Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

In this episode Ben is joined by Tess Coughlan-Allen, Marketing Manager at Mind Doodle to talk about content planning, mind mapping and minidoodle.com.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

In this episode Ben interviews several members of Witley Jones a UK based manufacture bespoke furniture primarily for the education market.

It’s a family business that’s been going for over 20 years and he wanted to find out how it started, how it differs from a regular business and how they are managing succession.

You’ll be hearing from Chris & Jane Jones (dad, mum, and the original entrepreneurs), Matt Jones (director and eventual successor), Lucy Jones (who manages finance) and Simon Downes (current managing director) in that order.

This interview is a slightly different style from normal which we hope you’ll enjoy.

Episode sponsored by our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

Ben Kinnaird, Clare Harris and Al Osmond chat about their favourite bits from tech conference WXG7 (Web Expo Guildford)

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

On this episode Ben talks to Shayna Rattler, a leading expert in corporate sponsorship and influencer marketing.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

Ben is joined by Elliot Richmond who runs the local (Cheltenham) WordPress Meetup group. They discuss, WordPress, meetups and the importance of community. If you want to dip into WordPress meet-ups are the best way to meet local developers, designers and businesses who use it.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

Ben speaks with Richard Bell and Elliot Richmond (both members of the WordPress Cheltenham Meetup) on their highlights from the first day of the most excellent WordCamp Bristol 2019.

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Ben talks to Tom Ross, the founder of DesignCuts.com (and fellow podcaster) about creativity within marketing and how he balances building a community of contributors whilst marketing to customers.

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

• Tom Ross
• Design Cuts

Image Credit: Tom Ross portrait. Banner Image Credit: Image of Tom Ross sat in a meeting.

Ben is joined by Sarah Dixon who shares what you need to have in place to ensure your website is legal, image libraries and copyright.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

[podcast_options]

Show notes

• Inventive People – outsourcing work
• Sarah Dixon Contract Store
• Spider Creative
• Free Image Libraries: Flickr, Pexels, Pixabay, Elements
• German Protest to bring down Article 13
• Blog: Being authentic on LinkedIn with Alex Galviz
• Blog: How to captivate your audience
• Gingerbread milk stout and Elvis juice (Mac and Forth Podcast)
• SayHola Feedback

Edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Pexel.

The last time I took my boys to the local go-cart race track they had a great time.

Me, not so much. It was rather chilly in the old aircraft-hangar, and I would have welcomed a warming decaf cappuccino. And the husband is always a sucker for a bacon sandwich.

Avoid the barest minimum service

Alas, all they had in the way of coffee was weak, dirty-dishwater-coloured freeze-dried stuff that was offered with a kind of reluctance you might get from someone you’d just asked for money in the street. As for a bacon sandwich – from the looks of the kitchen facilities available, this was way beyond their capabilities and I cannot imagine the sort of look that would have warranted.

Now compare this scenario to another where, just like the go-cart place, the business owners have the benefit of a captive audience.

Give customers a reason to want to return

Jolly Nice, a farm shop in Frampton Mansell near Cirencester was set up in 2013 on the site of a disused petrol station. It began as an airstream trailer but because it responded to the demands of its customers, offering more and more reasons for them to return, they managed to turn their tiny business into a thriving enterprise.

Jolly Nice is now a collection of attractive wooden buildings and a couple of yurts and sells everything you’d expect from a farm shop and much more. It has a café selling decent coffee and hot food, a butcher shop, a deli and it offers plants and flowers for sale. It overlooks a lovely field with roaming rare breed sheep and shorthorn cattle. This truly is a business that delights its captive market, offering customers reasons to return. Indeed, all I need is the excuse for some sausages for dinner and I will make the 20-minute journey there to sit and relax in the cosy yurt or in the large spacious garden with a good coffee and a lovely home-made chocolate brownie. I will then peruse the plants before buying my meat.

Capitalise

The go-cart race track is missing a trick not capitalising on all the customers who frequent its business and offering them, at the very least, decent coffee and good food. With a little bit of care and attention, they could turn their visitors into loyal customers. They have the attraction – the go-cart race track – so why don’t they turn this into a successful enterprise by simply offering good quality refreshments and appealing to the parent market?

What can you offer your visitors and customers so they don’t need to go anywhere else? Whatever you’re selling, look for opportunities to make it a one-stop shop for everything to do with that product or service, and offer decent coffee if it’s appropriate  – this makes it a more delightful experience for the visitor, which means they’re less likely to go elsewhere to fulfil their needs.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

Ben catches-up with Alex Galviz, who is one of the top influences on LinkedIn in the UK. She has co-created an incredible global network of events called LinkedIn local and encourages people to communicate with authenticity.

This is a recommended listen if you want to up your game on LinkedIn.

Ben is joined by Jonathan Pollinger and they talk about the future social media, why it’s worth making predictions, JP’s rebrand and why Facebook is bloated and not very much fun to use.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

• Inventive People – outsourcing work
• Jonathan Pollinger Social Media Trainer
• Jonathan Pollinger Social Media Predictions 2017
• Google and Facebook’s Complete and Total Digital Ad Domination Explained in 1 Chart
• The FTC and Facebook Are Negotiating a Record, Multibillion-Dollar Fine for the Company’s Privacy Lapses
• Mark Zuckerberg Promised A Clear History Tool Almost A Year Ago. Where Is It?
• Marketing automation with Marcus Unemyr
• Rather Inventive Marketing Events 2019
• If Baguettes could move
• SayHola Feedback

The Hosts

Jonathan Pollinger (@pollingersocial) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Pexel.

Al and Ben discuss lessons learnt from their first webinar, how to check if your data has been hacked, gdpr fails and a look back at Al’s time with Rather Inventive before he embarks on a new adventure.

The sponsor for this episode is Inventive People. Get 20% off first order with the code INVENTIVEPODCAST.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

• Inventive People – outsourcing work
• Webinar IMC follow-up – You can join here
• Hacked Data
• Have I been pwned
• Recaptcha
• Why Captchas have got so difficult
• SayHola Feedback

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Pexel.

Ben chats with Magnus Unemyr on how implementing artificial intelligence and automated marketing can impact society and if done well, AI driven, marketing automation can not only propel sales but can and waste less time through more targeted interactions.

They also dip into the darker side of how big data can, and has been misused by companies in the recent past.

• Unemyr.com
• Linkedin
• Marketing automation course
• Data Driven Marketing with Automation Book

Image Credit: Magnus Unemyr portrait. Banner Image Credit: Image of Magnus Unemyr presenting a lecture.

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

In this interview Ben chats with Michelle Evans on how developing a marketing funnel can take your from simply surviving, to SOLD OUT.

Michelle takes us through the steps of developing a funnel from understanding your audience before jumping in to develop a funnel that will nurture more customers into working with you.

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

Al and Ben discuss the website trends to look out for this year and the impact of blanding branding. Ben shares Jonathon Pollinger’s social media predictions for 2019.

Sponsor: Inventive Marketing Club – Learn to build a better marketing strategy. Find out more

It is truly amazing what we can all achieve with a mobile phone camera but you need to be realistic. When it comes to producing stunning imagery for your business, it really is worth getting the professionals in.

We see so many hobbyist photographers who believe they are saving money by taking the photos themselves but in fact, it’s costing them in the long run.

A professional photographer provides experience, knowledge & creative flair

When you hire a professional photographer you are hiring someone who does photography for a living. They have a wealth of experience they can apply to any given situation and will strive to capture your vision. Photography is an art and it’s not at all as simple as point and shoot. They are thinking about their depth of field, lighting, angle, overall composition and scene to tailor the photography style to your industry. It takes years of practice to hone their skill and develop their creative flair to enable them to deliver breathtaking shots that enthusiasts can only dream of.

The skill is not only taking the original shot but also being able to adjust and edit the photos depending on your photo requirements. Whether the colours need to be punchier or the background needs enhancing, editing photos can take hours. To do it well takes experience, practice, and creativity usually on expensive software.

Customers can judge in an instant from the presentation of a product whether or not it is right for them. Using a professional photographer will only increase your chances of getting their attention and for the right reasons.

Investing in stock images could be an alternative answer

If hiring a professional photographer is currently beyond your means then consider investing in some stock images. There are many libraries online like EveryPixel, Adobe Stock and Flickr who provide a range of free and inexpensive images for all to use. Just remember if you opt for this, other people will also be using these images, maybe even your competitors so they won’t be unique to your business. If you want to stand out and have professional, unique images which represent your brand, then you have invested in a professional photographer.

It doesn’t have to be expensive

If you value how your business is perceived then invest. This doesn’t have to be overly expensive, many photographers will tailor a bespoke package to your needs and means. Or for ease if mind, you can always purchase an off the shelf deal so you know exactly what you can expect. On Inventive People we offer lots of options to enable us to meet our clients’ needs.

Image courtesy of Pexel

In this interview Ben managed to catch Dan Lewis from Free Agent 247 in-between meetings to chat about their free business model and how video plays an important part in their promotional strategy.

• • Dan Lewis – Founder of free-agent247
  • free-agent247.com
  • free-agent247 on instagram
  • Worcester Foregate Street Station
  • Michelle Morris – Natural Photography

Image Credit: Founder Dan Lewis, FreeAgent247. Banner Image Credit: Image of Dan Lewis sat in a chair reading.

Voice search on Alexa and Google, is an area we don’t have a complete grasp on yet, particularly optimising for it. So, Ben was keen to talk with Duane Forrester, VP of Industry Insights over at Yext.

We discuss why we should be using structured data on our website. How this impacts conventional SEO and why it matters for voice and augmented reality.

• • • Duane Forrester
    • Bing
    • Next
    • Mocca Master
    • Schema.org (Jointly operated by Google and Bing)
    • Structured Data (Trust Signal)
    • Amazon Echo Dot
    • Digital Knowledge Engineer job role
    • Ready Player One
    • Google Glasses
    • Augmented Reality
    • Yext.co.uk

Image Credit: Founder Duane Forrester. Banner Image Credit: Accounts icons on a mobile courtesy of Pexel

Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Android.

Al and Ben muse over some GDPR myths. Al shares his enlightened experience on meet-ups over in Bristol and we talk about outsourcing curtesy of Seth Godin.

Sponsor: Inventive Marketing Club – Learn to build a better marketing strategy. Find out more

What is Gutenberg?

It’s the new visual editor built directly into WordPress and replaces the standard content editor used on post and pages. It’s designed to give people more flexibility on how they layout content.

We’ve used tools such as Visual Composer to layout our customers’ web page content for the last few years but it’s nice to see that WordPress is embracing its own visual layout system going forward.

However, if you update your website to version 5 without understanding the consequences it could be cause for frustration.

You can find out more about Gutenberg directly on the WordPress blog.

Update: Checkout episode 40 of our podcast Working with WordPress Gutenberg, where I talk to Kimb Jones about the Gutenberg editor along with a demo of some of the rather handy features built into it.

Ok so what do I need to do?

We always recommend that people update to the latest version of WordPress to ensure they have the most reliable and secure version.

However, updating to version 5 will change the way you make content changes in the admin area and if you are using any page builder plugins such as Visual Composer, Elementor or Divi it may prevent these from working correctly.
If you’d like to update to the latest version of WordPress, but keep on working as you are without the Gutenberg editor, we recommend following these steps:

1. Backup your WordPress site files and Database
2. Download and install the Classic Editor plugin
3. Then update your WordPress core

If you run a mission critical website then we would recommend you make the updates on a development server first before rolling out on live just to make sure any incompatibilities are identified.

If you’re a customer on our WordPress Support hosting plan then we’ll manage the transition for you, if not get in touch as we’d be happy help.

Have any of you received a mysterious package from Google courtesy of Project Beacon?

A small device which self activates as soon as you open the box, feels slightly disconcerting as the simple instructions indicate it is already broadcasting to local phone traffic in your area. It’s enough to make your head spiral: To what means and to whose benefit? Does it comply with the new GDPR regulations, where is this information stored or analysed? Can I opt out of it? How do I switch if off? So many questions and so little information, so we decided it was time to dig a little deeper.

What is Project Beacon?

Our technology has become so ingrained within our daily lives our mobile phones are more like appendages and Google knows it. You can’t deny it, throughout the day we will all find ourselves on it at some point, whether it is to search for something, read a review, get directions and so on.

Google have developed a seemingly innocuous battery powered device, Project Beacon that makes location-based searching and interaction a little easier and more accurate.

The small, thumb sized column emits one way signals that are readable by nearby Bluetooth low energy devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Allowing your phone to better identify its location and to send or receive information which currently takes the form of targeted advertising, confirming arrival at a particular location and engagement.

How will using Project Beacon benefit your business?

This device could enable businesses to track how many handsets visited their store. This will help your business show up on individual personal maps, help filter out inaccurate reviews for people who have not even visited your business, help identify popular times and typical visit durations for the business.

A simpler way to say it is that with a beacon, your phone will now know exactly where you are, as opposed to guessing where you are.

However, this is not the first or last beacon device out there, there is already the Amazon Beacon, the Apple iBeacon,  among others which are all doing similar things among varying levels. There are also companies like Estimote who develop apps to help you interpret the data you are gathering. Here are some case studies of how some organisations have been getting on with them such as the Guggenheim in New York and FC Barcelona.

How to avoid a beacon

If you would rather not be party to a big brother state of having your personal technology track your every move then you must look at your own device settings and opt out of the Location Services.

Technically the Beacon device cannot be switched off without being taken part. However, if you would like to opt out you can send it back to Google free of charge.

Banner image courtesy of Pexel, Computer images courtesy of Estimote.

In this episode Al and Ben review their time at Bath Digital festival, Ben shares his experience of London Podcast festival including how to make dollars. Rounding off with a look at .UK domains.

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

• They Shall Not Grow Old viewers praise Peter Jackson’s WW1 film as a “masterpiece”
• Bath Digital Festival 2018
• Jim Morrison – Deep Blue Sky
• Ross – poet?
• Tessa and Stevie – Nobody Panic
• Izzy and Koby – How to build and monetise a blog?
• Squadhelp.com
• .UK domain names and you blog
• How to make your website visitors feel welcome blog
• The stickiness factor – How video will help your SEO ranking
• How to get feedback blog?

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Donalize – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Pexel.

Dean is an app developer who Ben met when he was invited on to the delightful Mac & Forth podcast.

Ben was particularly interested in Dean’s app Crystal, an iOS ad blocker that in many ways it actively works against the companies in an industry adjacent to ours, advertising. Although we see ourselves as the good guys when it comes to promotion.

Ben finds out how Dean started in app development, identified his very specific niche and got his app out to market.

• • Karl Madden
  • Mac and Forth Show
  • Decider App
  • Crystal Adblocker
  • Reddit
  • Crystalapp.co
  • @crystalapp
  • Murphyapps.co
  • @craftydeano
  • My Neighbour Totoro

Image Credit: Founder Dean Murphy. Banner Image Credit: Girl Holding Crystal Ball courtesy of Pexel

In this episode as well as giving you a round op of the days events we also feature an interview with Jim Morrison the festival director and ask him pointed questions such as ‘why are the workshops so far apart’.

Part one available here

If you have any feedback, ideas or topics you’d like covered on our podcast we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch via our contact page, leave a voicemail on 0800 881 5805 or mention @RatherInventive on Twitter.

Something Inventive is an entertaining and lively podcast on creativity and the web. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or search for ‘Something Inventive’ in your favourite podcast player.

Episode sponsored by our SEO report

Check out our laser focused SEO report. If you need to build up your traffic then this report is for you! Mention our podcast when your order and get 10% off.

Show notes

• Bath Digital Festival 2018
• Secrets Of Successful Calls-To-Action and Landing Pages
  • It’s about motivation – Convert action and urgency
  • Test. Test. Test.
  • Exit pop ups can bring in more clicks for email signup
  • (In their tests) video less effective on landing page when the offer is simple
    Gertie Goddard, Noisy Little Monkey
• Revealing The Mysterious World Of Marketing Automation
  • Lead nurturing campaign: Early research -> CTA -> landing page -> Follow up emails
  • Lucid chart for high level flowcharting of user experience
    James Mulvaney, Noisy Little Monkey
• The Psychology Of Sales Emails
  • Nurture people towards a close: Attract -> Convert -> Close
  • It’s all about them. Use the word you more than we/me and yse their name in the email subject line
  • Use video as part of proposal process
  • Use a PS, often people skip straight to this
    John Payne, Noisy Little Monkey
• Evershare.io – Where Fans Can Buy A Share in a Song
• Why Your Business Needs a Blog
  • Share the why (your story) in your blog. To help with this describe what you do to a friend or colleague then ask them to summarise it back to you. This is your story.
  • Give stories to customers so they can share them and convert others
  • People use Instagram because they are looking for images they can step into or a person they can be.
    Sal Godfrey, Sal’s Kitchen
• The Tech is Not Enough
  • Bring the audience to you. Find out how to help them
  • Understand: who will face this challenge? Who do they trust for recommendations? How can I reach them?
  • Maximise content: what do you have already? What can you easily create? Video has 130% additional engagement. What else does your audience need? Create stock image library of product images or shareable content
  • Maximise engagement: look for a slow burn acceleration. Ask questions? Polls! What are there anxieties/fears/hopes? Pick the right tone of voice. Listening to customers and adding features that add value.
  • Make your tech shine. Move from spec (what is it made from) -> Features (what does it do) -> Benefits  (how does that help me) -> Value/Impact (why customer busy).
    Emily Perkins, OggaDoon
• Bristol and Bath Cyber meet up
  • Company of the lovely chap Ben met at the bar www.showup.global
• • Shout out to these guys for an interesting event with free beer!
• Successful CTA and Landing Pages
  • Simple, clear, targetted, bold
  • Dont be afraid to lose your site nav on landing pages
  • On exit popups were more effective than bottom-right panels
• Designing for a better World
  • Draw up your own goals and aims, as an agency or freelancer
  • It’s ok to say no to a project but keep it professional
  • Its ok to work for an ‘evil’ company if you are trying to change them for the better
  • Check your pension and what it is funding!
• Digital Brands__ready
  • 50% of purchases are on phones
  • Traditional shopping model totally altered by peer reviews and trust
  • 81% read reviews before buying a product. 1 in 3 comment or interact with brand in some way. 79% wont buy from again if mobile experience was bad
• Lean Content – Jo Duncan
  • Simple, Single Channel, Straightforward content
  • Really, really put yourself in your customers shoes. Feel what they feel.
  • 80% planning / 20% doing
• Why you need a blog
  • Write new posts once a week or 2 weeks ideally
  • Give people a story to talk about and to share
  • 300 – 1000 words perhaps
• Bring a product to market
  • People want problems solved, but not get sold to
  • Who does your audience trust?
  • How-to’s, guides and manuals really important.
• Equality in workplace discussion
  • Returnships – for people returning to work after career break – new concept
  • Offer fair paternity/maternity policies, dont get stuck in traditional policy
  • Home or flexi working opens up new potential workforce
• Really interesting anecdote; when a successful male recruiter used his colleagues’ computer while she was on holiday it mistakenly added her email signature to his emails. He found that he got loads more negative responses from recruiters in particular.

The Hosts

Al Osmond (@inventiveal) – An unusual mix of logical thinker with a creative eye
Ben Kinnaird (@benkinnaird) – Knower of Social media, SEO and ‘the Web’

Be part of the show

Tweet a service or product you’d like to promote, mentioning @RatherInventive and the hashtag #podvert and we’ll read it out over the coming episodes.

If you like the show please give us a rating in iTunes and we’ll read out your comment. You can do this from the podcast player on Apple.

Thanks for listening!

—
Audio edited by Clare Harris – ‘Goofy Vocal Groove‘ intro music by Dave Girtsman–Image courtesy of Bath Digital Festival

How do you ask for feedback from your customers?

I don’t mean to sound negative but, these days, in this saturated business environment, only those businesses who listen to and act upon the feedback received from customers have any chance of succeeding. It is this feedback that gives one company the edge over another.

But how do you ask for feedback?

Look someone in the eye and ask them what they think of your service or product, and they are likely to say something along the lines of ‘wonderful, fabulous, best bacon roll I’ve ever tasted’ or something similar.

But are they being truthful?

No one likes to give negative or ‘constructive’ feedback directly. Many people are just too polite or too busy to criticise openly. Saying everything is ‘fine’ is easy, even if it’s untrue. I do it myself, all too often, and then kick myself for not giving that business the opportunity to grow and improve. If customers answer the same way – that everything is ‘great’ or ‘lovely’ every time, there’s nothing you can do with that. There’s no room for improvement.

You need to know that your coffee tastes weak or your web design is not up to scratch, otherwise you’ll start to lose business and you won’t know why. But more importantly, you need this feedback to convince new customers to buy from you. They don’t know you, your product or your reputation – why should they buy from you? A good review can explain why your product is the best and remove all doubt from a potential customer’s mind.

So, what can you do, as a business, to ensure that you get the feedback that really matters? You improve by asking the right questions, of the right people, at the right time.

Let me introduce SayHola, an independent review site that allows your customers to feed back to you. A SayHola review can tell you why customers decided to buy from you, how they use your product and most importantly, why they love it. By adding this to your website, you can improve conversion by showing you understand your customer’s needs.

Simply sign up with SayHola, send your customer a request to review with the link, which they click on to leave feedback about your business. Really, it couldn’t be simpler. It gets straight to their inbox, and they leave an honest review, and you can receive the feedback that really matters.

Here’s the process:

1. You send your customer to SayHola and they click on the thumbs up or down to say if they are happy with your service.
2. If they pick thumbs up, they are then presented with the opportunity to write a testimonial for you. If they select thumbs down, then we change the question slightly to ask how to improve the experience.
3. After they submit their feedback an email will then be sent to you with the details of and rating of the review which you can choose to share publicly.
4. If you also use Google My Business, Facebook or Twitter then your customer will be taken to another page to provide additional reviews on these services.

If you want the opportunity to ask for your customers’ views on your service or product, then sign up for a free trial of Sayhola.