Are you creating an expertise footprint?

One of the indicators the IRS looks for when determining a business –vs-a hobby is the business owner’s expertise.   The IRS says “A business operator should have extensive knowledge of his or her profession or activity, showing that he or she has studied accepted business methods/practices and sought advice from experts."

On the face of it, that makes a lot of sense, but if you are just starting out, how exactly (and honestly) can you “show” your expertise?  Of course, as with all things, it will be easier for some and a bit more challenging for others, so I’ll speak in general. 
No, I’m not questioning your expertise, but knowing what you are doing and showing what you are doing may take different tactics.  No matter what category your business is in, you must find ways to weave in the KLT (Know, Like and Trust) factor.  Much of that will come from showing your expertise.

A while back I wrote a blog on your organizational footprint.  In that article, I talked about using social media to “provide stepping stones” to increase visibility for your business and visibility is important because you have to be seen in order to be acknowledged.

Competition can be fierce in many business arenas and while you don’t want to appear to be a “know it all”, you definitely want people to see that you are worthy of their time and attention.  That’s where so called free social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and the like can be of great value to you.

Here are a few dos and don’ts (this list is not at all inclusive) to help keep you on track:

SOME DOs:

DO use a system to stay connected to your existing audience and attract new members. The best systems integrate smoothly with social and business networking platforms to save you time and energy.  
DO use the power of business platforms like LinkedIn and Alignable – These networking platforms are especially designed to help you showcase your business. For example, no one’s interested in your vacation pics here …unless perhaps you’re in the business of selling awesome vacation packages!  
DO be sure to keep your audience in mind at all time.  WIIFT (What’s in it for them)? Yes, you want to show them that you are an expert, but you also want to show them how your expertise is going to benefit them, SPECIFICALLY.
DO use your Web site and your blog as your primary “portal” for your business knowledge bank.  
You have ownership there. You can attract as many people as you’d like and show them different levels of your expertise. This is especially important if you provide several different, but related services.
DO use PROOF. Create an easy action plan for your best clients to provide you with positive reviews and don’t be shy about whipping them out when the time is right! “Name dropping” is not the idea here unless of course you have the written capital to back it up.
 
SOME DON’Ts:

DON’T join/signup with networking platforms or groups just for the sake of joining. Have a clear objective in place for whatever you hope to achieve….and yes have a clear idea of what you hope to bring to the table.
DON’T use different branding on different platforms.  Stay consistent in the manner you present your business. Consistency ties into the “KLT” factor. People like to “know they are with you” as they follow you.  If you need to send them away from your site, try to get reciprocal links to tie everything together. 
DON’T bait and switch. That means keep your products and services in line with your promotions and keep your promises.  If you ask people to take action, be sure you are prepared to follow through.  
DON’T stop learning. Keep your skills strong and keep on top of your game.  Who’s your competition and what are they up to?  
DON’T use “rented assets”. No matter how tempting it may be, there is not ownership in building large audiences on social networks and leaving your “hub” starving for attention. Keep in mind that you’re Website and your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system should be your primary gateway to showing off your expertise.

 If you need help pulling it all together, we are here for you! Schedule a no pressure strategy session today. Let us help you build a sustainable plan to showcase your expertise so that there’s no doubt you are running a business and not a hobby.
 

Why should you have a Facebook Business Page or  convert your personal Facebook account to a Facebook Page?

It's against the Facebook Terms to use your personal account to represent something other than yourself (example: your business), and you could permanently lose access to your account if you don't convert it to a Page.
If you're using your profile to represent a business, there are many benefits to converting your profile to a Page:

• Pages are designed for businesses and organizations, with features that help you connect with customers and reach your goals

• You'll have access to Page insights, where you can see metrics like which posts people engage with and visitor demographics like age and location

• Page roles can let you give other people access to edit your Page

• You can create ads and boost posts
  
• You can have UNLIMITED Followers on your Fan Page (personal pages have limits)
  

If you have lots of "friends" and you are doing business on your personal page, you may wake up one morning to find you've lost access to your page and there is NO GETTING IT BACK.

What are your options?
1. Start using a Business Page...STOP making direct business posts to your personal page
2. Convert your personal profile to a business page
3. Contact us!  Set up a Strategy Call today

What can we do for you?
1. We can help you back up your data
2. We can help you convert your page
3. We can help you to continue growing your business

Get your complimentary call today.

Here’s a conundrum:  some small businesses work very hard to get leads and they spend precious dollars to “boost posts” and “buy ads”, etc., yet they often fail to put a contingency plan in place for prospective clients who say “Yes”. 

Ever heard the term: “The sale begins when the customer says ‘yes’?”
It's true.  Start planning for the outcome of your success by answering questions about your goals, your expectations and what you are  anticipating from your efforts.

Of course, if you are a street vendor, then sales from people passing by could be your only objective... hopefully you have loftier goals.   
 
Although the specifics are unique to  each  business, no matter what path you take,  it’s a journey of many steps.   Remember our conversation about the  12 “touches”?  Then you’ll need be prepared for each touch to be the “magic touch”.  Your contingency plan should have several “side roads” or contributory inlets and outlets to take your prospective client to the next level.
 
Creating your plan can seem a bit overwhelming if you are not prepared, but there are also lots of tools to put into play.  You'll hear terms like “sales funnel” and CRE (Client Relationship Expectancy), or CLV Customer Lifetime Value; and so on ... literally dozens and dozens of ways to create plans for “what happens after they say ‘YES’.
 
Here are three important areas that we've discovered, all having to do with good old-fashioned passion for your business:  

• Keep “relationship building” in the foreground.  Let the quality of your “product/service” stand for itself.   Believing in your product/service will allow you to concentrate on the relationship.
• Stay focused on a single CTA.  Concentrate on your journey of stepping, from one “touch” to the next.
• Keep your goals in mind along with your written plan on how each “touch” relates to your final objectives.  Remember ..."If it's not in writing, it's not real".

We are ready to help you plan the outcome of your journey to more productive follow ups.  Like every other journey, the more times you successfully make the trip, the shorter it seems. Soon you’ll be getting CTAs answered and you’ll be growing your business.  
 Schedule your strategy call today!

So far, we’ve coached you on the significance of having a system in place to make following-up with your contacts routine and easy. Now we need to stress the importance of not allowing that same system to rob you of opportunities. Especially in the "virtual world",  the Human Component is critical to various aspects of successful relationship building.  

Growing your business is about growing relationships and while systems can assist you on every step of your journey, they cannot form a bond with your prospective clients. In other words systems are just tools. People don’t build relationships with tools (at least not typically) people build relationships with people.

“Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence”.  - John C. Maxwell
 
Notice Mr. Maxwell said “YOU” not your “system”.  This advice may not apply if you are a personal services provider,  however, if you are providing services online, (virtual services) it can become all too easy to rely too heavily on your systems. This can be doubly true with really small business owners and triply so with part-time business owners.
 
Fortunately, it is easy to avoid this hazard. All it takes is planning for your follow ups. Each business has its own plan and a small business trying to communicate effectively with large numbers of individuals needs to put a plan in place.  Otherwise, Things can fall through the cracks and those “things” can be people.
 
You’ve heard the phrase: “Don’t sweat the small stuff?”  The optimum word is “small”. If the small stuff is not “sweated” at some point, a small business could end up being a small used-to-be business. It’s the small stuff that can bring a business to its knees.
 
Keep in mind it can take up to 12 attempts to get an individual to follow the action that you want then to take. We call those attempts “touches”. A touch can be any action or interaction available to you as it relates to the contact and it can be virtual or actual.
 
We can’t depict exactly what actions will occur in every situation, but here’s an example of 12 possible actions or “touches”:

1. Thank you
2. Invite to online/offline event (Could be several touches via FB, IG, LI, YT, etc.)
3. Check-in Call
4. Check in Coffee (if local)
5. Invite to Social media
6. Newsletters
7. Update
8. Invite to Complimentary Call
9. Invite to Webinar
10. Invite to Survey
11. Invite to Video
12. Ask for Referrals

 
Were you able to see all of the openings for opportunities to interact on a personal level?

In closing let me say ... WE LOVE SYSTEMS!! It's having a balance that could make a big difference, so If you are looking for ways to design a follow-up strategy that allows for more “human touches”,  please reach out to us.
Your complimentary call is waiting and there's a "human" on the other end...guaranteed! 

You know the importance of growing your contact list and you know the importance of following-up, but what if you don’t have any people to follow up with?  You keep going around and around, looking for a solution, and now you’re getting dizzy, so what can you do to get off this merry-go-round?
 
If you haven’t seen our “Free Guide – A Success System to Building Your Contact List”, then you should download it right away.  You’ll get tons of ideas on ways to increase the contacts on your list.   Still,  if you are just starting out, you may be in need of a little help getting more people into your contact list. More is better, but there’s a caveat. 

Numbers are very important, yet never get numbers for numbers sake; you need to maintain quality in your list as well. As you are growing, try to avoid accumulating a big list that looks great on paper and in reality is a list of people who are not truly interested in taking the action that you are promoting. 
 
That’s why having a great S.Y.S.T.E.M. in place to grow your contact list and follow-up as well will help you reach your goals and "Save-YourSelf-Time-Energy-and-Money!"
Here’s another way to look at it:
Streaming audio and video to attract more of your target audience over and over
Yardstick analytics to measure your progress as you make repeated follow-ups
Straightforward features – friendly and intuitive for fast follow-through
Tools that have been tested and proven to gain converts and retain clients
Enhancement for your marketing strategies to keep your follow-ups engaging
Multifunctional interfacing for control and ownership
 
Creating the right system can help make your follow-ups phenomenal.  
By now, you know that Chet Holmes is a favorite influencer of ours, so we quote him quite often: “Follow up makes the difference between mediocrity and GREATNESS.” 
But Mr. Holmes never said do it alone!
 
Can’t wait to get to the “greatness part?” Want more contacts so you can do more follow-ups?
Set up a strategy call and together we’ll slow that merry-go-round down … so you can get off!   

Guest Blogging is not new, yet many small business owners never take full advantage of this great way to introduce their business to  new audiences.  

There are more benefits to developing the practice of Guest Blogging than just the “Howdy Dos”,  including the opportunity to raise awareness for your Web presence and your rankings in the search engines.  Getting your bio in new places and a back-link to your own blog can produce invaluable .
 
Of course there is a process to finding the right places to submit your requests, but the outcome can bring you closer to your goals, because Guest Blogging is a proven way to build your list, build your reputation, get more traffic and in some cases has even lead to first-time authoring entire books!

If you are interested in taking a new approach to building your contacts, take a look at these quick tips for Guest Blogging:
 
1. Make a list (about 5 or 10) of your favorite blog sites/pages; pick the ones you admire and love because they align with your business goals, but also check their ranking to be sure they have the influence you need. (Not to say you should over-look low rankers, it’s a combination of what you hope to accomplish and the time and effort you want to devote.) Be certain they accept Guest Blogging and pay close attention to the styles of existing Guest Bloggers.    
 
2. Make quality and relevance a priority – Think of your article from the Blog Owner’s point of view.  Ask yourself: “If I owned this blog, why would I accept this article?”  Remember, the Blog Owner has an mission to please their audience, so aim for quality, not quantity. Be sure to put fresh insight on your contributions.  And don’t give up … it’s not a “given” that the Blog Owner will accept your offering!
 
3. Don’t try to sell your “stuff” in your article – Offer true, valuable and useful information. Avoid the temptation to cram keywords, hashtags and links into your article; especially your author biography. That’s unprofessional. You’ll get shut down.  The key here is bringing authentic, useful information.   
 
4. Be professional – Most Blog Owners have Guidelines for Guests.  Fact check, spell check and grammar check your article.  Make it unique in content, but stick with the Blog Guidelines. Writing your article close to the guidelines makes it more likely to be accepted!
 
There’s so much more to this exciting subject.  If you are a small business owner looking for ways to become a Guest Blogger, we can help.  Schedule a complimentary strategy call today.
Let’s develop a to bring more visibility to your business!

If you are not blogging, start right away … I said blogging not jogging!  There may be some reasons physically and mentally why you are not jogging, but with blogging there are no boundaries and no excuses!  
 
If you are looking for ways to increase your traffic and your potential conversions, consider starting a blog. You’d be hard pressed to find a more economical and effective way of attracting interest in your business and bringing more visibility to your brand.

It’s true that in the beginning, blogging can take some work and time, but like all good actions it has good  rewards and there are tool sand systems to make it easy for you to take advantage of all blogging has to offer.

There are so many positive reasons to blog, any negatives simply boil down to lack of knowledge about the benefits.  That’s right if you are trying to grow your business and you are not blogging then you need to ask yourself …why not?
 
Every excuse (and notice I did not say “reason”) you can muster up would be lame; including not enough time, not enough stuff to blog about, no audience, can’t write, and on-and-on.
 
So get started now… create a content schedule and start blog consistently. Once a month is better than nothing, bi-weekly is better than monthly, weekly is great if you can manage it and daily will be SUPER!  

Soon your business persona will have the appearance of a champion and the cape of a super-hero!
 
If you need inspiration to get started, we'd love to help!    Schedule a complimentary strategy call now!  Let's discuss what’s best for you and your business.  

Think of a valuable incentive for your audience (e-book, info-graphic, white-paper, etc) and provide it for free. One might think that any of these great items would have people signing up like crazy ... right?  It all depends.

Research shows that the right message, to the right people at the right time can bring the right results, but getting these three planets to align can be very challenging., so offering a freebie can sometimes be the deal-maker! 

Take a close look at your free offer:

• Have you accurately stated the perceived value
• Are you being honest about any "catches" (avoid bait and switch)
• Are you presenting it to people who can really use it
• Are you presenting it to people who can afford any subsequent subscriptions
• Have you accurately estimated the time and cost to produce it
• Is it easy for people to use (If it's a download can it be easily accessed)
• Can they get the same offer elsewhere (how does the competition stack up)
• What will it cost you (consider time, effort and money)
• Does it need to be shipped (consider all costs)

Patience is truly a virtue in the small business world.  Consumers are very savvy and the competition is very stiff.  If you think you have an excellent freebie and your befuddled that no one wants to take advantage of it, connect with us. A complimentary consultation can possibly expose gaps in your promotional plans! 

Why should they click? If you are targeting the right people they may click simply because you say "Click Here" and for that reason alone ... Unfortunately many small business owners have not developed a target audience they are just "feeling" their way through a murky lake of competitors and curious by-standers. But even that can be an exciting place to "mine" for gold!

Large businesses spend millions to reach, teach and convert their targets audiences, yet some  small business owners (who have little or no budget) think it will be easier for them to make and keep sales.  It is not easy, but it can be done.  It may not take millions, but it will take time.  That is the simple equation.

So where to start? 

• Understanding  what a CTA (Call-to-Action) is and what it is not
• Understanding  that not all CTAs are Equal
• Make your sign-up process easy and engaging and that will improve your conversion ratio. 
• Check out Tip # 4 in this series
• When trying to create the right CTA, keep your potential relationship in mind and not selling. Make it clear "what's in it for them". If you put selling first, in your CTA you may make a great sales person but not a great business owner.   

I'd love to go on and on about this as it is a great subject and a key element in getting people to share their contact information with you. Other marketers will talk with you about generics for creating great CTAs, but we've found that your call-to-action statements must be uniquely mapped to your specific products and services. Certainly you can take short cuts, but only if you want short benefits.

"But here’s the catch with getting started with CTAs: you can’t just slap “Click Here!” on a neon button, insert it on your website, and start racking in the clicks and leads. There are several crucial elements you need to include in a CTA if you want to entice people to actually take an action from your content."  - HubSpot.com

No matter what you decide, please always include the most relevant and powerful CTA you can imagine with your messages and offers; and be patient.  Try different approaches.  There's no such thing as an overnight success. But there are best practices, so do some research and use them.

I'd be happy to work with you in developing CTAs for your unique requirements. Take advantage of a complimentary consultation and I promise you'll come away from our call with some useful information!

As you begin to track the activity that is being produced by your forms, no doubt you'll see significant patterns develop. These patterns will be related to what people like about your business and what holds their interest.  You'll also see how well people take your call-to-action.  From there, you'll begin to associate actions with outcomes!

Many email marketing software packages can give you the tools you need to grow your contact list, however there a certain features that if missing, should throw up a red flag for you.

What's our best advice to you for selecting a great CRM, Email Marketing and Database System? Look deep into your business practices and your ultimate goals.  Match each of your communication requirements to the features provided in the form app. 

A few of the must haves are:

• Ease in creation
• Easy to integrate with your website and social media
• Stand-alone forms with QR codes for events and offline data capture
  
• Automation to start, track and build  "drip" campaigns
  
• CRM to help build business relationships
  
• Mobile and Responsive templates
  
• Segmentation for testing best practices
  
• Dependable deliverability
• Distinctive tracking records
• Affordable
  
• Scalable

Yes, I'm sure you'll find applications that claim to do EVERYTHING will cost more money than your budget allows, but don't be discourage, there's no need to miss-out on anything, We are here to help. 

If you need guidance or more recommendations in setting up a communications system with data capture features that allow you ease and affordability while offering  your visitors a user-friendly experience , connect with us for a no pressure no sell strategy session.