heartharmony.com.au

Over the past few weeks, we have released a pile of free stuff to help businesses. It seemed like a useful idea to put all of them together in the one blog post, in case you have missed anything.

Performance Appraisal Forms

This free pack contains 9 performance review forms, 2 probation review forms, self-evaluation forms, a record of conversation form and an employee warning form.

100 Exceptional Performance Appraisal Questions

If ever you have to do a performance review, you know that asking the right questions is the biggest battle. Here are 100 of them designed to cover pretty much every scenario.

Lessons from Leaders

This is the latest free product from Heart Harmony. A whole year’s worth of inspiration and reflection questions to help you challenge your thinking and grow your business. You get one Lesson from a Leader each week – each designed to make you think. Here is a sample …

This Week …

Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.

Arnold Glasgow

This is the ultimate series of questions against which to test every business decision:

• is this decision right for all concerned,
• is the way we want to do it the right way,
• is this the right time?

Could you do with a weekly dose of inspiration? The subscribe to Lessons from Leaders.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane  Copywriter

In retail, one of the rules is to periodically move stock around your store. People notice the change and suddenly see things that they overlooked before.

This rule can be applied to any business. Most businesses can benefit from moving things around and freshening up their look (while still keeping brand elements for consistency). Think about the girl on the Redhead matches – she has been periodically redesigned to keep her look in keeping with the times. The Coke logo has had the odd “tweak” and even Barbie has had more than one round of plastic surgery.

In the past fortnight, we have been undergoing a thorough branding review. Every one of our products has been re-edited, adjusted and polished to give a consistent look and feel. We also took the opportunity to add in even more value for each product.  And while we were at it, we launched a few new products into the market (with more to come).

So … what has had a facelift?

Instant HR Policies & Procedures

We have totally revamped our manual – basically shredding every page & re-writing from scratch to make it even more user-friendly.

We have added in new sections for Whistleblowers & Paid Parental Leave, and amended many of the sections to take into account legislative changes.  And … we added in a stack of new bonus articles!

Employee Performance Reviews: Tips, Templates & Tactics

Our Employee Performance Reviews has also had a makeover. Plus we added in transcripts of our MP3 training sessions, included some great bonus articles and added in 100 Performance Appraisal Questions.

Small Business Marketing Ideas

And then we launched our new product – Small Business Marketing Ideas – packed full of ways to grow your business offline, without spending a fortune.

But the makeovers were not just limited to our paid products. Here are three of our free products that all have had a freshen up in the past week.

Free on subscription to our newsletter

Free Performance Review Forms

Free performance appraisal questions

And over the next few weeks, there will even more surprises in store.

Now all of these changes didn’t cost the earth, although they did take dedicated time to make happen (and yes, they had been on my “To Do” list for about 2 years. The lesson for me was to physically book in time in my own diary. I needed to treat my business as if it was as important as my fabulous clients – and I needed to walk my talk. I needed to “Be my Brand”.

So – I hope you enjoy our new look!

exuberantly yours

Ingrid

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane Copywriter

Friday is the big day. We are making final adjustments to the code & testing everything.

What for?

On Friday morning we are launching the latest Heart Harmony e-book  “Small Business Marketing Ideas: How to Grow Your Business Offline in Minutes a Day Without Spending a Fortune“.

It is 154 A4 pages packed full of straight shooting content designed specifically for small and micro-businesses,  and we are pretty chuffed about how it has turned out!

So, I thought I would give you a sneak peak at a few things.

First, the cover designed by the lovely S’Roya Rose.

The cover of Small Business Marketing Ideas

And a couple of comments from previewers:

Small Business Marketing Ideas is one book that should be owned by absolutely anyone involved in a small business! In her latest book, Ingrid Cliff clearly details everything you need to consider when planning how to market your business, whether you have an online business, a ‘bricks and mortar’ business or a mixture of both. Although she covers every aspect you need to consider, she does so in a truly concise way, without all the extra ‘fluff’ that some other marketing books are filled with. It’s definitely an investment that anyone who’s serious about their small business should make.

Donna-Marie Coggins

www.Donna-MarieCoggins.com

Ingrid Cliff has turned the often confusing world of small business marketing into a useful checklist of simple concepts, thoroughly explored and explained without jargon or BS. Her commonsense approach goes beyond the obvious and offers real value if you want clarity on your marketing choices. I have a marketing degree and have worked with hundreds of talented business owners who need to be marketing savvy. If you want insights and ‘aha’ moments for your offline marketing, you couldn’t start in a better place!

Lisa Murray

Business Mentor, Revive Business Coaching

I am looking forward to sharing more about the book with you on Friday.

(Shhhhh! If you are on tonight’s free webinar http://businessbreakthroughmagic.com/ – you may be in for some early previews & surprises).

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane Copywriters

When people come up to you and ask “what do you do?” – what do you say? If you find yourself fumbling around for words, you need an elevator speech. An elevator speech is a very short concise statement that highlights what you do, who you work with and what makes you special. It shouldn’t be any longer than the time it takes to ride up a floor or two in an elevator (hence the name).

Most people make the mistake of trying to use their elevator speeches to try and sell to new clients. Doing this is the equivalent of going to a bar, approaching the first person you see and asking them if they want to go to bed with you. You are not going to get a great response!

So what should go into your elevator pitch?

• Something to get their attention. A fact, story, statement or question that grabs their interest.
• Focus on them. Elevator speeches should be more about them and their issues rather than you.
• Passion. If you are not interested and excited about your product or service, why should anyone else be?
• Heartfelt. Closely aligned to passion is a speech that is connected to your heart & emotions. Logical speeches don’t entice connection – ones from the heart do.
• Who you help. Help the person see themselves as your part of your client base.
• Leave them wanting more. You don’t want to give them everything in your first meeting. You want to leave a little bit of mystery that has them asking you questions about what you offer.
• Brevity! 30-60seconds maximum.
• Practiced. Practice your speech in front of a mirror or record it to hear how it sounds and feels.
• Freshness. As your business changes over time, you may need to adjust your elevator speech. You may also need to adjust your speech to different audiences – one size does not fit all.
• Evolving. A good speech will evolve over time. Don’t wait for the perfect speech to magically appear – use it and refine it.

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane Copywriter

I have many clients who believe in the Law of Attraction. If you have lived under a rock for the past 10 years, the essence of it is what you focus on with enough clarity and intensity is drawn to you.

Many clients in their first meeting with me,  say  “I have been visualising my perfect client … I feel totally in alignment with them … I can feel them coming towards me … so why are they not showing up in my life? I must have a hidden block somewhere.”

My response is always “What have you done to let your perfect clients know where you are and what you do?” The usual answer is “Well I have written down what I want, I have thought about it a lot, and I have done one or two minor things like get a business card and maybe gone to one or two networking events.”

Reality time here … setting your intent is brilliant. It is like wiring up the circuit for an electric light. But … at some point you physically have to get up off the couch, walk over to the light-switch and turn the light on. It takes action on your part.

And you can’t just turn the light on for a second and then turn it off and be inundated with customers. You need to keep the light burning strongly and consistently – in as much the same way that a light-house stays alight all night, every night. You need to light your beacon so the people who are seeking you know where to find you.

That isn’t to say that the hidden block doesn’t exist. The hidden block is often the fear of actually going the distance.  It is the fear of trying and failing. It is the fear of not being good enough at what you do. It is the fear of shaking the status quo – because the now, while not brilliant, is still comfortable.

These are the fears that stop people from taking any meaningful action. They bury you in “yes but I can’t do that because …”

Most small business marketing has nothing to do with putting out flyers or brochures, it is all about feeling and confronting personal fears. It is about being clear about who you are and what you do – and being willing to stand up and share that message with the world. And it is all about making yourself visible and believing that you have something worthwhile to share. You need to marry your intent with action.

So set your intent … then get up off your “but …” and turn your light on.

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter

In the past few years there has been a massive shift in terms of how much information is shared with potential clients. These days people freely share information that in the past they would have charged for.  This is called “moving the free line” in internet marketing circles.

Many businesses really struggle with this shift. They don’t want to “give away the farm”. They value their information and don’t want to damage their brand by freely giving away their content.

I understand that concern. So all I can do is share the experiences of my clients who have moved the free line in their business. Did their business collapse? Do people no longer book in for the services or buy their products? Did their competitors steal the information and then take the clients?

What my clients have found is that by giving away some of their best information for free, their business gained credibility and a whole pile of new clients. Loads of people took advantage of their free offers, which then meant they could then sell other products or services to them down the track. The businesses ended up with a bigger pool of potential clients they can then convert to paid clients later on.

They also found when they share the key points of their core information with potential clients, the potential clients think “if this is what they give for free, how awesome must they be when I actually pay for working with them”.

And the more my clients give, the more they get a better quality of prospective clients coming through. The tyre-kickers and those only wanting free advice already have had their needs met, so when my clients do get an inquiry, it is from someone genuinely interested. They do not waste time doing quotes and proposals for people who would never have bought their services in the first place.

Now before you leap out an give everything away, there is one caveat with this free sharing. I would recommend considering a split for your information.

Give away the “what to do” and sell the “how to do it”. Give away the strategy. Sell the implementation. Give away the system. Sell the process. That way you can give amazing content and advice and still remain in your integrity and value your product or service.

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane Copywriter

For many new small businesses starting their marketing, they think “I’ve gotta get me a business card and a three fold brochure“.  I have to tell you, the archetypal three-fold brochure is heading the way of the print Yellow Pages and the Dodo.

Why?

If you take a look at any networking event where people can put out their promo materials, you will see a motley assortment of business card piles, three fold brochures with curling edges and the odd pile of photocopied A4 sheets of paper (which everyone covers with their own stuff).  Nothing stands out. People pick over the piles in the same way that they pick over the leftover sandwiches – filling in time without really being interested.

And if you do create brochures to put in your office (or in the offices of alliance partners), you will see they get blown about by the wind, get the inevitable “been here too long” droop in the middle and generally get ignored. If the brochures are around for a few too many months, you may even see the tasteful ruled out with blue pen, or sticker over the back and new details added – mmm mmm enticing!

So what is working these days? One of the strategies I have seen work well, for when you definitely need something in print, is colourful postcards. These can be standard size or DL – but the trick is solid colour, bright interesting graphics, and a teaser headline that makes you pick up the card and turn it over to read what is on the back.  They stand out in “goodies bags” at promo events, grab the eye at networking tables and demand to be read, can withstand a bit of rough and tumble and make great mail outs.

Some traditional brochures still have their place. A4 sheets are useful as inserts into presentation folders where you want to tailor the information to the client, and they are great for sales people to highlight products to potential customers. They also make great product or service fact sheets to explain features in more depth to the client, but they are not designed for letterbox drops, networking events or to sit in perspex displays in your office.

So, if you are on a budget and want to funk up your marketing … ditch the business brochure and think postcards.

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into Words

Heart Harmony – Brisbane Copywriter

There’s some interesting statistics just out. According to comScore’s 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review reported in PC Mag, last year:

• e-mail use declined 59 percent for those aged 12-17
• usage was also down about 1 percent for the 18-24 age bracket,
• down 18 percent for people 25-34 years old,
• down 8 percent for people between 35-44, and
• down 12 percent for the 45-54 age group.

Across the board, e-mail use declined by 8 percent.

But the good news is the grey army. People ages 55-64 used e-mail 22 percent more and those ages 65 and older saw a 28 percent increase in its use.

Yeah … so what? Stop for a moment. Most people are using emails LESS. That means fewer people are reading all those beautifully crafted ezines and emails businesses are sending.

So where are they going? The big winners are Facebook & Twitter. 9 out of 10 internet users visited social networking sites each month, with one out of every 8 minutes on the net spent on Facebook (according to the comScore’s report).

Why are people abandoning email & moving to social media? My theory is the spam & the ads. People are simply sick of the noise – they are tired of spam emails for pills, potions & lotions. They are tired of money scams and viruses. Social media is seen as safer communication amongst friends. They want to hang out and talk – rather than be bombarded with junk.

Now, this is a trend to make businesses sit up and take notice. Social media is no longer a fad, it has gone very much mainstream – and businesses need to quickly learn the game, get up on the rules and create a social media presence.  Your customers are moving. You need to follow them.

And here’s how to find me on Facebook or Twitter. Love to connect with you there!

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriters

Queensland has just been hit by it’s second major natural disaster in the space of just over a month. First there were the devastating floods that affected 3/4 of the state, and then Cyclone Yasi , as big as Hurricane Katrina,  hit the north of the state last night.

While the human impact on lives and businesses are immeasurable, there are some very clear lessons that can be learnt from the exceptional communication that has occurring during both disasters.

Businesses should take lessons from how the disaster communication has been done. Your business may never be faced with the scale of disaster Queensland has seen, but the essence of disaster communication is the same no matter whether your business is faced with legal issues, staff issues or any other disaster that puts you in the media spotlight.

1. Have a nominated spokesperson of some stature. In these disasters the spokesperson has been Anna Bligh, Premier of the state, accompanied by the Police Commissioner and other emergency services personnel and Ministers as needed. Briefings have never been left to a media advisor – the leader has always been front and centre, fielding the questions, providing answers & keeping things calm. This also means your spokesperson needs to be easily contactable and ready to provide comment 24/7. If your spokesperson can’t make a briefing, then you need to explain where they are and how the stand-in spokesperson is of similar high stature. Get clear on who your media spokesperson is going to be in any crisis situation and make sure your team know how to contact them.
2. The spokesperson needs to have media skills. Every CEO/spokesperson needs media training – no if’s, but’s or maybe’s. They need to be able to present to the media in a clear, confident and calm fashion, and not get flustered.
3. Take questions. Allowing all questions helps to dispel concerns of people. Reading from a prepared statement and running suggests something to hide.
4. If you don’t know the answer – say so. The people who have briefed Anna Bligh have done a superb job, but no leader knows all of the answers. Where she didn’t know the answers, she said so and explained exactly when she would have the information and when she would tell people about it.
5. Keep the leadership team regularly updated. Every few hours the full disaster management team would meet, exchange information and plan next steps. Everyone that needed to be in the loop on what was happening, was kept in the loop – no exceptions.
6. Regularly communicate to the public. Every few hours Anna Bligh would hold a press conference that updated the public on information. Updates were regular, consistent, authoritative and the spacing did not allow rumours to spread to quickly.  Where there were rumours doing the rounds, she specifically addressed the rumours and gave the facts which served to stop their spread. The team always announced when the next briefing would be given to the media at the end of the previous briefing – it helped create certainty and instill calm. Outside of formal briefings, Anna Bligh was accessible to the regular media for exclusive interviews.
7. Repeat the key messages. Core messages for each disaster were communicated over and over (pretty much in each briefing). They were not said once and forgotten, but repeated and embedded.
8. Communicate in many different channels. One of the strengths for the team has been use of multiple communication channels – Facebook, Twitter, Websites, their own live broadcast channel on You Tube, traditional media releases and press conferences. They did not rely just on the media to pick up their story – they actively went out and communicated their messages themselves. And yes, this meant a team of people working tirelessly in the background. You need to work out who your communication team is going to be before any disaster hits.
9. Don’t downplay the bad news. If there is bad news or mistakes made, get the information out there as soon as possible. Don’t try to hide it or downplay it. People want the truth in disaster situations and fudging the answers only creates suspicion.
10. Be human. One of the real strengths of Anna Bligh and her team, has been the willingness to share their emotional pain while still getting the job done. They haven’t kept their emotions in a box – but have allowed people to see their fears, frustrations, sorrow as well as relief. This last point is the thing that people in Queensland are still talking about – they don’t often talk about the regularity of communication – just that Anna has “stepped up” and “been inspirational”.

Are there any other lessons that you have seen during this time?

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter

On the weekend I finished reading “The Winner’s Bible: Rewire Your Brain for Permanent Change” by Dr Kerry Spackman. It was one of the books I had taken with me on my holiday, and was one of three which remained unopened and unread in the bottom of my suitcase.  On Saturday, when I was recovering from another challenge with my breathing, I decided to finally get to my unread “holiday” books.

I have to say that as a whole the book was “yeah so what”.  It irritated me more than inspired me (I have this thing about books that tell you of the importance of goals and of having an unshakable belief in yourself and then only give trite answers on how to set goals & develop belief, but that is an aside).

However, there was one passage that really resonated with me. It was the chapter where Kerry was talking about his grandpa, Sir Trevor Henry. Sir Trevor was one of New Zealand’s top judges and was an unerringly good judge of character. When Kerry asked his grandpa how he was able to do this, he answered:

” Everyone you meet has a Big Story. They all have an image they want to project about who they are, what they do and why they are so special. Because this Big Story is important to them they put in a lot of effort and care to polish it to perfection. They make this Big Story interesting so we naturally pay a lot of attention to it. But while they are going about their lives, living and telling their Big Story, they are also leaking out Little Stories. Small subtleties in their behaviour that tell you what they are actually like inside. Of course, we don’t usually notice these Little Stories because they get completely swamped by the Big Story. But if you learn to listen to these Little Stories you’ll be able to see inside people’s souls. And the more you practice this Skill of listening to the Little Stories, the more you’ll see.”

I love this. As I spent a bit of time deeply thinking back over my past year, I realised I had lost sight of the importance of  listening to the  Little Stories and been seduced by the Big Story on more than on occasion. As my grandma used to say “Unless you watch for straws in the wind, you are likely to be hit by the haystack“.

The other quote from the book that resonated with me was:

“You see, the richest people in the world aren’t those with the most assets, the most fame, the most success or even those who are the most popular. The people who possess the greatest treasure in the world are those who:

• are quality people leading their own authentic lives to the fullest
• are intimately connected with other people of equal quality who deeply care for them.”

This is a brilliant definition of richness and abundance. It is easy to get caught up with the Big Story told by people of zeros on a balance sheet, public fame and apparent worldly success – but the little stories can tell a different tale of richness.

So here’s to a life of authenticity, intimate connection, quality friends and family and of hearing the Little Stories that tell of joy, hope, inspiration, honesty and love!

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter