All posts by : janinepaterson

Because so many break the rules!

Lead generation, or lead gen as it is colloquially known, has acquired a bad reputation. It is seen as “dodgy”, and “deceitful”, and those that operate in the sector have been described as “snake oil salesmen”!

Why is this?

The simple answer is that many companies have for years prioritised profit over privacy and sold peoples’ personal data to anyone who would buy it. (The other side of this coin is the “buyers” who don’t care where the data comes from – but that’s another email!)

Lead gen can be done legally, and when done so by a reputable company, using a variety of marketing techniques, it can attract and convert potential customers in your ideal audience – pre-qualified customers that want to buy what you sell.

One common method is to use ads on social media to drive traffic to a webpage where the prospect will leave their contact information.  For example, an ad for a funeral plan, and you click a link to a website landing page. Here there will be information about the plan and a contact form to complete if you’re interested.

The main problem with this?  Some lead gen companies fail to make it clear that they are acting on behalf of 3^rd party clients. Consumers believe they are giving their personal data to the lead gen company.

The ASA sees this as an issue and they have slapped companies undertaking lead gen for solar funding schemes and grants, and funeral plans, where there is no mention that the data will be shared with 3^rd party companies.

Remember it needs to be crystal clear right from the first communication who is actually collecting the personal data. No ifs, buts or woolly wording.  

As well as complying with the law, this also ensures that those leads are already positive to your brand, making them more receptive to your offers. So if you are a lead gen company and want help to make sure you get this right or want the benefits partnering with a lead gen company can bring

One of the trials of being a parent

The neighbours to one side of us are a family. There are 3 children, the youngest being 3 years old, Carlo.

He came round with his mum the other day to give us some eggs. They have 12 hens so they are never short of them.

Carlo handed over the eggs and we talked with his mum about his school, as he has just started at nursery. He is enjoying it but is so tied at the end of the day that there is no trouble getting him to bed.

After we finished talking, Carlo said:

“Do you know something…

… my mum and dad think you are bad neighbours!”

The expression on his mum’s face was priceless!

She was a little speechless at first, but then apologised and explained that he had half heard a conversation and misunderstood.

Kids are great at embarrassing their parents. I remember a number of occasions when my daughters did the same.

Children see the world differently from adults and will always interpret what they hear in their own way.

And differing views and misunderstandings happen in business too.

Colleagues can have different interpretations of a project brief and often, they’re easily resolved, but sometimes the consequences can be more serious.

For instance, differing views of what terms are necessary for a competition or a miscommunication which results in the copy for an advert not being checked can lead to an embarrassing encounter with the ASA.

Remember just one complaint can lead to an investigation. Even if there is an informal outcome, the time taken by you and your team to answer their questions will take you away from the day-to-day running of your business – time better spent building your brand.

That’s why having an expert on hand to ensure the process runs smoothly and within the rules is vital.

You pay your accountant to ensure your business finances are above board, why not pay a marketing law expert to ensure there are no mistakes or misunderstandings when it comes to your marketing and advertising? So if you would like piece of mind when it comes to promoting your business,

All that free time!

Well, the day finally came.

After 20 years of running around after them and answering their every need, both daughters have flown the nest.

I took Maddy up to Loughborough uni where she will be studying Fine Art for 4 years.

We loaded most of her stuff in the car the night before so we were able to get an early start and fortunately, the M1 wasn’t too busy so we arrived at the campus in good time.

We followed the instructions to the nearest car park for her halls of residence and she got her keys. We then had 30 minutes to empty the car before I had to move it.

It took 6 trips to and from the car. We had help from some 2^nd years who had trolleys – ideal because Maddy had a few heavy boxes!

Her flat is on the 2^nd floor, and boy was I glad there was a lift. She is at the end of the corridor, which will be good as she won’t have disturbances with fellow students going past her door nor will she have to let them in when they forget their keys!

I helped her with the basics:

1. Making her bed
2. Making sure she had the best cupboards in the kitchen and the best fridge and freezer space.

I then left her to sort out the rest of her stuff. (3 days later she was still not unpacked and her laptop wasn’t up and running. Apparently, freshers week was getting in the way!).

Why am I telling you this?

Change can be an upheaval for many, especially if it comes after years of doing the same thing the same way.

This can be especially so when it comes to your marketing. You know the rules and regulations that apply so why would you change it?

It’s all too easy to forget to check for updates when you are focussed on keeping your business on the right track, but failure to do this can lead to a whole heap of trouble…

… one of which could be contact from one of the regulators!

For example, did you know that new rules governing which sporting stars you can have promoting your gambling products came into force in October?

And little changes like this that sometimes fly under the radar are exactly why it’s wise to invest in professional advice to ensure you stay compliant. If you’d like to talk about what this (or any other changes you may or may not be aware of) could mean for your marketing campaigns

How a chicken got the better of me!

I mentioned that I was looking after a neighbour’s chickens while they were away.

Well, what I had hoped wouldn’t happen did, 2 days running!

In the morning, I let the hens out of their enclosure so they could roam the top part of the garden for the day, scratching and pecking.

I return in the evening to shut them up safe for the night.

One day I arrived and 1 was missing – again. I counted them 4 times but it still came to the same number – there were 7 instead of 8.

This had happened the day before. The hen had escaped somehow from the garden and gone to visit next door. I had tried to see where she was getting through but couldn’t. I went next door and found her at the bottom of their garden. I picked her up and returned her to her friends.

I was a little mortified when it happened again the next day. I could hear her next door again, so I went round, apologising for disturbing them again and headed down their garden.

There she was. However, she was different from the day before. She watched me as I approached, and I swear there was a look in her eyes that said:

“On no, not again. You’re not getting me this time!”

And with that, she did a runner. Every time I got close, she would run away.

After about 5 mins of pursuing her back and forth across the garden, I managed to grab her. ( I’m glad the neighbour didn’t see this, although if it had been filmed I could have got £250 from You’ve Been Framed!)

She was not pleased. I am sure she had words with her friends when I returned her home.

Sometimes what you dread does happen. However, the consequences of a hen going walk about are not serious.

But having someone complain about your advert because it breaches the rules can have catastrophic consequences, not just in financial terms.

The effect on your business’ reputation from being named and shamed by the Advertising Standards Authority can be felt for years, affecting the livelihood of you and your employees and the future of your brand.

Making sure your adverts comply with the rules before it goes out ensures you won’t get into trouble with the regulators and strengthens your brand’s image as a responsible and reputable business. If you want the peace of mind that comes from knowing your advertising is within the rules, so you can get back to doing what you do best, building your company

A bit scary for an 11 year old!

As I fired up my laptop and monitors for work, I glanced out of the window and saw my neighbour’s twins walking to catch the bus to school.

One was struggling to get her large and heavy-looking backpack to sit more comfortably on her back. They only started secondary school a few weeks ago, and the scene took me back to when my daughters first went to “big school” 7 and 9 years ago respectively.

The uniform was always a little big and baggy, as we needed to leave some “growing room”. This meant a skirt halfway down their calves and blazer sleeves covering their hands!

Those first few weeks at a new school can be scary for an 11 year old. I know I remember it myself as not the best time in my life. But it is a stage in your life that comes and you need to deal with it as best you can.

And this is certainly true when it comes to doing something you’ve not done before in your own business. You have an idea, but you hesitate because you are not sure how it might go.

You hope it will succeed, but what if it fails?

For many business owners, this is the case when it comes to their marketing. They have spent years building their companies and are afraid of negative consequences should they change things.

Marketing has rules and regulations and dos and don’ts, so it’s understandable there is a reluctance to do things differently, in case it does work out the way you planned.

Maybe it’s not worth the risk?

But if you never try, you’ll never know. Life is full of risks, you just need to know which ones to take.

So, what should you do if you want to mix up your marketing?

Get expert help of course.

And her expert advice is always worth every penny

I can’t fault our vet. She is always there to offer advice and suggest new ways to help the wide range of animals she looks after in her practice.

I have a golden retriever. Archie is now 8 years old, but when he was 3 ½ something happened that changed his life and ours forever.

He had a fit. It was a Sunday morning, and this was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen.

He cycle fitted, coming out of one fit then immediately into another, for half an hour.

We had to take him to the Royal Veterinary College in Potters Bar, where he spent a week while they tried to work out why it happened!

The vets at the college couldn’t figure out the trigger for the fit, but they did diagnose him with epilepsy.

Since then we have had further fits (he ended up at the hospital for a second time a month later) and various medications to stop or at least control his condition.

He had been having a fit every 4 – 6 weeks until the end of July when he started having them every 2 weeks. What was more worrying were the after-effects: difficulty getting up after the fit, loss of control over his back legs, and unsteadiness and confusion for longer than usual.

We spoke to our vet, and she mentioned that another dog she’d treated, who had a history of fitting, hadn’t had one while being treated with a painkiller for its arthritis.

The vet ran some tests and decided it was safe to give him this medication as well – to see if it would control his epilepsy.

I will let you know how he gets on.

I know my expertise can never be as life changing as my vet’s, but the legal advice I provide can crucially affect the way you promote your business through your marketing and advertising.

This is because making sure that your marketing not only talks to your ideal customer but also complies with the myriad of rules and regulations out there is the best way to build your reputation.

Using the knowledge and experience gained during 15 years of advising on marketing and advertising dos and don’ts, I have helped clients create campaigns that make the best impression on customers and prospects whilst keeping on the right side of the law. So if you want to explore how expert legal advice could help you build a respected and trustworthy reputation within the rules

Yes I know that’s boring

I don’t think I have mentioned this before but my husband and I are looking for a plot of land to build our own house.

Wow, you may think, that’s a big project.

And you’d be right.

This is why we have thought long and hard about what we really want and then we drew up a detailed plan.

We went to all this trouble because this house is where we’ll spend our retirement (apart from numerous holidays I hope) so we need to make sure that where we choose ticks all our boxes.

Some of our wishes are limited by money, some by location, which means they may not be possible, but there are some that are non-negotiable.

For instance:

• A village location
• A pub
• A village shop

Why these things in particular?

We’ve been dreaming of long walks in the country with our golden retriever which end at the pub, via the shop for a paper. Bliss!

Having a properly thought-out plan is also vital when it comes to your marketing otherwise the money you spend will be wasted.

In drawing up your plan, you need to consider whether your marketing is:

Sending the Right message – is your marketing resonating with your ideal customer?

Aimed at the Right person – are you talking to the people that need your stuff?

Reaching them at the Right time – are you in your customer’s minds when they decide to buy?

Using the Right medium – where do your customers hang out?

Getting all these right means your marketing message is as good as you can get it. So, if you need help creating a robust plan for your marketing activities, which includes compliance with all the rules and regulations,

Many of my neighbours have chickens so I often get given a box of eggs.

These eggs always seem to taste different to those I buy in the shops. I suspect the lack of food miles and the freshness has a part to play.

I’ve wanted chickens myself, but my husband is not so keen. He believes there’s too much to do to look after them.

In the hope that I can persuade him when we’ve built our dream home in the future, I took an opportunity to get some first-hand experience …

… I’ve offered to look after one of my neighbour’s chickens for 10 days while they’re away!

I went round the other evening to get some instructions. Food, water – well that seems straightforward but I guess time will tell.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Learning new skills from an expert is great for the mind and your business.

You can look into using a new channel for your marketing or run an exciting competition to attract new customers, and whatever you decide, involving an expert means you don’t have to worry about the dangers of inadvertently breaking the rules. So, if this sounds like an opportunity not to be missed

Both my daughters are now adults and they are now both at university.

Alex is in the final year of her Psychology degree at UEA in Norwich.

When she went back to her studies, we managed to get everything in the car and set off to her new accommodation. She’s moved on from the house she had in her 2^nd year and the new place, although a little more expensive than last year (but I think that’s the case everywhere) is a vast improvement.

The room is twice the size of last year’s and has an en-suite, which is a good size with a spacious shower cubicle. She will share a kitchen with the other tenants and has access to a garage to store her bike.

Suffice to say it’s lovely, and I was happy with Alex’s choice of property. However, I was even happier to learn the landlord handled the property himself. Last year’s landlord used managing agents to deal with any issues with the house. This meant simple repairs took weeks and bigger ones took even longer!

The landlord met us at the property with the keys to her room. He explained the practicalities, codes for the back gate to access the garage, and details of the Wi-Fi (the router is in a cupboard right outside her door so broadband speeds should be excellent)

In the kitchen, he showed us Alex’s cupboards and the space she will have in the fridge and freezer, but in doing so he was mortified to discover the cupboards had not been cleared or cleaned and there was food in the fridge and freezer space.

So while Alex and I bought her things from the car, he dealt with this, cleaning the cupboards himself.

He obviously takes pride in the property and the level of service he provides to his tenants (there is a cleaner that comes in once a week to clean the hall and kitchen).

I think Alex will be happy there and that’s all I can ask for as her mother.

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this.

Well, all I’m going to say is that I take pride in the services I offer and work to ensure that my clients get the knowledge and help they need to ensure their marketing works within the rules and regulations.

My husband and I were out for our morning walk with our golden retriever.

We walked up the hill and stopped before a driveway because one of our neighbours was backing out of his drive.

As he reversed onto the road and then straightened the car up to drive away, I noticed a strange thing.

He was only using one hand to turn the steering wheel, as the other hand held his bone china mug of coffee!

I suspect this is something he has always done, maybe because he never leaves enough time to finish his drink before he has to leave the house.

He probably hasn’t thought about what he does, or the consequences of something happening on the road, let alone this is probably careless driving in the eyes of the law.

Yes, we all do some things the way we do because we always have.

But this is not the way to go if what you’ve been doing isn’t working.

As Albert Einstein said:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

This means if you want a different outcome, you need to change what you do.

So if the way you do your marketing has been the same for years, but you still hope for better quality clients, this is never going to happen.

You aren’t insane, and you won’t get into trouble with the police, but the consequences for your business could be just as bad. However, there are a host of do’s and don’ts when it comes to promoting your brand and being ignorant about the rules that apply is no excuse. . The rules are there for a reason but many people need help to interpret and apply them successfully to their business.