We called experts to tell us their top tips to boost resume impact. We had some brilliant answers but the two that stood out were Shashaank Bawari, engagement manager – EMEA and ASIA, Pearson, Olivia Davies, head of digital at Expert Circle and Henry Cooper, head of marketing communications at market partner. We think their advice is extremely valuable and deserves to be showcased. If you are looking for ways to boost your resume’s impact then you have found the right place, through this article learn how to boost your resumes impact and get that dream job!

Read the experts advice here:

Shashaank Bawari

Engagement Manager – EMEA and ASIA, Pearson

Ideally, candidate should build 2 versions of the CV.

Version 1: For when you send your CV directly to a recruiter or hiring manager. This cv can be flashy, lots of design elements, color, tables, or anything of the web.

Version 2: For when you apply on career pages/linkedin. This cv needs to be simple, without any tables, lines etc. as the ATS being used by the company will break down the cv in text. (In some cases, ATS’s hate pdf’s too).

This version 2 is where its tricky to get your CV shortlisted. Some of the things that can be done:

1. Use platforms which identify job keywords (tagcrowd.com) and ensure that your CV has enough of these keywords in it
2. Use Jobscan to then analyse how closely does your CV match with the job description.
3. Chatgpt is another option to build your CV with the right prompts, so that it has the keywords of the job
4. Sometimes it helps to not have an objective statement on top, but just showcase how your experience/skills match with what the job needs

Olivia Davies

Head of Digital At Expert Circle

Olivia Davies from Expert Circle also wrote us her 5 top tips on how to boost a resumes impact here:

Choose the Right Template

Opt for a template that aligns with your skills, experience, and career objectives. Utilising templates from design tools like Canva can lend your resume a visually striking appearance. When selecting a design, consider the role you’re applying for and its job description. For instance, a graphic designer might prefer a bold, colorful template, while those in finance might lean towards a more traditional format. Ensure that your template is a reflection of the most relevant aspects of your professional history.

Highlight Skills Near Your Name

Begin your resume with a section near or below your name that summarises your professional identity. This section, typically comprising two to three lines, should include your area of expertise, such as “design thinking specialist” or “investigative journalist,” and a list of your most relevant skills. Tailor this section to the specific job by identifying the skills most valuable to the employer, often found in the job listing. Specific and quantifiable skills, such as “Agile project management” or “Python programming,” make your resume stand out.

Craft a Compelling Objective Statement

A robust objective statement conveys confidence in your abilities and reflects your intentionality in your career pursuits. This section extends the area of expertise by outlining your professional goals and what you aim to contribute to the prospective company. It’s an opportunity to align your aspirations with the employer’s needs, emphasising your value.

Display Your Online Presence

List your relevant online accounts, such as social media, portfolios, or personal websites, alongside your name and contact information. Your online presence can exhibit your interests, passions, and previous work. However, be mindful to curate your online content, showcasing material that is pertinent to the job you’re applying for or original work. Anything incongruent with your professional image should be removed.

Incorporate Targeted Keywords

To ensure your resume reaches the right eyes, employ industry-specific keywords optimised for applicant tracking systems (ATS). ATS systems are used by recruiters to filter resumes based on relevant keywords. Discover the best keywords by examining the job listing, researching industry-specific terms, and using free ATS tools to fine-tune your resume. Incorporating these keywords not only boosts your chances of being noticed but also demonstrates your familiarity with the field’s language.

Henry Cooper

Sales pitches are not an easy feat to master. It is an extremely valuable skill which is extremely effective when delivered well. We asked experts from across the UK to provide their insights and contribute advice on 3 key elements they think are essential for a successful performance sales pitch. We received some brilliant advice from various professionals. Featured in this collaborative article are the standout contributions.

See here what they thought:

Ivan Asem

Head of Marketing at EPSza

Address pain points, address concerns and create trust. Those are the three elements that should be necessary in every sales pitch, whether you’re pitching to a brand new client or pitching to a loyal customer. These elements speak to our psychology (if you believe in that).

Address pain points – This should go without saying. If you’ve done your research and you have a very good understanding of your ideal customer, then you will also know what they are struggling with in the very moment. It’s not enough to have a gut feel, you actually need to be sure that you’re offering something of value to them. If you’re looking to conduct solid market research, you can try these resources: Pew Research Center, any census data for your geographical region, Passport by Euromonitor and Glimpse.

Address concerns – Believe it or not, there is a finite list of concerns that people have when faced with a proposition. When I started my career, I just always thought sales people had a natural gift. The truth is, that they just have very good training and knowledge about the flow of a conversation. Understanding concerns and addressing them as soon as they are raised. 

Create Trust – This is another one that feels obvious but you would be surprised how many people get it wrong. Trust comes from transparency and sharing a vision. Prospects can always tell when a sales pitch is only a sales pitch. What most prospects are looking for is a solution that they can rely on and a reliable partner to deliver that solution.

Mihaela Nica

Executive & Leadership Coach / Mihaela Nica Coaching

The success of a sales pitch starts way before you reach the moment of presenting your offer to your customer. Every interaction with the customer or the buying team is a step that can bring you closer or farther to a successful sales pitch.

One critical factor for a successful sales pitch is TRUST and the chemistry with the buying team. People buy from people they trust. Integrity, reputation, your behaviours, and capabilities (skills, knowledge, talents, and strengths) are crucial prerequisites of people trusting you. Trust is built overtime, with each interaction with your customers or buying team. Therefore, prepare for each meeting, have clear objectives, get in touch with each stakeholder involved in the buying process, especially the decision-makers and the users, and learn about their current challenges and priorities. Ask open questions and LISTEN! The quality of your questions and how you listen show your interest in solving their problems.

And this brings us to the second key element of a successful sales pitch: identifying and addressing the GAP between what the customer has now and what they need. If no gap exists, the chances of closing a deal are null. The selling process flows naturally by asking the customer about their situation and the issues they are facing. The information gathered in this phase will help you to differentiate your offer. You will not present a product or service, but a solution to a particular need.

The third key element of a successful sales pitch is the PRESENTATION of your solution. Based on the information gathered in the previous steps, recommend the solution you offer. Present the advantages – how your product/service solves the problem and the benefits the customer gets. Directly link your solution to the customer challenge. Present your solution and ask the customer for feedback. And LISTEN! Be prepared to handle objections and provide technical information. Finally, agree on the next steps!

Happy Selling!

Anna Morrish

Founder & MD of Quibble

Business professionals are always looking for the key to success, which includes how to make a killer sales pitch that will convert the most clients… But, I’m going to let you in on a secret…

You don’t want to sell to everyone. I often speak to business owners and business development professionals who think the world is their target market, but having this type of mentality rarely leads to success as you can’t target every type of person in your messaging and you can rarely make everyone happy.

You need to work out who your audience really is. Develop personas based on the type of people you’d like to target. Choose 2-3. Create a stereotypical vision of who that person is so you can clearly speak to them in a way they understand and look at solving their specific problems and challenges.

Plus, consider if you sold to everyone… Every sales pitch ended up in a sale… Surely that’s a little suspicious… Or you are the most perfect business with a perfect pitch… Which I’m sorry to say is unlikely. If anything it’s likely you’re pricing structure is wrong for what it is you’re offering.
I mean… If gold sellers started selling bullion for a penny, everyone would want in on the action, but that company selling at this price is hardly going to make a profit.

So, the first part of developing a successful sales pitch (once you know who you should be pitching to) is communicating the pricing correctly. Have a good pricing structure and make it easy to understand, especially if your offering contains a number of products or services. People like to know what they’re getting for their money, and they really don’t like add-ons.

What else do you need for a successful pitch?

To be genuine. It’s really that simple. If you genuinely believe that what you’re selling will help the customer, tell them why and be yourself. Be honest. Don’t try and put on a façade. People will see through it. Plus, trying to be anyone else other than who you really are will be exhausting! If you’re natural, your confidence will also shine through and they’ll buy into you and what you’re selling.

What else is there to a successful pitch?

Make sure you’re prepared. Don’t go into a pitch meeting and just wing it. There are some things you can do on the fly, but if you really care about what you’re doing, put the effort in. Do some background research and offer your potential customer advice and recommendations based on their business and needs. It’ll show you’re invested in them, that you care and that they’re not just a number. Essentially you’re treating them with respect.

James Chaplin 

CEO Vacancysoft

1. Do your research before you see the client, seek to determine pain points
2. Ask questions for the first ten minutes to clarify and better understand strategic objectives
3. Frame your proposition as solving their problem

In conclusion, mastering the art of a successful sales pitch is no small task, but it is undeniably one of the most valuable skills in the business world. Through these expert insights, we’ve uncovered three key elements that stand out as crucial for delivering a pitch that truly resonates with your audience. Use their advice and become successful in all of your performance sales pitches.

Mastering the art of managing a team requires a delicate blend of individual efficiency and robust leadership skills, a combination that sets the stage for both personal and collective success. It is not easy to master the balance between individual efficiency and strong leadership skills. Have you cracked the code of leading teams while maintaining personal productivity at the same time?

Being good at both – getting your own tasks done efficiently and being a strong leader is really important. It helps each person do well and also makes the whole team work better together. When you’re efficient, you finish your work quickly and correctly, which helps the team. But if you’re a good leader too, you can talk to your team, guide them, and motivate them to work together. This makes everyone feel like they’re part of a team and helps the group do great things together.

Finding the right balance between individual efficiency and strong leadership skills can be challenging due to various reasons. And not everyone naturally excels at both aspects and developing these skills takes time and effort.

That’s why we reached out to experts who know how to keep themselves productive while managing a team. They have shared their strategies and tips on how to keep yourself productive while managing a team.

Damian Culhane

Global Leadership Specialist

I am passionate about learning and currently studying for a Level 7 advanced qualification in Strategic Learning. I also enjoy yoga and swimming 2-3 times per week and work full-time.

So, how do I keep myself productive? There are three things that I place in my daily structure to help, as follows:

1) every day I set aside 20-30 minutes to have a self-meeting, a catch-up on what is outstanding and what is present, plus reflecting on what is ahead. This way I can manage my flow of work, firefight issues that need urgent attention, and prioritise how to be most effective.

2) I tend to allocate 3-5 blocks of time per day, to read and reply to emails. The distraction is limited by only pulling the emails when I am available to read them, rather than breaking my rhythm of work by responding to every ‘ping’. Studies have shown we achieve greater quality of work and achieve more when focused on fewer tasks. One study only 2.5% of people can multi-task effectively (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/science-clear-multitasking-doesnt-work/)

3) Retrospective reviews – after every pilot project, every 3-months or so, take time to reflect on:

• What went well?
• What needs to be stopped?
• What can we start doing more of?

These retrospective reviews and reflections ensure efficiency and effectiveness can be optimised, potentially leading to productivity improvements.

Jon Faulkner

CEO – 6bythree Digital Ltd

Being productive is achieved through maximising the engagement with and contribution from the team, through clarity of shared purpose and direction, collaborating using design thinking-based techniques, and planning and celebrating the many small steps to change improvements, the team is fulfilled and productive delivering the work which I need them to progress and I have time to focus on removing barriers and growing confidence and capability in the team.

Larysa Hale

Managing Director, Expert Circle

Maintaining Team Productivity: A Guide

Productivity isn’t just about individual performance; it’s about harnessing the collective energy and expertise of your team. Here are some key strategies to ensure your team remains on track and excels:

Set Clear and Achievable Goals: While a long-term vision is crucial to guide your team’s direction, short-term, achievable goals are the stepping stones to get there. These targets act as markers, ensuring your team knows exactly where they need to be and by when. Regularly updating and reviewing these goals can keep everyone aligned and motivated.

Opt for Efficient Team Meetings: Team meetings are necessary to get a snapshot of what everyone is working on. However, the key is to keep them concise and relevant. A well-structured meeting agenda can help streamline discussions, ensuring you cover all vital points without letting the meeting drag.

One-on-One Sessions: It’s beneficial to have individual time with each team member. These sessions can be tailored to each individual’s needs, whether it’s guidance, feedback, or simply understanding their perspectives. They can also help in ensuring that they are focusing on the right tasks and priorities.

Transparency is Essential: Open communication about your own workload can create a more transparent environment. When team members understand what you’re working on, it sets a precedent for them to share their workloads too. This mutual understanding can foster a sense of respect for each other’s time and responsibilities.

By adopting these strategies, leaders can create a culture of productivity and collaboration, ensuring both individual and team success.

Step into the dynamic realm of today’s digital era, where the fusion of AI-powered solutions with your business processes is far more than a passing trend—it’s the strategic leap that can redefine the game. Picture this: the monotony of repetitive tasks transformed into a symphony of efficiency, and the hidden gems within colossal datasets unearthed as actionable wisdom. The success stories span industries, attesting to AI’s prowess. But, let’s not downplay the complexity—it’s not as easy as flipping a switch.

We approached experts who have cracked the code of seamlessly introducing and integrating AI into business operations and have conjured a strategy that revolutionises the entire approach. 

Take a look at the tips they shared on the best practices for introducing and integrating AI-powered solutions into business processes:

Kamran Feroz

CTO at DIDx.net

As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of DIDX Inc., a leading IT company specializing in providing VoIP (Direct Inward Dialing) numbers across B2B and B2C platforms, I’ve witnessed firsthand how technology, specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI), can radically transform business processes. Today, I’m excited to share some best practices for introducing and integrating AI-powered solutions into your business operations.

IDENTIFY BUSINESS NEEDS

The first step towards a successful AI integration is identifying the areas within your business that will significantly benefit from AI. Are you looking to automate routine tasks? Enhance customer experience? Improve predictive analysis? Your specific needs should guide your AI pursuit.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT AI TECHNOLOGY

Once you’ve identified your needs, the next step is to choose an AI solution that aligns with them. Among the choices available like Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), or Robotics Process Automation (RPA), select what resonates most strongly with your requirements.

COLLECT AND PREPARE DATA

AI fundamentally relies on data. Ensuring you have high-quality, well-structured data relevant to your business is paramount. Therefore, invest significant time and resources in data cleaning and preparation.

PILOT TEST

Before going all out with implementation, it’s always wise to conduct a pilot test of your chosen AI solution on a smaller scale within your organization. This approach allows you to detect potential flaws, understand its functionality better, and gauge its impact on your operations.

PROVIDE TRAINING TO STAFF

For a full-fledged implementation, ensure your team understands how to work with the new AI solution. Invest in training programs that help them gain confidence in using the system, which is vital to boost their productivity and efficiency.

REVIEW AND IMPROVE

Finally, adopt a habit of regularly reviewing how the AI system is performing and making necessary improvements. Foster a company culture that encourages continuous learning and adaptation.

In conclusion, integrating AI into business processes represents an exciting frontier for efficiency, innovation, and growth. However, tactful implementation following these best practices is crucial for realizing its full potential. As we stride into an increasingly digital future, let’s leverage AI to create more value in our businesses.

Inna Tarpan

Marketing Manager at NoBlue2

At NoBlue2, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to harness the power of AI tools in our marketing endeavours, and it’s been a game-changer on multiple fronts. These AI-driven tools have become indispensable in our marketing strategies, allowing us to glean invaluable insights from the wealth of data at our disposal. Whether understanding customer behaviour or staying ahead of emerging trends, AI’s data analysis capabilities have proven to be a tremendous asset.

One of the standout advantages has been the automation of repetitive tasks, like managing email campaigns and social media. This has not only saved us time but also ensured that routine tasks are executed flawlessly. With these time-consuming tasks off our plates, we’ve been able to focus on the creative and strategic aspects of our work, which is where our team truly thrives.

Personalisation has been another highlight. AI empowers us to deliver highly tailored content and product recommendations to our audience. This personal touch has significantly improved customer engagement and conversion rates, demonstrating the power of AI in building meaningful connections with our customers.

AI’s predictive analytics capabilities have also allowed us to make informed decisions about our marketing strategies. By forecasting trends and analyzing historical data, we can allocate our resources more effectively and optimize our budget for maximum efficiency. This data-driven approach has translated into cost savings and a better return on investment.

As I reflect on my experience at NoBlue2, it’s clear that AI tools have not only elevated our marketing efforts but have also opened doors to continuous innovation. With these technologies evolving at a rapid pace, I’m excited to explore new possibilities and continue driving growth and success in our field.

Jon Faulkner

CEO – 6bythree Digital Ltd

Jon Faulkner says “Research and evidence-based strategy formulation enables clients to ask the right questions, identify and address the main challenges and channel their efforts into growing organisational capabilities and time to do the things which bring greater fulfillment and value.”

Based on Jon’s tip, it is clear that introducing and integrating AI-powered solutions into business processes is a transformative journey that requires careful planning and strategic implementation. A research and evidence-based strategy is crucial in this process as it empowers businesses to ask the right questions. By thoroughly understanding the intricacies of their operations, companies can identify the main challenges they face. This deep understanding enables them to address these challenges effectively, paving the way for a seamless integration of AI technologies.

Furthermore, this approach allows businesses to channel their efforts toward enhancing their organizational capabilities. This could mean investing in employee training programs to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to work alongside AI systems. It might also involve restructuring existing processes to align them with the capabilities of AI, optimizing efficiency and productivity.

Ultimately, the integration of AI into business processes should not be seen as a threat, but rather as an opportunity for growth and innovation. By adopting evidence-based strategies, businesses not only optimise their operational efficiency but also free up valuable time and resources. This newfound freedom can be redirected towards activities that bring greater fulfillment and value, such as fostering innovation, improving customer experiences, and focusing on core business objectives. In essence, a well-informed approach to AI integration not only streamlines operations but also enriches the overall business landscape, ensuring long-term success and competitiveness.

In the fast-paced world of today’s workplaces, there’s a universal truth: success shines brightest when everyone on the team shares the same values. Think of it like a powerful symphony – a harmonious blend of purpose that resonates through every task and goal.

Aligned values spark innovation, boost employee retention, and create a positive company culture. They’re the driving force behind better performance and results. But how can team leaders effectively align their team’s values?

That’s why we asked for some tips from the experts in the industry. These experts have years of experience behind them and have uncovered the secret to stronger collaboration.

Here are some tips they shared –

Raf Uzar

Head of Marketing, Communication, and Development, Penteris

You have probably heard that employees who are aligned with company values outperform non-aligned employees. The stats bear this out: organisations with aligned values observe a 72% increase in innovation and a 30% boost in employee retention.

In an ideal world, we would all be rolling out systems of company alignment where every employee ‘switches on’ and aligns with every single company value, no matter what. However, we do not live in a perfect world and people are a mixed bunch with different needs and disparate wants.

The truth of the matter is that there is often a significant “knowledge-practice gap” when it comes to employees having to align with company values i.e. we know what we have to do but it doesn’t get done.

In my experience, there are essentially two chief problems: thousands of companies – large and small – are often: (a) unable to communicate their values to their staff, or (b) their staff is unable/unwilling to implement well-communicated values.

Therefore, to begin with we should: (1) improve our communication methods, and (2) re-think our company values so that they have a better chance of buy-in from the majority of employees.

It really is worth taking a step back and seeing if we are really effective with our communication channels and if our values have a chance of being accepted across the board. If not, why not?

The next step? Recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. As Jim Collins said: “People are not your most important asset. The right people are“.

You can have the most amazing values in the world, but if these are not effectively and authentically communicated during the hiring process, so that you can get the right people who are aligned with your values, they count for nothing. In other words: “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” (Jim Collins)

Gopal Rao

Partner, Infosys Consulting

Besides the usual – “regular communication that is open, two-way and transparent, etc.” – I would say the concept of “aligned values of the team” is best put to test when the times are not good and the aggregated team goals are not being achieved. In those times I believe the following two would hold the team in good stead :

1. A visible demonstration to the many detractors during those periods of a firm self-belief and also a visible demonstrable confidence in other members of the team who might be having a momentary dip and
2. Let not the influencers or those in power affect your judgment of your seniors. It is very likely that unknowingly and unwittingly it might have irreversible damage to the team that has brought you the success that you enjoy now.

Berne Omolafe

Founder and CEO of Pryntd.xyz

Aligning the company’s team values is crucial for achieving maximum impact and ensuring a cohesive work environment. These are the same strategies we follow at Pryntd. Here they are:

1. Define Core Values: Clearly define the core values representing the company’s mission and culture. These values should reflect the company’s vision and guide decision-making.
2. Communicate Values: Ensure team members know and understand the company’s values. Regularly communicate these values through team meetings, onboarding processes, and internal communications.
3. Lead by Example: Leadership should exemplify the values in their actions and decision-making. When leaders consistently demonstrate their importance, it sets the tone for the entire team.
4. Encourage Open Dialogue: Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing values, sharing feedback, and addressing concerns related to alignment.
5. Hire and Promote Based on Values: During the hiring and promotion processes, assess candidates and employees based on their alignment with Pryntd’s core values. This ensures that the team remains consistent in its values.
6. Incorporate Values into Goals: Integrate the company’s values into individual and team goals. This reinforces the importance of values in achieving its objectives.
7. Recognize and Reward Alignment: Acknowledge and reward team members who consistently align with the company’s values. This encourages others to follow suit.
8. Provide Training and Development: Offer training and development programs that reinforce and help team members apply the values.
9. Continuously Assess Alignment: Regularly evaluate the alignment of team members with Pryntd’s values and address any deviations promptly.
10. Adapt and Evolve: Values may evolve as the company grows and changes. Be open to revisiting and refining values to ensure they remain relevant and meaningful.

By implementing these strategies, Pryntd creates a cohesive team culture aligned with its core values, ultimately driving maximum impact and success.

In conclusion, shared values within a team are indispensable in today’s fast-paced workplaces. They drive innovation, enhance employee retention, and nurture a positive organisational culture. Expert insights underscore the importance of effective communication and thoughtful alignment of company values to bridge the knowledge-practice gap among employees. Recruitment processes that prioritise values alignment and a steadfast belief in team members during challenging times are crucial. To succeed, leaders should lead by example, foster open dialogue, and consistently assess alignment while remaining adaptable to evolving values as the company grows, ensuring a cohesive culture that maximises impact and success.

In an era where environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices have become pivotal not just for corporate reputation but also for long-term sustainability, organisations are finding themselves at a crossroads. The path toward effective ESG implementation can be daunting, especially for those who are new to the terrain. However, guidance from experienced individuals offers valuable insights into how organisations can strategically navigate this intricate landscape.

This collaborative article gathers expertise from industry experts to shed light on effective approaches for organisations new to ESG practices.

Tom Lakin

Global Practice Director, Resource Solutions

Tom leads the ESG for Hiring, Diverse Hiring, and Ethics Practice at Resource Solutions. You can embrace effective ESG practices by following the footsteps of Tom. tom created the Global Innovation in Recruitment Team in 2015. He advised clients on HR Technology, Assessment & Selection, Diverse Hiring, and AI. He also created and launched Recruitment Inclusivity Audit in 2020 which was commissioned by 25 global brands and winner of 5 awards and Employee Sustainability Audit in 2023 which he launched with a pioneering ethical bank. 

Start by appointing dedicated teams or individuals to champion ESG initiatives, fostering innovation and commitment within your organization. Seek guidance from experts to strategically integrate sustainability into your operations, engaging key stakeholders to amplify impact. Develop measurable audits tailored to your organization’s needs, facilitating informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Collaborate with ethical partners, learn from role models, and communicate transparently to inspire positive change. Embracing these approaches, your organization can embark on a transformative ESG journey, creating a better future for both business and society.

Andy Hale 

Director / Engineer at Hale Engineering & Consultancy Services Ltd

Receiving a job rejection email can be discouraging during a job search. However, it is important to explore the potential silver lining within such situations.

How can candidates effectively respond to job rejections? Is it possible to transform rejections into better opportunities?

We have here a collaborative article containing leadership thoughts on some of the effective strategies to overcome rejections and leverage them for career growth. These articles offer career guidance and advice on how to overcome common challenges.

Larysa Hale 

Managing Director, Expert Circle

When embarking on a job search, candidates should be open to multiple opportunities and avoid pinning all their hopes on one position to prevent excessive disappointment. While it’s natural to have “dream” employers, it’s essential to maintain realistic expectations to avoid feelings of rejection or despondency. Emotions play a significant role, so managing them effectively is paramount.

Rejection can indeed sting, but it’s also a stepping stone to personal growth. Instead of viewing it as a mere setback:

1. Reflect on Feedback: Use any feedback given to refine skills, improve interview techniques, or enhance CV presentation.
2. Build Connections: Send a gracious ‘thank you’ note post-rejection. This leaves a positive impression and could pave the way for future opportunities.
3. Stay Positive: Remember, every rejection brings you closer to a role that’s the right fit. Various factors, including company dynamics or timing, influence hiring.
4. Lean on Support: Engage with peers or mentors. They can offer encouragement, share personal experiences, and provide a fresh outlook.
5. Diversify Your Search: While having dream jobs is valid, expanding your search can lead to discovering roles you hadn’t considered but might be a great fit.

Lastly, don’t hesitate to ask for feedback post-interview. Often, the reasons for rejection might be unrelated to a candidate’s suitability and more about the company’s internal decisions. Every ‘no’ is a step closer to the right ‘yes’. Cherish the journey, gather wisdom from each experience, and believe that the right position awaits.

Pankaj Dudhaiya

Job rejection is not new. It is an ongoing process, as every candidate who applies for a job can not get that specific job.

Candidates who apply for jobs must be ready for job rejection in my view. But, this situation can be improved if handled well.

Normally, before applying for any job and during an interview also, a candidate does a lot of preparation. But, the candidate does not know, what is going on in the mind of an interviewer. Because, the interviewer is in ‘business’ where every day in and day out only results matter, the interview will look for a candidate who is completely ‘job ready’ or more prominently we can say ‘complete professional’.

What is the meaning of a professional candidate? 

From my point of view, if a candidate who is applying for a job, has all those skills which can differentiate him/her in the job market, and which can enable him/her to be ready to deliver results from day one in the job, are called as professional skills. So, if you want to minimize your chances of ‘job rejection’ or maximize your chances of ‘getting a job’ then you have to ensure complete ‘professional development’ of yourself.

Professional development in any candidate takes place when the candidate has all knowledge, personal skills, people skills, professional skills, attitudes, and a few attributes as desired by the employer. 

Want to know more about ’employee professional development’? Visit this page in detail and you will come to know how you can avoid job rejection before even appearing in an interview.

In an era marked by increasing demands for transparency and fairness, the traditional veil of secrecy surrounding salary information has come under scrutiny. Job seekers, employees, and advocates for workplace equality are raising a critical question: Should companies disclose salary information in their job descriptions?

In this collaborative article, a panel of esteemed experts have shared their insights, experiences, and perspectives on whether companies should embrace transparency by including salary information in job descriptions. Their thought leadership is impressive and valuable, their contributions are articulated well.

Oliwia Ostaszewska

Warsaw Managing Director at Vacancysoft

The decision of whether to include salary information in a job description depends on the current stage of the business. If the company is financially stable and capable of offering competitive compensation, it is a viable option to provide details about the salary range. However, in instances where the business is in a phase that requires careful expenditure management, refraining from disclosing specific salary figures is advisable.

This cautious approach prevents potentially well-qualified candidates from being discouraged by a perceived lower salary and ensures that the talent pool remains open for consideration. Additionally, by not divulging the salary upfront, there is flexibility to engage in salary negotiations if a particularly promising candidate expresses interest, allowing for the exploration of mutually agreeable terms.

Andy Hale

Director / Engineer at

Including salary information in job descriptions is a strategic decision that yields multiple benefits. Firstly, transparent salary disclosure streamlines the recruitment process by attracting candidates who are genuinely interested and aligned with the compensation offered. This upfront information acts as a filter, ensuring that applicants applying for the position are more likely to accept the offered salary, reducing the chances of wasting time on candidates who have different compensation expectations. This efficiency not only saves valuable time and resources but also allows the business to focus on engaging with candidates who are more likely to be a good fit for the role and the company culture.

Moreover, clear salary details enhance the business’s reputation and credibility in the eyes of potential employees. Openness about compensation signals a commitment to fair employment practices and respect for candidates’ time and efforts. This fosters a positive employer brand, attracting top-tier talent and contributing to higher employee satisfaction and retention rates. 

Hali Smith

There’s arguably never been a more challenging time for employers in attracting and retaining talent as the number of job vacancies in the UK continues to climb. What this means is that employers can’t afford to alienate potential talent.

Considering over a quarter of professionals wouldn’t consider applying for a role without knowing salary expectations, employers need to think carefully if they aren’t making this information available….Ultimately, transparency is key.

In conclusion, the debate over disclosing salary information in job descriptions presents a complex landscape where transparency intersects with strategic hiring practices. The insights from Oliwia Ostaszewska, Andy Hale, and Hali Smith illuminate the multifaceted considerations businesses must weigh. From nurturing a positive employer brand to maintaining a competitive edge in talent acquisition, the decision to reveal salary details reflects a company’s broader values and operational strategies. As the workforce continues to evolve with a heightened emphasis on fairness and openness, companies are prompted to reassess their approach to salary disclosure.

This not only impacts their immediate hiring process but also shapes their long-term reputation and effectiveness in an increasingly transparent job market. Ultimately, whether or not to disclose salary information is a strategic choice that each company must make, considering both their internal dynamics and the changing expectations of the modern workforce.

Developing a content strategy can be a daunting task, but it’s an essential one for any business or organisation looking to effectively reach and engage their target audience. With so many different types of content and channels available, it can be challenging to know where to start and what to prioritise. That’s why we’ve gathered a panel of experts in the field of content strategy to share their insights and advice.

Our panel includes seasoned professionals from a range of industries and backgrounds, each with their own unique perspectives on developing and implementing successful content strategies. They will provide guidance on topics such as identifying your target audience, creating a content plan that aligns with your business goals, selecting the right channels to distribute your content, measuring and analysing your results, and more.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your existing content strategy, this expert panel will offer valuable insights and actionable tips to help you achieve your goals. So sit back, relax, and get ready to learn from some of the best minds in the business.

Kingsley Bye

MD Lighthouse Consultants

It is important to include content relevant to your audience that then gives them new information and the content alone can help in some way. Then also to keep the content going, posts, articles, videos. There is such a lot of content out there that you have to keep your presence current.

Louise José

Senior Marketing Consultant

As a freelance consultant, I work with many clients to develop a content strategy to suit their needs. A lot of the time what they want to say is obvious. You just have to look at their website to get an idea of key topics and themes. The hard part is convincing them to keep it simple and stick to what they know.

Once we have the key themes laid out, it’s a case of working out how their target market consumes information. Do they attend webinars, read blog posts, listen to podcasts or browse social media? They often partake in a few, then it’s a case of marrying it all together and working out clear messaging for each platform!

Giving the target multiple opportunities to get associated with the brand and keeping in contact is a surefire way to drive traffic to the site and enable inbound enquiries that will lead to sales.

Leor Franks

Director of Marketing & Business Development, Kingsley Napley

“Content may be king, but it’s all in the marketing” once said Gerald Levin, then CEO of Time Warner. His maxim translates well to the professional services industry, where often the key challenge with content is how best to leverage – both externally and internally.

One model to address the content marketing challenge in professional services is a derivative of the ‘Content Tree’ concept used by many. A five-step approach, it has phases to get buy-in, create and deploy content. It begins with the ‘seeds’ of an idea, lays down ‘roots’, develops into ‘shoots’, grows into a solid ‘trunk’ and ends most importantly in multiple ‘branches’. Bear with me! This approach is not ground-breaking, but hopefully, it is simple to follow and communicate to stakeholders and colleagues.

The ‘Content Tree’ helps to make the most of time and effort, of partner stakeholders and of the marcoms and other team members managing the project. At all points, we focus on the outputs from the content, considering how these meet business objectives and resonate with the target audience. The steps below mention various roles – stakeholder, marketer, analyst, writer and designer. Of course, sometimes, others can be involved, or the marketer can wear more than one hat!

Anna Morrish

Managing Director

There are two sides to a content marketing strategy. You have the proactive and the reactive. Every content marketing strategy needs a plan, something to work towards to ensure you cover off all questions and answers your customers and audience will be searching for, but then you also need to be flexible enough to react. To create content quickly in response to news updates, new case studies, partnership and event announcements etc.

If you don’t know where to start, the first thing I’d recommend doing is writing down a comprehensive list of questions your customers ask you. Write page content and articles that answer these questions. Further to this, record and write out any case studies you have. Include relevant mentions of partners or people you worked with and once published, send them a link to the content, so they can also share it or link to it. You may also want to consider writing a press release that you can share with local journalists and those who write about your industry.

Once you’re on a roll with your content creation, ensure you have a content calendar and that you’re able to create a variety of forms of content, including surveys, infographics, games and guides. Conduct keyword research and competitor analysis to discover other ways to get in front of your audience, and use SEO and digital PR to propel your business forward.

Laura Devonald

Digital Strategist, Webmart

The biggest mistake I see when someone runs off to develop their content strategy is starting from scratch. Unless you’re a start-up, I’m going to take a guess that you’ve already got heaps of content. The question is, is it valuable?

My first step is always a content audit to uncover where there is wastage, and where there is opportunity.

Open Excel and get a list of every single URL (page) on your site and start adding the all-important data for each page, everything from users to engagement to conversions and existing ranks. Next, try to categorise them, I like to do this in terms of a sales funnel using a model like AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action), but you could keep it super simple, for example, information and sales.

Now it’s time to analyse the data, those that see no traffic and no ranks get marked up for deletion (please remember to redirect them once they are removed!). Those that sit somewhere in the middle, perhaps they rank but see poor engagement get marked up for a deeper dive. Finally, those boasting great traffic, engagement, conversions and ranks are keepers!

Renton Fenley

CEO at The Broke Backpacker

Considering your Audience is one of the most important parts of putting together your content plan. You can create the best content in the world – but if its not resonate with the audience you need it to, then it will still be unsuccessful.

There are many things to consider in how you build your customer profile, and while it is important to consider the age and natural markers to start building that picture, it will be really vital to look at the actions and activities of the consumers such as what social media they are most likely to use, would they prefer a serious or more casual tone, how do they spend their time and money personally?

It is these features that can really help you to decide the best way to approach your customer, rather than just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Dustin Ray

CEO & Chief Growth Officer at Incfile

Having your goal in mind will be the first step you need to take when creating a content strategy. Failing to have a discussion and make a plan for this can lead your content to become sporadic, unfocused and reactive.

When making a goal consider the following questions:

1. What are we trying to achieve? (eg. Sales/Interaction/Growth)
2. What audience are we trying to reach and where are we most likely to find them?
3. What tools are within our means to achieve this already, and what new tools might be worth considering? (for example, creating a TikTok account to reach a younger audience)

Understanding these 3 things can implement them as a core consideration when planning out your content, meaning that you will be approaching your strategy with focus and a constant thread running through it that connects everything together.

Kathy Bennett

CEO & founder of Bennett Packaging

The content-marketing strategy should be developed in a way where a company can maintain its omnichannel presence by repurposing the content to publish on a different platform. For instance, I’ve seen many bloggers who are making a PPT blog outline for their blog-post is and then using that PPT to make an Instagram carousel post that contains the main points & keywords for their blog post. The viewers that are enticed by that short post are then redirected to their blog post and thus get inside the omnichannel loop.

Business owners and marketing teams should be focusing on repurposing content from their old-blog libraries when they are short of content ideas for other social media platforms. By this method, you’re using your own past creations to attract new audiences through different platforms.

Mike Walsh

CEO at CloudMyBiz

One thing that will be important is brainstorming. It may sound simple enough, but when you entering a new quarter, or planning for a specific project, spending time at the beginning to discuss what content you should be creating can really help all of the creative ideas come out in a less panicked approach, and having (for example) ten chosen pieces of content you want to create during that time can give you a much longer lead on for making sure that everything is done on time and that you aren’t coming up with last minute ideas.

This can cover blog topics, but also conversations you want to start on social media avenues, looking at interesting ways to build a conversation with your audience.

Ana Codallo

Community Manager

Gone are the days when you get suggestions of posting just a 500-word blog and expect your content to flourish. People are actually in search of quality content, instead of those bogus content posts you plan to put. Your topic holds the literal direction of success, whether your audience will find it interesting yet useful or not. Have a few searches and get through what your competitors are doing, so that you deploy many efforts just to outweigh them.

Besides, lurk around a few podcasts, it’s the new trend for grabbing content. Take unique ideas and spread them as much as you can. Well, talking about podcasts invest your precious time into owning them. In nutshell, you just need to have a great topic, and further use keywords and SEO optimization to increase traffic.

For instance, instead of going in for short ones, you can definitely plan on having those long topic guides. Pick a niche you’re an expert in, and start jotting your words of wisdom in a guide form. A complete information centre often attracts people, since they won’t really have to navigate toward different links thereon.

Besides, by doing so you can also score essential backlinks to have your content seen! The frequency of posting must be consistent, however, posting for just the sake of doing it doesn’t really fulfil your goals. Thereby, weight quality above quantity, and that’s the ultimate key!

David Lewis

Owner, Monegenix

Selecting and sticking to a Brand voice and tone is essential for businesses today to separate themselves from all the other mediocre businesses out there. Your content marketing strategy should show your personality which can only be achieved from a set voice and tone of your brand. Because not many readers would be sticking to reading/viewing/listening to generic content that is already available on the Internet.

With your Brand’s adjusted Tone and voice, your audience would be more eager to listen to your side of things. And, many reputable brands have retained a loyal audience because of their unique voice in their content which made people like their perspective over a general topic in their respective industry.

Voice and tone you display from your content-marketing always give your company an identity that helps interested viewers to remember your brand. And, be sure to always stay loyal to the tone you’ve used since the beginning.

The best content-marketing advice I can give is to ensure that every communication channel and social media platform is maintaining the same perspective of the company. As you don’t want your statements to contradict over different platforms!

Julius Cermak

Founder of Deer Antler Velvet

One of the most important functions of a marketing strategy, is that it helps you to understand more about your business, and your brand. When creating your strategy, it’s important to develop a good understanding of your brand’s particular purpose, principles, and ideals. This can then be used to inform your brand story.

Your brand story is a valuable part of your marketing strategy. It is often overlooked, but it supports you in building an image which is cohesive and ensures that your content is consistent across platforms. This encourages consumer trust and helps to establish a positive reputation. It also ensures that all decisions are made in a way which reflects your company’s core values and avoids contradictory or confusing content choices.

Your brand story can also assist you in determining your Unique Selling Point (USP) and help you to stand out from competitors. This can also be an opportunity to invite your consumers to contribute to your brand story, and to experience its evolution as your business grows, inspiring emotion, connection, and brand loyalty.

Having a thorough understanding of your story, mission, and goals will enable you to make effective marketing decisions which align with your purpose.

Dexter Moscow

Managing Director – Dexter Moscow

There are 4 key elements to compelling content marketing.

1. To understand what the problems your clients, customers and prospects are suffering. The key is to link to a universal truth. People buy EMOTIONALLY AND DECIDE LOGICALLY
2. Relevant and concise storytelling. In essence, they are short-form case studies identifying INCIDENT – ACTION – BENEFIT My Mantra is  – Don’t tell me what you do – Tell me what you have done for others.
3. BRANDING – All the material that you put out regardless of the social networking platform must have congruency of style, typeface, colours, and logo.
4. PROFILE – Effective content marketing should have a mix of written material, video (with subtitles) and in terms of LinkedIn newsletters.

Alex Mastin

CEO & Founder of Home Grounds

Your marketing strategy should facilitate a focus on high quality content. There is no point in attracting users to your site if they are going to be disappointed when they get there. It’s essential to craft content which is useful, practical, and relevant to your consumer. Carefully consider your buyer persona, and work to ensure that your content is meeting their particular needs, wants, and aspirations.

Think also about things they may not realize they require, and how you can offer solutions which will give you an advantage over competitors. This will help to build your brand, improve your reputation, and, most importantly, increase customer satisfaction. Producing high quality content will also help you avoid any penalties which might impact SEO rankings.

Used effectively, your content marketing strategy can help to inform your content creation and provide you with the insights and information needed to produce the best results. It will help you to gain a deeper understanding of your audience so that you can create content which is suited to their specific requirements. Happier customers mean higher conversion rates.

Mario Cacciottolo

PR & Branding Manager at SBO

Don’t be daunted by SEO. When you’re starting out, it can seem like a complex and overwhelming world. Backlinks, rankings, keywords, metrics, the terminology is extensive, and the concept can be confusing. However, if you really want to grow your business, you need to get confident with your SEO strategy and learn to use it to your advantage.

Building a good SEO ranking will ensure that your content is easily discoverable by users. It can be tempting to accelerate the process, a so-called ‘Black Hat’ approach, which involves duplicating content, linking to non-relevant sites, and using invisible text and stuffed keywords. While this may provide short-term success, it’s not recommended, and in fact, will result in penalties.

Instead, focus on creating quality content, which is well-researched, relevant, and relatable to your target audience. That way, when they do access your site, they will be more likely to engage, appreciate, and enjoy their experience, and conversion rates will increase. Successfully incorporating SEO into your marketing strategy will inform, improve, and enhance the buyer’s journey, and give you the edge over competitors.

Rebekah Billingsley

Managing Director, Gfinity Digital Media

A good content strategy starts with the data but journeys deeply into insight. A great content strategy will define the consumer, identify brand permissions within a cultural need, define a clear range of themes and topics, develop a tone of voice and provide a central point between customer, commerce and content. A glorious content strategy will provide an editorial position bang in the middle of what a brand wants to say and what an audience wants to hear. At the heart of a content strategy is an editor.

Brett Downes

Founder, Haro Helpers

If you develop a content strategy for everybody, then you’ll reach nobody.

I see content as germination, it goes from a seed and the content expands and develops as your site grows into a grand old oak tree.

Zeroing in on your target market, what are their initial needs and wants and then generate content that mirrors exactly what they are looking for. As your product/service develops so will the customers, so grow your content with them.

A medical intern doesn’t perform a heart bypass on their first day, but come their 1st decade they may be a leading cardiologist in the country.

Developing your content and planning in stages will help you adjust to the changing market. Unless you have a seasonal service or product don’t plan more than 3 months ahead, as this keeps you adaptable and ability to tweak your content on a more agile basis.

Whether it’s a trending topic or a gradual rise in popularity you will be able to satisfy both instant demand and build a credible and accurate content foundation for your audience.

Alex Seleska

Director, Dragonfire

Content strategies are about the creation of innovative, engaging content that grabs the attention and encourages sharing.

The best content marketing campaigns get 50-80% of their exposure from shares, not from paid reach. Our approach is to work with our partners and creators to generate this kind of content.

Yumna Ali

Managing director urbancrafts.uk

Content strategy is developed to boast the sales of the product. There are 3 steps which should be followed while planning a content strategy.

1. Recognise the  “Pain and Relief “relationship between your product or service and the end consumer.

What you are offering should be the cure or relief to the end consumer’s pain.

1. Once you get this cord of “Pain and Relief ” relationship now it’s time to create a perfect hook to grab the attention of the end consumer and the buyer. Hook should be interesting, and engaging. Like it could be a hook for an Optical shop or Optometrist  “” Don’t show angry eyes to the wife, show them to us,,, instead””. Here in a funny way attention of the consumer is attained instead of putting it in a monotonous or boring way.
2. Once you are confident that you have a solution for your target audience,,and you have managed to grab the attention of customers by perfect Hook line, now its time to explain the features of the product or service in ” Simple Language “that could be understood easily by the customer or the consumer both. They get completely aware of the benefits and features of the product or service prior to buying. Simplicity here is the key , avoid complexity.  The more simple and smart you are in your explanation the more success you can gather.

One more piece of advice , be “Truthful” to the customer while describing the product, as a truthful relationship goes a long way.

Matt Baldwin

Managing Director, Coast Communications

Always start with your audience. Ask who you are writing for.

Next, ask what are you trying to achieve. What is the goal behind your content marketing programme? One designed to drive sales will look very different from one designed to raise awareness.

Consider duration. Content programmes work best over a prolonged period of time. How will you sustain that?

Ideas are the fuel for your content programme. Use creative workshops to find content themes.

Use a professional writer.

Consider channels. Video, audio or the written word? Your target audience is your guide.

Keep it brief. We are all busy people, targeted everywhere we turn. Your audience will welcome brevity.

Doga Ilter

Director & Marketing Consultant at RETLI GROUP

To develop a successful content marketing strategy, it is crucial to understand your target audience and develop a persona. Having a well-defined persona will guide your content strategy, while helping you to create the right marketing messages and choose effective channels.

Natasha Vickery-Orme

Content Manager, Inbox Insight

The best way to develop a good content strategy is to first think about who you’re writing for. Without understanding your audience, you can’t reach them with the right topics. For our Insights for Professionals platform, we have an audience-first approach. Before creating any content, we spend time getting to know our audience, what their key pain points are and what their biggest challenges are. By understanding their needs, we’re better able to create content that will help to solve these challenges and provide tangible, usable assets.

Aimee Treasure

Templeton & Partners

• Communicate with your customers to find out what content would actually interest and help them – speak regularly with sales teams to understand direct client feedback and challenges, conduct polls and ask questions across the channels they frequent, and survey existing clients and target audience groups
• Map content to customer needs, interests and pain points at each stage of the buyer’s journey/funnel
• Don’t just parrot what everyone else is saying – what can you actually say on a topic that’s new, that provides real value and a new perspective on a challenge to really help your customer group?
• Create content in different formats – blogs, reports, diagrams, infographics, videos, short GIFs, podcasts – to engage customer groups across different channels according to the ways they prefer to engage
• Continually review your content – which does well and why? What can you leverage from the most engaging content to continually improve future content?

Charles McLachlan

Founder FuturePerfect

We are a business providing knowledge, insight and wisdom for CEOs and senior executives to build the future that will ‘Make your future work’.

We have decided that the primary channel for content should be LinkedIn personal accounts as we have a set of business-to-business service offers targeting the engagement of senior leaders. These channels are supported by LinkedIn company pages and other social media platforms such as Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

However, all longer-form content is posted on our product-specific websites to provide an archive of valuable evergreen content.

Our approach is to provide a full set of free resources so that potential customers can ‘do it yourself but will recognise that our ‘do it with you and ‘do it for you’ services increase impact and success.

John Russell

EMEA Managing Director Staffing Future LLP

Do your Keyword research – Sufficient volume, low competition, high relevancy, high cost per click

Here are a few things you have to master:

• Strong execution & show personality
• Think about your channels and imagery/infographics
• On-site discipline and consistency – interlinking
• Distribution and visibility
• Deep dive into your analytics
• Original and interesting content – which is updated
• Relevant high authority backlinks/shares

Raelyn Tan

Founder

The 2 most important things to take into consideration are quality and consistency.

Firstly, the content you produce should be of the highest quality. There is so much content being published on the internet every single day that it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. Taking the time and effort to create your best work is important instead of just pushing something random out. This creates trust and builds up your credibility.

Secondly, it is important to be consistent. Choose a frequency (of content publishing) that you are comfortable with. For instance, if you can only commit to once a week of content, then do just that. It is essential to ensure that your content strategy is realistic. It has to be something that you can follow for years to come.

Ekta Swarnkar

SEO copywriter and Founder of Tia Says

Creating a content strategy is absolutely important to launch a successful business. I wish someone would have told me this.

A content strategy keeps your business targeted at the audience you want to speak to. Creating a content strategy is also simple.My best tip is to start with creating topic clusters. Never heard of them before? Let me tell you what a topic cluster is.A topic cluster is a group of blog posts that talk about one particular topic in detail. It has one parent topic and a bunch of sub topics also called child topics.

For example, SEO can be your parent topic. And keyword research, audience research, internal linking, link building, on-page, off-page and more are your child’s topics.

Do you know topic clusters help you rank for difficult keywords? Yes, Here’s how to do it in your niche.

Paul Walker

Paul Walker

In terms of content strategies, we do something which sounds completely crazy but works extremely well.  The idea is to create 50 pieces of content on a single day.  We have a methodology which is designed to bring out the best in the person creating the content and happy to share this on The Expert Panel.  This may sound impossible but we do it for our customers all the time and if you would like to have a look, one of our customers talks about how we do this on the first page of our website.

Just go to the website and click on the video saying ‘you did the impossible.’

https://www.fnxmedia.com/

This particular customer is B2C although our speciality is to do this within B2B.  The craziest thing is this customer says that she learned more about her own business while creating these 50 pieces of content.  And incidentally, she worked for NASA, there is a Channel 4 program about her, she has set up a load of clinics in the NHS (she is healthcare) and is a world-class, thought leader in her field.

Simon Baker

Managing Director

To understand how to build a content strategy it’s important to look at the influence of wider culture and how your brand fits in. But rather than ask ‘what’ changes culture, it can be more effective to look at ‘who’.

The change-makers, taste-makers, mavericks and renegades who challenge the status quo, that’s who.

Every culture-shaping product follows a set of characters who, in their interactions with wider communities, have captured some kind of zeitgeist and created something new: a new way of speaking, of behaving, of expressing themselves. Brands then follow: think of Nike Airforce One, the iPhone and TESLA; they all followed actual people who captured a zeitgeist and leveraged technology as catalysts for cultural change.

In other words, people – and the norms and customs and ideas they develop — exist when there is no actual product involved. People and their ideas come first. Always.

Often when someone is disruptive, people turn to look, and this attention can create a small movement of people, ideas or ideals; a small wave. Just as a maverick disrupts and gains attention, so too do emerging sub-cultures. Initially led by a small group of individuals, subcultures are interesting, different and refreshing. In their originality, they are inherently creative, bold and risk-taking

Depending on the impact, benefit and timing of this new movement, wider culture may start to adopt some of its elements. This adds and shapes culture while adding fire to the sub-culture until it becomes absorbed and appropriated by the mainstream. We’ve seen this countless times as disruptive technology, sport or politics becomes the norm.

To me, this is emblematic of the transition of followers being ‘core’ to a movement moving to those who are following the ‘lifestyle’ of that movement. Core has credibility that can only be earned through exclusivity and via a highly influential group of people. As that area of culture is adopted by the mainstream, the core becomes a lifestyle.

Continue Reading Baker’s How to Develop a Content Strategy: Look at the influence of wider culture and how your brand fits in

Benj Arriola

Senior SEO Director, ForwardPMX/Assembly

I generally separate my content into 2 main categories. Content for:

1. Products/Services
2. Content Marketing

Content for products and services highlight all the information a website visitor needs to know about a product or service. This may be across a few pages or thousands of pages or more, depending on the nature of the product or service. The content here helps the potential customer make the buying decision. The content should help influence or compel them to buy.

But when we talk about content for products and services for sites with 100k to millions of pages, some type of algorithmic optimization should also be implemented, which this is dependent on the richness of the structured data on every page that can help formulate rules for the default values of various page elements, such as the title tag, meta description, image alt text, headings etc.

While content used for content marketing purposes, even if they may also help convert into a sale of a product or service, another use of the content in content marketing is to also improve popularity of the webpage. Content marketing pages are often featured in a blog, but they may also be in other forms such as FAQs, knowledge base, forums, how-to guides, and more. Content will not always be only text, but can also be in various forms, such as images, videos, interactive pages like quizzes, games, surveys, downloadable pdfs, software, tools, etc. The content here intents to be more engaging, and promotes to get the content shared in social media to increase visibility. Topics here stretch the relevance of simply selling a product or service. It can talk about the application of it, or tips and tricks, other use cases, events, or things that are just interesting, informative or even inspiring. As more people see this content, it helps improve brand visibility, thus improving brand recall which helps general demand. And as an after effect also, more potential natural links going to these useful pages, which also help out in SEO ranking.

Sean Walker

Director, Niro RS

Content creation in today’s business world is everything, especially when it comes to attracting new logo customers.

I’ve personally found that video content designed with the customers needs in mind, solving business issues in a clear and pragmatic fashion via the likes of business led social networks IE LinkedIn is paramount to success here.

Twitter & YouTube are also good outlets for video content, alongside the more fresh approaches that can be made via Instagram & TikTok, entirely dependent on your target market/customer demographics.

In summary when creating content – think from your ideal clients “needs & wants” and strategise your content to create a clear interest in your services to prospective buyers. This applies to video, imaging, blogging and all other content entities.

Clement Lim

B2B Copywriter and Content Strategist

The foundation of any successful content marketing strategy depends on three steps:

1. Define the target audience or audiences for your content. If you have more than one type of customer, you will have more than one target audience. Decide which content type and channel will be most effective for delivering your content to each audience.
2. Work out what problem you will be solving for your audience. Your content should be able to engage both people who know what their problem is and those who are still figuring out what their main challenges are.
3. Identify what makes you unique in solving your audience’s problem. Your audience needs to know why they should choose you over your competitors.  When you have pinpointed your unique quality this needs to be a core message in your content.

Lindsay Sutherland

LS Enterprises LLC – Owner

My Content Effect Method teaches business owners how to scale their business by using a layered strategy that incorporates short-form content and long-form content so they can leverage a strategy that has lasting effects so they can stop spending money on quick fixes rather than long-lasting solutions.

Debbie Roy

Organic Social Media Strategist

I like to approach content strategy differently based on who I am working with. Still, one thing that always remains the same is ensuring that we are clear on the problem we are solving or the benefit the audience will gain from engaging with the content.

Get clear on who your ideal client is; some businesses go into it thinking that if they advertise, they will reach their ideal clients anyway, but you’ll make your life a lot harder and waste money if you don’t define your ideal clients. Things can vary significantly from one generation to another, and the same goes for other market segments.

When it comes to content creation, I always recommend leaving room for flexibility and trying to be one step ahead. Visit Reddit, Quora, and answerthepublic.com to see the types of questions asked regarding the industry or niche that you are working with. Take those questions and questions you may receive on social media to create helpful content.

In terms of the type of content, if you’re new to the online world, test the waters with various formats, videos, carousels, reels, live videos, graphics, and GIFs. Make it a point to regularly spend time with your analytics so that you can refine and define the best type of content for your audience. Really nailing down who your ideal client is will also play a big role in you knowing the type of content that will work best for your audience.

David White

CEO Weboptimiser

First focus on a topic related to your business where you know people are interested. Verify the level of interest by undertaking keyword analysis on Amazon and Google. Time taken to research keywords is time well spent as this will verify you are targeting a significant audience. If you want to target a very small number of people target them individually.

Secondly, write out key information your audience must know in order to succeed or protect themselves in your chosen topic area to set yourself up as an expert. Work out a step-by-step guide, a calculator, or system and make an offer to send it to them, or tell them where they can get it from. As the mafia might say, make an offer they can’t refuse!

Then give it to them, although they have to request it, as increasingly you cannot give information and track them anymore as you could, due to privacy changes.

When you start you may find this difficult to do, but after a while, you will find there are lots of options available to you. Most of them are low-cost and free. I have outlined some of them in my new book: How to Start A Business Without Any Money. Get your copy from Amazon.

Martin cox

Strategic Development and PR Director – Copestone Marketing

Data and Insight are your best friends when it comes to developing a content strategy.

Tools such as SEMrush or Ubersuggest allow agencies to understand the relevant terms being searched-for, and the frequency (and potential value) of those terms.

Armed with this quantitative data, we look to create a qualitative understanding so the data then speaks more than numbers to us – this analysis adds significant depth to the process and allows us to hone in on key terms and understand the rationale behind those searches.

Once we have both terms and an understanding of the why of those searches, and only then, we can start to craft a content strategy that is answering those questions, and solving problems for our potential customers.

And the how? A multi-layered approach of blogging, social media, PR, Video, and even memes – all helping our customer to solve their challenges.

Solve their problems, add value, win trust.

For this Expert Panel, we decided to reach out to Coaching and Mentoring professionals to get their advice on why companies and individuals should consider using coaching and mentoring.

Coaching and mentoring are effective approaches to developing employees or a great journey towards personal and professional development. Both have grown in popularity, with many employers and individuals using them to enhance their people’s skills, knowledge, and performance around specific skills and goals.

Coaching and mentoring are development approaches based on the use of one-to-one conversations to enhance an individual’s skills, knowledge or work performance.

Please enjoy or collection of experiences and examples of the benefits of mentoring and coaching for employees and individuals so many great professionals shared in this panel:

Brooke Dryland

Director, Workforce & People Capability

Coaching is an empowering and accountability-based process which supports an individual to shine a light on untapped potential. Whereas Mentoring offers the tools and experience within a specific field or area of expertise. Coaching and mentoring can be used in tandem and can be a powerful force in improving personal insight and  performance. 

Steve Preston

MD, SMP Solutions (Career & People Development) Ltd

Coaching And Mentoring

Coaching and mentoring are processes that enable both private individuals, also managers and leaders within companies and organisations to achieve their full potential. Although similar, there are fundamental differences and views vary widely as to their exact nature. The following definitions have served me over the years to help people understand and embrace coaching and mentoring.

What is mentoring?

• Derived from Greek mythology – Odysseus, King of Ithaca, went to fight the Trojan War and entrusted his son Telemachus to the care and direction of his entrusted friend, Mentor
•  ‘Mentor’ is now synonymous with trusted adviser, friend, teacher, wise person
•  Oxford dictionary definition ‘experienced and trusted adviser’

How does mentoring work?

Mentoring enables an individual (mentee) to work with and follow in the path of an ‘older and wiser’ colleague who is the Confidante, Teacher, Role Model, Adviser, Friend, Helper who can pass on knowledge, experience, and open doors to otherwise out of reach opportunities. I was Mentor to several people in my management career and you may also have mentored various subordinates to help them develop their careers. Or you may have developed an area of specialism which you could demonstrate as an expert and mentor newcomers.

External mentors are only different in the fact that they are independent of the organisation; therefore, have no line responsibility for the ‘mentee’. External mentors are being heavily used in different ways to support businesses e.g.:

•   Business start-up
•   Business growth
•   Young entrepreneurs
•   Specific individual progression within organisations (especially senior executives) where they do not have the internal resource

What is Coaching?

Coaching gained massively in popularity in the nineties and into the new millennium, as individuals and businesses started to realise the transformational value that the coaching approach can bring. This is especially true at key times of change to enable people or businesses to move from where they are now to where they want to be. This is what excites me about coaching. There are a million and one definitions of coaching, here is mine:

“Coaching is facilitating the process of unlocking potential to achieve specific personal or business goals.”

There are many more complex definitions. However, this works for me as it is simple and I hope you agree, self-explanatory.

Essentially, Coaching is a form of personal development. It is the process by which individuals are enabled, through questioning and discussion to achieve specific goals, e.g. to change careers, to solve problems. Or they may wish to transfer their learning to the workplace, in order to improve their personal performance, gain insights about themselves, their capabilities and potential.

How does coaching work?

•   Developing an individual’s performance by unlocking their capabilities through guided questioning, the use of coaching tools and conversation
•   Supporting the coachee as a facilitator, helping to raise their awareness through analysis and reflection
•   Facilitating the coachee to arrive at their own ideas and solutions
•   A good coach should be able to develop a powerful relationship with the coachee based on honest and non-judgmental dialogue
•   Challenging perceptions and behaviour in a way that will enable the coachee to make significant transformations or performance improvements
•   Because coaching involves the participation of the coachee to find their own solutions and agree the actions they will take, it drives deeper and more lasting behavioural change than other forms of training

In general, although there will be exceptions, coaching should not be directional, as the coach does not provide answers to specific problems. Instead, they will facilitate the process of self-resolution through specific questioning. Therefore, the coach does not need to be an expert in the specific area requiring development but highly skilled in questioning and active listening. However, there inevitably comes a point in the coaching relationship when the coachee will ask the coach for very specific advice or recommendations.

There are numerous forms of speciality or niche coaching. To help me get my first book project off the ground, I worked with a ‘writer’s coach’. They were recommended to me as someone who could help me put structure around my book idea and turn it into reality.

Although I had written dozens of articles, writing a book is a different ball game. I would not have engaged my Coach if I did not know she was a specialist in her field, as I had many questions and much to learn!

Sports coaching tends to be much more directional, although a good coach will often question the coachee about why something is either working well or not, before giving their view. This is a much more powerful approach, as the coachee will often give reasons and thoughts that the coach may not have considered. The coach might only be looking at things from a technical perspective, rather than physical or psychological.

Other examples of coaching:

•   Life Coaching
•   Executive Coaching
•   Performance Coaching
•   Corporate/Business Coaching
•   Small Business Coaching
•   Group/Team Coaching
•   Relationship Coaching
•   Parent Coaching
•   Retirement Coaching
•   Youth Coaching

Sten Andre Rigedahl

Strategic Vision:

One of the key benefits of coaching and mentoring is that it helps you get where you want to go.

It also helps you by guiding, challenging and supporting you along the way as well as keeping you accountable to take action.

Salvatore Fernandez

Antal International

Coaching and mentoring?

Coaching is sharing knowledge, and knowledge is power to enhance one life in every aspect?

Mentoring is giving to someone else. What someone else has given to you makes life more rewarding?”

Monika McDermott 

Head of People, Talent & Culture

Although viewed as completely different fields; coaching and mentoring are both are geared towards helping people realise their potential, reach goals and lead a better quality lifestyle.

Despite coaching and mentoring use the same skills and approach, coaching tends to be short-term and task-based, whereas mentoring involves a longer-term relationship.

The difference can be summarised as follows:

 “A coach has some great questions for your answers; a mentor has some great answers for your questions.”

Successful companies – large and small – use coaching and mentoring to tackle complex human resource challenges, such as increasing employee retention, enabling company succession plans, and improving workforce productivity. By encouraging a learning culture, companies ensure that employees take an active role in spreading knowledge and best practices throughout their organisation. It also helps to create an environment of trust, belonging, understanding, support, and encouragement for a diverse workforce. It gives employees an opportunity to voice their concerns, overcome hurdles, and find solutions. As a result, it inspires employees to perform to their highest ability

Francesca Aaen

Leadership and Executive Coach, Ascenso Coaching

For my clients, coaching gives them a safe and unbiased space to work through ideas and challenges from both inside and out of the workplace. My coaching supports them to become more self-aware, more focused and to develop their emotional intelligence.

Using powerful questions, I challenge my clients to think more deeply, be honest about their aspirations, their needs and what they really want, and to explore ideas they hadn’t considered before, allowing them to find a way forward that they are invested in and that they are motivated to pursue.

And, as a coach, the coaching process is hugely satisfying as I watch my clients have those lightbulb moments and really begin to thrive and take ownership of creating success on their terms.

Elizabeth Houghton

Career Transition Coach

So many benefits come from working with a Coach and/ or mentor.

It is important to acknowledge the difference between a coach and a mentor.

A mentor is generally someone in your dream position, someone that has have particle experience at achieving what you want to achieve.  Where a coach is an expert at helping you uncover yourself, and empowering you to listen to yourself and make the right decisions for yourself.

A mentor may tell do you want to do, whereas a coach will help guide you to figure out the best approach for you.

The main benefits of working with a career coach are:

•   Help you unearth what you want from your career
•   Help you understand what will bring you fulfilment at work
•   Helping identifying the right role and employer profile that you will thrive in
•   Helping you become clear and focused about what next in your career
•   Providing an external perspective on you and your situation
•   Help with implementing a successful job search strategy

Find your Clarity

Empower your Mindset

Build your Strategy

Live with Passion

Sylvana Caloni

Founder, SC Executive Coaching

A coaching partnership is designed to provide the coachee with insights, new perspectives and practices that he or she could not achieve alone. We are all capable of pausing and self-reflection. For example, some of us practice daily journalling, mindfulness and meditation. These are very helpful.  And partnering with a coach supercharges our self-discovery process. This improves our leadership competencies and ability to engage with colleagues who have different world views and interpret things differently from us.

By asking perceptive questions a coach assists us to illuminate our blind spots, our habitual behaviours and assumptions. And as we have learned through neuroscience, when we have an insight, rather than being told what to do or receiving advice, we own that information and are more likely to sustain the new understanding, attitude, belief or behaviour to change how we respond to challenges.

As the coachee articulates his or her issue, the coach observes and listens deeply, without judgement or a predetermined solution. The coach mirrors what he or she has seen, heard or felt to the coachee.

In my case I have experienced the benefits of coaching both as a coachee – when I was an Executive Vice President in a global financial services company – and as a coach. As a coachee I learned how to supplement my abilities to support and encourage my reports with being more assertive and setting boundaries. As leaders we not only need to nurture, we also need to make hard decisions and set standards.

My coaching clients have often reached their leadership roles due to their expertise and knowledge. The negative consequences of this is that they can find it hard to delegate, to listen to alternative perspectives, to ask for help and to cope with the unknown. They have built their reputations on ‘knowing it all’ and ‘having all the answers’. Leading in times of complexity and with teams of diverse communication and working styles, my clients have learned that they can no longer operate from the view ‘it’s my way or the highway’.

By uncovering their default habits and practising different ways of engaging with their colleagues, calibrating what works and doesn’t work and embedding their learning, they have increased their trust in, and between, their colleagues. My clients are more able to facilitate open discussions where challenge and alternative interpretations are welcomed. They have become more aware of what motivates or impedes their team members and they have become more flexible leaders. As a result employee engagement and business performance have improved.

While mentoring shares aspects of one-to-one coaching conversations, the fundamental difference is that a mentor offers advice, suggestions and perspectives from his or her own experiences. The mentor has usually achieved what the mentee is trying to accomplish. The mentor can point the mentee in the right direction and encourage the mentee to take on roles or initiatives, that he or she may not have considered possible.

I have had mentors who helped me by outlining the procedures necessary to address bullying in the workplace, or who have encouraged me to put myself forward for leadership roles. And as a mentor I particularly appreciate the reciprocal nature of the relationship. My mentees are usually much younger than me. They keep me in touch with trends and perspectives that I am not aware of or familiar with. And I encourage them to put themselves forward for awards, connect them to experts within my network and point out the pros and cons of how I tackled issues in my professional or personal life.

Alan Aldridge

Catalyst Coaching and Mentoring

Always doing your best and being effective in a senior position can be tough and challenging, right? Pressures from targets and the demands of your boss combine with frequent team and people challenges can leave you wondering how well you’re really performing.

A combination of Coaching and Mentoring will take you closer to being ‘the best you can be’ and delivering the best you can for your organisation. This is quite often a combination of helping clarify and then deliver against your aspirations, and/or understand and resolve the barriers, challenges and issues you’re facing.

It’s important to distinguish between Mentoring and Coaching. A mentor will give you insightful answers to your questions whereas a coach will give you insightful questions for your answers, and whilst this combination isn’t magic, it can be truly magical in terms of its impact!

The demonstrable benefits are clear. The Association of Talent Development estimates the return on investment the coaching to be 900%. Our own research has shown, of our clients surveyed:

  100% saw a definite improvement in business performance

  72% said most or every session produced powerful insights and new ideas

  86% said it was hugely insightful and influential in resolving complex business problems

  85% left almost every session feeling inspired and motivated

  86% recognised a broad improvement in personal performance

  71% exceeded their initial expectations of coaching (with <strong>100%</strong> met or exceeded)

Erwin Wils

Mindset and business strategist at Millionaire Life Strategy

For me, coaching and mentoring is the shortcut to success. You can try it all on your own, or have guidance from a coach or mentor. I would like to emphasize the difference between the roles of a coach and mentor: a mentor is a person with experience in the your line of business that can offer his/her knowledge, experience and for instance, help you prevent making the mistakes they made in the past. A coach is someone that gets the best out of their clients in the field they have experience in.

As an example, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all have coaches. Most of their coaches are former tennis players, but none of them have reached the same level as their coachees. On the other hand, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and André Agassi would have been mentors as former champions.

Following on that, in sports it is the most normal thing of the world to have a coach. Why should it be different in other areas of our lives? We don’t see our own blind spots, we need another person to makes us aware of those. That’s where coaches and mentors are for. They can advise us, guide us, keep us accountable and make sure we get the best out of us.

Even the best coaches of the world have their own coaches, just because of that.

Lorne Lee

Managing Director, Mind Recruitment

What are the benefits of coaching and mentoring? I have run many companies over a number of decades all over the world and one key element which is overlooked when developing staff is the huge amount of personal satisfaction it gives you to see someone you have mentored and coached over a number of years start to come of age and become a better person, better employee and usually become a mentor themselves and give something back.

Hope that helps and please reach out if you need any more insights in the future.

Joao Bocas

CEO at Digital Salutem

The Benefits of coaching and mentoring are :

•   Achieving goals faster
•   Avoid costly mistakes
•   Stay Focus
•   Speed up processes
•   Accountability
•   Increase Performance
•   Make faster Decisions
•   Gain Confidence

James Peters

James Peters Lifestyle

What are the benefits of hiring me as a transformational mindset coach?

•   You will start taking more effective and focused actions immediately.
•   You will shift childhood frustrations.
•   You will learn to let go of disempowering emotions and become trigger.
•   You will create momentum so it’s easier to get results.
•   You’ll set better goals that are based on what you really want.
•   You’ll have more time and energy.

David White

CEO

Coaching and mentoring provide confidence and support to ensure you stay ahead. A big benefit is to hear a new perspective. Like getting to the top of a hill, you reach for a set of binoculars, you can see further. Just articulating a view can lead to additional intelligence being developed. With the support of a mentor, your pace of achievement is likely to dramatically quicken.

Chris Leach

Founder, Bramley Advisors

The best executive & career coaches help clients to unlock fresh thinking and perspective in order to articulate, plan for & achieve goals and/or to overcome obstacles that for whatever reason appear to be inhibiting their progress. The most successful coaching engagements and outcomes occur when client’s goals are clear and there is need to address them in the immediate term. 

Great coaches are very attentive listeners and seasoned observers of verbal and non-verbal communication. They ask thoughtful questions and encourage clients to stretch beyond the obvious into new frontiers of possibility.

The best coaches don’t waste time, they inspire a deep level of trust quickly with their clients based on their unique style, coaching competence & experience and in demonstrating that they have their clients’ best interests at heart and an obvious willingness to journey with them. When these elements are present great things can happen and light bulbs of enlightenment begin pop.

One of the most important success factors in my coaching is to meet clients where they are and apply an eclectic mix of techniques to help clients to frame their real ambitions, asking open-ended & thought-provoking questions such as ‘What situations have brought out the best in you  and what skills/characteristics did you demonstrate?’ or conversely ‘What situations bring out the the worst in you and what effect might this have on others?’. These refer to behavioural triggers, which can be both positive and negative and can be managed through awareness and coaching to great effect, especially in aspiring leaders.

Once trust is established, most clients love to talk about themselves, especially to an actively engaged coaching audience especially what motivates them and what challenges they face. 

Great coaches encourage and challenge clients to find & utilise their inner strength, to embrace the choices they are empowered to make, to imagine the possibilities, to assess ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ and to ponder taking appropriate, calculated risk. The simple act of verbalising such thoughts & feelings can create substantive breakthroughs. 

I love my work and get a real buzz from working with smart leaders executives who want to become more self-aware and ultimately a better version of themselves, both in business and in their personal lives. Life is too short and time too precious to mess around. I’m passionate about helping clients to leverage their time, money and effort in an engaging and enjoyable way such that the payback is a no-brainer. The coaching outcomes can be truly spectacular & liberating if the stars align and the client owns them all personally. Seeing these emerge from the deep recesses of a client’s mind  also brings me immense satisfaction.”

Simon Foister

Speaker and Coach

I believe that coaching and mentoring are paramount for any business today, whether that be large corporations or single owner operators. I actually work with coaching and mentoring in different ways. From a coaching point of view, I believe that the best way for a person to really progress is by finding the answers themselves. As a coach I try to ask deep questions to really make the individual search for the answer. And by finding the answer themselves, they ultimately buy in to what needs to happen next more, therein more action happens. I believe that once a person takes ownership of their own ideas things can really blossom. From a mentoring point of view I generally work as more of a consultant, guiding the individual using whatever experience I have to assist. Using my own opinion is something that I will do quite often when mentoring, but with coaching, I don’t believe that I should be voicing my opinion, especially when the purpose of coaching is for the individual to uncover their own solutions. Sometimes, although rarely, I will blend the two, but from my experience, coaching is definitely the more powerful.

Damian Culhane

Chief Dragon Tamer

For many years I have had a coach and many mentors, all of whom have contributed valuable insights and guidance that has supported my own personal growth.

The most powerful enlightening experience was when I worked with my coaches on revealing my unconscious pattern. This was mind blowing. After many years of dysfunctional behaviour I finally began to understand how my unconscious ego works and follow a pattern of sabotage. That is impossible to discover on your own and is very enlightening….

I absolutely love working 1:1 with people on revealing their unconscious patterns of sabotage. This is a privilege and transformational….

The pattern will not reveal itself to you and the ego hides your dysfunction behind a complex mask and identity that is impossible to see by the individual working on their own…”

Dexter Moscow

Managing Director – Audeince Dynamics

For me there are very distinct differences between Mentoring and Coaching although in essence the benefits are the same.

A mentor is an individual who has specific knowledge and experience in a particular business or corporate sector. Where, to use the vernacular, they have been there, done it. got the tee shirt and the scars to prove it.

The example today is that a mentor would have seen the impact of a major downturn and has the practical experience of how to  overcome it. With a younger company or individual many would not have met this kind of challenge before. The Mentor can suggest  a clear pathway and tools to resolve financial as well as operational advice. To analyse with the client working practices and processes, make recommendations on hold people accountable to follow through.

A Coach on the other hand focuses on the individual rather than the company and acts as a non-judgemental soundIng board for their fears and challenges. We know that it’s tough at the top and many executives feel stressed and isolated not having an unbiased ear to talk about their problems and aspirations.Often they fear that if they show vulnerability to their colleagues they will appear weak and indecisive.

In my opinion unlike the coaches of old who would sit with tented fingers asking ‘ what do you think you should do”.  Today a coach can be more directive talking through and offering different scenarios to achieve their clients needs. To ask difficult questions and elicit answers that would offer a different perspective. Confidentiality is paramount, trust is essential and resilience is a key attribute in the face of sometimes heated conversations.

Nick Simmonds

Coach – Dynamic Coaching Ltd

The human brain creates neural networks every time you learn something new. It also widens and strengthens a neural network if you repeat an action or a thought. It takes more brain energy to create a new neural network than reusing one previously created.

The brain’s default choice is to reuse a previous thought using less energy in order to keep energy in store in case it’s needed for some unforeseen threat. This is a result of 99.5% of human existence being as Hunter-Gatherers.

Coaching creates a safe environment where you can access new thoughts, creative ideas, and innovative approaches to the challenges you face. In a world that is changing fast and demanding unique solutions to original opportunities, you need to bring your ‘A’ game in terms of thinking.

The benefits are that you utilise the incredible gift of your brain more effectively than ever before.

Tim Rylatt

Managing Director – UK Growth Coach

There are many benefits to coaching, and what they bring will depend on the recipient as much as the coach.

This is because this type of service adapts to match the needs of the audience and helps individuals to progress and change – whatever their starting point may be.

In my role as a business coach I help business owners through a curated mix of education, support and accountability (together called coaching), and I can help them shift mindset, confidence, behaviour and skill at different times.

The outcome of our work together causes a progression in their business from start up, through functional, into growth, and ultimately to exit ready.

For the clients as individuals, the progression is more personal. I see a shift from stressed, anxious, people who often initially lack confidence in their decisions through to decisive, confident and competent leaders.

This demonstrates my key point which is that as a coach I work with people, and it is the effect of that interaction through adapted attitudes, behaviour and aptitude that makes the difference to the companies.

Coaching is about helping people, and enabling THEM to change their situations.

Raf Uzar

Head of Communication and Development, Penteris

We have got to the point in our corporate environment that those who are not investing in effective coaching practices are simply falling behind. There is no simpler way of putting it: if you’re not coaching, your crawling.

Coaching done well can have a tangible impact on a company’s culture by improving employee satisfaction and engagement, promoting teamwork, and enhancing leadership skills.

The stats speak for themselves.

#1 Leadership Skills

A study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that organisations experienced a 72% improvement in leadership skills. On the other hand, the Human Capital Institute (HCI) showed that 70% of companies with coaching programmes reported improvements in leadership skills, and the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School found that 85% of executives who received coaching reported an increase in their self-awareness.

#2 Improved Relationships with Colleagues

A study by the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School also found that 85% of executives who received coaching reported improved relationships with colleagues. In a survey by Right Management, 83% of organisations reported improved relationships between employees as a result of coaching programmes.

#3 Increased Motivation and Positive Work Environment

The Center for Creative Leadership ran a study which found that organisations experienced a 88% improvement in teamwork and communication whereas the Human Capital Institute (HCI) reported that 61% of organisations saw increased employee engagement as a result of coaching.

#4 Improved Productivity

A report put together by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) demonstrated that 78% of organisations that had coaching programmes reported improved productivity.

#5 Improved Job Satisfaction

The Center for Creative Leadership also found that organisations and companies experienced a 48% improvement in job satisfaction whereas a report published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 76% of organisations using coaching programmes registered improved job satisfaction.

If these five-star improvements were not enough, then it is also worth mentioning that coaching pays for itself in the long run. According to a survey by the International Coach Federation (ICF), 87% of organisations reported a return on investment of 5 to 7 times the initial outlay.

Lauren Reed, editorial services manager at Honolulu, HI-based iQ 360, defines a content strategy as “your business’s approach to creating and distributing content for your target audience.” While a content strategy may be straightforward, it’s easy to get wrong if you don’t prioritise content that’s relevant for the right audience.

It’s also essential that you document a content strategy that focuses on providing value to your audience. “A successful content strategy,” Reed continues, “is one that seeks to understand what your audience wants and needs, and focuses on developing content that is useful, educational, relevant or otherwise valuable to them.”

We prepared this full of insights and great advice Expert Panel to help you make all the right steps when preparing your content marketing strategy!

Ekta Swarnkar

SEO copywriter and Founder of Tia Says

Creating a content strategy is absolutely important to launch a successful business. I wish someone would have told me this.

A content strategy keeps your business targeted at the audience you want to speak to. Creating a content strategy is also simple.

My best tip is to start with creating topic clusters. Ever heard of them before? Let me tell you what a topic cluster is.

A topic cluster is a group of blog posts that talk about one particular topic in detail. It has one parent topic and a bunch of sub-topics also called child topics.

For example, SEO can be your parent topic.

And keyword research, audience research, internal linking, link building, on-page, off-page and more are your child topics.

Do you know topic clusters help you rank for difficult keywords? Yes, Here’s how to do it in your niche.

• Find potential blog content ideas by researching the competition, using Quora, Reddit and more.
• Create a parent topic blog post of 2k to 3k words long. Use your competitive keyword as the target keyword.
• Create child posts of 1k to 1.5k words long and use LSI keywords in these blog posts.
• Interlink them strategically such that they follow a hierarchy.

And this is how you make a topic cluster easily.

Raelyn Tan

Founder

The 2 most important things to take into consideration are quality and consistency.

Firstly, the content you produce should be of the highest quality. There is so much content being published on the internet every single day that it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. Taking the time and effort to create your best work is important instead of just pushing something random out. This creates trust and builds up your credibility.

Secondly, it is important to be consistent. Choose a frequency (of content publishing) that you are comfortable with. For instance, if you can only commit to once a week of content, then do just that. It is essential to ensure that your content strategy is realistic. It has to be something that you can follow for years to come.

John Russell

EMEA Managing Director Staffing Future LLP

Do your Keyword research – Sufficient volume, low competition, high relevancy, high cost per click

Here are a few things you have to master:

• Strong execution & show personality
• Think about your channels and imagery/infographics
• On-site discipline and consistency – interlinking
• Distribution and visibility
• Deep dive into your analytics
• Original and interesting content – which is updated
• Relevant high authority backlinks/shares

Simon Baker

Managing Director

To understand how to build a content strategy it’s important to look at the influence of wider culture and how your brand fits in. But rather than ask ‘what’ changes culture, it can be more effective to look at ‘who’.

The change-makers, taste-makers, mavericks and renegades who challenge the status quo, that’s who.

Every culture-shaping product follows a set of characters who, in their interactions with wider communities, have captured some kind of zeitgeist and created something new: a new way of speaking, of behaving, of expressing themselves. Brands then follow: think of Nike Airforce One, the iPhone and TESLA; they all followed actual people who captured a zeitgeist and leveraged technology as catalysts for cultural change.

In other words, people – and the norms and customs and ideas they develop — exist when there is no actual product involved. People and their ideas come first. Always.

Often when someone is disruptive, people turn to look, and this attention can create a small movement of people, ideas or ideals; a small wave. Just as a maverick disrupts and gains attention, so too do emerging sub-cultures. Initially led by a small group of individuals, subcultures are interesting, different and refreshing. In their originality, they are inherently creative, bold and risk-taking

Depending on the impact, benefit and timing of this new movement, wider culture may start to adopt some of its elements. This adds and shapes culture while adding fire to the sub-culture until it becomes absorbed and appropriated by the mainstream. We’ve seen this countless times as disruptive technology, sport or politics becomes the norm.

To me, this is emblematic of the transition of followers being ‘core’ to a movement moving to those who are following the ‘lifestyle’ of that movement. Core has credibility that can only be earned through exclusivity and via a highly influential group of people. As that area of culture is adopted by the mainstream, the core becomes a lifestyle.

Continue Reading Baker’s How to Develop a Content Strategy: Look at the influence of wider culture and how your brand fits in

Benj Arriola

Senior SEO Director, ForwardPMX/Assembly

I generally separate my content into 2 main categories. Content for:

1. Products/Services
2. Content Marketing

Content for products and services highlight all the information a website visitor needs to know about a product or service. This may be across a few pages or thousands of pages or more, depending on the nature of the product or service. The content here helps the potential customer make the buying decision. The content should help influence or compel them to buy.

But when we talk about content for products and services for sites with 100k to millions of pages, some type of algorithmic optimization should also be implemented, which this is dependent on the richness of the structured data on every page that can help formulate rules for the default values of various page elements, such as the title tag, meta description, image alt text, headings etc.

While content is used for content marketing purposes, even if it may also help convert into a sale of a product or service, another use of the content in content marketing is to also improve the popularity of the webpage. Content marketing pages are often featured in a blog, but they may also be in other forms such as FAQs, knowledge base, forums, how-to guides, and more. Content will not always be only text, but can also be in various forms, such as images, videos, interactive pages like quizzes, games, surveys, downloadable pdfs, software, tools, etc. The content here intends to be more engaging and promotes to get the content shared in social media to increase visibility. Topics here stretch the relevance of simply selling a product or service. It can talk about the application of it, or tips and tricks, other use cases, events, or things that are just interesting, informative or even inspiring. As more people see this content, it helps improve brand visibility, thus improving brand recall which helps general demand. And as an effect also, more potential natural links go to these useful pages, which also help out in SEO ranking.

Sean Walker

Director, Niro RS

Content creation in today’s business world is everything, especially when it comes to attracting new logo customers.

I’ve personally found that video content designed with the customer’s needs in mind, solving business issues in a clear and pragmatic fashion via the likes of business-led social networks IE LinkedIn is paramount to success here.

Twitter & YouTube are also good outlets for video content, alongside the more fresh approaches that can be made via Instagram & TikTok, entirely dependent on your target market/customer demographics.

In summary, when creating content – think from your ideal clients “needs & wants” and strategise your content to create a clear interest in your services to prospective buyers. This applies to video, imaging, blogging and all other content entities.

Clement Lim

B2B Copywriter and Content Strategist

The foundation of any successful content marketing strategy depends on three steps:

1. Define the target audience or audiences for your content. If you have more than one type of customer, you will have more than one target audience. Decide which content type and the channel will be most effective for delivering your content to each audience.
2. Work out what problem you will be solving for your audience. Your content should be able to engage both people who know what their problem is and those who are still figuring out what their main challenges are.
3. Identify what makes you unique in solving your audience’s problem. Your audience needs to know why they should choose you over your competitors.  When you have pinpointed your unique quality this needs to be a core message in your content.

Debbie Roy

Organic Social Media Strategist

I like to approach content strategy differently based on who I am working with. Still, one thing that always remains the same is ensuring that we are clear on the problem we are solving or the benefit the audience will gain from engaging with the content.

Get clear on who your ideal client is; some businesses go into it thinking that if they advertise, they will reach their ideal clients anyway, but you’ll make your life a lot harder and waste money if you don’t define your ideal clients. Things can vary significantly from one generation to another, and the same goes for other market segments.

When it comes to content creation, I always recommend leaving room for flexibility and trying to be one step ahead. Visit Reddit, Quora, and answerthepublic.com to see the types of questions asked regarding the industry or niche that you are working with. Take those questions and questions you may receive on social media to create helpful content.

In terms of the type of content, if you’re new to the online world, test the waters with various formats, videos, carousels, reels, live videos, graphics, and GIFs. Make it a point to regularly spend time with your analytics so that you can refine and define the best type of content for your audience. Really nailing down who your ideal client is will also play a big role in you knowing the type of content that will work best for your audience.

David White

CEO Weboptimiser

First focus on a topic related to your business where you know people are interested. Verify the level of interest by undertaking keyword analysis on Amazon and Google. Time taken to research keywords is time well spent as this will verify you are targeting a significant audience. If you want to target a very small number of people target them individually.

Secondly, write out key information your audience must know in order to succeed or protect themselves in your chosen topic area to set yourself up as an expert. Work out a step-by-step guide, a calculator, or system and make an offer to send it to them, or tell them where they can get it from. As the mafia might say, make an offer they can’t refuse!

Then give it to them, although they have to request it, as increasingly you cannot give information and track them anymore as you could, due to privacy changes.

When you start you may find this difficult to do, but after a while, you will find there are lots of options available to you. Most of them are low-cost and free. I have outlined some of them in my new book: How to Start A Business Without Any Money. Get your copy from Amazon.

Martin Cox

Strategic Development and PR Director – Copestone Marketing

Data and Insight are your best friends when it comes to developing a content strategy.

Tools such as SEMrush or Ubersuggest allow agencies to understand the relevant terms being searched for, and the frequency (and potential value) of those terms.

Armed with this quantitative data, we look to create a qualitative understanding, so the data then speaks more than numbers to us – this analysis adds significant depth to the process and allows us to hone in on key terms and understand the rationale behind those searches.

Once we have both terms and an understanding of the why of those searches, and only then, we can start to craft a content strategy that is answering those questions, and solving problems for our potential customers.

And the how? A multi-layered approach of blogging, social media, PR, Video, and even memes – all helping our customer to solve their challenges.

Solve their problems, add value, win trust.

Charles McLachlan

Founder FuturePerfect

We are a business providing knowledge, insight and wisdom for CEOs and senior executives to build the future that will ‘Make your future work’.

We have decided that the primary channel for content should be LinkedIn personal accounts as we have a set of business to business service offers targeting the engagement of senior leaders.  These channels are supported by LinkedIn company pages and other social media platforms such as Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

However, all longer-form content is posted on our product specific websites to provide an archive of valuable evergreen content.

Our approach is to provide a full set of free resources so that potential customers can ‘do it yourself but will recognise that our ‘do it with you’ and ‘do it for you’ services increase impact and success.

We are using an evolving blend of:

• LinkedIn articles
• LinkedIn Live (propagated across other social media channels)
• On-demand webinars
• Free on-demand e-mail based courses
• Quiz based self-assessment tools
• Partner podcasts with complementary affiliates

Critical to our strategy is:

• Sustaining a regular frequency and quality of our content
• Measuring and optimising the use of the channels we have adopted
• Leveraging our content to start a meaningful dialogue with potential clients
• Establishing an authoritative voice amongst our audience
• Being unafraid to have a distinctive and sometimes controversial point of view in our content

Overall, we are committed to using our Content Strategy as a tool to build increasing reach and deepening awareness of our offers so that clients have the time to recognise their needs and will approach us when they are ready to buy.