Living Proof – Paul’s Content Marketing Services

Using Business Bitesize for events

Now a nice Bitesize story for you...

Paul might remember me mentioning a presentation I did recently. I didn't say what the presentation covered though.

I had volunteered to do the presentation almost a year ago when I had more time available. It was delayed and delayed and when the call for help eventually came the timing wasn't great. I needed to pull something together very quickly so I spoke about Canary Like KPIs taken from the Bitesize on Healthy Heartfelt KPIs. The audience was walked through a BOPP approach with references to other Bitesize handouts supporting activities in the three key predictor areas (for instance, NPS report in context of Underlying Success Predictors). Result... Some great happy sheet responses and 12 meeting requests from approx 30 people in the audience. (Don't ask me where I'm going to get the time for those meetings... just four done so far)

What is BBS in essence

What I like about Business Bitesize is it's taking information from source material, some of the best business books that are out there, and it's putting a practical spin on it.

Business owners like me will read these books and they will appreciate how they can apply some of the principles in their business.

What Bitesize does is it puts it in a very, very clear way, exactly what can be drawn from these books and how it can be applied in their business.

We see Business Bitesize as a very strong tool in our marketing armoury.

It's designed, it's got our logo on it, it looks like it's sort of designed in-house by us, and because of the nature of the content some of our clients think that we write it.

Because it's in an easy to read, accessible style, it's the sort of thing that they actually like to read.

One of the things that's really important to us with Business Bitesize, because we actually think that it's such a good marketing tool is that we don't want anybody else to use that in our area. It really is a differentiator, and the response that we get, well it's great, we don't want it to be diluted by having other accountants actually sending this to our professional contacts, or our clients, or our prospects. As I say we feel that the regional exclusivity is important, and we feel quite protective of it.

We feel there is nothing else out there like it.

We've looked at lots of different types of newsletters, and ways of communicating with clients, but it's something that we know actually, as well as just being a method of communication, actually delivers value to the people who read it, and because of that we find that we get a really good response to Business Bitesize.

Business Bitesize delivers value to it's readers

"As well as being another method of communication, Business Bitesize actually delivers value to the people who read it. And because of that we find that we get a really good response from our customers and contacts"

Business Bitesize is invaluable in our prospect meetings...

We use the Business Bitesize publications in the intro pack that we take out to new prospect meetings. If I know I'm going to a new prospect meeting that might be more sort of interested in a particular Bitesize publication I'll make sure it's that one that goes in the pack, but generally it's the last one, the latest one that goes in the pack.

Sian Lloyd

Getting started with Business Bitesize was really quite simple to be honest, hassle free.

We had the initial call with Kate, the kind of demo on the website, we liked it, it struck a chord with us and to be honest it's been really simple.

We get the editions, we've got the backup log access now as well so we're just kind of building it into our systemised process in terms of newsletters and looking to take it further with business meetings introducers really, so simple.

One major area that did help was the time involved in generating the kind of newsletter/marketing material, it saved a load of time in the generation, the typing, editing of a document that is an interesting read, appeals to clients but also has a bit of substance about it, so in that respect it's really helping the marketing side so much time.

Ultimately you know it's a good product, with depth to it, and it's just something that people want to read .

So really pleased.

Clive Wilson - how we use Business Bitesize

Business Bitesize is emailed to our database of contacts and clients, now that will include bank managers and IFAs and people we meet generally, referrers, people that could potentially become clients or people that are already clients. We have just over 1,000 people on that list and they get that Bitesize publication every other month.

We also include the Bitesize publication in our intro pack so the latest Bitesize publication will go out, we take out to new prospect meetings. If I know I'm going to a new prospect meeting that might be more sort of interested in a particular Bitesize publication I'll make sure it's that one that goes in the pack, but generally it's the last one, the latest one that goes in the pack.

And we take it to client meetings as well, if I'm meeting with a client and I think that there's an issue that a client has that might be covered by a Bitesize publication I'll take the Bitesize publication along. So we use it to support the advice and guidance we give to clients, we use it to demonstrate to people that don't know us that we're a bit different from other accountants, and we use it also just to keep in touch with people.

One evening I was late in the office and I received a call from a prospect who wanted to speak to one of my partners, and I knew about this prospect, it so happens that I accompanied the partner when we went to see this prospect a couple of years earlier, and the timing wasn't right. And he'd obviously forgotten about me, but he hadn't forgotten about my partner.

Through the Bitesize service all of the partners are able to send out personalised emails to their own lists.

On this occasion because my partner was the one that was sending out a the Bitesize publication. The prospect said to me that he had a particular piece of work and he wanted to talk to us about pitching for it, he said that because we wrote to him regularly and sent him really helpful publications he wanted to give us an opportunity to have some input.

But it's just giving people something different, something that's interesting, something that's different from the usual newsletters, and you know, seasonal newsletters, monthly newsletters, if you look in our reception you'll find the usual selection of autumn, it'll be the autumn newsletter I guess now, and HR update, and these things are supplied, and they're good, they're good publications, but you can go to other accountants and you'll find those same publications with another accountants logo on it.

What I like about Bitesize is you can't get that, you can't get that locally anyway, I know Paul supplies it to other accountants nationally, but the people we market to can only get it from us, and they tell us, we get very good feedback, they tell us they find it really interesting, and you know, occasionally they'll contact us before it's been issued asking when the next one is coming out.

This really reassures me that they not only read it but are really engaged and get value from the content.

Clive Wilson - regional exclusivity

Our contacts that we send Business Bitesize to think it's ours.

If someone thinks that Business Bitesize is produced here, I honestly don't go out of my way to tell them it's not, but if the conversation develops then I'm pretty clear and honest about it, and say how we get this produced for us.

But I'm also, I also make the point that there's not a lot of accountants that have this, it's pretty exclusive, you won't find any other accountants in this area that can provide you with this, part of the deal we have with the person that produces it for us is they don't produce it for anyone else that's in competition with us. So I also make it clear that I've read the books, that the Business Bitesize are based on, and so I can elaborate and, you know, and help them put into practice some of the things that, some of the messages that they will take from Business Bitesize.

I think our logo on it is important, and people know they're getting it from us and some of those people know that we buy it in, but I think it's the content that's more important to be honest with you.

Obviously I don't want something that's unbranded… our logo and branding it reminds them where it came from, if it's a client they know where it came from but if it's a prospect or a referrer it reminds them where it came from so it's valuable having our contact information on there, and also the electronic copy has the click-through, so you know, you can click on the website address at the bottom and it'll click through to our website, or it clicks through to the Business Bitesize library page where people can pick up other copies of Business Bitesize.