Work Better, Not Harder

After spending my adult life thinking I'm a mostly logical person (and being not so secretly proud of it), I just found out I'm not. And apparently the fact that I think I am is a little irrational. You might think I'd be a little sad to discover this but I'm actually thrilled. A whole new perspective on marketing just opened up because Dan Ariely told me we're all Predictably Irrational . Don't let behavioural economics scare you off. This book is insightful and funny, and a fairly quick read (because I couldn't put it down). I learned a marketing lesson in the first chapter that is so improbable... well, you'll have to see for yourself. It's powerful stuff and I recommend it highly. originally published in Work Better, Not Harder newsletter June 27, 2017 Click to Tweet this Article

What's the marketing strategy for NOT attracting new clients? Is it to stop marketing all together? Or to scale back, everything or some things? There are many reasons why a small business may not want to receive new customers for a period of time; I just hadn't considered it till now. I'm working on another business project so I need to free up some of my time and energy. I'm also trying to squeeze in some vacation time this summer. Here's what has brought all this to my attention: the thought of sending out my monthly newsletter is making me nervous because I don't want anyone to call or email when they receive it . If that's not messed up thinking for a marketer, I don't know what is. So, what is the answer? There are some obvious things, such as scaling back my social media posting and blogging a little, removing promotional posts from my scheduling, changing or removing my calls to action (in more places than I've thought of yet!), ad...

screenshot of Crello home page Just when I thought I didn't need another graphics tool, along came Crello ... yesterday. It's brand new (and I haven't been able to break it yet). If you're frustrated with trying to use Canva , this might be the solution for you. The interface is very much like Canva, yet Crello has veered away in the right places. I've always found the way Canva handles images as backgrounds and layers to be awkward; Crello takes a more simplistic approach. Crello has 6,000+ free templates and 10,000+ free design elements! I know that's going to be exciting to many besides me. Crello lacks some of my favourite Canva features, especially magic resize. But its ease of use and more intuitive interface is winning me over. I know I'll be exploring those 6000+ templates for many many more hours to come. For more info about Crello's functionality, read this press release . Or pop over to Crello.com and jump right in. Have fun, it...

Have you ever searched for a course on a specific subject online? How do you know which course is better than another? It can be hard to choose and expensive to find out you were wrong. I was asking a WordPress consultant what she recommends for WordPress training and I found out something even better. Apparently lynda.com is the best place to go for just about any technical training. This is because of the way they rigorously curate their content. Good to know. Even better, though, was finding out that I can access lynda.com for free because I have a library card. Just log into your local library's website and you should find access to lynda.com in the learning section. (Here in Halifax, check this link .) Click to Tweet this Article

You might think blog (and newsletter) readership drops over the summer when many people head on vacation. And you would be wrong. Some people have more time to read during the summer months. In fact, they will read more deeply, taking the time to click links and follow a topic or call to action. Before you start tossing rotten fruit my way... I not suggesting you skip vacation in favour of marketing. Your summer holiday may be as important to your body's health as your marketing is to your business health. In the same way you'll figure out how to take some vacation days this summer, you can also figure out a way to keep your marketing alive and kicking. Make a content plan in advance. I'm not the best person to dish out this advice as I do most of my content creation on the fly as inspiration strikes me. But summer has even me doing some necessary planning. At the least, jot down a list of possible topics to use over the summer. (Do it now; I'll wait for you....

Don't you love it when you find a new tool to make your work easier? One of the benefits of teaching is I also learn from the course participants. It's Hemingway that has my attention this time (thanks to Jacqueline). I love it's simplicity! Go to hemingwayapp.com and start typing right on the screen. You'll see suggested edits highlighted as you type. Or you can turn off the editor until you're finished writing and do all your editing at the end. Another bonus for bloggers is you can see your stats: reading time, letters, characters, words, sentences and paragraphs. Start writing your next article using Hemingway and see what you think. photo by Spongehoe / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

Imagine you're planning a big party at your place... today . What will you do first: clean and cook, or invite people? Spending time and money to promote your business online is a bit like sending invitations to a party on your website. You want your place to be ready when the doorbell rings. Before you make the pretty pictures or the clever articles, make sure to vacuum under the couch. People will judge you. photo by jackfrench / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

When I see double quotes wrapped around a couple of words or a small phrase, I immediately think of Sheldon's air quotes from The Big Bang Theory and the emotion that comes to mind is sarcasm . I absolutely know this is the case for many people - one small impact of popular culture. Now, if you are a writer and intend sarcasm, leveraging this thinking pattern might be a great way to make your point - as long as all of your readers are familiar with "Sheldon quotes". On the other hand, if sarcasm is not your intent, using double quotes might completely derail your intended message. Readers can't see if we actually hold up our hands and tweak our fingers, or if we just think it in our heads, or if we didn't mean sarcasm at all. This is another way text communication can be flat, leading to miscommunication . Yet we don't want to start inserting emojis into our business communication (or at least some of us don't). Why did we all start using so m...

A small business owner, let's call him Bob, arrives in a small town for a meeting with a potential new client. Before his afternoon meeting, Bob decides he needs a haircut to get all spiffy. The receptionist at his hotel tells him there are only two barbers in town, both with shops along the main drag. It's a sunny warm morning so Bob sets off walking. When he arrives at the first barbershop, Bob can clearly see through the big front window that the place looks less than pristine - hair on the floor and a general air of disorganization. There's one fellow getting a cut and another waiting. Even the barber himself needs a trim! Further along Main Street, Bob comes to the second barbershop. The view in the front window looks much better. The floor is swept and gleaming, the barber is busy lining up shampoo bottles on a display shelf and his own hair has a crisp updated cut. Bob turns around and heads back to the first barbershop to get his cut. Do you know why? I r...

You can tell when you read a headline that lets you get to know the writer a little better. It often contains an opinion, or perhaps a turn of phrase that is unique to them. If your business is all about selling you, it's worth it to take extra care with your headlines and subject lines. Here's the promised simple test: Read your headline out loud. Does it sound like something you'd say out loud? Still not sure? Go look yourself in the eye in a mirror and say it out loud. Or add the words, "Hi Mom," to the beginning of your headline. This test will make you stop and reconsider. Perhaps you won't change a word but the exercise is still valuable. Don't overspend your time editing the text and not give enough attention to your headline. Your headline is the most important factor in whether anyone even gets to reading your article. photo by nix|photo / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

Burying my head into a new project that requires learning WordPress should give me tons of content for articles... if I had time to write. In fact, I considered documenting this new adventure in all its gory details via blogging and social media but, well, I'd rather put my head down and get on with it. I'm only stopping long enough to share something I'm doing differently with this project. I don't have time for learning things 'the hard way'. Been there, done that, loved it, wrote the blog. If I want to be more efficient, I need a shortened learning curve. This time I'm rewarding myself with 'the easy way'. If you're venturing into a WordPress project, I strongly suggest finding a WordPress virtuoso to consult with ( like I did ). You'll be surprised at how much less stress, more fun, less troubleshooting, and more efficient it is.​ I guess I can say I'm learning better, not harder . originally published in Work Better, Not...

It might sound a little corny but having a blogging buddy is a great strategy, especially if you can find one that serves the same target market as you. Why? You can plan and generate ideas together. You can write series of articles that intertwine, linking back and forth to each others blogs. You can edit, proof, check each other's work. You can be accountable to each other, especially if you have an agreed upon schedule. You can motivate each other when you're stuck. photo by mailliw / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

For a long time, I've been meaning to research and find an easy free screen recording application. It just never made it up very high on my to-do list. A few days ago I had an urgent need to explain something to somebody and words weren't cutting it. I needed to record my screen while I did something but I sure didn't want to spend a bunch of time researching and installing and learning. Saying I am  really impressed with  Screencast-O-Matic (aff) is an understatement. In only 5 minutes I had recorded a 30 second video, signed up for a free account, and sent a link to the video off by email. Seriously, 5 minutes... my first time using it! As an example, here's another short screencast I made just prior to publishing this post, which was easy to share to my YouTube channel. It's about how to check your iContact statistics. Click to Tweet this Article

There is so much information available online that it's hard to even give it away. If your content is top notch and needed by your target market, you still have to get their attention ... before you get a chance to make the sale. The competition for attention via email has increased... a lot. Starting fresh is more difficult now than it was when I started - people aren't as apt to subscribe to *anything*. It means that giving away amazing value is even more important... and the bar for what constitutes valuable content continues to rise . Just because it's hard to do, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. People appreciate good information but they also appreciate brief. Your readers can avoid the fear of missing out (#FOMO) if you give them small snippets of your own or others' content. 'Brief and useful' is a great way to start thinking about your content, especially if you are just getting started. Don't be fooled, though, because brief and u...

Can you remember your first really big concert? For me it was The Rolling Stones in 1989 at CNE Stadium soon after I moved to Toronto. We had seats about mid-field and, when the concert started, it was a great spot to be. And then everyone stood up... and up onto their seats. Now I'm game but I'm also short. Standing on my seat up on tippytoes, I could just see the big screens... no stage, no Mick. Eventually my tippytoes got tired, so I sat... and suddenly the music was unrecognizable, muffled by all the surrounding bodies. I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sea of people. Online marketing reminds me of that feeling, of being surrounded by many different people deeply interested in something other than me. Shouting over the noise to be heard, waving arms or grabbing people to get their attention. When you're not Mick Jagger, it's not easy to get people's attention. In fact, it's darn hard work trying to stand out in a sea of other peopl...