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June 18, 2013 By 2 Comments

Fast and Dirty is not always Effective

Not everything is meant to be done the Fast and Easy Way.

I was having a Skype Conversation today with a colleague … she was checking up on a post I had made on Facebook making a suggestion that people should do a certain task to keep their online connections up to date.

Her question was “Is there a tool to do this?”

My answer was “The Eyeball Method” was the best way.

She then thought about it and made a comment “Darn, I was looking for a fast, down and dirty way to do it.”

My response?

“As opposed to Effective?”

icon smile Fast and Dirty is not always Effective

Point Taken.

Sometimes the best way to do something is an old fashioned way. Sure, there are many tools and tricks and apps out there to help us save time for almost anything you can imagine… but sometimes the time saving is done at the cost of doing something well. Quality can suffer.

You want to be cautious with what you save and ensure it is worth the cost of the savings.

Here are a few items that I would seriously debate as being the best way for some of these tasks.

remote tissue 300x256 Fast and Dirty is not always Effective

My Son would love this when home sick.

socks 238x300 Fast and Dirty is not always Effective

This could help certain people, I will admit that.

coffee 220x300 Fast and Dirty is not always Effective

Okay, as cool as this is – how much energy and time does stirring a coffee really take?

Sooo… really analyze if a tool or app is doing you justice with effectiveness and quality when you use it.

In many cases the Old Fashioned Way or the Long Way is better in the end!

 

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June 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Building Business in the Good ole Summertime

Summer is a time for many businesses where things slow down …

Customers are on vacation, away from business, or just spending less time in the office. But there are ways to overcome this!

Last week I was at my monthly Business Women Connect networking event in Dartmouth and one of the Co-Founders, Susan Eldridge, was sharing tips on how to build business in the summer.

working outside Building Business in the Good ole SummertimeIf this is the case for your business and you are not one of the people who welcome and take advantage of the slow season to reduce your own business (GASP! Yes, some people do take time off or even relax and work on their back deck or outside!), then the kicker to boosting up business is to look for ways to offset the lull and find new avenues to boost business.

One of the ideas Susan mentioned was to offer special deals for products or services. For example:

  • Two for One offers.
  • Buy one Get one for free.
  • Half price. Last minute, fast action offers are good too. You can send an email or post on Facebook that people can come in (or visit online) and in the next six hours get 50% off – or something similar.

The trick is to be inventive and look for new ways to encourage clients to buy. Another idea is to look at events and see if there are places your target market will be at – going to tradeshows where your market is could be a way to reach new people. Maybe you want to partner with a few other businesses with complementary offerings and host an event.

Create New Products / Services

This is also a good time to look at making ‘Sales Calls’ and reaching people who have shown interest but never committed or even going down your prospect list and reaching out. Contacting past customers as well – letting them know of new deals and maybe the special offer you have (see above). If they don’t know about it, they will never buy.

The slow time is also a great time to build or create something fabulous to launch after summer. You can take the extra time to be ready with a blast, once the season picks up again.

The summer season is what you make of it but if you are looking to boost sales, try brainstorming new ideas that can reach your potential clients and lead to more sales.

Have you ever done something new in the summer that resulted in a surge in sales?

If so, please share on my Facebook Page what you did – we can all teach others something new!
 

 

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May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Never wait until you have Clients to start your Email Marketing

email list Never wait until you have Clients to start your Email MarketingRecently I had someone inquire about setting up her email marketing system – but only part of it. She wanted the free report set up and the autoresponder emails (the automatic ones that go out once someone requests your free report) set up, as well as having the sign-up code on her website. BUT, she “did not want to start a regular newsletter until she had some clients.”

That last line threw me for a loop and I realized there are many people out there who feel the same way – that the newsletter is something you only do when you have built up your business.

WRONG I say…the newsletter HELPS you build your business.

Newsletters are a marketing tool – used primarily to communicate to the people on your email list – people that generally have shown an interest one way or another in your services, your business. AND, they are one of the best ways to communicate to a more ‘captive audience’ than on the social / blog front. Your information gets delivered directly to the audience…they don’t have to see your tweet or Facebook post – this one comes right in their email inbox.

Now, yes…I agree that not everyone opens them, but they are a more direct delivery and if you have good subject lines and good content, people will open the emails.

What they are not, is intended only as a direct communication tool with current clients. You can always do this or add in a bonus item to your clients but it needs to be more than that if you want to market your business with your newsletter. I actually send a Client Tips email two times a month to my existing support clients – people I work with on a regular basis. It’s a bonus to them that goes nowhere else and teaches them something new each time – no sales at all.

Your email marketing newsletter that goes to your list should have some teaching but also mixed in with some sales as well. You can format them however you wish but they do not do you any marketing justice if you only ever teach and never sell in the content.

Now, I am not saying go all “Herb Tarleck-y” on your email list, but it is easy to throw in some subtle hints as to the programs and services you have. After all, your articles should be backing that up in many ways. Again, not too salesy, but don’t hide it either.

So my advice on email marketing:

  1. Create a free report of some sort to attract potential clients.
  2. Have a regular newsletter that goes out that has valuable content / articles and is not all sales.
  3. Continue on with the newsletter – it takes time to build up a list and see people reaching out via that list.

Consistency is the Key.

Don’t give up after the first few issues.

It takes time to build a relationship.

In many cases, the person coming to you for a consult or initial contact has indeed been following you online, checking out your website, newsletter and social channels…if you don’t keep up the communication, you are allowing that door to a relationship to close before it ever has a chance of opening.

That is why starting your email marketing and regular newsletter now, is so important – it will help you find clients. Don’t wait until you have the clients…build your client list with your email marketing and newsletter, now.

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May 20, 2013 By 2 Comments

A Solution for Password Storage Issues

Have you lost control of your passwords and logins?

I have had several issues recently with clients having lost a password or could not recall where to login or the username…so I thought I would share my secret system to passwords.

Because we manage social media accounts, websites, blogs, and email marketing systems for clients, we have many passwords/access codes we have to keep current.

What’s the secret to keeping track of a multitude of passwords?

A system and a tool…

The System?  Basecamp A Solution for Password Storage Issues

For clients we keep a login board in our project management system Basecamp. The ‘writeboard’ can house several lists and we use one called logins. We keep them here so that everyone involved can:

  1. Access and refer to them when needed.
  2. Update when a change is needed.
  3. Make the change without sending any emails out with the info in it.

Number 3 is the most important. Because we access Basecamp in our account, when we update the “writeboard” we only need to do that and can tick a button that it has been updated – but this does not send the email/notification with the sensitive info in the email. Just a note that it was updated. We also have a system of adding the date in parentheses besides the item when changed to help with that recognition.

The Tool?   RoboForm A Solution for Password Storage Issues

I use RoboForm Everywhere. Some people use a spreadsheet or a notebook they write everything in… I like RoboForm because of the storage and access features.

  1. It allows me to manage many logins and sort and file them into folders, just like a regular filing system.
  2. Once stored there, the access means it also saves the login url – so there is no need to remember that either – you click the login on the webpage, it opens the proper login url, enters the info and voila – you are in.
  3. The everywhere option allows you to setup on both your desktop and laptop – you connect your account to the computer and they can sync to stay updated on each one.

The Bonus?

RoboForm also allows you to save identities for filling out forms. You can enter all sorts of info in this – I stick to my name, address, email for quickly filling out online entry forms etc.

Bottom line?

The Basecamp System keeps the team and clients up to date on passwords/identities and RoboForm saves me tons of time every day…click, click and click. It’s like having the Staples “That was Easy:” button go off all day long!

 

What tricks or systems do you use for your passwords?

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May 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Press Releases can pay off with more Sales

An excellent form of online marketing many business owners omit in their planning is using Press Releases (PR).

One of the reasons is that the more effective sites to use for PR are “paid services”. But, there are times in business where you have to look at something as an investment not an expense.wsj pr Press Releases can pay off with more Sales

Paid Press Releases can range from $20 and into the hundreds of dollars, you will want to look at the return on the widespread coverage before deciding which type may be yours…the decision may also depend on the ‘news’ you have to share.

What is a Press Release?

A Press Release is an announcement meant to reach members of the news media with information that has ‘news value’ to the media. The PR is intended to encourage journalists to pick up the story and possibly write an article on the subject. The additional attention gives you more exposure (and generally from reputable news sources) for free.

What is newsworthy for a PR?

Press Releases can contain various types of information about your business – things like: events, awards, new services or products, sales and promotions, and, for some organizations, financial news.

What are the benefits of using a Press Release?

  • Boost visibility online
  • Build credible backlinks to your website
  • Establish expertise
  • Viral marketing reach
  • Reach potential clients

Are they worthwhile?

My recent example…

Last year I was elected to the Board of Directors for IVAA – The International Virtual Assistants Association. We are a non-profit trade association for Virtual Assistants all over the world. This year I moved into the Vice President role, which means next year I will take on the role of president. I am the first Canadian member to take on the VP role. This is news. I did a Press Release and the PR article was released throughout the US and Canada and included the Canadian Press.

This happened in mid-April and it was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, the day after the Boston Bombings, so I held off until the 18th and then the Texas Explosion happened. There was a lot of competition for news that week.

Online, I had all sorts of reaction and sharing of the links from some of the articles. The ones that were on NBC News and the Online Wall Street Journal got the most traction, it seemed.

So what, you say? Traction means nothing on the revenue charts, but traction, indeed, can lead to revenue. One of my PR pieces was shared on LinkedIn. Several of my contacts clicked the Like button or made a comment. The next day, I received an email from someone who was not connected to me but one of the “likers’ on the news article. He was looking for a virtual assistant for his business. We set-up a consultation to discuss working together.

I also had a reporter contact me to get more information on the news I had in the PR…that will lead to an article in his paper and online journal.

On average, you may pay $300 to $400 for an effective PR with widespread coverage. So, if I sign one client for a monthly support package, in one month I have more than paid the PR fee and have 11 more months of income. Traction leads to Revenue.

So, yes, indeed being on Yahoo Finance, NBC and the Wall Street Journal can get you some PR, which can lead to visibility online and traction and, yes, revenue.

Some top PR submission sites to consider using are:

  • Marketwire.com
  • Ereleases.com
  • OnlinePRnews.com

Don’t neglect the opportunities you can see from doing a Press Release.

Have you had success using online PR services? Please share in the comments, or on my Facebook page.

 

 

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