If you ask small business owners (especially women) what they love most about being in business for themselves, the majority of them will tell you it’s being able to work at home, having flexible hours, and being able to spend more time with their family. In fact, these are some of the biggest reasons people leave the corporate world to join the ranks of small business owners.
Or better yet … three marketing lessons to (pumpkin) spice up your business!
Social media is one of the biggest and most effective marketing platforms for online businesses today.
When I look at my business, even 10 years ago, my marketing plan was much more complicated AND required a much bigger marketing budget. Don’t get me started about how expensive and time-consuming it was when I opened my business in 1991!
One of the most important things we need to face as business owners is that we aren’t perfect. No matter how much we want to be, we aren’t. And, to top it off, business doesn’t always go the way we want it to, and we might make a mistake or two along the way.
Some people might say I spend far too much time on social media. The truth is, I spend many hours of my work week on social media because my line of work as an online marketing specialist requires it.
A Zoom call last year was my inspiration for today’s Marketing BizTip, and it still holds true for me today. I’d had a lovely call with Andrea Hunt Raco. We’re in a couple of Facebook groups together – including one she personally runs. Being the great connector Andrea is (I think it’s one of her super powers), she has introduced me to a couple of people who’ve turned out to be great connections. I was very privileged to be interviewed on one person’s podcast a few month before this specific call, and the other one ended up joining my team! I’d say those were successful introductions. But, I digress …
When it comes to delegating, outsourcing, right-sourcing, sub-contracting … whatever you want to call it, the biggest issue always seems to center around money and how much it costs. Which is all well and good, as you should be concerned with cost when working with an outside service provider. However, it’s not all about the $$, or at least it shouldn’t be.
Client Care. Two little, but very important, words in business. Unfortunately, GOOD client care (also known as customer service) seems to be fading quickly and becoming a thing of the past. At least it seems that way with many of the small businesses I encounter nowadays.
You spend a lot of time and effort crafting the perfect article or blog post. Great. The question is, do you tell your reader what you want them to do next. Do you give them a clear call to action, or do you leave them hanging, trying to figure out what they “think”you want them to do next.
Something I hear often, and believe to be true, is “a confused mind says no!”
You know that prospective client you speak with who sounds so excited about working with you? The one who asks all the right questions and give all the right answers, but just isn’t ready to commit right there during the discovery call?
As any savvy business owner would, you shoot off a quick email right after the call or first thing the next day, thanking them for their time, and telling them how much you enjoyed speaking with them.
And you wait. And you wait. And you wait.
