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Do You Have Confidence In Your Business?

Do You Have Confidence In Your Business?

by | Aug 29, 2018

When starting a business it can be hard to know what to make a priority and what to spend your time doing the most. Getting a new business off the ground, heard about and talked about takes time and effort and requires dedication. A question you need to ask yourself at the beginning of starting any business is “do you love and believe in what you are doing?” because if you can’t answer that question with a positive answer, it’s time to change direction now!

Running a business and seeing it through to success and beyond requires you to believe in what you are doing. It requires you to be 100% committed to the cause and to nurture and steer it in a clear direction.

You may not have all the answers right now if you’re at the beginning of your journey but that’s ok – you’ve got time to fill the shoes you’re trying to fill and to establish a client base who will be loyal and true followers of your brand.

How do you gain confidence in your business?

Have a clear vision

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Warren Bennis

Having a clear idea of the vision you have for your business is an important first step in any business plan. A vision will direct and empower your future and the direction that your business goes. A clear vision has a positive impact on the organisation of the business and the growth and life of it.

A vision also acts as motivation for any person that is involved in the business too, standing together and building a business comes with alliance and compatibility with everyone involved.

If you have confidence in your vision, you have the confidence to push it forward and for it to happen.

 

Take risks

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” Mark Zuckerberg

Starting a business is a risk in itself, when you put your heart and soul into starting something new, along with risking personal circumstances, finances and health. But life would be boring if we all stuck to what we already knew and never took any risks.

The thought of no pay-check at the end of the month or giving so much in personal time can be daunting. However when we believe in what we are doing and we truly have a passion to see it through, those risks are worth taking. When we are confident that we are taking risks that are necessary to add value and substance to the drive, then things start to happen.

If you don’t do, you’ll only regret. That tears down confidence and knocks your ability to achieve. Assess the situation, make the preparations and take the risks – and believe that you will see results.

 

Keep learning

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Pele

Confidence comes with time, we are not born with an excessive amount of self-confidence, it comes with practice and perseverance. It can be increased or deflated in the matter of minutes and is something that everyone needs to work on to keep it real. Study and education can give you the skills to communicate clearer and to learn how to work well with others. This is good in both personal and work situations. When we are confident in ourselves, it comes across in our business.

Learning helps you to be critical in your thinking and gives you the skills for problem solving. Being able to see problems before they arise and having the knowledge to work through and solve grey areas is great for business and your success rates.

Having knowledge provides a positive mindset that will help keep you focused. Using your knowledge and positivity to create clear goals is all part of growing a business plan. You can achieve great things if you believe in yourself.

 

Don’t be afraid to say no

“I’ve worked very hard at understanding myself, learning to be assertive. I’m past the point where I worry about people liking me.” Pam Dawber

When starting in business it can be extremely hard to say no, especially when you’re looking to bring in income and to raise the profile of your brand whilst trying to be liked by every potential customer you come into contact with. However learning to say no can be good for business. If you say yes to every circumstance that comes your way, your business will become swamped in things that are not necessarily in the best of interests of the business succeeding. By providing a service that adds value at every opportunity and allows the customer to feel special and appreciated is far more worthwhile than running out of resources by trying to please everyone at a fraction of your worth-price, just to get clients in.

However being able to say no comes with confidence. Being assertive is a great business asset, valuable to every business owner and comes by learning to feel comfortable in what you believe in and the direction that you want to see your business take.

These are just a few factors that will give you the confidence you need to be successful in your business venture. They are not vital elements in your business success but they will steer you in the clear direction and guide you in what you need to do to improve your business. Confidence can come with networking with other business professionals or reaching out to someone via email or telephone – anything that pushes you past your comfort zone and gives you a chance to develop your character in order to build your business.

Your business will grow when you become known. Whether this be your face or the face of the business but people need to hear about what your business represents and what value you can offer. By meeting the needs of the customer, you are building a pathway for people to connect with you. The more confident you are in building those relationships and pushing your business forward, the greater your business will become.

Are you committed 100% to the cause of your business? Are you prepared to give everything you have in order to give a service that people are willing to shout about? When you reach a place of confidence, you reach a place where your business will grow.

What can you do today that will boost your confidence and push your business forward? Feel free to comment below or get in touch if you’re looking for advice in marketing your business.

Grow Your Business With Digital Marketing

Grow Your Business With Digital Marketing

by | Aug 16, 2018

As technology develops and time goes on, the use of digital marketing is increasing and it’s becoming more apparent that it’s something that businesses, both big and small need to embrace to see longevity.

Internet marketing / digital marketing is the way that people are choosing to communicate with their favourite brands and businesses and the way that people are making purchases, decisions and listening to influence – all via the internet. The increasing number of users on social media and the desire for everything to be made mobile is making it easier for people to have constant access to brands and social media networks. This gives way for users to influence what their family, friends and wider circle of friends are doing and purchasing. Word of mouth has become even more influential, via the means of social media.

Business owners are in a place where they need to be using digital marketing to have an influence and a greater chance of reaching their audience. If you’re not on social media as a business, you’re missing out on large volumes of traffic that could be potential customers.

So, what benefits does digital marketing have on a business and how can each business use it to see longevity and successful marketing results?

 

Cost

The cost of digital marketing is a fraction of the cost of offline marketing or physical retail stores. There are no constant outlays, property rentals or maintenance, or even the need to purchase and store stock prior to a user making a purchase. Using digital marketing and working online has provided a way for smaller business to reach potential customers that would not have been possible in the past and to target a wider audience in order to grow their business.

 

Research

People are researching all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no limits to when a customer could be searching for your business and without the restrictions of offline cut-offs and retail outlets, this allows an online business can be ‘open’ 365 days a year. If your business is on Google and the other large search engines, if your business is on the social media channels that your specific audience is spending their time, then you’re going to have opportunity to reach more and more people as others’ discover your brand and share your products and content.

 

Always available

Using social media channels to display what your brand represents and who you are as a business allows users to find you at ANY time. You may only work 16 hours a week, but your social channels are working 24 hours a day for you, being the face of your business for any potential customer that comes along.

 

Realise the potential

That’s a powerful thought, and something that should be highlighted when thinking about digital marketing. What does your online presence say about you? Do your business profiles match up with your company core values and does the presence that comes across give a true reflection of what your business represents? It may be time to re-evaluate what your Facebook page is discussing. It may be time to stop sharing tweets that are not relevant to your business. It may be time to connect with business contacts who will help boost your business on LinkedIn. Every aspect of your online presence is your company reputation, whether that be a business profile or a personal profile. If a user likes your product, they will no doubt look you up too – what will they find?

 

Use social apps correctly

By successfully using online marketing to target your business, you will be in a better place to engage with customers and provide excellent customer service. Your reputation depends on your customer service! With all things digital, people expect a response instantly and apps like Messenger and WhatsApp allow customers to have that personal contact with a business. If you’re using these functions, ensure that you use them well and provide a customer service that people will want to recommend. Again, word of mouth is powerful – if someone likes your service, they will recommend you.

 

Measure results

The great thing about digital marketing is that everything is measurable, and everything can be accounted for. Whether that be the traffic to your website or the link clicks from your Facebook page, using the tools available, you can measure everything that you are doing within your marketing campaign. Try to get into a routine of looking at your results regularly, monthly or weekly reports are good (if you have the time) to ensure that you stay on track and in line with your targets. If something is not working, you’re able to investigate why and make changes. Similarly, you will be able to see when something is good and is providing great results.

Growing your business using online marketing is a great tool for any business and will give you the upper hand over businesses that are not using it. Everyone is searching for something online and if you’re noticeable and present online, you’ll win new clients.

Be persistent and don’t give up. Building a good customer base from social media can take time but using a marketing strategy will enable you to plan and prepare each step.

If you’d like help getting your online marketing strategy off the ground or if you’re been using social media for a while and are not seeing results, get in touch today, we want to help!

How to Boost Business Using Facebook

How to Boost Business Using Facebook

by | Jul 26, 2018

Facebook is a powerful tool. With over 2.23 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook has the power to reach an extremely wide audience if used correctly. The best part is that it’s free to set up a business page and start promoting your brand straight away. The only part you need to pay for is Facebook advertising (which we’ll cover shortly) but overall it is free to get started.

So how can you utilise Facebook to make it a powerful marketing tool for your business and to aid in the growth and brand awareness of your brand?

Integrate Facebook buttons onto your company website

If you have a business website as well as a Facebook page, now is the time to make them work for each other. Visitors can simply connect to Facebook with a click of a button on your website which will enable them to keep in contact with you wherever they are. If they land on your website first, it will direct them to your Facebook page where they will get more of a personal touch or information and vice versa, if they land on your Facebook page first, they can be directed to your website where they will see more of your products and company information.

 

Get engaging!

Once people land on your Facebook Page, you need to be with engaging with them straight away. Create posts that will entice people to comment or share with their friends. By understanding your audience, it will enable you to write content that is tailored to them, helping them to like your posts.

Engagement is your number one goal when it comes to Facebook, or any other social media channel. You need to ensure that you create eye-catching and attractive posts that will get your audience engaging with you and each other.

If you’re stuck for ideas about what to post, you could use photos or quotes, facts about you or the industry, questions or polls or even link to outside articles that reiterate your message. All posts should have the key goal in mind: engagement.

 

Build Trust

Your Facebook Page needs to be a place where people can feel that ‘know’ your brand. It’s a place that as engagement increases and more people comment, like or share your posts, trust is formed and from there you need to build upon that to increase loyalty. Your customers will only buy from you if they trust you. They need to feel important and that you care about their needs. Business is built on trust, whether you’re out on the high street or on an online store, a person will not purchase from somewhere they don’t trust. Therefore, build upon relationships, engage and show industry knowledge, show authority and expertise, be transparent and allow your followers (your potential customers) to see through what your business is about and stands for.

 

Showcase your brand/products

Your Facebook Page is another storefront for your business, therefore, you need to showcase what you have to offer. Use images that are attractive, photograph your products in a way that make your followers want to click on them to see more. Show off where you can, in a professional way, and allow people to see everything that you offer.

Posts or images can link to your website, or they can link to a Facebook store, or simply just an image to promote a product. Make your posts varied and exciting, try not to stick to the same thing all the time but mix content up and appeal to the audience that you are targeting. Don’t forget to keep branding consistent when you create your content.

 

Be responsive

This goes without saying – good customer service is vital for any business success. More and more people are messaging or contacting businesses through Facebook pages or social media channels rather than the conventional telephone or email approach nowadays which means that you need to be on the ball with your responses. People want instant and it’s too easy for someone to go elsewhere if they don’t get a response straight away.

Engagement may come through comments on your posts, Messenger emails or through shared posts – be sure to stay on top of your notifications in order to catch everything that is being directed at you.

 

Be a resource

Using a Facebook Page doesn’t mean promoting your own content 100% of the time. It’s often good to promote local events or industry knowledge to allow your readers to know that you care about what they are seeing and what they might want to read. Sharing local events can mean exposure for you as a business and will help local people discover you while at the same time you’re doing good for your community.

Industry knowledge is also a good way of keeping people up to date with latest trends or information that they may not necessarily hear about otherwise. It’s ok for people to click through to other websites – it’s your Page where they first saw the information, which they will remember.

 

Partner with other small businesses

Sometimes it can be good to work together in partnership with another small business to help each other with brand awareness. Allowing others’ to share your content gives your brand exposure to their customer base, and vise versa. You could do Facebook Live together to show partnership. You could do a giveaway or competition for both sets of audiences. Working together does not mean taking business away from you, it’s about creating bigger exposure for both parties.

 

Facebook Ads

Facebook advertising can be a daunting thought to many and the ££ signs may float in front of your eyes. However, it doesn’t have to be a costly experience if you’re on a tight budget or you’re a small business who is just exploring the Facebook Ad option. Working with a company who is experienced in setting up your campaigns will give you the better hand as they will know how to target your audience and create appealing adverts that speak directly to your customers. However if you want to venture it alone, there are tutorials that can get you started. Start off with a small budget, you can start with as little as £1 if you really want to! And build your adverts to target specific audiences and demographics, depending on what you business is about. Create images or artwork that is eye-catching and don’t use text on your images – the text can be added into the wording above the advert – your advert may not be approved if you use text on the image itself. Facebook advertising is an amazing tool that when used correctly can boost your brand awareness and reach directly to the audience that you are trying to reach which will boost your page following and hopefully in turn, boost business sales.

In all that you do on your Facebook Page, ensure that you show personality and a human side for your audience to engage with. Be the voice of your business and get personal with people. You’ll see results when you focus your efforts into your Facebook Page and you start to love and understand your followers.

Are you ready to start building your business with your Facebook Page? If so, we’d love to help. If you’re new to social media marketing or have had a Facebook Page for a long time with no success, get in touch to see how we can help you make an impact and see business growth.

 

Are you a women in business? If so, join our Facebook Group and be supported by like-minded women who are looking to grow their business online and receive regular motivational and inspirational encouragement.

Are you a women in business? If so, join our Facebook Group and be supported by like-minded women who are looking to grow their business online and receive regular motivational and inspirational encouragement.

Brand Consistency Improves Business Growth

Brand Consistency Improves Business Growth

by | Jun 29, 2018

Online marketing is moving at a fast pace and in order to be noticed and to be seen as business owners we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to stay up to date and inline with what is happening. Social media channels are evolving, new initiatives are being added regularly and it’s vital that we stay on the pulse when it comes to social media marketing.

Any form of marketing strategy needs to ensure that it attracts the right audience and is speaking to the relevant people for that market. It’s all well and good having a fantastic marketing campaign if you’re targeting the wrong people. As a business reaching out to consumers, you need to be right where they are and speaking the same language as them.

A Customer Journey

We all know that customers research before they buy and what your brand looks like across all its platforms will sway a customer to pursue or to move on. This ranges right from your website, social profiles, LinkedIn staff profiles to your listing on the search engines; Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. Everywhere that a customer will see your brand, it needs to be consistent and providing a clear message throughout.

The first contact a customer has with your business will be the first impression they have of your brand. You can’t guarantee where that will be, will they land on your website, on your Facebook Page or stumble upon you in LinkedIn? Whichever place they see you first will be their first impression of you. What does that look like? Is it professional? Does it speak of you and your brand personality or tone of voice? Does it showcase what your business has to offer?

If you’re not sure as to whether they all give the same, clear message – they probably don’t!

Getting Started With Your Brand Identity

But don’t worry, now you’ve established that there needs to be some changes, you can get started. Putting effort and thought into your branding is important. You might have started your business on a whim and whizzed ahead in order to fulfill a purpose and that’s fine but if that’s the case, it’s now time to stop, put your thinking cap on and to get creative.

Spend time giving thoughtful and meaning answers to these questions:

  • Who/what is your target audience?
  • What are their needs?
  • How can you provide a solution?
  • What message do you want to give and be known for in your business?
  • What style and tone of voice represents your brand?

Your brand is your identity. Your brand is who your business is and it needs to reflect your mission and your purpose, telling a visual story along the way.

It’s about getting down to the nitty gritty of your business and the values and personality behind it all. It’s about understanding what the customer is really looking for and providing a solution to that which is full of value and substance.

Having a clear branding strategy and plan differentiates you from the crowd and other competitors.

Making Your Brand Unique

  • Your branding needs to be memorable and unique
  • Your brand needs to give your business a personality
  • Your brand will enable you to build relationships with customers and help engagement rates
  • Your brand will add value to your marketing strategy giving your direction

Once you have your clear brand guidelines in place, it will be much easier to keep everything consistent and brand all your marketing material as you go alone.

Keep a shared folder that all team members can have access to which provides templates for all common-used material. This can be set up for all social media posts, for each platform, along with reports, stationery, email signatures and any other material that you may using for customer’s eyes.

It’s important that your clients see your professionalism and consistency in anything that comes their way, it’s all part of their customer experience and journey with you. And also leads the way in them recommending or referring your business to people within their circles. If they like what they see, they’ll recommend you.

If you’re looking for guidance on branding and advice on putting together an online marketing strategy, then we’d love to help. Use our Contact Page to get in touch and let’s take your business to the next level.

Why Content Marketing?

Why Content Marketing?

by | Jun 20, 2018

How do you keep your business in the forefront of everyone’s mind or ahead of the game in the most effective way?

The most important tip we can give is to ensure that your marketing strategy is kept up to date and that you are reviewing and tweaking it every step of the way. If something doesn’t work – change it! If something is out of date – update it.

This is where your content marketing strategy will come in. Content marketing covers everything from your Facebook posts and advertising to the text on your website. Ensuring that everything is up to date all of the time.

What is content marketing?

According to the Content Marketing Institute: Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Therefore content marketing is a planned and strategic marketing aim that concentrates on producing valuable and relevant material with a goal of attracting a clearly defined audience. Social media is an integral part of content marketing.

The most important word within that explanation is ‘valuable’. This means that anyone can write copy or produce social media posts and articles, but the vital component is the value that is produced within that content.

Why content marketing

When planning a marketing strategy, there are points that must be addressed in order to reach the audience you are trying to target. Writing content for the sake of writing will not only give you burnout but it will become a pointless exercise that has no meaning whilst taking valuable time from your business.

So what points can we address to ensure that our content marketing strategy has the correct structure? First let’s understand the buying cycle of your potential customers:

Awareness
A customer may have a problem or a need but not be aware that there is a solution for them. This is where awareness of their need begins and what triggers the rest of the cycle.

Research
A potential customer is out there researching what product or service will provide a solution to what they are looking for. They will be searching Google for all types of keywords related to that problem. For example, if they are looking to change their hairstyle, they will be searching for hairdressers local to them who meet their requirements. They will also be thinking about the new style they may want by searching for inspiration or examples they can take to the hairdressers.

Comparisons
By now, the customer is aware that there are services out there to help them, so they start to compare products or services that tailor to their requirements. They will whittle down services and compare prices against other companies who offer the same deal.

Buy
Finally the customer will make a decision to purchase the product or service based on the results of their research and comparisons, completing the buying cycle.

How can I use content marketing for my business

With the buying cycle in mind, it’s necessary to fill in the blanks for the customer as much as possible. If they come across YOUR brand first and like what they see, they will come back to you when they make their decision.

Therefore, you need to make your content:

  • attractive
  • to the point
  • easy to access

In everything you do, ensure that these 3 things are met and the customer has a clear route to purchasing from you.

In order for the client to want to buy from your business, you must ensure that you are solving their problem, which is where YOUR research comes in. You need to understand your customer and target audience and work your material and content into being attractive to them. It may look good to you, but does it look attractive and relatable to the people who are buying? If not, you need to think again. Good and accurate content is key, up to date information, relevant to the now, and in line with the core values of your business which your audience is already starting to get to know and love about you.

Once they start to follow your content and they feel that they have a connection with your brand, you need to make sure you’re providing value in everything that is produced. That is everything from your social media posts, to your newsletters, to your website copy and beyond. Everything needs to give a clear and concise message of a solution for that audience.

Going straight to the point and not beating around bush will enable your audience to know exactly what you are about and that you have nothing to hide by not over-complicating things. If your audience love your business – they will be following everything you say and do – therefore make it worth their while engaging with you.

The final point to help push the buying cycle through is by making everything easy to access and easy to follow. If you’re asking someone to ‘Buy Now’, give them a button to click right underneath your content. Don’t hide it away at the top or bottom of a page where they might not even see it. Ask people to make an action by directing them to where you want them go. Make every step easy for them to follow so they don’t get bored or lost and close your content down. Once they’ve switched off, it will be harder to get them back.

Brand Awareness

Content marketing is all about brand awareness and raising your brand profile – engaging with an audience to provide a service that they need. By keeping your marketing efforts as straightforward, clear, regular and up to date as possible, it gives your brand more chance of being noticed.

When your brand becomes known and loved, your following will start to grow. This in turn will generate leads and then you will start to see business growth.

By pushing your brand forward and providing value in your content, you are showcasing yourself as an industry expert and are expressing your desire to be known within the your niche. Don’t forget that online marketing has a global effect, you never know who you are reaching on the other side of the world!

Conclusion

Remember that you are only trying to reach those interested in your target audience. Don’t spread your wings too wide or try to reach everyone – it won’t work! Be unique and specific in your research and content writing. Write FOR the people that are searching for you. Provide value FOR the people are needing your service. Don’t write for your family or friends, yes they may share your content, but they’re not the ones buying the product. You need to aim DIRECTLY to the people who need to hear what you have to say and provide value and something that’s of worth in everything you produce.

If you’re looking to get ahead of the game in your content marketing or you simply don’t have the time that this needs to put into your business, we’re here to help at the click of button – get in touch today!

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