Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Leading Yourself And Your Business Through The Coronavirus Crisis

This post was originally going to be a follow up to my last blog Why It’s So Hard To Let Go Of Control, however, like other entrepreneurs and small businesses making changes to adapt and respond to COVID-19, I’ve put that on the back-burner and instead will share some thoughts on how we can all get through this.

All businesses and industries big and small have been impacted by this crisis, a situation that is evolving daily. You are at the centre of your business. So right now, the most important thing you can do for your business is to take care of yourself.

You may be feeling a whole range of emotions at different times of the day or week.  There is no one way or right way to respond to what is happening. A couple of days ago I broke down and cried. Because I miss seeing my parents, family and friends, because my nephew just had a baby and I can’t go see them, because I had a moment of just feeling helpless and I needed to let it out.

This is a stressful time and many of us are feeling a sense of overwhelm and anxiety. It’s a normal response to a situation that is constantly changing. Much of the anxiety we feel is not just about concerns about the virus and its impact on our lives and business, but also from feeling a loss of control.

You may find yourself having moments where you are questioning whether you should even continue doing what you are doing and may want to just walk (or run) away from your business.  Again, normal. This is testing all of us. We are facing something that we have never seen before. There is no road map for what is happening now and so any feelings and thoughts you have about packing it in is just another way of processing all of this and trying to work through it. It’s important to accept and honour your feelings in order to move through them and to nurture your own resilience at this time. Accept what you are feeling and let those feelings guide you to action.

You may also be feeling a lot of internal and/or external pressure to “do something”. Unlike people who are now working from home for employers, your business depends on you continuing to keep it going and growing. It’s easy to fall into a guilt trap or feeling like you are lacking somehow if you aren’t “jumping into action” right away. Take the time you need to regroup, take care of your family and do what you need to do for you. Take one step at a time and if nothing else, remember to breath. The best answers for your business will come easier when you are not forcing yourself to be productive while you are feeling the weight of everything.

There are many available sources of support to help you deal with the stress of this time – all pointing to the need to eat well, rest well, and find ways to move your body and calm your mind. You won’t have to look far on social media or on line to find groups and communities –  even among your friends and neighbors – who are coming together to provide needed social contact and support, as well as resources to keep us all sane. I didn’t realize how much I needed to connect with friends just to check in and see their faces, even if it wasn’t in person.

Many small business groups are offering ways to connect with other small business owners and talk about what we can do to support each other and how we can transform our businesses through this time. If you haven’t already done so, take advantage of free webinars and conference calls that can provide needed mutual support and ideas for your business. I was amazed at how much of a difference it made to me just to join a couple of webinars and conference calls. I’m inspired by all the small business owners who have stepped up and offered their services and products to their colleagues and communities.

We truly are all in this together. If you need someone to talk to directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

GET LIT UP

We ‘sell’ change … the basic, stripped away truth is we sell change. This is a hard sell. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “I think I will change today!”

No way. We tend to fight change, put it off, resist it, and do everything possible to keep the familiar in place, even if it isn’t working. We don’t wake up and take on change.

We wake in the middle of the night, spider web thoughts linking one worry to the next, creating a big nest of gripping, unfixable upset. We don’t get energized by this and say ‘I will change today’, NO!  Perhaps we cycle through the 100th round of getting triggered by life and beating ourselves up for not being good enough or smart enough or for being so stupid to have hoped it would be different and putting our tender heart and hopes on the line one more time to have them tromped on. Maybe we just can’t let go of what has been, we can’t see what’s around the next bend in the road of life, and we get scared.

We humans are pretty amazing creatures. We get stuck, we hold ourselves small, we endure pain, we grieve, and we find adaptive ways to get through the day – some healthy, others not so sustainable. We are resilient and resourceful, we find our way with the resources available, some days are better than others. Our nature, as primal, surviving creatures, is to adapt. To learn new things, to make mistakes…to be creative in solving the problems life throws at us. Our survival depends on it, even if our habit has been to trudge through life as it is.

And, eventually, we do change.

Change in unconventional ways...that is what I ‘sell’, what I catalyze in others. I have done it all my life; it is my nature, my ‘medicine’. It is my business. Creating experiences that empower people to make positive life-change lights me up. I love engaging people in creating the life that lights them up.

Creating a life that lights you up…I wish I could tell you that you could do it in “3 easy steps”, but honestly, it is a journey. There is terrain to cover, varied landscapes to navigate, tools that make it easier. This is what I ‘sell’. This is the journey of your own empowerment

  • Notice and assess the initial terrain and experiences
  • Say YES to support, connections and new skills
  • Gather your tools: perhaps unconventional experiential work with dance/movement, art making, guided meditations
  • Lean into the wisdom that awakens in you
  • Gradually create the change you want as you step into more mastery in your work and life

 

Dr. Shannon Simonelli is the co-founder of the NeuroImaginal Institute a professional development group linking neuroscience to the arts and experiential healing. She is the brilliant mind, guide and luminary behind CreativeWell Consulting and the Luminous Life Maps™ System, neurologically based creative arts experiences for professional and personal transformation. Shannon has devoted more than 20 years of her professional research, education and practice to designing engaging ways to catalyze change for and with her clients.

You can join the journey online by subscribing to Shannon’s LoveNotes and being part of her online Soulful Self-Care Program: Embodied Creativity: Re-Enchant Your Work Life. View all posts by Dr. Shannon Simonelli / View events at: https://luminouslifemaps.com/products/

 

 

 

Top Ten Tips for Improving Your Website Today – Part Two

Last month, I shared five of my Top Ten Tips for improving your website. This week I will share five more plus a bonus tip. My hope is that you implement any one or two of these tips within the next 14 days and in doing so, help your business grow and succeed.

 

Tip #6 – The first thing that 50% of referred website visitors pay attention to is the site menu.

Your navigational menu must do a great job of helping new visitors orient themselves. A cumbersome navigational menu can be highly frustrating and cause visitors to leave. Make sure your navigation bar is clear, direct, minimal and easy to use. Many sites use horizontal navigation bars but vertical navigation bars and hamburger menus are becoming more and more popular. Check out your navigation bar today – are there ways to improve it for user-friendliness?

 

Tip #7 – On a daily basis, 2.9 billion Google searches are executed.

If you want to be found amongst all the other sites, SEO must be one of the primary concerns when creating content and building your website. Keyword research is…well, key…to figuring out what phrases people are searching for in your niche. With so many daily searches, the traffic potential is huge. At the same time, though, your content should not be based purely on keywords, it must be relevant, educational and informative.

 

Tip #8 – Demographics plays a huge role in user behavior.

One-size-fits-all websites will end up providing a non-optimized experience for a majority of your users. You must study your visitor demographics and create a website that they will respond to positively. One of the first and most critical steps in building a successful website is creating a customer avatar. There are many critical insights to be gained from creating a customer avatar and the benefits are endless. They include building a website that attracts and wins over your clients as well as gearing all your digital marketing strategies towards the right audience, thereby saving time, money and energy!

 

Tip #9 – Only 0.5 seconds is required to form an opinion.

It only takes a moment to make a first impression and first impressions matter! Especially, when there is so much competition out there and clicking “X” on a website is so easy to do. Websites need to load quickly, especially on mobile devices. Once the website has loaded, the average user will take half a second to make a judgment on your company. Therefore, you must make an excellent first impression! The use of images, background theme, color, content and layout must be in line with the expectations of your average user to quickly grab their attention and their interest!

 

Tip #10 – Call to action buttons are missing on 70% of homepages!

You can get an advantage over your competition by using CTA’s on your homepage and throughout your site. It will increase your user’s conversion rate and reduce the hesitation of pulling the trigger on a purchase or action such as setting up a consultation call. Some CTA’s include “Sign Up Now, Get Started, Learn More, Join Now” and many more!

 

BONUS Tip #11 – Research shows that off-white text fields lead to higher conversion.

Almost all websites these days have a form for customers to fill in with their name and email. Forms are used to share contact information, sign up for newsletter subscriptions, or receive offers or specials. Research shows that when the fields in your form are white, there are less people who actually type their information into the fields. Forms that are off-white are more successful at capturing potential client data. This is such a small and easy change to implement and can have a huge impact on your business.

Well ladies, there you have it. My current top ten tips for improving your website. We work hard on our websites so it’s critical our websites work for us! Again, don’t just read this article. Learn from it and please choose at least two tips from this list to implement on your website sometime in the next 14 days. Any of these tips will help you and your business achieve more success even if you’re already successful or at the pre-revenue stage.

If you are interested in a site audit, speed test or need any other kind of web design or development help, feel free to reach out through my website or via email at aimee@cleanforest.co. As Canadian Small Business Women, we must support each other. Message me today to set up your free consultation and learn how to best optimize your site!

 

 

Aimee Eppel runs CleanForest Consulting, a web design and development agency based in Mississauga, Ontario. Along with a highly experienced team, she creates high quality and affordable web solutions for huge organizations such as MIT, Mount Sinai Hospital and BMO as well as local start ups such as hockey schools, law firms and home organizers. Aimee is a mother of two beautiful children, both still in diapers!

For any sort of web related help, please email her at aimee@cleanforest.co or through her website at https://cleanforest.co/.

Marketing, PR, or Sales: Which comes first?

What comes first – the chicken or the egg? It’s a question that has sparked debate for a long time, and it will continue to spark debate for years to come. When it comes to your business and connecting with your customers, there is a similar question. Does marketing, PR, or sales come first?

At SongBird, we strongly believe that – no matter how much bravado you use to try to argue otherwise – your marketing strategy should come first. It will help you create the foundation to grow your business.

Let’s talk about why it’s important to see your strategy development this way.

Defining Marketing, PR, and Sales

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” I would add that your marketing strategy will define any of your outreach through the foundational work that is done to develop your brand strategy. If you take the basics into account, marketing is about the four P’s – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The Canadian Public Relations Society defines Public Relations as “the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals and serve the public interest.” It really boils down to the fact that PR is meant as a way to manage your brand reputation whether you are a business, organization, or an individual expert.

The Business Dictionary defines sales as “The activity or business of selling products or services.” Some also describe it as the actual exchange of money for products or services.

What It All Means

If you look at the above definitions, marketing is the umbrella that covers everything, whereas PR and sales are methods or tools to use to connect with your target audience.

Modern Challenges

While the definitions show that each fits into a different box or silo, technology has made answering the overall question of which comes first harder because it has blurred the lines between marketing, PR, and sales. For example, social media has changed the game for all three things. It could actually be considered part of Marketing, PR, and Sales given what it is used for. Where PR is concerned, social media has allowed the media landscape to shift significantly (hello, influencers!), created opportunities for digital brand experiences, and connects brands directly to their audience in real time. In terms of Marketing, it is a way for a company to promote what they have to offer as well as develop a strong brand presence and general awareness. Where sales is concerned, most social media channels allow you to sell directly from posts, and act as a lead generation machine to funnel into your sales funnel.

For small businesses – and larger companies running lean – whose teams are also small, the lines become even more blurred because one person might wear multiple hats. The same person might be responsible for the overall marketing strategy, creating branded sales materials, social media, experiential events, influencer relations, and media relations. In a larger company 5 or 6 people – or more – might manage these things.

Marketing first

In spite of the fact that the lines are blurred, marketing should always come first. Your PR and Sales strategies should support your overall marketing strategy and goals, which should support your overall business strategy and goals.

To be clear, marketing, PR, and sales all need to work together to get you to where you need to be, but you should really explore your marketing strategy before launching into your PR and sales execution.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Why It’s Hard To Let Go Of Control

 

What was it that made you want to be an entrepreneur? To take that leap and start your own business?

Most entrepreneurs I’ve talked to say something like:

I wanted to have more control, more freedom to do what I want to do and make my own decisions

I wanted a different lifestyle that didn’t conform to the usual corporate job/work

I wanted to create a legacy for myself and my family

I had a passion/idea for X and wanted to see where I could take it.

I wanted to start a movement around X

As entrepreneurs we are drawn to start our own businesses because we want to have control, to be independent, make the decisions, take risks and make our own rules (or break them).

The irony is that some of the reasons we start our own businesses are possibly the very things that can challenge us if we want to build our business to greater heights.  The paradox of entrepreneurship is that if you want to grow your business you have to let go. Specifically, you have to let go of control.

And yet it’s the one thing that many entrepreneurs don’t do well. They don’t realize the potential of their business because they get in their own way. They don’t make the transition from controlling everything to letting others get it done for them and as a result many businesses fail to grow or just fail.

 

So why is it so hard to let go of control?

Well for starters, it’s just plain scary. When it’s your business, your clients or customers that you’ve built and worked so hard to develop and nurture, it’s not easy to hand that over to someone else.  While entrepreneurs are typically risk takers, putting your business – your “baby” in the hands of anyone else may seem like too big a risk to take.

Even if you have a capable team it’s hard to shake the need to stay in control. You might find yourself doing things like following up constantly to check their work (more often than you realize), “joining them” in client meetings, or having everything go through you for approval – right down to what type of coffee to order. It’s hard to trust others to take care of what you have built, to take care of your clients and create the ideas, products or services for your business.

So if it’s so hard, why do it? Why not continue to stay in control of everything in your business? The straight answer is that your business will not grow and reach its full potential if you don’t. At some point you will run out of capacity if you aren’t there already.  You only have so much time and personal resources to develop and manage your business and you will reach a time when you realize you can’t be all things to everyone. Which brings us to the next question – when should you consider giving up some control?

 

Here are some signs that it’s time:

  1. You are profitable but working crazy hours. You can’t remember the last time you took a holiday. You are at a point where your business has become your life and you don’t know where you end and it begins;
  2. You are struggling/striving through tasks and projects that would be better suited to others who have the expertise. You aren’t making the most effective use of your time and energy. You aren’t focused on what you do best because you don’t trust anyone else or don’t want to pay for the help;
  3. You are missing or loosing opportunities because you don’t have the resources, time, or energy to take them on or you are so busy doing the work you don’t step back to take the longer view and see where your business can go;
  4. If you have a team, you may be complaining that they don’t step up or take initiative, or you may be experiencing high turnover. You are continually hiring what seem like capable people but after a while their performance starts to slip and you find yourself having to tell them what to do all the time or step in and take over;
  5. You may be starting to lose the passion you once had for your business because you are trying to juggle too much and are feeling burned out. Selling beads on a beach in Costa Rica is looking good to you right now.

If you are at the point in your business where you are experiencing any of these, it’s time to let go of control. As a reformed control freak myself, I can tell you that managing the balance between controlling and letting go of aspects of your business is complicated. But if you focus on playing to your own strengths and, build a great team that complement what you do best, and let them do their jobs, your business can grow as big as your vision will take it.

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

Top Ten Tips for Improving Your Website Today – Part One

Ladies, whether you’re currently an aspiring business owner, or a successful business owner, chances are you have a website to support your business. And if you have a website, chances are you have spent lots of time, energy and perhaps money to get that website looking and working well. I don’t mean to be harsh, but having a website that looks good and works well is simply not enough these days if you want to attract more clientele, get the edge over your competitors, enhance your brand image or increase your revenue.

My business is in web design and development and every week I come across hundreds of sites. Some are good…really good. Some are bad. And some are just plain ugly! I’m here to tell you that there are easy, fast and affordable ways to improve your website, thus improving your business no matter what stage you’re at.

The following 10  tips will help you take your website from drab to fab in no time at all. If you’re looking for ways to attract traffic to your site, impress potential customers with your digital presence and attract more leads and sales, please read on. But more importantly, choose one or two tips from this list and commit to implementing them on your website in the next 14 business days. Good luck ladies – you inspire me!

 

Tip #1 – Mobile devices make up two thirds of web usage!

Over 60% of people visiting your site are doing so through their mobile device. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile usage. What does that mean?

  1. Your site needs to be responsive
  2. Site text and images must fit on the page
  3. Your mobile site must load super quickly
  4. The navigation bar is super clear and framed well in the screen
  5. Your pop-ups are optimized for mobile devices

 

Tip #2 – You have 8 seconds to make a first impression on an average visitor to your website!

Your potential customer must be able to find the information they’re looking for in just 8 seconds or say bye-bye! Don’t forget, the website has to be attractive and user-friendly to ensure the potential customer has a positive user experience and thus a positive impression of you and your company!

 

Tip #3 – 73% of visitors are heavily influenced by video!

Many potential customers would rather engage with a short, informational video instead of text where possible. There are tons of affordable tools which will assist you in making a professional video explaining your services, showcasing happy customer testimonials or giving a high overview of your company. So try to find a way to use video to help persuade potential customers on the merits of your products or services.

 

Tip #4 – 7 out of 10 consumers find a company via the blog!

A blog is a great way to attract new customers in an organic way. Make sure your blog content is informative and engaging. A blog establishes you as an expert in your field and will help you to gain trust and credibility with your audience. Even one new piece of content a week is enough to build a healthy collection of information over a short period of time.

 

Tip #5 – Lists are better than large paragraphs!

Website experts know that a text-heavy page used to be great for SEO, but too much text is counter-productive for actual human readers. Google algorithms no longer favor text heavy websites and keyword stuffing is a huge no-no! Think of the layout in a newspaper; long, thin columns of text is much more accessible than massive chunks of text. Even better, try using lists, bolding, and descriptive headers to make the text easier to skim.

Ladies, Part Two of this article will be released next month. In the meantime, please choose one or two of these tips and commit to implementing them in the next 14 days. Even a small change could have a huge impact.

if you are interested in a site audit, speed test or need any other kind of web design or development help, feel free to reach out through my website at https://cleanforest.co/  or via email at aimee@cleanforest.co. As Canadian Small Business Women, we do well by lifting each other up and supporting each other learn and grow. Message me today to set up your free consultation and learn how to best optimize your site!

 

 

Aimee Eppel runs CleanForest Consulting, a web design and development agency based in Mississauga, Ontario. Along with a highly experienced team, she creates high quality and affordable web solutions for huge organizations such as MIT, Mount Sinai Hospital and BMO as well as local start ups such as hockey schools, law firms and home organizers. Aimee is a mother of two beautiful children, both still in diapers!

For any sort of web related help, please email her at aimee@cleanforest.co or through her website at https://cleanforest.co/.

Sales: Whose Role is It Anyway?

 

Shhh..not sales. That’s a dirty word. Not really though. It’s intimidating I get it, but it doesn’t have to be. For sure the sales profession get’s a bad rep and it’s seen as cut throat, but it is what it is. As consumers, individuals and companies are always grappling for our attention and our dollars. Everyone is just trying to get a piece of the pie and get a bit of commission too, right?

I worked a sales role and I have carried the lessons I learned from it many years later. I honestly believe that everyone needs to work at least one sales role with a commission framework in their life. The earlier the better as it teaches you that you get paid for the results you get, not just for effort. Working hard is great, but if it doesn’t yield good fruit, what good was it? But beyond that I had a manager that told me that sales is everyone’s role, and not just the sales department.

Sales is Everyone’s Role

The function of sales means to bring in new and repeat business in the exchange of goods and services for money. But even if you don’t have sales reps or a dedicated sales director, sales is everyone’s role. But how you ask? As long as everyone does their role to the highest of their ability and treats everyone as their customers, it’ll work. For sure, additional sales and marketing efforts will be required if you really want to see the revenue come in.

In business, roles can generally be described as customer facing roles, where some individuals deal directly with the end user and then there is the back end. But if the backend doesn’t work diligently to fill the order or request how will the end customer perceive the company and the front of line employee? Even if you work in the AR/AP department, how you deal with your current customers may mean the stop or increase of business with that client or vendor.

As the owner, you’re head of Sales and Marketing. Whether you have a Director of Sales, you’re still the head. So, if you’re not taking an active roll in it, now is the time to start. Be active and invest in the growth and development of yourself and your team, and in turn it will result to a more profitable company. When we see CE0’s of big corporations visiting the stores and speaking with staff and customers, they’re thinking how can they increase sales. Every action done in a business must be done with an end goal to increase sales and revenue. Remember that.

Word of Mouth and Referrals

Raise your hand if your business relies heavily on referrals from your clients. People will be glad to refer you to a friend or everyone they know if you wowed them. Be sure to over deliver to get the best response from your clients.

Ask for the referral. You may feel awkward doing this, but just remind them. Keep in contact with them and email them every few months to say you appreciated their business and keep asking for the referral. Ask them to connect with you on social media. Send them a discount or a referral bonus. Make it worth their while, to throw you more business. Can you develop a loyalty program to have them keep coming back? Get creative.

How many of us start our search on Google when we think about service-based businesses? And what do we go there to see? The ratings and reviews of course. So please, whenever you have dealt with a client and they had a positive experience, ask them to leave a review. Keep asking and reminding them until they’ve done it. Make it easy for them. Get their email address and send them a direct link to make a quick review. Most people won’t think to leave a review when they’ve had a good experience because that’s what they expect. But, in the case they had a bad experience they’re definitely more likely to let their friends, colleagues, and the whole internet know. Just remember, that one bad online review can do a lot of damage and can skew the results.

New Ways to Sell

I encourage you to start pumping up your sales knowledge and start reading and listening to audio books and podcasts. Get into the state of mind that the tasks you’re doing as a business owner is income and sales generating. Whether it’s building rapport or building awareness make sure you use your time and your dollars wisely. There are so many sales gurus out there so be sure to find the one you like. But I’d advise you to learn about their actual come up stories first and how they got to where they are now. Most of these individuals are not overnight successes, but they started from nothing and they built and struggled to get where they are now. Sales is a GRIND.

Start brainstorming with your team how your company can increase sales. Figure out what areas you’re lacking in and build it up. How is your company’s online presence? Can customers shop online, how about shopping from their social media? Can you see if there are any influencers that align with your brand that can do some influencer and affiliate marketing for you. How about special email campaigns, discounts, surveys, in store promotions? Can you make yourself available to go to networking events, trade shows, and community events. The list can go on and on.

Don’t be afraid to talk about the S word. Keep working at refining your skills and strategy and keep testing them. Focus on building your brand value and work on making genuine relationships. Happy selling.

 

Chadene Mbouogno is an Ontario Mortgage Agent with The Mortgage Coach, the lead Lending Specialist at her company CM Lending, and also manages the Blog BelleChavel.com. She is passionate about helping small business owners get the funding they need to propel their business forward through alternative lending. She has worked closely with start-ups, transportation and logistics companies, manufacturing and staffing agencies to manage their cashflow issues.

Instagram : @ChadeneM   https://www.instagram.com/chadeneM/  //

@CMLending https://www.instagram.com/cmlending/

Email: chadene@themortgagecoach.ca

CM Lending Website : www.cmlending.ca

Mortgage Website : www.chadenembouogno.ca

Faking popularity on social media will hurt your brand

Hands up if you have ever wished your social media following would just grow wildly overnight. Almost every brand and influencer has wished this at some point (for some it’s an ongoing thought). Have you ever posted to Instagram only to check every 5 or 10 minutes to see if anyone has liked your photo?

Because everyone wants to “go viral”, social media has become a bunch of users and brands just trying to be the loudest in the room rather than thoughtfully engaging with the followers they do have. Of course, we throw statements like “fake it till you make it” into the mix and you end up with people buying followers and engagement to try to appear more popular than they actually are.

Whether you are partnering with influencers or other brands or you are just trying to build your own social media community, it’s time to take note of what’s really important.

You can tell if someone is faking it

It’s important to know if someone is faking it if you are doing any influencer marketing or brand partnerships, but it’s also good to remind yourself that people can tell if you are faking your popularity.

For any sort of partnership, you want to make sure that the parties you are working with can help you to reach your goals.

Here are the things that will help you figure out if someone is the real deal or not (and provide a good guideline for your own social media):

  • Genuine comments: Are the comments genuine or do they seem really generic and unrelated? A bunch of comments like “Great shot!”, “Cute!”, and “Nice pic!” are generally from automated bots that you either pay for or are spam. Also have a peek at the last 10 to 20 posts to see if it is the same group of people commenting over and over in the same ways.
  • Real likes: While Instagram removed total likes counts, you can still see who liked a post. A quick scroll through the list of names and profile pictures will give you a good sense of whether a profile is real or not.
  • Real followers: A fake follower will often have one or more of the following: random typos in the name, random numbers in their name, the generic egg profile image instead of an actual picture, low post count – we’re talking one random image on the feed, and often seems to have nothing in common with the person they are following. Most social platforms are starting to crack down on fake followers, but it’s definitely an uphill battle.

Keep in mind that your audience is also looking at you under the same microscope you are evaluating partners. It’s not worth it to fake your own brand popularity. There is no replacement for good strategy, great content, and meaningful engagement.

Why brands should keep it real

In a world where your customers and potential customers are armed with more information and the power to choose between an increasing number of options available to them, honesty is always the best policy. Also, with the increasing conversations and research studies about how social media is directly tied to mental health issues, you don’t want to be a part of the problem.

Knowing what we know about social media and what can happen if your target audience doesn’t trust you as a brand, here are some things to remember about keeping it real on social media.

  • Quality is way more important than quantity: You could have 10,000 followers and no customers or 100 followers and 50 customers. It doesn’t matter about how many people are in your community as long as they are engaged and loyal to your brand.
  • Prioritize meaningful connections above everything: Remember that social media should be social. The conversations you have with followers – whether they are customers, influencers, or other brands – should drive your overall strategy.
  • Don’t let social media become too commercialized: Social media isn’t about hard selling or telling influencers what they have to It always comes back to relationship building and dialogue.
  • Buying followers and likes will only hurt your credibility in the end: In short, people always find out and once they do, they will never forget.

There is no silver bullet or magic carpet that will carry you to successful growth on social media. You may be tempted to pay for followers and engagement because it’s so easy to do it, but if that opportunity ever tempts you, best to avoid it. Not only are you feeding into a toxic social media culture rather than fostering a positive channel for people to interact with your brand, but you could actually do more harm than good to your brand reputation.

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Points for Small Business Customer Service

 

Customer Service For Small Business

Learning to deliver great customer service for your small business can help keep your customers happy and boost your business. Providing the best service can be a challenge, whether you’re a new business or established.

Need some pointers improving your small business customer service? I will walk you through some great pointers.

Customer Service Is Great Business.

The great news is that excellent customer service doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Most of the important steps a business can take are free. Once you select the tools — social media, chat, CRM systems there’s no stopping.

CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can provide you with the reports you need to monitor your customer service and organize other aspects of your business, including operations and marketing.

You can also manage your customer relations by creating customized reports and send custom emails. CRM lets you analyze patterns and trends in your business. Although CRM systems are a great way to start it is a paid service which is available in various prices.  The prices range from $35 – $125 a month.

Help Desk

A help desk application can make it quick for you to serve customers and can be used for online businesses. You’ll be able to create a ticket for each issue and route customers through the proper procedures to get their issues resolved.

Social Media

This is very important.Make sure your business has at least one social media platform. It’s an essential customer service channel that needs to be monitored and used to interact with customers and fix their problems.

Chat

A lot of customers prefer to reach out to the company in different ways. While some might like email or phone, chat is essential for any small business. In today’s world, customers expect instant gratification and as an owner it is great to provide at least two of these options.

 

Identify Your Customer Service Issues

As an owner you can quickly become exhausted by trying to do everything. It is important to get an overview of the issues the business is facing.

A great way to keep up is with CRM reports, by reviewing the customer service reports on a daily or monthly basis.

Complaints Report

If you decide to use CRM this can get included in this report. You can review this report to find out which customer complained, what it was about and what is being done about the complaints

Product Report

Issues which aren’t complaints but are issues that need to be resolved with the product or service. A weekly service report should show every open service ticket, what was last done to resolve it, and what is the next scheduled action.

Close Report

This report shows how long it takes to resolve customer problems. You can set a goal and check to see if you’re business is meeting that goal. An alert can be sent by email, text messages or popups. This can minimize any issues by allowing you to jump in and make sure the problem gets fixed immediately.

What Is Your Plan?

Now that you have some ideas about what is needed, you should start looking at your business. The services or products you provide, and all the ways you can fulfill your customers or clients.

You can sift through customer surveys, complaints and take notes for improvements. Always ask yourself how you can do more for your business more often. Remember that a high-quality customer service can help make your business more successful, its always easy to make risky choices which can dent your business.

Implementing some of the below points can help your to be stronger as a company.

  • Know what excellent customer service is.
  • Train employees to solve problems.
  • Have a social media profile
  • Apply management tools, and reporting that make it easier to communicate with and please your customers.

I hope you can implement a few of these pointers so your business can reach a higher level of growth and success.

 

 

 About Jan “La-la” Dale

My name is Jan “La-La” Dale, I am a photographer, web and graphic designer. I own a photography and videography company called (Rue Studios). With my experience in the corporate world for 10+ years, I was training employees and employers in customer service and client relations.

After opening Rue Studios, I realised that as entrepreneurs and business owners we forget the importance of customer service and client relations. I hope you all take something from my experiences and implement it in your growing business.

Social media links @itslaladale
Email: jan.dale369@gmail.com

Bring the Thunder! From Publicity to Profits – Why you should Hire a PR Firm

Picture this, you’ve been in business for a few years and you feel it’s time to position yourself for further growth but you don’t know where to start. Even worse, you’re noticing your competitors in the news and on social media, and bloggers and influencers are talking about them as if they are all the rage.

Or perhaps, you’ve created your dream business, you’re excited about serving your target market and you’re eager to let them know that you’re not just here, you’re the best in the market, and yes, they should choose you! But how do you get noticed when your competitors seem to always get the publicity? They have the media mentions, they are the talk of the town and they are drowning you out and driving you crazy.

Chances are, they have hired a public relations (PR) firm to tailor strategies to speak about their brand, products or services. But never fear, you too can get in on the action. The key to getting started on your goal is hiring a firm whose focus is on curating laser-like tactics that are geared towards sculpting your image. This company would ensure that it accentuates the positive buzz-worthy happenings in your business, reaching your key demographics and media outlets that serve as their main touchpoints.

When done right, PR is one of the most powerful tools that you can use for creating visibility and turning passion into profits. The effectiveness of any campaign with proper brand messaging is based on its repetition and proliferation across various media outlets, through the right influencers, and, of course, at the right time. The good news? A PR firm is ready to get you started.

 

There are several reasons you should hire a PR firm, and here are a few of them to get you started:

 

We Bring the Thunder

Not sure how to best represent your company? Need to conduct market research? Are you unsure about the main messages that you would like to communicate about your product or service? Not sure what media channels to use and how to put your best foot forward with owned media – your website and social media channels? A PR firm offers a fresh external perspective to find the answers to all these and more. Deciding what you want to communicate about your business and how you want to communicate it is of paramount importance to your success. A PR firm has the team to bring brainstorming power to get you hand-picked solutions that work – after all, you need brand awareness to build a demand for your product or services. There is more to communication than meets the eye, and the right PR firm can help you craft your message to make it irresistible. Then you’ll be on your way to more publicity and more profits.

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels.

We’re Your Gladiators

We are your fighters. We’re experts in the business arena and we will wage war to get you the results you need to create long term value. We strategise, we go for the jugular to execute, and we make it look good. As gladiators, your PR team lives and breathes communication. That means we are highly skilled at curating campaigns that feature your key selling points and brand messaging. Not only that, PR agencies are highly skilled at media relations, meaning they have well-established relationships they have fostered over time with top tier media outlets, industry spokespersons, and potential investors. They know how to get your messages published via the most appropriate media outlets to connect with your target market where they live, work and play (think magazines, newspapers, TV, radio shows, high profile websites, blogs, and podcasts). A huge bonus in hiring a PR firm, too, is that the teams are typically made up of professionals at various levels of their career – from the intern to the veteran journalist or corporate communications specialist with accolades under their belt. Cue meme mastery or journalistic skills which gives them an insider perspective on what makes a compelling brand story, or a newsworthy angle that will have your audience clamouring for more of your content.

 

Visual Ninjas? We’re all That and More

There’s something inherently visceral about arresting visuals that pull you in – the power of the right colour combinations and just that perfect pop. It creates a lasting first impression. Visual content marketing continues to play a huge role in creating buzz about your business. Think about it, statistics show that people remember about 80% of what they see, and 30% of what they read. Your audience is most likely to form their first impression in about 50 milliseconds, and it’s estimated that posts with images garner 650% higher engagement than posts with only text. That said PR firms specialize in telling powerful stories to connect with your audience. From social media graphics, to gifs, posters, infographics, ads, videos, that can enhance your connectivity with your audience, your visual ninjas get it done with stealthy precision.

 

Media Monitoring

Monitoring your results is just as important as getting the message out about your business, after all, how else will you measure the success of your campaign? Media Monitoring is the  process of reading, listening, checking and recording the coverage that comes through your PR outreach efforts – whether through traditional media (print and broadcast) – online or social media. PR agencies subscribe to various media monitoring channels and contact databases that other organizations don’t use, but can tap into once they forge a partnership. That way, the monitoring process is automated and allows you to continuously scan various platforms more efficiently and at a much quicker pace. Was your story picked up? Was it ever shared on other channels/outlets? What was the reach of the outlet that published it? These important questions are answered through effective media monitoring, and the results can help you to improve on messaging, gain market intelligence, understand which influencers are having the most impact on your brand, and gauge how you plan media outreach for further campaigns.

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels.

 

So there you have it – proof that a PR agency brings several benefits to the table. Defining your key messaging and reaching your target audience are important ways to get started. With the right tactics, your PR gladiators will deliver added value and build long-term relationships with the key media outlets and influencers that share your brand stories. And, of course, monitoring those results will help you determine the success of your campaign and to figure out whether to ramp up your current PR machinery or to finetune your message for the best results. PR firms are flexible with various budget-friendly packages and payment options to get you started on your journey to more publicity and profits, so don’t be hesitant to reach out.

 

 

Kimesha is the CEO of Oasis Integrated Communications. She’s a seasoned PR professional with a passion for crafting meaningful stories that connect to people. An eternal optimist who thrives on perfecting solutions that marry creative brand experience with consumer engagement, she believes in tapping into the core values of a company and tailoring strategies that share their narrative and find affinity. Her experience spans public relations, corporate communications, marketing, social media and advertising across a range of industries. She has executed projects in Toronto, New York, and Jamaica where she has deftly managed some of the foremost brands across North America and the Caribbean.

 

IG@oasisintegrated

LinkedIn: @Kimesha Walters

 Website: www.oasisintegrated.com

Leadership Blog– What does it take to be authentic as an entrepreneur?

Leadership is an integral part of running your own business and key to your success as an entrepreneur. Whether you manage people or manage relationships with other stakeholders, authenticity is a powerful ingredient to success.

So what does it mean to be an authentic leader and entrepreneur? Here are 6 tips that will help you keep it real.

  1. Self Awareness – Most of us have some sense of ourselves. As an entrepreneur developing a healthy sense of self is critical to growing your business. Developing self awareness means fostering a stronger and deeper understanding of who you are – your values, skills and knowledge, what makes you “tick”, your best approach to getting things done, your strengths and challenges, and your impact on other people.

It’s an ongoing journey that involves times of self reflection, regularly seeking feedback and coaching to calibrate your own perspective on your impact and effectiveness.  A strong sense of self comes from accepting who you are, knowing your strengths and where you need help.  When you are grounded in a balanced view of yourself it gives you what people call “presence”.

  1. Integrity – I could probably write an entire blog just on this one.  A study by the Centre for Creative Leadership shows that integrity is the key factor in determining success for business owners and leaders.   As an entreprenurial leader, you demonstrate integrity in a number of ways:
    1. You say what you mean and mean what you say.  This helps you build trust and trust and integrity go hand in hand.  People always know where they stand with you. There is no hidden agenda.
    2. You communicate in a straightforward, honest fashion and tell the truth, even when the news isn’t good.  Sugar coating bad news to minimize impact on employees, customers, or clients can backfire. When the truth comes out (and it usually does) you have lost credibility and it’s a much longer road to gain that back.  Be open and transparent and you will continually build trust and credibility.
    3. You are consistent and reliable. This doesn’t mean that you are not responsive to shifting needs or necessary changes.   You can adapt your approach and be flexible to changing circumstances and new information while remaining true to your values and larger purpose.
  2. Courage – You tackle difficulties and challenges head on. You are willing to take the risk to be vulnerable when there is pressure to conform.  You have the internal strength to strive to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to define you. It’s good to accept feedback to raise self awareness, just not at the expense of ourselves and what we value.
  3. Respect – You value and appreciate your customers, clients and employees. You show interest in them beyond what they can do for you. You recognize others for their accomplishments and give them second chances when they make a mistake.   You appreciate the different capabilities that others bring to your business and that everyone has different ways of doing things. You don’t insist that everything is done your way or that everyone behaves like you or values only what you value.
  4. Accountability – You take responsibility for your actions and decisions and those of your team.  The buck really does stop with you.  You follow through on commitments and hold others accountable for their committments.  Too often I have seen people in leadership roles point fingers at each other or worse, at their employees when mistakes are made.   If you want people to trust you and follow you through challenging times, be accountable.
  5. Vision – You have a view of where you want to take your business that inspires others to do their best work, even in challenging times.  You have the ability to look beyond the immediate day to day/ month/quarter, or year.  Rather than short-sighted decisions, you take a longer view of the impact of decisions and can accept short term hits in the interest of longer term value.  That value is directly connected to how you and your business serve the larger community or even the world.

Ultimately, your inner compass guides your daily actions and decisions more than external pressures to conform to someone else’s idea of who you should be and what you should do.  This enables you to accomplish great things as you have earned the trust and loyalty of your customers, your employees, and other stakeholders.  And that is a powerful leader.

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

How to Maximize the Impact of Your Conference Attendance

As a busy entrepreneur, I strive to be strategic in selecting the networking and development opportunities that will advance my business objectives and inspire excellence in my own practice. Attending industry conferences is a great opportunity to market your business, create new connections with decision makers, build upon existing relationships and keeping up to date in the trends and best practices.

Participating at conference can be a huge benefit for your business in several aspects. As a speaker it’s a great marketing opportunity to showcase your thought leadership and share success stories (or lessons learned in the not-so-successful scenarios – hey, we’ve all been there!). As an organizer, sponsor or session co-ordinator, it not only reflects positively on your company and its commitment to support worthwhile associations, it also lends credence to your business as a visible stakeholder in the future of your industry.

Actively participating in conferences as an attendee means more than just showing up at registration. In order to get the most out of the experience, it’s important to plan ahead and be prepared. “Tradeshow Season” is just around the corner, and I have curated some useful ways to maximize your experience and investment in your conference attendance.

 

Before the Event

Plan Ahead

Take the time to select your sessions in advance based on your interests and goals. Download the event app if there is one and use it to build your schedule and create a profile or digital business card. Learn about the speakers in advance to heighten your curiosity and get the most out of the experience, it may provide you some useful information should you decide to introduce yourself after hearing them speak. There’s usually a hashtag associated with the event; leverage your social media presence by letting everyone know that you are attending. Bring plenty of business cards, practice your elevator pitch and put your out of office on your phone and email.

Know what’s Included

This may seem like a given, but during one conference I attended as an exhibitor, we learned on the day of that all the attendees had a three-hour gap in their schedules while association executives were having a meeting. The exhibit floor was completely empty! Had I known in advance I could have used the time to set up meetings with key customers at the conference. Instead it was a missed opportunity.

So, know what you are getting into before you go: Will you be leaving the conference with a way to access all the presentations or will you have to follow up with each speaker? Will you receive a list of all the attendees? Or just a tote bag and a pen? Is lunch included? Breakfast? Is there a social afterwards? This will help inform how you plan on capturing information during the sessions, connect with the speakers and maximize the time available for networking (or even arranging one-to-one meetings in advance).

 

During the Conference

Don’t be late

I know this seems obvious but arriving early guarantees that you will find a great seat and enjoy an unhurried time to network. Mid-day, you and your potential contacts will be rushing off to sessions or a lunch queue. The morning of a conference is your golden opportunity, so don’t skip the introductory remarks and make the most of it.

Connect in person and online

Use social media or the event app to find out who is attendance and their role. If its someone you already know, message them to let them you are there and suggest a time or place within the venue to reconnect.

Spend some time in the Exhibit Hall

Invest the time to learn about innovations impacting your industry and understand how they impact your business. These relationships could be a source of referrals in the future so take the time to cultivate vendor relations.

Be Present

Put your phone on vibrate, take notes, ask questions, introduce yourself to the person next to you. This is your time to learn and connect. Check your email at set intervals during the day; they will always be there for you to read. But you may never get a chance to meet that speaker or learn what that expert panel has to say ever again!

 

After the Conference

Follow up

Follow up with every contact and speaker within a week of the conference. Take steps to set up a call or face to face meeting with anyone you wish to build a relationship or do business with.

Think Critically

Map the quality of information and connections you’ve acquired with the focus of your business. Was this the right conference for you to attend? Does it make sense to increase your presence next year? Don’t just check a box that you’ve fulfilled your networking or continuous learning hours; consider the return-on-investment on your time, money and energy. As a corporate drone, you were probably forced to attend conferences all the time, now it’s your business decision. If the conference wasn’t what you expected, provide feedback to the organizers and ask your new connections what conferences they attend. Attending conferences are in service to your business plans. Take the time to make sure you are being true to your vision and objectives.

Share your insights

Many of your peers, customers and prospects do not have the time or resources to attend important industry conferences. By distilling key insights and sharing them across your network you are providing incredible value to your target audience while gaining visibility as a thought leader and industry contributor.

Have I left anything out? Please let me know if you have anything to add! I hope your conference experiences in 2020 are worthwhile and fruitful!

 

Ethel is a transformation expert in the Digital Health space. As the Owner and Principal of Synergic Consulting she leverages her clinical, technical and business background to accelerate the adoption and implementation of digital health innovations across the healthcare enterprise.

Ethel Zammit MBA CPHIMS-CA

Synergic Consulting –

Accelerating Adoption in Digital Health

https://synergicconsulting.ca 

905-302-3238 Cell/Business

ethel.zammit@gmail.com

 

Mind Your Copy

 

Copy, like photocopy or copy paper? Not exactly. The type of copy I’m referring to is the written words used for the purpose of advertising and other forms of marketing. An individual who specializes in this field of work is called a copywriter, and the product they produce is called copy.

As a small business it can be difficult to land new clients especially when you’re just starting out. You literally have seconds to make a good first impression. Any type of content you put out into the world, should have the intention to persuade potential customers as to why they should try out your business as an option.

The AIDA Marketing Model

The AIDA or AIDAR model is one of the best-known marketing models used by copywriters. AIDA(R) is an acronym for the buyer stages of Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action and sometimes Retention. This system can be used as the basis for a marketing plan as it outlines the steps that a buyer goes through when deciding to purchase a product or even to simply subscribe or follow a brand on social media. A buyer can go through all of these steps within minutes or they may take months or even years to convert.

The funnel illustration is generally the same for any kind of sales related tasks. The data that you need to be paying attention to for any campaign you implement are your conversion rates. How many of those aware at the top of the funnel actually went through the stages in their head and made a decision to take an action? The conversion rate is really a jump off point. From there, you keep tweaking and testing to see what you can do to increase those conversion rates and get more buyers.

In the case of copywriters they must make sure that their copy is clear rather than clever, and has the ability to take readers through all of these steps very quickly. The rule is, if you try to write to everybody, you’re really speaking to nobody. Always write to appeal to your ideal customer. Create a persona for them complete with their demographics, interests, and the kind of lifestyle they have. Research to see where your ideal client is most likely to hangout online. Find out their pain points and use the same language that they use to market to them. They’ll feel like you’re talking to them directly, and will be like a moth to a flame.

Areas for Improvement

Can you pinpoint a few areas in your business that could use a copy facelift? I hope your response is, everywhere. If you haven’t already done so, take your USP and your ideal customer avatar and go through all of your copy. Does it speak to that person directly? Is the call to action strong enough, have you told them exactly why they need what you’re offering and what they should do next?

Your website is full of copy, but if the copy doesn’t convert, what good is it? People go on websites these days to get contact information, addresses, and maybe see the services or prices being offered and they’re gone. What are they supposed to do there if it’s a static website and it’s not an online shopping portal? Instead of boring websites, think landing pages that direct visitors to take a specific action.

How’s your email marketing conversion rates? Effective copy starts from the top: the subject line. The body of your email doesn’t exist if you can’t even get the recipients to open the email from the subject line and preview. Do you even have an email list? What do people get for opting into your email list? Email is still king regardless of what people say. That’s why now when you checkout at certain brick and mortar locations, also known as “offline shopping”, your cashier may ask you to input your email into their system. Coincidence, I think not! This is how you stay in the face and top of mind of your customers.

How’s your social? This is a game changer, if you’re not on social media, you’re missing out. This is how you build that know, like, and trust factor with individuals. Interact with them and be active. Figure out what platform your ideal client uses and get in their faces. Don’t try to be on too many platforms, focus on the ones where your customers would most likely hang out. Do it, and do it well.

The list can go on and on. Think print advertisement, the copy on your product descriptions, radio ads, and tv commercials. The work professionals do in this growing field is very important. It’s not about having academic literary skills, as those ones actually find copywriting difficult. It’s about writing words that appeal to and attract your target buyers.

What will grab their attention and speak to their innermost emotions and desires and make them feel like the words written are for them directly and will have them jumping at whatever offer you’re making. You need to SLAP them. Yes, it’s aggressive I know, but you need to have your copy slap them in the face. They need to stop, look/listen, act, and purchase. Please, don’t actually ever slap your customer though. Thanks.

Key Takeaways

As a small business woman, you need to make your moves strategically and make them count. Learn about copywriting for each individual platform. If you’re able, get help from a freelancer or seek an intern who is knowledgeable in regards to digital marketing.

Make a swipe file for yourself. A swipe file is just a collection of content that you pull inspiration from. If you receive an email that prompted you to make an action, save it. Learn from it and see how you can implement the same things in your emails. Take pictures of any ads you see, or screenshot any webpages or social media posts that grabbed your attention. Use this to fine tune your own content.

The whole point of this goes back to AIDA. We need to start using our words to attract and build awareness about our brands, our products or our causes. You want viewers to be so interested that they want to share it with the people they know, have them ready to pull out their wallets and are ready to take action. And once they’ve made that decision, you’ll retain them and keep reminding them why you and your business is awesome, and why they should continue to ride with you.

 

Chadene Mbouogno is an Ontario Mortgage Agent with The Mortgage Coach, the lead Lending Specialist at her company CM Lending, and also manages the Blog BelleChavel.com. She is passionate about helping small business owners get the funding they need to propel their business forward through alternative lending. She has worked closely with start-ups, transportation and logistics companies, manufacturing and staffing agencies to manage their cashflow issues.

Instagram : @ChadeneM   https://www.instagram.com/chadeneM/  //

@CMLending https://www.instagram.com/cmlending/

Email: chadene@themortgagecoach.ca

CM Lending Website : www.cmlending.ca

Mortgage Website : www.chadenembouogno.ca

Does Brand Reputation Even Matter Anymore?

Brand reputation will matter in any year as long as businesses rely on customers to be successful (so… always).

Consumers are more opinionated than ever before and it’s because they are armed with so much more information (whether it’s true or not). Everyone is facing increasingly aggressive dialogue about discrimination and social ideologies, and the mob mentality that comes with empowered social media users. As a result, consumers are questioning every move that brands make. Really, people are looking for complete honesty and transparency and to support brands that share the same values and ethics that they do. Over 80% of consumers want to trust the brands that they buy from.

That is why your brand reputation matters more than ever in 2020.

What is brand reputation?

Brand reputation is a fancy term for how other people see your brand. It’s their opinion of you. Brands with a great reputation are generally seen as trustworthy, which leads to larger communities of loyal customers. On the other hand, a bad reputation will negatively affect your sales and you will find that your customers are always looking for the next best thing because they aren’t loyal to your brand at all.

What will negatively affect your brand reputation?

The biggest mistake you can make is thinking you can pull the wool over your target audience’s eyes. Here are six things that will hurt your brand reputation:

  1. Buying fake followers and/or fake engagement on social media – bots can also be the end of you.
  2. Creating a social responsibility program as a response to a rumor.
  3. Trying to cover up or “spin” a story so it just goes away rather than dealing with the issue at the core of your brand or business.
  4. Partnering with influencers or other brands that you haven’t vetted or that you know aren’t fully aligned with your own brand values.
  5. Not taking a stand against hatred and bigotry.
  6. Taking a sales-first or a me-first mentality.

How do you get a better brand reputation?

With all of the security breaches and secret data collection being reported what seems like almost daily, it is going to take more than a flashy marketing campaign to get your target audience to see your brand in a different light. There are five things that you need to do to make sure you have a great brand reputation:

  1. Continuously think of how you can offer more value to your target audience – whether it’s through great content, a better product, or a better customer experience.
  2. Build transparency into your core communication strategy – you never want to lie to your customers, and omitting information is also not great.
  3. Build a brand and stay true to yourself rather than changing to fit what you think others want to hear.
  4. Align yourself with a cause that is meaningful to both you as a brand, but also your target audience.
  5. Partner with influencers that your audience trusts – 63% of consumers trust them more than they do you as a brand.

Have you really looked at how your audience sees you versus how you see yourself as a brand?

Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Do you implement customer service?

As business owners are you providing great customer service to your clients or future clients? If you are sitting their pondering, well its understandable. As business owners we sometimes customer service is overshadowed by our extremely busy schedules.

As business owners are you providing great customer service to your clients or future clients? If you are sitting their pondering, well its understandable. Sometimes customer service is overshadowed by our extremely busy schedules.

Let’s not forget that we need our customers, no customers no business so we should treat them the best. Your customer/clients are working with you because they love your product or services.

When you have customer loyalty, you will have ongoing relationships with customers that generates. The quicker you can deliver value, the more likely you are to build trust and loyalty with customers.

 

Customer Service Represents Your Brand!

You may know what your brand represents, but when it comes to customers, they cannot read minds. An assumption will be made based on what you provide or show on social media, advertisements and other marketing strategies. Customer service is your connection to your clients/customers. As an owner this lays your responsibility of representing your brand, with customer service theirs direct communication.

 

Great Customer Service Equals Happy Customers.

Let’s be real for a second. We are all customers before anything, we all want to have amazing service. As a customer I am influenced by every single experience with a brand/business. Once it is a positive experience I will be raving and spreading the word.

Whereas a horrid experience not a peep, I would go to your business competitor. When customers experience wonderful service, they’re more likely to spread the good word of your business. Customers will be your best and cheapest form of advertising.

There are hundreds of comparisons, the importance is what your business/brand brings to the table. So, by providing a stellar customer service experience your brand/business can most definitely be differentiated by customers. Remember that loyalty is rooted in trust, this ensures a life-long relationship with your business.

 

What Is Your CLV (Customer Lifetime Value)?

This one is very important for business owners. CLV is the total revenue expected from one customer. Once this grows it signifies that customers are purchasing from your business frequently. Therefore, it is imperative to invest in your customers experience.

Once you have this practice down, new customers are more trustworthy of your business which results in up-selling or cross-selling of additional products. It is all about trust in this game, customers will surely recommend your products that truly reflects their needs. Which will create a smoother purchasing experience.

 

Having Great Customer Service Is An Advantage When Owning A Business.

It’s only natural that we want to stand out, it doesn’t matter the industry we are in we want to be the best. After all nobody strives to be “just ok” at something. You want to be better and better than every other company, even your competitors. And of course, you want your customers to know, that’s the key to keeping customers loyal and ensuring they interact with your brand/business.

Customer service is an excellent way for your company to be distinguished as mention prior. In fact, customers are willing to stop doing business with one poor customer service experience. If the customer issues are resolved during the first mishappens, there is a chance they will return.

By providing excellent customer service, you will retain your customers. It’s indisputable that, positive customer service can make your company the best version of itself. The ability to communicate directly with customers can totally revolutionize your company and grow your brand.

 

                 About Jan “La-la” Dale

My name is Jan “La-La” Dale, I am a photographer, web and graphic designer. I own a photography and videography company called (Rue Studios). With my experience in the corporate world for 10+ years, I was training employees and employers in customer service and client relations.

After opening Rue Studios, I realised that as entrepreneurs and business owners we forget the importance of customer service and client relations. I hope you all take something from my experiences and implement it in your growing business.

Social media links @itslaladale
Email: jan.dale369@gmail.com

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