Virtual Assistance Business Briefs » Marketing Your Busienss

Get Marketing and Social Media Support to Increase Your Business Success

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:46:11 +0000

Check out my new awesome video created by Andrea Kalli!

Get Marketing and Social Media Support to Increase Your Business Success is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

5 Online Business Optimization Strategies

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:10:48 +0000

Running an online business gives entrepreneurs an incredible chance to expand and scale their operations. While offline business requires a physical presence — offices, retail outlets, and kiosks in every location — an online business can operate virtually and via digital real estate. Expanding is simple, and scaling businesses can be achieved without the need for expensive physical locations.

Still, there are some major errors that newbie online entrepreneurs tend to make when they scale their businesses. The road to running an online business is paved with lots of potholes, from expanding too quickly to moving in all the wrong directions. These five strategies are designed to help you achieve worthwhile business optimization, and take your business to new heights without endless setbacks.

1. Stick to the 80/20 Rule.

Pareto’s Principle — known as the 80/20 rule — dictates that 80% of your returns — in this case, business profits — will come from just 20% of your actions. Your goal in running an internet business is not to do as much as you can, but to achieve as much as you can. Focus on the ultra-profitable 20% that contributes to your business, and eliminate as much of the fluff as you possibly can.

2. Whenever possible, add products to service businesses.

Service businesses are a good short-term model, but as a long-term earning option alone, they are not. The main issue with service businesses is the lack of scalability and long-term earnings potential. By running a service business, you are essentially tying a value to your time and working to that alone. It would be an effective use of your time to create a product to enhance your sales.

3. Package and sell your information.

Informational products are extremely popular, especially in the online world. From guides on mastering online business to simple how-to sets for learning a new skill, informational products make up a huge percentage of online sales. If you have got skills that would otherwise only be valuable in a service business, consider turning them into an information product that you can sell online?

4. Focus on marketing before you start your business.

One of the major things my clients need and the make-or-break component of any online business is marketing. The internet is crowded, and there is no chance to survive without a large customer or client base that knows how to find you. The world’s most profitable companies invested in marketing before they expanded their businesses. You should too.

5. Set a value for your time, and don’t waste it.

You have set up your online business, invested in some manual and paid marketing options, and have started to earn over $100 a day. The only problem is that it is taking almost 12 hours to do it. There will be times, especially when running an online business, that you will rack up a reasonably impressive daily earnings total. Ignore it. Daily totals are deceiving and are not an accurate metric for judging online business success.

What is much more valuable is the amount of time that goes into that income. Set a minimum value for your time, and create an online business that gives you options on where to spend it. Sometimes services might be worthwhile, other times product-based work might be the best solution. Either way, set a minimum cost for an hour of your time, and design a business that allows you to earn above it.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, provides marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. For information about finding a VA, download her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or to learn why Social Media should be an important part of your marketing plan with her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com, or contact her at info@accbizsvsc.com

5 Online Business Optimization Strategies is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, online business tips

Four Biggest Social Network Marketing Blunders

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:10:39 +0000

Unlike other forms of online marketing, social media marketing has no stone-set right and wrong behaviors; no cost-per-user statistics, and there is, by no means, a code of conduct or behavioral plan that must be adhered to. While pay-per-click advertisers and SEO experts are inundated with information on what is and is not effective, social media marketers are left without dedicated and accurate information.

That certainly does not mean that social media is not governed by some form of assumptions and expectations. It is social, and is controlled by collective opinion and user discussions. These four social media faux pas are unlikely to get you thrown off social media websites or banned from the discussion altogether, but they are best avoided for social media marketing success.

Using deceptive affiliate tactics.

Back in 2004, MySpace was the king of the social media stratosphere and spam was out of control. Hidden comments, fake "friend me" requests, and endless blog posts all led to shady affiliate offers and utterly deceptive advertising banners.

There has since been a transformation within social media, one that has fought back against these tactics. The new social media environment accepts promotion and commercial influence, but dislikes being aggressively marketed to. As long as you keep your social media marketing tactics soft, value-filled, and useful, you will be rewarded with success. If you end up using an outdated and selfish strategy, you are likely to be rejected.

Pay-per-post marketing.

Blogs are part of the social media realm and are held to the same standards of behavior as any other service. They are treated as an outlet, yet at the same time neglected by users that could contribute. More than anything else, blogs are abandoned when they offer nothing beyond commercial use. Remember that, while your blog can be a money-maker, it may mean significantly more to your audience than it does yourself.

Thin, fake, and generic conversation.

Marketing expert Seth Godin has often asked his readers whether it’s truly worth engaging in social media if your message is dry and generic. Many have seen the light, realizing that his suggestion was not to give up social media entirely, but to change their approach to become more unique and influential.

Social media communities can and will ignore you when you have nothing interesting to say. Join the conversation, but do not treat it as something you can’t change. Offer information and value beyond what is currently available and you will be embraced, appreciated, and financially rewarded; share the same old information and you will quickly fall out of favor.

The "friend everyone" approach.

The "friend everyone" approach is normally seen much like the affiliate strategy used by thousands of marketers in an attempt to reach a large audience in little time. It is a classic spam tactic, and it is one that is rarely successful for social media marketers.

The top Twitter users are not necessarily those with the most followers, just like the most popular Facebook pages are not those with the most fans. Build real relationships and you will be rewarded with loyalty; friend everyone that comes your way and you will end up with weak and utterly worthless online connections.

Four Biggest Social Network Marketing Blunders is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: marketing blunders, marketing mistakes, social media marketing, social network marketing, social network marketing tips, Social Networking

Brand, Sales, and Balance: Are You Including Social Media with Other Online Marketing?

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:33:37 +0000

The 1980s are remembered for their developments in business and technology, particularly computing. The 1990s for their advances in technology, particularly the growth of the internet and online business opportunities. If the 2000s are to be remembered for anything (although it may still be too early to tell), it will be their developments in communications and online communities, particularly the incredible power of social media.

Social media gives major brands and companies as well as small business, some seriously big power, but it is rarely used as it should be. Commitments to quality are sometimes overlooked, and opportunities for branding, direct sales, or indirect marketing are often passed over. These missing opportunities do cost businesses.

Social Media for Branding:

A dollar unearned is a dollar lost. Businesses are often questioning the value of social media for their branding efforts, but few take action when they should. Billions of dollars are being left on the table, particularly as major brands move onto social media services, and the value of a social media-friendly brand still is not being recognized.

An experiment is always worth more than not even trying. Discussion on social media’s branding abilities will only take companies so far. With the low cost of social media efforts, an experiment with social media branding can generate huge returns, all with a relatively minimal level of risk. Develop a simple plan and test your ability to grow and expand your brand.

Social Media for SEO:

SEO consultancy (and in-house efforts) were once the domain of spammy content and low quality link generation efforts. Poorly planned information was setup on low-cost websites, and marketers shot out as many links as were possible. Despite being somewhat effective, the old world of SEO is packed with inefficient models and outright unethical business models.

However, social media has given SEO new life. The old "SEO is spam" cliche is no more thanks to the development of social media. Each new social media asset is another opportunity for high quality outbound and inbound linking, and every social media conversation is another opportunity to spread links that actually add value.

With Twitter tweets and Youtube videos now regularly appearing in Google’s standard search results, the divide between search and social media is likely to become even smaller. Marketers accustomed to spam-style SEO tactics are in for a new surprise, while businesses that embrace social media receive a well-deserved SEO boost.

Social Media for Sales:

Social media is not a good sales platform, but it is a good resource for generating future sales. Social media’s ability to generate prospects is one of the most important aspect to the sales process. Marketers that were once dependent on direct lead generation have a new platform available to them, particularly in open social media platforms like Twitter or Myspace.

The greatest news is that social media is still in its infancy. Businesses that are built on lead-based sales have good things to look forward to. As social media develops further, sales models will be refined, micro-networks offering great sales potential will grow greater, and marketers can look forward to a platform that is refined, sales-friendly, and willing to be marketed to.

Brand, Sales, and Balance: Are You Including Social Media with Other Online Marketing? is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: brand, branding, branding tips, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Tips, sales, sales tips, social media, social media marketin tips, social media marketing, social media tips

Three Reasons Your Goal May “Fail”!

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:11:56 +0000

I put the word “fail” in quotes in the title because I strongly believe that you never REALLY fail if you’ve learned something from having tried. There’s a difference between a good goal and a good outcome – sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can’t make it work.

In my experience, there are three main reasons for this.

Your goal was bad for the outcome you wanted to achieve.

You did all the right things, but you were aiming at the wrong target. For instance, let’s say you wanted to do something to help people (your objective) so you decided to go to law school (the goal).

Unfortunately, you find you hate to study, read, or write. And you don’t like being in conflict with people! There’s an inherent mismatch between your personality and the goal you chose.

Have you “failed?” No. Your goal was wrong. You may have spent time and money that you wish you hadn’t, but think about what you learned: You are a doer, not a studier. Yes, you still want to help people, but now you know you need to look at other ways that focus more on your own personality and style.

That’s great information to know about yourself. Many people don’t find out what they really want to do with their lives until they’re in the corner suite, and miserable! Treat this setback as a valuable learning experience. Then, as the song goes, “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”

Your process to achieve the goal was wrong.

Sometimes you have a great goal, but you just pick the wrong path for getting there. That’s like knowing where you want to go on the other side of town, but picking the road that’s under construction, full of detours, and jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. There’s nothing wrong with your goal; you just picked the wrong road.

To bring this into the business world, it would be like knowing what result you want (let’s say, more sales) but choosing a strategy that doesn’t pay off (advertising at bus stops when your target customer has a chauffeur).

Sometimes you don’t know you’ve chosen the wrong path until you’re halfway down the road. You’ve invested a lot of time and money and suddenly there’s that detour sign. You then have a choice to make – do you suck it up and keep going, hoping it will get better? Or do you cut your losses, backtrack, and start over again?

As much as you hate to hear it, you’re usually better off heading back to a fresh start. If this makes you cringe, let me tell you a story.

Maxine Hong Kingston, the fabulous novelist, had almost finished a manuscript for a new book, “The Fourth Book of Peace.” It was completely destroyed in the Oakland fires of 1991. Kingston went on to write a new book, “The Fifth Book of Peace,” which included a rewritten version of the destroyed book. Now that is “rising from the ashes”… literally.

If you need to start over, glean the best of what went right before and add it to your knowledge banks. Then set the past aside and move forward!

Your execution was wrong.

The goal was right. The path was right. But, your execution? Not so much. Maybe your motivation started faltering. Maybe you started cutting corners. Or maybe you just gave up. Whatever the reason, the result was the same: Your goal remains out of reach.

If the reason for your “failure” lies at your feet, take a look at your why. Why did it drop? Did you try all the strategies we’ve already discussed? Are you still committed to this goal? Do you need additional resources? Figure out where the disconnect is, then try, try again.

“Failure” to me is just another word for “Things didn’t turn out quite like I had planned.” There are still plenty of lessons to be learned – sometimes more so than if everything had panned out just right.

Next week, we’ll look at why sometimes it may be best to just let your goal go – and for good reason.

Three Reasons Your Goal May “Fail”! is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: achieving goals. achieving your goals, goal setting, goal setting tips, setting goals, tips for setting goals

12 Technology Tips to Support Your Goals (Part Two)

Jeannine Clontz — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:37:00 +0000

Last week we learned some technology tips for setting alarms, tracking time and progress, and several other support mechanisms we can achieve through technology. Our final six tips connect us with others to maintain accountability and achieve our goals more easily.

Find mentors.

Whether you need someone to take a look at your business plan or help you figure out the tax implications of hiring an employee, you can find great mentors in every field. Ask successful colleagues to suggest a few names or do a quick Google search to see available options. The thing to remember is someone has done it before – whatever it is – and is very often pleased to assist someone just starting out with the same goal.

Network.

Working on new projects can be lonely, particularly when you’re stretching yourself outside your comfort zones. Even if you’re not looking for an accountability partner right now, you can still network with others in the same industry, sharing resources and war stories. Or just vent – that’s important, too!

Get training.

One of the first places I look when I’m trying to figure something out is YouTube. There are tens of thousands of videos created for everything from the proper form for push-ups to how to install a WordPress blog. Before paying someone to help you learn something, see if you can find the information and figure out what you need to know – with a little help from a YouTube video. If not, like with a mentor, look for a referral to someone who can help you with training in the area you need.

Create an informal focus group.

Want a quick weigh-in on whether Logo #1 or Logo #2 better expresses your company’s brand? Need to know if stay-at-home moms respond to headlines the way you hope they will? Log onto Twitter or Facebook and ask away. Within minutes you’ll have tons of answers – for free! You won’t have to get stuck waiting for feedback before you can move on. Social media is a great option for getting answers and feedback to all your needs.

Blog your experiences.

Everyone loves a good success story, particularly one from an “ordinary” person. Start a blog and create an online journal of your journey towards your goal. Not only will you have the motivation of knowing your blog readers are following your efforts, you will most likely get feedback from your readers that will trigger all sorts of new ideas - you just might have an information product in the making.

Ask for support.

Every once in a while, you may need an impromptu cheerleader. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets are perfect for that very thing. Let your followers know when you just need to hear a “You can do it!” You’ll be surprised at how many people have walked in your shoes and are happy to chime in and give you a thumbs-up, at-a-boy, or at-a-girl.

By now, you’re a goal-setting expert! But even when you do everything right, there are times when things aren’t working out the way you’d planned. That’s why the next section teaches you how to handle “failure.” Come back next week for more!

12 Technology Tips to Support Your Goals (Part Two) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: achieve goals, goal setting, how to achieve goals, setting goals

Go From Idea to Income in 10-minutes a Day – Complimentary Teleseminar

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:30:38 +0000

How much do you suppose the ideas you have for your business would be worth to you this year if they were implemented? $5000, $10,000, a million?

What if I told you that it’s possible to start seeing some of those results in just 10 minutes a day?

Would you be interested?

If so, join my friend Rory Cohen, Idea Implementation Expert, for a free phone/web seminar on Thursday, December 16th on which you’ll hear her talk about how to do just that.

So many people I talk with have great ideas for their business, but they get overwhelmed just thinking about implementing them.

And yet they know that they could dramatically increase their income if they took action…even on just one of those ideas.

Whether you’ve been at it for a few weeks or a few years, Rory’s approach and techniques are so powerful she’ll have you in action right away.

Rory is offering this free "teleseminar" on Thursday, December 16th at your choice of two times: either 2:00 pm Eastern (11:00 am Pacific) OR 7:00 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Pacific)

Go here now to register for Thursday’s call using my affiliate code:

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1278593

Here’s just some of what you’ll discover:

How one client went from being in debt to having cash flow for his real estate investment business in just 2 weeks, after 8 months of failed effort.
How lack of money can actually be a good thing for your business
Why even if you don’t have to know exactly HOW to achieve your business goals you can still see outrageous results
What Rory did in a single phone coaching call to get one client from 300 blog subscribers to 20,000.
How one client built a marketing support team with one email for free.
The 7 things that may be stopping you from implementing your Big Business Ideas and what to do about them

(AND MUCH MORE!!!)

Again, to register for Thursday’s call go here now and use my affiliate code:

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1278593

You’ll be glad you did! Hope you can join us!

Go From Idea to Income in 10-minutes a Day – Complimentary Teleseminar is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: business ideas, goal setting tips, implementation

Goals: Measuring Your Progress in 3 Easy Steps!

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:46:57 +0000

Let’s say you hop on a plane with your significant other for a long-anticipated vacation in Bermuda. Your pilot gives you the standard greeting at take-off, and you enjoy the rest of the flight munching peanuts, and watching a movie. Fifteen minutes before your scheduled landing, your pilot comes back on the intercom and says, “Sorry, folks. I forgot to check the navigation, so instead of landing in Bermuda, we’ll be landing in Iceland.”

Chances are, you’d be less than thrilled. Now you’re going to have to spend your precious vacation time booking a flight out of Iceland!

Funny how ridiculous that sounds when applied to this scenario. But many of us do the same thing with our business and personal goals all the time. We aim in the right direction, jump in, and then don’t look up again until we either get there (by some stroke of luck) or we are so far off course that we have to call the Coast Guard to save us.

One of the most motivating – and overlooked – elements of goal-setting is measuring your progress. Measuring your success on a regular basis may sound like extra work, but, as our flight scenario illustrates, it has very real concrete advantages:

Here’s my three-step approach to measuring progress:

Define Your Units of Measure.

If you’ve set your goal to be specific and measurable, the first step is to define your unit of measurement. If you want to lose weight, are you going to measure pounds lost, inches lost, or the size you can fit into?

If you want to grow your business, are you going to measure the number of customers, the number of products released, or the dollars coming in the door? If you’re having trouble deciding on units, return to your higher-level objective to see what your end desire is, and then select accordingly.

Set Your Schedule.

Once you’ve decided on your units, determine how often you’re going to measure your progress. Sometimes, more frequent measurement is better. But sometimes, checking in too frequently can actually discourage you. Figure out a realistic amount of time, based on your goal and your units of measurement, to see some change. Then schedule those check-ins on your calendar.

Evaluate.

On your appointed check-in times, do a brief evaluation of your progress. Get on your scale, check your sales, or look at your customer list. Then ask yourself if you’re making the progress you need to get the results you want.

If so, wonderful! If not, why not? If you haven’t lost an ounce, have you been changing your behavior to be more active and eat better? If you haven’t gained any customers, have you been advertising, marketing, or looking for joint venture partners?

Evaluating what you’ve done, or perhaps what you HAVEN’T done, will give you a good idea of what’s working and what’s not. Evaluating your progress will get and keep you motivated because you’ll actually be paying attention to the fruits of your labor.

If you’ve been taking the right steps, but aren’t seeing the results you desire. It may be a matter of having chosen the wrong goals.

Goals: Measuring Your Progress in 3 Easy Steps! is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: Business Tips, goal setting, goal setting tips, how to measure goals, measuring goals, tips for setting goals

Why Set Goals? Do Goals Matter?

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:40:57 +0000

Do goals matter? OF COURSE goals matter! That’s the easy answer, but let’s look at specific reasons why goals matter.

How will you develop a marketing plan to promote your latest product or service if you don’t know how many you need to sell to be profitable? How will you know whether you need new software for your network if you’re not sure what you’re trying to accomplish? How can you evaluate two possible courses of action if you don’t know what the end goal is?

As it’s been said in math classes since the beginning of time (almost), the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But before you can create that line, you need the two points – a beginning (where you are now) and an end (your goal). Put simply, goals give you an endpoint. And once you have an endpoint, you can figure out how to get there – and evaluate the different plans and options before you.

Specifically, the benefits of goals include:

·Greater focus: Knowing your goals allows you to concentrate on your highest priorities. When you’re aware of your goals, you can move forward and stop worrying about the little things.

·Efficient allocation of resources: When you know what you’re aiming for, you are less likely to waste time, money, or effort.

·Ability to measure progress: Goals make it easy to know if you’re on the right path or not. You can easily measure your progress and determine where you are in the process. That’s invaluable for making changes and adjustments along the way.

·Lower stress: Stress and anxiety often result from not knowing what you’re supposed to be doing or where you should be concentrating your efforts. Goals lead to clarity of purpose, which leads to lower stress.

·Feelings of accomplishment: If you don’t know where you’re headed, you never know when you’ve arrived, and you can never celebrate your success! Setting goals first allows you to know when you’ve done what you intended to do.

Now that you know why goals are important, next week we’ll discuss some of the biggest goal-setting mistakes people make.

Why Set Goals? Do Goals Matter? is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: Business Tips, Goals, setting goals, why set goals

Top Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid (Part Two)

Jeannine Clontz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:28:26 +0000

Last time we discussed the top five mistakes to avoid when marketing your business, here are the final five!

6. Your message isn’t clear. Always test it out on current clients, peers, or family/friends to be sure it’s not confusing or misses the point you’re trying to make.

7. Untimely message. If you’re looking to build some business during the holiday season, make sure you’re giving prospects enough time to respond. Don’t release your holiday special two weeks before the holiday, start building momentum at least two months in advance.

8. No call to action. If you’re not giving the prospect a reason to contact you, you’re missing the mark. Create a sense of urgency with a deadline, or something extra if they respond by this date; anything that engages them and asks them to do something more.

9. Not marketing to your current clients. We sometimes forget that our current clients may not know about new services or products we have available, or, perhaps they have someone to refer. Don’t leave them out of your regular marketing efforts.

10. Not managing/collecting results. How can you know if something you’re using is yielding a return on investment? You need to ask every single prospect how they found you; or build in something in your call to action that will tell you exactly how you connected. Keep track on a simple spreadsheet and check in periodically to get the biggest ROI for your marketing dollars.

So how many of my ten mistakes resonated with you? Two, four, none? Take steps now to correct these mistakes and you’ll start seeing more, better qualified, leads, connecting to your business.

Have a few challenges I missed – share them by leaving a comment below!

Top Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid (Part Two) is a post from: Virtual Assistance Business Briefs

Tags: marketing mistakes, Marketing Tips, marketing your business