Business Archives - Page 2 of 4

Do You Experience LinkedIn Overwhelm When Using LinkedIn?

If you’ve ever opened LinkedIn with a feeling of dread at all the notifications you’ve received, all the posts you’ve been tagged in and all the connection requests from people you’ve never heard of, then you’re probably experiencing LinkedIn Overwhelm.

Head in hands from overwhelm — Do you feel like this from Linked In

Experience LinkedIn Overwhelm

LinkedIn Overwhelm is a very real problem. There’s a huge pressure to expand your network of connections. The theory is that if you have a large network, you’ll gain more customers, or if you have a large network, you’ll get more reactions, comments and shares. But this isn’t necessarily the case. Yes, having a large network is beneficial, but only if they are your target audience.

I talk about finding and understanding your target audience in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour. It’s important to know who you’re putting your message in front of. Otherwise you might end up posting about the amazing washing machines you sell to people who’ve already bought them or talking about red cars to an audience who want blue cars.

This is where having the right audience is important. You need to find the people who are actively looking for what you do as they will be the captive audience for the stories you want to share. These are the people who are most likely to interact with your posts and read your articles. Getting this right can relieve you of some of the symptoms of LinkedIn Overwhelm.

How do you manage Linked In Overwhelm?

The question is, how do you make it manageable and avoid overwhelm on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn Overwhelm is a big problem for many people. I explain more about this in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour, where I help business owners and employees build a structure for managing LinkedIn to make the most of this social media platform. This is important because LinkedIn is still the primary social media platform for business use and plenty of business gets done through posts, articles, messages and phone calls.

It’s easy to experience overwhelm on LinkedIn, but also easy to find a solution. LinkedIn one of the world’s largest social media platforms used daily by millions of people across the world. Even within a small network of connections you may find there are dozens of posts every hour. Every post takes a little brain power, either reading through the post or checking whether the post needs to be read or scrolled past. Every small decision to read or scroll past uses our energy.

What fears does this create?

We have a fear of missing out. We fear other people are using LinkedIn better than we are. We want to be seen and can fear we haven’t been listened to. There’s also a fear that if we’re not ever-present on LinkedIn that we will fade into oblivion.

These are the fears which lead to overwhelm.

You may have already experienced these fears.

Maybe you know someone who has LinkedIn Overwhelm?

Whether you are new to LinkedIn or a regular user who wants to learn more about LinkedIn please consider booking a Focus Guru 121 Power Hour where I can share my LinkedIn tips and strategies for managing your time effectively on the LinkedIn social media platform.

To book your Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour, please book a free 30 minute call and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way, www.getfocus.guru

Do You Follow Up 121 Or One To Many?

I’ve talked lots about the benefits of following up after networking meetings and I’d like to share two different strategies to help you make the most of your follow-ups without experiencing overwhelm or getting distracted by…Squirrels!

When I attend a new networking meeting, I know I’ll meet around twenty people each time. Over the course of a week I might meet over a hundred new people plus catching up with people I’ve already met. Without a proper follow-up strategy in place it could be very time consuming and difficult to keep track of who asks for more information and who wants to order from me.

If someone doesn’t want my services or need them right now, I can also keep track of potential opportunities where I can recommend that person to speak with other people that I’ve met networking. An example of this would be recommending a mortgage advisor or removal company to someone looking to move home or office, or a mechanic to someone who needs help with their car.

Having lots of networking contacts helps you become a problem solver, simply by connecting people together who might not have met each other. To make the most of your contacts, it’s important to follow up with them regularly, adding value with each conversation.

“I attended Rachael’s Follow Up training session and afterwards I felt motivated and immediately implemented some of the things we discussed. I will be back to carry on and will book a further Follow Up session!” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

There are two main strategies for following up and these are 121 Follow Ups and One To Many Follow Ups. They each have value and can be used successfully depending on how much time you can invest in your follow-ups and how you prefer to carry out your follow-ups.

121 Follow Ups

As the name implies, you’re following up one to one, you and the other person. This is a great way to continue a 121 meeting and find out more about the other person. It offers you the chance to get to know someone better and consequently find out if they want or need what you do, or whether they can be someone you can recommend or refer to another of your networking contacts in the future.

In my Focus Guru Networking Follow Up Power Hour I talk more about the power of 121 Follow Ups and how you can implement technology solutions to make your follow up process simple and stress-free.

One To Many Follow Ups

A “One To Many” follow up typically involves a generic message talking about what you do and how people can find out more. You can also include a call to action and a special offer or a time-limited offer, as well as your website and social media links.

One of the most successful ways to do this is to address a problem your contacts might be having and show them how your product or service can remove the problem and/or the cause of the problem. You can write this in the content of your message and track which of your contacts opens the message and what they do next. With many mailing list solutions you’ll also have access to see whether they click on the links inside your message as well.

I cover making the most of your message tracking information in my Focus Guru Power Hour and highlight exactly how important it is to know your numbers when carrying out a methodical follow-up process to maximise your time, energy and resources when following up.

“Rachael led the session well and is a patient teacher. I recommend giving one of these informative sessions a go.” – Liz Johnson, Pet Health and Welfare Specialist

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please find the next one that suits you here and book your place today.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Do You Know Your Numbers?

How much did you make last month? No, I’m not asking you to tell me how much, I’m just curious to ask if you know your numbers and if you know why knowing your numbers is really important. At Focus Guru I help small business owners learn the best way to keep track of the important numbers within all areas of their businesses.

Perhaps the most obvious place to start is in your accounting software, Excel spreadsheet, or pen and paper notebook, to see your incoming sales and outgoing expenses. I work with clients to help them identify their absolute minimum income to survive. Then I ask them how much their dream income would be and what they would do with it.

Absolute Minimum Income
Dream Income

These figures are usually easy to identify but it’s surprising how often they can be overlooked. I recommend checking your outgoings as much as your income as often there are savings to be found. For example, a Focus Guru client changed their utility supplier and saved hundreds of pounds over the year. This wasn’t a sale. It wasn’t generating money. It was being savvy and cutting back on unnecessary overheads by breaking away from an uncompetitive supplier.

Check Your Outgoings
Find Hidden Savings

Compare and contrast your numbers

I also recommend comparing and contrasting your numbers. I cover this in more detail in my Focus Guru Power Hour, however the principle behind this is to work out your numbers for each month and compare this month with last month and with this time last year. Don’t put your head in the sand! If you spot a problem, that’s a good thing. Problems can be fixed but if you don’t know what’s going on, that’s when small problems can become big problems.

Know Your Accounts Numbers
Also Know Your Business Numbers

In the Focus Guru Power Hour I talk about knowing your business numbers. These can be anything from how many customers you target, how many 121 follow-ups you do, how successful each meeting is for your business, and much more.

Networking numbers are key to return on investment.

Do you know your conversion ratio from your networking 121s? Do you know how many phone calls you need to make to generate a sale, or to recover a debt? Do you know how many people visited your website last month? Do you use Google Analytics in your business?

These are just some ways you can use the numbers in your business to identify strategic solutions to generate more sales, or even to streamline existing processes. If it can be measured it can be monitored, and if it can be monitored then it can be adjusted as and when needed.

Knowing your numbers isn’t scary! It’s one of the best business tools you can invest your time in learning. In my Focus Guru Power Hour I give you tuition and training and uncover the most important numbers within your business. Your numbers might be accounts or sales related, or they might be based around how many social media posts you create, or how many hours you work in the week.

Every business is different and that’s why knowing the numbers which relate to you and your business is so important. I’ll help you become more confident in knowing your numbers in the sixty minute Focus Guru “Know Your Numbers” Power Hour.

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please find the next dates here and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Do You Know Who’s Watching Your Business Social Media Posts?

Are you aware of your silent audience? These are people who have you as a LinkedIn connection, Facebook friend or follow you on Twitter, yet you almost never hear from them. They’re your silent audience, the people who are there, but those who don’t regularly like your posts or comment on your articles.

You might be tempted to remove these people, to delete them or block them, but I can share with you a story about how one person in my silent audience messaged me out of the blue and bought my services to help recover a debt from his customer. When I looked at his message, the last time we had exchanged messages was several years ago.

Why Me?

I asked him what prompted him to make contact and why he had chosen me to help solve his problem. He replied saying he’d seen my 4Networking 4Sight “Why I’m a Cyborg”, a presentation I deliver regularly on the networking circuit. He told me he’d read testimonials from my clients and that he wanted my help and no-one else’s. I solved his problem and I know he’s a happy customer who will recommend me for this service in the future.

When Is The Right Time?

I was chosen to provide the credit control debt recovery service for him because of my online reputation. It happened because he had a need for my service at that time. He stepped out of being part of my silent audience. It was the right time for him to contact me.

In my Focus Guru “Making The Most Of Your Silent Audience” Power Hour I help you choose the right ways to engage with your silent audience and how to bring them towards you at the right time.

Who Are You Reaching?

My good friend Stefan Thomas (The Networking Success Programme) is exactly right when he says, “you don’t know who’s watching or who you are reaching”. This means it’s even more important to keep your message consistent, to keep the same tone and language consistent, and to be the person that you portray online.

For example, if you post pictures of large houses and flashy sports cars and imply in your posts that you own them, your audience, silent or not, will find out and may change their opinion of you. So, always be you. Be authentic and you won’t need to keep track of what you’ve said because it will be part of your personality and lifestyle rather than a fake front to remember to upkeep.

Make It Easy

A bonus tip is to make it as easy as possible for your silent audience to reach you. Make sure your contact information is prominent and up to date. Make sure your website has the right information for the products and services you provide. Have you added anything new? Tell your silent audience what it is and make it easy for them to contact you.

If you would like to find out more about your silent audience and how to make the most of your social media connections, please book your Focus Guru “Making The Most Of Your Silent Audience” Power Hour and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

The Power of LinkedIn For Your Business

Are you making the best use of LinkedIn for your business? It’s a social media platform that, when used to it’s potential, can really accelerate the way you keep in touch with your ideal customers. From a personal viewpoint, since implementing some simple changes to my LinkedIn profile, I’ve noticed a huge improvement in engagement from my target audience.

Connections are the most important thing in business

I’d like to share some tips and help you to do the same. I cover these tips and more in my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour which is available to business owners and employees in companies of all sizes and turnovers.

First, I’d like to ask why you’re choosing LinkedIn above the other social media platforms. Is it because LinkedIn has more of a “business feel” than the other platforms? Is it because you feel you need to be on there? Either way, LinkedIn is widely recognised as “the place to be” for business connections, industry news and work opportunities.

Make The Most Of Your Connections

In my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour I’ll share with you how to make the most of your existing connections and how to find new people to connect with. I’ll also share the best ways to interact with your connections to make sure they know you exist and you’re “top of mind” when it comes to thinking about your products and services.

Some of your connections will be your silent audience, the people who are watching from a distance. You may never know which of your posts attracts their interest and it could be several months or even years before they need you.

An example of this is an email I received from a 3^rd level LinkedIn connection. A 3^rd level connection is someone who’s heard about me via two other people. They are two people away from knowing me directly. Yet, this person wanted my help with a time management issue. They got in touch and I was able to solve a problem for them. This is the power of LinkedIn!

Add Value Every Time

One of the most important tips I’d like to share is to make sure each time you post on LinkedIn you’re adding value to your audience. It could be a “Top Tips” article like the ones here on Focus Guru. It could be a “shout out” for someone who’s helped you. Or it could be letting people know about a new product or service, but not necessarily a “buy my stuff” post, which many people find off putting.

In my Focus Guru LinkedIn Power Hour I teach you not only how to add value to your posts, but also how you can add value to your connections’ posts too. It all helps to build that “Meet, Like, Know, Trust” which in turn leads to recommendations, referrals and sales.

“I always say if you get one gem from any training then it is worth the time and the money spent. If you attend one of Rachael’s Power Hours, I am sure you will feel the same as me – time and money – VERY well spent.” – Martin Duddridge, Autolease Ltd.

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please check out the group sessions page.

Top 5 Tips for Successful Networking

Would you like more leads? More enquiries? More sales? To find your next customer you might consider attending a business networking event (nothing to do with computer cabling), where business owners and decision makers get together to talk about products and services. Maybe we’ve already met at a 4Networking face-to-face or online meeting.

Also ask yourself, do people actually know what I do?

When running a business, it’s essential to be able to explain what you do as easily and quickly as possible. Being able to describe your business in 40 seconds in an interesting and engaging way is important, especially when meeting new people at 4Networking meetings.

When you’re in a room with 10, 20, 30, 40 or more people from local, national and International businesses, it can be difficult to stand out. It can be harder to stand out if you are in the same industry as someone else in the room. It’s not uncommon for two web designers to attend the same event, or two electricians, or two accountants.

My top 5 tips are:

Successful Networking – Tip 1 – Be You

It sounds simple doesn’t it? Be You. There’s no need to change who you are and those who do soon get found out. This means don’t over-egg or exaggerate but equally don’t undersell yourself or make light of your achievements. Brad Burton, founder of 4Networking, says: “Be you, because you can’t be anyone else.”

Successful Networking – Tip 2 – Everyone is Nervous

Yes, even that person centre stage talking confidently to anyone and everyone. They were nervous once. It takes practice to be confident at anything and networking is no different. Equally, look for those who seem nervous, speak with them, make them feel comfortable. They’ll thank you for it and could even become your next customer. Also make sure people know what you do. If you are unsure how to do this check out the blog I wrote called ” What Do People Think You Do And Are They Right?”

Successful Networking – Tip 3 – Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

I call this “Know What To Expect”. Anything you can find out in advance about the venue, parking, toilets, coffee station, whether you can bring a roller banner, offer samples or advertise an event is always helpful and these details can usually be obtained from the meeting organiser. Some meetings have a structured format, and you may need to prepare a 40 second introduction or elevator pitch. Arriving in plenty of time is a good way to avoid nerves and help you relax and enjoy the meeting. If you struggle with timings, check out this blog I wrote called, “Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel! How to Beat Your Distracting Squirrels”

Successful Networking – Tip 4 – Relax, Smile, Enjoy the Meeting

It’s often said that “People Buy From People They Like” and one of the best ways to be approachable is to be relaxed, smiling and welcoming. A friendly “hello” can make a big difference to someone who’s nervous or attending the meeting for the first time. When you’re relaxed it shows in your face and your voice. Take your time delivering your 40 seconds introduction, remember to breathe, speak slowly and clearly and take a sip of water before you start.

If you’re struggling pick up the phone to whoever invited you, explain you feel nervous and they should address you’re concerns. If even picking the phone up is out of your comfort zone, check out my blog “How you can easily overcome a lack confidence when speaking on the phone.”

Successful Networking – Tip 5 – Don’t Ignore the Follow Up Process

Whether you’re networking online or offline a key part of your networking process to gaining new customers is closing the sale. By this, I mean following up with your potential customer and asking for their business. Unless you’ve made a sale in the room, you’re going to need some sort of follow up process otherwise it can quickly get out of hand. If you attend 4N Online meetings you might meet 20 people in a meeting, perhaps 150 people in a week. How are you going to measure the success of the meeting? How will you know who to contact afterwards? Do you have an effective sales process, a CRM system, or is it all in your head and handwritten notes?

If the answer is “no” please contact me for your free 15 minute chat and find out more about which Focus Guru Power Hours would help your business.

Bonus Tip – Focus on One Thing

Try to focus on one piece of information you want people to remember about you and your business when you deliver your 40 second introduction. It can be hard if you have multiple businesses, have a “side hustle” or “wear many hats”. But, trust me, 40 seconds is just the start of your conversations with people in the room and there will be plenty of time later to let everyone know what you do and why they need your products and services.

I expand on these tips and much more in my Focus Guru Power Hours. For a free 15 minute chat about your business and any areas you’d like to discuss, book your call today.

New Year, New Start – What Are You Changing?

There’s something about the new calendar year that triggers a sudden flurry of activity. It doesn’t matter how hard you worked until the end of the previous year. You quickly forget how many sleepless nights you spent worrying about your work, family or health. As the clock strikes midnight on the 31^st of December it’s as though the slate is wiped clean and a new year brings a fresh new start.

The 1^st week of January is the perfect time to announce your “New Year, New Start”. By letting others know what you intend to do, you make yourself accountable to them and to yourself. Writing down your targets and the steps to reach them re-enforces your good intentions and makes your goals much more likely to happen.

So, my “New Year, New Start” question to you is:

What are you changing?

Is it something at work? Or at home? Do you want to expand your business? Or plan a holiday?

Everyone has a different goal, but many goals have similar skills you’ll need to achieve them. I can help you discover your hidden strengths and use proven strategies to motivate you to finish the variety of projects you’ve started.

I’ve changed and launched my power hours.

I do this through my Focus Guru Power Hours. These are sixty minutes of targeted business focussed knowledge, systems, processes and skills that will fit into any part of your day.

“Rachael’s understanding of my needs and concerns gave me the support I needed to overcome my blocks.” – Elissa Dobson

How does it work?

Your Focus Guru Power Hour begins with a straightforward, no nonsense conversation. You don’t need to prepare anything and there’s no need to take notes as I’ll send a report with action steps afterwards.

You can choose which Focus Guru Power Hour suits you best or combine Power Hours to sharpen multiple skills. For example, you might choose the Focus Guru “Outstanding Content” Power Hour alongside the “Hootsuite” and/or “Mailchimp” Power Hours.

Or if you’re struggling with overwork or overwhelm, the Focus Guru “Time Management” and “Overwhelm” Power Hours could be for you.

“Rachael has been amazing helping me set up mailing campaigns for my Sammy Rambles books and dragons! I feel confident I can send my own mailshots after my Focus Guru Power Hour.” – Jenny Leggott

The first step is to choose your Power Hours and you’ll see areas from social media, technology, general business and niche areas. Each Power Hour is 121 via Zoom and available for you or a member of your team to participate.

Focus Guru Power Hours:

Streamyard
Calend.ly
YouTube
Hootsuite
Mailchimp
Time Management
Procrastination
Overwhelm
New Business
Zoom
Outstanding Content
Follow Up
General Networking
Track Your Finances

Remember, you can combine Focus Guru Power Hours. Would you like to improve your Zoom or Streamyard knowledge? Maybe you’d like to combine this with a General Networking Power Hour or New Business Power Hour?

Focus Guru Power Hours will help you learn a new skill or enhance your existing knowledge in a variety of business sectors. To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please arrange a free 15 minute call and let’s get started.

How Being Consistent On Social Media Is One Of The Keys To Business Success

Nobody says being consistent is easy at first, but I will promise you that it makes a big difference. Just think about the most prominent brands on the market and you’ll spot they all have something in common. They are consistent. They’re always on your social media radar and through Focus Guru I’ll show you how you can do the same for your business too.

It doesn’t matter whether you make and sell your own products or services, or if you’re part of a network marketing team selling pre-packaged items, being consistent in your marketing and on social media makes a huge difference. If you’re part of a network marketing team, perhaps with Arbonne, Utility Warehouse, Forever Living, Enjo, PartyLite, or Tropic, you might already be using your company marketing material and upline support.

But do you use your marketing tools consistently?

Are you posting on social media regularly?

Have you made the most of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Email to attract new customers?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, please contact me. If you would like more sales, please contact me and I can help. To do this, I’m offering a free 15 minute chat for business owners to help uncover anything which may be stopping you from being consistent in your social media.

“A quick phone call with Rachael has led to a page of notes with ideas and steps to take to help both of my Wedding and Kids businesses take a step forward!” – Charlotte Elizabeth

The free 15 minute chat may uncover areas in your personal life which are be preventing you spending time on business activities, and vice versa. For example, through the chat we may discover you’re more productive in the morning, perhaps there is less stress or fewer interruptions. It makes sense to keep this time free to complete your core activities, the “big rocks”. Equally, if the chat identifies you’re carrying out the school run ten times a week, don’t count on these hours to write your weekly newsletter.

In the Focus Guru Power Hours I’ll help identify your “best hours”, the times during the day where you can carry out the marketing tasks to propel your business towards a consistent social media presence. I’ll cover how to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Email consistently, without any stress or overwhelm. Having a consistent approach pays off in many ways.

“Definitely worth a phone call, Rachael had thought of marketing ideas I hadn’t even considered or thought of!” – Charlotte Elizabeth

Building consistency into your marketing has far-reaching and sometimes unexpected results. It can take many contacts with a prospective customer before they are ready to buy from you. Estimates range from two or three contacts to more than twenty times. That means someone may need to see your marketing message twenty times before they buy from you.

I help make the process of being consistent really simple and easy to implement. Taking out a Focus Guru package makes sure your marketing message is delivered on time each day or each week in front of your targeted customers. You can choose exactly when and where your social media marketing is posted and if you need help writing the content, I can arrange this for you too!

To book your Focus Guru Power Hour, please contact me on 07756 772950 and let’s get started.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

What Do People Think You Do And Are They Right?

Occasionally, you might be in a room with representatives of the same company running your own businesses but selling the same services. You’ve all had access to the same product training and learned the same strategies to discuss and sell the services.

So, how do you tell people what you do?

A good test to start with is to ask a friend or colleague to describe to you what they think you do. This gives a great starting point to find out what people think and then compare it with what you think they think! You might be surprised at what this reveals. It gives you a starting point to review and refine your 40 seconds and your elevator pitch.

The way you say what you do makes a big difference.

It’s your posture, your voice, your expression and your enthusiasm that makes the difference. If you’re promoting the same product as someone else or are competing for the same customers, the difference in the delivery of your 40 seconds can make or break someone’s first impression of you.

Even if you don’t feel confident, stand tall, look people in the eye and smile. Be positive about yourself and your products and services. I attended a 4Networking meeting recently and someone stood up and said, “you’ll probably hate me but…” then at another meeting someone started their 40 seconds with “I’m another one of those annoying…” and it influenced my decision whether I wanted a 121 with them, or not.

If you don’t believe in your products and services, why should anyone else? Why would I want to buy something from you? Our interaction has begun on a negative step when it would have been easier to be positive from the outset.

A little repetition never hurts.

In a busy 4Networking meeting you may find repeating your name, company, product or service during your 40 seconds helps the details stick in people’s minds. Think about the people you remember from 4Networking meetings and the chances are they will have repeated their message several times. They may have a prop, a branded mug, company t-shirt, roller banner or other subtle marketing around them reinforcing their company name and brand.

When networking in a room, there’s a school of thought that you should sit by your banner so people can see you and your banner at the same time, giving double the message. It also comes in handy when photographs are taken as your company name is prominent afterwards, even if someone has forgotten your name.

In 4N Online meetings, having a branded background is another great way to reinforce your company, products, services and special offers. Everyone is encouraged to take screenshots and these pictures with your company branding will be online within minutes of the meeting closing.

If you’re concerned about the impression you’re giving at face to face meetings or in online meetings, then I highly recommend you head over to the Networking retreat App and start engaging with the content Stefan Thomas puts out there, for free!

I offer Focus Guru Power Hours covering general administration, streamlining processes, and uncovering new methods to save time and money within your business. As well as how to stay connected using Mailchimp.

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way

www.getfocus.guru

Focus Guru Power Hours – How To Write Outstanding Content For Your Email Marketing

Keeping in touch with your customers and prospective customers using emails is one of the best marketing strategies available today. Your messages can be written and sent as and when you want, or you can schedule messages to be delivered at set times of the day or night.

This is perfect if you have a special offer to announce, or a new product launch to promote. You can write the content and it can be delivered on your unique timescale. This is where you can “write it and move on” or “set it and forget it”.

Top Tip: Contacting customers on a regular basis keeps your company at the top of the list when they need the services you sell.

Content, subject line & Consistency is key to your emails being opened

Writing the Right Words

How do you know what to write? How do you choose the words to keep your reader interested? What are the “trigger words” to make sure they read your message? How do you encourage customers to click and buy from you and not one of your competitors?

These are some of the many questions I’m asked, and I can share with you my advice on how to make sure your emails are read and not deleted. Many people read their emails on a tablet or mobile device. This means they are making split second judgements to read or recycle your email based purely on the sender, subject and first line of your message.

Sender, Subject, First Line

In my “Unlock the Secrets of Mailchimp Success in 5 Easy Steps” Focus Guru Power Hour, I show you how to set up your Mailchimp email campaign with these key details. Having a properly formatted sender name and email address elevates your company above those who don’t take the time to check for spelling mistakes, grammar errors or missing punctuation.

Look at the difference in impact between using “Focus Guru Power Hour” and “focus guru power hour” as the sender name. Using capitals elevates the impact. It stands out more than using all lower case. Having a bigger and bolder presence in someone’s inbox helps your message to be seen. It also demonstrates attention to detail and shows value in the service being offered.

The same is true for the subject and first line. If these are potentially the only words between your email being read and being binned, it’s vital to make sure they are interesting, informative or entertaining.

Eye-Catching Images

There’s the saying how “a picture tells a thousand words” and with many email programs supporting HTML content and images, there’s no reason why you can’t add relevant images into your email campaigns.

You may wish to use your own product images, or images showing how your services can be used. Alternatively, you can find images (royalty-free or paid-for) from websites such as Canva or Unsplash. There’s no excuse for sending a plain-text email anymore!

Create Engaging Content

This comes back to writing the right words, using pictures and creating the informative, educational or entertaining content that will keep your readers interested and motivated to follow the links to your website, or to pick up the phone to speak with you.

I can help discuss the aims of your email campaign. What do you want to achieve? What do you want your customers to do? What’s the next step? If you need help creating the content for your email messages, I can help with this too.

Through the Focus Guru Power Hour “How To Write Outstanding Content For Your Email Marketing” you’ll learn how to use these steps to make your email campaigns come to life and achieve great results. You’ll learn how to set up your Mailchimp account and run successful email campaigns all year round where your customers actively read your messages and take note of your call to action.

Book your Focus Guru Power Hour here. I run 121 workshops via Zoom on many, easy to use, business tools, including Mailchimp, online calendars, networking tips and much more. Let’s get started! Book your Focus Guru Power Hour today!

Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way