When it comes to business success, we hear a lot about marketing and online media that will help us to attract, and keep, our best customers and clients. There are so many different ways in which marketing has evolved over the years, and we couldn’t have dreamt of the new methods businesses are getting their products and services in front of consumers. It seems as though most people have access to the internet and people from all generations are moving away from the ‘traditional’ print and TV entertainment, and discovering new ways to explore everything businesses have to offer. But with change comes challenge. There are undoubtedly some unique challenges that companies face now because of the modernized landscape, but what are these new ways and how do they apply to small businesses?
Television The fastest changing Marketing method seems to be television at the moment, the reason for this is that a lot of people are choosing to use services such as Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix. These make TV shows much more accessible and have an extensive range of options available too. This means that the days of having to wait for an advert to finish, and making a quick cup of tea in that time, are gone. We now have full control over when, where and how we watch our entertainment. Ultimately it means that advertisers need to become more creative, and even though subscription services such as Netflix, have no advertising time during the actual programs, there are ways in which these programs aim to “sell“ products and services to the consumer. Anyone will agree that YouTube is a massive tool for advertising these days. If you have a child who has access to a device, you will have watched an unboxing video at some point. This means that your children will have seen advertising without even realising it. That’s the trick with television. It’s sometimes hard to work out what is real, and where the adverts are. YouTube is a playground for anybody, but once users become “famous“ then the adverts and page content, become much more widespread.
Bloggers Bloggers aren’t particularly new, with many blogs spanning over a decade in time. But collaborating with a blogger, as a business is a great move. Especially considering how much work the bloggers put into their site, you find a fantastic opportunity to work with a real person, who cares about their craft. This really comes across, and since bloggers have a following of people, this is a market that businesses can tap into. Of course, the blogger needs to authorize everything that goes onto their sites, so individual companies may not be welcome or fit, but missing out on the opportunity to work with a blogger will be a shame for a business owner. There is a massive majority of bloggers who work with huge companies like Disney, or travel companies. And bloggers also tend to work with beauty companies and friends that know exactly how to use this as a marketing advantage. It’s a great way to have some authentic content written about your brand as well. This is valuable, as not only does it work well for SEO, it works to show you how your business is perceived on your side. Sites such as SEOExplode really help you keep track.
Targeting
It’s no secret that Facebook has been leading the way with regards to targeted adverts on its platform, they even provide training courses on how to use the targeted methods, and also help you every step of the way, to make sure that any money spent isn’t wasted. Targeting has been rolled out on other social media platforms as well. However, it’s important to remember that Google and Google ads are up-to-date with the targeting technology used. It all depends on where the focus of your potential clients are and creating space to allow your products and services to be seen.
This is, of course, an area that you’re able to educate yourself in, and be able to hire somebody to take this onboard for you. It isn’t the most comfortable topic to master, but if you have the time and inclination, then you can in an awful lot.
Apps
Creating an app for your brand can be a groundbreaking experience for your business. You find most large companies that have that works either as a loyalty scheme or an information and communication tool. Some activities are purely app-based, and since there is a lot of money to be made via apps these days, you’ll find there are more and more appearing. If you aren’t sure about that development, and most people are unsure on how to create an app from scratch, there are plenty of developers that will sit and talk you through the whole process, or can even create the app for you. With an app, you can contact people directly, send reminders, set up the loyalty scheme and run it, plus Use clever marketing ploys to keep customers on side. As with anything, security and keeping the app updated is an extra chore for your business, it’s really worth thinking about hiring a person who knows what they’re doing and can prevent any disasters on your behalf.
Tik-tok
It may seem bizarre to mention the video-sharing website as well. And It can seem like a pointless mention, but since everyone’s attention is on TikTok, then it only makes sense to put some content there, and include it in your strategy. Gaining followers on any platform is a good start. Finding and targeting your ideal clients is always a perfect way to give your business a boost. Many people are finding a viral video that gains a lot of attention. Can start the ball rolling to achieving great things. And at the end of the day, attention and eyes on what you have to offer is the ideal item for any marketing efforts. Work on those moves and acting skills, as you will need to start putting content for your brand on there sooner rather than later. There’s a lot to be said for staying ahead of the competition.
There is a whole world of marketing tools available to you, and we are incredibly lucky to have them at our disposal. Only problem with this is the fact that there is so many people doing the same things, and especially those in creative fields can feel a little bit put out by all the many businesses they have to compete with. But this is something you will need to have considered before starting your business, it isn’t going to be worth it in the end. Just make sure your business message is clear. And you know exactly where you are heading. Nobody can argue with somebody that has a clear view of where the future lies.
What ideas would you share with a brand-new blogger? Would it include some of the ups and downs in marketing you’ve experienced?
It’s that time of year where I’ve been trying to regroup, get focused and concentrate on my goals for the last quarter of the year. I’ve been blessed to spend the last year working on some incredible launches for clients; from telesummits, to creating sales funnels, to course and membership launches, the list goes on, it’s been a fun but busy time.
So I took a break from writing, tried to get in as much rest as I could during this busy period in my business. I managed to average 7.5 hours of sleep a night, which was incredible as I used to average 6 hours a night, one of the benefits of quality sleep for me was how much clearer my thinking got, decisions were easier to make, issues were easier solved.
I was set to post last week about the many benefits of rest when my family had been hit hard with a tragedy. I come from a big and close-knit family and this past Canadian Thanksgiving my cousin Jay and his wife Jen were in a fatal car crash. Jay was seriously injured, there were times we didn’t think he’d make it, but as of this writing he’s in stable condition. Jen tragically didn’t make it. This has hit my family hard, we’re in shock and in pain at the loss of someone we loved dearly. The accident was not their fault, someone drove head on into their pickup truck trying to pass another vehicle (the driver of the other car didn’t make it either). So we’re all in mourning, trying to be there for Jay and their 2 teenage children and doing the best we can. All prayers are welcome.
As a result, this past week I found myself needing space from my regular routine. While work and goal-chasing are important, it’s also important to allow yourself the time and space to get the rest you need. Yet, we so rarely offer ourselves an appropriate amount of time to relax since we’re so preoccupied doing other things! This isn’t a sustainable long-term solution.
Think about it. When your cell phone runs low, you plug it in to recharge. If you stop using it and let it be to charge, it will recharge even faster. While you can’t literally plug yourself into a charging device, your mind and body also need time to rest and recharge. In fact, this is so important for your body, that there are noticeable physical benefits to getting the rest you need!
If you’re looking for motivation to get the rest your body and mind need, here are five benefits for you to consider:
1. Reduces Stress
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), stress levels at work are higher than ever. Additionally, a CDC publication suggests that “health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress.” Excess stress can cause issues for your mind and body, but also for your work! Stress keeps you flustered, distracted, and worried, which is exhausting and prohibits you from performing as well at your business tasks as you’re capable. By allowing yourself the time to get an appropriate amount of rest, you’re helping your body de-stress, which, in turn, helps you stay healthier and more productive!
2. Boosts Immune System
Adequate rest is also linked to a boost in your immune system. Chronic stress greatly suppresses your immune system, making it much easier for you to succumb to illnesses and diseases. Rest helps you prevent this! Adequate sleep is one of the key things necessary to boosting your immune system!
3. Time Away from Work Restores Mental Energy
This might be something you’ve noticed from personal experience if you’ve ever gotten a solid vacation. Allowing yourself to detach from your work during your time off decreases your exhaustion. It helps you become more resilient in the face of stressful work conditions, and it also helps restore your mental energy! A good time of rest will help you renew your balance and inspiration, and you’ll be able to come back even stronger than before!
4. Increases Focus
Not only will getting a solid chunk of rest help you be more creative, inspired, and productive, but it will also greatly increase your ability to focus. According to research, “all work and no play” drastically reduces a person’s ability to focus in the end. Allowing yourself to have regular time off for restorative breaks will noticeably improve your performance!
5. Increases Activity
The idea that rest helps increase your activity might sound impossible. However, lack of appropriate sleep keeps you from doing many of the things you might otherwise be doing! How many times have you considered getting a gym membership, walking in the evenings, or starting up a yoga routine? How many times have you cancelled your plans because you were too tired? By making sure you get the rest you need, you’re body will be better able to get up, get moving, and feel good about it!
Conclusion
We live in a fast-paced world with 24-hour news cycles, immediate email and text message delivery, the ability to Face Time and stay connected all sound glorious, but they’re zapping us of the rest we so desperately need. Everyone is busy and likes to stay busy. What’s worse is there’s a sense of guilt attached to non-busyness. Don’t let that happen to you! Allow yourself the rest you need so that you can accomplish the things you want!
Have an easy week!
Robyn
PS: If you need support with an upcoming launch please click here to schedule a call with me and let’s see how I can help you launch your project to the next level!
PPS: Author’s note: My cousin Jay did succumb to his injuries and passed away on October 21st, 2019.
Downtime is a serious issue for any business to face. When an unexpected problem pauses productivity within your company, it’s going to have consequences. Money is lost, and time is wasted, but there are even bigger disasters to contend with. Being unproductive could mean disappointing your customers, which can harm your reputation. Sometimes, legal trouble can even occur. As stressful as this may be for you, it affects the employees too, impacting staff morale and productivity. With that in mind, here are ten things you can do to reduce downtime.
Employees are the backbone of any company. Without a team of hardworking individuals, your business won’t survive. Because of this, it should be no surprise that employees can be one of the largest contributors to downtime. If the workers are always making mistakes, it will begin to affect productivity. The trouble is, employees won’t know what to do unless you teach them. Even the best workers make mistakes, but they will make less of them with proper training.
2. Work On Staff Communication
Every great leader knows the importance of communication. Unless your employees talk to one another, they won’t collaborate effectively. This means that work will likely suffer, impacting productivity overall. While an open plan office would allow for easy communication, it doesn’t work in all situations. Some employees work much more productively in private spaces. If you offer private offices or rooms, make sure that your staff can talk using email and messenger.
3. Stick To Maintenance Schedules
All companies have equipment that they rely on. Sometimes this is little more than computers and printers, but other times, your staff will need special tools to carry out their work. When this equipment doesn’t work as it should, it can result in downtime. Thankfully, you can usually avoid this issue with maintenance. Not only will this reduce the number of unexpected breakdowns, but the equipment will last longer too. This means that you’ll have to pay out for fewer replacements.
4. Upgrade Any Old Equipment
Even when you take care of technology, it won’t last forever. Eventually, all equipment has to be replaced. Rather than wait for an unexpected breakdown, you should invest in regular upgrades. This means that you can make plans to reduce the effect the replacement has on the business. Avoiding these upgrades might save you money in the short-term, but it won’t do any good overall. It will become difficult to repair certain devices, as the parts will be harder to source.
5. Bring In Professional Help
Good equipment operators should have no trouble in diagnosing and repairing many smaller problems with their tools. However, you will need an expert for any complex issues. Trying to fix problems you don’t understand could make them much worse. Because of this, you should research nearby IT experts and find help that you can trust. It’s particularly important that you have professional help in large and complicated scenarios, like relocating the business.
Working technology is little use to you unless you can power it. A power outage could bring your company to a halt, especially if it relies heavily on technology. Thankfully, there are several ways to limit the impact. With variable speed drives, you can continue to feed power to conveyor belts, plant machinery, and other equipment, even if power output dips. A backup generator would also help to keep the business up and running until you could get the power back on again.
7. Reward Your Hard Workers
Punishing an employee for causing downtime would be a natural response of many employers when that employee doesn’t perform. Some bosses would dock pay or cancel benefits to those caught sitting on the job. However, this isn’t the best way to motivate your staff. A much better approach would be to treat those staff members that are working hard. There are many ways to reward employees, from paid days off to fancy lunches and even gift cards for local stores.
8. Make A Healthy Office
Sickness can cause chaos within a workforce, seriously affecting productivity. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure that everyone on your team is functioning at their very best. They must be capable of handling the work you delegate to them, or huge issues could arise. Making a healthy office will prevent sickness, as well as injury. When a worker is sick or hurt, you should offer your support. Showing that you care in this way will motivate your staff to get back on track.
9. Look At Your Budget
While downtime is costly, resolving the problems that cause it isn’t cheap. After all, electricians, replacement tools, and backup generators can all be pricey. For this reason, you must take a look at your budget and plan how to cover the costs associated with downtime. If you were to build an emergency fund, for example, you would be able to dip into that whenever you had an invoice to pay. Make sure that you also have a great business insurance policy to fall back on.
Unless employees are told they’re making a mistake, they will continue to make it. It’s for this reason that performance reviews are so crucial. Giving your workers constructive feedback lets them improve, benefiting them and the company. Just remember that you can improve too. Make sure you also allow your staff to offer advice of their own, whether it be face to face or using a suggestions box. Staff productivity is just as much your responsibility as it is the employees’.
Nearly all businesses experience downtime at some point. However, that doesn’t mean that your venture should be destroyed by it. Downtime may cause chaos, but you can protect your company. With the advice above, it’s possible to prevent downtime in your business, saving time and money, as well as unnecessary stress. If you can’t avoid downtime, the tips above should still help you to limit the impact that it has.
With climate change and helping to preserve the environment becoming the most important issues of the day, it’s more vital than ever that your business can jump on the bandwagon. Consumers are becoming more and more savvy and picky when it comes to the companies that they choose to do business with. If you don’t have the eco credentials, your niche market may move elsewhere. It doesn’t matter whether you import ball bearings, or whether you create custom made tee shirts from home, there are some simple ways to turn your business a more palatable shade of green.
You may think that morphing into a sustainable startup is expensive. While costs will be incurred, the possibility to pass this onto the customer can end up making your venture more profitable. People actively seek out companies that have a policy of being sustainable and are willing to pay a higher price for this luxury.
Lighting
Office blocks around the globe are full of inefficient strip lighting that causes a ridiculous amount of light pollution and costs a small fortune to keep on. Strip lighting isn’t natural and doesn’t create a pleasant ambience for offices. While they are cheap to install, they don’t last long and will regularly need replacing. More energy saving LED lighting will create a more comfortable light for your workplace. The bulbs themselves may be more expensive to buy but they can last five times longer than other bulbs. They also don’t contain the toxic mercury that is present in incandescent light bulbs.
The culture of your workplace also needs to be refreshed. Have an away day with your staff team and explain the new emphasis that you are going to place on saving energy. Whereas you may have had a policy of keeping your office lit overnight in the past, this wasteful act now needs to be banished. If your team leaves lights on when they aren’t using a meeting room, this needs to change. This will save energy as well as money for your startup.
Recycle As Much As You Can
When you are trying to be green, you need to think back to your school days of reusing, reducing and recycling. You might wonder what on Earth you can recycle. After all, you are a business, not a charity. Only ever consider recycling something when it is no longer of use to you. If you were going to throw it away anyway, you may as well give it to somebody who can use it.
Laptop computers that are obsolete to you could be great for a local school or hospital. As you are a startup with plenty of confidential and sensitive data on your hard drives, you need to simplify erasing computers with WipeDrive. Using this simple program, you can ensure that your assets remain secure, are fully wiped and don’t slip into the wrong hands.
Recycling doesn’t end with laptops and hardware. If you are refurbishing your office space and replacing the desktop booths with collaborative meeting pods, give the obsolete versions to somebody new to utilize. If you are keen on swapping the dull artwork with some local photography, give the framed pictures that you no longer want to a charity shop. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.
Plastic
If you have seen a nature documentary recently, the chances are that it will have shown the shocking effects of disposable plastic in the world’s oceans. While everyone loves a bottle of cold water, you don’t have to succumb to the single use plastic variety, and you should place a ban on these in your office. Instead, fork out some cash and make an effort to install a water filtration system. This way, you no longer have to rely on the water cooler tanks, and your staff can enjoy freshly filtered water direct from the tap. Again, this can be costly, but it is a clear example of your commitment to help the environment that you can plaster all across your website for your potential customer base to see.
Being green doesn’t mean losing money, becoming less productive or forgetting about your other business priorities. You need to consider what really matters to you personally and professionally. With the emergence of public figures like Greta Thunberg, it’s time to get in on the eco conscious action and play your part in trying to save the planet. With some simple tweaks and a re-evaluation of your company ethos, you can turn your business the perfect hue of green.
There are a lot of things that are entirely unique to the era that we currently live in. After all, the march of progress never stops moving forward and over the last several decades it’s been getting faster and faster. And there’s one thing that is both responsible for that speed as well as for many of the advances that are happening all of the time. That thing is, of course, technology. Technology is one of the most important aspects of modern society and that is especially true if you’re running any kind of business. However, there are plenty of business owners who find themselves either uninterested in technology or even actually afraid of it. A lot of the time these are the kinds of people who work under the assumption that, because their business has survived for this long without the need for technology, there’s no reason to embrace it now. If that’s the kind of attitude that you have then I have some bad news for you. The truth is that technology is an integral part of running a modern business whether you like it or not. It’s just a matter of knowing how it can help. With that in mind, here are some ways that you can use technology to improve your business.
Understand how to use it.
The reality of technology is that it’s not just going to come in a save your business. There’s no singular “technology” that you can put in the center of your business that will solve all of your problems. The key is understanding how it is exactly that you can use it in order to make your business better. How you go about doing this is often going to depend pretty heavily on what kind of business it is that you’re running in the first place. Whether you need a raid capacity calculator or the hardware and software for full-scale automation is going to depend entirely on your business’s needs. However, you’re never going to be able to make the most of any technology if you don’t understand how most effectively to use it in the first place. The only way that you’re going to be able to solve this issue is to do as much research as possible. This may well be a lot of work but the improvements that it can lead to in your business are well worth it.
Improve your website
It should come as no real shock to anyone that, if you want your business to succeed in the modern world, you need a website. Without one, you may as well not have a business in the first place. Your website is the place where your customers will come and find you, the place where you will put out essential information, and is a huge part in making your business as visible as possible. However, it’s not just a matter of having any old website. Your website has to be one that people will actually want to visit in the first place. It might sound rather shallow but the truth is that most people in the modern world aren’t going to spend much longer than a minute looking at your website before passing judgment. And it’s not just the website itself that they’re judging. The truth is that if your website looks cheap and amateurish then people are going to assume that the same can be said about your business as a whole. You need a website that properly reflects the kind of quality that people can expect from your business. This means not only making it attractive but highly functional as well. A beautiful website that’s impossible to navigate is as good as useless.
Think about how your customers use it.
Of course, it’s not just a matter of how your business can use technology, it’s also a matter of how your customers relate to technology. This is a fantastic perspective to understand because it helps you understand exactly what it is that you really need to be offering to your customers. This applies to a number of areas. When it comes to your marketing, you need to think about what kinds of social media platforms your customers use so that you can best utilize those yourself. If you’ve got a lot of customers wanting to use your business in a digital space then it becomes a whole lot clearer that the best thing to do is to push it in that direction.
Change the way you and your employees work
For the longest time, the ways in which a lot of businesses work and are organized has been relatively fixed. You had business owners at the top with employees working in an office in a standard nine to five pattern. However, technology has created the opportunity for some highly useful and interesting disruptions to that pattern. The most obvious is that the office is can now be pretty much anywhere. Remote working methods allow for your employees to work no matter where they are which means that not only are they going to be able to maintain a much stronger sense of a work/life balance but you’re no longer limited to just hiring candidates who are local to your business. Not only that but thanks to online conferencing programs like Skype and Slack, it’s never been easier for you and your employees to connect with one another no matter where you are.
Of course, it’s also just as important to remember that it’s not just a matter of bringing technology into your business and abandoning everything that you were doing before. The truth is that if you want to run a truly successful business then it’s incredibly important that you foster a sense of balance between what’s new and exciting and you’ve learned from the past. To think that there’s nothing valuable that your business can learn from what’s come before is just as misguided to assume that you don’t need to embrace technology at all.
Let’s get real for a minute. Have you ever taken an online quiz?
From “What Hogwarts house am I?” to “What animal am I?” to “What should my career be?”, online quizzes are all the rage. You’ll be minding your own business, scrolling social media or a blog then BAM there it is…a little quiz grabs your attention and says just the right thing to peak your curiosity! Before you know it you’re answering questions (and even giving out your personal email) so that you can discover what color of cat you were in a previous life…
Admit it. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
Now, quizzes might seem like a fun side-hobby but did you know they can actually be incredibly effective tools for building your email list?
Think about it. People LOVE taking quizzes. And if you build a quiz that grabs the interest of the demographic you are trying to reach, all you have to do is:
Put the quiz somewhere they will see it.
Ask for their email in order to get their quiz results.
BOOM! You’ve got a new subscriber!
When I was asked to test Interact; an online quiz creator software, I jumped at the opportunity. I needed something to spice up the content I was creating and attract more people interested in what I have to offer. Creating quizzes geared towards my target demographic was a fresh strategy I’d never tried before.
Here are the benefits I have discovered from using Interact Quiz Software.
#1 Rapidly grow your email list
When I put my first quiz out there, I had an almost 50% conversion rate from people who clicked on the quiz. That means I got 25 emails for every 50 people who took the quiz. THAT is a great statistic!
#2 Segment your list
There are so many benefits to email list segmentation! A “get to know you” style quiz can help you understand your audience better, automatically separate them based on responses, and enable you to write more personalized, applicable content to them. This is a great strategy for increasing open rates, boosting engagement and getting new clients or customers.
#3 Drive Sales
A quiz is an easy way to show which of your products or services may be of use to a particular person. If you don’t sell anything that can be marketed through a quiz, you can also use a quiz to direct your readers to affiliate products and services.
#4 Get Seen On Social Media
As a business owner, it is getting harder and harder to be seen on social media due to frequently-changing algorithms. A sure way to be seen is if an individual shares something you are attached to. Enter interact quizzes! People often share their quiz results on social media and this is an easy way to spread your business name around on Facebook and grow your presence.
#5 Boost Audience Engagement
Creating a fun, interactive quiz is an easy way to encourage audience engagement. You can also use quizzes to get valuable feedback from your readers and customers.
So far, I have been extremely pleased with my experience using Interact. I was looking for a tool that is simple to use (for myself and my clients), something that looked modern and attractive, and something to boost my numbers that was also fun to do.
Here are more benefits when you use their platform:
Customizable Design
Branching Logic
Multiple Quiz Types
Opt-In Form Builder
In-Depth Analytics
and much more…
There are many options for your business with Interact that I suggest you check out their website and sign up for one of their plans which range from Free to Pro and very affordable!
