How Much Time Should I Spend on Social Media?

How Much Time Should I Spend on Social Media?

As an entrepreneur, you have a million things to do. From sales to finance to marketing, many entrepreneurs find themselves responsible for every aspect of their businesses. When you hear about social media, it’s often pitched as a critical component to the success of a small business. As a result, you take time away from other important tasks in order to optimize and maintain a Facebook Page, Twitter account, blog, or any one of a number of social tools pitched as the “next big thing.” And then you’re disappointed when it doesn’t bring the results you’re looking for.

So how do you balance it all? How much time should you put into social media so that it brings results without sacrificing other income-producing time for your business?

Here’s a process to follow to help you decide:

Decide what your goal is for social media. What specific, measurable result are you looking for as a result of your social media efforts? Are you trying to increase sales? Find more recruits for your direct selling business? Increase reorders? Whatever it is, choose one goal to focus on in the beginning, and make a plan to measure your progress towards that goal.
Decide who you want to reach. Who is the best target market for the goal you are trying to achieve? For example, if your goal is to increase sales, what is the demographic that you can reach who will buy the most? This is who you want to focus on. What is important to them? What need do they have that your product or service solves for them? Where do they spend time online? By answering these questions, you’re better prepared to reach out to them online.
Decide when you can realistically use social media for your business. Try to choose a consistent amount of time each day, even if it’s only 20 minutes, and schedule it as part of your day’s routine. Obviously the more time you invest, the more results you’ll see faster, but plenty of entrepreneurs invest 20 minutes a day on Facebook and see results.
Choose your social media tools based on your available time. If you’ve only got 20 minutes per day, choose just one (probably Facebook.) If you’ve got more time, you might want to add a blog to the mix. But don’t take on more than you can realistically manage. This is very important if you want to use social media tools to build the relationships that lead to business.
Plan your tasks ahead of time. One of the best ways to keep yourself focused when you’re using social media for your business is to write down your tasks ahead of time. What can you do online to reach the goal you defined in step 1? Will you reach out to former customers? Search online for great content to share? Write blog posts? Respond to comments in online forums? By deciding ahead of time, and then sticking to your list, you can make sure that social media time is productive for your business, and you avoid wasting time that would be better spent on offline activities.

A little pre-planning is essential for effective business social media use. By making a plan, you can enjoy the benefits of social media for your business, without taking too much time away from the other important things you have to do.

How do you manage social media for your business? How much time do you spend, and does it translate into results for you? What tips would you share? Please share in the comments below!

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20 Keys to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

20 Keys to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

Being an entrepreneurs is very freeing and exciting, but there’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice behind it. Simply wanting to be an entrepreneur doesn’t always translate to success. For those of you who are entrepreneurs, or are ready to take the plunge, here are some factors you must learn, improve on and master to become successful.

Do what you are passionate about.
Get organized and disciplined – time management, organization, and management skills.
Create a business plan and follow through.
Manage cash flow carefully.
Develop salesmanship skills.
Promote and enhance your brand at every opportunity.
Be professional, personable, and inviting.
Listen to your customers and improve.
Use and build on your strengths and surround yourself with people to help with your weaknesses.
Find a niche and become the expert.
Use technology wisely to improve your business and processes.
Focus on standing out from your competition.
Make sure people can easily find you, promote all your contact information and make sure people can reach you any time.
Seek and develop partnerships to help your business grow, add brand value and increase brand awareness.
Establish continual professional development for yourself and team, and stay current on the latest information in your business.
Your business focus should be about solving problems and helping your customer’s needs.
Your business should be very actively involved in the community to increase exposure.
Excel in customer service and satisfaction.
It’s always about the customers. Follow up on every sale, listen and improve, befriend them and provide personalized excellence consistently.
Establish a relationship and/or friendship with your customers. Stay in contact with them online and face to face.

There will be a process of trial and error as you learn, improve and master these factors. Start locally and build on a base of loyal customers. Become the master of your brand, establish a network of supporters and customers, and excel in helping your customers solve problems with your business. Here’s to your success!

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How to Find Customers

How to Find Customers

There are two major components to a thriving business: Happy and loyal customers that come back, as well as a steady stream of new customers.

The first is a matter of consistently providing excellent service that people appreciate and talk about.

The second one may seem a bit more challenging. So how do you find new customers?

Go to where the people are. You should not rely on your salesmanship, but instead focus on increasing the quantity of people that you engage with on a regular basis. People are around you all the time, and within that group are your customers. Your goal is to find them, talk to them, befriend them and nurture them so that they become the first group: happy and loyal customers.

First, let’s begin with where to find new customers:

Join an association/club/organization
Take a community-sponsored class or course
Present a workshop or be a speaker
Get a hobby and join others with the same interests
Get involved with a charity or cause
Go to a networking event
Go onto social media networks, engage and find old/new friends
Go to family parties, reunions, and social events
Promote and sponsor a community activity/event of your own
Start a book, breakfast, coffee, coupon, or arts & crafts club
Network with other businesses and business people in your community
Become a connector/referrer for others, and become a go-to person
Start a referral rewards program with existing clients
Use local advertising and marketing

Second, once you find them here’s what you need to do:

Be curious and learn to enjoy meeting people
Ask questions and improve your listening skills
Be positive and inviting
Be professional and authentic
Don’t be a salesman, but be friendly and social
Become a “let’s have coffee” person and meet face to face with people
Be a social and party person
Have all the possible ways to contact you on your business card
Start using and writing notes on your business card to hand to people you meet
Make yourself memorable, but not over the top. Make your first impression a lasting one
Convey passion in what you do

It’s all about the numbers. Seek quantity. Quality customers will only come if meet enough people. Start with a new goal of meeting new people and engaging them every day.

Let us know how these tips help you increase new customers. What tips can you share for finding new customers for your business? Would love to read your ideas in the comments below!

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How to Build Your Brand

It seems like everyone is talking about branding these days. People are branding everything. For example, what’s the difference between tap water and bottled water? Are there real differences or is it all in the branding?

Branding is an important topic for your small business because it helps you stand out from your competition. Your brand identifies and defines your business for your target market.

Here are some simple steps to help you build your brand.

Identify your target market by connecting your uniqueness to the appropriate consumer. Your brand promotes your strengths and how you service your target market, and it establishes a clear difference from your competitors.
Be positive and a resource to others. These two elements will help attract people and build your brand.
Create and establish an online presence/brand that genuinely engages others on social media networks. Provide responsive customer service that builds loyal relationships within your target market.
Share, impress and promote your expertise. First identify problems in your target market that you can help solve. Then, starting locally, find outlets where you can share your uniqueness and business. Also create your own promotions like a radio show, online video show, become a community speaker, and present workshops.
Connect with influencers. Help and support others who have large followings and/or great reputations to add value to your brand. This is a quick way to develop positive buzz about you and/or your brand.
Be memorable. You must make an impression on your target market. Stand out by being friendlier, more helpful, having better products or services, more responsive customer service, personalized care and authentic communication to create long lasting relationships.
Be active in your community. Use community activities/events/causes to continually remind people about you and/or your brand.
Initiate projects. Start locally, sponsor, lead, or organize solution-oriented (that you can help solve) projects that generate positive conversations about your brand.

Your brand should quickly convey who you are and how you help your target market. As your business grows, ask your customers for their feedback to ensure brand recognition and that you’re meeting customer expectations.

How do you build your brand? Would love to read your thoughts and tips in the comments below.

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How to Stand Out from Your Competition

How to Stand Out from Your Competition

To succeed in business, you need to set yourself apart from your the competition. That means knowing what makes you great, and communicating it! Successful businesses make this a part of their business culture, and follow through every day. Is your business ready to take the next step?

Here are some factors that can help your business stand out from your competitors:

Deliver great value – Offer excellence for a great price.
Offer more choices in your products/services than your competitors.
Make the sales process more convenient, easier and quicker than your competitors.
Make it easy to find and contact you – use memorable business cards, post information on how to reach you through social media networks, post your cell number and promote testimonials.
Share your sense of passion and excellence for what you do – make sure you come across passionate, caring and willing to do what it takes to earn your customers’ loyalty.
Follow up immediately after the sale and continue on-going follow up.
Anticipate your customers’ needs and help them with solutions.
Ask for feedback and act upon those suggestions.
Continue to improve.
Be a connector and networker – help your customers find solutions to their needs, even before they know what they are, and engage in becoming friends with everyone you meet.
Stay current in your area of expertise – keep up with professional training, industry trends and share innovations with your customers.
Be positive and approach everything with a can-do attitude.
Strive for excellence every day.
Be more personable, friendly and approachable.
Become solution oriented.
Be creative and innovative while also following through.

As you begin to invest your energy into these factors, you’ll find that not only will you begin to stand out in your industry, but you may also be amazed that most will not even try to compete with you.

How do you stand out from your competitors? What makes your business special and unique? We would love to read your tips in the comments below!

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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More Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

More Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

When you’re in business for yourself, marketing is incredibly important. You need to get the word out about your business, and there are specific strategies you can use to market yourself effectively.

Before you begin, have a plan, target audience and goal in mind. For instance, a discount or promotion to reward your loyal clients, or provide free delivery for clients who are new moms is a plan, aimed at a targeted audience and has specific goals. Include in your plan a way to measure your return on investment. This way you’ll know if it worked and how well it worked.

Here are some tips to help you market your business:

Become a contributing expert for a blog or local news media.
Start a Facebook page for your town and be a positive voice for what’s happening in your area.
Start a YouTube channel and provide tours of your town.
Partner with other businesses in your area to increase word of mouth.
Offer workshops, teleseminars or webinars
Display signage on your cars, t-shirts and temporary signs on lawns (with permission).
Organize a charity collection or fund raiser.
Hand out tip cards to solve problems that relate to your business.
Sponsor free car washes.
Sponsor free sidewalk address number painting.
Sponsor a street performer/artist to promote your business.
Promote causes and charities in your area.
Sponsor free workshops to help people in your community, like a math or personal defense workshop.
Make yourself and your business memorable. Be known as the lollipop giver.
Showcase testimonials in your marketing.
Hold special promotions like client of the month.

The best marketing is providing your customers with consistent excellence and memorable service that they’ll tell their friends about.

How do you market your business? Please share in the comments!

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How Can Partnerships Grow Your Business?

How Can Partnerships Grow Your Business?

Have you ever considered forming partnerships to grow your business? They can be powerful!

How does entering a partnership help grow your business? Imagine, your local health food store partnering with your local gym, a make-up artist with a wedding dress store, a caterer with a cookware store and an interior decorator with a real estate agency. Imagine the possibilities for your business! And if you’re a new business, what an effective way to promote and build your new business.

Entering partnerships to grow your business

The benefits of partnering with another business:

Increase your customer base quickly.
Increase word of mouth and exposure in less time.
Share business expenses.
Provide greater value to your customers.
Increase expertise and knowledge.

Here’s your checklist before entering into partnership:

Find someone local to partner with.
Be completely objective in picking the right partner. (Don’t just pick your friends…be sure it’s a good match for your business.)
Find a partner with complementary products or services and not a competitor – for example a shoe store with a clothing store, a vitamin distributor with a health club, or a chocolatier with a wine shop.
Know what you want from the partnership, and set goals that you want as outcomes.
Write everything down. Clearly state expectations and responsibilities, and consider drawing up a contract.
Anticipate and discuss all the challenges and problems before partnering.
Start with a single project before doing more together or becoming long term partners.

So if your business is slowing down or needs an injection of new mojo, a partnership might be in your horizon. Follow these tips and make your new partnership a success!

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How to Promote Your Business Through Word of Mouth

How to Promote Your Business Through Word of Mouth

The best and most effective way to promote your business is through word of mouth. Isn’t it good to know that the best way to promote your business is also the least expensive?

Here are some tips for promoting your business by word of mouth

Join a local event, get your business in the local media and get people talking positively about your business.
Use social networks to connect with your customers, engage in conversations, use it to provide better customer service, and build relationships and buzz.
Make each interaction with your business a memorable one, and you’ll make your business memorable. Follow up with a thank you call or card. Offer a free branded gift and other memorable services.
Offer your customers an opportunity to comment, or take a poll and act upon their suggestions to create buzz.
Ask loyal customers and local influencers to refer your business to others and give them a reward for it.
Treat your customers like VIPs and share their testimonials wherever you can.
Offer customized/personalized customer service to create a buzz.
Ask for reviews from loyal customers and local influencers.
Once in a while, surprise your customers with extras and tell them to share it with others. Give them a discount that they can share with another to help bring new customers.
Start a campaign to help others in your community and create an online forum to encourage conversation and positive word of mouth.
Become the town “know it all.” Post and host on your site interesting facts about your town and residents to encourage conversations.
Offer contests, start trends and other promotions to generate buzz and build brand recognition.

Be creative and have fun with this. Word of mouth news will spread if it’s fun and helpful!

How are you generating word of mouth for your business? Start here! In the comments, share with us what makes your business unique and great!

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Tips for Building Your Local Market

Tips for Building Your Local Market

In a down economy your local market becomes critical to your business success. Your local market is where most of your loyal customers come from, and establishing a strong local market foundation allows your business to grow outwards.

Here are some tips to build your local market:

Join your local chambers of commerce and every community group you can to network.
Reach out to your local newspaper and local media outlet and offer story ideas.
Become your town’s know it all and resource person. (One local business person used this idea to create a spreadsheet that got mailed around with everyone’s teacher assignments in town.)
Create referral and loyalty incentive programs.
Use cause related marketing and sponsor local events and causes for exposure.
Offer to be a speaker or teach a class related to your business. For example, if you sell home decorating products, offer to speak about home decorating.
Partner with other local businesses to promote each other’s businesses.
Create a Facebook page and post current events, coupons, and information about other businesses in your town as a free community service site.
Connect and network with people who live locally on social networks.
Get testimonials from locals and use them to become your “celebrity” spokespeople.
Make sure your business comes up on local search engines and directories.
Make each interaction memorable. Turn your car into a moving billboard, give out magnetic business cards with a free branded pen, distribute T-shirts with your business name and logo, and most importantly become known for incredible customer service that generates praise.

Using these tips will help you create a sustainable business relying on a whole town of loyal customers that will weather any economic storm.

So how are you connecting to your local market?