There are few things more nerve-wracking for a small business than launching a new product. Believe me, I know how it feels! Since the early days of my digital marketing and virtual assistant business, I’ve expanded my offerings dozens of times. And every single time, I was filled with anxieties. I was worried that no one would be interested in that service, or that I spent all of that time and money for nothing. Over time, I’ve come to realize that there is an art to launching a brand-new product or service. If you know the formula, you can significantly…
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Happy New Year! Now that the parties, silly hats, and celebratory drinks are in the rearview mirror, it’s time to set your sights on what matters: your goals. I’m NOT talking about New Year’s Resolutions here. Those, for the most part, are more like general wishes for the new year. “I want to lose some weight,” or, “I want to earn more money.” What I’m talking about here are your concrete business goals. The things that you’re going to be focusing on at your small business throughout the next 12 months. It’s time to get your thoughts in order. But…
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When did you last take a look at your business plan? One of the smartest things that a small business owner can do is create your yearly business plan. It’s an invaluable resource that helps them lay out their goals, challenges, and growth for the upcoming year. Whenever you feel like you are going off-course, you can always refer to the “north star” of your business plan! The only problem with creating a business plan is that it takes time. And around the holidays, time is the last thing you have (unless you have a virtual assistant)! You’re running around…
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For me, landing a new client is a lot like Christmas! You know the feeling of excitement and anticipation seeing the gifts under the tree? You just can’t wait to unwrap them. That’s me with a new client. I can’t wait to dig into their business with them, learning everything I need to know to boost their business and help them reach the next level they’ve been striving for. Getting to know my new clients is an absolute joy… but boy oh boy, can it ever be time-consuming! Between the consult, the follow-ups, the contract signing, the welcome kit, invoicing,…
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How much engagement is your blog getting on your website? If you don’t know the answer to that question, then you might be in trouble. Many small business owners spend hours and hours every week writing the perfect blog that will get them clicks. If you’ve followed me in the past, then you know I am hugely in favor of this! Having a blog on your website is one of the best ways to keep it active and updated regularly. It also gives you lots of material to work with on social media and through email marketing. But here’s the…
Read MoreNew Year’s Eve is fast approaching, and that means a brand-new year will be starting soon. Around this time, I tend to start looking back on everything that I’ve accomplished over the last 12 months and everything that has changed.
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Do me a favor? Check your junk mail. Seriously, go in and take a look at just how many well-crafted marketing emails from businesses that you know and frequent are mixed in with your junk mail. I am going to bet that there are tons of them. Even if you wanted to check out these emails, they are unfortunately surrounded by SPAM and scams, and it would be a huge pain to go through all of your junk mail to sort them out. Now, consider this. There is a pretty good chance that your own well-crafted marketing emails are sitting…
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Do you know what the most effective method of advertising was back in the golden age of “Main Street” America? The storefront window. Pedestrians would walk by and look in all of the storefront windows on main street to see the most interesting and expensive items sold. And it worked! People would come in off the street to take a look around the stores. If the store owner was a particularly effective salesperson, they would walk out with a bag full of products, maybe even the one they saw in the window. In the marketing world today, the storefront window…
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Yay, you’ve given your first webinar! Putting together a really fantastic webinar is no laughing matter. You have to do tons of research, write a script, create graphics, get together all of your slides, actually sign people up, advertise, and then finally present it. It can take a few months to get through all of that work and finally reach the big day. And once you do… then what? Hopefully, you got lots of people into your webinar and they opt into some of your services or buy your programs, but what about the webinar itself? You’ve done all of…
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Providing your customers with value is what business is all about, and that also goes for your advertising. No one wants to read dry, boring copy going on and on about how great your business is. Customers are far more savvy than that, they know how advertising sounds and they know to ignore it. The way you can connect with your customers today is with content. If you provide them with authentic, personality infused, valuable content, like blog posts, free downloads, email campaigns, etc, then you can sneak in under the advertising radar (stealthy selling, anyone?) by giving them what…
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