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Social media allows us all to promote our businesses in a more cost effective way… but it’s not without its downsides! If you’re feeling a bit lost when it comes to your own equestrian and country social media, you’re in the right place! Blogs with this tag will contain information relating to equestrian and country social media in one form or another. Maybe you’ll find some hints and tips on improving engagement, or maybe you’ll learn about some of the things you really shouldn’t be doing to attract your tribe!

Getting your country or equestrian business’s social media up and performing well can make a huge difference to you business. In terms of revenue, not just adoration! By building your brand, allowing people to get to know you and increasing your touch points through platforms like Facebook and Instagram – platforms that people are already spending a fair amount of time on – you’re greatly increasing their chances of them thinking of you, yes you, when they need to buy something.

One thing to remember, always, and something you’re likely to read about on blogs tagged with this, is engagement. Yes. When someone comments – PLEASE try and reply. Building relationships is a great use of social media, and a huge part of that is the conversation.

Tag Archive for: equestrian and country social media

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Two fabulous Instagram takeovers

Harriet Edwards and Sophie CallahanIf you follow me on social media (and, if you don’t, I’m on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook here), you may have noticed that last weekend, when The Game Fair was on, I promoted two Instagram takeovers, and I wanted to explain a bit about these and how they work. Firstly, because Harriet Edwards (aka A Girl About Country) did an amazing job for Mackenzie & George, and secondly because Sophie Callahan (of Sophie Callahan Photography) did an amazing job for Hiho Silver. Despite really dodgy Wifi…

What’s an Instagram takeover?

An Instagram takeover is, usually, where a brand ambassador takes over a company’s Instagram feed for the day. More recently, the Instagram Story is where most of the takeover content happens, with perhaps a scattering of posts appearing the main Instagram feed.

Why are Instagram takeovers good?

A few reasons… and reasons that I will go into in a whole heap more detail on in the future. However, Instagram takeovers can be…

  • A great way to utilise your brand ambassadors
  • A nice way to promote brand ambassadors, so they get exposure to the company’s following, to help grow their own
  • A superb way to generate new, exclusive content taken by a different person in a different way
  • A fun way to explore events when most of the company’s team is stand bound or not at the event at all!
  • …and more…

So what did Hiho and Mackenzie & George do?

Mackenzie & George’s Instagram takeover involved the lovely Harriet Edwards, Now, Harriet is a brand ambassador for M&G (as well as Hiho and others) and has a really good, engaged following on Instagram. Harriet set off with a plan for the kind of content she wanted to capture on her Instagram takeover and, despite having Wifi nightmares, absolutely nailed it. She interviewed Melanie, joint owner and founder of Mackenzie & George about The Game Fair and her favourite pieces, and also spoke to members of the team too. In addition, we got to see the machine that personalises the company’s lovely leather products in action… and I love that kind of thing! The company extended this further by giving Harriet cards with discounts on and when people found her around the event and asked her, she gave them a card. She also gave Sophie Callahan who was taking over Hiho’s Instagram, a shout out… and that made me smile a lot.

Sophie did a great job for Hiho, taking pics from around the showground, despite the dodgy Wifi signal! She captured the stand, gundogs in action and also met up with Harriet on the Hiho stand (and posted a lovely picture to Instagram that I have borrowed for this blog!). Sophie also gave Harriet a shout out, which was really lovely.

Why did it work?

Both ladies really understand the brands that they’re representing and, more to the point, understand how to represent themselves too. They’re professional but fun and also understand the brand values of the companies that they’re working with… so much so that the companies involved are happy to give them free rein on the content. Because they trust them, because they have put the time in to building the relationship. And when you see a takeover like this, it makes good ambassadors worth their weight in gold. On to the next one!

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The start of Small & Supercharged VIP

Small & Supercharged VIPSo, today’s blog is as close to a shameless plug as you’ll see on this blog. It’s all about the members group, Small & Supercharged VIP, which launched on 1st July, which was the Saturday just gone… and even though enrolment is now closed for July, you’re still welcome to register for the August intake here. But let me tell you a bit more about it…

What is Small & Supercharged VIP?

The short answer is it’s a membership group designed to support small businesses from all industries through providing resources, support and challenges to help business owners up skill, become a WHOLE lot more visible and grow their businesses. There’s a password protected area on my site for VIPers where all the content lives, but it’s also posted inside the VIP Facebook group each month too. So you get it wherever you try and hide!

How is it different to Small & Supercharged?

Small & Supercharged, the Facebook group that started this whole journey, is a community area. People ask questions, exchange ideas and chat. And it’s great. But what became apparent was the need for additional help and support… and I don’t mean this in a patronising way. I’m a social media, PR and marketing bore. I read wayyyy too many books, I admin far too many accounts (!) on a number of platforms, I advise a lot of businesses and I have been working in PR, social media and marketing, both running my own agency and in house, for over 10 years. I’m not doing this to tell you how brilliant I am. Far from it. See, the thing is, I’m immersed in this stuff each day. Ask me the best EPOS system and you might as well ask me about quantum physics. It’s not my bag. I know people who know (and you’ll find a few in Small & Supercharged!!), but I know how to promote businesses, how to leverage social media platforms, how to grow a tribe of raving fans and how to develop small businesses and products. So what if there was a way to combine the stuff I knew with the stuff that you knew about your business and your customers?

And that’s what kick started the small business coaching service I offer…

Yes, getting under the skin of people’s businesses excites me. I love it. I like finding out how they work, what makes them tick, how they could improve and develop and how they can do this. Seeing my clients do well gives me a bigger buzz than my own successes, always has done to be 100% honest with you. Combining my skill set, knowledge and my passion for learning and development with the business brains of my clients has worked incredibly well for coaching. The one to one environment allows me to give very specific advice, create very specific links and introductions and come up with very specific plans and strategy. Sometimes these sessions involve sending additional materials too, when I email over my recap. This can be through finding useful Youtube videos and articles to summarise what I’m talking about… but where I can I always try and create my own resources.

And then it struck me – other people could make use of these resources too, along with my one to one coaching clients… and Small & Supercharged VIP was born!

Small & Supercharged VIP provides resource packs, challenges and support for just £10pcm. I’ll be completely honest again and say it’s very different to one to one coaching but works very well in conjunction with this but also well on its own. Not everyone wants one to one coaching and that’s fine. But lots of people want to up-skill and work with experts (and I’m not just talking about me, there’s a raft of experts contributing to VIP…) as well as test new ideas in a closed environment. There’s a lovely range of people in VIP so far and I am SO excited to see how it grows and develops. I’m planning to close enrolment on 1st of each month because each month will have a challenge, and someone joining halfway through won’t get the full benefit. But people can register and get themselves set up for the next wave and join the fun for the next month. Here’s the link

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When should you stop posting on your social media?

When to stop posting on social mediaThis blog post is not one I had planned on writing. Not one that was on my schedule. But it light of the horrific attack that took place in Manchester on Monday night, I felt a need to write it as it’s something I have been asked a lot since. When should you stop posting on your social media?

I woke up to the news of the bomb in Manchester and that was quickly followed by a stream of DMs from clients who were rescheduling all their posts for that day. We chatted, via DM, and agreed it was the correct thing to do, for the morning at least. People were shocked, Facebook and Twitter was full of people’s thoughts about the incident. Some were trying to find loved ones. Some were sharing useful numbers. Some were offering and organising help. It was a horrifying yet warming scene. Something truly awful had happened but people were pulling together, using social media for good, to allow information to reach more people faster than would have been possible previously. Now. How does a product post fit that picture? Is it appropriate to be shouting about your successes when others are distraught? Should you be telling everyone why they should spend their money on your services when some people have had their world torn apart overnight?

Sounds harsh, doesn’t it. It sounds like I’m having a real go at people who chose to post, doesn’t it? Let me explain.

When should you stop posting on social media?

After being involved in the world of marketing and PR for a very long time, I view things differently to your average person. I look at the possible impact on a brand when something is worded incorrectly, when customer service falls below par, when the packaging isn’t fitting. And also I have children and various other life experiences that change how I views things. We all do. People view terrorism differently too. Some people believe that we are letting the terrorists win by changing what we as a nation do – by letting their actions impact on our daily lives. I get that. But that’s not why my clients halted their social media activities. I think it’s fair to say that they gave little/no thought to the terrorists when they made their decision to pull their social media posts. They were thinking of the families and the people involved. It didn’t feel right to tell people to go and look at a new product or anything of the sort. Some chose to share a message of support. Some chose to share useful numbers. Some waited until much later in the day, when people’s initial shock had subsided and they had started to come to terms with it all.

Was it right to hold back? I personally think so. Social media is social and it’s important to read the mood as much as it is to read a room when you enter it and talk about relevant things. Were people wrong who posted? Not necessarily – well, not in my eyes BUT there are lots of caveats to that. I think some people were. Their own beliefs matter and also the actual content would make a big difference. I saw some posts that were done very well and some than made me wince. Physically wince. Would these posts have made me wince on a normal day? Maybe, but not as much.

Luckily we don’t see that many events on this scale, but in our own niches bad things happen. Horses and riders can sometimes die or sustain horrific injuries in various equestrian sports, drivers die racing, players become paralysed playing rugby. These are all tragic. So what do you do then? Do you carry on as normal or do you adjust your content and your tone appropriately. I would say the latter.

What do you think? Did you stop posting on social media?

It’s not about letting terrorists win. It’s about being human and being respectful to people who are suffering. How you decide to do that is up to you. That might be carrying on as normal or it might be changing your social media plan for the day. But just one final thought – if you’re unsure and you don’t post… will anyone be upset?

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How to use Instagram Stories

How to use Instagram StoriesMy latest obsession is Instagram Stories, a fun feature on Instagram that allows you to capture what you’re up to but, unlike your main posts, these pics and videos will vanish after 24 hours. If you’d like to know how to use Instagram Stories, you’ve come to the right place!

How to use Instagram Stories

Use Instagram Stories to document what you’re doing. If you’re using Instagram to promote your business, you can use Instagram Stories to give people a real behind the scenes look at what goes on, day to day, in your business. I use my Instagram Stories to capture things I like, that help people to find out more about me, my business and my brand. Sometimes I might show a dog walk with the lovely Jam, the spring flowers I encounter, stationery finds, new books, projects I’m working on, etc. etc.

And you can add to your images and videos…

You can add words, you can draw on and you can tag people in your stories too. There’s a fairly limited colour palette but I find it’s pretty comprehensive considering that it’s just a moment in time and will be gone this time tomorrow!

Images, video, Boomerang and more…

Instagram Stories allows you to capture more than stills, you can take video, Boomerang clips and more. This can be really fun.

And you can keep adding to it during the day

You can add to your story as the day progresses, just click on camera button on the top left of the app and you’re all can snap away.

And one more benefit is that you can also save parts of your Instagram Story on your Camera Roll to post as a ‘normal’ Instagram post or for whatever else you like! And if you do that with your best snaps of the day, you can add all your hashtags too.

If you’d like to catch up with me on Instagram, I’m here. You’ll know I’m a big fan of Instagram if you follow me, in fact, I’ve written about why I love Instagram here.

What do you think? Do you use Instagram Stories? Do you like watching them? Or are you a Snapchat fan for this kind of content? I’d love to know…

 

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Does posting natively increase your reach?

does posting natively increase your reachDoes posting natively increase your reach? Well, there are a few things to consider here – and a few points were raised in a previous blog about context and content… but let’s dive in.

What do you mean by ‘posting natively’?

Posting direct to the platform and not making people move around to view content. This works with blogs, vlogs and links to websites. And I get the irony that this is a blog and has been promoted on my social media platforms. But you’ll notice how that even though the blog isn’t native to the platforms I’m promoting it on, I’m creating native content to promote the blog… did you see a graphic on Facebook or did you just see a boring old link with no imagery? I hope you saw the graphic that I uploaded to Facebook so I could combine the benefits of the native posting with the benefits of bringing you here to my little corner of the internet.

Does posting natively increase reach?

Yep. And this is two fold. Thinking of Facebook, it’s said (and in my experience this is correct!), that the algorithm prefers native content. And why wouldn’t it? Watching stuff natively on the platform and not venturing off to other sites is a win for any website. Even when you’re as big as Facebook. For the consumer too, you click it, you watch it, you get bored, you move on. You don’t have to open and close tabs to get back to where you were. And the other reason that native posting can increase reach is simply because it looks a whole lot better in the feed. This means it looks a LOT more interesting and will encourage a lot more engagement.

Should I only post natively?

Yes and no. If you take the example of video, you might be looking to develop your Youtube channel, but want to use your Facebook page to help promote your videos. So what do you do? There are a few options. You can just post a link to your video on Facebook and hope for the best, fully aware that it doesn’t look half as good as a native post and that the reach will be less – but it will link to Youtube and you’ll get your views there. You could post an image from the video natively and also post the link to the video. It looks visually more inviting and you still drive people in the right direction. You create a short ‘trailer’ and post that video natively and include the link to Youtube. You post natively to Facebook. By which I mean you post the WHOLE video natively to Facebook and, if you like, to Youtube. If your objective is views, wherever they come from, this can work well.

Here’s just one example of how posting natively can increase your reach – what do you think? How did you do it? I’d love to hear…

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A few minutes with… Samantha Hobden – Haynet

Today’s ‘a few minutes with…’ is all about Samantha Hobden from Haynet. Haynet is a fabulous community online created for bloggers.

Tell us about you and your backgroundSamantha Hobden

I am a half Finnish mum born in the seventies running two businesses, two terriers, a handful of chickens and one huge horse! I have always worked with the public sorting out problems through customer services or promoting companies through marketing and PR. These industries have ranged from the banking sector, hairdressing and medical companies to the car industry. I have also worked in a partnership with a clothing and accessories business. I am now working within the equestrian industry talking all things blogging and social media, which I definitely enjoy the most.

What made you want to start a business?

Having worked for many big companies and sorting out their client’s problems, I knew that I would rather be working for myself utilising these skills and helping smaller businesses. This has now expanded to the rural industry where they are experiencing tough times, so to help with their social media marketing I find hugely rewarding.

How is your business different?

I think because I own and run my own social network it enables me to give my clients and the work I do an extra audience. I would say the experience in running this business over the last few years enables me to use a wider network and encourage them not just to use the basics in social media but help them with content and trying to be just that little bit different.

What makes your product special?

As I don’t sell a product but a service, I would hope that my experience running a social media network would make an extra impact to potential clients needing help. with their social media.

If you had to sum up your business in five words, what would they be?Haynet

Telling your stories from the stables to the fields!! Sorry that is nine…..

Do you have a motto or ethos?

I cannot emphasise enough to have respect for your clients and work colleagues. Just be nice and friendly. There are times where mistakes are made, so say sorry. Don’t make excuses and own your errors. This builds respect and that goes a long way in business.

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring business owner, what would it be?

Well as the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and I think that applies to any new business. Give it time, put in plenty of research and thought and go with your gut feeling. It also takes time to gain a reputation and all the hard work you put in when starting will be worth it. However, it just may take some time, so be patient.

One thing that helps you run your business more effectively

As my business is totally online, I would have to say I would be lost without my iPad. I do all my work on a desktop and this is invaluable but my iPad takes over when I am away from home or away from my desk, it continues to work for me. Software wise I am a massive fan of Canva. I am no graphic designer but this piece of software has made my life so much easier. Photoshop made me cry…. So thankfully I discovered Canva before booking on a Photoshop course!

Best thing about running a business?

It is totally flexible and you only answer to yourself. You make the decisions whether they are right or wrong but the buck stops with you. It is also a massive learning curve being responsible for your own income and growing your business. However, it is a great learning curve!

Worst thing about running a business?

Being responsible for your work and this is potentially a tie. You cannot clock off at 5pm and having time off from it can be like organising a military operation. If you work from home like I do, it is not recognised I think as “proper work”. I think perception of working from home is sitting in front of the tv with your iPad watching Phil and Holly!

Top business blog you follow

I suppose it will have to be Andrew William Smith on Facebook. Every now and then you need to take a moment and listen to his video tutorials to make sure you are keeping an eye of the ever changing world of running a business, especially through social media.

Top business book you’ve read

I will side track from a business book and say The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. If you are ever thinking life is not going your way or work is getting you down, please read this book. It will change your outlook completely!

One thing we might not know about you

I love psychic mediumship and all things about it. I have read so many books on the subject and love seeing mediums and have been on workshops too. So make the most of this life before you move on to the next one…

Top business achievement

It has to be Haynet and the recognition and following I have with this now. Someone was talking to me the other day and one sentence from our conversation made me smile and think that running Haynet is all worth it. She was visiting a yard with her work and one of the liveries was telling her how she loved Haynet and had learnt from the blogs and content that was featured on it. She also said what a friendly equestrian place it was online. It may not sound much but it made my day!

Where can people follow you or your business online 

Haynet: http://www.hay-net.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haynetblog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/haynetblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haynetblog/

 

 

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Does context matter on your social media content?

Does context matter on social media?Does context matter when it comes to your social media content? It’s something that I am constantly aware of, but a post I saw on Instagram last week prompted me to blog.

So, what do I mean? Context?

In this blog, I’m looking at the platforms and the way they work – so we’re thinking about Twitter’s 140 character limit – the ‘stuff’ that makes a platform the platform. Now, any social media user will know that all the platforms have their own style and their own limits. We have the retweet on Twitter, for example, that allows you to share other people’s content with your followers, but you can’t retweet on Facebook, you share. And you can’t share on Instagram, you repost. See what I mean?

Does context matter then?

Yes. The example I saw that inspired me to write this blog (and made me revisit the importance of this) was a competition on Instagram. Instagram is a highly visual platform, as we all know, and this competition graphic was, well, underwhelming. White background, common font, pixelated. Ugh. That annoyed me for starters. But you know what annoyed me more? The word share. Like and share. Now, this annoyed me on a number of different levels…

  1. The graphic had clearly been used on Facebook as that’s where ‘sharing’ works
  2. The graphic was rubbish and shouldn’t have generated much interest on Facebook either
  3. The competition was using liking and sharing as an entry mechanism. And having sharing as an entry mechanism breaks Facebook rules.

The last one is a REAL bug bear or mine, but let’s get back to the actual theme of the blog…

The graphic asked people to like and share to enter. How on earth can you do that on Instagram? You can’t. Saying this shows a lack of understanding for the platform and a lack of care. Context matters. It’s frustrating when someone posts competitions and even content that doesn’t fit a platform’s parameters. And there’s no need for it. If you’re doing it to ‘save time’, just don’t. Some content can be shared across platforms, I get that, but if it doesn’t look native, just don’t. It’s better not to bother. Please. Context matters. You could have killer content, but if they context is out, it just doesn’t work.

What do you think? Does context matter to you?

What do you think? Have you see requests for a share on Instagram? A repost on Facebook? How did it make you feel?

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What’s a hashtag (and should you care?)

What's a hashtag?Hashtags are a big deal on social media and they’re something that you should be prepared to embrace if you want to be found. But what exactly are they and can you use them everywhere? Here’s a starter guide to hashtags. Well, #hereswhatithink

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is a word or phrase that begins with a #. It’s just a normal word (or a few words), but that’s in front of it. There’s no witchcraft or wizardry about it. Honest.

Why are they used?

Hashtags are used, mainly, as a search mechanism, to help content be discovered on Twitter and Instagram predominantly, although some people do also use them on Facebook too (although there’s a lot of articles suggesting that on Facebook the search doesn’t really work with hashtags and it can actually lower engagement, but that’s a blog for another day!). The main platforms and the ones I’m focussing on here when it comes to the good old hashtag are Twitter and Instagram. Both work slightly differently.

Hashtags on Twitter

I believe that Twitter was the first platform to embrace the hashtag fully but, with only 140 characters to play with, use of the hashtag on Twitter has always been fairly limited. And that’s fine because that’s how the platform works. It’s generally accepted that one or two hashtags is the limit – too many and it turns people off. And you don’t want that. If you’ve gone to the effort to use a hashtag so your content is more discoverable, you don’t want people to find your tweet and move on, do you?

Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram is different to Twitter in that you can have up to 30 hashtags, and many people use them all. Using all your hashtags mean that you have more chances of your content being found, but by separating your copy with a few dashes to create space between your caption and your hashtags, or putting your hashtags as the first comment, you’re not overwhelming people.

Tips for using hashtags

  • Always keep them relevant – don’t say your content is about #chocolate if it’s about #spacetravel
  • Check them – sometimes when you combine words together to make a hashtag, the message isn’t quite the one you wanted. There was a brilliant example of this with a hashtag connected to Susan Boyle. Not good.
  • Don’t just use them for the sake of it. Yes, you can use 30 hashtags on Instagram, but you don’t HAVE to use 30 with each post. Make them count!
  • Do some research and see what people talking about similar topics are using for their hashtags. On Instagram when you start to enter your hashtags it tells you how popular (or not!) that hashtag is
  • If you want to follow or get involved with an event on social media, research the official hashtag and tweet, post or search using that. The official content should have this hashtag and content from other people wanting to follow or get involved should have this too.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the #hashtag or wish it would go away and leave you alone? I’d love to hear your comments.

 

 

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A few minutes with… Liam Killen – Equestrian Creative Network

 

This week’s ‘A few minutes with…’ features the lovely Liam Killen. Liam is the brains behind the Equestrian Creative Network – a brilliant resource for equestrian and country creatives. Find out more here.

Tell us about you and your background. What made you want to start a business?

I grew up on the family farm in County Down, Northern Ireland. Did the usual Pony Club (East Down ’til I die) and riding club stuff. Did ok at eventing, did pretty well at tetrathlon – until I started smoking *smacks hand*. My parents have a small mares’ stud breeding flat thoroughbreds and my mum’s family own studs in Kildare, so it was almost inevitable that I would follow an equestrian path. I studied for a degree in Equine Management at CAFRE Enniskillen Campus and graduated in 2007. I really excelled in the marketing modules and my tutor in final year urged me to  follow a career in marketing. 

While at Uni I spent a summer interning in Washington DC for Habitat for Humanity in their marketing department. As a result I was able to get a foot in the door at PWC straight out of Uni, in their marketing devision in Belfast. I learned lots about how to be corporate and personality-less. I grew tired quickly and decided to work for a more relaxed organisation, Belfast City Council. I then did the silliest thing ever, and fell in love. DOH! However, it would mean a move to Manchester. My other half (yup, we’re still together nearly 10 years later) is a one of the directors of a software agency and they built a super easy-to-use website tool called PagePlay. I instantly saw its use within the equestrian industry and was given the opportunity to run my own equestrian devision. I don’t think they thought it would work. Fast forward 8 years… roughly 1/3 of all PagePlay sites are horsey! 

In 2010, along with Rhea Freeman – you know her, you’re on her site right now – we set up the Equestrian Social Media Awards (ESMAs). The ESMAs were initially a vehicle through which to spread the good word of social media among equestrian business, and promote PagePlay as an added bonus. They soon became a beast. They ran for four years and by the end we had finalists from every continent and nearly every country. You can see all the finalists and winners’ acceptance speech videos here: http://www.equestriansocialmediaawards.com

The ESMAs exposed a massive gap in the market within the equestrian and rural sectors. During the ESMAs we were inundated by requests from the agencies behind the accounts, with requests for coverage for their work. It suddenly dawned on me… there isn’t a dedicated place for equestrian creative professionals to showcase their work. PR and marketing people are notoriously rubbish as practicing what they preach. Doctor heal thy self, and all that. So that’s where the Equestrian Creative Network came from. 

The Equestrian Creative Network is  a directory and news site for the creative side of the horse world; photographers, PRs, writers, designers and bloggers etc. Members showcase their work with content-rich portfolios and add news stories about their work, their clients’ work and provide valuable information geared specifically towards equestrian businesses. The ESMAs ended in 2014 when we adopted our son (thankfully I stopped smoking by then). Sadly at the moment there just isn’t enough time to run a global online award ceremony. Those were the days!

How is your business different? What makes your products special?

The Equestrian Creative Network is a niche within a niche. We are solely dedicated to showcasing

Liam and one of his parents’ broodmares.

creative talent in all its guises – so long as it’s horsey/country.

If you had to sum up your business in a few words, what would they be?

The place to go to find a creative pro. 

Do you have a motto or ethos?

How can I tailor the Equestrian Creative Network’s reach for each member to get their content in front of the right eyes.  

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring business owner, what would it be?

Go for it. It takes time and by goodness it’s a slog sometimes. But if you put the hours in and really take the time to build relationships you’re half way there.

One thing that helps you run the Equestrian Creative Network more effectively

Social media scheduling. Shhhh… I didn’t say that.

Best thing about running a business?

It’s a bit like raising a child. Through your efforts you see it flourish and develop – sometimes in ways you hadn’t thought when starting out. It’s a pain in the butt at times. But always worth it. 

Worst thing about running a business?

Work/life balance is difficult to achieve at times. I need to stop myself. Should stop myself. Step away

from the emails! 

Liam and his first pony, Foxy Lady. Still knocking about. Her retirement role is as a baby sitter for the foals.

Top business blog you follow

I like Social Media Examiner and like following the work of agencies like Social Chain. 

Top business book you’ve read

Not really a business book as such, but Rich Dad Poor Dad changed how I look at money and how to use it. 

Top business achievement

The ESMAs. Just phenomenal!

Where can we find you online (web, social)

http://www.equestriancreativenetwork.com

https://twitter.com/equinecreatives

https://twitter.com/abbeyviewequine

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Video alert – can you make something negative, positive?

It’s video time! In this video I’m talking all about how you can make something negative, positive – well, how you can take negative feedback generated by a faulty product and turn into a positive. How you can turn this into a great PR opportunity? Does it sound a bit far fetched? I don’t think so…

Is it really possible?

It honestly depends on a number of factors but I think in most cases it can be IF it’s handled properly. I say most cases because it obviously does depend on the ‘damage’ something has caused, this can be a variable and can mean that your task is incredibly difficult if not impossible. However, when I created this video I was thinking more about popular products that we buy that can leave us disappointed, something like clothing or footwear. I’m not talking dodgy seatbelts here. I’m looking at the kind of products that most people sell online.

Any other caveats?

Yes. The dodgy product needs to be unusual. If all your products are substandard you’re basically firefighting and you can’t win long term because everyone is going to be peed off with you because you’ve let them down.

But what about social media?

Yep. Social media has changed the game in this area. Previously people would call the company or email them first – or even take it back to the shop they bought it from – and would follow the correct complaints procedure. Now they take to social media. If you’re lucky they’ll send you a message, but they might just post that you’re Satan on your Facebook page and that they’re bitterly disappointed/the product is cheap and rubbish/they hate you. Before you become a keyboard warrior too, just take a breath. It can be really frustrating and it makes you wonder if you should bother trying to turn this negative into a positive but you should. Honestly. Even if they don’t respond how you’d like, your other customers will see that you’re trying – in some cases they might come to your defence (I’ve seen this happen before…). Acknowledge their message and suggest they DM you or email you with additional information to try and remove the discussion from public view. This has the obvious benefit but also allows you to ask them personal details that they shouldn’t disclose in public. Be nice to them. Try and help them. Obviously you must follow your company’s complaints procedure, but do it in a nice way. If you say you’ll get back to them by a date – DO – even if you have to say you’re still waiting. Keep them informed. Be honest. Be genuine. Be understanding. If you can, send them a goodwill gesture. You’ll be amazed at how these ‘haters’ can become your biggest cheerleaders if treated kindly and respectfully by someone who wants to help them.

Of course, no one should ever be happy with selling substandard products, but sometimes things slip through the net- I’ve had clothes shrink, boots split and all manner of things as I am sure you have. These things happen and people do generally understand. And if you’re nice to them, you might have got yourself a lifelong brand ambassador too.

If you liked this, you might like this blog here – all about turning a negative or fault products into a good PR opportunity.

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