by Karen Petrauskas | Jun 5, 2017
If you’re really passionate about growing your business then you need to think and use ways that will REALLY bring potential customers to your door.
Especially if you are just starting out and you don’t have any spare money to be able to pay for big advertising campaigns, you need to utilise the free things that will drive traffic to your site.
The best and most effective way to do this is by creating and using a blog
A blog needs to be updated regularly. A blog needs to be kept properly and utilised well, sharing as much valuable information that is possible to create a banner of trust between you and your readers.
Blogging regularly will increase your rankings
The more you blog and add content to your site, the more the search engines will realise there is new content. The more informative content you publish, the higher the ranking gets and your site will be seen as more of an authority which will help you climb the ranking ladder.
Making sure you use good SEO (search engine optimisation) will also help promote your site and get more people to visibly see your articles. This is an important part of creating your blog posts which I will go into more detail another time.
“Writing blogs which add value to your consumers can increase your conversion rates and establish you as an authority in the industry.”
… This article was very informative from the Guardian: How to write a successful blog that also promotes your business
Make it relevant to you or your business
When you write your blog post, have a plan of what you want about – maybe you’ve been making notes through the day or you’ve seen something that’s spurred you on to write or perhaps you’ve been writing the post for a few days. Make the post informative and constructive and aim to give value to your readers. They are there to read YOUR blog post so they’re either interested in your industry or you – keep that as a key and make sure you’re giving readers what they want to hear so they’ll be looking forward to reading more of your posts. If they become bored with your content, it’s not relevant, or you don’t keep it regular – they will find somewhere else to go for their information.
Ask people to make comments at the bottom of the blog and this will start up conversations and hopefully build networks and relationships. You can also ensure that you’ve got social ’share’ buttons available so if people don’t want to leave comments, they are able to share your article to their social groups. This is a great way for you to build a wider audience and gain more interactions.
Just remember that your blog is the face of your website. When people read your posts they’re hearing YOUR voice so this will reflect how they think of your company and the impressions they get of you and your services. Bear this in mind with the content your provide and make sure you’re always giving a respectful and honest post.
I’ve just talked about the above points in my video for my 90 day Big Idea Mastermind challenge – please take a look and leave me feedback below.
Please feel free to contact me if you’d like any further information on building your business or working on your blog – I’m always happy to help.
If you’re looking for someone to help you with your blogging or if you haven’t got the time to actually publish the post and get it all written up correctly – then consider hiring someone once or twice a week to assist you with this. KJP Creative is here to help with anything like that, so it’s always worth considering.
by Karen Petrauskas | May 17, 2017
Around every corner there is scope for business growth.
Around every corner there is the chance to offer more to your clients.
Around every corner there is room to build relationships and network.
Around every corner you can find an opportunity and a path to bigger and better things.
Standing still will not help you move forward.
Standing still gives you no opportunity to meet people and create relationships.
Standing still will not help your business to develop and evolve.
Standing still has no place in a thriving business.
So where are you right now with going out there and building your business?
Are you ready to fight the fight, and to create a thriving ‘put everything in’ business that you can be proud of?
If not, here’s the chance to change that. To stop what you’re doing and turn things around – for the benefit of your business and the reward that you deserve.
So, what’s around your corner?
Are you ready to make a positive change for your business?
> Positive attitude
> Positive changes
> Positive reactions
= successful business
by Karen Petrauskas | Mar 9, 2017
This evening I stared my screen for so long it started to go into a blur. I knew I had to write something but nothing was ‘coming to mind’.
So how do you write when you really don’t know what to write about?
Is there really something out there called ‘writers block’ or is that just part of our imagination that allows us to hesitate in our writing?
And it always happens when you know you’ve got to be on schedule and you’ve allotted that time just to write, right?
Come on, I’m not the only person am I that feels that way?
So how can we overcome this mental block and enable ourselves to just write what’s on our minds, and what’s needed to keep our readers interested and engaged?
1) Make sure you use your allotted time…
don’t say to yourself that you’ll come back later and try again then.
Procrastination (or putting off!) will always come back to bite you and you’ll end up in regret as finding the time again is often hard and your next available time slot has been allotted to something else.
Even if you’re not sure on what to write, you can use the time wisely doing something else. But ensure that it’s business related. I mean, don’t just switch your computer on and then start watching videos on YouTube!
Do some research or schedule your social media for the week – catch up on other tasks that have been left or you’ve not had time for. To me personally it’s important that when you’ve got time allocated for ‘work’ that you use it. It might not be what you planned on doing but something is better than nothing.
Often when we sit down and start on one thing, inspiration comes to us and we end up writing about what we were originally going to write about anyway – and if we start on another writing task you’ll be surprised at how effective this is as often you’ll end up writing the piece you were going to write in the first place, and other times the piece you do end up writing is just what you need for another time – so getting ahead of yourself without meaning to!
Get your creative side working and into the mood. Use things around you to give you inspiration or look up a few bits on the internet to just give you the edge of what you need and you can then take it on from there.
We can come up with so many excuses not to sit down and write, but the more we push ourselves to actually do it, the more productive we become.
2) Keep a positive attitude.
I mention about being positive in many of my posts but that’s because I totally believe that the power of positivity really increases productivity. Once you’re in a positive mood your mind starts to gather ideas (and I personally start to brainstorm) and think of things you can do and things you need to do etc. My mind goes on overload when I’m thinking positively and I’ll be focused and determined to get the task at hand completed. When you’re negative, it does more harm that good. Your whole aura becomes hazy and you start not think or see things in a good light.
This can’t be good for your readers or your followers and they will end up getting bored or finding someone else to give them inspiration.
Your job as a writer is to give energy and lift peoples’ spirit, to give positive advice and be informative. Negativity will show in your writings if this is how you’re feeling at the time… Time to stop, count to 10 (have a cuppa) and start again.
I love this quote – it picks me up when I start to feel myself getting down…
“The best way of removing negativity is to laugh and be joyous.
David Icke ”
3) Use experiences as a base for writing.
I’m guilty of this… I’m stuck for something to write – I have an idea of what I want to write about, but I don’t know how to put it down in writing.
I search the internet for ideas and then it dawns on me that I have first hand knowledge of the subject at hand as I’ve got my own experience.
The internet is such a minefield and there is information on absolutely anything you could ever dream of, and we often get caught up in that and forget that we ourselves have experience to share and inspirations to give.
We so often try to find something bigger and better and for most of the part, our own knowledge is just as good and it gives a personal edge to the subject at hand.
Never try and give advice on something you know nothing about. If you’re trying to engage your readers then they’ll soon know if you’ve copied bits and pieces from elsewhere because if they’re interested in this subject then they’ve more than likely read more than one article on the subject. Your experience is unique and it’s personal to you. When you share your knowledge and your expertise then this gives a different perspective to your readers and they will be begin to know your angle and the way you write and what makes you tick! Your followers / readers want real information, not second hand muddled up words. Yes, it might look good but has it really come from you?
Give your readers YOUR experience – YOUR knowledge and let them know how you can help them achieve their goals by your own aspirations.
So to sum up the above; you do have it in you to write.
Yes we all come up against a brick wall and writers block hits us however we can overcome these barriers and we can work around them to use our time effectively and efficiently and to write exactly what is on our hearts and minds to share with others.
I hope this has helped some of you that are suffering from writers block. Just writing this article has definitely made me think to use my time wisely and to always be proactive.
Thanks for reading, as always I would love to hear your comments below – have you suffered from writers block – do you have any tips or advice you could give others? Please let me know below.
If you’d like more information on KJP Creative and how we can help you in your business, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you 🙂
by Karen Petrauskas | Feb 9, 2017
Calling all Virtual Assistants and Online Service Providers….
Have you got more to offer your clients?
Can you up-sell your services and add benefit to both yours and your client’s business?
The answer is YES. You DEFINITELY can.
Whilst at first you may only start off servicing your client in one particular area, this does not have to be the only task you do for them.
Ok, so let’s say you start off with Social Media Management. It’s a daily task that you do, which takes you an hour a day and that’s what the client expects from you. But haven’t you got so much more you can offer them?
You may not even realise that you’re able to offer more but you have skills and knowledge that can be used to their potential and at the same time – earning you money!
Make a list of all the things that you are able to do. This could be a variety of different tasks: spreadsheets, power point presentations, calendar/diary management, blog post writing, website management, project management, graphic design, photography, … and the list goes on. There are so many things out there that a client may not even have thought of, however these are things that you are able to offer.
Why not have a chat with your client, suggest to have a consultation to see if you can help improve their business, to see if you’re able to offer a service that will boost their gain. There’s no harm in asking and if a seed is planted and you can explain the tasks that you’re able to perform – even if they say no right now, they’ll retain that conversation in their mind and one day in the near future they might actually think it’s something they’d like to pursue.
Dropping a little seed often takes times to grow but it can be something that can be given a little water from time to time to see if they could benefit from what you can do for them. They will never know if you never offer or try so it’s always worth an attempt in offering your services at every given opportunity and if the opportunity doesn’t arise, then make it happen! Regular consultations with your client is healthy and creates a great working relationship. They will learn to trust your instinct and your judgment and perhaps give you more scope and try out more of your services. The more you can do for your client, the more it will lighten the load from them giving them opportunity to free up time to concentrate on other aspects of their business. This will develop a great working relationship and build a bond. It will also build your business and give you more experience and growth. All round a good investment!
I’m a great believer in ’lists’ and seeing things written down in front of me.
So start today.
Write down all the different services that you could offer your client. I guarantee that once you actually start to write them down, there will be more on there than you realise!
Use this list when you make a date for your consultation and suggest the ideas that you have with your client explaining how these new tasks could benefit them and free them up to do other things.
Please share your comments and let me know how this works for you 🙂
by Karen Petrauskas | Jan 17, 2017
It’s the start of the day and you’ve come into the office ready to tackle the tasks ahead of you and to accomplish some of your to-do list. You sit down to check your emails before you start anything else and after some time realise you’ve just spent half the morning going through routine emails and not actually getting on with your day – sound familiar?
An assistant, in this typical situation, would be the best next step for you – don’t you think?
And now I hear you say “But I can’t afford an assistant to work every day, and I might not even need them all the time”. Well there is a solution to that exact problem:
Hiring an “on-site” personal assistant has it’s very good positive points, don’t get me wrong but also hiring a “virtual assistant” definitely has its plus side.
Have you considered hiring a virtual assistant? It’s quite the in thing at the moment as well so you’re not on your own and there are plenty of resources out there if you wanted to research beforehand.
So what are the benefits to hiring a VA?
- No PAYE / Tax / NI to sort out.
Virtual Assistants are usually freelance and will bill you for their time.
- No holiday / sick pay
Virtual Assistants are self employed are not entitled to this.
- No need to set aside an office space / computer or telephone equipment.
Virtual Assistants usually work from home or a set place of work and will have their own equipment.
- A Virtual Assistant is available when your office staff are overloaded and can be on call.
It is usual to pre book a set number of hours per month and these hours can be used as and when you require them.
- And the best point of all: You only pay them for the time they are on task.
A timer can be used to bill each job / project.
So as you can see there are a whole range of benefits to hiring a Virtual Assistant rather than an assistant in house and a VA can be flexible to your business needs and work around the tasks and projects you assign them to.
Next is the question of what tasks you could assign to an assistant. Well if that sounded like you at the beginning of this post, then sorting through and checking your emails on a daily / throughout the day basis would be a benefitting start! Setting out guidelines before you start and handing over instructions on “what to do if…” tasks will enable the VA to get on with the job in hand and then come to you only if there is a problem.
Call answering: If you have a busy office and a lot of the time it is routine queries, why not have the telephone diverted to an assistant. They can answer the call, take the messageand email that to you with a detailed description of the call and their message, if any. Once the VA knows your business they would be able to answer questions and give replies also if you were willing for them to do that.
Diary Management: Do you have a busy schedule? Your diary can be managed and maintained by an assistant and set up with reminders for you to know what your schedule is and what you have on.
Website Management: Updating your website can be a tedious job and depending on what things you have on there, it might be time consuming if you’re needing to update product information etc on a daily basis. Also if you have a blog, typing the post is one thing but laying it all out and formatting it with pictures etc can take time. These tasks can easily be given to an assistant, with you checking the final products once completed.
These are just a few examples of what a Virtual Assistant can do for you, there are many more examples of what they can do. Just think of all the tasks that need to be done, but you’d rather not take time doing them – and these can be passed over. It’s about delegating and letting go, it’s about concentrating on what you are good at and need to do in order to grow your business and letting an assistant take care of the rest.
Thanks for reading… feel free to comment at the bottom, would love to know if you’ve been in this situation or are in this situation and how things are working out for you: until next time!
