I wonder how many people have become reacquainted thanks to Facebook? That’s what happened to Suzie and I: we’d known each other as teenagers, and then lost touch as we went our separate ways. By the time we reconnected we were both entrepreneurs, albeit in different fields. Suzie owns a Human Resources Consultancy called Breathing Space HR, and I, of course, have The Write Angles. By the time we met up for the first time in years, Suzie was already sending out a monthly email on an HR topic of interest. She felt that the newsletter could use some variety, and worried that the subject matter was a bit too dry at times to keep people’s interest. Plus, while each topic was useful, it wouldn’t always be relevant to everyone at the same time. She wanted some blog post type articles for her newsletter on softer topics, such as leadership and motivation.
She approached me with a very clear idea of what she was looking for. She wanted posts that were useful, with a practical element that told her readers how they could implement her suggestions. She wanted them to get a flavour of her, to be able to hear her voice and pick up her personality. The technical HR articles didn’t often lend themselves to showing her human side, and since she was of the opinion that people buy people, she wanted these posts to help her show that.
It was important to her that I conveyed her thoughts and feelings on the topics in hand, so we had an in-depth discussion about leadership styles, ways to motivate your staff, change, how to give feedback and the different feedback models, communication, and much more. It was great to hear her views and get a really good feeling for the tone and voice she wanted to convey.
After she approved the outlines, she let me get on with it: after all, if you’re going to delegate so that you have more time to spend with your clients, it makes sense to do just that! Suzie decided to alternate the posts I’d written, with a technical one that she would write. That way, the six posts I wrote for her would last for a year.
As a result of the softer posts, she increased the engagement she had with her readers, received more requests for meetings, and was even offered speaking engagements. By showing that her knowledge and expertise went beyond the traditional HR areas, and by displaying her personality, she grew her business. 🙂