What a pair of bollards, a career threatening crash and 100 deal clinching words

I’m cycling from London to Amsterdam this summer in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.

Which means I’ve had to start training for it on my bike.

Now I’m more Bradley Walsh than Bradley Wiggins and as much as I enjoy the peace and fresh air cycling brings I’m not very good at it.

Just this weekend I had a crash. It was my fault. No inconsiderate driver to blame, no pothole to curse. Simply me.

Racing down a cycle path on a chilly Sunday morning I was faced with two, looming bollards.

Do I go left? Do I go right? Do I squeeze through the middle?

In the end I hesitated so long I ended up clipping one of the bollards and skidding across the gravel using my bum as a brake.

It hurt a bit but at the same time was enlightening.

Why?

Well I see that kind of do I, don’t I, indecision from a lot of estate agents.

Do we embrace blogging now? Shall we invest in content for our website? Should we get a professional in to write up our About Us sections? Do we invest in a PR strategy for the future?

Often by the time they’ve decided what they’re going to do their rivals are months further down the road of using regular content and profile raising techniques to win more instructions.

Back to the bike.

Following my potentially career ending crash (it was just a graze but where’s the drama in that) I noticed one of the brakes had got damaged.

Now living in a part of the UK where a lot of people cycle I’m spoiled for choice when it comes to bike repair shops.

But I made my choice using a method I’d use to choose an estate agent to come and give me a valuation.

I jumped on Google. Narrowed the search down to bike shops within 10 miles of where I live and looked at their websites.

Website A was lame. Generic photos, spelling errors galore, tired looking and didn’t work well on my iphone.

Website B was better. Easy to navigate and good images. But poorly written, felt bland and didn’t include testimonials.

Website C was the winner by a mountain mile. Obviously the content was written by someone who knew what they were doing, there was a page filled with testimonials from delighted clients and the clincher was its About Us page.

It showed me in no more than 100 words that Dan was the store’s mechanic. It had a photo of Dan, he looks a friendly bloke. It told me Dan’s favourite local cycle routes and shared a useful cycling tip.

This clinched the deal. I called feeling as if I already knew Dan, booked in the repairs and they even upsold me a bike fit session which I’ve been thinking about for ages.

There are parallels to estate agency in this tale. All of which are pretty obvious and I don’t want to patronise anyone by spelling them out.

So if you need help with your website content, newsletters, PR advice etc then I’m your man and feel free to get in touch.

If you need cycling tips and advice I’m rubbish, but Dan’s your man.

Thanks for reading and here’s to your next instruction.

Jerry

PS: Below is a link to my Just Giving Page explaining my motivation behind taking on the London to Amsterdam Cycle Challenge.

https://www.justgiving.com/Jerry-Lyons1/?utm_id=13

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Revealed: the most lucrative shared living postcodes

New research from COHO, the HMO management platform, reveals that the shared living market in England & Wales generates an estimated monthly rental income of £1.4bn. But which postcode areas are creating the most income from shared living? How much are HMOs making in your postcode? Find out here COHO has analysed the estimated number…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage approvals continue to climb in June

The latest mortgage approval data from the Bank of England figures show that: – Mortgage approvals on house purchases for June sat at 64,167 up (+1.4%) from 63,288 in May. This signals two consecutive months of growth. Approvals are also up (+5.6%) when compared to the 60,761 seen in June 2024. This growth is positive,…
Read More
bank of england interest rate
Breaking News

Bank of England Money & Credit Report June 2025

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by £3.1 billion to £5.3 billion in June, compared to a £2.8 billion increase to £2.2 billion of net borrowing in May. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 900, to 64,200 in June. Approvals for remortgaging also increased by 200, to 41,800 in June. This…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing market’s summer surge dampened by soaring stamp duty costs

Housing market activity has surged, with buyer demand up 11 per cent and agreed sales up eight per cent year-on-year, defying typical summer slowdown National house price inflation has slowed to 1.3 per cent, driven by a 12 per cent increase in homes for sale and higher stamp duty costs for many buyers Higher stamp…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rents reach another new record as tenants pay £400 more than five years ago

The average advertised rent of homes outside of London has risen to another new record this quarter of £1,365 per calendar month (pcm), but the yearly pace of rent growth continues to slow: London rents also reach a 15th consecutive new record of £2,712 pcm this quarter Five years on from the pandemic, new tenants…
Read More
Breaking News

Six UK vineyards where homebuyers avoid the 84% premium

Six affordable UK vineyards where homebuyers avoid the 84% house price premium and toast a better deal The latest research from Yopa has revealed that living close to one of the UK’s top vineyards will set homebuyers back an average of £494,739, 84% more than the current UK average house price. However, there remain a…
Read More