{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} So, were you caught out by any "April Fools" yesterday? I try to write one every year - if you missed mine yesterday, here's the link: http://uklik.me/buynowbutton. What is so brilliant about this annual bit of fun is the creativity. Every year, thousands of brand new ideas are created demonstrating the ingenuity of the human brain. Why is it that so many businesses only allow creative fun on one day a year? Just think of the wonderful ideas that would be produced if every business allowed daft ideas to be dreamed up every week. After all, when the wheel was invented you can bet someone said "Ah, it'll never catch on when we can walk so easily". And when someone said let's connect computers together across the world in some kind of network, people probably said "But there are only 50 of them in the world and we'll never need any more". What seems a daft idea one day, turns out to be brilliance on another. The annual ritual of April 1st shows us that there is a vast amount of creativity lurking within business; perhaps by encouraging more Fools Days we'd all improve our companies.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: How can I come up with more ideas for web content? Producing web content is a constant battle. You need to add more and more pages or blog posts just to stand still it seems. Idea generation can take a long time, if you do not go about it in a planned and strategic way. If you just sit there hoping for the muse to take you, it might not arrive on time...! You need a planned approach and some kind of system. To be honest, it doesn't matter how you do this - whatever works for you. But collecting and storing ideas, categorized according to the type of material is essential for successful web content generation. That way, as you need to add new content you will have a file to dip into to find something useful. However, by far the best way is a good, old-fashioned, tried-and-tested method that journalists use to come up with ideas for their stories: talking to people. One of the difficulties for many website owners is the fact that they spend half their life sitting on their behinds facing a computer screen with little real human contact. Being with other people inevitably generates ideas because you are in conversation with someone - your brain subconsciously produces ideas to help the chat flow. So, when you are with people, talking to them, you will naturally come up with ideas for content. So, here's a plan you can copy. Make it your intention to do two, face-to-face, real world, contact sessions every week. I'd recommend meeting someone for coffee at least once a week (a different person each week, of course!) and also attending at least one event each week. This could be a conference, an exhibition or a business networking group. But if you are out of the office chatting things over with a friend or customer or supplier you will find your mind gets triggered with ideas for potential content. Equally if you are at an event, you will buzz with ideas because of all the people around you and the conversations you take part in - or overhear..! When you are out and about, make sure you have some means of capturing your idea as soon as it strikes you - otherwise you will forget it later on, I promise...! You don't need to splash out on an iPad2 - a simple sheet of paper and a pencil will do. Whether you use modern or old technology doesn't matter - but ALWAYS have something with you on which you can capture ideas. You will soon discover that keeping your ears open for content opportunities when you are meeting people or attending events will produce a long list of ideas. Far too often people sit facing a blank screen trying to generate ideas. But without the stimulation of other people, your brain is rather constipated..! Get out, meet people and the content ideas will start flowing again.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: Being nice is all you need for loyalty A friend of mine has just been told he is being made redundant at the end of May having worked for the same FTSE100 corporate for over 30 years, ever since leaving school. He has been told to show up for work as normal over the next six weeks or so where his only task will be to talk with the individual in Mumbai who is taking over his role. Not a highly motivating thing to be asked to do. In the course of his discussions with his replacement, who is less than half his age, my friend realised the chap he is talking to is simply not up to the job because he lacks basic knowledge. When my friend told his boss this, he was told that the individual in Mumbai represented a major cost saving and that my friend's experience was of no value whatsoever. If I had been in that situation I would have walked out there and then. But my mate is not alone - he is one of 150 people being made redundant from the technology team of this significant financial brand. They are all, like him, being told their years of experience is worth nothing. Not one of them, it seems, is doing anything to help the transfer of the work to Mumbai. Shareholders, of course, are blissfully unaware that two things are going to face them: in six weeks or so the transfer will not work and the technology of the institution will creak at the very least. Then after a year or two of chaos they will realise the team they have hired do not have enough experience and they will seek - at enormous cost - to bring the work back to the UK. But will they be able to hire that experience? Not a chance. None of the people who could do the job have any loyalty to them. I asked my friend did his 30 years of support for the business count for nothing too? After all, he must have liked his work and the company, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed so long. Apparently, he would have happily worked for them in the future - but not any more. They have permanently lost his loyalty he says simply because the bosses have been so nasty. All it took was being nice and the current transfer would have gone smoothly and when it got into problems in the future they'd have willing helpers to sort it out. Not any more. Expect another major financial company crisis in the next year or so! It doesn't take any effort to be nice to people and respect them. And doing so can bring rewards well into the future that you may not expect. But be nasty to people and you may pay for it for many years to come.
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": How Customers Think
To find out more about this book visit: http://uklik.me/howcustomersthink
AND FINALLY: From this week's blog... What are your reactions to these rather strange sayings? “I 5683 Twitter” or alternatively “I 4283 Twitter”. Yes, it is code and – if the research is right – you should have had a positive reaction to the first saying and a negative reaction to the second one. The reason is that the numbers represent words and you are able to recognise those words subconsciously. Even if you haven’t been able to work them out just yet, your subconscious brain knows what they are. (To find out more, read my blog post from Thursday: http://uklik.me/hiddenmeaning)).
Kind Regards
Graham Jones Web:
grahamjones.co.uk Tel: +44 118 336 9710 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter than you can delete your name from the mailing list by clicking this link: {!remove_web} Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase the item. However, I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value. |
