Welcome to a new edition of the Word Constructions newsletter, and a new financial year. Half the year has gone and yet it feels like it just started - unless I consider what I have achieved in my business during those six months. It has been a busy time and clients just seem to want more and more writing down! I have had a couple of recent achievements - I finished my training and bookwork for two certificate IV courses, being frontline management and leadership. From here, I could move onto a diploma of business but that won't be this year! I have also been interviewing for an assistant to do some of my office work so I have more time for writing - she will be starting next week. As I get closer to my baby's arrival, the topic of taking leave from your own business is obviously something I am conscious of. It is definitely one of the issues of being a sole trader - the business relies entirely upon you and your presence. So how have you coped with taking leave, whether it would called annual leave, sick leave, compassionate leave or maternity leave for an employee? Do you have a contingency plan of someone who can help run your business? Use your words wisely! Tash PS In less than two weeks, I will be one of the presenters at the Business Mums conference - and a participant in the remainder of the weekend. If you haven't yet thought about coming, I suggest you consider it as a valuable business building tool - I learnt a lot at last year's conference and gained a lot of networking relationships as well. I have a few discounted tickets ($100 off for the entire weekend, $50 for a single day) available for subscribers, too, so let me know if you want to go and I'll send you an amended registration form. Tash Hughes 0428 376 110 fax 03 9445 9154 blog - www.wordconstructions.com.au/blog www.wordconstructions.com.au For all your business writing needs It is a wise person that adapts themselves to all contingencies; it's the fool who always struggles like a swimmer against the current. - Unknown (but based on a proverb) Financial year tips By Tash Hughes of Word Constructions With the start of a new financial year, now is a great time to get things in order and be prepared for reporting this year's results. Here are some of the things I do (or at least plan to do!) in early July - I hope they help you remember some important tasks, too! record the odometer reading from your car, even if you don't use the car much for business, recording it now is easier than trying to guess it next July! send out statements for any outstanding invoices make sure all incoming invoices and receipts are entered into your accounting system update your lists of equipment that you depreciate for business - how much longer can you depreciate those items? update your household account records, too, especially if you run an office from home as some of those expense may be tax deductible take the time to sit down and consider last financial year - was it successful? what worked, and what didn't work? were there a lot of unnecessary expenses? - and use that information to plan out this financial year, or update your business plan archive old files on your computer so finding current files is easier and quicker back up everything, including email files, archives, favourites and your desktop tidy your desk and throw out all the old notes you don't need or transfer the information into a single place check your office for safety - for example, download the worksafe guide on how to best set up your chair and desk plan your personal and professional development for the coming year if you send our newsletters or other customer documents, plan the themes or topic you will cover so it is easier to prepare when the time comes and you are rushed Backing up your computer is a basic contingency plan, and should be done regularly... How to complain professionally By Tash Hughes of Word Constructions The main difference between a professional complaint and a nasty complaint, is how it is delivered. Some points to keep in mind when making your next complaint are: Stay calm and be polite Whenever possible, complain privately to minimise embarrassment to the other party Complain directly to the person/business, not loudly to someone else Keep the complaint about the product, service or situation, not about the person you are talking to. So it is better to say “This product is broken” rather than “You gave me a broken product”. Know what you want to happen, for instance, a refund, a replacement or a discount. Stating this clearly is professional and will help the person to help you, especially if you are putting a complaint in writing If you can’t complain professionally or in person, consider writing your complaint. Whether you write a letter or an email, leave some time between writing it and sending it so you can check it is polite and appropriate. For a written complaint, it is worth remembering that a person will be reading the message so it is still important to be polite and reasonable. Take care to be very clear in your letter or email as it is easy for misunderstandings to occur when they can’t hear or see you. When you complain in person you can see the person’s reaction and know you have been heard. If you send a letter or email, you can’t always be sure the person has received and read your message. Check if they have received it before you accuse them of ignoring you. In short, if you make a complaint the way you would want a customer to complain to you, you’re probably doing it right! For more information about dealing with complaints as the business owner, my articles Dealing with customer complaints and Customer Complaints System may be of use for you. Online study can be a good way to fit it in amongst other commitments, like a business! Poor examples Sometimes, the easiest way to learn the correct way to do something is to see it done poorly so in this section of my newsletter, I show you some real-life examples of writing that need a little help. This example is longer than usual, but it is the differences between the sentences that is at issue in this case. The paragraph was the opening of a business newsletter I received recently - an opening that I didn't read past to be honest as it was confusing rather than inviting. Note I have changed the wording slightly to remove identifying information. example: Welcome to the guest group this week receiving our newsletter. It was great to be able to meet up with such a great group and share some of my knowledge with them. I do hope you enjoy this edition of the newsletter which is distributed regularly to members. They may take advantage of any of the specials listed. Issues with this example: Who is this introduction written to? First the text refers to a guest group, then addresses that group as 'you' before returning to calling the group 'they'. The inconsistency makes the whole introduction clumsy and confusing, and illustrates my often repeated point - know your audience. The writer of this newsletter needed to choose whether she was writing about this guest group or to them - if she doesn't know who she is writing to, how can her readers know? And this defeats part of the beauty of email newsletters - they can be personalised to suit the readers. A better version would be: (without changing the meaning) Welcome to all our readers, especially those of you from {guest group name} I recently met this great group of people and shared some business experiences with them. I hope everyone enjoys this edition of the newsletter and takes advantage of any listed specials. And even better would be to send the guest group the newsletter separately to eh main mailing list so a truly personalised opening could be added - and there would be no risk of accidentally leaving people on the mailing list without their permission. The introduction could then be something like: Welcome to members of {group name}! It was great to meet you all and share some business experiences with you. The following is my newsletter which I regularly send out to members. I hope you find it useful and take advantage of the listed specials. To get this newsletter in the future, please {add appropriate instructions} You are welcome to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think will be interested, but please send it as is without changes. If you were passed this email by a friend, you can subscribe here. This newsletter is only ever sent to my clients and people who request the monthly newsletter & writing tips found at www.wordconstructions.com.au. Your email details will never be given, lent or sold to any party whatsoever and you are free to leave this service at any time by unsubscribing here. Important: This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender. Whilst Word Constructions has taken reasonable steps to ensure this email is virus free, it accepts no responsibility and makes no warranty. The recipient should take its own steps to ensure there is no virus. Word Constructions accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.
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