There’s no doubt about it, social media marketing is a key part of business success. As a small business owner, you are probably already aware of how important it is, but might not know how to best utilize it. Being great at social media marketing is essential to making your business a success! If you want to learn all about the hows and whys of tapping into this huge marketing platform, check out this super useful article from Small Biz Ahead: The Top 10 Benefits of Social Media Marketing These are three of my favorites: Improved brand loyalty More involvement in social media outlets equals more brand loyalty from your customers. Decreased marketing costs Spending … [Read more...]
How to Create Your First Marketing Plan
Starting up a business is a big challenge. You can easily get wrapped up in the day-to-day frenzy. Don’t forget, long-term success requires a long-term plan. How do you make sure you’re staying focused on long-term goals, as well as short-term work? First step, create a marketing plan. This great article from Business Owner's Playbook gives you a roadmap to follow as you take this important step in your journey to small business success: How to Create Your First Marketing Plan … [Read more...]
Mobile Apps That Can Help You Be A Better Business Owner
As the owner of a company, you know how important (and challenging!) it is to keep up with the daily merry-go-round of running a business: overseeing projects, managing budgets, and communicating with employees. Often you find yourself having to do all this while on the go, so what better way to organize and streamline the process than with a mobile app? Here’s an excellent article from Entrepreneur Magazine with some great app suggestions! These 8 Mobile Apps Multiply How Much You Can Get Done Every Day … [Read more...]
5 Completely Selfish (But Still Good) Reasons to Buy Local
I love sharing the articles I find on helping your small business, your startups, and your finances as an entrepreneur. But let’s not forget as small business owners to support each other, too. This article from the Denver Business Journal details how supporting local businesses not only benefits others, but yourself as well. 5 Completely Selfish (But Still Good) Reasons to Buy Local Here are three of the reasons covered: People talk, and word of mouth can grow your business Familiarity breeds trust and puts you on the inside track There’s strength in numbers Read the whole article to get all 5 reasons in-depth! Buying local isn’t just great for your community, it’s great … [Read more...]
3 Steps to Happier Customers
As a small business owner, you already know that keeping your customers happy is key to your success. The thing is, it’s not always straightforward how to do this, and can get confusing and frustrating. It can be particularly tricky when you own a digital company because there are few face-to-face interactions. So what do you do? There’s a great article in Entrepreneur Magazine that outlines 3 steps to happier customers. Don’t just be friendly, be a friend. There’s nothing worse than a stiff, “reading off the script” tone when it comes to customer service responses. Have a personality and keep it light. Think about how you’d approach helping a friend, and apply that to how you … [Read more...]
How to Deal with an Angry Client
In a perfect world, everything would go smoothly and your clients would always be gushing over the incredible work you’ve seamlessly prepared for them. In the real world, you need to learn how to roll with the punches. Your clients aren’t always going to be happy, but handling those situations while maintaining client relationships (and your sanity) is part of running a business. So what do you do when a client confronts you? My number one rule is to stay calm and don’t get defensive. If you take the confrontation personally, you won’t listen to what the client is trying to tell you. You need to get to the heart of the problem and do what you can to fix it. For more tips on how to … [Read more...]
The Value of Networking
OK, you’ve got yourself a name, a logo, a website, and some business cards, so what’s next? Developing a networking strategy to gain new customers. Networking is a proven method for meeting new prospects. This is no time to be shy! From the big-name speakers to the wallflowers in the corner, there’s bound to be someone who can benefit from your business...but you’re never going to meet them unless you put yourself out there! Networking nerves are almost always inevitable at first, so here are some tips from Entrepreneur on how to avoid “networking fails.” Keep these in mind, and you’ll be prepared for a successful experience. Good luck! … [Read more...]