Nine communication channels and social media platforms you need to get to know
Communications are becoming more fragmented We are seeing a huge growth of choice in communication channels. More and more options are being launched. People are becoming far more personal in the way that they choose to communicate with each other. There is also a backlash against some of the more established social media platforms. After their takeovers, people are moving away in large numbers from Twitter and Instagram. These numbers aren’t enough to threaten the existence of the platforms, but they are enough to reduce the traction that companies may have had there. And they are enough for it to…
A 5-point plan to keep clients happy when you are delivering late
Here’s the story of how two different printers approached late delivery I remember the morning well. I came into the office on a Monday to find an e-mail from a major supplier with bad news. It had been pouring with rain all weekend. Their bindery was flooded. Their staff were all wearing wellington boots and moving around in inches of water. It was not safe to operate their equipment. The printer had owned up quickly to the problem. They listed all the jobs that would be affected. They also promised to give up regular updates on new delivery dates: they…
Print Buying #UKvUSA: Looking ahead to 2023
In this episode of Print Buying UKvUSA, Matthew Parker and Deborah Corn think about the coming year: 👉 Matthew’s five predictions for 2023 👉 Deborah’s three missions for the printing industry this year 👉 How does print fit into the current commercial landscape? We would love to hear your predictions for 2023. Please share in the comments below. PS If you liked what I had to say, make sure you sign up below for regular updates from me Get your free copy of “10 Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them’ (worth £19/$29) right now * indicates required First Name…
Print Buying #UKvUSA episode 29: Our recap of 2022
In this episode of Print Buying UKvUSA, Matthew Parker and Deborah Corn discussed their key take-aways from 2022. 👉 What were the big lessons we learned in 2022? 👉 How do you adapt to the contemporary print customer landscape 👉 Advice for print professionals going into the new year 👉 Another sales e-mail review (please never send an e-mail like this!) We would love to hear your takeaways from the past 12 months Please share in the comments below. PS If you liked what I had to say, make sure you sign up below for regular updates from me Get your free copy…
Print Buying #UKvUSA episode 27: Choose One – Efficiency Or Creativity
In this episode of Print Buying UKvUSA, Matthew Parker asked Deborah Corn about which was more important for a printing company: efficiency or creativity? The discussion was based on this quote by Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix, on the difference between creativity and efficiency: “A way to think about it is, innovation requires variation. And in manufacturing—six sigma, all that stuff—you’re trying to reduce variation. The fundamental manufacturing paradigm is to reduce variation, and the fundamental creative, innovation paradigm is to increase it.” How does one create the right balance between efficiency and creativity? Handy tips for efficient creativity in the…
3 reasons why you should outsource content (and how to choose a good writer)
Why outsource content if you’re the expert? Here are five reasons why outsourcing content often makes sense: It saves time I often hear of people struggling for hours to write blogs or even simple social media content. Surely your time could be better used in building your business? It is better written A good content writer knows how to write to encourage the consumption of content on the screen. In addition, they will understand that different types of people consume content in different ways. They will know how to write to appeal to all these types of readers. Your content…
How to create content when you hate writing!
I often hear of people taking hours to write a blog I coach people in content writing and strategies. The big issue that I frequently hear about is how long it takes to create content. The other issue that is often raised is that people struggle to come up with what to write. If you are faced with these issues, creating your own content is not a good use of time. It also means that the results may not be great anyway. Some people struggle with creating the shortest of social media posts. So here are four ways to avoid…
How to repurpose content and use a single blog many times
How do you make the most of a blog? You have invested time and money in creating a blog. You want it to be seen by as many people as possible! How do you achieve this? Many people believe that you put the blog on the website, share it once and hope for the best! It doesn’t have to be this way! There is a lot you can do to increase traction for your blog. Here’s the system that I use to maximise my blog exposure Firstly, I post the content on my website blog page. This usually has a…
Five strategies for creating compelling headlines
Here’s the number one reason why people won’t read your content If you haven’t created a good headline, then your content is doomed! Good headlines are the main reason why people click through to read more. If you don’t have an interesting headline, potential readers will get no further. This applies equally to blogs, social media posts, video content, white papers and much, much more. Good headline writing is an essential skill. Here are five strategies for writing compelling headlines Use Why or How Tell a reader why they should do something, why something happens or how to do something….
5 ways to make your content more readable
Have you ever given up on reading a blog? We have all struggled to read what is in front of us at some point. Faced by a sea of small text and long, complicated sentences, it is hard to keep reading. No matter how interesting the content, a badly written blog will struggle to gain an audience. On the other hand, blogs that are written to appeal to their audience will gain popularity. They will achieve results for the companies that post them and build new connections with their readers. Writing readable content isn’t as hard as it sounds Here…