It’s been an incredible year since launching The Estate Planner’s Toolkit, and we are thrilled to be attending the 2021 SWW Conference. So much so that we will be running a free prize draw for delegates to win a magnum of champagne to celebrate. Could you be the lucky winner?!
So, what’s the story behind The Estate Planner’s Toolkit?
The Estate Planner’s Toolkit idea was born during several dog walks during the lockdown in April 2020.
I felt frustrated by the amount of time I spent replying to website enquiries, sending follow up information after my meetings and answering the same old frequently asked questions.
I thought there must be a better way of helping clients understand my core services and a quicker way of doing things. I’d searched for materials online but couldn’t find anything suitable that was modern, well-designed and good enough to represent my business. As an independent will writer, I wasn’t part of a big franchise and didn’t have a design and marketing team to produce this for me.
Then the penny dropped…
What if I could create something for my business that could be useful to others?
Whilst out for walks with our dog Neville, my wife Sally and I talked through various ideas and started planning to see how we might make this work.
The first two designers I spoke to were rather dismissive, but then I struck gold!
Danielle (my super talented designer) loved the concept. Her dedication, patience and enthusiasm alongside my wife, Sally’s encouragement and whip-cracking, led to an idea becoming a reality.
The hard work begins…
I created The Estate Planner’s Toolkit content over several months, juggling time between completing my STEP exams and running my will writing business.
At the heart of this was making sure the content and images reflected the diversity of our society. It frustrated me that a lot of traditional marketing for wills and legal services specifically only featured older white heterosexual couples despite the customer base being broader.
As well as how it looked, I also needed to take care of accuracy and explain tricky subjects like trusts in a simple way. My past career taught me how important it is to appeal to different learning styles, and with online videos being so widespread, I knew this had to be a feature of The Estate Planner’s Toolkit. In my first role as scriptwriter and director, I created the Protective Property Trust animation (part of the Premier toolkit). I’ve been amazed at how popular this has been.
Partnership
Whilst the content for the first stage of The Estate Planner’s Toolkit was nearing completion, I realised that I needed to get the word out there. As a member of the SWW, I was impressed by how The Society of Will Writers developed partnerships with companies who could help their members and have always had high regard for the support given by the technical team. Albeit a little nervously, I took the plunge and arranged a meeting with Anthony Belcher, Director of SWW, to share my business idea with him. I was over the moon to receive a positive response from Anthony and a thumbs up from the technical team who approved the content. The Estate Planner’s Toolkit officially gained endorsement by the Society of Will Writers in early 2020. I must also give credit to Paula Finch for her support.
Gaining momentum
Getting those first sales for any business is always a nail-biting first challenge!
Eight months in, I have been so pleased to hear stories about how The Estate Planner’s Toolkit is helping fellow will writers up and down the country.
I will be forever grateful to my customers who were not only the early adopters of the Estate Planners Toolkit but were kind enough to promote on Linked In and give online reviews etc
I would also like to thank the Chairs of regional meetings who have allowed me to introduce The Estate Planner’s Toolkit to SWW members.
What’s next?
We are actively developing new content for The Estate Planner’s Toolkit and would love to hear your ideas on what may help your business.
Come along to the exhibition stand and have a chat (not forgetting to enter the champagne prize draw!) or send your ideas by email to [email protected]
Article by Claudine Jackson LLB Hons TEP Member of The Society of Will Writers and STEP
