Staying in touch with your clients via email marketing tools ensures that you are always top of mind. Email marketing includes every email sent to build a relationship with your audience. There are many ways that email marketing tools can help your small business maintain professional, profitable contact with clients. At Jennie Lyon Virtual Assistant Services, we are very familiar with a handful of great email marketing applications. The following are the 5 software we use when partnering with clients on email marketing. [Tweet “Email marketing includes every email sent to a customer or potential client.”] 1. MadMimi MadMimi is a…
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If your small business isn’t active on social networking sites, it should be! Active participation in social networking sites draws more traffic to your website, increases sales, deepens trust in your brand, and provides almost endless networking opportunities. Social networking is more than just Facebook; successful businesses also need professional, active profiles (that they post to at least once daily with a combination of visual content, text posts, conversational links, and referrals) on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest. Depending on your brand and client base, you may also consider accounts with Instagram and YouTube, as well. If you are not…
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Being organized, especially as a small business owner with a long to-do list, keeps your business productive, focused, and profitable—and keeps you sane. Spring is the perfect time of year to re-focus your energies and get your space and task list in order. Here are 6 great organization tips for your small business. 1. Use the CloudStoring documents in the cloud is a great way to protect them from computer crashes or viruses. Additionally, it’s a much cleaner, faster way to share files and information if you work with a virtual team. Applications to consider include Google Drive and Dropbox.…
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Determining your worth is important and empowering. All professionals should conduct salary research every year or two, and small business owners are no exception. Knowing what to charge for your time and services is important if you want to stay competitive and satisfied. Nailing down the numbers as an independent business owner, however, requires more steps and consideration than would be required of an in-house employee. Because you are your own boss, it can be difficult to objectively determine how much you should make. Additionally, small business owners have to consider more factors when determining what to charge than HR…
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When there is SO much to do that there’s barely enough time to do it in, we have an odd tendency to put off doing anything at all. Procrastination is tempting for many reasons: overwhelm, fear of failure, disorganization, or simply not knowing where to start. As an entrepreneur, it’s best to nip your procrastination habit in the bud before it derails your budding enterprise. Here are a few tools I’ve picked up that can help keep entrepreneurs from procrastinating. 1. Get OrganizedIf your workspace is a mess and pens, papers, and wires don’t have their own designated space, you…
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Like most women, you have probably heard that you can’t do it all—and you probably try to anyway. It is easy to run ragged trying to juggle your business, social life, family, and household. Remember, though, that you are your company’s most valuable asset! Successfully managing all aspects of your life requires balance and prioritizing self-care. Healthy habits help us to be more effective in both business and life. When we are healthy and balanced, we can “do more”—and in less time (which is always the goal). Here are 5 healthy habits for women in business. 1. Healthy Diet and…
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More and more small businesses these days are home-based or physically scaled down, operating out of a small office with minimal equipment. Additionally, more businesses start with modest budgets and aim to cut overhead costs in order to develop into successful startups more quickly. Because small businesses still need a team to operate, the cost-effective, simple solution is to partner with a virtual team of workers instead of staffing an office with salaried employees, which requires a bigger office rental, bulkier payroll, and an HR department—to name a few things. Even though virtual support teams are non-traditional (though they are…
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Every successful industry mogul, from Jack Welch to Sara Blakely, has faced failure. Sara Blakely, creator of Spanx and self-made female billionaire, told CNBC in an interview that her father would often ask her and her brother the same question at dinner: “What have you failed at this week?” The exercise was not one of self-flagellation and wallowing in disappointment but to one that pointed out that there is no failure without trying—and that not trying is a worse alternative than failure. As an entrepreneur I have faced my share of failures, too. In fact, because my process is all about…
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Whether it is to spend more time with family, to make a better living, or simply follow a passion or skill set, so many women these days are making the move into independent business ownership. As exciting as the decision to work for yourself is, it can be daunting when you realize how much work, dedication, and patience are required for success. You may have well-meaning friends or peers who have attempted to encourage you by saying that it can take months—or years—for your business to get off the ground or that starting out is hard for everyone. Meanwhile, you…
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I have been a small business owner for a long time and have partnered with dozens of other successful entrepreneurs. Through my own personal experience building my company, as well as helping the successful people I partner with, I have learned a few things about successful small business branding. Here are 4 branding tips that every entrepreneur can use. 1. Know Your NicheUnderstanding your target market is absolutely key to knowing how to market to them. In today’s economy, successful marketing means that a brand is more than a fancy logo or enticing slogan; in order to engage clients businesses must…
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