Category: Outsourcing

If you’ve got a lovely summer holiday coming up, you know it’s your chance to switch off completely and restore yourself after months of hard work. But for you to get the most out of your holiday, you’ll need to know your business is in safe hands while you’re away. In this blog, we look at how to do a holiday handover to reduce stress before and after your break. 

What should you hand over?

Of course, there will be some things that only you can do, like nurturing a client relationship built on a personal touch, or financial responsibilities where you’re a named signatory.  

However, there are plenty of other responsibilities that others can pick up on your behalf. True, the other person won’t do it in exactly the way that you do, but they will keep things ticking over so you don’t have a double workload to come back to. These tasks include:

How to do a holiday handover – what should I consider?
See it as an investment in your business

    Handing over your work before your holiday creates a great opportunity for someone else in your organisation to take on more responsibility and gain more skills. Keep your handover positive – remember, it’s an investment in both your wellbeing and the growth of your business.

    Don’t rush it

    Making time for your handover should make your pre-holiday work week less stressful. It should also mean you don’t have to send last-minute instructions from the airport. 

    Delegate to the right person

    Pick someone whom you trust – this can be more important than their experience.  Choose someone with good judgement who will know when to take the initiative and know when to ask for advice. 

    Keep it simple! 

    You are probably only going away for one or two weeks, so the person you hand over to doesn’t need overly detailed instructions. In fact, if you make the handover too detailed, you risk overwhelming the other person so they can’t do their best work. 

    Make it a two-way process

    Find out what the other person’s knowledge gaps are and focus on filling them. If there’s a process they don’t understand, this is the time to explain it to them. Let them ask questions. Try not to be critical if they ask you something you thought they already knew!

    Can I outsource my work while I’m on holiday?

    Yes! You might be surprised at just what you can outsource. For example, you probably know you can outsource back-office tasks like admin, payroll, marketing and diary management. But did you know you can also outsource your core work? 

    For example, if you run a creative agency, you can outsource design, branding and marketing to Get Ahead. Or if you offer HR or recruitment, you can outsource some of your processes to our team of experts. Your clients will receive a seamless service and you get the full benefit of your holiday into the bargain. 

    You can also outsource to a team of experts. We can assemble a team to cover whatever you need, whether you need email management and graphic design, or social media and business development.

    Explore our site to find out more, follow us on social media, or get in touch for an informal chat. 

    There are always lots of things to do at work before taking a holiday, particularly if you run your own business. Fortunately, when we know what they are and we manage our time well, we don’t have to bookend our holiday with two stressful weeks. 

    We’ve caught up with virtual PA Amanda who shares her list of things to do at work before taking a holiday.

    What should we do at work before going on holiday?

    Tell people

    Amanda: If you do nothing else, tell the people you work with that you are going away and when. Even if you own the business and you don’t have to apply for annual leave, it’s a good idea and common courtesy. Telling others means that they can manage their work accordingly, whether that’s asking you about matters now before you go on holiday, or taking the initiative so they don’t interrupt your break. Let anyone outside your business whom you’re collaborating with know too. 

    Set up email management

     Amanda: We’re all used to out-of-office replies now – they’re a very handy invention. If you’re in danger of forgetting to set yours, write it now and schedule it for your holiday period. 

    While you’re automating emails, take the opportunity to set up the “focused” and “other” inbox system that Outlook provides (if you haven’t already). This can make things smoother when you’re back from your holiday – the messages that need your attention should be easy to find.

    Some of my clients ask me to manage their inboxes while they’re on holiday – it’s a great solution. I create folders for different types of email and I can even field them out to others in your organisation. You won’t come back to thousands of emails and you will be able to pick up where you left off. 

    Test your automation

    Amanda: If you’re going to use, say, social media scheduling software to cover you while you’re away, test it out first. If you trial it while you’re still in the office, you’ll have time to iron out any wrinkles so the system runs perfectly in your absence. 

    Write a to-do list for your return

    Amanda: Writing things down is a great way to get them out of your head, even if you can’t deal with them immediately. I always encourage my clients to write their to-do list for their first day back. Not only does it mean a more organised return, but it gives them more freedom to enjoy their holiday!

    Plan for core work and big projects

    Amanda: How you cover bigger projects depends on many factors. However, it’s important to remember that everything won’t grind to a halt without you. You might choose to put work on hold while you’re on holiday. Or you might choose to set it up in advance so it can run well in your absence.

     If you’re a good employer or collaborator (and I’m sure you are!) your team should feel empowered to carry on without you and act on their own initiative. Maybe the team could use your holiday time to address the areas that don’t need your specific input, like the actual printing of a new publication. Or maybe you could set up a task in your last week and they could use your holiday to put it into action. 

    Virtual PA services from Get Ahead

    Get Ahead has built up a team of nearly a hundred virtual PAs, VAs and sector experts to support your business while you’re away on holiday. We’re here for when you get back too! Follow us on social media to find out how we work, and get in touch whenever you’re ready. 

    We all feel energised as the days get longer and the sun comes out. And if you’ve ever thought about working for yourself, why not use this positivity to make it happen?

    In this blog, we look at the benefits of working for yourself and what support there is to help you.

    Why should you choose working for yourself?

    There are loads of great reasons to set up on your own. We meet a lot of business owners and we’ve learned that each one has a specific reason that made them decide to run their own business.

    Flexibility

    Many business owners found that being tied down to a nine-to-five schedule just didn’t work for them. Some wanted to enjoy more time with their children (they grow up so quick!), while others had caring responsibilities for family members. Others wanted to have time for hobbies and interests – there’s more to life than work!

    Values

    Another big group of self-employed people are those who have a clear set of values that they didn’t feel the corporate world embodied. They love their sector, but they recognised independence would offer them more of a chance to share their skills in the way that felt right to them.

    Challenge

    Other people simply love a challenge! Working for yourself is full of challenges, but the knowledge that you are behind every one of your business’s achievements is exceptionally satisfying. If you’re stuck in a rut and not taking your best self to work every day, it could be time to do it differently.

    Working for yourself – what do you need?
    Budget

    Start by working out your budget. Obviously, you will need to consider business costs – remember that even home-based businesses will need a website and hosting. You also need to work out personal expenses. Look at your monthly outgoings like mortgage repayments and car finance, and work out what you need to earn to cover them.

    Business plan

    Your business plan maps out what you offer and how you will grow. It’s an important document – you will need to show it to the bank if you apply for a business loan. And if you want to connect with investors or form a partnership, the other people involved will want to see it.

    Registration for self-assessment

    You need to register for self-assessment so you pay the right tax on the amount your business has earned.

    Record keeping

    Businesses need to record their income and outgoings, as well as customer and client information, and details of products and services. You might think you’ll remember but trust us, you won’t (sorry!). You will also need to provide financial records to HMRC so these need to be accurate and accessible.

    Support for new businesses

    Fortunately, there is loads of support out there. From online guides to writing business plans to plain English guides to registering your business, any new entrepreneur can find what they need to get started on the UK government website.

    Fill your skills gaps with outsourcing

    If you love the idea of starting your own business but you’re worried about financial records, tax and invoicing, you’re not alone. In our experience of supporting business owners, we’ve seen that finance is the number one area of difficulty. Not feeling confident about finance means maths (yikes!), getting to grips with invoicing software, praying you’re doing your tax return properly and having to admit you’re not actually Alan Sugar.

    But it doesn’t have to be scary. The good news is that you can outsource almost anything you don’t know how to do yourself. Finance, tax and admin are some of Get Ahead’s most popular services, with our admin assistants, accountants and bookkeepers all on hand to provide what you need quickly and accurately.

    Get Ahead also supports businesses with writing business plans, as well as creating websites and managing social media – all great ways to get your business out there.

    If it’s time you started working for yourself, remember that Get Ahead are here to help. All our services are fully flexible and we don’t tie you into long contracts. Whether you need just a few hours’ support to get you started, or monthly help with invoice reconciliation, our virtual experts are ready to meet your needs. Check out our site to find out more, or follow us on social media.

    When you outsource website development, it’s a great opportunity to tap into expertise and improve customer experience (CX). In this blog, we look at three ways you can use your website and other tech to take your CX to the next level.

    1. Use analytics software to track customer activity

    Reporting tools like Google Analytics and social media analytics can give you fantastic insights about your customers. Used correctly, analytics software can help you identify who is visiting your website or social media pages, how old they are and where they live. The software can also show you how they found your website. Did they look on Google, for example, or did they click on a link they saw on social media? What web pages were they interested in? What element of your content marketing appealed most to your customers?

    You can use this information to strengthen your customer experience strategy. If you notice that most of your customers are coming to your website via social media channels, you might decide to focus your energy on great Instagram posts rather than SEO. Or if you see that your videos get more views than your blogs, consider sharing future information in video format.

    2. Embrace automation 

    It can be very easy to hide behind “tradition” and “we’ve always done it this way.” But automation can give us some great tools to improve CX. For example, creating an app to help your customers access your products or services might give them a smoother experience. An app allows them to use your services without having to make a phone call or visit your premises. It will probably speed up your processes, reduce staff costs and minimise the risk of human error. 

    Booking software has revolutionised the way customers plan nights out! You can link to platforms like Eventbrite and OpenTable so your guests can make bookings quickly and smoothly from their phones.

    Whatever service you offer, consider offering automation to help your customers access it. If you’re stuck, give Get Ahead a shout! Our resourceful web development experts have a wide variety of experience and might know the perfect platform for your business.

    3. Use automation alongside human interactions

    While automated services and AI do bring many advantages, it’s important work how much human interaction to balance it with. There is no formula for this – it depends on your business and your customers. For example, customers might not feel the need of an in-person interaction with a utility company, but might feel more welcome in a restaurant if staff take them to the table. Think about your customers and what a good experience looks like to them. If you need help pinning this down, our business development experts can help. Check out our page on customer segmentation analysis for more information. 

    You can also improve customer experience by aligning automation with human interactions. For example, a common customer frustration is putting details into an automated platform or app at the beginning of a transaction and then having to repeat those details to the employee they then speak to. You can avoid this by giving your team access to the information the customers have already inputted. This will speed up the process, keep everyone informed and the interactions positive. 

    Outsource website development with Get Ahead

    If you think your customers deserve a better experience, our experienced web developers can help. They’ll review your website, ask pertinent questions and suggest ways to adapt it and improve CX at the same time. Explore our website services pages to find out more, or contact your local regional director. 

    When you outsource business development, it’s a good idea to bring customer experience (CX) into the mix too. If you’re already familiar with the term then you’re on track for successful business development. But if it’s new to you, or it’s not something you’d considered before, now is the time for you to find out more about it so you can take your business to the next level.

    In this blog, regional director Sarah Yandell explains customer experience and shares her knowledge of the 80/20 rule too.

    What is customer experience?

    Sarah: Customer experience, sometimes abbreviated to CX, is the whole experience that a customer has of your business. Customer service is part of it, but CX is broader. For example, standards like answering a phone call in five rings or sending communications promptly are good customer service. But customer experience covers things like how easy it was to find the phone number, and whether good FAQs removed the need for the call completely. 

    The choices you make about your CX should reflect your customer base. For example, if you hear from most of your customers via social media, prompt replies to direct messages are more important for CX than manning the office phoneline. 

    Why does customer experience matter?

    Sarah: CX is an important part of business development. In order to grow your business, you need to ensure that every one of your customers has the best experience possible. This is because your customers are your greatest asset. They are the ones who will buy your products and services; they’re also the people who will recommend you to their wider network. If a customer has a good experience, they are more likely to buy from you again. 

    I’ve run a number of businesses over the years, including heading up the Suffolk and Essex office for Get Ahead. One of the most valuable ideas I’ve picked up is the 80/20 rule, which we can apply in a variety of different situations. 

    In the case of customer experience, we need to remember that 80% of our business comes from 20% of our customers. It’s important to look after all of our customers, but place our biggest focus on the top 20%. This is because the top 20% are the ones who will help our businesses to grow.

    Who makes up the top 20% of customers?

    Sarah: Who these customers are depends on your business. A good CRM (customer relationship management) system will usually show you who your best customers are and how much they spend with you. However, it’s important to remember that CRM is only an enabler. Your CRM system will show you who your best customers are but it’s up to you to use that information in the correct way. This will help you make any customer interaction as personal as it needs to be. 

    For example, if you offer business coaching, your CRM might show you that your top 20% are employed by big organisations. Their individual coaching sessions might grow into all-day workshops for whole teams, bringing you more work. In this example, you would tailor your customer experience to meet the needs of people in the corporate world. 

    Or you might run a café at a leisure centre, and note that your top 20% are parents bringing their children to after-school clubs. While a leisure centre setting suggests you’d be making money from bottled water and bananas, this is not the reality. Instead, comfy seats, good coffee and staff who like a chat will create the right experience for your best customers. 

    What does CX mean for business development?

    Sarah: Once you’ve identified your 20%, you can use your knowledge of them to improve CX and develop your business. You might like to think about what customers expect from your website and how they like to communicate with you. Think about what their overall goals are and how you can help them achieve them. This information will help you come up with the business development strategy that most likely to work. 

    For example, networking is an important part of my own business development. I’ve seen that this is where I meet clients who end up using services from Get Ahead in a regular, ongoing way. I believe it’s because they get to meet me face to face – an important customer experience that helps us both build trust and establish a strong working relationship. 

    Outsource business development to Get Ahead

    If reading Sarah’s insights have got you thinking about how you could improve customer experience and develop your business, Get Ahead can help. Our experienced business development managers will delve deep into your operation, finding out what makes it tick so they can find the best way to move it forward. They might also make suggestions for how you can strengthen your CX, boosting your business at the same time.

    Follow us on LinkedIn to find out more or contact your local regional director today. 

    If you’re planning to outsource PR to enhance your marketing, you might be wondering, “how do I gain national press coverage?” National press coverage can really increase your visibility and it’s great for brand awareness.

    In this blog, we look at how to decide if national press coverage is the best PR strategy for you, how to get the press’s attention and when to send out your press release.

    Is national press coverage the right strategy?

    Having your products featured in Good Housekeeping or your story told in the Financial Times both feel like big wins. If you’re looking to have everyone talking about your products, services or business journey, the national press is a great way to increase awareness of your brand.

    However, before you throw all your energy at getting your business in a national publication, take time to consider whether it’s the best place for your story. Remember, if your story has a niche audience, like a new product aimed at a specific industry, national publications are unlikely to take it up.

    If that’s made you decide to target your PR specifically and promote yourself within your industry, read our interview with PR expert Caroline here: PR ideas for small businesses – maximise your marketing 

    And if you’re confident a national campaign is right for you, read on.

    How to get the attention of the national press
    Understand your lead times

    Different publications have different lead times. In general:

    Remember to factor these timings into your PR operation.

    Forward planning is essential for magazine coverage – if you want your business to feature in a Christmas edition, you need to share your story in July.

    Equally important: be ready to share your breaking story. If your business is responding to an unfolding crisis and mitigating against disaster, send your press release out immediately. This should get you the coverage your business deserves.

    If you’re sharing a news story, it’s generally agreed that the best times to send out a press release are Wednesday and Thursday. There’s often a big rush at the start of the week, with journalists catching up on everything that’s happened over the weekend. Friday, on the other hand, can see offices winding down. Aim for the middle of the week instead.  

    Think about readership

    Not all national publications are equal. Before you start reaching out to them, think about which ones your target market reads. If you don’t know, buy a copy or check the website. For example, if you’re hoping to build awareness of your product, check whether a publication promotes luxury items or budget solutions. And if there’s a political angle to your story, target the broadsheet that will consider it good news.

    Build a relationship

    The first time you reach out to a publication, you might not hear anything back. Don’t take it personally – instead, think about how many communications a journalist receives every day and accept that they can’t reply to them all.

    It’s also important not to be discouraged. Keep going! Send out your next press release or product sample just like you’d planned – it might get picked up next time.

    If you succeed and a journalist responds to you, keep a record of it. You can connect with them on LinkedIn and start to build a professional relationship or use them as your first point of contact for that publication. Don’t just advertise – network as well.

    Outsource PR to Get Ahead

    PR can be a highly effective way of promoting your brand. However, it’s also complicated and time consuming, especially if you’re running a business as well. If this blog has made you think about harnessing the power of PR, our PR experts would love to help. Explore our site to find out more, or contact your local regional director today.

    Did you know there are lots of great PR ideas for small businesses you can try yourself? They needn’t be expensive, difficult or time consuming, but they could make a big difference to your brand’s reputation.

    In this blog, we talk to PR expert Caroline who shares some of her top PR ideas for small businesses.

    Why do small businesses need PR?

    Caroline: For small businesses, reputation is everything. This means that it’s really important to establish your brand and tell people why it matters. PR is the best way of doing that! Yes, your website and your advertising can tell potential customers what you have to offer, but your PR will tell your story, bring your brand to life and share it with a new, wider audience.

    What PR can small businesses do themselves?

    Harness the power of social media

    Caroline: One of the easiest approaches is social media. You can choose between affordable outsourcing or doing it yourself. And best of all, social media accounts are free.

    For effective social media PR, choose the right platform for your campaign. For example, if you’re a B2B business, your first choice should always be LinkedIn. But if, say, you’re bringing a lifestyle product to a new audience, Instagram would be the best option.

    Make sure your profile is strong and says exactly what you do in language your audience understands.

    Look for opportunities to share your news too. If you attend an event, achieve a milestone, appear in the press or win an award, don’t waste the opportunity – shout about it on social media!

    Responding to someone else’s social media posts is also important. The more support you show, the more you’re likely to receive. Communicating with others also shows you can see the bigger picture – a great position for any brand.

    Share your story

    Caroline: There’s always something going on in a busy business. You might be celebrating a business birthday, gaining B-Corp status, welcoming a new employee or something else. Maybe you’ve merged with another business, or you’ve broken into a totally different market.

    These developments are all worth sharing. From a warm, authentic social media post to a targeted press release, there are lots of ways to tell your story and celebrate success.

    I try to maximise the effectiveness of press releases by reaching out to the right publications and websites. It’s better to make the front page of an industry-specific publication than be ignored by the Financial Times!

    A strong press release should always include the “who, what, where, when and why” of your story. Try and think like a journalist and make it as easy as possible for them to get the information they need. Include some quotes they can drop into their finished article, as well as contact details in case they have any questions.

    Enter for awards

    Caroline: There are awards for almost every industry that recognise hard work, innovation, inclusivity and more. I’d always recommend business owners enter for awards and competitions because the resulting PR is so strong. The application might cost you time and money but you should see a good return on your investment.

    It’s great to be able to post on social media that you’ve entered for a prestigious award – you can ask your community to vote for you. And if you’re shortlisted or even win, you’ve got a great piece of news to shout about. Not only does it make a great social media post, but the press might be interested too. We’re really proud of how many times Get Ahead has been featured in the business press for just this kind of achievement.

    Delivering PR ideas for small businesses

    If reading Caroline’s expert view on PR has made you wonder if you could be doing more to increase awareness of your brand, we’d love to hear from you. Caroline and our other PR experts can help you see your business in a newsworthy way, finding the stories and turning them into positive press. Visit our PR page to find out more, or contact your local regional director here.

    Many businesses share a monthly newsletter with their client community, but we’ve seen a great engagement rate from sending out a different kind of message at Christmas. Instead of the usual combination of “hero” theme, tips and discounts, Christmas is a time to engage on a more human level.

    For this blog, we talked to our digital and email marketing expert Claire about how to write a business Christmas message to strengthen your business relationships for the coming year.

    What do we mean by a Christmas message?

    Claire: Most monthly newsletters follow a standard format. Business owners have considered what works best for them and share a great combination of product promotion, top tips and special offers.

    However, Christmas is not the time for a hard sell. It’s not really the time to talk about business either. Many businesses have their golden quarter in the run-up to Christmas…but by the time Christmas actually comes, it’s time to stop talking shop and connect on a more personal level.

    What should I include in my Christmas message?

    Claire: The best Christmas messages include a strong awareness of the reader, appropriate emotion and gentle humour. They’re a good opportunity to invite your clients to recognise your team members who have made a particular contribution. You can also show empathy by referring to challenges you know your clients have faced in the last year.

    You can show emotion in your seasonal message with phrases like, “we’ve all found X tough this year…,” “I’m really proud of Y…,” and “Z was really exciting – such a privilege to be part of it!” Referring to your feelings will help your readers see you as a person and not just a business – this will reinforce your connection.

    It’s easy for clients to overlook contributions made by individual members of your team. It’s not that they’re selfish – they just don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But giving them some new insight has two benefits. Firstly, it shows that the service or product you offer doesn’t just magically appear – this helps your clients to understand its value. Secondly, it reinforces the fact that a real person has made something happen – a real support to the message that “people buy from people.”

    Lastly, your Christmas message is the time to write about your clients and not about your business. Write about industry highs and lows, and praise your clients for how well they’ve coped with any recent storms. Thank them for supporting your business, including making referrals, being understanding in times of stress and remaining loyal.

    Email marketing from Get Ahead If our blog has inspired you to write a different sort of Christmas message this year, Get Ahead are here to help. Our experienced marketing team includes content writers like Claire as well as graphic designers and email automation experts. Explore our site to find out more or follow us on LinkedIn. And if you’re ready to outsource your email marketing or any other back-office support, contact your local regional director here.

     

    Social media marketing is a fantastic, low-cost solution that helps you share your message with your online community. Social media is also a great place to establish yourself as a thought leader and build your reputation through your expertise.

    But what makes this complicated is that some content works better on social media than others, and it’s also important to stay-on brand.

    In this blog, we look at how to flex with content while also keeping up your brand consistency.

    What type of content is best for social media?

    All types of content are great on social media…but you might have to adapt them. For example, sharing a whole blog as the main part of your post rarely works, because people using social media are looking for quick content rather than a long read. However, sharing the subheadings from a blog, or copying and pasting the intro paragraph, can be very successful. Both work as a teaser for the blog – you can then add the link to the whole blog if anyone wants to click through.

    Similarly, you can adapt the message of your latest newsletter to share on your social channels. This helps you share the quality information that’s gone out to your mailing list with your social media community too.

    If you create ebooks, you can use social media to promote your latest publication without sharing the whole thing. Remember to include a link to help people buy or download the complete ebook – don’t leave them hanging!

    How do I find time to adapt my content?!

    It’s often a good idea to write all your content from one idea at the same time – it can be a real time saver. If you write a blog, think about which sentence would make a strong social media post while you’ve still got the Word file open. Think too about how you can make this idea into a newsletter that will appeal to your mailing list.

    All of Get Ahead’s content writers offer packages, where clients can have their blog and newsletter written from the same idea, with a suitable social media version too. This can be a great value solution that gets all the content written at the same time.

    How do I maintain brand consistency if I’m changing up my content?

    Editing your existing content doesn’t mean you have to compromise your brand message. If you have a strong brand that’s really embedded in what you offer, it’s almost impossible to go off-piste. That’s why it’s worth investing in your brand…but that’s another blog!

    Re-read the carefully selected sentence from your blog before you post it on social media. It might be strong, but does it convey enough on its own? Consider whether it could be misinterpreted without the whole blog or ebook to give it context. Don’t be afraid to tweak it again to remove any controversy or reinforce your brand message.

    Pictures can be very powerful on social media. Remember to illustrate your posts with pictures from your brand palette, accompanied by wording in the right font. If you regularly share content from your website to social media (e.g. estate agents sharing the latest properties), plan how these regular posts will look to keep up your brand consistency.

    Outsource social media marketing

    Our experienced social media managers love helping businesses like yours get more from Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and all the other channels. To find out more, explore our site or contact your local regional director.

     

    Content writing services are an important part of any marketing strategy, particularly in the internet age. Written content is essential if search engines are going to find your website or social media pages. But did you know that it’s a great way to convert customers too?

    In this blog, we talk to Charlotte, one of Get Ahead’s longest-serving copywriters, about content marketing, why it matters and how it works.

    What is content marketing?

    Charlotte: Content marketing is a way of showcasing your products and services so that potential customers can gain a deeper understanding of your offering.

    Blogging is my personal favourite – a 500-word blog is a great way to explain what you do while also sharing more detailed insights than you can on a web page or LinkedIn post. But there are loads of different types of content marketing to choose from, including video, newsletters, social media posts, ebooks, white papers and more.

    Every piece of content is an opportunity to reinforce your brand, your message and your ethos. I often think of content marketing as like having coffee with a friend. You sit down with your friend (the potential customer) and talk in a chatty, human, real-world way about what you do and why it matters. You’ll both have a laugh, maybe a cry, but most importantly, you’ll reinforce your emotional connection. This means that in future, when the potential customer needs what you offer, they’re more likely to come to you because they understand what do and feel a connection with your brand.

    Why is content marketing more effective than a hard sell?

    Charlotte: We all know that a hard sell rarely works. If you’ve ever been pressured into buying something, you probably know that it didn’t work out in the long term. Think of the car you sold on after a few months, or the subscription you’ll be cancelling at the earliest opportunity.

    Some business owners are so averse to hard selling that they end up avoiding marketing altogether. This is a mistake, because your business won’t grow unless you market it. Instead, I always encourage my clients to consider content marketing. With content marketing, you give the customer all the information they need but the decision to buy always rests with them.

    How does content marketing convert customers?

    Charlotte: Content marketing converts customers because it gives the buyer the chance to make up their own mind. Through the content you create, the buyer can build up their own view of your business, products and services. They can find the answers to their questions and decide if yours is the business they want to deal with. And if it is, they can reach out to you and become part of your community of customers or clients.

    Because the customer has arrived at this decision for themselves, they are more likely to develop a loyalty to your business. This means they’ll probably keep buying from you into the future and recommend you to the rest of their network. This is great news for your business and puts you on track to become a market leader.

    Outsourced content writing services

    If our blog has set you thinking about finding content writing services, Get Ahead can help. Charlotte and our other content experts love digging deep into clients’ businesses, finding out what makes them tick and how to communicate that in a way that resonates with the ideal customer. Check out our Resources section to see how content works in practice, or contact your local regional director for a supportive chat.