Tag Archives | solopreneur

Social Media – 3 Tips How to Manage Your Time

By on May 9, 2011 in Business Success, marketing

18 months ago, if you had told me I would be attracting new clients to my business from Facebook I would have said you were crazy!  Back then I was not a prolific user of Facebook. In fact, I rarely used it at all. So you can understand how dismayed and annoyed I was when I logged onto Facebook one day and discovered that there in my message box was an invitation from my nephew to his daughters first birthday.  “Who on earth sends an invitation to anyone through Facebook!” I blurted to Murray.  Well, haven’t times changed!

Now, of course, like so many, it’s one of my favourite and most effective ways of staying in touch with family, friends, my clients, business colleagues and people interested in what I do.

I’m now at the point where I can sometimes assume everyone else has a handle on Facebook and the other major social media streams. But as I speak with my clients, it seems that there is still a long way to go in helping everyone to be educated on the benefits and the ease of using Social Media to create credibility, visibility which will attract more clients and grow your business.

I have had months where I can directly attribute over $10 000 of income to Facebook alone. Like it or not, it is here to stay for the time being. Yes, there may be something else around the corner (there always is), but for now it’s important to embrace the fact that there are over half a billion users, and it MUST be seriously and strategically used as a potential way to get more clients to your business.

I read a great book recently “30 Minute Social Media Marketing” by Susan Gunelius.  I want to share some of the steps to getting started ‘right’.

1. Determine Your WHY and be disciplined

What do you want to get out of your social Web participation? Why are you doing it? Are you trying to generate direct sales? Are you trying to offer a form of customer service? Do you want to build relationships with customers and clients and boost loyalty? Which media is the most appropriate for the audience you are trying to target?   Your answers to these questions greatly affect the type of content you publish and the activities you participate in on the social Web.

I’m not sure if you’ve experienced something similar, but many people find themselves running all over the place…. You click on a link that catches your attention, then you find yourself on a new page and something else interests you here and before you know it; several hours have passed!  This is the reason you need discipline. It helps if you schedule a certain amount of time in your day, even set a timer if you need to.  In that limited time you want to check in, do what you need, and then get the heck out.

The time you need to spend will be determined by your focus and goals, but the important thing is to maintain the discipline and not get distracted.

2.  Know your audience:

Where does your target audience spend time online?  It can be overwhelming to try to create a presence on all social media platforms. Determine which is going to be the most effective for your audience and focus on building your presence deep here first.

What kind of content and conversations do the audience members get most vocal about? What kind of information do they want from you?  What do they dislike? Remember, you’re not just publishing marketing messages on the social Web. You need to find out what your audience wants and needs, so you can provide the kind of content they find useful and interesting. However, you also need to be personable, so they actually want to interact with you. Building relationships is one of the most valuable results you can get from effectively using Social Media.

3. Use the Tools Wisely!

I’ve mentioned how important it is to be disciplined and limit your time on social media; so when people see my presence they will often ask “Do you sit on there all day??” – The answer is simply no.  As well as interacting personally regularly throughout the day, I make great use of some tools that will leverage your time in this department.

I really love using Hootsuite but I will share others here with you as well. Hootsuite allows me to manage my personal Facebook profile, my business Fanpage, my Twitter account and my LinkedIn account from one central location. When I say central location, Hootsuite is a web-based application and you do not physically have to login to each individual social media site to “see” what is happening with your account. Hootsuite also has a app for smart phones that you can install on your phone. This allows you to literally manage your social media from anywhere!

Other social media management platforms include TweetDeck, Ping.fm, and a relative newcomer; Social Sprout.

You can never stop listening and learning. For success in social media marketing, you need to be flexible and accept that change is good.

Client Building Action Steps:

  • Identify what you desire from your marketing efforts
  • Use the 80/20 rule – 80% of the time posting non self promotional information and no more than 20% of your time on self promotional activities
  • Create a schedule – allocate specific times of your day to devote to social media marketing – and then stick to it!

Social media should be fun!  If you would still like to learn more about this incredibly simple way to market and grow your business, I’d like to invite you to get a copy of a special FR*EE report I’ve got especially for you. “Learn how to unleash the power of Facebook in your online business.”

Grab your copy:    ==<Click Here>==

 

 

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Blog Traffic

Create A Blog That Others Visit

By on March 8, 2011 in Blog, Business Success, marketing, Uncategorized

Blog Traffic

Create A Blog That Others Visit!

If you’ve ever created a blog before, then you know that the saying, “build it and they will come” just isn’t true. However, you can get more clients interested in visiting your blog by following these five tips…

1. Offer good content.

By “good” content, I mean you should blog about topics that your audience wants to know about. To find out what they want, just follow these steps:

  • Find out what types of information products they’re already buying – then write blog posts on the same topic.
  • Use a keyword tool (like WordTracker) to find out what topics prospects in your niche are looking for.
  • Drop by busy niche forums and other blogs to see which topics are generating the most views and discussion.
  • Survey your readers to find out what they want.

In addition to great content you should use your blog as an opportunity to build relationships with more clients.  Let them see more of the ‘real’ you.

2. Update frequently.

Sometimes  solopreneurs and small business owners start a blog, post a flurry of articles and then abandon the blog for months at a time. If you allow dated posts, then your ideal clients aren’t likely to come back again if they notice that you don’t update regularly.  I’ve noticed myself that I always take note of the dates of the blogs and if there is no new content, I assume the person is not actively servicing their clients or growing their business.

What you need to do is dedicate a set time each week to posting to your blog at least twice a week. If you don’t want to be chained to your blog like this, then create the content ahead of time and automatically “drip” it to your audience using the pre-schedule option  on your website. You can hire a ghostwriter to write articles for you. I do give caution to this option though because it is important that all of your posts are in ‘your’ voice. It will take an excellent writer to be able to sound just like you.  You can hire a Virtual Assistant to help with the actual uploading of the blog posts to your website while you focus on more money making activities.

Point is, you need to post often to keep your blog from looking like a deserted island.

3. Create regular features.

Here’s a great way to turn a one-time visitor into a repeat visitor. Specifically, by creating “regular features” and multi-part blog posts that your visitors can look forward to.

Example: Maybe you create a seven-part article about how to make money with pay per click marketing. And maybe you space it out so that you’re posting one or two articles per week. You can bet that your readers will return at least once a week just to finish reading the series.

Another way to get more visitors is by creating a regular feature, such as a “tip of the week” feature or even a “questions from our readers” feature.

4. Write about hot topics.

One way to get a surge of traffic and increase in your blog is by writing about hot or even controversial topics. You can include relevant keywords and “ping” the blog directories (like technorati.com) to make sure that those who are searching for the hot topic see your post.

Another way to leverage a hot topic is by joining in on the blogosphere conversation. Simply find a popular blog discussing a hot topic, and use a trackback to add your response.

5. Get someone influential to endorse your blog.

Finally, you can get others to visit your blog by first getting someone influential in your niche to endorse you (and your blog). You can do this indirectly, such as by offering to be a guest author on the other person’s blog. Or you can ask your joint venture partners to directly endorse you on their blogs and in their newsletters (and you’ll return the favor).

It’s also a great idea to get a group of like minded friends to agree to all support each others blogs and use the T-L-C method.  That is, Tweet, Like and Comment on each others blogs.  This will make an amazing difference to your Alexa ranking and organic search rankings with Google.

This T-L-C approach is like free advertising. But it’s also extremely powerful, because you’re using social proof to increase your readership.

You just discovered five proven ways to get others to visit your blog – and to visit it again! Your next step is to take action.

Starting today, apply these tips… and then keep an eye on your traffic statistics!

Design Your Profits Action Plan:

  • Commit time to your calendar to produce at least two new blog posts every week.
  • Research topics your target market are already reading and interested in
  • Make up a group of at least three people to regularly T-L-C each other’s blogs

Start right now if you like by giving this blog post some T-L-C.  Tweet and Like are at the top of the post, and the Comment box is here below!

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Client Testimonials

Did you know people are talking about you….?

By on February 28, 2011 in Branding, Business Success, marketing

Client Testimonials

Did you know people are talking about you……?

A big key to getting more clients is to have everyone talking about you.

I’m sure there has been a time in your life when you would not have wanted to be the hot topic of conversation for everyone you met. To hear someone say “Oh, I know all about you…..” would have left you wishing a hole would open up in the floor and swallow you in.  Going back to school days, I was not what you would call a ‘centre of influence” and was more than happy to go about quietly and simply being me, and flying a little under the radar.

That was then…and this is now.  I still go about being ‘me’.  The difference now is that it is music to my ears when people say “Oh, I know all about you!”.

The more people are talking about you, the more your business will grow and grow. Of course I am assuming here that you provide a product or service that is well delivered and gets great results.

Testimonials from past clients are one of the powerful strategies that will increase your credibility.  It is amazing how often I find that small business owners and solepreneurs are afraid to ask for a testimonial from their clients.  You must overcome this fear because it’s an important step in your marketing strategies for getting more clients. Once you reach the point of having many clients who have experienced the brilliant results you can get for them, it’s very easy to find clients who will happily give you a great testimonial.

The biggest problem you might have is the ‘chicken or the egg’ syndrome.  It’s hard for you to get more clients without the testimonials, and yet you can’t get great testimonials until you get some more clients.

Here are some tips to get you off the ground and get great testimonials even if you are just starting up in business.

  • Ask someone that you know well, either personally or professionally, to give a testimonial based on your character, values and knowledge base. This means your prospects can decide if your area of expertise and values align with theirs.  These are often the core reasons why someone will want to work with you.

Let me give you an example.  There was one time when I invested high 5 figures into a mentoring program only to discover    that the core values of the Company didn’t match mine at all.  It was the biggest and most expensive learning curve I have ever had.  But needless to say, values and alignment are the things I check out right at the start when I’m thinking about working with someone either as a client, coach or mentor.

  • Carefully select a couple of ideal clients to experience your service on a scholarship arrangement (you don’t charge them) with the agreement that all you ask in return is for them to provide a testimonial. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
  • Capture comments that get left on your Facebook wall or emails sent to you and use them in your marketing material.  These comments are great because they are completely unrehearsed and truly come from the heart with no ‘staging’ at all.

This form of social proof will be far more valuable to you than the $000’s of dollars you might spend trying to attract new business through paid advertising.  Your testimonials should become a prominent feature on your website, sales pages, You Tube, brochures, flyers, and even on your business cards.   As you implement your strategic marketing plan and this material continues to be circulated, before you know it you will be the hot topic in town!

People will talk about you, so why not capture it and use it to increase your credibility and grow your business?

What should a great testimonial include?

  • What was your clients’ biggest challenge before working with you?
  • How do they see their future now that they have worked with you?
  • What were the three things they most liked about working with you?
  • Do they have any advice for others looking at solving the same problem?

Design Your Profits Action Plan:

  1. Capture some testimonials on video and load them up to You Tube for increased visibility
  2. Save all the emails you get from satisfied clients and use them in your marketing
  3. Check that you have testimonials on every piece of marketing material you have


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Business Cards

Is Your Business Card Anything More Than Dead Wood?

By on February 21, 2011 in Branding, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing

Business Cards

Is Your Business Card Anything More Than Dead Wood?

This week has been a busy week on the networking scene for me so there has been business cards all over the place. Your business card is one of the least expensive forms of advertising you can use and yet it is nothing more than dead wood for many biz owners.

A business card is often one of the first things you rush out and get yourself when you are thinking about getting more customers. This is not a bad thing, it’s just that often, you might not have thought a lot about how to make it into an EFFECTIVE tool that will get you more clients, rather than it being one of the first things that people put into the bin when they clear out their jacket pockets.

Bringing all the elements of a great business card together is something that can be taken for granted.  Just this week, there was someone in my mastermind asking for feedback (great idea) on how to create a great business card.  Then the real eye opener was when I was at a networking function.  Here I am in a room full of esteemed business owners and there was a ‘business card draw’.  You know the kind – all put your cards in and they get drawn out for a variety of yummy prizes. (Unfortunately I didn’t get to be a winner!).  But here are the things I noticed.  Often the organizer had to take several moments and really search around on the card for the persons name or who they represented; and, a majority of the business cards were blank on the back.  This really upsets me!  So much so, that I felt compelled to share with you the key elements of a GREAT business card to you can send yours out there to work FOR your business, rather than being bin fillers.

Are you getting the most out of your cards? Ask yourself:

  • Is my business card easy to read? – When a potential client looks at your card can they find your name and phone number without squinting?
  • If your business name is not self explanatory about what you do, then use a ‘tag line’ or description of the results you can get for your prospects.
  • Does your card include a picture of yourself?  People buy from people they know, like and trust.  By having a picture of yourself of your card means that it is much easier for someone to remember who they were actually talking to instead of giving your business name or business logo the majority valuable space on your card.
  • Can a potential client find your main phone number on the card? Do you really need all those phone numbers? If you get 1 fax a month, dump the fax number off the card. If you don’t have a storefront, consider dropping the street address.
  • Is the information correct? – Don’t cross out and write over on your cards, spend the money and have them reprinted. It makes you look unprofessional.
  • Should I print on the back of the card? ABSOLUTELY!  This is the perfect spot for you to include some ‘pull’ marketing questions like:

“Are you serious about putting more money in the bank?”

“Would you like to take years off your age?”

“How great would it be to find an extra 2 hours in every day?”

Other things to include on the back if space is available:

Testimonials

The back of your card is also a great spot to direct prospects to you FREE offer on your website.

  • Is the text readable? If you vary from a white background make sure the text color is still legible. Black letters on blue backgrounds don’t make for easy to use cards. And don’t use scrolled fonts or italics, both of which can make text difficult to decipher.
  • Avoid scribbling information all over a business card in front of its owner.  This can be seen as a lack of respect.  If you need to write a short note on the card, do it after you have both parted.

Make it your plan to collect more cards than what you give out.  You’ll get much better results by being interested in how you can help others rather than selling yourself and shoving a business card into every hand that is open.  Collecting cards will mean you can be in control of the follow up.

I like to think of business cards as ‘little soldiers’ that are working on your behalf to get your more clients even long after you have given them out.  People can pass them on to others and you have no control over how far they can go. So it only makes sense that they are well designed, accurate and informative.  After all, how exciting is it when the phone rings and someone says “I got given your card by a friend and would like to talk about what you can do”!

Your Client Building Task For The Week:

  • Check every piece of information on your business card to make sure it is accurate
  • Does your card tell people what you do for them or is it all about you?
  • Do you have a ‘call to action’, Eg:  Call NOW to… ,  Go to www…. To collect your…

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Speaking Effectively Using The 4 C’s

By on February 17, 2011 in Branding, Business Success, marketing, Sales Skills, Uncategorized

I know you  might be one of those people who simply detest the idea of speaking in public. But the fact is that you are ALWAYS speaking, even if you didn’t realize it!  Whether you are talking with a friend, meeting someone new at an event, or posting comments on Facebook or Twitter, you are speaking.

When you are talking at a function, in the school playground, in a group or on Facebook or Twitter – you are ‘speaking’  you just might not have recognized it.

Every time you speak, you represent your business, so I want to share with you the 4 C’s you MUST use every time you open your mouth! I learned these great tips from my mentors Carrie  Wilkerson and Paul Evans.

Watch this short video – and I also share some of my story that you may not already know….. Have a great day :-)

What Did You Think? Please leave us a comment!

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Speaking for Credibility

Get Known and Get Clients

By on February 14, 2011 in Branding, Business Planning, Business Success, marketing, Sales Skills

Speaking for Credibility

Get Known and Get Clients

Are you up all hours of the night wondering when you’ll ever get yourself noticed by the rest of the world?

It can be really frustrating when you think that there are other people in business who seem to have all the ‘buzz’ around them and you are still trying to get just a few more clients.

Maybe you don’t feel confident enough in your ‘expertise’ to get out there in a big way and get the ‘buzz’ happening.  Let me ask you this question – Are you are happy in your product or service and how you can deliver and get the results you say you can?  Then this is one way that will give you credibility and confidence quicker than you think.

Some of you are going to cringe when I say this… but I have no doubt in my mind that speaking is one of the best ways I know to get more clients and gain credibility. Now before you shut off and say “Oh I couldn’t possible speak!” I want you to hear me out.  When you know who your ideal audience is, it’s a brilliant opportunity for you to give a workshop, seminar or being a guest speaker about your topic and how to solve it.

Think about it.  If your ideal client has a dilemma and you are offering up information on the solution, it only makes sense that they would come to the event or listen to what you have to say.  And once they hear what you have to say, you suddenly have a room full of people who are going to create buzz around your topic.

There are many opportunities for you to offer yourself as a guest speaker.  It doesn’t have to be to a big audience, you can start out very small.  There are associations and groups that your ideal client is part of that you can approach.  Many of these groups are just tearing their hair out trying to find great guest speakers, so you are in fact helping them out.

As you decide on your topic, develop what’s called a ‘Signature Talk’.  This will be a talk that you can give over and over again with slight variations depending on who your audience is.  It’s one that you can feel comfortable with and can really master. It also means you don’t have to prepare completely brand new content every time you speak. With time, you will actually become very well known for your Signature Talk and start to attract large audiences, and get more and more clients.

You can also use your Signature Talk to speak ‘virtually’.  By giving a class or teleseminar on conference call service you can now reach a global audience.  This is one of the quickest and most cost effective ways to build your list. The great news is that you are also delivering massive value to your ideal clients too!

If you haven’t already included this tool into your simple marketing plan, it’s time to seriously consider it.  You don’t need to stress and worry that speaking to large groups is the only way to get results.  It’s okay to start out very small and talk to a group in a relaxed environment which might even be your home. I started small but now I speak in front of hundreds of people, get paid to travel and speak at conventions and conferences.  But it all started out with just a few in a small room.

I challenge you to come out from behind your computer, and work on this week’s action steps.

If you were to give a small talk to get started:

1.                 Where would you do it?

2.                 Who would you invite that would support you and give you a safe space to make mistakes?

3.                 What would you talk about?

I love to hear from you – leave your thoughts and comments below

 

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