Blog - Successful Blog -

Market a Brand Consumers Will Come Home to

September 14, 2016 by Thomas

In today’s world of B2C marketing, it is imperative that businesses do their utmost to get their brands properly marketed.

That said some companies are literally dropping the ball when it comes to telling consumers why the brands they have offer the public are light years better than the competition.

So, what are you doing to go out of your way to market your brand properly?

Whether it is more along the lines of traditional marketing methods, perhaps leaning more for mobile and social media marketing, there are myriad of ways to get your brand heard and recognized.

At the end of the day, the goal should always be to market a brand consumers will come home to.

Get Your Message Out There

In order to have your brand stand out from the competition, make sure you are doing the following:

Properly planning – Your first and foremost objective is to make sure you are properly planning any and all marketing initiatives. For example, if your company’s main offerings are home renovations and other home improvements, be sure your marketing efforts are geared towards the right demographics. While some senior citizens later in years do in fact make notable renovations and/or additions to their homes, many of them are content with what they have at home or are renting properties (senior center apartments or condos etc.). As a result, they’re not going to be your primary source of business. On the flip side, people who are either moving into an older home that needs work or consumers looking to upgrade the homes they have had for a number of years now, these would be some of the individuals/couples you want to target. Having done your research will help you in more effectively targeting the right audience;
Imagery is key – Even though information etc. is certainly important in the area of home renovations and additions, the impact quality imagery has can’t be overlooked. Whether you are Utah web developers or another such brand, showing consumers images that can’t be beat will help you in landing more business. This is where both your website and a quality social media presence are so important. Be sure your website is chock-full of imagery, imagery that shows how quickly a residence can go from looking rather ordinary to looking quite extra-ordinary. That imagery should also be shared on social media sites, especially ones like Instagram and Facebook, both of which are great for telling a story through pictures;
Providing unparalleled customer service – Where are you when it comes to providing customer service? This is one of the critical elements of being a successful brand, so don’t take it lightly. For example, consumers may come to you in-person or via the web to ask questions about home improvements. Don’t use the opportunity to try and push a sale down their throats, but instead use it to not only educate them on the best ways to go about home improvements/renovations/additions etc. but also to show that their interests are your interests too. By being there to answer their questions and give them the information they were hopefully looking for, you potentially gain their trust. Once that is gained, the door can quickly swing open to be a potential business-customer relationship for many years to come.

While sound marketing is not rocket science, it does take some effort and ingenuity, both of which should always be two staples of your business approach.

In the event your brand marketing techniques have been coming up a little short as of late, there is still plenty of time to change course, giving you the opportunity to make headway with consumers.

Some brands naturally sell themselves; others need a little extra push.

If your brand is one of those that needs a little extra kick in the pants to secure more business, don’t be afraid to step outside the box with your marketing initiatives.

Whatever you can do to secure more business, make sure you are doing it.

When consumers know your brand is the one that offers them the most, they are certainly more apt to come home to you.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

Put Some Life Back in Protecting Your Identity

September 7, 2016 by Thomas

Running a business in 2016 means many different things.

One of those is making sure both the identities of your business and your customers are safe from I.D. theft thieves.

If an identity theft thief is able to infiltrate your business, he or she could cause irrevocable damage to your company’s reputation. In the event that occurs, you could see your revenue stream come to an abrupt halt.

If your business has an exposed identity, you are flirting with danger, danger that can very easily snowball its way into angry customers and more.

With that in mind, are you putting some life back in protecting your identity?

Know the Danger Signs

In order to stop identity theft thieves from penetrating your business, there are a number of steps you must be taking.

Among them:

Recognize the danger – For starters, don’t think identity theft can’t happen to your business. As it turns out, many businesses are prime targets for I.D. theft thieves, especially smaller ones. Those smaller companies typically do not have all the bells and whistles in place to prevent a notable identity theft attack. As a result, they become prime targets for criminals. To not be cognizant of the danger is like leaving your front doors unlocked when you go to bed in the evening. No, most people do not do that in this day and age, so don’t be the business owner who leaves his or her business exposed to I.D. theft;
Put a plan in motion – One of the best means with which to fight back against identity theft is by having a protection plan in place. For example, working with an I.D. theft protection provider allows you to give your online activities (and others involving finances) as much protection as possible. The question oftentimes becomes, how do I know which protection plan to go with? Along with asking around, do some online scouting to see which services get the highest ratings from folks who know them best. Whether you look to LifeLock reviews or another such provider, be sure to see which service best meets the needs of your brand. Once you decide on a service provider, make sure to protect not only your computers and online activities, but also other related financial activities. For example, you want to make sure that any company credit cards are secure and safe at all times. For instance, if one of your employees is tasked with wining and dining a prospective client, he or she may use the company credit card to pay for the meal etc. If for some reason the employee would misplace the card or someone got ahold of the I.D. numbers on the card, they could easily run up a sizable bill before you even knew what hit. By having a protection plan in place, you can be alerted immediately as to any suspicious activity involving the card;
Don’t overlook your employees – Finally, as much as you want to (and should) trust your employees, workers committing I.D. theft against their employers is certainly not out of the question. As a result, you should never take for granted that such an event could happen to you. Make it clear from the day each and every employee is hired that you trust them, but any breach in that trust will result in notable consequences. Such consequences could include suspensions without pay, termination of one’s job, perhaps even criminal charges being filed.

With all you have on the line, making sure your business does all it can do to minimize the I.D. theft threat is important.

Keep in mind that even just one successful identity breach can change your business and its financial safety forever.

Be the business owner who takes identity theft and its threat seriously, lessening the odds you will be the next victim.

Just as importantly, in the event your business does suffer such a breach, make sure you act immediately to limit the damage. Such actions will give you a better opportunity to stem the tide of lost trust with your customers.

If identity theft was not on your radar before, it certainly should be moving forward.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

It’s Not Your Passion, But Your Purpose

September 5, 2016 by Liz

Everyone feels lost sometimes.

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t been lost in their head at one time or another — even those folks overachieving all over the Internet. We all find those moments that we wonder about who we are and what we want. But the question is not whether everyone gets lost, but how we get ourselves back on the road to the life we want.

Ask everyone how to get back to moving forward, and soon enough someone will say, “Follow your passion.” Follow your passion? What if my passion is sitting on the beach, listening to music?

When faced with the questions of who we are and what we want, the road to moving forward follows your purpose. Passion is only half the story. However you define success in business or in life, a critical component is finding your purpose — your unique ability to help others that involves both your mind and your heart.

Purpose is both credibility and passion. Credibility is at the heart of knowing who we are. To find your credibility, ask yourself what you’re already known for, what you’re good at, what you’ve accomplished. Passion is at the heart of knowing what we want. To find your passion, name what you talk about, think about, and do every day — without payment — simply because it makes you feel like you’ve got a contribution to make. In other words, concentrate on combining what you do well with what you really like.

If you’re an ex-lawyer fascinated by marketing. You might find your crossroads showing lawyers how to market their business. If you’re a mother who wants to start a small business, research small businesses for mothers or by show mothers how they might get started in business. Then help others who feel lost find their unique space.

It’s hard to feel lost when you’re helping people find their own way.

Be irresistible,

Liz

Put Your Mind to It

Set your mind to find the crossroads of your credibility and your passion. You’ll find a problem that you have solved for yourself in your own, unique way. Consider how you solved that problem for yourself. Then go solve that problem for everyone else.

How to start when you’re stuck

September 1, 2016 by Rosemary

We have an electric golf cart we use to get around short distances in our town.

It has a mind of its own, sometimes starting on the first try, sometimes requiring elaborate finger-crossing, rituals, etc., to lurch to life. Sometimes we just sit for a few minutes, trying to change the mojo before jiggling the key in the ignition again.

Sometimes we just get stuck.

It happens to everyone. In life, in business, in relationships.

And when it happens, you just need a strategy. Are you going to yell into the wind, start experimenting, call for help, or just sit there?

How to Start When You’re Stuck

Change mood – Tony Robbins refers to this as “state.” When you’re stuck, you’re probably in a tired, bored, or uninspired state. Do something drastic to shift it, like wearing an evening gown to go grocery shopping, taking an ice cold shower like Julien Smith, chatting up a stranger in the grocery line. Focus your attention away from yourself.
Change location – Sometimes your physical environment is the problem. Try a small move, like working at a different desk, or standing up while you work. If you’re really in trouble, consider moving farther (I’ve moved from one coast to the other, but I know that’s a bit extreme).
Jiggle it a little – Stand up on your couch and dance around. Yell a little. Laugh into the mirror. Sprint down the street in front of your house and check your time. Can you get faster?
Add water – Our golf cart requires water in the battery compartment (who knew). Add an outside element to your stuck-ness. Watch a movie that inspires you, call a close friend, play with your dog. Anything that brings outside influence into your brain.
Get a new golf cart – Stop trying to do the thing. Do another, different thing. Just set it aside for a while and let it percolate in the background. Sometimes working on something else completely will work magic in your subconscious. Or maybe the think you’re stuck on is just not something you’re supposed to be doing right now.
Push it for a few feet to jump start – Find the tiniest piece of accomplishment in your big dream. Just do one small five-minute particle, to get it rolling. Five minutes at a time, you can make a bit of progress, especially if you do five minutes every day for a week.
Call someone to rescue you – Pull the fire alarm and call in reinforcements. That’s what friends are for.

Those are my ideas for getting un-stuck. What has worked for you?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Featured image via Flickr CC: Chris Devers

Are You Getting the Best Employees Possible?

August 31, 2016 by Thomas

In managing your company, do you take stock at times of the quality of employee you hire?

For many businesses, the people come on a rather regular rotation. In fact, you might look at it as a revolving door.

Others, meantime, are rather meticulous in the individuals they hire, looking to keep people for many years to come.

No matter how you approach the hiring process, take note that the costs to retrain employees over and over again add up more than you may think. As a result, spending a little more time on making sure you are getting the best employees possible should be a priority.

Taking Time to Review Each Candidate Carefully

So that you can see which prospective employees take the time to turn in a professional resume and cover letter and which ones do not, along with giving you an interview to remember (for all the right reasons) note these items:

Professionalism – First and foremost, how professional are the resumes that you are receiving? If they look like individuals spent time and effort putting them together, great. On the other hand, resumes looking like they were thrown together in a hurry typically tell you one thing. That is that the individual did not put a lot of emphasis on making a good first impression with you. Take that one step further, would they make a good first impression on a customer? There are typically some signs to look for in seeing how much time and effort went into the resume and cover letter process. For one, a resume writing service pro is not going to give its client a resume that has notable errors in it, let alone is badly worded. It will also be neatly organized, highlighting the client’s most recent work experience, experience that is relative to the job they are applying for. Lastly, the resume will be spaced appropriately, making it easy to follow for the intended employer. If any of these areas are not emphasized, you’re likely looking at a prospective employee who either was not capable of putting together a winning resume on their own or didn’t care who in fact produced it for them;
Skillset – Unless you’re hiring someone to work in a factory or do construction (along with some other jobs), you are typically going to want employees who have some skills for the digital age. This can be anything from overseeing running an online store for your business to promoting your brand on social media etc. While there is more to that of course, the point is that having an online skillset is all but a necessity in today’s workforce. If someone comes to you without these kinds of skills, you can of course always train them, but at what cost to you and your business? Having someone come in with these skills already under their belt makes a big difference;
Attitude – Finally, what kind of attitude are you sensing from those you interview for careers with your company? As good as the credentials on the resume may be, the attitude one brings into the interviewing process is critical. Do the individuals seem excited about the possibility of working with you? Are they interested in learning about the company or just what the salary and benefits would be? Do they seem like the kind of people who would roll up their sleeves and help co-workers out? As many company heads can tell you, personalities oftentimes outshine skills in making for a cohesive workplace.

If you’ve felt in recent times like you have not exactly been hiring the highest quality individuals, change that outcome as you move forward.

No, there isn’t a 100 percent guarantee that the person you offer a job to is a lock to be both very talented and with you for many years to come. If the process were that easy, many business owners would sleep a lot better at night.

Try your best to gauge the mindset of each and every person who comes through your doors for an interview.

In doing that, you could very well have an improved feel for getting the best employees possible.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

Beach Notes: Castles and Creativity

August 28, 2016 by Guest Author

By Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

It is amazing to see how a bucket that was originally designed to carry water is so often used to create sand castles and in this case create a city of castles.

Someone, somewhere, some time, took a bucket which up till then had only be used for carrying water or other practical purposes, filled it with sand, tipped it upside down and created the first sand castle.

Now all over the world children get their little buckets and make sandcastles, delighting themselves and others.

This is how creativity works sometimes, through play, not through striving.

Authors’ Bios: Suzie Cheel is the Heart Whisperer at Suzie Cheel You can find Suzie on Facebook and on Twitter as @suziecheel. She also shares her inspiring Beach Notes here on Sundays.

Des Walsh is a Digital Disruption Navigator at Des Walsh Dot Com You can find Des at LinkedIn and on Twitter as @deswalsh

Put Your Mind to It

More from Liz . . . about Not Passion, But Purpose:

How to Start When You’re Stuck