For many, the holiday season is a time to relax, be with family, and take a break from the ins and outs of the workplace. However, for small business owners and entrepreneurs, the holidays can be the busiest time of year. It’s an excellent time to reach out to clients, wish them good cheer, and keep them in the loop as to how your business is doing, and what you’re planning for the upcoming year. With all those potential customers and clients opening their wallets for Christmas, the stress of keeping them coming back can be a bit much. This…
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Are you investing your energy in the right parts of your business? As a business owner and entrepreneur, of course it’s very important to be engaged in your business. However, there is a crucial distinction between managing the big picture to make sure that your business is growing and moving forward, and getting tied up in the nitty gritty day-to-day details. Micromanaging does not necessarily mean that you’re micromanaging a person; it could be that you’re micromanaging the business itself. Really, the way to be successful is to step away from the minutia to shift your perspective and priorities. Nobody…
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Efficiency. Productivity. Sustainability. Growth. These are important buzz words for any business, and particularly for small business owners and entrepreneurs. We’ve all heard it before; time is money. When the repetitive day-to-day tasks take up your valuable time, all of your effort is being funneled into sustaining your business, rather than growing it. To really grow your business, make improvements and engage new clients, you must free yourself up from those repetitive tasks that are bogging you down. Luckily, technology has made it possible to seamlessly delegate and automate your repetitive business tasks, giving you more time to focus on…
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As an entrepreneur, you are your most valuable asset. You are an expert in your field, and you’re great at what you do. You’re a high functioning and very capable individual and it’s natural that you’ll need to overcome the feeling that no one else can do the work as well as you could do it yourself. At some point you’ll overcome that hurdle and you’ll start to realize that your time is a limited resource and your biggest asset. The time will come when finding great help will be the only way for your business to expand and thrive…
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The days of simply reading and liking social media posts are over. The most active and engaged social media users spend time asking questions, starting conversations about topics that are important to them, and sharing content that is meaningful to them. If your business wants to engage in meaningful conversation on social media, you need these top 4 tools. 1. Be Professional But Not StiffThink of social networking as virtual cocktail parties: charm, wit, and jokes are encouraged while maintaining professional boundaries and keeping the conversation relevant to all involved. There is an element to this type of conversation that…
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If you’re an avid blog-reader or have ever started your own blog, you’ve probably heard of WordPress, the most popular and arguably most practical blogging platform available. What you may not know about WordPress is that it’s not just for bloggers; it’s a popular platform for small business sites and is even the platform behind huge corporate websites like eBay and Forbes. 1. User-Friendly Yet AdvancedWordPress is one of the most popular platforms for beginning bloggers as well as small business owners who want to create a full website. The reason is that WordPress’ tutorials, themes, and multitudes of plug-ins…
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“Copy” refers to written information that will be published in a book, newspaper, magazine, website, ad, or on social media sites. Copy is a silent but powerful medium through which clients, prospects, and other businesses are introduced to and stay connected with your business. Without this written content, your business’ ability to represent itself would be limited to images, your brick-and-mortar store (if you have one), and personal interactions. As you have probably guessed, professional copy is an important part of your business! Many small business owners are experts in their own right, but few are also talented, effective…
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Blogging isn’t just for emotional college kids and foodies any more! If you are serious about taking your business to the next level, you need to blog regularly via a professional, polished business blog. Here are my top 3 reasons why. 1. Blogging Makes You Visible OnlineConsistent blogging populates the web with your business name, the types of services you offer, and topics that appeal to your target market. This is important because when clients and other businesses conduct searches for these things, the likelihood of your business showing up in search results (and earning high rankings) goes up the…
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Even if you’ve partnered with a virtual assistant or content manager to create your online business content (i.e. blog and social media posts) you’ll still need to come up with the topics that your online content will be about. As an entrepreneur, you are probably great at coming up with new ideas—for your business. Coming up with topics to address for your audience may not be as easy. When you live, breathe, and move in your business every day, you have an unlimited amount of information about your principal service or product; it can be challenging to know what information…
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In the past, the only businesses that were required to produce daily quality content were news, academic organizations, and entertainment companies. In today’s world of online branding and representation, all businesses are required to maintain professional, interesting content if they want to succeed and maintain contact with their market. Providing your audience and clients with relevant, regular content via social media platforms (including LinkedIn), blogs or professional articles, newsletters, and up-to-date websites strengthens your brand and builds your expert reputation. First thing’s first: your business must produce quality content. Grammatical errors, too casual of a tone, and content that is…
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