• Save time
• Reduce mistakes

No excuses

• Get on with it
• Take responsibility
• Just start

Be above the line. Accountability not Blame
Idea from ActionCoach
Helps to prevent procrastination

Exercise

30-60 minutes a day. Walking is fine
Get access to light
Get 7-8 hours sleep (or as much as you need)

Free audio books

Free copies of my fav
Audible books Ping me if you want me to gift you a copy

In this Google My Business walkthrough Ben covers everything from claiming your listing, setting the correct categories to optimising for SEO

Notes

Why use Google My Business (GMB)

• Only way to get into the local pack
• Small factor (<9%) in regular SEO
• Get a knowledge panel Collect reviews
• Control of your map listing – Anyone with a Google account could: suggest an edit, post photos, ask awkward questions

Screen-share of Google My businessCreating/claiming a listing

• Check in maps to see if listing already exists https://www.google.com/maps
• If not then start creating https://business.google.com/create

Getting your profile info order https://business.google.com/dashboard/l/11925252192446860058

• Title – Your company name plus keywords if they read well
• Categories – Help ranking. First category is the most important as visible on profile
• Location – Add address if customer come to you e.g. shop, office. Get the map pin right e.g. 7 Stirling Works, Love Ln, Cirencester GL7 1YG
• or Services areas (max 20) if you travel to customers
• Opening hours
• Special hours  – eg xmas day
• Phone number – Could use a special number to track calls from listing
• Google Ads phone
• Shortname – Create a shortlink to your map page e.g. https://g.page/rather-inventive-marketing. Doesn’t work for all categories
• Links – Web, Appointment ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=gmb_listing
• Highlights – Google will recommend ones you can add e.g Sink Green
• Description – Does not impact on rank, could help conversions. Show what you can do and how you help

Add Products / Services

• Recent updates to this as now split into categories, worth reviewing
• May have products instead (dependant on category)

Add Photos and videos

Photos

• Anything that showcases your business
• Identity – Business logo, cover image, etc
• Team – your team in action, around the office, etc
• If you category allows: 360, Inside and out of office or store

Videos

• A welcome video or tour of the store
• Why your company stands out versus the competition
• The company mission, and goals.
• An inside look at daily operations and customer interactions
• Customer testimonials
• Owner, employees, or customers interviews
• Answer FAQs

Posts

1. What’s New – Limited to seven days, can be up to 1000 words. General updates, blog posts, customer showcase
2. Events – Promote an event you are hosting, involved in, or supporting. All events require a title, start & end dates, and time. Add a description and details too.
3. Offers: If you are having any promotions, sales, or coupons, you can use this post type to showcase them. Like events, offers also require titles, start & end dates, and time-frame. The “View offer” CTA is automatically added.

Questions & answers

• Make sure to monitor, I don’t always get emails
• Create your own FAQs
• Perhaps ask clients to seed the questions for you?

Reviews

• Getting reviews. Watch IMC #5 How to get Five Star Reviews
• Respond to all reviews – If negative don’t take personally https://business.google.com/reviews/l/11925252192446860058?hl=en
• SayHola – Make sure to add in your Google map page https://sayhola.co/. Find entry in google maps, copy url after ‘https://www.google.com/maps/place/’ and add in Google Maps URL field

Other tips

• If have duplicate listings, incorrect details. Get someone else to ‘Suggest an Edit’ very powerful way of correcting mistakes
• Call tracking on website – Change phone number depending on website source. Speak with Ben if you’d like to implement this
• Add extra users – For marketing team or in case you lose access

Apple maps connect

• Make sure you’re listed with correct address 
• Start here https://mapsconnect.apple.com

Learn how to better understand your customer and fulfil your customers needs with more targeted products

Notes

Two ways to address a customer need

• Solve a problem
• Support the life goal

Solve a problem

• Hungry – Need food
• Back pain – Take medication
• 10mm hole – Need a drill / laser cutter / punch
• More social engagement – Need interesting posts / followers / video

Support a life goal

Move someone from where they are to where they want to be

Jobs To Be Done
‘…your efforts should focus on helping them make that change. Ideally the consumers wouldn’t have to do any work.’

• Not to be hungry – Food
• Be fit and health – Medication / Diet / Exercise / Physio
• Sell more widgets with holes Tools / Contractor / Automation
• More leads – Focused sales strategy / Sales team / Outsource

‘When we buy a product, we essentially “hire” it to help us do a job. If it does the job well, the next time we’re confronted with the same job, we tend to hire that product again. And if it does a crummy job, we “fire” it and look for an alternative.’

Question: Why do customers hire you?
Why do people hire the IMC?

Build a customer profile

Start simply, add detail as you learn more

Describe your customer in five words Good place to start
Here’s Ben’s: Passionate Professional, Mac user, 40

Download Persona sheet blank.pdf to help build you customer profile

Customer / product fit

What are your customers goals?
How your product helps achieve these goals?

Customer Goal / Product Aim

• Lose weight / Simple diet
• Feel healthier / Exercise plan 
• Meet new friends / Group meet-ups

Other considerations

Awareness

• How do customers describe the product?
• Where do they look for recommendation?
• How can we reach them?
• What’s your backstory?
• Why should they care?

Consideration

• What do they know already?
• How will they compare us?
• How long will this process take?
• What questions can you help answer?

Decision

• What do they need to know to make a decision? Price, delivery, returns…
• Who will make the decision?
• How do they buy from us?
• And how can we make this easy?

Paradox of choice

We’re addicted to choice
Broadly seen as a good thing
Taken to extremes

Search waitrose.com for “cheese”
564 results found
136 Cheddar products (was 108!)
Choose from Mild, Medium, Farmhouse, Mature, Extra Mature & Vintage (10 products)
Most expensive, No.1 Rollright £29.50/kg

What if I made the wrong choice
Missed a better option
Able to research options endlessly, the internet makes things harder

How do we cope with choice?
Dozens of sizes, prices and features
Opinions from friends, magazines, podcasts
Mental energy to make informed decision
Decision overload

End up differentiating on price
Why we think choice is a good but actually it paralyses us

Restaurants are the worst
Large menu plus specials board
First 10 minutes not deciding
After meal – unlimited coffee choices!
Decisions left un-made by the designer (chef)
We need to make decisions for our customers
Reduce choice and anxiety Increase the throughput

Thali Restaurant
Vegetarian curry house – Bristol
2 set meal times, 2 set menus, one fixed price
Make it easy for me, keep it simple

Use choice to your advantage
Experiment with 2 beers, 80% chose most expensive, 20% least expensive
Add 3rd option, 80% chose middle, 20% choose expensive
No one bought the cheapest – Have 3 options

“seeking the perfect choice is not only a recipe for misery but more than likely does not actually exist.” – Barry Schwartz from book “Paradox of choice”

There is no perfect choice. Don’t beat yourself up about it

No decision is the worst decision
Why we think choice is a good thing but actually it paralyses us

Getting feedback

Helps to understand the customer better and deepens customer relationship

Learn to talk you customers language

Use testimonial text in your copy
Reflect language back in conversation
Use to improve customer persona

Bring your customers closer

A positive review reinforces your opinion of a company
More likely to refer to others

Sign up for a free SayHola account https://sayhola.co

Resources

• What is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) https://jtbd.info/2-what-is-jobs-to-be-done-jtbd-796b82081cca
• Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be– done
• The Critical Path EP156, A JTBD interview http://5by5.tv/criticalpath/146

In this episode Ben walks your through how to use WordPress, from logging in to posting your first blog article.

Notes

Why WordPress?

Can get started for free on WordPress.com
Completely flexible when self managed
Lots of plugins such as woocommerce.com for commerce stores
Best control over SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Powers over 30% of the worlds websites
Used by the biggest companies in the world: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, BBC America, Sony, Disney, Playstation, Facebook
Has active community and developers

Screen-share and demo of self hosted WordPress
Log in

1. Go to /wp-admin
2. Use forgotten password

Dashboard

1. Quick tour of key features
2. Check time location

Add pages

1. Create Home page
2. Add dummy content
3. Make sub title H2
4. Add an image. Name image ‘John Doe accountant profile’
5. Link up CTA (Call To Action)
6. Publish
3. Add other pages About, Blog and Contact
4. Show page permalink

Customise

1. Change Title ‘Yellow Jumper Accountants’ and Strapline ‘Xero and Quickbooks specialists’
2. Select logo
3. Add Main menu and add Home, About, Blog and Contact
4. Remove widgets Comments, Archives, Meta, Categories

Add video

1. Add some media to the About page
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of9809TALDE

Add blog

1. Add a new blog post with image
2. Rename uncategorised as ‘News’
3. Create new category ‘Tax’

Other stuff

Media library
Adding a new user
Changing your password
Adding a contact form contact page
Search optimisation of a page with Yoast SEO

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Developing a blog content strategy to get found online.

Notes

What is a blog?

• A page on your website that is updated regularly Company News
• Helpful information
• “Your business diary”

What is a blog for?

Insight into your business Passive helpdesk Credibility / Influence Search optimisation

Why should we write one?

• Get more leads
• Educate our customers
• Improve SEO to key product pages 
• Support sales / tech support

Who will read it?

• Who you are writing for?
• Think of your best customers
• Pay well, friendly, good referrers
• Understand what they like

Three types of content

• Helpful – long lasting and specific
• Topical – relevant but short lived
• Product (or service) – sales content

Content type examples

• Helpful (about them)
• How to file VAT return
• How to plan your business cashflow
• How should I price my services?

Topical (about them)

What does Auto Enrolment mean for me?
What is IR35 and how will I know if it affects me?

Product (about you)

Do I need an accountant?
Benefits of cloud accounting with Xero

Topic ideas

• Questions that clients ask Hints and tips
• How to
• Clever ideas
• Insider info / secrets
• What makes you different?
• Something you want to learn or be better at

Use answerthepublic.com to get topic ideas

Content checklist

• Is it based around a relevant topic?
• Am I adding value?
• Do people desire to see it?
• Will they share it?

Focus keywords and SEO

Build a keyword list
Use Google Trends for simple comparison or Google Keyword Planner for detail
Add keywords to the blog title and copy

• (most important areas of on page SEO)
• Title
• URL
• Heading 1
• Keyword research
•  Use Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin in WordPress to edit on page SEO

Blog styles

Example style and formats

daringfireball.net (simple design, linear format)
loudandclearaccounting.co.uk/blog (linear format with images)
ratherinventive.com/blog/ (blogs in two columns)
hellopippin.co.uk/copywriting-blog/ (main/popular blogs high-lighted)
communionarchitects.com/articles/ (broken into categories with popular blogs)

Writing tips

Allocate time

Create a regular event in your diary
Find a place that removes distractions
Make a routine, start small

Keep it focused

Write for your audience
Write the snippet first
Read around the subject

Ask for action

Email signup
Find out more
Buy related product
Get in contact for help

Images and video

Increases page views
Helps people scan content
More visible in a social feeds
People more likely to read
(Make sure you check the image license, can you use it for business?)

pexels.com / pixabay.com (free image library)
giphy.com (animated images, mainly silly)
selmach.com/news/going-the-extra…tooling/ (example of video in post)