by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 25, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Management, Problem Solving
Writing communications for business is a lot like swimming, if you don’t know the water you better stay out.
How deep is the water? What’s the temperature? Jumping in cold water… brrrrrrr… jumping into hot …well, just ask a lobster. Rocks in the water? In case you didn’t notice, rocks don’t move. And what if someone else is already in the water? What if they get in your way, panic and try to pull you under?
There are many dangers in not knowing the water.
Writing business communications is similar. If you don’t know what you’re getting into you can get yourself in some serious trouble. Here’s how to avoid those common, sometimes dangerous, errors when writing business communications.
Communications Tip #1 HOW DEEP IS THE WATER?
Many communications are written without knowing the characteristics of the audience. Who is reading your communication? Is it your team member, your boss, your client or the CEO? Each of these communications need a different style and tone appropriate to the audience. Don’t think that one style of communication fits all. Each of these audiences requires a different degree of information.
Your CEO doesn’t need all the details. What the CEO needs is a high level summary of the important points. Your client needs something different as does your boss and your team members.
You must fit the style, tone and content of your communications to the audience.
Communications Tip #2: WHAT”S THE TEMPERATURE?
Is this a hot communication or cold? Is this high priority or low?
Be clear on the urgency of your communications. As in all things in life, timing is critical. Act and expect actions depending on the pressures of the situation.
Communications Tip #3: WHERE ARE THE ROCKS?
What is lying in wait for your communications?
Is there a chance your communication could be interpreted the wrong way? Could someone take the wrong action based on this misinterpretation? Could your communication get blocked?
And though seemingly innocent, you mustn’t overlook those nasty little fish that hover around rocks and cause you distraction?
Don’t assume that you can simply avoid issues without knowing the dangers. Know the danger of your words and write your communications with these risks in mind.
Communications Tip #4: IS ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WATER?
This is the tip that many tend to forget. Who else is in the water? Who are the other players? Are they sending communications for or against your needs? How can you take advantage of communications by others? Can you piggyback on their information?
Be aware of others, whether they support or negate your cause and determine your best approach.
STAY SAFE
In swimming and in business communications, play safe. Do the right thing, at the right time and you will enjoy your day and all going well, catch some additional rays.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 17, 2013 | Business Success, Communications, Creative, Design, Latest, Miriamisms
More Killer Tips on PowerPoint Templates and Backgrounds
This is the second time you are making a presentation to the same group. The guy yawning in the back of the room has perked up. The woman gazing at her nails looks up once or twice. At least this is an improvement. Last time she only looked at you in the beginning, after three minutes she was back to her nails.
But you notice another person that keeps looking at your slides. He looks at the slides, then he looks at his notes, then he looks at the slides again. You’re not sure what he’s doing but there is one thing you’re sure, he’s not listening to you.
What gives? You did what was important. You designed your PowerPoint presentation and you followed the formula correctly. (A recent blog I wrote Two Killer Tips for PowerPoint Presentations outlines this recommended formula.)
Is there anything else you can do to make your PowerPoint presentation more effective? Is there a way to design your PowerPoint slides to create greater interest in your presentation? Is there a way to make them look more professional? Absolutely. In addition to your personal presentation style there are many visual factors that contribute to the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentation.
Keep Them Listening to You
No matter how animated you are and how much you engage your audience at some point during your presentation they will look at your slides. And when they look at your slides you need to make them as clear as possible so they can look quickly and get back to listening to you. How do you make your slides clear and quickly comprehensible.
Don’t let PowerPoint Templates Drive Your Content
Many businesses have a corporate PowerPoint template which you must use. In this case you don’t have any choice
But if you have flexibility to choose your own design, you may feel you should use PowerPoint templates to look professional. You are not the only who feels this way. Many people scan through the designs in PowerPoint templates to find the one they like best or if they want to be different they search on the web for that perfect PowerPoint design.
The danger with PowerPoint templates is the template starts to drive the content. It may be the size of the font, it may be the colours, it may be the format on the page. You may not be able to include charts the way you would like, insert a table or even add photos.
As you start working through the template you find you have to modify your content to fit the template. It doesn’t make sense to sacrifice the content of your presentation to fit the format of the design template.
You can change the format of the template to fit your requirements. But when you make changes to the template format the template loses its integrity since it is a departure from its design. Once the template loses integrity it degrades each time you deviate from its boundaries. Every time it is degraded you lose the cohesiveness of your presentation and the clarity of your slide.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should never use PowerPoint templates.
When used properly, PowerPoint templates make it easy to format your material. They are consiste nt in look and feeland provide a theme to your presentation.
Three Words on PowerPoint Backgrounds
Here’s my thought on backgrounds. Don’t use them.
You might be surprised that I am taking such a hard line stance. The truth is you look like an amateur when your PowerPoint background colour is dark and your text is a colour. It is difficult to read yellow on a black background, yellow on a blue background or even worse red on a black background and your presentation is a toner hog to print.
When you think of your PowerPoint background colour think of Google or any of the search engines. The majority of the text is black on a white background. That’s what people see every day. Any other colour is a departure from the norm.
And in this case you want to be the norm. Don’t fight it. Keep your text black on a white background. Use colour sparingly.
Use PowerPoint Templates and Backgrounds with Care
PowerPoint templates and backgrounds can work for you but choose carefully. Don’t let them drive the content of your presentation. Form follows function (Louis Sullivan) function doesn’t follow form.
Remember you want that guy who keeps glancing up and down at your slides to absorb the material quickly so he can get back to focus on you.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 16, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest, Management, Uncategorized
He was a big man and he smoked a big cigar. He was standing beside his desk, with his back to me, smoking a cigar and looking out the window at the city skyline. His presence dominated the room.
That’s how I first saw him. That’s how I remember him. Big and in control.
It was my first day on the job and I was being given the typical meet and greet walk. He was on the third floor, the executive level. I knew it was the executive floor since there was a big sign that said “EXECUTIVE LEVEL”.
In the office marked Vice-President, I was introduced to this giant of a man. As we left and walked down the stairs, my guide turned to me and whispered, “he’s a decision maker”.
That took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure what it meant, or why it was important to me so I nodded wisely.
I soon learned how important it was to be a decision maker when I was assigned to work in his department.
He terrified me. He barked orders. I followed them.
I asked questions. He gave answers.
HE MADE IMPORTANT DECISIONS QUICKLY
As I navigated through the politics of that first job, it wasn’t long before I came to understand how lucky I was to have a boss who was a decision maker, someone who was not afraid to answer questions and make important decisions.
But once I left that first job, I also learned how rare it is to find someone who can make important decisions quickly.
This man was not afraid to make important decisions and he wasn’t afraid to make them fast. Fearless and fast, traits valued in business since he soon left his job as Vice-President to become King of the Universe.
DID HE HAVE A SECRET WEAPON FOR DECISION MAKING?
Fortune favours the brave, at least that’s the way I saw it. He was one of those brave people who don’t hesitate. It didn’t matter if the question was related to ordering lunch or business strategies. He didn’t skip a beat. He simply opened his mouth and out jumped the answer.
I often wondered how he made his decision making choices. Did he have a plan for decision making in business or was it simply intuitive?
Just recently, I met one of my co-workers from that time and as typical when old friends meet; we began to reminisce and recall our days working together. We had both worked for Mr. Big Cigar. I reflected that after years of working for and with people who were reluctant to make important decisions it was a pleasure to have worked with someone who had no fear.
IF ANYONE KNEW SHE WOULD
I asked if she had any idea how he was able to make so many good important decisions. She was his right hand and if anyone knew she would.
She laughed.
Mr. B made a lot of decisions, she told me. What many didn’t realize is that they weren’t all the best decisions. They were close to the best but they weren’t always the best. They were aligned with the goals and objectives of the business, but you couldn’t comment that each one deserved that number one recognition.
The secret she confided was that he made decisions. And because he made decisions he became the decision maker. Some were good. Some were bad. But none were in limbo.
Bad decisions will rise to the top and become visible. Good decisions will float. But no decision will sink you…. fast.
THE SECRET OF MAKING IMPORTANT BUSINESS DECISIONS
What Mr. B. understood is that any decision is better than no decision. And that’s the secret.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt
by Justin James | Jul 15, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
In my past blog posts, I stated the reasons why companies should rethink making their YouTube commercial stream before popular videos can be viewed. I believe that video marketing can be a very effective tool. However, like other social media, it can also backfire when done incorrectly. In order to avoid the ‘hard sell’ on viewers’ ‘me time’, there are some guidelines you should follow:
Four tips on how to have a not-so-awful YouTube commercial:
1) Make the ad enjoyable. If you are going to try to bring business into the social space, then avoid the hard sell. You want to make sure that the video is, at least, mildly entertaining. Humor can turn your video from a sales pitch to entertainment, making it something people may actually watch. If you can’t make the ad funny, at least be creative with it.
2) Allow your audience to skip the ad after the first few seconds. If you’re spending money on the ad, you don’t want people to leave halfway through—you want people to watch it! But the longer you keep the viewer waiting to see their intended video, the more intolerant they will become of your ad and message. Give them the option to skip the ad should your product or service be of no interest to them. If your product or service is relevant and they are willing to watch the full ad the first time it plays, they would already know what you have to say, and would not want to watch it again.
The optimal time your ad should run before you give them the choice to stop watching is five seconds. By then, you should have already established who you are and what you offer. If they aren’t interested in that time, you’ve already lost them. Alternatively, you can give the viewer the option to skip your ad as soon as it pops up. However, most viewers will not mind a few seconds and you have a better chance of getting your message across if you set the skip option at 5 seconds.
3) Keep it concise. YouTube is not a place for long-winded infomercials, unless you put them on your own channel. As I mentioned in #2, if someone isn’t interested in your YouTube commercial within the first five seconds, they won’t change their minds after thirty. To be successful, your ad must immediately grip the viewer and make them curious. Keeping your YouTube commercial short will ensure you don’t annoy those who are not presently interested in your message.
To get a viewer hooked, bring your message across quickly and clearly. Have a call to action – to visit your YouTube channel, your Facebook, your twitter, your website – whichever space you are promoting. If they are interested in your message, they will click through for more information. Once they are on your turf, you can offer the longer commercials.
4) Choose your music carefully. Remember that your ad could be viewed several times by the same viewer. If your video begins to play and you have a song that sounds unprofessional or unpleasant, it will become increasingly annoying the more they are forced to listen to it. Choose a popular song or an instrumental version in the music genre that best suits your target demographic, or keep the soundtrack neutral. After all, no one’s ever complained about elevator music.
With these tips, you can advertise to YouTube audiences more effectively—without driving potential customers away.
by Miriam Hara | Jul 15, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest
Brand naming…why it’s important.
More to the point, what is required for a brand to become like the much covet name brands like Coca Cola, Nike and Apple? It seems that brand names explode in the market…and yet, most take years until they become visible and reach the market consciousness. It’s important to state here that the term brand naming refers to products, service businesses and retail stores.
There are many brand naming agencies and writers who boast of their ability of being name generators. However, whether the business that your are seeking to name is a service or a product or even a retail store, the process of naming should not be taken lightly. Once you settle on a name for your business, it’s with you for a very long time. The process of brand naming is often difficult and should at least include some sort of market research.
Brand naming is only the very first, tiny step in developing a brand. Just as a logo isn’t branding… well, becoming a brand sensation doesn’t happen because you just name it. So what do the most popular brands out there do in order to penetrate the market consciousness? Here’s my take:
1) Create a brand definition. A brand name , especially an awesome one, needs to create an emotional connection. This may be in the form of visual tonality, a tagline, a promise. Make sure that brand definition appears or is stated whenever your brand appears…each and every time.
2) Create sensation: Brand needs to ‘be’. It needs to reach far and wide. After all what’s the use having an awesome brand and you’re 1 of 3 people who know about it. If you’re not out there… then you’re winking in the dark. If you are local retail store, then you need to promote locally, sponsor events, create hype with traditional and social media campaigns such as billboard, radio or print.These, of course, are only a few suggestions.
3) Develop a connection…. or rather community: It’s becoming increasingly easier to create brand connections with your audience. Easier doesn’t make it easy or quick but it is doable. It’s important to have a long term view in developing that brand community… it has to be strategic . With the use of a succinct social media plan, your awesome brand can reach your very select target group…and yes, talk to them. Develop connections that transcends the sell cycle…
4) Be awesome! Whether it’s a business, a product or a service, being branded means that you must deliver on its promise. No brand becomes any name brand unless it speaks, acts and delivers on what it says it will.
We all know that overnight successes often takes years to happen and brands are no different. Developing and creating a brand with a brand name that has market equity takes time and strategy. It’s all in the how to create a brand, that makes it a brand name… and that’s why brand naming is important.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 12, 2013 | Administration, Business Success, Latest, Uncategorized
A few years back I took a course on strategic planning for small business. When the floor opened for questions many revolved around building teams. What kind of skills should you look for when building a team, is experience more important than education, are soft skills more important than hard skills, at what point of the project should you bring on a new team member … that type of question.
But the topic I found the most interesting was around how to build a good team. The discussion spiraled on subjects we had previously discussed. Finally in exasperation, one attendee said, “Yes, I understand all that, but how do you build a good team?”
The lecturer paused, looked straight at him and answered, “Build a good team”.
It seemed a simplistic joke but as he went on to explain, it had a great deal of merit. It means that in order to have a successful team you must build a good team.
Still too simplistic? Below is the discussion that followed on how to build a good team.
Wicked Way #1: Know your goals and your objectives
Number one, number one, number one. Always know your goals and objectives. Keep these clear in your mind. Write them on a piece of paper and stick them to your wall in a prominent place. If it’s a project deadline, if it’s gross sales, if it’s a percentage of growth, write it down. Paper remembers, people forget.
Wicked Way #2: Define roles and set expectations
Define the roles that you need in order to meet your goals and objectives. Fill these roles with people who can meet them. When you are interviewing to fill the roles, make it clear what your goals and objectives are and set expectations.
The person you interview may have the best qualifications and a great attitude but if they don’t know what you want and they don’t know whether they can do what you want, you are relying on a wish and a promise, neither one is a position for success.
Wicked Way #3: Provide feedback
Once you have a team, continue to set expectations. Provide feedback. Let the person know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. Always ask yourself and the team, will this activity help move us towards our goals and objectives? If it doesn’t, stop immediately.
Find out what will work. Then move on. And when the work your team member is helping to meet your goals and objectives, acknowledge and reward.
THAT’S IT
There you have it. Simple. Easy peasy.
How to build a good team… build a good team.
