Tanya Brody

Copywriter | Marketing & Optimization Consultant | Customer Advocate

Why You Need to Use Social Proof in Your Marketing

by 1 Comment

social proof

When was the last time you researched something you wanted to buy?

If you’re like me, you probably do some online research for price, reliability, comfort, or whatever other features you consider important. Then you ask your friends. You look for social proof that you’re making the right decision, before you make it.

I usually ask on social media and I get at least 25 to 50 answers. I read through all of them and make my decision.

Why do we do this? Why do we ask for social proof from our social circles (some of whom live on the other side of the planet and we’ve never actually met in person)?

Because we tend to give more weight to the opinions and experience of others over trusting what the company selling the product says.

We all know that companies can manipulate the data they find in their studies to say their products are safe, effective, well-made, (insert other qualities here). But we believe it when we hear it from someone we know and trust.

Why?

Because it’s different when you hear about a product or service from someone who has actually used it. Even if you don’t know that person, you’re inclined to put yourself in their shoes.

Yelp is a classic example of social proof. Companies that get good Yelp reviews tend to do well. But the instant a bad review comes up, the owner of a company works hard to remove that review, or get other customers to review the company to push the bad review further down on the list. That way the company doesn’t suffer from one person’s bad experience.

Why does this matter? Because people rely on Yelp for opinions on whether they should buy a product, use a service, eat at a restaurant or go to a venue. People want to know what kind of experience to expect. They want to know if they should spend their hard-earned money on something before they plunk it down on the proverbial counter

Since this is something your potential customers want, give it to them. Prove to them that your product or service is worth their money, time and effort.

Here are three ways to use social proof in your marketing.

Testimonials

A testimonial is a quote from a current customer, singing the praises of your product or service. Testimonials are particularly powerful social proof, because they show that another customer had a positive experience. The reader will usually consider this a positive sign and it can make them more likely to buy.

Where to Use Your Testimonials

If you glance at the top of this page, on the right, you’ll notice that I have a few testimonials from former clients listed prominently for all to see. You can list your testimonials on every page, as part of your template, like I do. You can also have a page on your website, specifically for testimonials.

If you’ve just started collecting testimonials, I recommend having them as part of your template. Once you have a good long list, make a page just for testimonials, and keep the best ones displayed prominently on the rest of your site.

Here are some other great places to use your testimonials:

  • As part of your email signature
  • On your landing pages
  • On your checkout pages
  • On your opt-in forms
  • In your printed marketing materials

How to Get Testimonials from Your Customers

The great thing about happy customers is they love telling you how pleased they are with your work. The best time to get a testimonial is while that customer is raving about your product.

To get this precious social proof, you can: 

  • Ask your customer if you can quote them: If someone says something wonderful about your product or service (especially if it’s incredibly quotable) ask them if you can use it as a testimonial.

    Come right out and say, “Can I quote you on that?” If they say yes, get them to repeat it and write it down or record them saying it. (Your mobile phone should have a voice memo feature.) Let them know you’ll be using this as a testimonial in your marketing.

    If the quote is in an email, write them back immediately and ask if you can use their comment as a testimonial. Copy and paste the quote you want to use, so they can see exactly what they’re putting their name to.

  • Ask your customers for a testimonial: I tell all of my clients that they need to use testimonials in their marketing (just like I’m telling you now). It makes it easy to ask for a testimonial once the project we’re working on is complete.

    You may not have this little advantage, but you can still ask. It can be as simple as training yourself and your sales staff to say something like, “The best promotion for our business is when our customers say good things about our product. Can you take a moment to write down a positive comment about our product?”

    Not everyone will do this, (and you’ll want to ask if someone is a regular customer before asking this question) but people who do like your product will happily give you a good testimonial when asked.

  • Send out a survey: Survey Monkey, Typeform and Google Forms are all great survey platforms to collect information from your customers. (And they’re all free!) When you create your survey, make sure you ask open ended questions so you can get those fabulous quotes.

    Add a link to your survey to:

    • Emails
    • Invoices
    • Receipts

Case Studies

Case studies are a great way to get social proof for your business. They are literally proof that your product or service works. Better yet, they show exactly how your product or service made someone’s life, business, or day better.

What is a Case Study?

Another common term for case study is success story. It’s basically telling the story of how someone had a problem, they found your product or service and their problem was solved. They tend to be about 1 to 3 pages long and are commonly used as handouts, blog posts or lead magnets on websites or landing pages.

Here is the standard outline for a good case study:

  • Problem: Tell the story of your customer and the problem they were having. You can go into as much or as little detail as you want here.
  • Enter your product: Talk about how your customer found your product or service and what they found appealing about it.
  • Customer’s success: Show how your product or service solved your customer’s problem. Give detailed information on what your customer did and how they got their result. Whenever possible, use numbers, photos or other evidence to show the result.
  • Wrap-up: You can do a few things to wrap up your case study:
    • Write a quick summary of the case study.
    • Talk about your customer’s plans to use your product or service going forward.
    • Create a “How This Applies to You” section that shows the reader why your product or service is a good fit for them.

What Makes a Good Case Study?

The best case studies are the ones where someone got a definite and measurable result from using your product or service. Here are a few examples:

  • A customer lost 20 pounds in 4 weeks using your diet plan.
  • A customer went from having 5 days of serious pain a week to just 2-3 hours (or no pain at all) using your pain reliever.
  • A customer increased their sales by 75% in 2 weeks using your software.

You want to prove to potential customers that not only does your product work, it can make a huge, positive change for them and solve whatever problem they’re having beyond their wildest dreams.

How to Get Your Customers to Let You Use Their Stories as Case Studies

Again, if your customers are happy with your product or service, they’re going to tell you about it. So strike while the iron is hot.

Here are a few ways to collect case studies:

  • Come right out and ask: Ask your customer if they’d like to be interviewed for a case study as soon as they tell you their success story.
  • Request success stories on your website: Link to a form where a customer can give you a brief synopsis of their story as well as their name and contact information.
  • Search those survey results for possible case studies: Remember that survey you sent out? Some of those responses could be excellent case studies.

How to Get the Information to Write a Case Study

You’ll need to interview your customer (or have your copywriter interview your customer) to get all the details. Use the basic outline above to come up with a list of questions for your customer.

As you’re talking to them, get them to go deeper into the story whenever possible. I tend to use, “Tell me more about that…” to get people to divulge more information about a subject or situation.

I recommend recording the interview (with the customer’s permission) so you don’t miss anything. I know I can’t type as fast as people talk. When I record an interview, I can go back later and fill in details or check my facts.

Always ask your customer if they want to see the case study before you publish it. Some of them may not care. Others may care deeply and want to see how they’re being represented.

You may need to do a bit of online research to fill in some blanks. You can also talk to your colleagues and employees to get more background on your product. I recommend the sales team and folks that build your product (if you’re not all of those things yourself.)

Start Writing!

Great! You have all the information you need. Now tell a compelling story that makes people want to get these same results themselves. As I mentioned above, show the results whenever possible. Before and after pictures are great. And people love it when you use numbers to show results.

Graphics are also a wonderful way to illustrate a change. Give the information to a graphic designer and let their creativity loose to come up with a fabulous image.

I always recommend having a few people read your case study before you show it to the world. They may find holes in your story or ask questions you hadn’t thought of before.

Once your final draft is finished, you’ve got a great lead magnet to use on your website. You can also print it out and give it away at trade shows or use it as part of a presentation.

Money-Back Guarantees

Sometimes the best social proof is you backing up your product with your own money. That’s why guarantees work so well.

When you say, “If you’re not completely satisfied with my product, I’ll give you your money back,” it’s less of a risk for your potential customers. That way, they can try your product and fall in love with it on their own terms. They figure, “This company wouldn’t be willing to give me my money back unless this product really works.”

Companies in all industries use guarantees to convince customers to buy. You see them all the time.

Duluth Trading Company offers a “No Hassles, No Nonsense” guarantee. No conditions, no time limit. If you’re not happy, send it back and they’ll return your money.

Valspar Paint guarantees that you’ll love their paint colors on your walls, or they’ll give you a rebate for the can so you can get another one.

Yes, some customers do return products or cancel services. But generally speaking, offering that guarantee increases your sales and improves your bottom line.

You can make your money-back guarantee any length you want. 14 days, 30 days, 90 days, a lifetime. And it’s always better to make it unconditional, like Duluth Trading Company’s guarantee. Don’t argue with your customer, that makes them angry when they’re already disappointed in your product. Giving them their money back with no conflict will leave them with a better impression.

Worried you won’t be able to remember all of the techniques I’ve talked about here? Download the Social Proof Cheat Sheet. Just click on the button below and you’ll have all of this information at your fingertips.

Download Your Social Proof Cheat Sheet

How Do You Use Social Proof in Your Business?

How do you get your customers to rave about your product or service? And how do you use that in your marketing? Tell me about it in the comments.

How to Stay Focused When You’re Having a Distracted Work Day

by Leave a Comment

Stay Focused

A distracted work day. You know the kind of day I mean. You sit down to get some work done, but the mojo just isn’t flowing. You can’t produce whatever it is you’re supposed to be producing. (In my case, it’s writing.) It’s not that you’re blocked or you don’t know what you’re doing. You just can’t stay focused.

So you sit there staring at whatever it is you should be doing. (In my case, a blank page in Word.) And since that doesn’t help, you decide to go putter around on Facebook. Where you waste half an hour of your precious time.

Still nothing. (Grrrrr)

So you get up to do something, and promptly forget what it was you were going to do. You end up staring out the window at the squirrels chasing each other around the yard, or something similar. Until you snap out of it and realize you’re supposed to be working.

When you’re a small business owner, this can be a serious problem. You have to stay focused to stay in business. You know you have to get your work done. But the only person to keep you on task is… well… you.

If you can’t buckle down and get your work done, you’ll have some very disappointed customers and an empty bank account. Not a good combination.

So how do you get yourself back on track?

Here are 4 ideas on how to stay focused when you work for yourself and you’re just not able to concentrate on your work.

Walk Away for a While

Yes, this sounds counter intuitive. But it works. If you’re unable to concentrate on what you’re doing, get up and do something totally unrelated to what you’re trying to accomplish.

Here are the things I tend to do when I can’t stay focused:

  • Go for a walk: I find that getting out of my house and clearing my head helps me get back on track when I get back to my computer (or whatever it is I’m doing).
  • Do a couple of chores or errands: I spend a few minutes tidying the kitchen or putting in a load of laundry. If I can run a short errand, I’ll do that to get myself out of the house and out of my own head.
  • Do something in the same general field, but not directly related to your current project: For example, I sit down and read books or articles on marketing. I usually find something that inspires me and helps me to continue with the project I should really be working on.

Work on a Different Project

I know that as a freelancer, I like to have several projects I’m working on at once, so if I get stuck on one of them, I can pick up another and stay productive.

I do this when it comes to my own work for marketing my business as well. You’re reading this blog post because I was having a terrible time writing the post I’d started on this week, about using social proof in your marketing. You’ll probably see that one next week, when I’ve had more time to ponder.

Do More Research

Sometimes you can’t figure out what you’re doing because you don’t have all the information you need. Yes, this can even happen when you’re making something you’ve made hundreds of times before.

I used to have this issue when I was building period costumes for Renaissance Festival performers. Sometimes I’d have to stop sewing and go back to look at my original reference material. Or I’d have to look up period methods of construction so I got the look of whatever I was making “right,” even if I was using modern materials.

I do this today when I’m writing. I may sit down with an idea of what I want to write, but once I’m faced with an empty page, I realize I’m missing information I need to get my point across to you. So I spend some time searching the Internet or my own library. That way I do a better job of writing and you get a more useful resource.

Plunge in and Do It Anyway

This may be more effective for those of us who have the opportunity to revise than for people who are manufacturing the same product over and over. But it can still apply.

When I write, I know I’m writing a first draft. So I sit down and put something “on paper.” (Okay, on the screen.) When I’m having a distracted day, this can take a while. And it usually doesn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. But it’s a start.

Even if I end up trashing the whole thing, writing that first draft has gotten the juices flowing. The next time around, I end up with something I can use. And with some careful editing, it becomes a finished product that I can present to my client for review. Or to you as a blog post, like this one.

Ultimately, You’re the One in Charge

One of the lovely things about being your own boss is you get to make the decisions. So if you decide to work late to make up for lost time, you can. By the same token, you’re also the one responsible for getting the work done.

There will be days when your brain just can’t or won’t focus on the project at hand. On those days, be gentle with yourself and coax that brain back to work. Yelling at it (and yourself) rarely helps you stay focused.

Once you get back in that groove, enjoy it and get as much of it done as you can. And hold on to that groove as long as possible. Until the next time your brain gets distracted. Then try the tactics in this blog post again.

How do You Stay Focused?

Do you have certain things you do to get yourself in the work groove? How do you break the distracted cycle? Tell me about it in the comments.

The Top 6 Reasons to Have a Facebook Page for Your Business

by Leave a Comment

facebook-page

I just created a Facebook page for my copywriting business. You’re welcome to check it out here. I haven’t gotten a lot up there yet, but it’s a good start.

I decided it was a good idea to have a separate Facebook page for my business. And after doing a bit of research, I figured I should write a blog post about why it’s a good idea to have a Facebook page for your business. So here are the top 6 reasons I discovered for having a Facebook business page.

1. Increase Your Reach

A personal profile limits you to 5,000 friends. Most people don’t have that many Facebook friends, so it’s not a big deal. But for your business, you want to be able to reach everyone who may be interested in what you’ve got to offer.

When you have a separate Facebook page for your business, your posts will reach folks who have liked your page. Yes, this is about the same as having a personal profile.

A personal Facebook post limits the audience who can see it. For instance, I limit all of my posts to my friends list. But once your post hits your fans’ pages, it’s there for all the world to see.

Now, when I tell the world about my new blog post (about Facebook pages) on my new Facebook page, it will show up on their newsfeeds. But instead of exposure being limited our shared friends, it will be seen by all of their friends. And if some of those folks share my post with their friends, it will go even further.

So without a lot of effort on my part, my blog post, my Facebook page and my business have been exposed to a whole new audience of people. You can do this for your business too.

2. Target Your Audience

Facebook has 1.7 billion monthly users. That means 1/7th of the planet’s population logs into Facebook once a month. Most do it daily. That’s a huge audience! Way more people than you want, and certainly more people than will be genuinely interested in your products or services.

Facebook has one of the most sophisticated demographic tracking systems around. They collect a heck of a lot of data on their users. (That whole thing about “if the product is free, you are the product, it’s true.)

Yes, this feels a bit “big brother-ish” but as a marketer, this is to your advantage. Because you can target, down to very detailed demographics, who you want to see your Facebook posts. This is a great thing for you, because:

• You spend less money on advertising.
• You reach people who are more likely to become your customers.

I haven’t done it yet, but there’s a button on all of the posts on my new Facebook page that says “Boost Post.” That button lets me customize my audience to region, gender, age and interests.

So if you own a vintage 50’s malt shop in Berkeley, CA, you can target your audience to people who live in a specific radius from your restaurant, like ice cream and are interested in vintage stuff from the 50s. (Yes, you really can get that detailed.)

3. Drive More Traffic to Your Website

You spent a lot of money building that website. And it’s where people can get detailed information about your products or services. So use your Facebook page to drive more traffic to your website.

If you visit my Facebook page, you’ll notice that I’ve already posted some of my older blog posts to the page. I wanted something for people to look and click through to. I’ve already gotten more views on my blog posts from my Facebook page.

If you’re running a special on a certain product, your Facebook page is a great place to promote that, with a link back to the product page on your website where customers can buy the product.

If you’re going to be at a special event, post a link to your events page, where people can find more information about where you’ll be and what you’re doing.

4. Gather More Leads

Yes, you can collect email addresses on your Facebook page. There are a variety of ways you can do this:

  • Use the button feature on your Facebook page to get people to sign up for your mailing list. (Choose the “Sign Up” option.)
  • Direct site visitors to a sign-up form or squeeze page on your website.

Why should you do this? I mean, after all, you’ve got all of these Facebook likes. Doesn’t that duplicate your efforts? No. What if, for some reason beyond your control, your Facebook page was suddenly and irrevocably deleted? How would you communicate with your fans?

If you have their email addresses, you can tell them what happened, let them know where to find you from now on, and stay in touch.

5. Get Messages from Interested Customers

One of the pitfalls of personal profiles on Facebook is that unless someone has already Friended you on Facebook, they can’t send you a direct message. So if you’re using your personal profile and a potential customer messages you to ask a question, you may never know about it because the message disappears into the “Message Requests” folder in your Messages section.

I just checked that section and discovered a message from a potential customer who wrote to me in April. I never would have known it was there, had I not written this blog post.

By contrast, I got a notification on my new Facebook page about a message from a friend who wants to talk about having me help her promote her book. Because I was able to see that notification, I responded right away and we’ve set up an appointment to talk.

6. Look More Professional

Okay, I confess, I’ve been posting announcements about my new blog posts to my personal Facebook page. And my friends are all very tolerant of my doing this. Some of them even share them with their friends. (Thank you very much to those of you reading this who have helped promote my blog posts and my business.)

But let’s face it. My personal Facebook wall is covered in silly cat videos, funny stuff my friends have shared with me, and personal commentary. My clients and potential clients don’t need to see this stuff. Nor will they be able to, unless they’ve friended me on Facebook. (Some of them have.)

So having a Facebook page that is specifically for your business means you can post announcements about your business, as well as share articles and opinions that you think will interest your audience. You can ask questions with polls. You can build a professional relationship with your potential clients. (And yes, you can post the occasional cat video.)

Go Create a Facebook Page for Your Business

I hope the 5 reasons above have convinced you that creating a Facebook page for your business is a good idea. So if you don’t already have one, go make one. If you do have one, make sure you’re paying attention to it and posting to it regularly

Do you have a Facebook page for your business? If not, why not? Please tell me about it in the comments.

Why Your Marketing Needs to Be Conversational

by Leave a Comment

Conversational

“Be conversational. What does that even mean?” I hear you ask.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary it means:

  • An informal talk involving two people or a small group of people: the act of talking in an informal way.
  • Something that is similar to a spoken conversation.

I’m going to focus on that second definition: “Something that is similar to a spoken conversation.” Obviously, you and I aren’t talking right now. You’re reading words on a screen that I wrote earlier. But because of the style and tone of my writing, you may feel like we’re having a conversation.

Why?

Well, to start with, I used a question I thought you might ask as the opening line to this blog post. Second, I’ll use the words “you” and “I” a lot in this post. Third, I assume that you’re interested in what I have to say. So I write about the topic as though there was a back-and-forth rapport between us.

What does this get me? Well, a few things. It gets your attention, it keeps you reading, and a conversational style makes it easier for you to digest and process what I’m trying to get across.

Think about the last time you had to read something written in a formal writing style: It was probably very dry, boring and hard to wade through. Your attention probably wandered a lot and you had to drag it back to focus on the page, as much as you didn’t want to. You probably wanted to be just about anywhere else than sitting there, reading that thing, whatever it was.

Now think about the last time you read something written in a conversational style, like this blog post. It probably grabbed your attention and lead you through the entire piece. You probably really enjoyed whatever it was you read. You probably mentioned that piece to a friend later on, because you enjoyed it and you remembered the point it made.

You received a benefit from reading that piece.

Now turn that around and look at your current marketing. How do your customers view the tone of your marketing? If your marketing tone is formal and dry, your potential customers may not be getting the benefit you’re trying to give them. They may not hear that you have the solution to their problem, so they may not become customers.

If your marketing tone is conversational, your potential customers are more likely to get that benefit. They’re also more likely to become your customers.

So how do you make that happen? Here are a few techniques you can use.

Talk to Your Customer

I wrote a different blog post about this a few weeks ago, but it always bears repeating. You’ll notice I do that throughout this blog post. I’m talking directly to you, not at you.

More importantly, I’ve made this post about you. You are the focus. You receive the benefit. You find the solution to your problem.

Notice a pattern here? The word “you.”

Use it throughout your copy and your potential customers will feel like you’re interested in them and their problems. (Which is what you want, since you have the solution to their problems.)

For more on this subject, please check out the other blog post, I think you’ll enjoy it.

Use Contractions

I know. It goes against every rule of grammar you learned in grade school. But when we have a conversation, we use contractions all the time. I’ve used them throughout this post. (See, I just did it again.)

Using contractions does two things:

  • It makes your words more accessible: Some people get hung up on the formality of “they are” versus “they’re” and they tune out.
  • It lowers your Flesch-Kincaid score: I’ll talk more about this later. But it’s a good thing, and it’s important.

Write in the Active Voice

“What does that mean?” I hear you cry.

This is another one of those weird grammar things that you probably internalized in grade school and don’t even realize you do (if you do it).

Here’s an example of writing in the active voice:

  • Sarah kicked the ball.

Sarah is the focus of this sentence. Sarah takes action in relation to the ball.

Here’s an example of writing in the passive voice:

  • The ball was kicked by Sarah.

The ball is the focus of the sentence. Sarah, though she was the one kicking the ball, is passive.

What does this mean for your marketing?

Active language sounds more compelling. Therefore, it’s more likely to get your customers to… well… take action. And since that’s what you want them to do, write in the active voice.

Write to Your Audience’s Reading Level

As I’ve mentioned before, I used to write marketing copy for lawyers. The most common complaint I heard was, “This isn’t sophisticated enough. My clients are smarter than this, and other lawyers will think I’m stupid if this is on my website.”

Okay. I agree, to a point. If your audience is particle physicists, write to particle physicists. They’ll get what you’re trying to say.

But (to use the lawyer example again) if your audience is people who may or may not have a high school degree and need a lawyer because they’ve been arrested, you need to write in language they’ll understand. They won’t understand legal jargon and complicated ideas. They’ll skip right over your website and go on to someone who “gets them.”

“Okay, so how do I write to my audience’s reading level?” You ask.

  • Use simple words: This is the difference between “citation” and “ticket” (to go back to the lawyer example). You need to use the same vocabulary as your audience.
  • Use contractions: Using contractions makes a sentence easier to read for most people.
  • State your message simply, clearly and to the point: Don’t clutter up your writing with fancy words or ideas that don’t support your message. That will just confuse your audience. Clear messaging is easier to understand and will result in more people saying “yes” to your marketing.
  • Keep your Flesch-Kincaid Score at 8 or lower: Told you I’d get back to this. The Fleisch Kincaid score (or scale) indicates the grade level of a piece of writing. This blog post has a Fleisch Kincaid score of 5.5, which means someone who is half way through 5th grade can understand it.

“How do I figure out my Flesch-Kincaid score?”

Well, if you use Microsoft Word, it’s easy:

  • Go to the menu at the top of the screen and click on “Word.”
  • When you see the dropdown menu, click on “Preferences.”
  • When the Preferences box pops up, click on “Spelling and Grammar.”
  • In the Spelling and Grammar window, look toward the bottom of the list and check the box that says, “Show readability statistics.”

From now on, you’ll see this box after you run your spell check:

FK Score Box

The readability statistics are at the bottom of the list. The higher your Flesch Reading Ease score, and the lower your Flesch-Kincaid grade level, the easier it is to read your writing.

If you don’t use Word, I recommend the Hemingway Editor. It includes the readability statistics and it points out which sentences are hard to read. It also helps you remove adverbs and complicated words, and it shows where you’ve used the passive voice.

“But isn’t writing to my audience’s reading level like talking down to them?” You may wonder.

No. Not at all. Most marketing copy is written at a 7th grade reading level or lower. People are busy. They’re not going to take the time to read something they can’t understand right away.

Ernest Hemingway wrote at a 4th grade level. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote around the 6th grade level. Seth Godin writes at the 7th grade level. Don’t believe me? Check out this chart of Flesch-Kincaid scores for various writers.

Go Forth and Be Conversational

Now that you have a bunch of tools to improve the tone of your marketing, go use them! I’ve put together the Conversational Language Checklist for you, so you remember to include each of these tools in your writing from now on.

Get the Conversational Language Checklist

As always, if this seems like it’s too much for you to handle, I’m happy to help you with your marketing projects. As you can see, I have the conversational language thing down.

Do you use conversational language in your marketing? If not, why not? Tell me about it in the comments section.

Why You, as a Business Owner, Need to Take a Vacation

by Leave a Comment

Trees and Lake

This is both an apology for not having a post last week and an advice post.

You see, I spent most of last week running around a hotel in Bloomington, MN with 6,000 of my closest personal friends at a fan-run science fiction/fantasy convention called CONvergence.

I help run the Guests of Honor department at CONvergence. I get to invite really cool people who work in the science fiction and fantasy scene to come talk to our attendees about the amazing projects they’re working on and share fun stories about what they do for a living.

I also spend hundreds of volunteer hours (along with about 300 other people who organize the convention) on making this convention happen every year. Then I spend the convention itself taking care of our Guests of Honor and supervising some of the most awesome people ever, the liaisons who work directly with the Guests of Honor.

Most of my days are spent running errands, tracking down people or things for panels and checking in to make sure everyone has what they need, when they need it.

Yes, this is what I do for fun.

I offer my apologies to all of my friends who I waved at as I went running by, but never got to see this year. It was a crazy, wonderful, fun convention and I had a great time! I hope you did too.

Do I recommend you take a vacation like this? Not unless you’re a workaholic like me. I actually love what I do for the convention and it’s my yearly, guaranteed break from “real life.”

Do I recommend that you take a vacation at least once a year?

Absolutely!

I try to take at least two. CONvergence and one other, usually around the holidays.

You need to get away from your work so you can think clearly when you come back to it. It’s the same reason you need to take weekends to yourself and limit the number of hours you work every day.

If you can’t step away from your work, you can’t step back to see the big picture. You get mired in all of the little day-to-day details. Everything starts to feel overwhelming. You won’t be able to see how you’re progressing because you’ll get caught up in the craziness of running a business.

If you take time away from your business, you’ll be able to come back to it with fresh eyes. You’ll see the things that need to be fixed. You’ll also see ways to improve what you’re doing, or new ideas for products or services.

After finishing CONvergence, I was absolutely exhausted. But when I got back to work on Tuesday morning, I had lots of fresh ideas for my current client project, and for my own business.

Your brain needs a chance to relax every once in a while. (Or at least be distracted by some other problem or activity.)

So I’m giving you permission to take time away from your business to go have fun.

Take the family to the beach. Go on that cross-country road trip you’ve been talking about. Go see the Eiffel Tower. You started your own business so you’d have the freedom to do the things you wanted to.

So go do them. Seriously. Your brain and your business will thank you for it.