Author Archives: Karen Reyburn

The making of Scottish whisky has long fascinated me. The simplicity of the ingredients, the patience required at every stage of the process, the hundreds of years of doing something the same way. Nothing churned out, nothing rushed. Good things take time. Conceptually, it makes sense. Better done right than done rushed. Invest well at

We had a training session at PF this week on using more “definitive language”. Examples included “We believe” or “I get it” or “This works because…” You use them in place of vague, rambly language. The kind which expresses uncertainty: “I think” “I”m not sure if that’s the best” “Here’s what worries me” “Just” “Sort

You know how to spot red flags. You’re not always sure how to define them, and you’re working on defining it, but when the flag starts waving, you know things aren’t going to be good. The client who doesn’t show up to meetings. The prospect who asks about price first. The applicant who doesn’t want

The best way to get engagement is to make strong, polarising, even outrageous statements.  You’ll get more likes. More views. More haters too, but then that counts as engagement cos you can respond to them and then more people see it and that’s the point, isn’t it? More people, more comments, more visibility? Maybe. Maybe for

It’s nearly Christmas, so I’ll be signing off for a few weeks and writing my Notes again in January. Before I go, I wanted to send a reminder that taking a break at the holidays always opens up more of your mind to what “everyone else” is doing.  The comparison game. For me it can get stronger

You know what a red flag is. Warning, danger, “bad gut feeling”, something was said or done which is an indicator this (whatever ‘this’ is) will not go well. Prospective client or team member, new client relationship, business opportunity such as a merger or sale. In any of these (and many other) situations we stay

Glengoyne Whisky Distillery prides itself on having the slowest stills in Scotland. My sister and I visited a few months ago, and in huge letters on the doors to the building holding the stills and the washbacks, it reads: THE RIGHT WAY IS THE LONG WAY Everywhere at the distillery and on their website and

‘Target audience’ is one of those marketing phrases which gets used without a great deal of thought. Yes, you could also say ‘ideal audience’ or ‘client avatar’ or some other official sounding phrase, but as with all marketing terminology I prefer to question everything. Target. Why target? Where does that come from? A target is

You know when you think, “Oh, I meant to message that person for…” (whatever it was), and you don’t, and then later on that day they message you to ask about the thing? You think (or say) “Ahhh, I was literally just thinking of you today and meant to get in touch!” And sort of