Here's an idea — get with your network of friends, relatives and neighbors and put them to work for you. I don't mean putting them on the payroll. I mean tapping into them as a referral source.
Wouldn't it be nice if effective small business marketing and self-promotion practices felt natural and authentic? If you truly care about your customers, self-promotion deserves your attention.
Many negative connotations typically come to mind when thinking about self-promotion, all of which keep many people from feeling comfortable and confident when talking about themselves. You’ve heard all the name-calling: conceited, show-off, braggart, arrogant, egotistical.
These days, almost every business checks Facebook as part of their applicant screening process. And it turns out many employers are misreading the information they glean from this social media giant.
A new study from North Carolina State University shows that many organizations may have a fundamental misunderstanding of online behavior and, as a result, may be eliminating desirable job candidates.
An employee handbook lays the groundwork for how a business runs from day to day. If your handbook isn’t used or updated consistently, your business may not be running as efficiently as possible and be at high risk for costly employee relations issues.
Almost everyone who dreams of starting their own business, knows they need to create a business plan. However, that’s often where many people stop. When you created your business plan, what did you do with it? You actually have the basis for the next step, which is creating your marketing plan. Without the plan of how you are going to market your business, the business plan is just an empty jumble of words speaking of dreams and desires. The marketing plan takes those dreams and creates a strategy for how to make them come true.
In my business, with Social Media being an integral part of Marketing and Business Development, I am often questioned on the role it plays when employees have access to Social Media while working.
I am not an HR Professional, however, there are certain aspects of Marketing that often overlap with Human Resources and many policies need to be integrated into an Employee Handbook which are essential to the development of the business.
Do you really know what your employees are posting on the Internet?
We’ve all heard about the “blurb.” It’s that short phrase you use to describe what you do for a living. Often it’s the first and, maybe if handled incorrectly, the last, contact you’ll have when meeting a potential client. It’s more important than your name when introducing yourself. When it comes to creating a blurb to describe what you do, think benefits. Most people are interested in what’s in it for them. Also, try to use a blurb that offers an open-ended question. Those are the kind where a simple “yes” or “no” isn’t going to cut it. It should beg for more info.
Here's an idea — get with your network of friends, relatives and neighbors and put them to work for you. I don't mean putting them on the payroll. I mean tapping into them as a referral source.
Wouldn't it be nice if effective small business marketing and self-promotion practices felt natural and authentic? If you truly care about your customers, self-promotion deserves your attention.
Many negative connotations typically come to mind when thinking about self-promotion, all of which keep many people from feeling comfortable and confident when talking about themselves. You’ve heard all the name-calling: conceited, show-off, braggart, arrogant, egotistical.
Today’s fast-paced, technological world requires more in developing a solid business plan than ever before. Twenty years ago, a website was a non-existent factor in developing a marketing plan for your small business. Ten years ago, your marketing plan required you to have a website to ensure you had a web presence for your small business. Today, if you are merely planning on a website as stating you have a web presence, your marketing plan is as effective as a twenty year old marketing plan that had no website at all.
Today’s world provides website owners with plenty of options when it comes to marketing their website. Traditional means of advertising, word-of-mouth, and networking still apply, but in today’s technological world, social media has opened many more options in getting websites visible on the internet.
Your website is created! Looks great! Now what? Too often when a small-sized company or an individual creates a website for their business, they get caught up in the moment of having a great looking website. But if no one is finding or visiting your website, what good is it?
Some websites fail in that a lot was put into the designing and planning of the look and feel of the site, but no planning was developed into getting traffic created for the website.
Now that you’ve got a great looking website, how do you go about driving new traffic to it? After all, it doesn’t matter what your website looks like if no one knows how to find you. Often times, driving web traffic to a website is overlooked in the planning and developing of a new site. Website traffic is a pivotal piece to your website. Should you be creating an SEO strategy along with the technical development of your website?
