Successful Blog

How to Decide if a New Social Tool is Relevant to Your Business

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By Rosemary O’Neill

Remember how uncool bell-bottom jeans were 10 years ago? Then they became so uncool that they were cool again (they’re now uncool again, just FYI).

The world of social media works in much the same way. As Heidi Klum says on Project Runway, “one day you’re in…the next day, you’re OUT.” Facebook is the big kahuna right now, but there’s no guarantee that it will stay on top.

For that reason, it’s a good idea to at least take a glance at new or revived social tools once in a while. This post will give you some strategies to help you evaluate whether a new shiny object is “hot or not” for your online business strategy.

How to Evaluate a New Social Tool

  • Can I afford it? Remember that free tools aren’t really free. Your time is money too. Also consider whether you’d need to upgrade to a pro option to get maximum benefit from the tool.
  • Am I familiar with it? Unless your schedule allows time for training and learning curve, think about how hard it will be to get up to speed. Will it take priority over other, more important tactics?
  • Is my audience there? Try to find out the key demographic using the tool. Does that overlap with your own market strategy? A great resource for demographic information is this Ignite Social Media report.
  • Is it a relevant topic? Some social tools are topic-centric (like the new MySpace). Does the topic relate to your business in some way? Can you leverage it to support your marketing plan?
  • Does it work with the rest of my strategy/tool kit? Hopefully you’re making life easy on yourself by creating a cohesive set of tactics. You don’t want redundant or clashing applications in your portfolio. For example, you probably don’t need to use both Hootsuite and Tweetdeck.
  • Is it stable/supported/funded? It’s good to take a look at new social tools, but don’t go “all-in” until there is some traction or proof that it’s going to last. You don’t want to be caught losing your data or content if a startup pivots or goes out of business entirely.

These are just some of key considerations for when you read a Mashable article about the “next new thing” in social media. It’s important to stay abreast of changing technology, but you don’t want to chase shiny objects!

How do you decide whether to jump into a new social application?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Don’t Tax Yourself on Getting Taxes Together

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It is that time of year that just about everyone other than tax accounts dread.

Yes, time to gather up all those papers and try and figure out if you will be getting a gift from Uncle Sam, or perhaps giving him a little something instead. Either way, doing your taxes can be quite taxing, pardon the pun if you will

So, how can the average worker avert the desire to bang their head up against the wall until they render themselves unconscious?

Let’s start by categorizing workers into two groups – full-time employees and contractors.

If you find yourself in the former, the best advice is to:

* Check with your employer if your tax document is late or if the numbers do not add up. Given the move to 2013, many workers noticed a change in their paychecks earlier this month. A payroll tax increase has led to many workers cutting back on expenses for the time being, that being the culmination of a two-year cut on taxes which fund Social Security. For those unaware, the tax jumped back up to 6.2 percent from the previous 4.2 percent. Keep in mind that your employer is required to finalize your W-2 to report wages, tips, and other compensation you received during the last year by Jan. 31;

* Already think about next tax season – As you are either preparing to or currently working on your taxes for the 2012 work year, pay attention. You may want to make some changes going forward this year to assist you with your 2013 taxes. Whether you want to change certain deduction amounts or how many people can be claimed, review the last 12 months to see if you can change your paycheck to better benefit you over time.

Self-Employed Workers Need to Deduct What They Can

For those workers who are self-employed, they probably enjoyed not seeing taxes deducted from their checks or cash payouts these last 12 months. As most know, however, the time has come due to pay up.

While you have to pay federal, state and local taxes like many other folks, there are savings sitting there for you if you know where to look for them.

If you work from home, remember that you can deduct items like mileage, electricity, phone bill, any purchases that went towards your work efforts like a new computer, printer or fax machine, office supplies etc. You can also deduct travel expenses such as airfare, rental cars, hotels and more if they were accrued during your work time. Lastly, you may be able to deduct a portion of your rent, insurance, etc. if your home is the main base for any business you run and/or work you do for an employer.

The most important facet of all of this talk is making sure you have kept proper records over the last 12 months.

Are you one to save and organize receipts or are you the individual who will be scurrying around April 14 looking for such items?

Whether this tax season brings you a gift or not, be prepared to get your taxes done over the coming weeks, meaning that April 15 does not stare you down like a whole in the wall.

Photo credit: addictinginfo.org

About the Author: With 23 years’ writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of business and consumer topics, including payroll outsourcing.

Stories sell and facts tell

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By Elaine Love

Information, information everywhere, but so much of it is such a “yawn” that readers glance and move away. If you want your prospects to become enthused about you and your company, tell them a story. Whether you tell the story orally or in writing, make your message come alive.

Paint a picture

Stories come alive and allow the prospect to see themselves enjoying a better life. Telling a story about when your product or service helped another person solve a similar problem gives them encouragement that your product or service can solve their problem. The more your make the story come alive, the more they see themselves in the successful outcome.

5 Senses

You can say, “You will be able to take that beach vacation you’ve talked about once we solve this problem.” Or you can tell a story.

“Picture yourself relaxed on the pristine warm white sand with the sun’s rays gently caressing your tanning body. Feel the soft ocean breeze on your face and catch the scent of tropical foliage as it drifts by on the breeze. Taste the cool beverage at your side and hear the soothing sound of the waves rolling up on the beach.”

Putting the five senses in your scene allows them to feel the relaxing pleasure and become part of the scene.

Adapt the success story to fit your individual situation. Different people have different learning styles and different triggers which appeal to them.

5 C’s method

Perhaps your particular situation works better with the 5 C’s.

  • Characters
  • Conflict
  • Cure
  • Change
  • Carry Out Message

Describe the current situation with another client as the main character.

Add the conflict (problem) which the customer was facing and build it up to a “need to fix” situation rather than a “nice to fix” situation.

Detail the cure provided by your product or service. Tell what the product is, what it does and how it is able to solve the problem.

Let the prospect feel how their life will change for the better by solving the problem in this way.

There must be a change in at least one character for the solution to have been a success.

Use a call to action as your carry out message. Create the urgency to act on the solution.

This story method adapts itself very well to selling a product or service in a non-confrontational and pleasing manner.

Now, then and how

You may have been using a portion of this technique without even realizing it. Describe how much better a customer’s life is now that they have used your product or service.

A young man is giving keynote speeches at $10,000 per keynote address and traveling all over the world. His business has expanded from a bankrupt solopreneur to employing twenty full time professional assistants. You may think he was a natural, but not so. He started out as a stand-up comic on open microphone night. His first time on stage, his hand was shaking so badly that he could not read his note cards. The only laugh he received was when he uttered a frustrated comment at the time he blew the punch line on a joke. What made the change from total disaster to successful professional speaker? He hired a professional comedian to coach him. Professional coaching brought him from disaster to success. (This story is used to sell my private speech coaching programs.)

Stories sell and facts tell

Numerous story telling techniques exist. Select the one which works for you. Adapt it to the precise situation for each individual customer.

Stories connect emotionally. You only have to connect with a person emotionally if you want them to remember you and what you said.

Author’s Bio: At home in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Elaine Love writes about small business and the mindset for success so essential for an entrepreneur. She is the author of Emotional Ice Water. Find her on Twitter @elainelove44 or Elaine4Success.com

The blank web page

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By James Ellis

Let’s play a game. In this game, I have all the power of a Greek god. I am James, God of Websites. No, there’s no need to bow down, for I am an beneficent god.

thunderbolt

In this game, you have a web site. Wait, you have a web site? Great, let’s use that. Ready? Here we go.

I, as the great God of Web, have destroyed your website. I have smote it! When you go to your domain, all you get is a blank white screen. No 404 errors, no broken code, just a clean screen, like the lake after a snowstorm.

Now I have not destroyed any content. All your text and images and databases are still intact in your WordPress/Drupal/Joomla admin screen (See? I told you I’m an understanding god). They just don’t show up.

In this imaginary world it’s January 1, so no one is going to go to your site all day, and therefore no one knows about this calamity that has befallen you. But you have already put a big ad buy in for January 2, so you expect a tsunami of traffic to descend tomorrow. Your design and development staff is off on their annual trek to visit every bar in Wrigleyville and have turned off their phones. You are alone.

This is the game. You have one day to save yourself. It’s impossible to bring the site back to what it was on December 31, so don’t even try. But you need some basic functionality when people return January 2 or else everyone gets fired. Fun game, right?

So what do you do? What do you save? What’s the first thing you bring back? What’s the one or two things that are vital to saving your job? Is it the logo? (Spoiler: no.) Is it the perfect design? (Probably not.) Is it the compendium of products, 98% of which no one looks at, let alone buys? (Um, I’ll let you guess.)

What is crucial to your site? I mean truly crucial? The clock is ticking and your site is blank, so what are you going to do?

As a beneficent god, I will reward good work. If you choose what is crucial and get it up quickly, ignoring that massive PDF of design guidelines and logo placement, of coding things to work in Netscape 4, of all that you’ve learned about the marketing/corporate tone, I will direct that massive wave of traffic to your site and your work will determine how much of it converts.

Sadly, this is just a game. Instead, you’re stuck with that behemoth of a site, one that has every word ever written on it since 1998, with a glut of images and code that makes any change to the site take five times longer than if it was just your personal blog.

You are shackled to the past. To move forward, you need to think about what the future could look like, and it shouldn’t include 50% of the stuff you probably think about now. So take this moment and think about what needs to go and how you convince everyone that it’s the right way to go.

Because one day, you might be visited by a less beneficent god of the web (I’ve heard ugly rumors about the God of Automated Backups).

Consider this your only warning.

Author’s Bio: James Ellis is a digital strategist, mad scientist, lover, fighter, drummer and blogger living in Chicago. You can reach out to him or just argue with his premise at saltlab.com.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons, by Peter Davey

Overcoming the three fears of telecommuting

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By Kelly Gregorio

home office space
Is telecommuting right for you?
In today’s digital world telecommuting is becoming more of a common practice. Increased productivity, a “greener” business approach, time and funds saved from a commute are just a few of the benefits. Still, as an employer there are some drawbacks to consider. Below are the top 3 fears of telecommuting and tips on how to overcome them.

Will Everyone Want to Telecommute?

It is important to remember that telecommuting is not the right fit for every employee. Positions that require constant supervision and collaboration are not ideal. However, independent positions that are results-oriented might make a good candidate for telecommuting. Another thing to consider: equipment. Someone who requires a photocopier, scanner and the latest software might not make for an ideal telecommute worker; however a job that simply requires a laptop and access to the internet could work. When making the decision to offer the telecommute option remember it will not apply to the entire company, decide first which jobs are the right fit.

Is Anybody Out There?

As an employer you might be hesitant to allow employees to work from home because of the potential communication gap. Luckily, instant messaging, emailing and texts can put you in direct contact with your virtual workers during normal business hours. Need the face-to-face? Skype is a great (and free) advancement that will allow you to look your employee in the eye while discussing upcoming and ongoing projects. Finally, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly trips to the office are a great way to reconnect and to allow your employee to still feel like he/she is a part of the office team.

How Can I Make This Work?

Before undergoing any telecommuting option it is most important to draw out expectations with your employee. Requiring your worker to send daily follow-up reports of productivity is a smart way to stay on the same page. Routine scheduled phone calls can keep the lines of communication open and objectives on track. By establishing clearly defined goals and checkpoints, you and your employee will be clear on what is expected to be produced in and outside of the cubicle.

Telecommuting is a viable option for the right company. If you feel like your business might be a candidate consider the benefits. Fewer interruptions make for a more productive employee, employee retention and job attractiveness are bound to increase, and temporary inter-office problems such as sickness or power outages are less of a problem for the at-home worker. By preparing for the possible downsides, employers can assess if telecommuting is a feasible option for their employees, creating a happier work environment both near and far.

Author’s Bio: Kelly Gregorio writes about relevant topics that affect small businesses while working at Merchant Resources International. You can follow her daily blog at http://www.cashprior.com/blog.

Image: Flickr creative commons – mccun934

Excelling as a Freelancer – How to Use Online Courses to Boost Your Credentials

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Every day, hundreds and thousands of websites are launched, and each of these websites has the potential to create freelance jobs including web design or development jobs, content writing, search engine optimization, or social media marketing. Looking at the growth rate of World Wide Web, you can imagine the scope in the freelance jobs market. And remember, freelance jobs are not limited to content writing or graphic designing. You can find many different types of jobs at freelance job portals.

The only problem is, for every job, there are hundreds of candidates, and you will have to compete with the best of the best to grab some of these jobs.

Working as a freelancer can be highly rewarding and much more convenient than a 9 to 5 job, however getting new projects and clients on a continuous basis can be quite difficult. You need to be on top of your game, and you will have to stay on the learning curve throughout your career. If you’re looking to work as a freelancer, you must invest some of your time and earnings on learning and keeping yourself in the know of things. Online courses are ideal for freelancers, knowing that you will have to spend most of your time on Internet.

Here are some tips that will help you choose the right online course, degree, or program.

  • Doesn’t matter if you are looking to become a freelance content writer, web designer, or an SEO analyst, you need to have flawless English writing and comprehension skills. In case English is not your first language, and you are not good at writing or speaking English, you can start by taking online courses for the English language.
  • For basics or beginner level courses, you can easily find free programs or tutorials on the Internet. Some will provide you with a certificate, but even if they don’t, you will still learn many valuable things, so make the most of free online courses.
  • Choose a field and stick with it. For example, if you are looking to excel as a content writer, there’s no point in taking an online course for web design just because graphic design appears to be the “in thing”. It’s great to have some knowledge of the related fields; however, you should try to become the master of one trade, such as forensics with a Masters degree in criminology, instead of becoming the jack of many.
  • Before beginning an online course, ask yourself is this course, diploma, or degree is something that you will proudly share on your resume? If the answer is no, drop the idea of paying for any such course that doesn’t improve your credentials in one way or another.
  • An online course is entirely different from “make money online programs”. An online course is quite similar to an offline course, except that you can study from your home. If the course provider makes large claims, and promises big rewards, take it with a grain of salt.
  • Try to find a credible university or institute offering a relevant course, instead of going for the first resource that appears on top of your Google search. Just because a site is ranking on top of Google doesn’t make it a trustworthy source, so you must do the due diligence.

 

Arba Hana has been writing on freelancing and online education topics for more than two years. The Internet provides learning opportunities for all, ranging from the short courses to full-fledged degree programs like criminology masters programs.