The Lady in the Shed

Offering a comprehensive range of productivity, marketing and technology solutions to small rural businesses

Productivity, marketing and technology solutions for small businesses in the rural sector

With over 20 years’ experience working in the agriculture, equestrian, animal nutrition, veterinary, animal care, education and arboriculture/forestry sectors, I’m able to offer a wide range of business and marketing solutions that are invaluable to busy sole traders and small businesses looking to grow and move forward.

If you prefer to hand tasks over and know that they’re done, I offer ‘done for you’ services. However, I’ve found that many people like to know how to do things themselves regardless of whether they eventually delegate the task to some one else. If that’s you, my mentoring and training services will be ideal for you. These can take place either face to face if you are in the Burton-on-Trent/Uttoxeter area or over Zoom if you are based further afield.

"Working with Sarah is incredible, she enables me to simultaneously and effectively manage several roles. She is responsive and always positive, practical and solutions focused. Her work is of the highest quality and I can trust her to deliver in a timely and responsive manner."

Carolyne Crowe - Vet, Coach, Trainer, Speaker

"Sarah represents a rare blend of skill and knowledge. I could not afford to employ someone of her calibre and experience full time. However, by working closely with her on a part time basis I receive a consistent, high quality service. I particularly like her ‘can-do’ attitude and the flexibility she offers as my work stream is hard to predict on a weekly basis."

Ben Bennett - Arboricultural Consultant

"Sarah is very organised, thorough and works well using her own initiative. She is creative and full of ideas and has been a valuable support to myself and my business over the last few years."

Lara Heppell - Yoga Teacher, Therapist and Women's Health Practitioner

"OMG I love it [the website]! Sorry to use OMG I’m not normally a fan, but it completely warrants it. I think it looks fantastic."

Sarah Owen - Parent Chair at Brassington Pre-School

"Sarah has provided my business with efficient, professional, friendly and cost-effective services. She is responsive and takes pride in delivering what the customer needs."

Lisa Harrison - Independent Occupational Therapist

"Sarah is a rare find. She is meticulously detailed, incredibly efficient and always helpful. Sarah has been consistently unflappable and has not only helped me to move projects along but has supported me to do so with her calm and professional attitude. I value her views and opinions as much as her skills and have appreciated her intelligent, trustworthy and intuitive approach to everything we have worked on."

Catherine Oxtoby - Patient Safety and Human Factors Advocate for the Veterinary Profession

"I know I can rely on Sarah 100% with any tasks; she's uber organised, business minded, projects are completed on time, and I love it that she questions my decisions when there's another way to look at things."

Victoria Prince - Marketing Consultant and Entrepreneur

"Sarah listens really carefully to the brief and presents her results clearly and in detail. I’d thoroughly recommend Sarah to any small business owner who needs to outsource their research."

Pete Mosley - Coach, Mentor, Author, Trainer and Speaker

Sarah is one of the most reliable and conscientious people I have ever had the pleasure to work with. She consistently delivers to a high standard and always on time.

Lucy Temple - Freelance Copywriter

"I would not hesitate to recommend Sarah for her work. Her methodical approach and attention to detail are second to none …, always meeting deadlines and delivering on budget."

Beverley Cook - Marketing Executive at NMi

"Your work has been excellent and has taken us forward a long way. It’s a great foundation to build on for the future."

Peter Allen - Former Director of Marketing at the University of Derby

"Her work is of an exceptionally high standard and her attention to detail beyond that of anyone else I have ever worked with."

Debbie Martin - Sales Administrator at Idom Merebrook

Wordpress websites

Every business needs a website. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to do its job.

I can get you online, whether you just need me to create the structure of the website and you add the content and images yourself or you’d like me to do the whole lot. And if you want to take on the management of your website, I can provide you with training too, so you’ll know what to do when I hand your website over to you.

I like to use WordPress as it’s an open source content management system that’s popular and easy to use. And my websites are always built using the premium Divi theme as it’s versatile and beautiful.

I can optimise your website for you too, so search engines will be able to find it, and add Google Analytics so you’ll be able to monitor it and see what works and what doesn’t.

If you already have a website and it’s not doing its job, maybe it’s time for a web audit or usability testing. I’m happy to look at your website for you and suggest where it could be improved.

Digital marketing

Do you want to get noticed and grow your business, but find digital marketing a bit overwhelming and don’t know where to start?

Well, I can help you. I hold the Digital Marketing Institute’s Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Professional Certificate in Marketing and have a wealth of experience of promoting services in both small and large businesses and organisations.

I can help with developing your promotional materials and I can manage the design side too to make sure your brand is consistent.

It’s a nemesis for some, but your social media and online presence are essential to get noticed in the modern marketplace. You’ve probably heard that you must develop your ‘personal brand’ but if you’re really struggling with knowing where to start and maximising the potential of social media or the online tools that are available to you, let me help.

And I can help you to put together your marketing strategy or campaigns.

Email marketing

Building your email list is one of the most important things you need to do as a small business no matter what kind of business you run, whether it’s offline, online, service-based or product-based.

Why? Because it’s a powerful way to build a deeper relationship with both your potential customers and your existing customers, communicate with them and build the know, like and trust factor.

Even though many people do, it’s not a great idea to build your audience solely on social media. What happens if that channel changes or closes down?

Using tools like MailChimp or Mailerlite to keep in touch with the people on your email list is an effective way to provide value to your customers and sell your products and services. And using automations makes it so much easier for you to manage.

Let me help you build your email list and create engaging and informative email newsletters for your customers.

Writing and proofreading

I love to write and I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to spelling and grammar.

I’m an experienced copy writer, editor and proofreader. I passed The Publishing Training Centre’s Proofreading course with Merit and have completed advanced writing training with the Plain English Campaign.

I can create content for a wide range of communications, including adverts, emails, prospectuses, press releases, newsletters, websites and blogs, social media platforms, formal publications, press releases and other assets, such as exhibition stands. And I have a good understanding of the impact of copy on search engine optimisation.

Business systems

Are you in a bit of a muddle? Do you need to put procedures in place to make sure that tasks are carried out efficiently and consistently?

I can help your business to operate more efficiently by working with you to prepare standard operating procedures or best practice documents and guides. Or maybe it’s just a case of streamlining the procedures you’ve already got in place.

I can also create forms and templates to save you time when carrying out your day to day tasks. Maybe you need a standard risk assessment template for something you carry out daily, method statements for your core activities or even a simple checklist for your weekly inspections.

Reports, documents and presentations

I’m a whizz with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and love creating beautifully formatted documents, presentations and spreadsheets that deliver.

Whether it’s something you’ve written yourself that needs tidying up, editing or proofreading or you’d like something researching and drafting out, I’m the girl for the job.

I can create PowerPoint presentations too and document templates to help you maintain consistency and professionalism within your business.