Income Trigger Consulting

Jun 20

Using Color in Social Media

Categories:

Brand Ideas, Social Media Marketing Plan, Your brand

Color is the one of the most important factors in almost all purchase decisions. It’s therefore no wonder that using color in Social Media plays a significant part in the success of our online conversation. Here are some interesting statistics:

1% of consumers will purchase a product based on smell or sound.

6% will purchase because of texture. (It feels good)

And a huge 93% of all consumers will purchase a product based on visual impact. Within this group, 85% named color as the most important factor in their purchase decision

If you are trying to build a brand image for your online or offline business then consider this:

“Colour is the THE most important aspect that you have to get right!”

This infographic from visual.ly is a great example of how color is used so effectively by well known major brands

Color Emotion Guide infographic

Last but not least, did you know that you can target specific demographics based on color?

Impulse buyers will most likely respond to the colors black and red.
People working within budget restraints tend to go for blue or teal.
Pink and pastel colors such as rose or sky blue or any other non-prime colors are more likely to be preferred by traditional buyers.

Have a play around with color to see which advertisements get the best results and incorporate those results in your next social media marketing plan!

Tags: brand marketing strategy, social media strategies

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Mar 29

Shake off Business Stress

Categories:

Internet Marketing for Small Business

by Elizabeth

Depending on where you live, you may or may not celebrate Easter. This message is for those of you who do and for anyone else who enjoys a cheerful greeting. Easter is that time of the year when, in the northern hemisphere spring is starting to show its colours and in the southern hemisphere where I am we’re starting to see that beautiful autumn glow. Time to relax and shake of any business stress that may have been creeping up on you over the last few months.

On the subject of stress; the stress that affects business owners most is often of a personal nature such as problems within the family. This means that personal problems are most likely to have a detrimental effect on the successful running of your business. Most people find that they are sufficiently technically skilled to operate their business from a product or service production point of view. Monitoring their online presence and taking care of their Social Media Reputation Management can however easily feel like a bewildering maze of tasks. This feeling of overwhelm can lead to business stress and taking that home will most likely aggravate the problem and result in tension on a personal level.

I have often been asked if I know of any simple tips and techniques that can help alleviate this problem. The best advice that I can offer here is to get qualified help. By getting help from the right source you can change your focus from business stress to building your business and stay on an even keel in your personal life. While getting that organized, try to take a breather and do something totally different over the Easter break. Another good quick stress relief tip is to do some simple stretch exercises several times during the day. Sitting or standing up straight and taking a few deep breath is the quickest and easiest pick-me-up that you’ll find for shaking off business stress at any time of the day or night.

Don’t know how to build a stress free Social Media scenario? Book an obligation free consultation call with me using the booking form on this page and I’ll be happy to give you a helping hand.

Tags: business stress, reputation management

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Feb 20

Driving Traffic to Your Website

Categories:

Driving Traffic

by Elizabeth

Social Media plays a very important part in today’s marketing mix. Your conversion rates are important in the end result, but if you don’t drive enough traffic to your website to start with, the results of your Social Media Marketing efforts will be very disappointing. In the previous post we talked about building a solid brand reputation. Here is where that fits in when it comes to driving traffic to your website.

Social Media is all about brand building which, when done consistently and with the right approach, will drive traffic. The end result will be increased traffic to your website where you can concentrate on conversions and lead generation.

The big mistake that many business owners make is looking at Social Media as just another marketing tool. The principle of the traditional marketing 4 P’s: Product, Place, Price and Promotion, is well known to most business people but, with the expansion of Social Media into the business world, this model has become rather outdated. The reason why I’m saying this is that the 4P’s model concentrates heavily on the product features and quality. These are important factors but they don’t really differentiate sufficiently. What’s missing with the 4P’s is emphasis on building a case to explain the benefits of a product or services. In other words, you need to promote your business by explaining to your customers that they need your product and/or service because it solves a problem. Spread the word that you can solve a specific problem better than anyone else and you’ll end up with a product or service that your customers simply can’t live without. This is where Social Media comes into play.

It is today’s word of mouth!

Social Media as a Marketing Tool

In days gone by business owners would use a variety of traditional marketing tools such as subscriptions in local directories, special events, advertisements in newspapers, etc. They would also, as incentives to increase their sales, offer discounts, free items or perhaps run loyalty contests. These tactics have well and truly proven to be effective and are still an indispensable part of today’s marketing promotions mix. The difference is that most of this is now also very effectively and more efficiently done online using any number of Social Media Channels. Replacing outdated offline advertising with Social Media marketing can save you time and money. The most important thing to keep in mind though is that you need to track your audience’s activity to measure your Social Media marketing’s ROI. We’ll go into this in depth in the next post.

Social Media as a Brand Reputation Builder

Promoting your business with Social Media to build a solid brand reputation involves more than just talking about you and your products or services. To get your audience to sit up and take notice you have to follow the 70/10/20 rule which means that whatever you publish on channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. it has to be 70% your own informative and relevant content, 10% other relevant content and only 20% actual product/service promotion. Give your visitors a chance to get to know you and trust you. Visitors to your social media sites who enjoy what you have to offer will often share your posts with their friends via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest etc. It’s this increase in reach that builds trust and enhances your brand. It will increase traffic to your website and bring you more relevant visitors.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Social Media is today’s word of mouth and it’s the spreading of the word about what you have to offer that acts as a referral service for your business. Your conversion rate will improve drastically when targeted prospects start arriving through referrals.

In the next post I’ll show you some tips on how to convert your website traffic into leads. In the meantime, if you have any questions about driving traffic to your website or other topics relevant to brand reputation building, use the form on this page to book an obligation free consultation call with me.

Tags: brand building, brand reputation

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Feb 14

Happy Valentine’s Day

Categories:

Relationship Building

by Elizabeth

Yes it’s that time of the year again. Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th February around the globe, is the day when we express the feelings and passion between our loved ones. It’s celebrated with the exchange of gifts, Valentine cards, flowers, heart shaped balloons, etc. Red roses are specifically associated with love on this day.

There is however a general misconception about Valentine’s Day. It is often assumed that it is a special day for lovers only but the real meaning of Valentine’s Day is that it is the day where we show our care and feelings for any relationship that is important. It can be your parents, grandparents, siblings or any personal friend.

Hopefully you have a loved one who you can share this day with. But, there are many other ways that you can share the love. How about your customers? We use our Social Media channels to be Social but how about you make it something special today. We often take people for granted so today I would like to say to my customers:

“I appreciate our relationship. You are not just a customer, you are the person who I want to get to know better so that I can serve your needs and solve your problems to the best of my ability”

Tags: relationship

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Feb 02

How to make Social Media Marketing work for you.

Categories:

Social Media Marketing

by Elizabeth

There are many small business owners who feel that Social Media Marketing is not working for them. While they realize that Social Media is playing an increasingly vital role in the marketing strategies for most businesses they feel that they are not getting anywhere near as much out of their efforts as they had hoped.

If this scenario applies to you and your business then the tips and tricks provided here should help you get on track.

The three main problems for most small business owners are the lack of understanding how to:

Build brand advocacy to establish a solid brand reputation
Drive traffic to their website and
Generate leads.

In the following sections we’ll take a close look at each of these issues.

How to Establish a Solid Brand Reputation

Social media success is all about building relationships that will create loyalty and trust in your brand. It’s about turning your customers into loyal followers who will spread the word about your brand and in doing so become the advocates for your business.

Here is an example of some of the most well known brands that have, over the years, created a huge following of loyal advocates.

It goes without saying that, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll recognize each one of these logos. As a small to medium sized business owner you’re not likely to achieve world wide acclaim like these brands have but, by the same token, to build your brand you have to present your business in a way that will make people sit up and take notice. The more social media followers that you attract, the more likely that your content will be shared and impact on the results in the various search engines.

Publishing good content is the first step to building relationships but, it’s the sharing of your content that increases your overall reach and that in turn will create trust. It’s really all about today’s word of mouth. So what actions will achieve your relationship building objectives? I recommend that you implement at least the following tactics:

Clearly identify your target audience i.e. your ideal customer
Optimizing each piece of content to speak to this ideal customer.
Share valuable information that your audience will find useful.
Publish your content on channels that are frequented by your audience
Include social share buttons on your website.
Include a blog on your website and publish regular posts.
Email your existing customers to encourage them to interact with you on social media

The first point here is the most important of all. Address the wrong audience and no one wil hear your message. Social Media Marketing and establishing your online brand is all about establishing a relationship between you and your ideal customer. I’ll go through some tips on how to identify that ideal customer in a later post but in the meantime I’d like you to have a look at how you are presenting yourself to your audience. Does your profile present you in a light that your prospects can relate to? If your readers can’t relate to you then they’ll probably lose interest in your story. But if you can make readers love you story then it’s easy to get them hooked.

I’m not promising you miracles overnight but if you communicate with your target audience on a regular basis using the tactics outlined here, you will find that your Social Media reach will increase. It’s a guaranteed way to establish a solid brand reputation across the various Social Channels.

In the next post I’ll show you some tips on how to use various Social Media Marketing tools to drive traffic to your website. In the meantime, if you have any questions, book an obligation free call or leave a message and I’ll get back to you asap.

Tags: brand reputation, social media

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Jan 25

Is your Social Media Marketing Plan on Track?

Categories:

Social Media Marketing Plan

by Elizabeth

Last month we stepped through my version of how to prepare a flight plan for your business for 2013. I would love to hear your comments. Did it help you to get your Social Media Marketing plan for this year of the ground and safely flying or are you still stuck on the runway?

We tend to be full of enthusiasm when we start working on our plans at the start of the year but interruptions often crop up and before you realize it, your Social Media Strategy plans are stuck halfway down the runway waiting for take off tomorrow or the day after instead of having been tested and in full flight since yesterday. This can turn into a real disaster as good Social Media Management is a 24/7 issue.

Bad news travels faster than good news and with social media it’s a fact that any bad online reviews will stay there FOREVER!

So what can you do to make sure that you stay on your flight path and procrastination doesn’t get in the way?

Here are a few tips that should help you stay on track. They may not all fit your scenario but pick out the ones that fit and run with those.

Do you have to do it all yourself?

Is this task something that you must do yourself or can you outsource it? We often fall for the notion that “no one can do it better” or “it would take too long to explain, its quicker doing it myself”. This is very much a tendency among small business owners. If outsourcing is a problem because of a lack of funds then check if you can perhaps barter with someone else (a spouse, partner, one of the kids, a friend) to do it, while you do something for them that they don’t like doing. The fact that you’ve always done yourself is not a reason to assume that it always has to stay that way. If there’s a different way still gets it done, use it.

If the task is something that you have to do then one or more of the following tips can help.

Visualize the result, not the work

Focus on what you’ll have achieved once you’ve done the work instead of seeing the work to be done to get there.

Perhaps there are negative online business reviews that you have to deal with. Think for a moment about how you feel before you tackle the task. Nervous and wondering how you can possibly turn it around so you won’t lose customers? Now imagine how great it will feel when it’s over and done with. You could well get some positive comments to your response. You won’t know until you’ve given it a go and remember; practice makes perfect.

What is the cost to your business if you don’t do it?

Taking a negative online review of your business as an example, what would happen if you don’t respond in a positive manner within 24 hours? It can cost you dearly, especially if your business is hospitality. A positive response will not make the negative go away, its there forever, but if you’re seen to be willing to listen and take positive action you’re far less likely to chase potential customers away.

Break it up into some shorter flights.

Does one of the tasks on your Social Media Strategy look like too much to get done? Have a look at the business flight plan example in the last post and see if you can break it up into smaller manageable chunks.

Let’s say one of the tasks that you’ve set yourself to reach your goal is to monitor the online statistics for your business. You can chop that up into much smaller identifiable individual chunks e.g. check mentions of your brand first thing in the morning, reserve the quietest part of the day to respond to Social Media comments, etc.

Keep breaking it down until you have short tasks that can be done at regular intervals and that are easy to manage.

Concentrate on your current flight plan only.

Most plans fall by the wayside because of distractions. The main problem tends to be that there are too many plans and tasks within direct view.

The solution: write the task at hand on a sticky note and attach it somewhere in your direct line of sight. Clear your desktop of anything else that is not part of the current task, even if you simply put it down on the floor. Now work on just that one task and use the sticky note to help you keep your focus.

Don’t dawdle, be decisive.

Last but not least, I’ve seen good plans going into the too hard basket simply because there were so many ideas and tasks that it seemed to hard to decide what to do first.

If that applies to you, just pick any one to start with and go do it. What if you pick one that later proves to be not quite as good or important as one of the others? Well, you’ll at least have one task successfully finished instead of still looking at many that didn’t get done at all.

And here are just a few final things to keep in mind:

Planning to do something is not the same as doing it.
A good brand image is crucial to your success
Remember to include timely reputation management in your Social Media Marketing plan

I hope these tips will help you to stay on track. Don’t hesitate to book a call with me if you have any questions.

Tags: online business reviews, reputation management, social media management, social media strategy

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Dec 15

How to Plan for Social Media Marketing in 2013

Categories:

Social Media Marketing

by Elizabeth

It’s almost the end of another year so let me start by wishing you an abundantly joyous season and Happy New Year! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or another holiday, may your life be filled with many blessings

Cheers and Best Wishes.

Biz Tip of the Month

A Business Flight Plan for the New Year

It’s time to start planning the Social Media strategies for your business for the upcoming year. You don’t need a university degree in marketing or economics to compile a good business plan, but you do need to carefully consider each aspect.

You’ve probably seen this outline of the basic approach to planning somewhere along the line.

Each step here is valid but it’s the “If it Works” decision that needs to be analyzed and revisited on a regular basis. If you feel that this is complicated and you don’t know where to start then let me put my Air Traffic Controller’s hat on

and I’ll show you how, using this simple flight plan, the task really isn’t daunting at all.

Why a flight plan for your business? Because it is a fun and straight forward step by step process that you can monitor as you progress through the year. So put your business pilot’s hat on, check this example and let’s do your flight plan for the coming year. Note your answers as you step through each point.

1. Flight Type

Are you expecting to have:

* An easy clear view for the year ahead (Visual Flight Rules)

* Some tough times that need watching (Instrument Flight Rules)

* Restricted operating conditions (Defense Visual Flight Rule)

2. Identification

What is your business name and type of business?

3. Special Equipment

Will you need any special Social Media software or training that can affect your results for the year?

4. True Airspeed

Do you expect to maintain your current level of business, increase capacity or downsize?

5. Departure Point

Where are you starting the next year – new, growing or established business?

6. Departure Time

Your first business date after the New Year or, if yours is a new business, what is your planned launch date? (Fill in the actual when it happens)

7. Cruising Altitude

What is your expected level of participation in Social Media marketing? (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc)

8. Route of Flight

What actions will you take to achieve that target?

9. Destination airport

What is your ultimate goal for 2013?

10. Est. time enroute

How much time and money do you expect to need to reach that goal

11. Remarks

Comment on any constraints that could affect your target

12. Fuel on Board

How much time and money do you have in your budget for the next year?

13. Alternate Airports

What is your Plan B if things don’t work out as planned?

14. Pilot’s name and contact details

Business Owner’s contact details

15. Number aboard

Number and details of staff & management involved in the business

16. Color of Aircraft

What makes you stand out from the crowd? (Your USP and Logo)

17. Close flight plan on arrival

Review and Sign of on the plan at the end of the next year

And that’s all there is to it. You’re CLEAR FOR TAKE OFF!

Now that’s much more fun than trying to write up a dull old style plan, isn’t it? But, having said that, don’t hesitate to ask for help if you’re not sure about how to work your way through the process. Make developing your 2013 plan a team effort by involving your business coach or any of your other trusted associates.

If you have questions but have no one to help you then use the booking form here to arrange a personal 20 minute FREE consultation call with me. I’ll be happy to answer your questions on using this strategy to plan your Social Media marketing for the coming year.

Tags: business plan, social media strategies

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Oct 27

Internet Marketing for Small Business

Categories:

Internet Marketing for Small Business

by Elizabeth

Internet Marketing for Small Business is often thought of as the tool that brings in sales automatically without effort. That’s fine while things are going well but when sales are heading south and cash-flow positions are getting worse, small business owners soon become anxious to find a way out. But instead of shooting from the hip it’s crucial that you strategically plan a way out of the doldrums.

The challenge of setting up a small business and making a go of it is more than opening up shop and setting up a few Social Media profiles in the hope that customers will find you. Many small business owners in who don’t see the results that they hoped for lose the interest and drive that got them started building a new business. When that happens, the question is; how can an entrepreneur get back on top and stage a comeback? Here are two turnaround tips to help you get back on track.

1. Look Outside your Business for Help!
All too often small business owners tend to become too insular and forget to look for outside guidance. This is the quickest way to tune out and lose customers.

Getting back into listening to your customer is the best way to becoming innovative again and create solutions to their problems. I would suggest that you pay a personal visit to at least two customers per month. This can be a face to face visit for an offline local business or a phone call for an online business. These calls are not meant to sell your product but rather to listen and find out what your clients think of you and your business. This will not only improve your sales but it will also give you ideas for new and/or improved products and services and help you adapt your marketing approach to your customer’s needs.

While listening to your customers is an essential factor in making a business comeback, there are other avenues to get help. Keep in touch with the people who’ve helped you establish your business such as your accountant, lawyer, association members, etc. They know you and your business, are often able to provide you with referrals, and they can often offer good advice on how to improve your business.

Offline networking is another good way to get a better handle on the market. Seek out networking groups where you are likely to meet people who can help with cross referrals. Don’t push sales but spend some quality time at meetings getting to know people. Its all about building relationships that are of mutual benefit.

While offline networking like this can be invaluable, online networking through forums, hangouts and many other similar venues can also deliver good results providing that you always participate and provide valuable input. Think of Social Media for Small Business as a replacement for the counter in the local corner store where people used to socialize, build relationships and do repeat business.

2. Look for a Better Way to Stand Out in the Crowd!
Being able to differentiate yourself from other similar businesses is absolutely critical. You need to carve a niche for your company by offering products and/or services that are tailor made for specific markets instead of trying to make everyone your customer.

Here is an example. Four years ago, when the global financial crisis first hit, a printer who I know decided to re-define his marketing focus. Instead of trying to get more sales by expanding his reach to include the whole spectrum of customers who needed printed material he realized that there was still a strong preference for receiving personalized cards over email greetings. Having researched his options he narrowed his focus to printing of special purpose greeting cards for online ordering and personalization. He began promoting cards for all occasions that can be totally personalized and send by mail to a single recipient or a complete mailing list. This shift in focus has resulted in a substantial increase in revenue and a large customer base that provides continual recurring sales.

The lesson here is that its generally much easier to pick and succeed with a small niche than trying to beat the whole market.

How to find this marketing niche when setting up a small business and making sure that it will continue to work can often be a headache for many business owners. Internet Marketing for Small Business is not simply a matter of setting up a few Social Media Profiles. You need to set your goals and do your research for any online or offline business to be successful. If you have a problem with this then I have a free eBook “Business Start Up Tools” for you that would be a useful reference. You can download it here.

Internet marketing for small business Business Tools Review

Click to Download

Tags: setting up a small business, small business, Social media for small business

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Oct 04

Recipe for Starting a New Business

Categories:

New Business StartUp

by Elizabeth

When starting a new business you need to start with following at least a basic business recipe when it comes to creating and promoting your online image. The problem often is that you don’t know which of the recipes that you look at is best suited to your needs and hence you treat it as a matter of trial and error.

It’s not unlikely that you’ve lost count of the number of business Blueprints that you’ve read trying to find the best approach.

Has all this been a waste of time? Not necessarily because without this ongoing research you could easily miss the bits and pieces of information that can make a big difference to your business building effort. You need to get to the stage where you are able to pick the best bits and pieces out of that big Blue Print melting pot, give it a stir, add a bit of your personal flavour and “Hey Presto” you have a business building recipe with your own flavor. Now all you need to do is keep it simmering, keep adjusting the flavors and you’ll be able to build a really unique and thriving business.

The point of all this? Throw away the recipe and do your own thing by all means but not until you’re sure that you have read enough of it to have the basics under control. Don’t know where to start looking or staying on top of it all? Go to my contact page, shoot me an email with any questions about your new business startup that you may have and I’ll get back to you pronto.

Tags: business blueprints, new business

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Shake off Business Stress

Driving Traffic to Your Website

Social Media as a Marketing Tool

Social Media as a Brand Reputation Builder

Happy Valentine’s Day

Recipe for Starting a New Business

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