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/

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