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Adam Kay - startwithadam.com, Sheffield (2026)

13/10/2022

The secret to getting your business recognised:

You know your customers better than anyone, so you’ll know the best way to speak to them. The trick is to talk the same way consistently, with a distinctive ‘tone of voice’.

To get one, just think about these 4 things.

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If you’d like simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

29/09/2022

When supporters sing “Football’s coming home”, where’s “home”?

Is it England? Or somewhere more specific?

Actually, it’s Sheffield. In fact, “home” is a particular part of the Steel City, although you can’t visit it…

Football, or rather the association football that’s now played across the globe, was invented in a long-gone greenhouse on the corner of East Bank Road. And when those fans sing about their love of the beautiful game, they’ve got two 19th century cricket club members to thank:

Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest founded Sheffield Football Club in 1857. After organising informal kickabouts with their fellow cricketers, the pair wrote the ‘Sheffield rules’, parts of which are still used worldwide over 160 years later…

…and while the building where those rules were first drawn up is no more, plans are underway for somewhere new where supporters can honour football’s birthplace:

Sheffield FC have submitted a proposal for a 4,000-seater stadium and heritage centre, featuring an interactive exhibition highlighting the city as the place football began. The club hopes the “Home of Football” ground will attract a community of fans from far and wide, and here’s why small business owners should take note:

The best promotion your business can get is word-of-mouth, which means you need fans, not customers. So instead of talking at people, build a place where they can talk to each other.

If it succeeds, Sheffield FC’s new stadium will be somewhere football’s fanbase can celebrate its shared love of the world’s most popular sport. Here are 3 more examples of businesses who built something that turned casual customers into a community of fans.

1/ Starbucks and their social media group

Limited edition drinks are a huge part of this coffee giant’s success, and one in particular: the Pumpkin Spice Latte. According to customers, the annual arrival of the ‘PSL’ marks the start of autumn, so Starbucks thought up a way to tap into that…

The company made a private Facebook group where lovers of all things autumnal can share seasonal tips and recipes, once they’ve passed a special entry test, of course. And guess what the group, which now has over 42,000 members, is called? ‘Leaf Rakers Society’.

2/ LEGO and their website forum

Part of the reason LEGO toys are so popular all over the world is that they allow people to make anything they can imagine. Everyone wants to show off their plastic brick masterpieces to friends, and the Danish company created a suitably playful way to make more of this…

Through the LEGO Ideas website forum, the public can share pictures of their creations, vote for their favourites, and take part in themed building contests. The best part? The most popular builds have the chance to be turned into official LEGO sets.

3/ Harley-Davidson and their membership organisation

Starting in the 1950s, motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson suffered a series of setbacks which nearly left the company bankrupt, before a takeover saw an important change. The brand switched its focus firmly back to customers which helped turn fortunes around, but one idea in particular was the real key to success…

The Harley Owners Group was established in 1983 as an exclusive community granting access to invite-only events, rallies and charity motorbike rides. Today, there are more than 1,400 H.O.G chapters around the world, where bikers can meet up and share their common passion.

Though Sheffield FC are hoping to build a new football stadium to bring supporters together, that’s a luxury you probably can’t afford. But there are still some questions to ask yourself about getting customers talking:

• What more could you do with one of your social media channels to encourage customers to interact with each other, like Starbucks did?
• How might you be able to take inspiration from LEGO Ideas about a section on your website where people can hang out together?
• What would regular events like Harley-Davidson’s meet-ups mean for your customers?

Turning customers into fans who feel happy and comfortable with your business is easy, if you understand their interests and provide somewhere they can discuss them…

…and when you’ve given customers a place to talk about what they love, dealing with your company isn’t going somewhere uninviting. It’s coming home.

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To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

14/09/2022

How to put your customers in a ‘buying mood’:

When promoting a product or service, you should highlight, either positively or negatively, the ‘rewards’ customers will get from using it.

These tips from legendary copywriter Victor O. Schwab will help you do that more easily.

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To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

30/08/2022

I hadn’t long since moved to the S8 postcode area when I saw one.

Me and Francesca had gone for a walk around nearby Graves Park. It was her who spotted it first:

A flash of vivid green, speeding through the air. What on earth was it?

Later, a quick Google search gave the answer:

It was a parakeet. An Indian rose-ringed parakeet, to be exact, although perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised to see it…

Turns out parakeets are found all over Britain, not just south Sheffield. And there are a few curious theories why…

Some say the UK’s first wild parakeets escaped from a London film studio during production of ‘The African Queen’, starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Others think the country’s parakeets are descended from a pair released by legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s. Here’s the thing, though:

With its dazzling colours and long, thin tail, the parakeet I saw in Graves Park that afternoon stood out a mile as it flew between the trees. I’d expected to see nothing but fat, grey pigeons, and there’s a lesson in that for small business owners and startups:

Sometimes, people will notice your service or product more if you show it off in an unexpected place.

An advertising legend agrees…

Paul Arden was creative director at the famous agency Saatchi & Saatchi. In his bestselling book ‘It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be’, he said:

“Putting a motorbike ad in a ladies’ fashion magazine or even an ad for lingerie in a motorbike magazine may not be such a silly idea.”
Paul Arden, advertising legend

Some thoughts:

• An accountant could post videos on the social media platform TikTok that’s used mostly by younger people, teaching little-known money-saving tips

• Rather than setting up a stall at a food festival surrounded by competitors, street food vendors could book a place at an engineering convention, where there’ll be loads of hungry customers

• Instead of advertising in the back of the city newspaper, a gardener could stick up some posters in local chip shops over the summer, when people are more likely to be eating outside in their (messy) gardens

When I first saw a parakeet in Graves Park, flying alongside all the other boring birds, I was gobsmacked. If I’d seen it in its native Asia, I might not have blinked an eye, and that’s worth remembering…

Next time you need to advertise your products or services, consider whether you’ll make more sales by promoting them somewhere unexpected. Or to put it another way:

If you want to succeed in business, don’t be a pigeon. Be a parakeet.

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

29/07/2022

Do you know who Sheffield’s last ‘Little Mester’ was?

Stan Shaw died in 2021 aged 94, the last in the city’s long line of self-employed craftsmen making cutlery and tools from their rented workshops…

This week, it’s been announced that 59 of Stan’s handmade knives will be displayed at Cutlers’ Hall to celebrate Sheffield’s “history and legacy of cutlery manufacturing”. But it was something else in the BBC article about the announcement that caught my attention.

It’s a video from 2018. Stan, 91 then, is in his workshop in Kelham Island.

With knotted hands, Stan files and shapes his steel blades. A caption onscreen says his skills are still in such high demand that he’s got a four-year backlog of orders to fill.

He’s wearing a grey factory coat and talking about his job. Then he looks up for a moment from his workbench:

“I try an’ mek t’next knife better. You never do, like, but that’s the attitude you’ve got to ‘ave.”

You might make knives, or t-shirts, or garage doors, or websites. Whatever you do for a living, I reckon that’s pretty good advice:

Try to make the next thing you’re working on better than the last.

What do you think? 👇

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H/T to Now Then Magazine where I saw this.

26/07/2022

People of Sheffield: can you help?

I’m after the most interesting or little-known facts about Sheffield and Sheffielders to feature in my newsletter.

• What’s your favourite titbit of Steel City knowledge?
• Who’s your favourite famous Sheffield person and why?
• Is there some piece of trivia about the city that hardly anyone knows?
• Do you know of a Sheffielder, past or present, whose story needs to be heard by more people?

Share your Sheffield wisdom in the comments below 👇

11/07/2022

Let’s begin with some film and TV trivia:

What do these 3 phrases have in common?

a) “Winter is coming.”
b) “My brother, my captain, my king.”
c) “For England, James.”

Here’s a clue:

The phrases are from the TV series ‘Game Of Thrones,’ and the blockbuster films ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ and ‘GoldenEye.’ Any guesses?

A big shiny medal if you got the correct answer:

Each phrase was spoken by a character played by an iconic Sheffield actor…

That’s right: Sean Bean.

And apart from having starred in some of the most successful movies and shows ever, there’s something particularly special about this Steel City legend…

Whether Sean’s playing a king or a spy, his roles always sound… similar. There’s a certain ‘flatness’ in the voices of each of his characters, but why?

The Sheffield accent.

It doesn’t matter if Sean’s performing as somebody posh, or someone poor. He never fully disguises the dialect he used as a child growing up in the Handsworth area, and here’s the interesting thing about that:

It’s impossible to confuse Sean Bean with anyone else. Even if you can’t see him on screen, you can recognise him just by listening. For example…

On the TV adverts for the O2 mobile phone company, guess which famous Yorkshireman does the voiceover?

There’s a lesson to be learned here for small business owners and startups. If you can talk to your customers in a distinctive way, they’ll recognise you, like we recognise Sean Bean and his unmistakable voice…

…so that’s what your company needs: a distinctive ‘tone of voice’. But what do you need to do to get one?

It couldn’t be simpler. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, there are just 4 things to think about:

The 4 dimensions of tone of voice

• Funny vs. serious – How much humour will you use in your marketing? Some, or none, or somewhere in between?
• Formal vs. casual – Will your marketing have a strict, official feel to it? Or will it be more relaxed?
• Respectful vs. irreverent – How will you talk about your product or service? Should you use an irreverent, cheeky style, or not?
• Enthusiastic vs. matter-of-fact – Will the promotion for your product or service be passionate and excited? Or will you give your customers information in a straightforward way?

If you’re, say, a financial adviser, helping customers with serious matters like taxes and investments, it might be best to use a formal, respectful tone. Or you could take a different approach…

Maybe you’ll stand out more from your financial adviser competitors if you promote your services by being funny, casual or irreverent? Whichever products or services you sell, think about this:

You know your customers better than anyone, so you’ll know the best way to tweak the ‘dimensions’ of how you’ll speak to them. The trick is to talk the same way consistently… and who does that remind you of?

As an actor, Sean Bean’s job is to pretend to be someone else. As a Yorkshireman, though, he’s always himself, and you should copy him:

Just use your own tone of voice whenever you talk to customers, and you’ll make your business unmistakable.

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To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

20/06/2022

I have one in my kitchen, and one on my bedroom wall.

My brother-in-law has one, and last Christmas my best mate got his second.

And if you live in or near Sheffield and don’t have one, I can almost guarantee you know someone who does.

I’m talking about a ‘Pete McKee’.

A print. A figurine. A set of coasters. An apron. Just something, anything, featuring the uniquely bright, smooth characters and settings drawn by the Steel City’s best-known artist.

Whether you own one of Pete’s pics or not, there’s no denying how popular they’ve become around South Yorkshire. And that’s no accident…

The reason Pete’s artwork is so successful is simple: emotion. His pieces make you feel something, and one thing in particular:

Nostalgia – “An affectionate feeling you have for the past, especially a particularly happy time.”

From scenes of busy parks and rundown pubs to lovers holding hands, Pete McKee’s a master at weaving nostalgia, happiness, emotion into his art. Looking at Pete’s images puts us in a certain mood, a little trick that’s helped him sell plenty of products. And here’s the good news:

You can do it too.

If you’re a small business owner or startup, there’s an effortless way to use emotion in your marketing, and it’ll almost always make you more sales.

You just need to put your customers in a ‘buying mood’. And to do that, follow the advice of a legendary copywriter…

Victor O. Schwab, called “the greatest mail-order copywriter of all time,” knew a thing or two about making a sale. He said that when promoting a product or service, you should highlight, either positively or negatively, the ‘rewards’ customers will get from using it:

Positively:
- What a customer can save, gain or accomplish by using your product or service
- How your product or service will increase their stimulation, satisfaction, wellbeing or security

Negatively:
- How a customer can avoid, reduce or eliminate risks, worries, losses, mistakes or embarrassment by using your product or service
- How your product or service will decrease their fear of poverty, illness or accident, discomfort, boredom or loss

That’s all well and good, but how exactly does it work?

Say you run a building company, specialising in garage conversions. When selling your services, there are 3 routes you could take:

1. Neutral promotion
2. Positive promotion
3. Negative promotion

Let’s take a look at the difference:

Neutral promotion:
“Transform your old garage into a new, useful space with our expert building services.”

Positive promotion:
“Be the envy of all your friends and neighbours and transform your old, unloved garage into a new, impressive space with our expert building services.”

Negative promotion:
“Your old, poorly built garage could collapse at any moment, so transform it into a safe, useful space before it’s too late with our expert building services.”

See what I mean?

There’s nothing wrong with any of these methods. Even the first, ‘neutral’ one tells customers about the services you sell. But…

…using the right emotion to promote your product or service shows your customer how they’d be better off by using it, or worse without it. It paints a picture in your customer’s mind, and like a ‘Pete McKee’, a picture that makes you feel something is hard to forget.

So don’t just sell to your customers. Move them.

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

03/12/2021

If you follow the hill behind Sheffield train station to South Street, then look up, you’ll see a blank bridge that won’t stay blank forever.

As I write this, that bridge, on the Park Hill estate, is being renovated. But the developers have promised to refill the blank space on the side of it with the words that were graffitied there before:

I love you will u marry me

Jason Lowe spray-painted his powerful message in 2001 to woo his girlfriend Clare Middleton. Clare and Jason sadly didn’t end up staying together, but there’s a reason these words have become iconic in the Steel City…

Jason could’ve written: “I adore you; will you do me the honour of giving me your hand in marriage?” But he chose something shorter, simpler, impossible to misunderstand, and that’s the key:

Clarity.

What Jason wrote was clear. Fuss-free. Straight to the point. Would you follow his example?

You should. Not the graffiti, necessarily, or the marriage proposal, or the missing question mark. But if you want people to really take on board something you’re saying, you should say it clearly, and these piece-of-cake tips will help…

1. Use bullets

Most, maybe all, of the marketing you do now will be online, where attention spans are shorter. Research by NNG says people read just 20% of a webpage on average, but bullet points can help them to read more, and here’s why:

Instead of giving readers lots of information in one long sentence, breaking it up into short bullet points makes it easier for people to ‘scan’. So, for example:

You could tell customers that your new t-shirts are made from 100% organic cotton, hand-printed in Sheffield, and available exclusively from yourwebsite dot com…

…or you could tell customers that your new t-shirts are:

• Made from 100% organic cotton
• Hand-printed in Sheffield
• Available exclusively from yourwebsite dot com

I’ll bet those customers would prefer the second version, and I’ll bet you could easily start using this technique in your marketing straight away. But this next tip is even simpler to do…

2. More full stops

When most sentences in a piece of writing are 14 words long, readers understand 90% of what you’re saying, according to research by PRSA. But when most sentences are 43 words long, people only understand 10% of the writing, so what should you do?

Short sentences are best, and there’s a little trick to help you write them that needs almost no effort at all…

It might seem weird, at least at first, but writing shorter sentences will make your message easier to follow and it’s easy to do because all it takes is to put full stops wherever you’d take a breath if you were reading out loud.

Look:

It might seem weird. At least at first. But writing shorter sentences will make your message easier to follow. And it’s easy to do. Because all it takes is to put full stops wherever you’d take a breath if you were reading out loud.

See?

So next time you’re telling a story about your business, remember Jason Lowe, and the short, unforgettable sentence he used to get his message across. Guess what happened when he took Clare to Arundel Gate, and asked her to look up the hill behind the cinema at what he’d written?

She said yes.

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

23/11/2021

4 little tricks to get ‘villagers’ chatting, inspired by Sheffield, the largest village in England:

1. Ask for a review
2. Run a competition
3. Hold a poll, Q&A or survey
4. Ask questions

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

09/11/2021

Cranleigh in Surrey is 32.78 km sq, but that isn’t large enough…

At the 2011 census, there were 14,085 people living in Heath Hayes and Wimblebury in Staffordshire, but that doesn’t make that large enough…

No, the largest village in England is someplace else, and I bet you can already guess where:

It’s Sheffield, of course. And although it’s a city, there’s a reason locals say it’s ‘the largest village in England’…

The people of Sheffield make the place feel like a village. Picture a typical village in your mind:

Villagers chat to each other, right? You can see them chatting at bus stops, in corner shops and on the village green, and there’s something similar about Sheffield folk…

You don’t have to spend long in the Steel City to hear an “Oreyt luv” or an “Ey up pal.” Sheffield may be a city, but it feels like a village because of the friendliness of its people, and here’s why that’s special:

Villages are small, but they’re supportive. If you run a small business or startup, how could supportive people help you?

Your ‘villagers’ are your customers. To win their support and keep it, you need them to do two things:

a) Chat to you
b) Chat about you

Here’s how:

1. Ask for a review

The best promotion for your business is word of mouth, but you need to help that happen online as well. So it’s always wise to ask customers to review your product or service, and it’s easy to get started…

You can join review sites like Yelp or Tripadvisor, or sign up to services like Trustpilot or Feefo. And you can share these reviews through your website, social media or email marketing to give more customers the confidence to buy from you.

Here's another idea…

2. Run a competition

People enjoy having the chance to win, and it’s something they’ll chat to others about. Run a contest with a prize your customers will love and you’ll attract attention, and if you do it right there’s another advantage too…

Ask people to share why they love your product or service, or take a picture of themselves using it, and say the best one wins. Straight away, you’ve got people chatting about you online, and whatever the prize you’re giving away costs you, all that free publicity is priceless.

On to the next one…

3. Hold a poll, Q&A or survey

You know your customers better than anyone, so show you value them by asking their opinion on something they’re interested in:

• Topics in the news or popular culture
• Your new product or service
• The latest developments in your industry

You can gather opinions quickly with social media tools like Twitter Polls and Instagram Questions, or hold virtual Q&A sessions through Zoom or Microsoft Teams. And you can use SurveyMonkey, Google Forms or similar to collect multiple answers at once, then use that information to make something really helpful for customers.

One more to go…

4. Ask questions

Just ask questions. That’s it.

After all, when your villagers are your customers, you never know what you might learn if you chat to them.

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

09/11/2021

I’ve always loved writing, but it was only when I moved into digital marketing that I saw how words can transform a business.

After helping some friends build their passions into something bigger, I wanted to share that same guidance with small business owners and startups across Sheffield.

Now I’m on a mission to help businesses to start telling better stories and building a personality to be proud of.

Through the Adam website, I share tips for small business owners and startups in Sheffield. If you want to know how to write words customers can’t ignore, this is the right place to begin.

To get simple, practical content marketing and copywriting tips straight to your inbox each month, totally free, subscribe today at the link in the bio.

Adam Kay - startwithadam.com

13/10/2022

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30/08/2022

29/07/2022

26/07/2022

11/07/2022

20/06/2022

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