“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery”

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery”

English writer Eustace Budgell in the newspaper The Spectator No. 605, October 1714

Once again, we’ve been copied. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again.

We’re always flattered and delighted that our clients love what we’re doing and we’re also flattered that other companies in our industry find our ideas and writing so wonderful they have to cut and paste without a second thought. But I often wonder why they don’t come up with some original stuff of their own.

We’ve all used ideas from others over the years, after all it’s the real world and there’s no copyright on ideas. But really, are these people so desperate or uninspired that they can’t put their own grey cells to work and shine on their own?

We’ve had our website images copied on other sites, text lifted for social media profiles (yes, word for word), our training courses and our business model replicated. 

As I’ve said, it’s the real world and there are, I suppose, only a finite number of ways in which you can set up a business. After 13 years trading our particular way, someone was bound to copy the methodology at some point, and probably this has happened already more than once.

One company actually had the chutzpah to email under the guise of a student, asking for our fees and what would be included, in an effort to tease out how we go about things – without thinking that we would see through this immediately. The student was working as their intern and named on their website! Most likely, if they'd come and asked me in an open and honest way, I'd have helped them with advice if they weren't aware how much they should be charging.

Source: seanwes.com

So, I say to those companies out there: You know who you are. And we know who you are. So get on with running your own businesses, be successful in your own right, and look up what ‘integrity’ and ‘professionalism’ mean.

My own 30+ years’ knowledge, wisdom, experience and intuition for what we do and who we do it for, plus those of my whole team - together with proven results - are elements of a business which can’t be replicated.

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery” said Eustace Budgell. To paraphrase The Eurythmics, “Who are we to disagree?!”

There’s plenty of business out there for everyone, so stand on your own two feet and be proud.

We certainly are.

You talking to me?!

If you’ve attended any of my training courses, you’ll know how frequently I stress the importance of talking to your target audiences (the different groups of people with whom you need to communicate) using language they understand. By this, I mean making it easy for your customers and potential customers, as well as any others important to your business, to ‘get’ what you’re all about, why you do it and how you can be of value to them.

No jargon, no patronising sector speak, just simple, straight talking.

The Chimera Communications strapline of ‘Simply Delivering the Message’ says it all.

I’ve come across several situations recently where organisations and businesses have made the mistake of assuming customers understand their language. With some sectors like finance, there’s no getting away from regulations requiring information to be delivered in certain ways. There are some companies incredibly effective in translating this to customers, but many are not. People get confused, and results can be misunderstandings, wasted energy and resource, and duplicated work as well as products.

Understanding your customers means knowing when you need to go the extra mile to explain things in the right way. It’ll save you more time and effort later on.

With online polls, surveys, questionnaires and emails, as well as the good old-fashioned method of actually talking to someone, there’s no excuse for not qualifying what your customers need.

So here are some tips:

·      * Ask your customers when, how and what information they’d like from you – in other words, what is of value to them

·      * Know your customers so well that you understand the language, tone and messages they need to receive, rather than what you churn out to them

·      * Ensure all your teams (if you have rotas or shifts) know what’s going on so customers don’t have to repeat themselves again and again, which is not only frustrating and irritating, but can lead to negative PR through word of mouth and bad online reviews

·      *Make things simple and easy to understand – that way, you’re far more likely to engage and do more business with them

If you don’t connect and build a relationship with your customers, the risk is they’ll go to someone else who ‘talks their language’.

Managing social media for a charity

Guest blog by Kerrie Carter, Worthing Churches Homeless Projects

As a PR and Social Media Apprentice, I know first-hand what it takes to get a charity noticed online. There are so many platforms out there and it can sometimes be hard to choose which is best for the needs of your particular charity. You should really stick to two and do them well. Develop these platforms so you have a good following on each, aiming for key decision-makers and opinion-formers. It’s important that your followers should be invested in the service you’re providing.

Working for a charity that helps the homeless, I have to be incredibly careful about the message I put on social platforms as it can so easily be misinterpreted. There is a huge stigma attached to the topic of homelessness and every person has their own opinion to give, which they like to do on social media. It’s important to be neutral to all of this and remember your charity’s aims; those are what you have to deliver no matter what.

Besides, the majority of people who follow you on social media are genuinely interested in the service you give and want to support it in any way, and that’s the valuable thing you need to focus on.

Facebook is a popular platform for our target audience so I tend to post on there the most as we get more engagement. Occasionally we get a negative comment which I may hide if likely to cause offence to clients/supporters, but in most cases I don’t delete a comment as everyone is entitled to their opinion. When posting, I try to stick to the same tone and this is reflected by my colleagues as well so the audience knows what to expect from the charity. We also get the chance to be quite personal as it’s a fairly small, local charity and those in our area are the audience we want to be targeting. I find posts with photos attached to them always work the best for our audience as they like to see the work the charity is doing.

Twitter, on the other hand, is less prominent for us. We get more support from local businesses on here but mostly through the form of retweets and favourites. When we team up with other organisations, Twitter is a valuable tool for tagging and updating people on what’s happening. The same goes for fundraising events however, it’s easier to document these through photos on Facebook as this is where our dominant audience lies.

Scheduling tools like Hootsuite are brilliant for managing your social media accounts and for us, ensures there is content going out over the weekend so the account doesn’t suffer with loss of traffic.

There are other platforms we are considering using, such as Pinterest or Instagram, and we do post appropriate videos on YouTube, but since our following is constantly growing, Facebook and Twitter are the main forms of promotion. They are easy to use and can put out a powerful message although restricted to 140 characters on Twitter. Now that’s what I call effective marketing.

Kerrie had 1-2-1 social media training with us as part of her development as an apprentice with Worthing Churches Homeless Projects www.wchp.org.uk

Taking ownership of a busy work schedule

You may have noticed, dear reader, that I haven't blogged for a while. That's because I've been busy. Too busy to do my own blogs; busy doing so for others!

I have the typical 'builder's syndrome' - you know, where the builder's house needs doing up but they just don't have the time. 

Surely, I hear you say, you should be on top of your own blogs so you can show clients how wonderfully you do it. That's all very well in theory but in practice? Not so much.

So, it seems, "write a blog post" has reached the top of the priority list - at last. Which can only mean one of a few things: (a) I am so well organised that everything else is done; (b) I'm putting off vital things and choosing to write this instead; (c) I have no work; or (d) I need some light relief on this Monday afternoon.

Actually it's more that I've shamed myself into doing it. If, as a PR professional, I can't find ten minutes to sit down and write a blog, it's very sad. Of course there are days when I can just sit down and write all sorts of things very easily, after all it's my job - and others where the words just won't come. Then writer's block becomes something I want to lay my head on and wield the axe myself.

Source: creativemarbles.com

It's true that we really do have to take ownership of a busy work schedule to make things happen. I have 'to do' lists all over the place. Some have pretty colour-coded meanings and I feel deeply satisfied if all the yellow tasks are completed on the day they're meant to be done. Today is almost one of those days. There are fewer yellow squiggles showing than there were first thing, so I feel justified in taking the time to do this post.

Those who know me know that I frequently say: "Nobody goes to their grave wishing they spent more time at the office". And so, on the days when it seems that ten minutes out of a busy schedule is completely out of the picture, I must learn again to take a deep breath and make sure I find the time to smell the coffee, daffodils or whatever else floats my metaphorical boat. 

Will I go to my grave wishing I'd written more blog posts? What do you think?!