Thomas, Author at Successful Blog Page

Go Blogging and See the Results

November 11, 2015 by Thomas

Do you sometimes feel like your brand is not getting the attention it deserves and more importantly needs?

For some business owners, their websites can mean the difference between a healthy brand and one that is on life support. Whether your brand is doing well or not so well, are you looking to improve it? If the answer is yes, make sure you review your blogging efforts.

Given the fact that more and more consumers are going online to browse and ultimately buy products and services; having a strong website presence (including a relevant and informative blog) is more critical than ever. So, take some time to see how you can improve your blog or even how to start a blog today.

Blogs Matter More Than Ever

No matter what product or service you sell, blogging about your line of work is a great way to not only attract new customers, but also retain current ones.

With a solid blog on your website, you can:

Promote your brand – First and foremost, promoting your brand should always be a priority. A stellar blog on your website allows you to do just that and more. The blog can be an ambassador for your brand, introducing your products and/or services to millions of consumers. Make sure the information contained in your blog is relevant, timely, and provides a call to action without coming across as a sales pitch;
Be more socially active – Having a solid blog to work with allows you to be more social, meaning go to social media. Promoting your blog posts opens the door to consumers who may not be familiar with your brand. In turn, you are more likely to get inquiries about your brand when you are publicizing it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and even YouTube. Just like with your blog, you need to be active on social media, meaning share or tweet regularly in order to maximize your opportunities;
Engage with industry experts – While some companies decide to do all their blogging in-house, many others welcome guest bloggers. If you decide to work with guest bloggers, make sure they are a good match for your site’s blog. What kind of experience do they have in blogging? Are they an authority on the topics they speak of? Do they have a decent to solid social media following and will they promote their posts and your site? Yes, some guest posters will not be a good fit for your blog, but many others could be just what you are looking for;
Use it as a networking tool – In the event your business attends a number of trade shows and conferences during the year, your blog can be a topic of discussion. Along with promoting the respective event on your blog you will be attending, bring a laptop to the event and set the viewing page to your blog. As attendees visit your booth, it can make for a great conversation piece.

If you’re looking to improve your company’s blog or finally getting around to starting one, know that it can help your brand in so many ways.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about marketing your business on the web.

Engineer a Better Career Approach Moving Forward

November 7, 2015 by Thomas

How to Get Ahead words on a board game advance your careerWhat is your career approach?

Whether you want to be an engineer or a CEO, a nurse or a big data scientist, the right approach to your career will give you a valuable boost.

What are some things you can do to keep a positive attitude and make sure you have the best approach to your career?

Make Your Career Your Business

It is all too easy to drift along, even in a career you’re successful at. That’s why you need to make your career your business.

Make time for a career review; ask yourself where you would like to be in five or 10 years. What would you like to achieve before you retire? Once you know where you want to be, map out a plan of how to get there, and regularly review where you are.

Think about your talents, motivations and likes.

If your career is the right one for you, how can you use your skills to make it even more rewarding? If it’s not, ask yourself what you would like to do instead, and how you can use your existing skills in a new way.

Keep Learning

One of the keys to engineering a better career for yourself, is learning. Keep abreast of what’s hot in your industry from new technology to new ideas.

Be willing to invest in your education (sometimes employers will be able to help you with this). Continuous learning will keep your skills up to date, making you more valuable to an employer, and helping you get more satisfaction from what you do.

If you want to move in a different direction, learn as much as you can about your intended career so you can figure out if it’s right for you.

Make the Most of Mornings

Making the most of mornings can help you advance your career.

The morning provides prime quiet time, before the rush of work, family commitments and deadlines. As the article “Boost Your Engineering Career” says, you can use that time for making plans, motivating yourself, and starting your day with a goal in mind.

Time spent in the morning planning your day is a good career booster.

Start every morning with a clear plan of what you want to achieve, and which tasks are most important to that end. You’ll be taking charge of every day and making sure you use your time in the best way possible.

Look For Opportunities

If you want to forge the best career path for you, keep your eye out for opportunities. Having a positive attitude and being willing to seize opportunity will help you move forward.

Be proactive in looking for chances to boost your career.

That might mean taking a new course, attending an event, or simply connecting with the right person. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, make suggestions and start conversations. You never know what might come of it.

If you want to go in a new direction, look for chances to learn and grow on your new path.

Don’t wait for the perfect training course, for example. Read books, talk to other people in your desired industry, or even look for ways you can volunteer to find out what it’s all about.

Being in a career that you love is fulfilling and rewarding.

Make sure that’s the case for you with a positive attitude, great time management, and a nose for opportunities.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a variety of topics including social media, how to build customer relationships, content marketing and how to move forward in your career.

Keynote Speakers Can Set the Tone for Business Success

November 4, 2015 by Thomas

If you’re looking for a keynote speaker for your next event, you’ll want to make sure you choose the right person.

Keynote speakers can set the tone for the entire event. Getting it right is critical to the overall success of your event.

Here are some key qualities of a great keynote speaker….

Articulate

When interviewing for your keynote speaker, you should be able to tell right away whether or not they are a good speaker.

A good speaker is articulate, and seems to find the right words instantly to communicate the message.

Ultimately, as the article, “what makes a great keynote speaker?” looks at, it’s the ability to articulate the message in a clear manner that will be easily understood by the attendees.

Presentable

Your keynote speaker needs to be presentable as far as physical appearance.

Unfortunately, society does judge others on appearance. If you are putting on a conference about fitness products, your keynote speaker needs to be in good physical shape.

Even if they are a past Olympian, if they’ve let themselves go, they won’t be a good spokesperson for your company.

You don’t need a beauty contestant, but a general modicum of physical health is desirable in a person who is going to be delivering the keynote speech at a corporate event.

Respectful

Your keynote speaker should be a person who respects your organization and what it stands for.

They should be able to address your attendees in a respectful fashion, and embody the ideals that your organization holds dear. Even if they are experts in their field, if they cannot speak to your group in a respectful manner, they wouldn’t be an ideal candidate.

For example, you’d be surprised at how many experts on matters that interest women, such as childcare and gardening, don’t actually respect the women who engage in those activities.

Well-Known

The best keynote speaker would be one who can lend an air of authority to your event.

If they are well-known in their field, you will likely get a lot more attendees to your event than if you hire a keynote speaker whom no one has ever heard of. The value of a well-known keynote speaker is immense.

They can advertise their upcoming keynote address, and perhaps bring in more attendees than you would have otherwise had. A well-known keynote speaker can also breed excitement about the event.

When people who are on the fence about attending your event see who is delivering the keynote speech, they may be more likely to sign up just to see their favorite motivational speaker, celebrity or what not.

Responsible

Once you hire a keynote speaker, you want to be able to cross that task safely off your list.

You never want to have to worry that the keynote speaker won’t show up or will forget. If your keynote speaker is a celebrity, they could potentially be someone less than plugged in to the conventional world where people have to be a certain place at a specific time.

Your choice for keynote speaker should be a person with a responsible attitude to their commitments.

Keynote speakers can often make or break the success of an event.

Choose wisely and carefully, and sit back and enjoy the speech.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Kate Supino writes extensively about best business practices.

Get Personal in Training Your Sales People to be the Best

October 30, 2015 by Thomas

For those business owners just starting out or only in business for a short period of time, does your sales training have a personal touch? If it doesn’t, it could set the stage for some long days down the road.

The aim of sales training is to equip your sales team to do their best for your business. Well-trained sales people will pursue the best leads and communicating effectively with customers, ultimately improving your sales and conversions.

By adding a personal touch to your sales training, you increase the chances of success for your sales team.

So just what does a personal touch mean in terms of sales training, and how can you implement it in your business?

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

When it comes to sales training, it’s all too easy to take a one-size-fits-all approach.

You set up a training day or give your sales team an e-course to complete on their mobile devices, delivering everything you think they need to know. However, this may not be the most effective approach for your business.

Here’s why:

Different people have different learning styles;

Different people learn at different speeds;

Some team members will already be familiar with some of the material;

Team members will have different gaps in their knowledge;

Some people will learn better at different times of day;

Some people will respond better to specific content delivery methods than others.

Understanding the different needs of your sales team members is vital in creating sales training that has a truly personal touch.

What Does Personal Training Look Like?

Personal training is focused on what is best for each individual learner.

Personal training can include:

Offering different learning options (such as videos or interactive quizzes);

Breaking training down into bite size pieces so learners can choose where to go next;

Recommending new training modules based on each learner’s history;

Giving learners a chance to focus on problem areas;

Delivering different content based on each learner’s progress.

The Benefits of Giving Training a Personal Touch

Adding a personal touch to your sales training means you’ll be offering the best training for each individual member of your sales team.

By focusing your efforts on adapting your training to be appropriate for each individual learner, you increase each team member’s chance of getting maximum benefit from the training.

As the article “Modern Pharma Sales Training Deserves a Personal Touch” points out, customizing training to each learner’s needs improves the quality of the training.

Each person will receive the best content for them, in a way that they can personally work well with. Their engagement with the content will be more meaningful.

Making Training More Efficient

Adding a more personal touch to your training also means your training will be more efficient.

When you deliver the same training to everyone, some people will receive training in topics they’re already well versed in. As well as wasting time, this is likely to bore learners.

By personalizing your training, you let each employee skip over areas they are already familiar with.

More personal training also lets you see where each member of your team is struggling, giving you the chance to offer them support. Learners can put their focus on the areas they most need to improve.

Finally, by personalizing your sales training, you can pay attention to each learner’s preferred method of learning, for example by reading, answering quizzes or watching a video.

Targeting a preferred learning method is much more efficient than having everyone wade through material that doesn’t gel with their personal learning style.

When you add a personal touch to your sales training, you are essentially delivering the very best training for each member of your team.

The result is the best-trained sales people, who are an asset to your business.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a variety of topics including social media, how to build customer relationships, content marketing and how to offer the best training to your sales people.

Businesses That Market Efficiently Typically Come Out Winners

October 28, 2015 by Thomas

What are you doing to market your brand?

In the event you have trouble answering that question, your business could already be in trouble. Those who fail to properly market their brands end up oftentimes on the outside looking in when it comes to being successful business owners.

Think about it; today’s consumers have a wide-range of products and services to choose from, both in-person and by shopping online. If you’re failing at getting your brand noticed, you stand a very good chance of getting passed over by the consumer, with him or her going to your competition.

So, how can you best spread the word about your brand?

Market Regularly and Effectively

In order to properly market your brand in 2015 and beyond, keep the following in mind:

Have a purpose – Whether you are marketing home furnishings, real estate, entertainment systems for the home, insurance or any number of products or services; make sure you market with a purpose. Having a purpose means making sure you know your demographics and the message you want to send them. It could be anything from get satellite tv service at this site to buy the cheapest auto insurance and still get the best coverage. If you’re marketing home entertainment, you could market to a wide array of people. On the other hand, you’re less likely to market auto insurance to elderly drivers who likely have a policy they’ve been with for years;
Don’t Be a Pest – One quick way to turn off both current and potential customers is by being a pest. While you’re undoubtedly looking for sales, don’t come across as too sales hungry. Most consumers don’t want to feel like you’re reaching into their pockets all the time for more money. One way to offset this is by offering stellar customer service and truly “listening” to what the customer wants. When you offer good products and services and actually hear what the customer wants, you won’t always come across as that guy or gal who is always bothering them;
Get More Mobile – Especially with the holiday’s right around the corner, your brand’s mobility truly does matter. With mobile marketing continuing to grow in popularity, offering your current and potential customers deals and special holiday shopping specials can be a boon for your business. That said keep the mobile marketing non-intrusive, meaning make sure the consumer signs-off on you contacting them;
Be Able to Adapt – Finally, effective marketing also includes being able to adapt to changes in the market. Customer needs and wants will change, so you have to too. When you have a product or services that adapts with the changing times, you are much more likely to have a brand that customers will desire, so go with the flow.

If your brand has been in neutral recently, get to marketing it more efficiently and see your revenue stream more than likely increase.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: John Peters covers the world of marketing on the web.

Book Your Small Business for Success in 2016 and Beyond

October 24, 2015 by Thomas

The right trade show can do wonders for your small business, which is why it’s so important to attend the best events.

All across the country, small business owners are attending trade shows to help boost their brand presence and so can you.

Here are just a few of the many trade shows worth attending in 2016:

The Small Business Expo

If you’re looking for a trade show that features a diverse number of networking opportunities, then look no further than the Small Business Expo.

This massive trade show covers consulting, start-ups, finance, insurance, real estate, non-profit, education, marketing, advertising, technology, ecommerce, and a number of other small businesses.

In terms of an all-in-one trade show, the Small Business Expo focuses on a variety of industries, which can really help you increase exposure for your brand.

Another benefit of this trade show is it takes place throughout the year in 14 major cities including New York, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, and Atlanta just to name a few.

ASD Market Week

The retail and consumer goods industry is competitive and if you’re in the retail business, then you already know the importance of brand presence.

The ASD Market Week trade show in Las Vegas can help you hone your retail sales skills and stay ahead of the competition.

This trade show invites both small businesses and distributors, which creates an effective networking atmosphere.

As the following article looks at, along with the 2 philosophies that ensure tradeshow booth success is taking advantage of future distribution.

ASD Market Week, which takes place in late February and early March each year, segments attendees based on the products they sell.

This makes it even easier for distributors to seek out your small business during the trade show.

Pubcon

If your small business needs a hand with marketing and SEO, then Pubcon is an absolute must.

Part trade show and part conference, Pubcon brings together online marketers, social media experts, and SEO masterminds for the benefit of your small business.

At this trade show, you can improve your own marketing tactics while increasing the visibility of your brand through networking and workshops.

Pubcon takes place in Las Vegas and Austin, Texas every October.

CES International

Consumer technology is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

Whether your small business builds smart devices or improves technology that’s already on the market, the CES International trade show can help you build a strong following for your brand.

CES International takes place every January in Las Vegas and features small tech companies and innovators from all across the globe.

If you’re looking for a trade show where you can market your consumer tech innovation while networking with distributors and investors, then this trade show is a must.

America’s Small Business Summit

Having a relationship with your local chamber of commerce is an important part of running a small business.

America’s Small Business Summit connects business owners with state chamber executives in order to help build lasting business relationships. The summit takes place each June in Washington, D.C. and features discussion panels from chamber policy experts.

If you’re ready to book your small business for success in 2016, then consider some of the trade shows mentioned above.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including trade shows and small business.