5 Keys to a Successful Social Media Strategy

 

With smaller budgets and fewer employees, small businesses must have a strategy in place in order to be effective at social media marketing.

Jeremy Juhasz, a social media strategist at EMSI Public Relations, said despite the challenges they face, small businesses can find just as much success in social media marketing as large corporations do. But, in order to do so, they have to have a plan in place and stick to it.

"You can succeed with social media even if your organization doesn't have the brand recognition of a multibillion dollar corporation," Juhasz said in a statement. "If you remain even-keeled and set realistic goals, the return on investment will follow."

Juhasz said when it comes to social media, small businesses must remember the five P's in order to have success:

Plan: Identify what you hope to accomplish and create a strategy to take you there. Too many small businesses dive into social media because they "have" to and don't consider a plan of action before they do so. Make a list of what you want to accomplish before getting started.

Patience: Nothing happens overnight. It takes time to develop relationships and establish credibility with your brand and your target audience. Over time, a steady pace will win out. Rushing leads to mistakes. The type of patience I’m referring to is a long-term mindset. When day-to-day activities seem arduous and, at times, unfulfilling, know that each day builds to the greater goal.

Persistence: You must be stubbornly committed to your goals and your strategy. Keep plugging away and give your plan a fair amount of time and analysis before you pull the plug. If you know the plan is a good one, don't panic and change course simply because you're not seeing results as quickly as you'd like. That said, circumstances change, not every strategy works and you also need to be willing to recognize that it is time to try something new. Be persistent in implementing your plan and in monitoring whether you’re reaching the objectives that will take you to your goal.

Pay (what you can): These days, especially on Facebook, it's a pay-for-play landscape. Pay where you can, if you can. The results can provide the spark you need to drive a specific campaign or to increase your overall visibility to your target market. It can also be a very affordable alternative to other digital advertising options.

Prioritize: Time management is critical when it comes to social media. If your marketing staff consists of only one or two people, it's essential that you stay on top of your social media strategy by prioritizing your quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily objectives and goals. Small businesses face countless new daily challenges. Sometimes we lose track of what’s most important. Take the time to identify those tasks that are critical to your success and make them a priority.

 

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2014/07/17/5-keys-to-successful-social-media-strategy/

When It Comes to Audience Engagement, Webinars Still Reign Supreme

 

When webinars are treated as nurture marketing campaigns, and managed inside of a marketing automation system, they can drive audience engagement better than any other type of B2B marketing campaign.

We live in an age where a strange dichotomy exists in B2B marketing. On one side you have information and content overload. Marketers are flooding the social Web with an unprecedented amount of content in the form of blogs, infographics, case studies, white papers, videos, and webinars. The list goes on and on.

On the other side is the attention deficit disorder that permeates buyers. Bursts of easily consumed information (infographics and short videos) are the norm, because capturing and keeping the attention of early- and late-stage buyers is a difficult task at best - a mixture of calculus and art may be a good comparative.

There are numerous studies that point to the fact that B2B buyers are self-selling through a significant portion of the sales cycle. Sirius Decisions reports that as much as 70 percent of a buy cycle is self-directed and completed prior to a prospect engaging with a sales person. In response to this, B2B marketers are focused on engaging prospective buyers, for an extended period of time. They want to lure prospects in with highly compelling, educational information and then keep their attention while they work their way through the self-directed buy cycle.

This is quite the mountain to climb for B2B marketers.

Webinars have long been an excellent vehicle for promoting valuable content to a wide audience. Unfortunately, many people think of webinars as a single event. Today, marketing automation platforms have created robust integrations with leading webinar platforms for the purpose of wrapping a full nurture marketing program around a webinar, which is designed to engage and hold the attention of a buyer for an extended period of time.

Through the lens of marketing automation, we think of webinars themselves as a nurture marketing initiative that runs over the course of six to eight weeks from start to finish. There are clear pre-, during and post-webinar marketing actions that should be followed for every webcast. Some general rules to follow and ideas you can use to increase audience engagement over a period of time are listed below.

 

 

Pre-Event

Webinar promotion should begin at least two weeks prior to the actual event date. During this pre-promotional period, you should use a broad spectrum approach to driving registrations that includes email, social, blog, website, and direct sales engagement. The content of the webinar itself should be highly educational content. In short, use your best stuff when it comes to webinars.

As people register for the event, a mixture of trigger-based emails timed to coincide with the start date of the sessions should be used. Don't oversaturate at this point, but continually reinforce the benefits of attending by highlighting things like speaker credentials, industry issues to be discussed, and promote any post-webinar materials of value. A phone call and triggered email from a sales person the day before the event, reminding the registrant of the start time, should always be used.

 

During the Event

 

Many webinar platforms allow for polling and surveys during the event. You should fully leverage these tools as it helps drive participation and engagement. Make the poll results available during the session or offer the poll results as a post-session asset. Encourage attendees to ask questions during the event and use the questions as the basis for an FAQ document that can be offered as a post session asset.

 

Post Event

This is where you can put your marketing automation system to best use. Create two paths for post webinar promotion - one for attendees and one for non-attendees. Firstly, transform your webinar into an on-demand video and offer this as an asset for all registrants. Convert the webinar slides into a PDF and offer this as an asset as well.

Whatever the theme of your webinar, you should create complementary assets such as white papers, infographics, and use cases. People who attended the webinar, which will normally be about 40 percent of registrants, will be highly engaged for a period of three to four weeks following their attendance. Strike while the iron is hot and build out a series of follow-up communications offering the aforementioned assets and mixing in follow up calls from sales. A good marketing automation platform will make this process easy by leveraging nurture design programs that automate the flow of the campaign while generating sales tasks in the process.

In and of themselves, webinars are great content marketing tools. When built and managed with a strong nurture marketing campaign inside of a marketing automation solution, their value increases exponentially and drive audience engagement better than any other type of B2B campaign.

 

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2356440/when-it-comes-to-audience-engagement-webinars-still-reign-supreme

 

 

Five steps to a million dollar business

It's not as hard to become a member of the millionaire club as you might think it is.

 

There are two million small businesses in Australia. All of them started with big dreams. Maybe to grow a business, sell and retire or to buy a yacht and sail around the world, or a holiday home in Noosa for the family.

In the US, only 0.1 per cent of 28 million small businesses have annual incomes of more than $1 million. In Australia, this figure is a little higher. So what are the steps to breaking that magic million?

Having built three successful businesses with no venture capital and grown them to a million dollars within three years, here are my five steps to building a $1 million business.

1. Build your brand through social media
Today, you will not find your clients as much as they will find you. Only ten years ago, people would judge your company image by your office size, address, number of staff, and the opulence of your boardroom. Now, your company is judged by its innovation, website and how it rates on Google.

Most small businesses throw up a website, start a company, build a Facebook page, and open a Twitter account. Then they lose people's trust by having a phone number that is never answered and a Twitter feed on their site that’s six months old.

Spend 30 minutes every day building your brand through social media. One way you can do this is by using a platform like Scoop.it and linking your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook company pages.

This way, you can demonstrate leadership and share content, which will build traffic and brand awareness that ultimately create trust.

2. Focus on your goals
Focus is paramount to reaching your goals. A business plan is what helps me focus the most. My life changed when I discovered the one-page business plan. This helped me break down my goal of $1 million annual revenue into how, what, when, where and why with monthly KPIs that will bring growth.

Write your goals down and place them where you will constantly see them. Never underestimate your focus.

3. Sales and marketing has to happen daily
Earlier in my career I recall consulting to a small business with a few staff. It had a product sold online. The owner believed once the product was launched, he was going to sit in the boardroom and just watch the sales grow.

I did my best to explain how important it was that he lead the charge for sales but his answer was, “That’s not my gift, I pay other people to do that.” No wonder the business failed in a few months.

To reach $1 million, you need to be focused on sales and marketing every single day. This is your number one priority. You need to live it, breathe it, love it, and never stop doing it.

Remember this: before a company buys from you, the buyer asks three questions:
Do I like this person and could I work with them?
Do I like their company and could I work with it?
Do I need this product and will it meet a need we have?

4. Build your company foundation on process
The foundation of your business success ultimately lies in your processes. Your company processes needs to be repeatable, scalable and sustainable.

Just as you go to a doctor to get a regular physical examination, we should regularly have the health of our business assessed by experts. At the end of one such analysis, we were thrilled to hear the consultant tell us, “Most businesses I come into, I have to put lipstick on a pig, but in your business I don’t have to do that because you have invested time and money in establishing repeatable, scalable, and profitable processes.”

To grow to $1 million and beyond, you must have these robust processes in place to withstand the pressure that is going to come with growth.

5. Employ performing staff
One of the most challenging areas in any business is staff, but it is particularly so for small businesses. How do you ensure that they continue performing?

We started our first business in my living room. There were only two of us. The first thing we did after coming up with a company name was to put together an organisational chart. We then divided the job roles, together with job descriptions.

As we grew we recruited others for the various roles but we also realised the importance of building a robust performance management system. Employees perform better when there is a link between performance management and remuneration.

This list is not exhaustive, but it should help create some momentum and spur creative thinking on how to grow your business to the $1 million goal.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/entrepreneur/five-steps-to-a-million-dollar-business-20140714-3bwb4.html

Australia best country for online business

Australia is the best country to do ­business over the internet, an index compiled by eBay and The Economist intelligence unit shows.

The e-Trade Readiness Index ranks Group of 20 countries’ internet-enabled trade. The European Union is treated as a separate entity, so 19 countries are ranked. Australia has the highest e-trade ranking out of the 19.

In second place is the United States, followed by South Korea, Britain and Japan. The lowest ranked is Argentina.

Australia topped the list because of its affordable internet access, high smartphone penetration, a well- ­developed regulatory framework and high e-payments adoption.

The index comprises more than 40 indicators across five categories: investment climate, internet environment, international trading environment, regulatory and legal framework, and the environment for e-payments.

The categories are weighted based on The Economist intelligence unit’s assumptions of their importance in cross-border trade using the internet.

Tod Cohen, eBay’s head of government relations, is visiting Sydney this week to meet the G20 taskforce looking at ways to reduce trade barriers.

“It is now more important than ever that we create a global environment that enables all businesses to reap the benefits of an interconnected world, with cross-border online shopping in Australia expected to increase 300 per cent in five years,” he said.

He said eBay was looking at ways to create a level playing field for retailers and enterprises of all sizes, enabling them to reach global markets.

The report says that customs and regulation restrictions may hinder the growth of small and ­medium-sized businesses.

“Our teams are actively working across borders, geographies and ­cultures to continue to reduce friction points and barriers to entry for ­consumers of all backgrounds and merchants of all sizes, add additional participants into the global economy, and create new connections between them that didn’t exist before,” Mr Cohen said.

http://www.brw.com.au/p/tech-gadgets/australia_best_country_for_online_wv5oX2dnVw5dIM9eDvdhFO

Four Reasons Businesses Should Take Hashtags Seriously

Different ways a Home Business can Use Hashtags to Their Advantage.

Hashtags have become a prominent part of the online atmosphere and as of late, more and more social media sites have allowed for the categorizing program known as Hashtags. Hashtags are used to allow users to tag posts, pictures, or even video with a hash symbol (#) followed by a word or phrase, such as #Newtek. Doing this allows the program to categorize anything posted with that hashtag; this makes it similar to search for related posts. The implications of this program have not yet been fully realized by the business community. The ability to tag and search using hashtags can be utilized in many aspects of the business community. Here are four different ways businesses can use hashtags to their advantage.

#Promotion
A survey done by Radium one found that 51% of those who responded to the survey said that they would be more willing to share company hashtags if they were awarded discounts or chances at prizes if they were to do so. This allows leveling of the playing field when it comes to simple effective promotion for small businesses. Not only can you give discounts, and therefore bring in more customers, but this allows you to track promotions activity online.

#Conversation
Hashtags open up the social media world to better converse about your company. A website or a URL post only brings you to the company’s website, while a Hashtag allows people to use it in everyday conversations they have on social media. This also allows you to track the conversation and get a better idea of what is being said and how you can utilize that information.

#Targeting
New marketing tools allow companies to target certain areas or people based on hashtags. For example, if you want to market to people with new homes, you can use the hashtag #newhome to target those who are using that specific hashtag. Using this method is also beneficial, because it allows you to pick out the individuals who are most likely to be using social networks and therefore more likely to give your company positive posting which you can then track using hashtags.

#Innovations
Because hashtags are so new, they are still capable of great innovations. While hashtags and their use in business have begun to be utilized, there are still endless possibilities to what can be done with them. This is the most exciting realm of this new online world. With large companies like American Express announcing plans to allow customers to make purchases using hashtags, the possibly are vast. HBM

 

http://www.homebusinessmag.com/ecommerce/four-reasons-businesses-should-take-hashtags-seriously

10 Traffic Building Strategies

Ten strategies can get you loads of traffic very quickly and for free:

1. Be a guest blogger. Some bloggers solicit guest articles, in which case you can create a blog post and submit it for consideration.

2. Submit your articles to the top, targeted websites and ezines.

3. Trade newsletter articles with other people in your niche.

4. Invite people to become your affiliates, and provide them with articles and videos that they can use on their websites, on their blogs, and in their newsletters.

5. Compile your articles and create viral, re-brandable special reports.

6. Turn your articles into videos and promote them on sites like YouTube.

7. Host a teleseminar and invite experts in your industry to attend.

8. Become a teleseminar guest and promote a squeeze page where you offer a free special report or special incentive.

9. Provide thought leadership content and share information that no one else is providing so others can Tweet and retweet about your content.

10. Promote other people's products in your own articles and special reports. HBM

http://www.homebusinessmag.com/10-traffic-building-strategies

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5 Tips to Help Entrepreneurs Work From Home

A lot of ecommerce entrepreneurs work from home. The overheads are drastically lower than renting office space, set-up costs are small, and you save a ton of time not having to commute to an office. There are negatives though. Distractions sneak up on you really quick - playing with the kids, reorganizing the  fridge, watching TV, even cleaning the house has never been so tempting! Here are 5 strategies that will help you work from home more efficiently:

 

1. Dress as if you're in an office

Crawling out of bed and turning on your computer to start work immediately isn't a good idea. Prepare yourself like you would for a work day at the office. Shower. Have breakfast. Wear something other than your pyjamas. Doing so will help you get into the right mindset you need to concentrate on your work.

 

2. Set up a dedicated office space

This doesn't necessarily mean having a dedicated room for work. Many of us don't have that luxury of space. Still, it's important to have a desk area with everything you need close by so you don't get distracted while looking for a document you've misplaced among the household bills. Even if it's nothing more than a small desk tucked in a corner, make sure it's a space that's yours. If possible, don't use your work computer for anything other than managing your business. Remember to politely ask your family to let you work too – while you may be at home, you need to get work done without distraction.

 

3. Listen to Music

It might help to listen to some music while you're working. Pro tip: listening to instrumental music or songs with lyrics you don't understand may help you focus even more. Being able to understand lyrics distracts the language processing part of your brain and divides your attention. Beethoven's 7th Symphony is my personal favorite when I have important work to do.

 

4. Stay organized

Being super-organized is vital. Try preparing lunch before you start the day. Set specific working hours. If you have your day planned and you know exactly what you need to accomplish in a given day, you'll be able to concentrate on the work that needs to be done. Just remember to schedule some down time too.

 

5. Know when to call it a day

Remember that retaining focus is not simply about keeping your mind on work. You have to know when to disconnect and spend time with your family, relax and not think about work for a while. Keeping away from work so you can concentrate on the rest of your life will help you focus on the job when it's time to get back to your workspace.

 

http://www.shopify.com/blog/5103612-5-tips-to-help-entrepreneurs-work-from-home

Steps to Starting Your Own Business

 

How do small business owners gauge their success? A study by Manta and Dell polled entrepreneurs to find out how they measure their business milestones, what steps they took on the road to business startup and what motivated them to launch businesses in the first place.

First, despite conventional wisdom, few entrepreneurs start businesses just to “get rich.” Only 28 percent say financial success was their top reason for starting a business, compared to 37 percent who launched a business for a feeling of personal accomplishment.

Overall, networking was the first step that most entrepreneurs took during business startup. However, this differed slightly depending on industry: Networking was the most common first step among businesses in technology and communications; writing a business plan was the most common first step for healthcare businesses; and business owners in industrial or food/beverage industries were most likely to say their first step was buying phones, computers and printers. Overall, more than half of small business owners say their first technology purchase was a desktop or laptop computer.

Once you’re up and running, how do you know when you’ve “made it”? The number-one milestone small business owners cite is getting their first repeat customer. And when it comes to technology, 54 percent say their most significant technology milestone was launching their business website.

How did your first steps to business startup and your business milestones jibe with those of the survey respondents? It’s OK if you didn’t follow the same path as other business owners. What matters is that you do lay out a path for startup, look ahead to significant milestones, and figure out how you want to reach them. Planning out the milestones you want to achieve, whether that’s hiring your first employee or hitting $1 million in sales, gives you something to strive for and motivates you when startup gets hard (which it always does).

Along with the big milestones, however, don’t forget to plan for—and celebrate—little ones, like opening your business bank account, signing your store lease or getting your first customer.

 

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/starting-a-business/2014/06/12/steps-to-starting-your-own-business/