Starting a blog for your business is a big decision. It’s also a good decision. Blogging is a fantastic way to share ideas, showcase expertise and build trust with prospective clients. So the last thing you want is to make a mistake that could be detrimental to your blog’s future success. In this post I’m sharing some of the common errors bloggers make so you can avoid them in your own. If you fancy hearing more pearls of wisdom and want to develop your writing further, check out my Business Blogging Masterclasses. 1. Duplicating content People ask me all the time if it’s ok to publish a post ..read more

It’s squeaky bum time! Today I am listening to recordings of four client interviews to create case studies. As a copywriter, I do this all the time without batting an eyelid, but today feels very different. I received the recordings over a week ago, and it’s taken me until today to listen to them. Why? Because the recordings are all conversations with my own clients about what it’s like working with me. Talking about yourself is hard. Really hard. I remember how petrified I was standing up at my first networking event over 7 years ago, trying to explain how I could help people in 60 seconds ..read more

Chinchillas. The subject of my very first website back in 1998. I was in my first year of studying International Business and French at University and we had to choose an ‘elective’ module to study during the first semester. I remember there being a fairly extensive catalogue to choose from. My new friend, Lisa, and I thought learning to build a website would be a good skill to have in our toolkit. How right we were! Fast forward 25 years and websites and web content have played a huge part in my career (I’ll come back to the chinchillas later). I’ve been lucky to have worked on both sides of ..read more

Caller: “Hi, I’d like some information on product Z” Business owner: “Ah yes, of course, what would you like to know?” Caller: “I need the exact dimensions and specifications of product Z” Business owner: “Yes, that’s all on our website” Caller: “Could you direct me to where I can find it please?” Business owner: “Err...” The importance of knowing your own web content I’m in the early stages of refreshing my own website, which is a huge and important exercise to support growth and get my business fit for the future. When planning a new website it’s often hard to know where to start. But you h ..read more

With a shimmy, hurrah and a flourish it’s time to celebrate seven (you read it right, seven!) years in business. As is annual tradition at Comma Sense Towers, here is my review of the highs and lows of the last twelve months. 2022 was the year that Comma Sense went international, with script writing for a US charity and web copywriting for a Hong Kong recruitment company. There were also new partnerships closer to home with the brilliant team at Beech Web Services in Warrington and the TEDxWarrington crew. More on that later. The first thing I do before I start this post is to read my post fr ..read more

How many times did your parents scold you with that retort during adolescent arguments? Unless you were an angel child, my guess is quite often! We all have the skill and ability to vary our tone of voice when we communicate. You probably do this every day without thinking. What is tone of voice? Let’s break it down... Your voice is the words you choose to communicate your message. Your tone describes the way you deliver that message. This changes depending on who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about. For example, you’re chatting about daily life to a neighbour in the street. The t ..read more

If you don’t have a website and LinkedIn is your shop window, you need to have a tip top LinkedIn profile. Do you still need it if you have a website? Absolutely! I’m guessing you have links to your social profiles on your website (if you don’t, you should), in which case your LinkedIn profile needs to make a good impression with visitors. There’s no point posting brilliant content on LinkedIn if your profile isn’t up to scratch. You need to represent yourself consistently to potential clients across all marketing channels. When they land on your LinkedIn profile, people need to be enthused a ..read more

Celebrating success is something we should all do more often. When we achieve success as a small business owner, we tend to swiftly move on to the next job and forget about all the good stuff that’s just happened. I am as guilty of this as the rest. That’s why, every year on the anniversary of registering my business I force myself to stop, take stock and write a blog reflecting on my accomplishments. Six years is by far the longest time I’ve ever stayed in the same job. But running your own business isn’t a run-of-the-mill job. It’s several different roles in one. This variety is perhaps one ..read more

I’m not creative. How on earth do you come up with ideas for blogs? This is one of the most common questions at my business blogging masterclass. My response is always to the first statement - ‘You are creative, you just don’t know how to switch it on yet’. By the end of the session they are bursting with ideas. So this post is essential reading for all those who don’t believe they are creative. Creativity strikes when you least expect it Over summer, I remodelled the beds at the bottom of my garden, which involved digging out an old shrub and replacing it with some lush new specimens. To hel ..read more

Picture this. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was zooming along the dual carriageway when something glistened and caught my eye. It can’t be! It wasn’t, was it? You’ll have to take my word for this. There’s no photographic evidence due to me driving at 40mph with no safe place to pull over. If you’d like to know where I was (to see for yourself) then get in touch. I had just driven past a brightly coloured advertising board that said in big bold lettering, “Liz,s Local Produce” Yes, that’s right, Liz used a comma instead of an apostrophe. I was horrified! If you’re reading this post it’s p ..read more