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You know that I love re-using and repurposing information - articles become the foundations for books, talks become the foundations for articles and so on.

As I was checking out the Pink Heels blog I found another great way to reuse your data - you can now put your Powerpoint presentations up on the net using Slideshare.net. It is a free place you can upload your Powerpoint presentations and then embed them into your website. You can also add in audio and create your own webinar. Think YouTube for Powerpoint and you get the idea.

You can also check out everyone else’s presentations - great for research as well as brilliant to help you get ideas for the design of presentations that are not deathly dull and boring.

You can search for presentations by topic to help you find what you are looking for - I did a search for marketing and came back with an impressive 14 022 presentation results.

I have a couple of presentations I am doing to industry groups in the coming months so will certainly give Slideshare a try. How can you use it for your business?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - SEO copywriters

Way back when I was at school we had to do a subject called “Grooming and Poise” (yes I am showing my age again). During this course we spent one whole lesson on how to give a handshake.  There was a real science to it - not to be limp wristed, to apply firm but not overwhelming pressure, a solid “up and down” action, to look into the other person’s eyes and to smile when you said hello.

Researchers at the University of Iowa have studied the importance of a good handshake and found that potential candidates that rated higher on having a good handshake were also rated as more employable.  They were seen to have greater social skills and greater extroversion.

This was supported by Paul Zak, officially Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and Professor of Economics and Neurology who found that touch increased the level of trust. A good level of touch increases the level you trust someone. In this study they found a 243% increase in the amount of money a person was willing to part with after touch.

I can remember reading a study (but I can’t remember where), where coffee shop attendants received greater tips if they touched a customer via a handshake or in some other non-threatening manner.

So what does this mean for business? Well - if you want to be trusted, to be seen as competent and socially skilled you need to brush up on your handshake technique.

I am pretty sure you can’t find a Grooming and Poise class these days, but you can practice on your family and friends. You can also put “How to shake hands” into Google and come up with any number of online lessons and articles to help you polish up your skill.

You also need to consider when you meet people whether you should reintroduce the handshake - such as meeting a new customer, at networking events and at social occasions.

You may be surprised at what a little friendly touch can do for your relationships and your business.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony -Freelance Copywriters

In this week’s newsletter we take a look at copyright and whether businesses own their business logos and marketing words. It is not as simple as it sounds!

Continuing with that theme here is a rather scary view of copyright in relation to Myspace, Facebook, Linked In and Gmail.  Ignore the plugs at the beginning if you choose … but the information is pretty fascinating!

Makes you kind of want to cancel all your gmail accounts doesn’t it!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriter

When I was checking out EP Designs blog post about shop counter bells it reminded me that one of the oldest debates in art and creativity. Whether form (the beauty of the piece) is more important than the function (the purpose of the piece). Her post had a pile of gorgeous shop counter bells that not only worked well, but looked stunning in the process.

The form vs function debate is alive and well in our business. We see it a lot with the websites we work with to improve their web words - where the design is beautiful but it is not functional in that it has no SEO optimisation … which means it won’t be found in search engines.

We also see the reverse - purely functional sites that are very boring to look at. Unfortunately there are very few web designers who seem to be able to do both!

For language we see it with words that are flowery and beautiful to read - but sell nothing, compared with words that have heavy sell but no art to them.

The optimal balance of everything in business is a balance of form vs function. Are you in balance?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copwriters

Following on from my discussion of deep soul longings, over the past few days the world has been thrown into turmoil as the US economy teeters on the edge of collapse.

In times like these, the thing that people crave more than anything else is certainty. They look for certain answers and truth, clutching at life-rafts of certainty in their every day lives.

What this means for business is that headlines screaming “get rich quick” will not get the same response as a few months ago. In these times, people will look for greater proof - trusted experience and proven track records.

This is the time for businesses to be polishing up their testimonials and looking for ways to make things more straightforward for consumers by giving them certainty over things such as timeframes, costs and outcomes.

It is the time to boost your guarantees, increase consumer choice and giving them greater options for solutions to give them greater control.

For yourselves, it also means you could be buffeted by your own uncertainty about your business. You may find days when your self esteem has taken a battering and you can’t stand confident.

On those days regain control through little actions - take control of the mess on your desk or your email in-box, take control over your health through eating better or exercising more, take control of your relationships by stopping work early and spending time with your family.

The biggest truism for the stock market is the greatest money is to be made when the markets crash - because that is when the canny investors find real diamonds that are undervalued because of lack of confidence and then invest in them for when confidence returns.

This is true for business. The biggest opportunities for business come when the market is flat, as that is when you find creative and innovative solutions you wouldn’t have found if things were cushy.

I know this is very true for my business. The times of greatest hardship were the times of my greatest growth - and the greatest foundations for the future. Embrace the challenge, look for your solutions and never give up (no matter what the market is doing!)

Remember - take control over the things you can control, gain certainty over the things you can gain certainty over and leave the rest to a higher power.

One thing I know for certain is that everything always always works out for the best.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - SEO Copywriters

PS: A quick word of celebration to indicate that recession is only a state of mind. One of our favourite clients, who are just one small part of an iconic Australian travel brand, referred us on to their head office without our knowledge.  Head office checked out our work with our client and this week presented us with a massive ongoing contract to produce the web-copy for all 4 companies within the household name company.

This is due to the brilliant work of our Heart Harmony writers quietly working in the background  - thanks a million Melinda, Emily, Donna-Marie, Katherine, Rebecca, Penni and Uellan!  You have all done an exceptional job and I feel privileged to work with you.

Yesterday I went to see Mamma Mia - yes I know I must have been the only person in Australia who hasn’t seen it until now!

Anyway, there was one part of the movie that really hit a chord with me. It is the scene where the former wild child and now single mum (20 years on), weighed down with debt and responsibilities was reunited with her former inner spark by her two girlfriends.

It was set to the song “Dancing Queen” and we watched as first the mum and then all of the women of the Greek village (where the movie was set), reconnect with their deep soul longing of being beautiful, young, sexy and  confident.

The piece that had me in tears (yes I cry at movies) was watching the older, more pudgy Nonna’s for a moment rediscover their inner 17 year old - to reconnect even for a moment with their inner beauty, joy and confidence. Just for that moment they were not someones wife, mother or employee - they were standing strong in the essence of who they truly were.

Every woman can relate to that deep soul longing to once again be who they truly are. To once again be beautiful, independent and in control of their life.

In marketing, the most powerful messages are the ones that tap into deep soul longings. Services and products that help customers recapture even for a moment that spark are the ones that are the most popular (and profitable).

Does your product or service meet those deep soul longings of customers - for inner beauty, belonging, confidence, love, respect and independence? Does your marketing help your customers reconnect with their deep soul longings?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriters

We have all heard about comfort food - that lovely sugary and starchy food people eat when they are flat.

Well a study in America from 4 universities has found what we have long suspected - when people are sad they buy more and spend more when they shop. Merely watching a sad video made people pay 4 times for for an insulated water bottle than the control group who watched a nature video.

The lesson is if you are sad (and want to save your money), do something else other than shop.

From a business perspective I wouldn’t suggest running videos of kittens being hurt on the way into your store, but stocking a premium product that will help people feel better if they are having a bad day may be a good investment.

I can see coffee shops stocking “bad day buster” hot chocolates, soft mohair jumpers “because you deserve some softness in your life” and  packaging your services in a way to help business owners deal with feelings of defeat. You can also look at touching that demographic in your words if your product matches that need (think of McDonald’s old slogan “You deserve a break today” and you get the idea).

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Copywriters

A heads up that a colleague of mine from Soul Talk Consultancy Services is running a one day workshop Wed 15th Oct from 9-4.30pm on dealing with difficult customers.

The content curriculum looks brilliant - giving an opportunity to explore what triggers us and why, as well as learning strategies for dealing with the angry, distressed, untruthful and even unappreciative customer.

Raelene Bann is a qualified counsellor and mediator, and really knows her stuff so this should be a great workshop. For more information contact Raelene on 0402 247 459.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriter

Spring has well and truly sprung here in Brisbane. If you are like many of us you have started to rattle through your cupboards at home and started to tackle those home renovation projects that have been gathering cobwebs during winter.

I admit no cupboard in my home has been safe these past few weeks. 1/4 of my entire kitchen cupboard contents are now at St Vinnies and a whole pile of other things are listed on Freecycle to find good homes. I still can’t work out how I ended up with 5 potato mashers over time! It is a great feeling to see everything fresh, clean and organised.

Spring is also a great time to tackle a business make-over, to refresh your image and your brand, update your website content and marketing brochures.

If you are feeling stuck in your business the best thing to do is get out and clutter clear, refresh your image and update your words to better reflect who you are now and where your business is heading.

Every few years do a major business makeover. Not updating your image is like wearing a safari suit to work - it may have been good at the time but it the image is dating you and costing you clients.

I have been working with Jo Pollard from Wild Dog Designs as part of her total business rejuvenation package. My business cards have had a major spring clean, my logo updated and refreshed, my letterheads redone and my brochures have undergone a total revamp … and they look amazingly brilliant!

It is funny how updating your business image can breathe new life into your business and give you a fresh perspective on the  world.

So - make the most of the energy of spring and tackle a business makeover.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriters

Customer satisfaction used to be a USP for business, now it is a given - which means unless you are satisfying your customers needs, you are losing business.

But how do you satisfy customers?  Over at the Neuromarketing blog they covered off three scientific studies across very different groups of people to determine one of the key features of customer satisfaction.

Convicted felons were asked to rate the fairness of their legal process. Not surprisingly those with shorter sentences rated their process as fairer than those who were issued longer sentences. What was surprising though was the impact of the time their lawyers spent with them throughout the process. Those whose lawyers had spent more time with them considered the process fairer than those whose lawyers just made the essential contacts.

Venture capitalists were also surveyed about their satisfaction with the companies they are supporting. Those who had detailed and timely feedback from their companies had greater trust and support for their companies, no matter how they were financially performing.

Finally, a study was done on patients who were injured by doctors to work out why some patients sued the doctor and others didn’t. They found that malpractice cases came about when the patient felt they had been rushed or their views ignored or they were treated poorly. If the patient was treated with kindness and respect they tended not to sue the doctor who had made the mistake.

So what does that mean for business? The simplest take-away is that spending time with your customers is vital. Communicate effectively, listen and treat people with respect.  Do this before things go pear shaped (as they will sometimes do in business with missed deadlines, poor quality or mistakes) and you have a greater chance of retaining the customer rather than heading for a problem.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriters