Tag Archives: Grammar Chic

April 3, 2023 · 11:23 am

6 Common Website Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

An effective business website helps you accomplish several sales and marketing goals at once. It provides you with SEO traction, drawing traffic and boosting brand awareness. It educates your buyers, providing them with confidence in your products and services, increasing the likelihood of conversion. It captures information that your sales team can use down the road, including names and email addresses from potential customers. It conveys your company’s professionalism and expertise. It extends meaningful calls to action.

That’s a pretty robust job description, and it should come as no surprise that some websites don’t quite measure up. The good news is that many of the most common website deficiencies are totally fixable; and often, all it really takes is a content upgrade.

Website Mistakes That Content Can Fix

1) Poor calls to action.

Let’s start with a pretty simple example. Every page of your website should have at least one clear call to action, inviting the reader to take the next step. This might mean signing up for your email newsletter, calling to set an appointment, or purchasing a product from your ecommerce store. If your site isn’t getting the results you’d like, it may be a case of low call to action quality or quantity.

2) Insufficient thought leadership.

One of the most important roles your website serves is earning the trust of your readers, something you achieve by demonstrating your expertise. If your website lacks meaningful thought leadership, it may be because you either don’t have a blog or you don’t update it as often as you should. Both are issues that a content marketing team can help you resolve.

3) No meta data.

Meta titles and meta descriptions play an important role in signifying to the search engine algorithms, and to search engine users, what your site is all about. Well-written meta data is crucial for SEO and can even help facilitate conversions. Neglecting meta data means forfeiting a valuable opportunity to improve your site’s effectiveness.

4) Poor SEO.

Meta titles and descriptions are just one example of how poor copywriting can lead to impoverished SEO. Consider also that well-written and substantive content, with naturally integrated keywords, can be essential for search engine success. It’s also critical to write and format your content in a way that recognizes the growing popularity of voice search. Again, a content marketing team can help raise the SEO value of your website’s copywriting.

5) Low quality writing.

More generally, having bad writing on your site can compromise your SEO potential while also diminishing your brand’s sense of professionalism. A good content team can help you replace lackluster content with writing that’s tight, clean, precise, engaging, and error-free.

6) Duplicate content.

This is an especially big problem for companies that have a lot of individual product or service pages. Repeating the same boilerplate copy on multiple pages hurts your SEO potential, and also makes the entire site less engaging to the reader. A good content writing team can help you think of fresh and unique ways to convey the necessary information, even when it’s a little repetitive by its very nature.

Make Your Website a Traffic-Generating, Sales-Converting Machine

A good website can fuel business growth in more ways than one. To ensure your website is performing at a peak level, consider consulting with a content writing team.

We’d love to help. To connect with Grammar Chic, call us at 803-831-7444 or visit www.grammarchic.net.

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March 22, 2023 · 5:10 pm

10 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make

Writing is something that most people do in some form every single day. Whether you’re sending a text or email, writing a report, or creating a blog post, your words matter. The words you choose and how you string them together plays an integral role in the message you convey. Your spelling and grammar skills can influence others’ impression of you for better or for worse.

Yet even the smartest people can get tripped up by grammar from time to time. Spell check and grammar check aren’t always 100% accurate. Here are a some common – and uncommon – grammar mistakes you should be aware of in your writing.

  • Your vs. You’re

This is a big one for a lot of people. “Your” is possessive, while “you’re” is a contraction. When this word pops up, consider whether you can replace it with “you are.” If you can, use you’re. If you can’t, stick with your. For example, you wouldn’t say, “Here is you are jacket.”

  • They’re vs. There vs. Their

This one is a little trickier, but there are some simple tips for keeping these three words straight. “There” refers to a place and has the word “here” in it. “Their” refers to a person, and you can think of the i as a little person. For “they’re,” just replace it with the full phrase “they are.”

  • Unnecessary Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used to show possession, not to make a word plural. Two of the biggest offenders are last names and decades. It should be The Smiths, not The Smith’s, and the 1950s, not the 1950’s.

  • Literally

This word is regularly overused – and misused – in conversation. If something literally happened, it means it actually occurred. If you say, “I literally cried when I read that,” there should have been tears running down your face.

  • I Could Care Less

Many people misuse this phrase. Saying you could care less means you still have less care to give. The correct phrase is “I couldn’t care less,” meaning you’ve reached the end of your caring and have nothing left.

  • Of vs. Have

This common error could be a mistake in how the phrase is heard. Oftentimes people will write that they could of done something or should of done something. The correct way to state it is actually “could have” or “should have,” which tends to be abbreviated in conversation as “could’ve” or “would’ve.” The “ve” can sound like “of” and contribute to this grammar mistake.

  • Comprise vs. Compose

The word “of” should never follow comprise. A house is not comprised of five rooms, it comprises five rooms. However, the alphabet is composed of 26 letters. The whole comprises the parts or the parts compose the whole. Which word you use depends on how you phrase the sentence.

  • Then vs. Than

“Then” is used in reference to time or sequence. You did X, then did Y. “Than” is used for comparisons. The dog is larger than the cat.

  • Mute Point

If something is mute, it is silent. You’re not making a point that says nothing. You’re making a moot point. Moot means that something is doubtful or debatable.

  • i.e. vs. e.g.

A simple way to remember the difference between these two terms is to think of i.e. as “in essence” and e.g. as “example given.” If you are clarifying what you’ve said, you can use i.e., whereas if you’re giving an example, use e.g.

There, their, they’re – it happens to the best of us. What is important is catching mistakes before you send that email or submit that document. Working with a professional editor can help you polish your writing and avoid spelling or grammatical errors that change the entire meaning of what you want to say or make people question your credibility.

Worried that an embarrassing grammatical error may slip past you and show up in an important document? Reach out to Grammar Chic at www.grammarchic.net or (803) 831-7444 to have a professional editor save you from potential embarrassment.

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January 19, 2023 · 12:54 pm

10 Email Marketing Terms Small Business Owners Should Know

Chances are, you get a high volume of marketing emails in your inbox each and every day. These emails may take different forms, from promotional offers to monthly newsletters, which hints at the breadth and diversity of email marketing as a discipline.

Indeed, email marketing is much more complicated than it might first seem, providing a range of strategic options for marketers and small business owners to choose from. A good first step, particularly for those who are new to email marketing, is to become more familiar with some of the basic terminology.

Email Marketing: 10 Terms Every Business Owner Needs to Know

Here are just a few of the terms and concepts we’d consider to be essential for properly understanding email marketing.

  1. A/B testing. The premise of A/B testing is pretty simple: You develop two unique versions of your marketing message (perhaps experimenting with different copywriting, different subject lines, images, and/or calls to action) and send each to a different segment of your audience. You then analyze the data from each campaign, determining which version of the email was more effective.
  2. Acceptance rate. The acceptance rate refers to the percentage of your emails that actually reach your audience’s inboxes (as opposed to getting shut down by spam filters, or bouncing back for any other reason). A high acceptance rate is obviously good, but keep in mind that it’s no guarantee of the email being opened, read, or even ending up in the user’s primary inbox.
  3. Click-through-rate. Most of the time, your emails are going to include a call to action, inviting the reader to visit your website, read a blog, or browse a product page. The click-through-rate, or CTR, refers to the number of readers who actually take this action, opening one of the links you’ve provided them. As such, it denotes a high level of engagement with your email.
  4. Conversion rate. The conversion rate is similar to the CTR, denoting the number of readers who take a desired action. This may be clicking a link, but it may also be calling your business to set up an appointment, or simply subscribing to receive further email correspondence. Proper A/B testing can be an effective way to improve your conversion rate!
  5. Hard bounce. A hard bounce means your emails cannot be delivered to the address in question, usually due to a technical issue (e.g., you got the email address wrong, or the address is no longer operational). A hard bounce can result in your emails getting flagged as spam, and it’s just generally a sign of inefficiency, so we recommend doing whatever you can to maintain an accurate and up-to-date subscriber list, pruning or correcting the addresses that result in a bounce.
  6. Landing page. Often, the best email marketing strategy is to send readers to a landing page, which is highly targeted to convert. A landing page will usually focus very narrowly on one product or service that you offer and will include several strong CTAs. Effective landing pages are essential to any email marketing strategy.
  7. Lead nurturing. The process of lead nurturing involves carefully building a long-term relationship with a potential customer, ultimately turning them into a sales lead. Email marketing is a good way to nurture leads, as you can provide enriching or educational content before transitioning into more of a “hard sell.”
  8. List segmentation. Just because you have 1,000 people on your email marketing list, it doesn’t mean you should send every message to the entire list. You may wish to break down your list into individual segments, based on interests or demographics, so that you can tailor your messaging accordingly. For example, you may have a list for leads and another list for loyal customers. At Grammar Chic, we might send some emails to content marketing clients, and others to resume writing clients.
  9. Open rate. The open rate denotes the percentage of people who actually open (and presumably read, or at least skim) your email message. An opener rate is a very good indication of your overall engagement level, and also attests to the quality of your subject line.
  10. Spam. Also known as junk mail, spam denotes unwanted emails that seldom make it into the user’s primary inbox. To avoid your emails getting labeled as spam, it’s critical to provide real value and high-quality content. Also make sure you’re judicious in how many emails you send. A/B testing and list segmentation are both important ways to avoid having your emails flagged as spam.

Go Deeper into Small Business Marketing

Looking to revamp your business’ email marketing campaign? Reach out to Grammar Chic today to learn more about our content and email marketing. Contact us at www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

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October 26, 2022 · 10:23 am

Promoting Diversity & Inclusion in Your Marketing

Your small business marketing efforts aren’t just about promoting products and services. Ultimately, they’re about establishing your brand’s values and identity. As more and more customers (particularly younger ones) seek brands that align with their social values, this dimension of marketing is more critical than ever before.

In particular, small businesses can use their marketing channels to demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion. This isn’t just about “virtue signaling.” Ultimately, it’s about making your brand as customer centric as possible.

Diversity Defined

When we talk about promoting diversity and inclusion through digital marketing, exactly what are we talking about?

Ultimately, it means evaluating your messaging, your visuals, your website accessibility and experience, and even your marketing team, seeking to provide a welcoming and affirming experience for everyone. As you consider diversity and inclusion in your digital marketing, some specific factors to evaluate include:

  • Age
  • Ethnicity, race, and nationality
  • Gender and sexuality
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Religious affiliation

Crucially, promoting diversity doesn’t mean trying to be all things to all people, nor does it mean losing sight of your data-driven audience targeting. What it means is being aware of who’s being drawn to your marketing and your branding, then ensuring that they feel represented and included.

Valuing Diversity

But why exactly should small businesses care about diversity in their marketing? Simply put, because customers care. Studies confirm that about nine out of 10 millennials have a higher estimation of a brand if they believe it to be inclusive and diverse. Among younger customers, the numbers are even higher. Likewise, statistics show that customers from ethnic and sexual minorities are more likely to buy from a brand if they feel like the brand has made an effort to include them.

Some additional benefits to promoting diversity and inclusion in your marketing efforts:

  • You’ll reach more people, expanding brand awareness into new demographic groups.
  • You’ll build greater brand loyalty and trust, establishing shared values with your customers.
  • You’ll earn genuine respect and goodwill for your brand, which can further increase loyalty.
  • All of these things, taken together, can help increase your pool of customers, thereby boosting revenues.

How to Promote Diversity in Your Marketing

As for specific ways to promote diversity and inclusion in your marketing, there are a few guidelines we’d recommend.

  • Understand your audience. Do you remember the Jeep ad that Bruce Springsteen appeared in during last year’s Super Bowl? With its heavy reliance on all-American imagery, the ad proved divisive among viewers… some of whom loved the heartland imagery, while others thought it felt too jingoistic. The point is, it’s important to know who’s in your audience, and to consider how images, words, and branding might resonate with them.
  • Be willing to adjust. A big part of promoting diversity and inclusion is being willing to tweak your messaging. Certainly, many brands took stock of their representational values in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, while others have adjusted their advertising language to bring transgender folks into the conversation. Be sensitive to the ways in which time and culture are changing, demanding new standards of inclusivity through your marketing efforts.
  • Don’t be performative. Today’s consumers are pretty allergic to brands that talk the talk but fail to walk the walk. What do we mean by this? Simply put, adding Black faces to your marketing materials can fall flat if your hiring practices undervalue Black workers; proclaiming opposition to bigotry goes farther if you’re actually making some donations to anti-bigotry efforts. Remember to back up your marketing messaging with real-world action whenever possible.

Make Inclusivity a Hallmark of Your Marketing Efforts

Ready to make some informed, strategic adjustments to your marketing? Our team is here to help you work diversity and inclusion into your messaging. Contact the Grammar Chic, Inc. team to schedule a marketing consultation. Reach out at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

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October 12, 2022 · 5:10 pm

5 Tips for Marketing During a Recession

When times get tough, businesses pinch pennies… and usually, it’s the marketing budget that gets pinched first.

This is an understandable instinct: Faced with leaner profits and greater financial instability, business owners naturally may look to their marketing budget as something “extra.” That is, something non-urgent. Something of middling importance. Something cuttable.

Marketing Matters — Even During Lean Times

Actually, slashing your marketing budget is the wrong approach: The businesses that do so jeopardize their long-term market share. In fact, during periods of financial downturn, robust marketing is more necessary than ever.

There are several reasons for this:

  • If your business is pinching pennies, you can bet that your customers are, too. They’re going to be extra cautious about which products and which brands they entrust with their hard-earned money. Marketing may be just what you need to remain top of mind, and to give yourself an edge over the competition.
  • Continuing to market during a recession also conveys your strength and resolve: It shows resilience and a mind for the big picture, traits likely to appeal to customers who are grappling with their own financial uncertainties.
  • By contrast, cutting your marketing budget will leave you with a diminished online presence and a vanishing brand awareness… providing an opening for competitors to swoop in and steal your customer base.

Tips for Effective Marketing During a Downturn

The answer for small business owners, then, isn’t to cut their marketing budgets, necessarily, but to use their marketing resources effectively and judiciously. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

  1. Reach out to existing customers. Your loyal customer base is one of your most valuable assets. These customers already trust you, and already have a pretty clear idea what to expect from your products and services. Focus on maintaining contact through social media and email newsletters, gently reminding them that you’re open for business at their discretion.
  2. Be consistent. This is important no matter the economy, but it’s especially impactful during downturns. There’s likely going to be less marketing noise than usual, so you can make a big impression simply through consistency: Create a monthly schedule for blogging, social media, and email, and stick with it.
  3. Tap into the right emotions. What’s the best way to connect with consumers during a downturn? The answer isn’t to be glib and pretend like the recession isn’t happening, but neither is it to wallow in despair. Instead, convey encouragement and empowerment. The “we can do it,” problem-solving attitude is most likely to resonate with customers who are looking for some uplift.
  4. Keep an eye on your data and metrics. Pay attention to the product pages or blog posts that see heightened traction during the recession, as well as the areas of your business where interest seems to vanish. These metrics can provide clear insight into the kinds of pain points your customers wish to address. Those are naturally the areas you’ll want to focus on with your marketing budget.
  5. Emphasize your value proposition. As we noted above, consumers will be extra vigilant about where they spend their hard-earned money. To win their business, you’ll need marketing assets that clearly convey the value you offer, the benefits you provide, and the pain points you address. This is an area where professional copywriting can be invaluable.

Keep Marketing

The bottom line? Marketing isn’t a fair-weather investment. If anything, it’s even more important when times get tough. We’d love to help you get your message across, and to make smart use of your marketing capital. Reach out to the Grammar Chic team by contacting 803-831-7444, or by visiting www.grammarchic.net.

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July 12, 2022 · 9:07 am

Branching Out: Expanding Your Niche Industry’s Blog

Every business can benefit from regular, consistent blogging. Depending on the industry you’re in, however, coming up with fresh written content may be easier said than done. Certainly, niche industries face some unique difficulties when it comes to generating new and interesting topics. And if you just rewrite the same blog post over and over again, you won’t be able to drive traffic or build a readership.

The good news? Nobody expects you to write blog posts that are accessible to the masses. After all, you’re not trying to market your brand to everyone. You’re trying to reach the consumers who might actually buy your products and services; in other words, you’re playing to your niche. With that said, there are a few ways you can carefully, consistently expand your readership while coming up with creative avenues for content.

Reference Current Events

One way to branch out from your normal content is to think about ways in which your products or services intersect with current events.

Of course, in our increasingly fragmented and polarized culture, this can be fraught. You definitely don’t want to be too reckless in pursuing controversy, but you can address the realities we’re all living with.

An example? Ever since COVID started, we’ve all experienced issues with supply chain disruptions. If your company makes logistics software, or if you offer a business model that somehow allows customers to bypass these supply chain disruptions, then that may be something worth blogging about.

Tie in Pop Culture

Another way to connect your blog to shared experiences is to address pop culture touchstones.

We’ve implemented this approach a few times at Grammar Chic, using then-hot properties like Mad Men and The Walking Dead to illustrate important content marketing principles. This can be an effective way to make niche content a little bit more universal.

Reflect Your Values

Most business owners have a number of core values, beyond just making a profit. And often, those values are somehow connected to the business itself.

For example, let’s say you run an HVAC maintenance company. And, let’s say you’re passionate about environmental stewardship. There are some obvious connections here. For example, you could write a post about ways for homeowners to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, perhaps gently tying in a call-to-action to consider energy efficient HVAC models. This is another powerful way to expand content beyond your niche.

Work with a Partner

These are just a few creative avenues for generating fresh new content ideas, even if it feels like your industry is pretty narrow.

Another way to come up with content ideas? Work with a pro. At Grammar Chic, Inc., our writers are skilled in brainstorming creative ways to illustrate the values of your products and services, above and beyond the basics of your industry.

We’d love to chat with you today about your business blogging needs. Contact us directly at 803-831-7444, or at www.grammarchic.net.

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June 8, 2022 · 5:15 pm

Content Refresh: 7 Post Ideas to Revive Your Social Media Strategy

It can be easy to fall into a rut when developing content for social media. You get into a routine creating the same types of posts and sharing variations of the same information. This repetitiveness can cause users to keep scrolling past and reduce overall engagement.

It’s time to shake things up and give your social media strategy a much-needed refresh. Here are a few post ideas to revitalize your social media marketing and attract your audience’s attention whether you’re posting on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

  • Break Things Up with Photos and Videos

Line after line of text gets boring. Brighten up your page with photos that show your products or services in action, highlight product benefits, or give helpful how-to insight. Create short videos to increase engagement by demonstrating how your product works, what it offers a user, showcasing attractive features, or introducing new items.

  • Ask Questions

Encourage users to interact by asking for their feedback. You can create a simple poll with multiple choice answers, post two choices and have users pick A or B, or ask people to fill in the blank to complete a statement. This can also be a great way to conduct informal research and gain insight into what your customers like.

  • Share Testimonials

People love to hear what real customers think about a product or service. Create attractive graphics that incorporate reviews from satisfied customers. Pick statements that offer valuable insight and entice potential customers to take action themselves.

  • Incorporate User Generated Content

What better way to promote your business than by sharing posts from your customers? It could be a photo, video, or graphic where they express their thoughts in a relatable, authentic way. Don’t forget to ask permission and give credit to the original creator!

  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Your team probably fields a lot of the same questions every week. Use this as an educational moment and create a fun post that publicly answers a question or two and gives customers more information. This can speed up their decision-making process because you’re answering what they want to know.

  • Take Users Behind the Scenes

How is your product really made? Who are the people making it happen? Spotlight a different employee or department each week. Make a video showing part of the design or production process. Snap a picture of everyone enjoying a company outing. Give insight into what goes on behind the scenes and humanize your business.

  • Go Live.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all have options for live streaming, or you can share a link to a live event on another platform. Give customers the opportunity to interact, ask questions, listen to thought leaders, or watch a panel discussion.

Consider your business and audience to decide what approaches might be a good fit, and then get started! Experiment and see what works well and what doesn’t. Give new strategies a few tries to allow them time to gain traction and boost engagement. Keep your content marketing fresh so customers want to stay connected and know what’s happening.

Is your business’ social media strategy in need of a refresh? Contact Grammar Chic today to learn more about how we can assist you.

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November 12, 2021 · 4:07 pm

Tips for Writing Instagram Captions That Increase Engagement

Instagram has simply become too big and too popular to ignore. Perennially ranked as one of the fastest-growing social platforms, Instagram currently boasts well over a billion global users. And with the incorporation of social commerce functions, it’s more relevant than ever before to the interests of small business owners.

When leveraged effectively, Instagram can help you increase website traffic, boost brand awareness, even generate sales. To accomplish these goals, you certainly need high-quality images and videos. But you’ll also need something more than that: Strong captions that engage the user and encourage likes, shares, and other actions.

How to Write Effective Instagram Captions

So, what makes for effective copywriting on this image-driven social platform? There are a few considerations.

1) Front-load your sentences.

When your posts show up in a user’s newsfeed, Instagram will shorten your captions to about three lines. The user may click to expand the caption in order to read the full thing, but not everyone will take the time, especially if those first few lines don’t grab them. All that to say, front-load your captions with interest and with value. Ask a question or make an attention-grabbing statement. Make sure you pack plenty of good stuff into your opening sentence.

2) Encourage action.

Ultimately, you want your Instagram captions to spark some further action. The best way to make that happen is to ask for it, whether by posing a direct question to the user or by providing a clear call to action. Some specific things you can ask Instagram followers to do include:

  • Visit a particular link in your bio.
  • Leave a comment (usually to answer a specific question posed in the caption).
  • Tag a friend (this can help you expand your reach).
  • Share their own photo using a specific, branded hashtag.

3) Share insight.

An Instagram caption is not a blog post, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a way to share actionable advice, tips, or insights that are relevant to your field. Indeed, a post that shares real value is much more likely to be bookmarked or shared.

Side note: One of the best ways to generate insights for your Instagram captions is to actually use your blog posts. Read back through some recent posts for any bullet points that you could adapt to Instagram. Scuttling your blog for spare parts is an easy way to recycle content.

4) Be personable.

Generally speaking, the most effective Instagram captions are the ones that come across as human, not robotic. So, make sure you have a brand voice that can be casual, funny, and relatable. There’s no need to be as formal as you would be in, say, a press release. To that end, don’t be afraid to use emoji to animate your captions and inject some extra humor or emotion.

5) Use hashtags.

Hashtags are crucial for making your posts discoverable in the Instagram search algorithms, which can be key to broadening your reach. As you consider the right Instagram hashtags, we’d recommend a combination of branded hashtags (specific to your brand), community hashtags (widely used within your industry or field), and the occasional trending hashtag (but only when genuinely relevant).

Get Help with Marketing Copy

There’s a real art to effective social media copywriting… and if you need a little help mastering that art, we’re here for you. Set up a consultation call with Grammar Chic, Inc. by visiting www.grammarchic.net or by calling 804-831-7444.

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November 5, 2021 · 2:02 pm

Email Inbox Overloaded: How to Apologize for a Delayed Response

Most of us know what it’s like to experience email overload. As your inbox becomes more and more crowded, and your life more and more stressful, it’s all too easy to delay your email responses. You may find yourself putting off that much-needed reply email for a couple of days, a couple of weeks… perhaps even upwards of a month.

When you finally do get around to writing that response, it’s normal to feel a little guilt over the delay. And whether it’s a professional correspondence or something more personal, it’s probably not the worst idea to acknowledge your faux pas with a word of apology.

But is simply saying “I’m sorry this took so long” sufficient? Depending on how important the subject matter, and how long the delay, you may feel compelled to go a bit further. We’ve got you covered. Here are a few tips on writing an effective apology for a delayed email response.

You Don’t Always Have to Apologize

First, we’d recommend pausing to consider whether an apology is really needed at all.

We’re all busy, and if it takes you a couple of days to respond to something that is clearly non-urgent, you can probably just assume that the person you’re emailing with gets it and doesn’t begrudge you the slight lag time. In these situations, there’s really no need to make things awkward, or to make your response more cumbersome, with a token apology. Just get straight to the substance of your email.

Try to Be Helpful

What if somebody asks you for something specific, and it takes you a little bit too long to acknowledge their request? In these situations, we would typically recommend owning up to the delay and also doubling up on your efforts to be helpful.

For example, let’s say someone asks you for a specific report, and it takes a little time to get back to them. You might try a response like this:

I’m sorry for the delayed response. It took me some time to find the report, and I wanted to also offer some supplemental information that you might find to be useful. The documents are all attached here.

If you’d like to schedule a few minutes to discuss this information together, I’d love to help however I can. Please just let me know if we can schedule a phone call, or if I can assist in some other way.

What we love about a response like this is that it owns up to the delay, but also makes it clear that you are not trying to be indifferent or unhelpful; if anything, the opposite is true.

Don’t Procrastinate on Delivering Bad News

Sometimes, you may find yourself in the tough position of telling someone that they didn’t get a job, or that you’re not moving forward with their proposed project. It’s always good to send these unhappy tidings sooner rather than later… but if you do wind up with a delay, try a response like this:

I’m sorry for the slow response. I had hoped to get back to you much sooner. We really enjoyed discussing your proposal with you, and felt like you brought a lot of great ideas to the table. Unfortunately, at this time, we have decided not to move ahead with the project.

With that said, I really appreciate your time, and think you have a lot of value to offer. I would be happy to keep you in mind for future projects, and to refer you to other contacts whenever possible.

Again, there’s no point in drawing out your apology or offering a pile-up of excuses. Just fess up, then get to the heart of the matter.

Get Help with Business Writing

These are just a couple of examples of how you can address delayed email responses… but if you’d like to drill down deeper into this subject matter, we’re happy to chat. Contact Grammar Chic for help with business communications or editing: Visit www.grammarchic.net or call 803-831-7444.

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October 22, 2021 · 4:28 pm

6 Reasons to Invest in Professional Content Creation

Most business owners don’t need to be convinced of the value of online content. By now, the bottom-line benefits of content marketing are well-documented. The right content can lead to greater Google visibility, it can attract qualified leads, it can establish trust and rapport, and it can even ensure that customers are well-educated about your product and service offerings before they get in touch with your sales team.

No, the problem isn’t a perceived lack of value. The problem, in our experience, is a simple lack of time. Small business owners constantly have full plates, and as they get more and more swamped, blog-writing and content refreshes are usually the first items erased from the to-do list.

The solution? Hire a team of pros. Indeed, there are a number of benefits you can anticipate from investing in professional content creation.

Why Invest in Professional Content Creation?

  1. You lack a consistent online presence. Do you ever feel like your business is lost in a sea of competitors? One way to stand out, and to attract more attention from potential clients and customers, is to invest in blog posts, which in turn fuel your social media efforts. Regularly generating content allows you to cultivate a real presence on the Internet, potentially drawing in people who want to benefit from your thought leadership.
  2. You’re not feeding the beast. By the beast, of course, we mean Google’s algorithms, which constantly crave fresh, original content. If you’re not feeding the beast on a regular basis, sooner or later it will cause your SEO rankings to tumble.
  3. You’re creating content without an overarching strategy. Creating content just for content’s sake is a rookie mistake. A better approach is to build out a full strategy, including carefully defined goals and laser-focused buyer personas, then to create content that is tailored to move your bottom line. A professional content creator can help you with that.
  4. You’re not a great writer. Hey, there’s no shame in admitting that writing isn’t your strong suit. Whether you lack experience or simply aren’t able to write quickly, the last thing you want is for your brand to be tarnished with suboptimal content. Hire a team of pros to ensure the right level of polish and professionalism.
  5. Your content exists in a silo. Content isn’t supposed to live in a vacuum. Ideally, your content is developed to fuel your social media activity, to provide fodder for an email newsletter, and perhaps even to lay the groundwork for some compelling videos. A good content developer can help you bring all the pieces together into something coherent and strategic.
  6. You just don’t have time. We’ll say it again: Small business owners have a lot on their plate. We get it. And that’s why we love providing small companies with our content writing services, allowing their busy leaders to focus more time and attention on growing their business and developing their employees.

Questions About Professional Content Creation? Contact Grammar Chic, Inc

We’d love to tell you more about the advantages of choosing Grammar Chic, Inc. as your content creation partner. Reach out and schedule a consultation with us: Call 803-831-7444 or visit www.grammarchic.net.

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