Mel Kettle is a communications and social media consultant, speaker, blogger, educator, coach, bookworm, obsessive foodie and eatie, and a budding photographer. She blogs on marketing and social media at www.melkettle.com.au. Mel is passionate about working with organisations to show them how to communicate effectively so they can develop communities, share their stories and raise awareness. She particularly enjoys working with people who want to make a difference to other people’s lives. In her spare time Mel writes a food blog, The cook’s notebook.
Over the last few days I’ve been sorting out the massive pile of business cards I have collected over the last year or five. I know. They all went into a very large shoe box. I should have just dumped the lot in the bin.
But anyway, what struck me was the number of cards that didn’t actually say what the business was. Am I supposed to guess? Because I certainly don’t remember.
Unfortunately there are far too many businesses that don’t tell people what their business is. And often this carries over to their websites.
Yes, I know from your website you are in recruitment, but will you be able to help me get a job? Or find that new team member I so desperately need?
Yes, you might be hard-working, well-connected, energetic and focused on the needs of the role, but do I talk to you if I need a chemical engineer in Idaho, or do you only place hospitality staff in LA?
If you want to get the right type of client, you need to TELL PEOPLE what you do. And who you do it for.
Make sure your marketing collateral, your website, your business card, your social media profiles all describe who your target audience is and how you solve their problem. For example:
- We place chemists and chemical engineers into rubber, plastics, and other chemical facilities.
- We work with the telecommunications industry to place a wide variety of professional staff.
- We specialize in recruiting sales and marketing professionals for the heavy equipment industry.
Fluffy and aspirational About Us statements such as these don’t actually say anything:
“We are the global leader in contingent and permanent recruitment workforce solutions. We are part a world leading company in innovative workforce solutions, which creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness.”
“We create powerful connections between organisations and the talent they need to enhance their competitiveness and unleash their workforce potential. By creating these powerful connections, we help everybody achieve more than they imagined, and power the world of work.”
“Our goal is to connect businesses with industry talent, creating relationships that allow everyone to reach their highest potential. Our success is made possible by our ability to connect with industry contacts, wide range of talent, vast experience in recruitment and human resources, and an explorative process. Our recruiting solution brings only the best candidates to the table.”
So if you find that you are getting far too many enquiries from people you can’t help, look at how you have described your business, your services and the problems you solve.
You might just find your business increases.
