All posts by : janinepaterson

But some expert advice will always help

My younger daughter, Maddy, is doing a 4 year Fine Arts degree at university.

She has loved art since she was small but is unsure which direction to go after her degree.

So, she got help from someone close to home. We have an artist near us and she invited us to go to her studio to learn about her career and her art.

The visit was extraordinary. Her studio looks just like Maddy’s bedroom – chaotic!

There were canvasses everywhere; on the floor, on tables, on easels and taped to walls. There were tubes of paint in every colour you could think of scattered around.

This artist has had a varied career, being a curator for a number of galleries in London and a lecturer. This gives her the knowledge to talk Maddy through the vast array of careers that would be available to her.

Getting this first-hand expert knowledge of the art world is going to be invaluable for Maddy as she pursues her studies.

The conversation we had reminded me that this is my aim when I help my clients.

I provide the legal advice they need to get their marketing right, which means they can make a success of their business and have the lifestyle for their family they deserve.

There are a host of do’s and don’ts when it comes to promoting your brand, and serious consequences if you get it wrong.

This is why it’s vital to draw upon an expert’s years of experience to ensure your marketing not only talks to your ideal customer but complies with the complex and ever-changing mix of rules, regulations, and laws. So if you’d like to benefit from over 15 years of experience in the marketing and advertising world,

Like a pub crawl but different

I think I’ve mentioned it before but I live in a hamlet.

We have roughly 300 people living here in 2 parts, separated by a hill.

I live at the bottom of the hill, and it is a beautiful place but it lacks one thing – a pub!

So, one of our neighbours suggested resurrecting something we did years ago, (which was lost as a consequence of the pandemic) …

… a house crawl.

This is like a pub crawl, but we move from one house to another, glass in hand.

My husband and I are one of 8 hosts.

Our neighbour sent round a running order, but there were errors.

There were road names missing, just numbers, which as there are 2 roads involved would be confusing for some, especially the new residents.

The timings at each house also did not follow through the route, with people going from house 4 to house 6, then 7, back to 5 and finishing at 8.

I mentioned this to our neighbour and version 2 was issued.

Taking on a project like this can seem simple in the beginning, but the more you get into it, you begin to realise it’s more than meets the eye.

And this can easily happen in business too.

An idea for a new product or service or maybe that long overdue review of your marketing activities.

And, trying to understand the do’s and don’ts when it comes to promoting your brand may seem daunting.

The rules are there for a reason but many people find them confusing, and therefore get them wrong.

And that mistake could put you on the Information Commissioner’s Office or the Advertising Standards Authority’s website because someone complained. This will obviously send the wrong message to your customers and prospects affecting the future success of your business. So if you need an expert’s view on your marketing to help you get (or stay) on the right track, so you can get back to enjoying time with your family and friends

… is sometimes all you need.

Not everything goes smoothly all the time.

My daughter has to have a guard for her lower teeth (thank goodness it’s not the top ones as well) as she grinds her teeth in her sleep.

To do this, she needed to have a mould made of soft acrylic.

She was in the dentist’s chair for over 30 minutes. It took 3 attempts to get a result, and she ended up with acrylic all over her face and neck.

The dentist was very apologetic. Apparently, this didn’t happen very often, but on this occasion, the acrylic was just not playing ball.

But the dentist did not give up, she persevered, and we finally had a mould they could use.

And my point?

We all have occasions when things don’t run to plan.

Sometimes it is what it is and just one of those things, but other times it happens because something is amiss with the process.

So, if you have something that keeps happening and you don’t know why, maybe a fresh pair of eyes will help.

Having someone outside the business review practices can often help identify issues and find solutions to prevent them from occurring again.

I don’t know about you but I love anything with mash.

Toad in the Hole, steak and kidney pie and just plain old bangers and mash.

But it seems that the right type of potatoes for mash are a rarity these days.

I remember as a child buying old potatoes in the supermarket and they would break down when cooked, which made the smoothest mash.

But these days the potatoes I buy in the shops don’t have that quality which results in lumpy mash.

(I am sure I would get harsh words on Masterchef for that!)

I understand this is probably a result of them being stored in a nitrogen atmosphere for many months in order to prolong their life.

Anyway, things change. Sometimes that change happens over time, sneaking up on us. But sometimes the change is planned and comes into effect rapidly with little (or no) warning.

And when these changes are to the rules and regulations you need to follow in your marketing and advertising, then you may suffer bigger consequences than lumps in your mash.

You may think you have a handle on the do’s and don’ts, but what happens when things change.

And how would you even begin to find out about planned amendments to the various laws, guidelines, and codes??

The easiest, and in my opinion the most sensible, is to ask an expert.

With the day-to-day responsibilities of running your business, it’s not surprising that you don’t have time to keep up with these changes.

So speak to someone who does. If you need help keeping up to date with what you need to stay on the right side of the law when you promote your brand,

Many people think sheep are stupid, but they are extremely intelligent and capable of problem-solving.

I saw an example of this on holiday a few weeks ago.

My husband and I took our golden retriever down to the beach. You need to clamber down the cliff to reach the beach that allows dogs, making your way through the grazing sheep.

On the way back up, the sheep were all heading in the same direction. Some were able to get ahead of us, but some followed at a safe distance.

We reached the end of the trail and went through an open gateway. We stopped to change Archie’s lead to a shorter one for the walk home.

The sheep behind peeped round the corner and stopped when they saw we were stationary.

We were in their way!

The first 2 sheep watched us for a minute, looking around, and then came through the gateway, making a sharp right turn and continuing down the slope before coming round, giving us a wide berth.

I was very impressed. They used their past experiences and knowledge of humans and dogs to work out a way to get safely past us.

And this is what I do.

I use my nearly 30 years of knowledge and experience as a qualified solicitor, 15 of those years in the marketing and advertising world, to help my clients create campaigns that make the best impression on customers and prospects while keeping on the right side of the law. So if you want to explore how expert legal advice could help create exciting and engaging marketing that’s also within the rules,

It just rolls off the tongue.

Procrastination is such a wonderful word it really ought to mean something good, but it doesn’t.

Deliberately delaying or postponing something, despite knowing the negative things that could happen is something we all do at some point.

It can be so easy to put off a decision as there are so many other things you need to think about when running a business. But if you keep kicking the can down the road, it can have a devastating effect.

Clients have come to me with problems they’ve had for a long time, years in some cases.

They knew they needed to fix it but avoided making the decision to seek help.

This is understandable. It’s not their fault. And they’re often doing it unconsciously.

The brain is a wonderful thing but it can work against us. It will justify our inactivity by telling us things like:

– the problem is not that bad

– it’s all too confusing and difficult

– it can’t be fixed.

This can cause real stress and worry to business owners like you.

If you have issues with your marketing, knowing the rules and understanding how they apply to your business allows you to change the way you see the situation.

Having some expert help to navigate what can seem like a minefield of do’s and don’ts can bring clarity to the problem and enable you to resolve that issue once and for all.

Do your training courses not attract the audience you deserve?

You know your stuff – in, out, and upside down, but your ideal audience just isn’t signing up.

Have you considered that you could be making the number one mistake with your sign-up form, which also happens to be illegal?

And what is that mistake?

Forcing your delegates to consent to receive marketing from you!

I’ll explain: If, as part of the registration process, you make delegates agree to receive marketing from your company, your sponsors, or anybody else you’re connected with, then you are not alone.

Pound to a penny, you’re using the same format as many other businesses and you’re all making the same mistake.

Potential customers are more aware of their rights when it comes to their data. And many know that having to provide marketing consent just to access a training course or download a whitepaper or other lead magnet is a breach of GDPR.

Even those who don’t know it’s a GDPR breach still might think twice about signing up the moment they realise giving you their contact information for marketing purposes is a condition of attending your webinar or course.

And, if you were unaware this fundamental error with your sign-up page was even an error, there may well be other hidden issues with your marketing and advertising.

And as you don’t know what you don’t know, you could even be breaking a few other marketing rules and regulations along the way.

The solution isn’t rocket science: you need to know what the rules and regulations are and then apply them (sensibly) to your business!

You could try learning them yourself.

Alternatively, you could ask an expert.

Someone who can advise not just on the law, but on how those rules affect your business.

Paying for expert advice on your marketing and advertising is an investment in your future success.

The Advertising Standards Authority publishes its adjudications on complaints received each Wednesday …

… and I can’t wait to read them.

Why?

Not because I like reading them, but rather because I read these with a sense of disappointment of what might have been.

Understanding the advertising rules and implementing them can be a challenge, especially when there are several factors to consider:

1. Your products/services
2. Your target audience
3. What type of advert to run – a tv/radio splash, an email campaign, an exciting competition?

The thing is I know that if those brands had asked me to help, their name would not be on the ASA website, nor would they have suffered the embarrassment of appearing in newspapers and news feeds as an upheld case.

The rules are there for a reason, but they can be confusing. If you can get your head around them, the problems mount when you try to apply them to your business.

Nobody can do everything in a business, sometimes because it’s an area you don’t like (I leave the accounts side of mine to my husband) and sometimes because you don’t have the skills.

So sometimes you have to ask an expert. You have an accountant as it makes sense to pay to ensure your accounts are accurate and up to date.

Paying to ensure your ads comply with the ASA codes is no different.

Making a mistake like calling people on the Telephone Preference Service could just be the start of your troubles.

Why?

Because once the ICO receives a complaint, they will look at not just your telephone records but at all aspects of your data processes.

They will ask questions about what personal data you use, how you store it and how you source it.

And that could be where it gets worse.

5 companies learnt this to their cost.

First, they called people on the TPS. As you may know, the TPS is a list of people who have objected to receiving marketing calls.

People (rightly) complained about this, bringing the companies to the attention of the ICO.

And when the ICO dug deeper, it turned out they had purchased data about the over 60s from 3^rd party data companies and had deliberately targeted these elderly and infirm consumers. They then played on their fears about the pandemic to sell them insurance and servicing agreements they didn’t need!

What these companies did was totally unacceptable and their practices were exposed.

Fortunately, they are the exception to the rule, as most reasonable business owners want to market their products and services legally and ethically.

However, even the most moral and upright businesses can fall foul of the law

That’s why you should be very careful when purchasing 3^rd party data to use in your marketing. It can be a great way of reaching new customers, but if you don’t know what personal data the lists contain or how the lists were compiled you can end up in difficulties.

The bottom line is trying to navigate all the rules and regulations can feel like walking through a minefield.

Some conscientious business owners will try to learn them, however, they often end up more worried and confused than when they started!

Especially when they then try to apply what they have learnt to their business.

I heard a discussion on the radio the other day about cookery lessons at school.

It took me back to my school days when we had weekly cookery classes for a half term, usually running up to Easter.

I consider myself a fairly good cook and my bakes were eagerly consumed by the family to high praise and empty plates…. most of the time.

However, the radio chat reminded me of the time it went all wrong. But, in my defence,  it wasn’t my fault!

That week we were making a French Apple Tart. A puff pastry case with a layer of stewed apple, and on top thinly sliced apple in concentric circles.

My offering was beautiful, even if I say so myself.

I put the tart into the school oven and allowed it to cook until it was a rich golden brown – a triumph!

Then disaster struck

The school ovens had an inner glass door. And as I was taking the tart out, the inner door swung back, knocking the tart across the floor.

The oven manufacturer sold this design on the fact you could open the outer door to check on progress without causing a loss in temperature.

But this design had a fatal flaw. The glass doors were quite thick and prone to swing of their own accord.

I think the fact that these types of ovens are no longer sold shows that were a bad design.

Bad designs in products or processes in your business can result in more than a broken French Apple Tart.

They can cost you time, money and reputation and this is especially so when it comes to your marketing and advertising.

Ads that attract complaints from the public can be the start of a very stressful period while you deal with the regulators, distracting you from the business of growing your brand.