It reminds me, though, of a lot of the small business websites I look at – I can see there’s a person there behind the screen, but online I don’t get to know the owner over a coffee. And it seems such a shame that many hide behind a fear that the truth about their size will somehow diminish their credibility.

The About Us page on a website is a great opportunity for small businesses to give customers a glimpse into their personalities, and show off how they are exactly the right people to be running their business.

It doesn’t have to be intimate – nobody wants to know what you had for breakfast, or your full life history (sorry). But the details you do share will give an idea of who you are and what customers can expect from you. Here’s some compelling reasons to share a bit more of yourself in your professional presence:

Four reasons why you should get personal online

1.    It builds trust.

When you put your name and photograph beside your work, customers can see that you believe in what you do, and they are more likely to believe in your company, too.

2.   It shows your values.

Compare these sentences:

At the weekend I take my ten year-old twin sons to Norwich City football matches.

And

I spend most of the year in the Mediterranean drinking cognac on my yacht.

You can see that just a few words go a long way to show what’s important to you, and what people can expect from you.

3.   It shows why you’re the perfect person to be doing this job.

Even if you are new to the industry, you must have a story of what drew you to it. Sometimes this is straightforward inheritance; sometimes a long-burning passion. People are interested in the story of how businesses came about. Think about sharing yours.

4.    It enriches your brand.

When people see how pleasant and beautiful you are in your photograph, they will expect that everything your company does will be similarly well-presented. If you don’t show them, then they can imagine all sorts of disasters! A simple photograph can work wonders to create trust in your brand.

The big companies know that the power is now in being personal – and they’re struggling to move into. Own this space, admit to being the man or woman behind the brand, and accept this competitive edge which is yours anyway. It could be one of the best strategic shifts you can make on your site.

For more ideas on how to make your own website stand out from the crowd, visit Tracy Kenny’s site about writing for the web on www.whitedot.co.

Anywhere Working is the Microsoft-led initiative to help you work smarter, healthier and more efficiently. We’ve put together an exciting FREE afternoon of talks, workshops and networking at Business Revolution , the King’s Centre, King’s Street, Norwich. There’ll also be opportunities to get to grips with the latest Anywhere Working technology and win exclusive Microsoft prizes. Please find the running order below and a link to register.

I look forward to seeing you!

12pm-1pm: Ignite!   

We’ll kick off with a fast-paced and insightful series of talks from special guest speakers on subjects including innovation and entrepreneurship, followed by a panel discussion on the future of work in the UK. Ann Steward, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, will open this session. Food and drinks will be provided.

1pm-5pm: Anywhere Working  

Why not drop by and plug in your laptop or device of choice for some dedicated flexible working? We’ll cater to your needs with WiFi, tea, coffee and nibbles. Plus: tune in to our thought-provoking workshop sessions for businesses, covering social media, flexible working tools, broadband, and more.

Register now

Register for the whole afternoon or the session of your choice.

Join the Anywhere Working community 

Anywhere Working was established in 2012 to help people and businesses embrace flexible working, increasing productivity and wellbeing, saving time and money, and reducing the environmental impact of work. Supporters and partners include WWF, WorkingMums, Transport for London, Nokia and Microsoft.

Register Here and see what free training is on offer to kick start your new business into life.

Read more about the launch event on the EDP

See http://www.syncnorwich.com/events/78133472/?eventId=78133472&action=detail for details.

I find it fascinating. And at BizRev 2020 on Tuesday I talked about this idea of how our style and manner make us distinctive, and what we can do to make it show off our best bits.

It’s rather trendy right now, though many people don’t realise that even the words on a bag of carrots is highly designed to make sure it reinforces the carefully crafted brand. And trend aside, it’s important in a business, when many staff are communicating your standards for you – you need a way to organise all those individual personalities and points of view into the character your company is investing in.

I told a story about this in the session. My grandfather Ed wasn’t really a mountain man, but he was a country preacher living and working amongst the Appalachian hillbillies. And you always become a little bit like your surroundings, so he had some of their ways. After I’d lived in Britain for several years – and picked up some very un-hillbilly habits – my grandfather died, so I went back home for the funeral.

While I was there I helped out with the house, and I found myself holding the shotgun he’d always had hanging above his desk.

I’m not a gun person, but I realised that this was my one and only chance, ever, to do the classic line.

I took the gun in my arms and went out to the porch, closed my eyes, and tried to summon every redneck that had ever run barefoot over those hills. And then I shouted: “GET OFF MY LAND!”

I opened my eyes. They lived on an estate, in a town. The postman was going by – wearing his headphones and a baseball cap. He looked up, waved, and called “Hi there!”

What went wrong? Why didn’t the postman take any notice of me.

I realised that the time and place had changed –we don’t get what we want anymore by just bossing people around. And just as much, I just wasn’t believable – Marks & Spencer jeans and Clarks shoes kind of spoil the effect.

When we communicate we worry a lot about the message. It’s worth having a look at some of the little tips we talked about, to see if there’s a way you can tweak your message to make sure it fits your circumstances (better than I did!)

Have a look at the prezi on tone of voice here http://prezi.com/uvvh2uqavklp/tov2/ (It works best if you look in full screen)

And join us for the next BizRev 2020 on Tuesday 13th September

Tracy Kenny works with people and businesses to help them find better words to connect people and businesses. Copywriting, branding, training and storytelling – she loves to meet new people and talk about how a set of good words can change everything. www.whitedot.co

with Tracy Kenny of White Dot www.whitedot.co

On the subjejct of tone of voice (eg so how Lidl sounds different when it’s talking about tomatoes, to how M&S talks about tomatoes – every company’s propostion, pricing, and even values come out in the words they choose to use)

Book your free space here

And it was indeed with the guys. It’s highly unusual, but for most of the day I was not only the only one representing the female gender, I was also nearly the only one not working in the IT industry.

Now in reality, we’re all computer people these days, whatever we call our job. But I’m talking about the people who, before we all  went PC (ha ha), were called computer geeks. They were my friends – and my dad was one, too. In the old days he worked on mainframe computers that filled a room, way back when they still had punchcards. He used to come home talking about drives crashing, and we imagined he was some sort of emergency worker, dealing with gore and wreckage all over the place. Emergencies they may have been for their users, but Dad carried a toolbox in his estate car, not a paramedic’s bag in an ambulance.

Anyway we soon learned it’s just an expression, and his stories made me eternally comfortable around computer scientists. And I’m okay that they don’t always get my arts jokes. But when I got a major tumbleweed moment (where’s Jane when you need her?), I started thinking about the language for the situation: what’s the collective noun for people who work with computers?

A string of programmers?
A gallery of WordPress developers?

Then what would the rest of us be? I’d be very happy to be part of a stanza of writers. Most days there’s one or two of us wandering around wordsmithing.

What other fields are represented up at BizRev?

A palette of graphic designers
A garderobe of vintage clothing sellers
A trug of plant sellers

I still haven’t come up with anything for HR: an application? A regulation? 

This game could amuse me for hours. But I’m going to hand it over, as a gift: a word game for my Linux-driving, drupal-building, PHP-scripting technical friends up at BizRev. What are the names for all those thousands of specific niches in the computer trade?

The initiative of entrepreneurs who enjoy sharing space with you can’t wait to hear it!

We were actually in there for the opening session of a new series of networking and training events, which I had the thrill to lead.

Jim and James are calling it BizRev 2020, and I get to say I was there at the start: 20 minutes of training, 20 minutes of application, and finishing up by networking over coffee or even lunch. A kind of Brain Food with Friends, if you like.

We were a small but meaningful group. And I use the word ‘meaningful’ on purpose, because in this session we were looking at how entrepreneurs just like us each has our own story to tell. It’s this story that distinguishes our individual businesses from the competition, so it’s really important to identify it, and spread it.

And it’s good fun too – it’s a hugely validating process to discover that your own experience matters so much to your peers and your colleagues, your customers – and even your competition. It’s a story worth being on top of.

Because stories are being told about you and your organisation, whether you know it or not. Best to get in control of them. You can do this:

1.    Tell yourself, and then practice with a trusted friend, the story of how you got into your industry. The story you tell, and the way you tell it, will reveal a great deal about you, your values, and what people can expect from you.

2.    Tell that story to your people – and yourself – again and again. Tell it until they’re sick of it. That way they will be absolutely clear about what motivates you, where the business is going, and what decisions to make in your absence. By telling this story repeatedly, people build trust in you – and that’s the basis for a great reputation and a growing business.

Now I think about it, we made a sort of a new story, ourselves, in the conference room. We had

• character: a group of great people, all entrepreneurs
• conflict: common problem of marketing and managing our reputation
• resolution: looking at it together through our shared experiences and expertise
  

We decided that we liked this BizRev 2020 story. We’re going to do it again. Hope to see you there!

Tracy Kenny works with people and businesses to help them find better words to connect people and businessees. Copywriting, branding, training and storytelling – she loves to meet new people and talk about how a set of good words can change everything. www.whitedot.co

BizRev have joined up with some of the freshest thinkers in Norwich to offer a new monthly series of lunchtime training to feed your mind, your network, as well as your appetite.

In each one-hour lunchtime session, we’ll have a speaker talk about new ideas in making your business memorable and competitive. The session will include 20 minutes’ presentation, 20 minutes’ application to your business, and 20 minutes’ networking.

We’ll hold the sessions at BizRev on the third Tuesday of the month, 12:00-1:00. BizRev co-workers as well as others are all welcome.

Biz Rev, Floor 2 Kings Conferencing, King Street Norwich

To keep them interesting, we’ll alternate subjects between marketing issues, and technical aspects of running a business.

In the first session, Tuesday 24th April, we’ll look at ‘Why you need to tell your business’s story, and who needs to hear it‘ with Tracy Kenny of White Dot www.whitedot.co

Spaces are limited, so sign up to reserve your spot.

For more details on the workshop click here