Category: Business

  • How to find a good niche

    How to find a good niche

    In business, finding a niche that can supply enough revenue is important. More entrepreneurs than ever are realizing the importance of finding a narrow set of customers and catering their products or service to them. This allows you to focus your efforts on being great at a few things, rather than mediocre at many. But how do you find your ideal target market? This article will get you started by telling you how to find a good niche.

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    Research

    This stage is probably the most important and most overlooked part of finding a good niche. Many entrepreneurs try to take a shortcut by spending very little time on this part of the process. Some don’t do any research at all. Don’t make the same mistake. Instead, use the amazing (and free) tools available to conduct market research. For example, Google’s Keyword Planner allows you to enter a set of keywords and see the search volume for those terms. By analyzing traffic and then searching the web for competitors, you can see if a given keyword is worth pursuing. Instead of wandering around in the dark, save yourself countless hours by conducting great research upfront.

    Track Behavior

    Once you’ve found a niche that looks attractive and created a website and brand for your product or service, you will hopefully get your first customers. It’s important to be prepared for visitors and customers by installing tracking software on your website. Luckily, Google has a free service for this as well called Google Analytics. It only takes a few clicks to set up, and it allows you to see where visitors are from, how much time they spent on your site, and at what point they left your site. With this newfound information, you can tweak your product or service to align with the behavior of your visitors. This way, you can adapt to new sub-niches that may be more profitable than your original idea.

    Evolve Your Idea

    Now that you’ve done research upfront, created a site for your product, and analyzed the behavior of the visitors, you’re ready to pivot. You can now evolve your original niche into a better niche based on what your customers click on, read, and buy. Using the above-mentioned tools, you can craft a customized experience for an even more specific set of customers. This is where the real success is. Improving on your first idea allows you to use its strengths without any of the weaknesses. With your new product serving your newfound niche, you’ll be ready to turn on the thrusters and watch the sales come flooding in.

    Gone are the days of trying to appeal to everybody. By focusing on these principles and taking action, you can find the perfect niche and create all the income you need to be successful in your online business.

     

  • Social Media Etiquette: 9 more Quick Tips for Professionals

    Social Media Etiquette: 9 more Quick Tips for Professionals

    With social media, you can connect with business associates quickly and creatively. But this communication mode is not without risk. A thoughtless post can offend customers and other business partners and damage relationships rather than build them. By following a few ground rules you can be confident your comments and posts will be appropriate ones.

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    Check Your Messages for Grammar and Spelling

    Your co-workers and business partners evaluate your communication skills so don’t send a message until you check it for grammar and spelling. This is easily done if you prepare your social media messages in a Word document before making them public.

    Consider the Possibility that Your Message Might Offend Someone

    Before you send a post, consider who has access to your profile and if it will matter to you that you shared this information with a certain person or business. If you cringe at the thought of your boss, client, or employee reading and sharing your message, it’s best to delete the message.

    If You’re Feeling Needy, Disguise It

    Refrain from asking Twitter followers to retweet a tweet or Facebook friends to like a page. Instead, make the effort necessary to find an enticing way to accomplish those tasks.

    Share the Observations of Others

    A key benefit of social media is that it grants immediate access to a diverse group of people willing to share their expertise. So share the posts and tweets of others, rather than limiting your content to your own commentary. In the process, give credit where credit is due by including their network handle and name in your message. Also, by sending a ‘thank you’ to those whose work you enjoy, you might create a valuable connection.

    Ask May I Before Tagging

    Because a photo is a flattering one of you, doesn’t mean it’s an equally flattering of others. So be considerate and don’t post photos and tag friends if the photos are ones the other subjects are unlikely to share with others. And never relay a conversation on your Facebook wall without asking the permission of all involved.

    Limit Your Use of Hashtags

    A hashtag is a way to group your tweets and posts of similar content so those in need of information about a particular topic can find it. But refrain from creating a hashtag for multiple words in a post.

    Don’t Use the Automated Direct Message Tool – Ever

    If it’s worth saying, it’s worth saying well to a specific person or group. So never send automated direct messages to anyone for any reason.

    Be Transparent

    If an issue arises that leads to a burst of activity on social platforms, don’t delete the comments and become defensive. Instead, post a thoughtful and informative response and work diligently to resolve the issue. When a solution is reached, post that information online.

    Engage with your Readers

    Encourage your readers to respond to your comments and posts by asking or answering a question and sharing relevant links. When they do so, reciprocate by ‘liking’ their posts or commenting on their tweets.

    Social media offers a way to quickly and creatively connect with business partners who can be hard to reach. Unfortunately, these social platforms provide many opportunities to offend others in a variety of ways, including conveying extremely personal information in this very impersonal way. But you can avoid this and other faux pas by adhering to a few simple rules of social media etiquette.

  • Killer CV or CV? 5 Blunders That Could Kill Your Chances

    Killer CV or CV? 5 Blunders That Could Kill Your Chances

    Your CV is one of the most important documents you will ever create but a single mistake could send all that hard work straight to the recycle bin. Hiring managers and HR executives sort through hundreds of CVs for every job opening. That means they may spend only a few seconds on each one.

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    If you make any of these 5 blunders, you could be dooming your chances of getting the job.

    1. Fancy Fonts

    Your CV should be polished and professional, not showy. Even if the job you are seeking has a creative bent, your CV is not the place to show off your artistic talents. Avoid fancy fonts, unusual colors, clip art, and other flourishes – they take more from your CV than they add.

    2. Misspelled Words and Grammatical Errors

    No matter what your past accomplishments, misspellings, and grammatical errors are sure to send your CV straight to the trash. With so much on the line, there is simply no excuse for sending out a CV that is not letter-perfect.

    3. A Lack of Accomplishments

    Your future boss does not want to know what your daily duties were. He or she wants to know what you were able to accomplish in the past and what you can bring to the organization in the future. Your CV should focus on what you have been able to achieve thus far in your career, and the skills you will use to build more in the future.

    4. Not Using Keywords

    The first person to read your CV may not be a person at all. Search engine robots and automated systems are often used to sort CVs and look for key job skills. If your CV does not include the keywords the robot is looking for, the document may never make it to human eyes. If you do not know which keywords to include, just take your cue from the job description.

    5. Going On and On

    Your CV should not tell your life story, and it certainly should not resemble a novel. Keep your CV short and sweet; limit it to a single page wherever possible. The goal is to make the CV easy to read, even for hiring managers who are pressed for time.

    When it comes to landing a job, knowing what to avoid can be even more important than knowing what to do. Learning to recognize and overcome these common CV blunders may not guarantee you the position but it can improve your odds.

     

     

  • Social Media Etiquette: 12 Quick Tips for Professionals

    Social Media Etiquette: 12 Quick Tips for Professionals

    With social media, you can connect with business associates quickly and creatively. But this communication mode is not without risk. A thoughtless post can offend customers and other business partners and damage relationships rather than build them. By following a few ground rules you can be confident your comments and posts will be appropriate ones.

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    Abstain From Posting or Tweeting Certain Information

    If you aren’t sure it’s acceptable to post a certain type of information on social media, it’s probably wise not to do so. For example, it’s best to use a personal mode of communication such as a phone call rather than social media to offer condolences after the death of a colleague or concerns about the illness of a coworker.

    Curb Any Tendency to Over Share

    It’s important to have a consistent presence on your chosen social networks but don’t over-share. Tweeting about six times a day is fine for Twitter but one post a day is enough for Facebook and LinkedIn.

    Adhere to Offline Rules of Etiquette

    Just because you’re communicating via the Twitter or Facebook platforms doesn’t mean you’re free to ignore certain protocols. Regardless of the mode of communication, readers will expect you to adhere to accepted rules of etiquette. So follow social norms, and you’ll avoid the negative outcomes of doing otherwise.

    Unplug When Others Are Present

    Important relationships deserve your undivided attention, so ‘unplug’ from technology during scheduled appointments with clients and colleagues. Doing so demonstrates your respect for these individuals and your willingness to make them your number one priority at a point in time.

    Limit Your Posts to Items of Real Importance

    A social network can provide quick updates on a project’s status and other topics of interest. That purpose is defeated if you post about trivial matters throughout the day. Make sure a post is something of value that will benefit your networks, such as a tip, a status, or a helpful link.

    Carefully Select Your Audience Members

    Be as discerning about the volume and type of information you disclose using social media as you would be in face-to-face communications. To do so, take time to become familiar with a platform’s basic functions, such as how to limit your audience for a particular message.  Being oblivious to the number of people who can read a message doesn’t negate the possible damage that can result from indiscriminate tweets and posts.

    Consider Who Might Be Interested in a Message

    Having four or five hundred friends is impressive only if the people really are valued, business partners. So friend or tweet only those with whom you share common interests or relationships and who will have an interest in your message. When you limit your message recipients, you also limit possible responses to those you can somewhat anticipate. Refrain from ‘friending’ or ‘tweeting’ indiscriminately and you’ll preserve your social media account as the valuable asset it is, rather than a liability.

    Carefully Choose Your Network and Recipients

    Each social platform has a unique syntax and norms and each group is formed based on a particular shared interest. So don’t automatically send the same information – self-promotional or not – using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms. If you choose to share the same information with all networks, tailor the message for each network.

    When it’s Time, Pull the Plug

    Whether your audience will consider a post or comment an appropriate or inappropriate one will depend on its context.  For example, in the midst of a project, team members are likely to be available and responsive to your messages. But once the project wraps up, a 24-7 news cycle is no longer required or appreciated as people will have new priorities and responsibilities.

    Abstain From Posting Personal Information

    With the creation of a social media account comes the possibility that your image as a professional will conflict with your image as a friend or family member.  As a result, you might post a photo or comment that can harm your professional image. So balance your various roles and abstain from posting truly personal information.

    Consider a Reader’s Response to a Message

    Although some companies encourage an employee’s use of social media, it’s likely a business discourages disclosure of insider information that might negatively affect a brand.  Before any post about your company, consider if the post will be helpful or harmful to your company or your standing within a company.

    Issue Timely Responses to Inquiries

    The more targeted the message, the shorter the acceptable response time. Consequently, companies may expect you to answer an email within 24 hours and a phone call much sooner.  Because social media operates in an open forum, messages have a somewhat longer shelf life.

    Social media offers a way to quickly and creatively connect with business partners who can be hard to reach. Unfortunately, these social platforms provide many opportunities to offend others in a variety of ways, including conveying extremely personal information in this very impersonal way. But you can avoid this and other faux pas by adhering to a few simple rules of social media etiquette.

     

  • Using Scarcity to Make More Sales

    Using Scarcity to Make More Sales

    For an online business owner, scarcity is a valuable tool that can turn a failing product into a winner. It is best implemented in a subtle way that does not draw attention to itself, but the urge to purchase remains very potent. Scarcity can be a small part of your sales process that adds some additional revenue, or it can be a major component of your marketing funnel that influences how your product is sold.

    Scarcity in Action

    Most major retailers have an element of scarcity, but it may not be immediately obvious. Amazon, for example, provides stock inventory information, so you are informed if they only have limited availability of the product. It may be the case that they have a whole new shipment coming soon, but if there is only one copy left at the moment, chances are high that you will buy.

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    Of course, sites like eBay have an end date attached to an auction. If the item is rare, there is no way of knowing when it may come up again for auction, so the temptation to purchase becomes harder to fend off. In the real world, closing down sales make all their product inventory scarce. The draw of a bargain, coupled with the fact that the item has become scarce, will encourage more customers to buy.

    How to Implement It

    So how can you use scarcity in your own business? There are various ways to gradually add it to an existing system you have in place, or you can create something brand new which uses it more prominently.

    Adding a stock count, as mentioned above, can be a fairly simple way to get started if you run an online store. In order to check the effectiveness, use an analytics program to ensure it is not having an undesirable result. Limited discounts and deals can be very effective, and you can even run these offers sporadically throughout the year. Holiday periods are great for scarcity deals as they give a ready-made reason for you running the offer. Providing a reason for something being scarce is an important part of the process.

    An example of a brand new use of scarcity is a product launch. Product launches are a regular occurrence in the internet marketing world, creating a huge buzz over a period of a couple of weeks. Regardless of your industry, there is a good chance you can create something that can recreate the product launch techniques. Create a sense of occasion and excitement, build this to a crescendo, then take the product off the market while you take care of your new customers. If your product is of great quality, word of mouth will spread and you can re-launch later in the year.

    Things to Avoid

    While the effect can be extremely powerful, there are some potential pitfalls to using scarcity, particularly when you draw too much attention to it. Faking scarcity is a tactic that can destroy any credibility you have earned, but there are many business owners who still try it. They may use automated countdowns which continually reset based on your cookies or suggest they have a limited bonus for early buyers, but don’t remove this when the allocation has been taken.

    Always keep your integrity, even when the option of scarcity can benefit you in the short term. If you promise that a product will never return to the sale, don’t start selling it again a few months later. Remember the promises you have made to your customers, and be sure to keep them at all costs.

    Get Started Today

    Having looked at scarcity in action, the best ways to implement it, and the things to avoid, try to think of a way to add it to your business as soon as possible. There is probably an instance that could really benefit sales, even if it is subtle and goes unnoticed by most of your audience. The scarcity model is tried-and-tested in business, both on and offline, so make sure it is a tool in your arsenal.

  • How to turn your hobby into a business

    How to turn your hobby into a business

    Thinking about turning your passion into a paying gig? These steps will help you avoid some common mistakes as you set out to earn an income from your favorite pastime.

    Do you have what it takes?

    Unless you’ve run a business before, it’s easy to get carried away with the idea of how perfect it will be to get paid for doing what you love. Reality check: the stress of needing to earn an income from your hobby can quickly take all the pleasure out of it.

    Running a successful business isn’t all a hobby indulgence. Unless you can afford to hire someone to take care of the bookkeeping, marketing and sales, expect to spend a lot of hours on necessary tasks completely unrelated to your true passion.

    Before you start investing in your hobby-to-business idea, take this online quiz to see if running a business is right for you.

    Do your market research

    If you’ve been gifted with the entrepreneurial spirit, you’re ahead of the game. It’s definitely a plus to be able to combine business know-how with your passion.

    The question is, will people pay you for your great idea. If you love to garden, for instance, who will buy your herb garden kids, custom flower arrangements, or green thumb e-books?

    One of the biggest mistakes home-based solopreneurs make is not doing their market research.

    In a nutshell, market research is the process of:

    • identifying potential markets
    • understanding what your customers most want and need
    • matching up your products and services to those needs
    • examining the competition and
    • creating a marketing plan.

    As a pro tip, focus your efforts on a niche that isn’t currently being filled to increase your chances of success. You’ll minimize the competition and cut out unprofitable possibilities by creating a must-have solution designed for a highly specific customer.

    Strategic marketing ideas

    If you’re just starting up, odds are you’ll be running your business on a shoestring. You’ll need to be very selective about how you spend your marketing dollars—which is why it’s so important to know exactly who your customers are off the bat. Then it’s all a matter of making it as easy as possible for those people to find you.

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    A website and social media presence are essential for any small business. Consider craft fairs and trade shows, sponsoring a community event, joining a local business association, or partnering up with a compatible business as low-cost ways to get the word out.

    Final thoughts

    If turning your hobby into a business seems right for you, test the waters for six months to a year before diving in. Running a small, no-pressure side business at first will show you whether your idea has the potential to become a sustainable full-time business—before you quit your day job and invest all your savings.

    Drafting a simple one-page business plan before early on is a great way to help you think through and evaluate your idea, step by step, as you set goals and identify strategies to achieve them.

    Business planning may seem like a lot of work for a small part-time business venture, but unless you have a plan, how will you know when you’ve achieved your benchmark for success?

  • How to create an advisory board for your business

    How to create an advisory board for your business

    Many remarkable entrepreneurs, including Warren Buffet, Sheryl Sandberg, and Richard Branson, have credited their success, in part, to the advice of their mentors.

    An advisory board is an informal group of mentors whose collective business expertise—and objectivity—can help you make better, more informed decisions, thereby accelerating growth.

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    Unlike business consultants (whose fees may well exceed your budget), advisory board members may agree to provide advice pro bono, for a small stipend, meal, or reimbursement of travel expenses.

    These tips will help you create a first-rate advisory board that can immediately help improve your bottom line.

    Selecting board members

    When deciding who you’d like to join your advisory board, think first of your purpose—the goals you most need to accomplish—as well as your own strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur.

    If you want your board to serve in a general business development capacity you’ll want a legal advisor, accountant, marketing expert, and business owner from outside your industry who can meet on an ongoing basis.

    You may also want to bring together an advisory board for a very specific purpose—to solve a problem or achieve a short-term goal. In that case, you’ll be looking for advisors with expertise in a particular area who will meet on the understanding that once your goal is achieved the group will dissemble.

    Tips for finding advisors

    It’s ideal to have between three to five advisors serving on your board who can fill any critical knowledge gaps and offer key business insights.

    When looking for advisors, start with your own business network including any organizations or associations you belong to, your local business community, previous employers and colleagues.

    LinkedIn can help you discover new connections in your area through your business groups as well as the network of people you already know.

    Another option is to ask the business professionals you work with—your accountant, lawyer, or financial advisor—if they can suggest any good candidates for your advisory group.

    Get the most out of each meeting

    Plan to meet with your advisory board regularly—at least every quarter. If you meet any infrequently than every few months you’ll risk losing focus and momentum.

    Between meetings, it’s wise to send along relevant interim reports to keep your group informed and engaged. Likewise, you’ll want to distribute any relevant documentation—business plans, financial statements, and other reports—in advance of each meeting to generate more productive discussions.

    Although advisory meetings can be quite informal, drafting an agenda can save time and help maintain focus when your advisory board gets together.

    Final thoughts

    Working with an advisory board can yield some appealing side benefits. You may find the preparation required before a meeting helps keep you thinking analytically about your business and encourages you to keep striving toward your goals.

    Your board’s network of connections can also be an advantage when you’re looking for capital, partners, vendors, experts—or even new customers.

    A small business with an advisory board may also be less risky for potential lenders, who may be reassured that a business owner isn’t making all the key decisions on her own.

  • Email Etiquette: How to Respond to Rude Email

    Email Etiquette: How to Respond to Rude Email

    The worst thing about a rude message is the author presuming you’ll respond to a complaint or request when his communication lacks any hint of civility.

    When confronted with an obvious violation of good manners, you can easily delete the email without upsetting anyone who is aware of politeness standards. You can also punt the request to a co-worker, but that would make you the bad guy. It’s best to respond but take certain steps to ensure your response is a solicitous one, and then move on to other, more pleasant tasks.

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    Delay Your Response to the Email

    To ensure you don’t send a scathing reply in response to the offensive email, close the message after you read it, flag it for follow-up and move on to another task.  This will help you focus on something else, rather than sit and simmer about the rude email. When you deal with the message later, after you’ve had a chance to separate the subject of the message from its tone, you’ll be better prepared to create a congenial and rational response, rather than an emotional one.

    Use the Text Expansion Utility

    If you can’t just delete the rude email, but rather must issue a response, don’t over-invest in the process. The text expansion utility can help you in this regard. The utility will automatically enter long blocks of text that you create in advance based on a few keystrokes that you type. By limiting the time you commit to your response, your emotional investment will be less as well.

    Create a Neutral Response

    It might be tempting to send a rude email in return, but remember the goal of the sender may have been to get your attention and perhaps make you angry – so it’s best to ignore the person and handle the issue. If you allow yourself to be baited, things may get worse.

    After waiting a few hours to respond, you’ll be able to focus on the problem or issue that was the origin of the email rather than its tone. Identify an appropriate solution and convey the information to the originator of the rude email.

    If you can’t solve the problem, tell them so and the reason you can’t. If appropriate, tell them you’ll convey their concern to the appropriate department or person for handling.

    Review the Email Twice, Then Send It

    It’s best not to transmit an email unless you’ve had the time to review it carefully first. While some messages contain so few words that it would be difficult to misinterpret their intent, a reader can easily misconstrue a lengthier one. So study the message carefully, particularly if the subject is a delicate one. When you’re confident your message is a helpful and amiable one, send it.

    Move On to the Next Task

    People tend to mull over issues even after they’ve dealt with them. But there’s nothing you can do about a person who chooses to send a rude email. Spare yourself the frustration by issuing your response to the offending message and then moving on to another message or work task. You have more important issues to deal with and more gracious people to help.

     

     

     

  • Do you share this habit with the world’s most successful business leaders?

    Do you share this habit with the world’s most successful business leaders?

    What do Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, and Arianna Huffington have in common? All of these smart, savvy, successful business leaders share a passion for self-improvement through reading.

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    If you want to improve your skills as a business owner, why not spend a bit of time each day reading books that guide you to greater success?

    This reading list of 4 inspiring business books will help you get started:

    • “Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-being, Wisdom and Wonder” by Arianna Huffington
      President and Editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, Huffington is the author of fourteen books including this best-selling guide to a more healthy and rewarding life. Drawing on the latest scientific research, she demonstrates how we all benefit personally and professionally when we forgo traditional measures of success in favour of more mindful living. Check out Huffington’s Ted Talk with simple advice on how to succeed.
    • “Screw Business As Usual” by Richard Branson
      Founder of Virgin Group (which currently controls more than 400 companies), Richard Branson is also known for his philanthropic ideals. In this unusual business book Branson shares his unique vision for the future of business, arguing for a radical shift from a singular focus on profit to a more caring approach to decision-making that puts people, communities, and the planet first.
    • Winners and How They Succeed” by Alastair Campbell
      Selected by Richard Branson as one of his list of 70 must read books, this guide to what it takes to succeed was authored by Tony Blair’s chief spokesman and strategist. Based on in-depth interviews with successful athletes, entrepreneurs and global leaders, Campbell identifies four key traits shared by the world’s most successful people. Learn how you can cultivate a winning mindset and achieve your goals with Campbell’s blueprint for winning.
    • “Persuasion: A New Approach to Changing Minds” by Arlene Dickinson
      Best known for her role as an investor on Canadian reality show Dragon’s Den, Arlene Dickinson started out in business as a 30 year old divorcee and single mom before becoming partner and CEO of Venture Communications. In her autobiographical rags to riches story she shares what she’s learned about success along the way—in particular, the lost art of communication in the digital age.

    Final thoughts

    It’s a well-known fact that Warren Buffet used to read between 600 and 1000 pages per day at the start of his investing career and still devotes 80% of his day to reading.

    If you still need extra motivation to make daily reading a habit, consider the many benefits to your health and wellbeing.

    In addition to helping you build a more successful business, reading has been shown to enhance empathy, confidence, and improve decision-making—and can help combat stress, depression, and dementia.

  • How to Survive the Emotional and Financial Devastation of a Job Loss

    How to Survive the Emotional and Financial Devastation of a Job Loss

    The loss of a job is one of the most devastating things a person can go through. The results of a job loss can be long lasting and the implications go far beyond the financial. While losing your job will most likely put your financial life at risk, the emotional consequences can be just as damaging.

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    When you consider that most of us spend more time at our jobs than anywhere else, the sudden loss of employment can mean losing our identity as well as our paycheck. If you’ve just received the unwelcome news that you will not be returning to work tomorrow morning, you need to step back, evaluate your situation and find a way to move on.

    Stop Panicking

    The first thing you should do when you lose your job is to stop panicking. Losing your job is devastating, but the loss is a temporary one. Life will go on, and you will most likely find a suitable position sooner rather than later.

    There is no reason to panic at the sudden loss of a job. Panic can blind you, and that can be just as dangerous as the loss of a paycheck. We tend to make poor decisions when we let our emotions get the best of us. No matter how hard it may be the best strategy is to detach emotionally and let your brain take the lead.

    Gather Your Resources

    The immediate aftermath of a job loss can be very difficult, but how you handle the first couple of days can make all the difference in the world. Now is the time to gather your resources and start your job-hunting strategy. If you still have access to the email addresses and contact information of your former colleagues, record that data as soon as you can. Your former co-workers can be valuable resources going forward, but you will want to give yourself a few days to cool off and take stock.

    You can use that time to start building your online network and get ready for the job search to come. If you do not already have a LinkedIn profile, now is the time to create one. If you already have a profile, spend the next few days polishing it. Take the time to update your resume and post it online. Make sure the information is up to date and that the document meets the recommended formatting guidelines.

    Assess Your Monthly Expenses

    The sudden loss of a regular paycheck can be financially devastating but taking some proactive steps now can reduce the pain substantially. Grab your checkbook, pull out your monthly bills and do some serious financial planning.

    You may not be able to afford a high-end mobile phone bill and you may need to stop eating out for a month or two or kick your morning Starbucks habit. Making a few temporary changes now can reduce your expenses and make surviving on unemployment a lot easier. You may even find that you do not miss the fancy phone or daily latte. If so, making your temporary changes permanent could give you more money to save and invest once you do find a new job.

    Get What You Have Coming

    Most large companies offer laid-off workers some sort of severance package but the rules are not written in stone. If your tenure with the company was a positive one, you may be able to negotiate a much better severance package than the one you were originally offered.

    Do not be in a hurry to sign your exit paperwork; that impatience could cost you a lot of money. Take the time to read the documents carefully and negotiate a better package if you can. Whether you negotiate a longer severance period, company-paid health insurance, or both, you will put yourself on the firmer financial footing and reduce the stress of your sudden unemployment.

    Stop Blaming Yourself

    Most people will suffer an involuntary job separation at some point in their careers. Losing your job does not mean you were not a good worker or that you are not worthy of respect. Stop beating yourself up and place the blame where it belongs –on the financial conditions that forced the company you worked for to cut back.

    Even if the job loss was partially your fault, you can learn from the experience and be a better worker going forward. It is easy to be defensive when faced with an unexpected termination but paying attention to the reasons and moving forward is the best strategy.

    Nothing can fully soothe the emotional and financial devastation of a job loss, but making the right moves now can make recovery faster and easier. Whether your job was an integral part of your life or just a way to pay the bills, you can recover your financial independence and your dignity. In the end, you may end up with a much better job and a more secure future.

  • What is your succession plan?

    What is your succession plan?

    According to recent research, a staggering two-thirds of US millionaire-owned businesses are operating without a succession plan—and even fewer small business owners around the globe are prepared for their CEO’s eventual exit.

    Recent stats from PWC Global show that family-owned businesses are no more prepared: 43% don’t have a succession plan in place, and only 12% survive to the third generation.

    No matter whether your company has one employee, a hundred or a thousand, a succession plan is essential to minimize the risk of financial loss.

    succession planning

    Read on to help prepare for a stress-free transition when it’s time to sell or transfer ownership of your business.

    Define your objectives

    The starting point for any succession plan is a reflection on your long term goals, both personally and professionally.

    Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? What would you like your retirement to look like? Who are the best people to take over if you have to step away from the business suddenly – and how can you best prepare them for the task?

    Once you’ve tackled the big picture questions, your next step is to seek planning advice from your lawyer, accountant, wealth management, and business advisors.

    At the same time you’ll be able to start grooming your predecessor and training your employees for a smooth transition when you leave.

    Tips for successful succession planning

    Most entrepreneurs find it daunting to think about everything they’ll need to do before they can leave the company they’ve worked so hard to build. It takes time to create a useful, well-thought-out succession plan—so start early, and don’t rush the process.

    One of the most important elements of succession planning is clear and timely communication. Be sure to keep key stakeholders, business partners, employees, and family members involved in the planning process early and often.

    Set a reasonable timeline for the creation of your succession plan and try your best stick to it. Once you have a plan in place, schedule a review on a yearly basis. It’s always wise to have contingency plans in place in case any sudden life changes require an unexpected exit.

    Many business owners time an annual review of their business plan along with a review of their succession plan to ensure both are always up to date.

    Final tips

    A wealth of information is available online for small business owners ready to start succession planning. Free and low cost tools—including this self-paced e-course—can help you get started and stay on track throughout the process.

    Although it’s impossible to predict how long it might take for a small business to sell, a good guideline to keep in mind is two to five years. In addition to the other professionals you’ll want to consult as you draft your succession plan, you may want to consider the services of a business broker.

    Ask your business colleagues for a referral to a local broker with experience in your industry. A good broker can really streamline the sales process and maximize the perceived value of your business to buyers.

    It can be heart wrenching for a business owner to walk away from their company, and some entrepreneurs will plan to stay involved in some way for a few months—or indefinitely. Many find maintaining an ongoing role in their business can mean a more satisfying, and financially stable, retirement.

  • 5 Tips to Improve the Conversion Rate on Your Site

    5 Tips to Improve the Conversion Rate on Your Site

    If you want to increase sales on your e-commerce site, you should not only focus on traffic but also on your conversion rate. The higher your conversion rate, the more money you can make with the same number of visitors. Here are five tactics to help you increase your conversion rate.

    Test

    Testing is an important part of improving your conversion rate. Split testing can help you determine what aspects of your content influence conversion. You will need to create two different versions of your page and monitor which version garners more sales.

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    Use clear language

    It is important to use clear language on your site and avoid jargon. Customers should be able to easily understand the products and services you sell when they visit your website. You should provide as much detail as possible about your offering to encourage customers to make a decision on the spot. If they need to visit other sites to get more information, chances are that they will not come back to your site to complete the purchase.

    Gain trust

    Trust is important if you want a customer to purchase from you. Visitors are more likely to make purchases from a site that appears professional and clean. Make sure that you have a proper privacy policy, terms and conditions page, and shipping information on the website. People also like to have a phone number through which they can contact you. Having all this information available makes your company appear professional and helps you increase your conversion rate.

    Offer payment options

    You should make sure that you have different payment options available. This will ensure a wider target market. Many customers will abandon their purchase if they find that your site does not accept their desired payment method.

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    Allow returns

    People feel more comfortable completing a purchase when they know that they can return the product. The more favorable your return policy is for clients, the higher your conversion rate will be. Take some time to consider reasonable return policies for your site and make sure you display the information prominently.

    Knowing what your conversion rate is and continually striving to improve it is an important aspect of online business. Implementing some of the strategies discussed here should help you boost your conversion rate, and hence the profitability of your business.

  • How to Create a Personal Brand

    How to Create a Personal Brand

    The words ‘personal brand’ is still somewhat controversial, and carry an unfortunate cast of self-promotion and vanity. The truth is that personal branding is more important than ever in the job market, and those without a clear personal brand or mission to create one are lagging behind the competition.

    Business

    What is a personal brand?

    How you present yourself has always been important in the workplace. In the corporate heyday, it was established that to get a good job and be considered for promotion, you had to dress, speak and act appropriately for the company with which you were employed. Consider this the forerunner of the personal brand; now you simply are creating an impression of yourself that companies want to hire.

    Though companies are growing ever larger, there is more competition for fewer jobs; yet rarely does someone stay in a job for more than a few years. This makes it vital to ensure you always look employable to other companies and remain visible within your own organization. You must update your personal brand and create an image of yourself that showcases not only your proficiency in your current job but your transferable skills and achievements.

    Personality versus personal brand

    Do not mistake your personality for what constitutes an attractive personal brand. In the age of social media, everyone is Googling prospective employees and personal information is available at their fingertips. If there are unattractive photographs of you on Facebook, personal details about your family, or complaints about your work, delete them or make them private. Now would be a good time to set up work-only accounts and separate your social and corporate friends lists.

    Promote yourself professionally on the Internet. When creating a profile or website, what photographs are you using? What typefaces and colors do you use? What are you saying? The handwriting font may appeal to you, your favorite color may be baby pink or that picture of you wearing a Halloween costume may show your best side, but ask yourself: would you hire you based on your personal tastes?

    Remember, this is not about changing who you are, but highlighting your best assets.

    Present yourself in your best light

    First, determine what brand you wish to project. Are you an excellent communicator, or highly organized? Highlight successes in these areas and build your reputation by constantly seeking tasks in your workplace that allow you to demonstrate these skills. If you’re not so good at time management or do not work in a team well, work on these valuable skills or convert them to assets by saying you “use a spontaneous approach to problem-solving” or “are independently motivated.”

    Curate a professional image

    Now that you have decided how you will present yourself, translate that into the nuts and bolts of branding. Give your website a makeover, overhaul your social media accounts and even change the way you dress in the workplace. Even small changes like using a different font for emails can present a radically different version of you. Refresh your CV, and focus on the skills you want to use to advance your career.

    Remember that branding is just another word for marketing. You are selling yourself in the workplace every day by making yourself available and preferable for different responsibilities. Do not be afraid to ask for others’ input. Ask managers why they chose you for certain tasks, or ask your co-workers what word jumps into their minds when they hear your name. Reliability? Professionalism? Authority? Or is it something negative? Ask for honesty, and receive criticism with grace.

    You can use personal branding to advance in your current workplace, look for a similar job elsewhere or instigate a complete career change. If you have been working as an office temp and would rather work for a start-up selling ethical cosmetics or alternative clothing, consider your personal brand.

    Communicate the hard skills you learned in your office and do not be afraid to incorporate your hobbies and volunteering experience; if it is relevant to the job you wish to acquire, your personal brand should reflect it. Bold, illustrated CVs and outspoken opinions on social media have their place if they align with the company’s image and goals.

    Personal branding is a powerful tool ­– you can use it to your advantage or to your detriment. Use it wisely, and it might be the most important thing you ever did for your career.

  • Identify your break-even point

    Identify your break-even point

    Without knowing your break-even point, you can’t make informed business decisions.

    To cover the costs of your business you need to sell enough goods or services to reach your break-even point. Knowing where that point is, and how long it will take you to reach it, can be fundamental to your success. This is especially true if you’re thinking about starting or buying a business.

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    Calculate fixed and variable costs

    The first step is to establish your fixed and variable costs.

    Fixed Costs

    Fixed costs are bills your business always has to pay, regardless of its level of sales. Also known as overheads, they could include:

    • Salaries for permanent staff.
    • Rent on your premises.
    • Insurance.
    • Interest on debt.

    Variable Costs

    These are costs that increase with your levels of sales – materials and production costs are two examples. Others include sales bonuses, part-time wages, and freight.

    Now work out:

    • The total fixed costs bill for the year.
    • An average overall variable cost for each product or service sold (the Variable Cost per Unit).

    Some bills might be a combination of fixed and variable costs, such as a phone bill split between a line cost and toll call charges. Separate these bills into fixed and variable parts for greater accuracy.

    If breaking them up is too time-consuming, choose which element is greater in the bills and classify it as that. For example, if you don’t make many calls to mobile phones or outside your local area, you’d classify the phone bill as being fixed.

    Determine your break-even point

    Let’s assume you manufacture shoes with the following details:

    • Budgeted fixed costs of $60,000.
    • The average cost to make a pair of shoes is $110.
    • The average sale price per pair of shoes is $250.

    Calculating your break-even point requires the use of a few formulas:

    1. Sales Price per Unit ($250) minus Variable Costs per Unit ($110) = Contribution Margin per Unit ($140).
    2. Contribution Margin per Unit ($140) divided by Sales Price per Unit ($250) = Contribution Margin Ratio (0.56).
    3. Fixed Costs ($60,000) divided by Contribution Margin Ratio (0.56) = Break-even Sales Volume ($107,142).

    Based on these calculations, if you sell more than $107,142 of shoes you’ll make a profit. That equates to 429 pairs.

    Breakeven

    Using your break-even point

    Once you’ve worked out your break-even point, the next step is to work out whether the sales volume you’ll need to break even is realistic and achievable.

    You can also use your break-even calculation to see the effect of changes in costs on your business. If you were able to source cheaper materials and reduce the variable cost per pair of shoes, you’d need to sell fewer pairs to break even.

    If your sales remained the same, you’d make more profit.

    To be of real value to you, your fixed and variable costs calculations need to be accurate. Putting inaccurate figures into your break-even calculations will give you an inaccurate result. It’s worth investing time to work out your figures accurately.

  • Tips for more productive meetings

    Tips for more productive meetings

    Increasing efficiency and minimizing costs is essential to running a profitable business. Yet many small business owners waste countless hours on meetings that lack focus, run on too long, and pull staff away from more productive tasks.

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    Follow these seven tips to make your meetings more efficient and cost-effective.

    What’s your goal?

    Every meeting should have a clear objective, and a reason the meeting is needed (versus an email or informal conversation). Your meeting goal should be focused – see if you can state its purpose in five words or less. One study showed that a simple, brief statement outlining a meeting’s objective can reduce meeting length by 17 minutes.

    Draft an agenda

    Outlining a meeting’s discussion points in advance can keep everyone on track at the meeting. If it seems the discussion is veering off course, any attendee can point to the agenda as a reminder of your objectives. Distributing an agenda a few days in advance with supporting paperwork can help everyone arrive prepared.

    Invite the right people

    The cost of including staff in meetings for which they have no stake in the outcome is costly. This infographic suggests the annual cost of wasted time in work meetings is approximately $37 billion in the US alone. Consider including only those directly responsible for carrying out the tasks required in your discussion. You can ask your managers to pass on information to staff later.

    Start on time

    Begin every meeting promptly, no matter what. Those who arrive on time will immediately start to feel restless if they have to wait for others. Schedule meetings for mid-afternoons on Tuesdays rather than 9:00 am on Monday. People need time to get back into gear after the weekend, and by Tuesday afternoon, they’ll have had time to prepare for your meeting.

    Keep it short

    Perhaps business owners set meetings for 30 minutes or an hour out of habit, but the ideal meeting length is somewhere between 15 and 18 minutes. Any longer attention spans wane and productivity drops. Follow your agenda and invite a timekeeper to help everyone stay focused. Your timekeeper can signal when the discussion is running too long, or time is nearly up. When the timer rings, make it clear the meeting is over.

    Ban devices

    Ask meeting attendees to turn their cell phones off, or better yet, leave them at their desks. Devices are an annoying distraction in meetings, and some people find it difficult to stop checking their phones for incoming texts and calls, even when set to silent. Ask staff to leave their laptops at their desks, too. Research shows that conceptual recall improves when we handwrite notes rather than type them. If a record of your meeting discussion is needed, appoint someone to take minutes.

    Facilitate the discussion

    If you’ve invited more than one or two people to a meeting, act as a facilitator, ensuring everyone gets a chance to contribute. Often one or two people do much of the talking in a meeting, but a meeting is most productive when shier personalities share in the discussion, too. Often introverts are highly creative thinkers, but they need encouragement to jump into a discussion.

    Final thoughts

    A final point to consider when scheduling meetings is how long it takes staff to re-adjust to the day’s workflow when they’ve been pulled away from their desks – additional support for the notion that meetings should be brief whenever possible, and only include those that absolutely need to be there.

  • How to find a domain name for your business

    How to find a domain name for your business

    Domain names play a key role in how visitors to your website identify your business. This is precisely why you should spend sufficient time finding the domain name that best suits your brand. But finding a suitable name for your website is not always as simple as it looks: the name you want is already taken, the catchy four-letter domain is too costly, or you may just lack inspiration. Let’s look at how you can mount a successful search for the ideal domain.

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    Buying existing domain names

    If you know the exact domain name you want, but someone else already owns it, you should begin by visiting their site to see what’s there. There is a chance that the current owner runs a similar business to yours and is fully utilizing the domain; in this case, there is little chance of them selling it to you.

    However, there are also many people who invest in domain names as others do in stocks and shares. They buy good names and either leave them idle or set up a generic landing page, often with a link for those interested in buying the name. In this case, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get your ideal name, though you may have to pay a premium price for it.

    A third possibility is that the current owner hasn’t updated the site for a long time. They may have lost interest or their business may have closed, for example, but the site is still online. It’s definitely worth contacting the owner of a lapsed site to see if they will sell the name. You can find their details by checking the WHOIS information for the domain name: every domain must have a contact name and email address to retain registration.

    It is important to understand that shorter names which can be easily pronounced are worth a lot more than long ones. Virtually all common English words have already been registered and demand extortionate prices as well, so you’ll need to be inventive – or willing to spend!

    Generator tools

    If your ideal domain name is unavailable or the price is too much for your budget, you can try looking for variations on the same name. This can be a long, arduous task, requiring hours of sitting in front of your computer, trying to come up with new ideas based on your business, then searching for them to see if they’re available. Thankfully, there’s a quicker alternative!

    Online domain name generators, such as NameBoy or BustAName, create a large number of variants based around your chosen keywords, and they typically check availability as well. The advantages of using these tools are many:

    • They help you find good names for your brand by using prefixes, suffixes and other keyword options
    • They check domain name availability quickly, for all extensions
    • They help you find ideas for names that you may not have considered

    Remember, once you choose a domain name for your brand, it’s very difficult to move to a new one, so choose carefully. You should also be aware of wandering too far from your original idea: generators create so many different names that it’s easy to get distracted!

    Exact match domains and slogans

    The search engines used to give a significant ranking bonus to “exact match domains”. If your domain name matched your site’s keywords, the site ranked higher in search listings for those keywords. In other words, a site called “MakeMoneyOnline” (with any extension) which was built around the key phrase “make money online” ranked a lot better than a similar site with a different name. Recent changes have negated this ranking bonus.

    If your business has a short tagline, you can also consider a longer domain name that still works well with your brand. Great examples are Nike’s “Just Do It” and Apple’s “Think Different”, both of which have been used as domain names to send more visitors to their main sites.

    Whether you’re lucky enough to get the ideal domain name for your business or have to settle for a snappy alternative, always remember that your web address is an integral part of your business and brand. Treat it as an important investment in your future success.

  • Optimizing Your Website for Local Searches

    Optimizing Your Website for Local Searches

    Local search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of any online marketing strategy for traditional businesses which serve a specific geographical area.

    Local SEO works in much the same way as normal SEO, although there are some important differences to consider. Taking the time and trouble to optimize your website for local is essential due to the fact that about a fifth of desktop queries and more than half of mobile searches have local intent.

    To capitalize on this fact, you’ll need to make sure that your website appears in local searches. Fortunately, local SEO is actually somewhat more straightforward than regular SEO, and this is large because it is less competitive.

    Searching Engine Optimizing

    The first step to optimize for local searches is to include your regional keywords, such as the name of your town or city or any other areas which your business services, in the following areas of your website:

    • Your website URLs (particularly for landing pages)
    • Page titles
    • Meta titles and descriptions
    • h1 and h2 HTML heading tags
    • Throughout the content of your site, provided it is relevant and done sparingly

    Any local business should also have a footer that appears on every page of their website. The footer should contain your address, postal code, and phone number. All information must be identical to that of any other online listings you have either on social networks or local directories. You should also provide a link to your Google Local listing.

    Another key element of local SEO is to have appropriate landing pages. Your landing pages should include keywords and phrases referring to your business’s location or service area – just be careful not to overdo it, since Google will penalize sites for over-optimization.

    Businesses that have multiple service areas should ideally have separate landing pages for each one so that people will still be able to find you in Google when carrying out local searches. Each of your landing pages should provide relevant content, including information that is specific to the particular service area it applies to.

    Other Online Resources for Local SEO

    Optimizing your website is only one part of the local SEO process. There are many other important online resources that businesses should use to increase traffic and raise awareness. The most important ones, which any local business should use, including the following:

    • Google Places. The most important resource of all for local businesses, even if you don’t have your own website, is Google Places. Claiming and verifying your business’s listing on Google Places will help enormously in your efforts to appear in local search results, and your business will also appear on Google Maps and mobile devices running Android.
    • Bing Places. Microsoft’s version of Google Places might not be as popular, but it is still too important to ignore. It works in much the same way, allowing you to claim and verify your business’s physical location and have it appear in Bing Maps and on mobile devices running the Windows Phone operating system.
    • Yelp. Yelp is an online urban guide providing local business listings. Yelp recently replaced the rather unsuccessful Apple Maps app for iPhones and iPads, and these devices now use data from Yelp to display local information with their included mapping apps. Given the enormous popularity of iPhones, the advantages of getting listed on Yelp should be obvious.
    • Foursquare. The number one location-based social media website, Foursquare allows users to find local businesses easily and ‘check in’ to specific locations. Setting up a profile on Foursquare is a quick and straightforward process that will also help you in your local SEO efforts.

    Local SEO is largely about getting listed in local online resources and optimizing your online content both on your website and other platforms in such a way that it makes references to location-relevant key phrases and regional names rather than using generic keywords.

    It’s essential that your business listings be completely consistent across all of the platforms you use, particularly since it won’t be easy or practical to change them later on.

  • Five Undesirable Customer Types

    Five Undesirable Customer Types

    Every businessperson knows that not all customers are created equal. Some customers are loyal, while others will stray if they’re offered a slightly lower price elsewhere. Some clients are demanding, while others only call when they wish to place an order.

    Every business must deal with a variety of customers. But there are certain types of customers who do more harm than good to your business – they drain your resources while adding little to your revenue.

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    Here are five undesirable customer types that every businessperson should learn to recognize.

    1. The customer who returns most of their purchases. Return policies are intended to offer customers a reasonable period of time in which to reconsider the purchase decision. However, some customers abuse such policies. Some buy a product (such as clothing) with the intention of using it only once or twice and then returning it. Others buy two similar items with the intention of comparing them, keeping only one, and returning the other. Such customer behavior increases staffing costs and warehousing expenses, and it can strain your relationships with suppliers.
    1. The customer who makes unreasonable demands on your customer service staff. If every little problem that the customer encounters with a product (such as computer hardware or software) leads to a call to your customer care department, the resulting personnel costs may ultimately exceed the revenue resulting from the original purchase. Customers who behave this way – instead of consulting the instructional documentation and/or the frequently asked questions – also reduce the standard of service available to other customers by clogging the phone lines.
    1. The customer who complains publicly about your company’s products or services. The growing visibility and influence of social media have made this type of customer more dangerous than ever. This is especially true if your business is a large and well-known company. Social media sites like YouTube and Twitter give disaffected customers the means to broadcast their concerns to a very large audience.
    1. The customer unreasonably takes advantage of special offers or incentive deals. If a customer repeatedly signs up for a service to take advantage of a low-priced introductory offer and then cancels when the introductory period comes to an end, the customer is not helping your business succeed. Such customer behavior may be perfectly legal, but it is nevertheless outside the boundaries of appropriate contractual interactions.
    1. The client in a B2B (business to business) supplier arrangement who constantly makes demands of your sales representative, takes advantage of free delivery by placing numerous small orders (in order to reduce inventory costs) or frequently threatens to take their business elsewhere if they don’t get special deals. At a certain point, it is necessary to acknowledge that such clients are more trouble than they’re worth.

    After a businessperson identifies a customer (or client) as undesirable, the next stage is to develop an appropriate response. Where possible, try to educate the customer – in a respectful and courteous manner – about reasonable and acceptable interactions in the marketplace. If this fails, you may have to consider “firing” the customer.

    Shedding your business of undesirable customers has multiple positive impacts – in addition to improving the bottom line, it improves employee morale and allows you to focus more resources on other customers.

  • 8 easy ways to promote events online

    8 easy ways to promote events online

    Online marketing tools make it inexpensive and easy to promote your events online. If you want to expand your business and offer webinars or offline events, these eight tools will create online buzz about your event to a worldwide audience. When interacting with people on the Internet, remember to always act in a polite and courteous manner. Don’t spam invitations or promotions about your event 24, 7. Use common sense and put your best professional foot forward online.

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    Set up a Facebook event – Set up an event on Facebook and invite your friends and fans. Don’t be an annoying spammer and send unsolicited invitations to people you don’t know. Facebook makes it easy to set up events and reach diverse audiences. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you need to sign up for Facebook before you can create an event.

    Create a hashtag on TwitterTwitter makes it easy for you to market your event online. If you host a webinar, create unique keywords that briefly describe your event (i.e. #b2bmarketingwebinar). A hashtag also creates buzz around your event and generates further interest. Include the event hashtag when posting pictures and updates about the event. By using a hashtag, it helps Twitter users find your event when searching for keywords. You can also create and post hashtags on Facebook – include these same Twitter hashtags in your Facebook updates.

    Use LinkedIn as a resource – Create an event and post to your LinkedIn groups. Invite your personal connections, colleagues, former co-workers, etc. Do not blast invitations to people you don’t know as they could report you to LinkedIn as a spammer.

    Send email invitations – Save a tree by ditching the paper invitations. Create a simple, visually-appealing email invitation and email to your contacts list. Use Evite (free online invitations) or a similar free invitation program. This saves you a lot of time and you won’t have to make follow-ups with tedious RSVP phone calls.

    Advertise on free event listing sites – There are free sites that promote event calendar listings. This is very helpful especially if you plan to host a large event in a big city. Some sites allow you to set up the event by city, region, and postal code. Check out the free event listing sites such as Yelp, Eventbrite, Eventful, Tweetvite, and Zvents.

    Write a blog post about your event – Write a short blog post about your event and add the link to your Facebook and/or LinkedIn event pages. Don’t oversell the event, and keep the post brief. Bullet point the key benefits of why your event will be beneficial to your blog readers. Speak to their “pains” – how will your event help them and what problems will it solve? If you plan to take online registrations, make sure to include the link in the blog post.

    Add a banner to your website/blog – Another simple way to promote your event is to advertise a banner on your website or blog. Make the banner visually appealing to quickly capture your audience’s attention. Stick to basic event information such as date, time, location, cost, contact information, and relevant sign-up links. Add a shopping cart feature to your site if you plan to take online registrations. This makes it easy for attendees to sign up via your site.

    Take advantage of cross-marketing opportunities – Create relationships with other industry leaders. Work as a team and promote each other’s events. Their online reach may be larger than your lists so take advantage of marketing resources beyond just social media. It helps if you first develop a genuine, solid relationship before you ask an industry influencer for marketing assistance. It is considered professionally rude to ask them to promote your event, especially if they don’t know who you are.

    By implementing the above internet marketing tools, you can easily expand your event marketing campaign to a large audience, grow your attendees’ list and increase event sales.

  • Using blogs to improve your business

    Using blogs to improve your business

    Showcasing a business online is an increasingly effective tool for attracting new customers. Blogging is a great way to start to communicate with your target audience.

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    Blogs are highly effective tools for sharing your expertise with others, increasing web traffic and brand awareness, and for attracting and interacting with new customers. WordPress and Blogger are free web hosting platforms that make blogging available to businesses of all sizes.

     

    What is a blog?

    It’s best to think of a blog like an online journal – a web page made up of chronological posts published at regular intervals. Unlike personal journals, blogs have a comments box accompanying each post. This element provides feedback and creates a direct link with readers, sometimes generating a hotbed of discussion that drives repeat traffic.

    Blogs first drew widespread attention in 1999, around the same time web-hosting tools became commonly available. Since then blogging has snowballed, with The Nielsen Company estimating that there are now more than 170 million blogs online worldwide.

    The benefits of business blogging

    Blogging is a low-cost, easy way to establish a presence on the Internet, start communicating with existing customers, and find potential new customers.

    A blog can be a powerful channel of communication to share business-related knowledge with a large audience. They’re generally shorter than articles making them easy to read, topical, and sometimes lighthearted.

    You can answer Frequently Asked Questions on your blog. It’s both useful for your readers and saves you from having to answer questions by email.

    You can also share business news, advise people when your website has been updated with new information, promote sales or discounts, encourage people to sign up for newsletters, provide sneak previews of what’s coming up, or even run contests to generate some interest.

    How to start blogging

    To start blogging, you’ll need a computer, an Internet connection, and a web host to host your blog. You can either add a blog to your website or cut your teeth using one of the free blog options like Blogger or WordPress.

    It won’t take you long to set up an account, choose a blog name and start blogging. Define your target audience – people who’ll read your blog and why. That’ll help you choose an appropriate name and description for your blog site.

    Before you invite everyone to comment on your first blog post, take some time out to plan your blogs. How often are you going to post on your blog? One of the keys to successful blogging is consistency. What are you going to blog about? Brainstorm ideas ahead of time and plan your blogs in advance each week.

    Basic rules of blogging

    There are a few basic rules of blogging that’ll get you up to speed:

    • Put time aside to blog regularly. The most successful blogs put out new content at least a few times a week and stick to a regular schedule.
    • Blogs are part of the social media mix. They’re about online conversations not promoting your product. You want your content to be personal and engaging.
    • People expect blogs to be open, honest, and personal.
    • Cross-promote your content over various social media channels. If you’ve just posted a new blog entry, tweet about it on Twitter and link to your Facebook page.
    • Keep your writing short and make it easy to scan. Most people will scan your posts before they decide whether they will read them or not. This means writing short sentences, using subheadings, and avoiding long blocks of text. You should also make use of images and bullet points, and highlight keywords.

    With these handy tips, you’ll be able to begin blogging with the aim of improving your business.