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More is better – right?

Wrong. Better is better.

More is better – right? | technology marketing ideas communication | copywriter

Have you ever sacked a client?

I have. It’s not something I make a habit of, and I have to be really sure before taking such a radical step.

Somebody I know has far fewer reservations. She has a regular client cull, taking the ‘toxic clients’ (her words) and the ‘crazy-makers’ (ouch) and unceremoniously dumping them.

Then she looks for new clients.

For her, more clients don’t mean more business. Better clients mean more business.

So that’s who she looks for.

Do the maths

If it’s true that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients, why not sack the other 80% and head for the beach?

A few years back, I was at a friend’s house for dinner. He ran a very successful recruitment consultancy from home. Just him and a friend, a phone line and two PCs. They started work late and left early. They made lots of money.

“So who are your top three clients?” I asked over the strawberry crumble.

His fork hovered mid-way between his plate and mouth.

“OK,” I said, sensing his hesitation. “Just guess.”

And he did.

So of course, post-coffee, we headed for his office. Thirty minutes and one slick little spreadsheet later, I ran the numbers.

And guess what? He was wrong. Very wrong.

Do Less

I thought of my friend recently when I read Seth Godin’s manifesto on changethis.com. It’s a delightfully short presentation with a simple message: don’t do more. Do less. But do it better.

So what did my friend do? He got more better clients, right?

Wrong (again).

He moved out of his home to plush offices, with a top-of-the range telephone system, trendy furniture, a powerful server, eight workstations and a scary receptionist. Then he started hiring staff.

Now, thanks to rent, basic staff salaries and other running costs, he has huge overheads. Plus, he has to get the bus to work because there’s nowhere to park. He’s got lots more clients, and is frantically busy.

Recently spoke to him. How’s it all going, I wondered.

He says he’s never worked so hard for so little – he has to run just to stand still, he told me. So more is actually less.

Why am I not surprised?

Find out more:

  • Seth Godin’s Do Less manifesto at changethis.com
September 26th, 2008 | Category: Communication, Ideas, Marketing, Technology | Leave a comment

Add more power to your PowerPoint

Help your audience dodge those bullets

We’ve all experienced the famous ‘death by PowerPoint’.

It’s a painful process: slide after endless slide, oceans of text (usually in a tiny point size), and enough bullets to wipe out an entire regiment.

It’s stressful enough standing in front of people without having a presentation that works against you. So here are some tips to cut it down and liven it up:

  • Don’t use PowerPoint as a script: If all you do is read word-for-word off the screen, you might as well sit down and let the presentation run by itself.
  • Limit the number of bullets: keep it to six maximum, or fewer if you have lots of sub-points. Go to the back of the room when you’re rehearsing and see if you can read everything.
  • Hold something back: don’t give everything away on your slides. Consider animating your points so they follow your presentation, but don’t go wild or it will affect readability. Try using consistent animation on all slides.
  • ‘Chunk’ information: break it down into manageable bits, which are arranged logically. Remember, your audience is reading your slide and listening to you, so make sure it flows smoothly.
  • Split it up: sometimes, there’s just too much information for one slide, even after you’ve edited, chunked and deleted. Consider splitting one slide into two. The information will be much easier to digest.
  • Preview, review: it’s always a good idea at the beginning of a presentation to set the agenda. And at the end, it’s useful to wrap up with a summary of what you’ve covered. That way, the audience is in no doubt about your message.

OK, example time. Here’s a slide that breaks all these guidelines:

Add more power to your PowerPoint | technology marketing copywriting | copywriter

And here’s the same information spread over two slides, but radically cut down. I’ve also changed the template to make the copy more readable:

Add more power to your PowerPoint | technology marketing copywriting | copywriter

Add more power to your PowerPoint | technology marketing copywriting | copywriter

See the difference?

The first slide holds nothing back: it’s a stream of consciousness. The second two are short and concise, and don’t give everything away. Which means the audience is left wanting more detail.

And they’ll get it – from you.

September 19th, 2008 | Category: Copywriting, Marketing, Technology | Leave a comment