Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Make a meaningful relationship with your customers online.

Kelly headshot (2)

 Your main goal for Social Media Marketing isn’t really about sales, it’s about relationship building with your customers and target audience.  Building this relationship will then drive sales and growth.

 A major advantage that small business’ have over larger ones, is that you are able to give your brand a personality that should fit the community you work in.  You have the ability to talk about topics that are important to your community.

 Social Media has changed the way that business MUST operate, it has given your consumers more of a voice in your brand and what you do.  One doesn’t need to look hard online to see this in action, one example that comes to mind is Doritos and their rainbow coloured chips that they made to support the LGBT, there were a lot of people who supported the move, and those that didn’t.  The ones that don’t support something you are doing will tend to be more verbal on your pages about it, but the beautiful part about this is that your community will generally come to defend you, and that only happens if you can create a meaningful relationship with them.

 Now, you are probably asking, how do I start that meaningful relationship? There are a few ways to go about this.  Twitter and Facebook have great tools to use to find out what people are interested in in your community, apart from reading a local paper (which is a great way to stay informed about your community) you can try surveying your current followers and get their opinions on issues and your industry.  If you start to talk about their interests, they will be more likely to like, comment and share your content which will lead to more followers.

 Another way is to build your email marketing list.  Use social posts to ask people to sign up to it, and let them know what kind of content will be in your emails.  Also ask them to sign up when they buy something from you. It’s important to not make your emails too salesy, instead, again, cover topics that affect your community AND your industry.  When you provide content that solves a problem of your customers, you are more likely to have repeat customers and build a better relationship with them.

 Digital Customer Service is becoming huge.  Most customers that now have a problem with your service or product won’t tend to phone you, they will come and talk to you online though a post to your page or directly chat with you.  The quicker you respond and address their issue, the stronger relationship you build.  Make sure you have some sort of policy in place for acceptable response time, most businesses a generally within 24 hours, and yes, even on weekends.  So whether you do your social media yourself or have a vendor that does it for you, make sure that your expectations are communicated to them.

 The last thing you can do to build the relationship is have some sort of rewards program that offers some benefit to your repeat customers, because the worst thing you can do as a business, is not appreciate loyalty, just look at the big phone companies like Rogers and Bell, do you feel that you are being rewarded for being a customer for years?

 As more and more networks pop up, catching your customers attention and building a trusting relationship is going to become harder and harder, be sure to stay adaptive to your business and customer needs and think outside the box, bland doesn’t sell.

 

Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Business owners through social media for over three years. Her team now offers services ranging from training sessions for small business owners and their teams, to full-service social media account management. Visit teachmesocial.ca to learn more about our service offerings or to contact us today for a no obligation consultation, including an audit of your existing social media channels.

6 mistakes entrepreneurs make when seeking out funding

Praveeni

Entrepreneurs often have many  “great” ideas and rely on funding in the form of a business loan or investors to bring their dreams to light.  Pitching your business and asking for funding can be an intimidating and grueling process. However if successful the payoffs can be huge. Unfortunately many entrepreneurs aren’t successful in securing the funding they require. Here’s a look at 6 mistakes entrepreneurs make when seeking out funding:

  1. Over-valuing their firm or product
    Ok you’ve got an idea- that’s great, but how much is it worth? If it’s your idea it’s probably priceless to you but how much is your business really worth? People tend to over-value their business in hopes of securing a greater investment but that very often fails. Take an objective stance when valuing your business – look at how much you’ve done in sales, your costs and how much revenue you’re really brining in. Remember sales do not denote firm value. Don’t forget to factor in your production, operational and carrying costs.
  1. Presentation & pitch is too long
    Your elevator pitch and investor presentation should be short and informative. Keep your presentation under 10 slides and make your slides concise with 3-5 points per slide. Your elevator pitch should be about a minute long at most. If you can’t summarize your business in under a minute you may need to spend more time understanding your business. No one wants to be stuck listening to a 20 slide presentation.
  1. No concept of market size
    Whenever you offer a product or service you must be aware of how large or small its market is. Whether it’s a nice or mass market item, every product/service has a market. It’s up to you as an entrepreneur to research your market and determine who your target audience is and how much of a market share you would like to capture. Remember 100% market share isn’t always a viable or profitable goal. Be realistic in your market share goals and understand the size of your market.
  1. No professional business plan

A well written, factually correct business plan can garner you the funding you               require. It’s important not to skimp on your business plan. Don’t rush it, take time     to understand the risks, opportunities and profitability of your idea. Make sure you     comprehend your product and what it will take to bring your idea to market.  Many     people overlook the financial aspect of a business plan. Projections can be                     intimidating so seek out professional help if you require it, never assume always ask.

  1. Inability to explain what problem their product solves
    Ok so you’ve got an idea – great! How can it help me? What problem will it solve? Many times entrepreneurs are unable to explain exactly how their product is useful to consumers. This can be off-putting to investors as they think – if a person can’t even explain their own product then how can they sell it? You must fully understand your product or service and how it benefits consumers. Be prepared to answer questions about your own product and your competitor’s offerings as well. The more informed you are the better.
  1. No flexibility
    When asking for funding you need to be flexible. Remember you’re asking someone else to put their trust and money in you and your business. You may not always get the offer you prefer and in some cases may have to counter offer as well. It’s good to be prepared with at least 3 different counter offers when pitching to investors. You should also be open to different kinds of offers. This doesn’t mean give away your whole company for free but listen to what they have to say and run the numbers before you decide to accept, counter or decline. Most importantly be realistic – have a realistic valuation and seek out the appropriate amount for the share you’re offering.

 

Praveeni Perera is the CEO and co-founder of Professional Edge Consulting a corporate training company based in Ottawa offering training and coaching services to clients around the world.  She can be reached via Website, Twitter, Facebook or her Blog.

Know your Numbers!

Uchechi

Most people that know me well know that I love looking at numbers. I love creating budgets and expense tracking sheets to manage both my personal and business expenses. I love to look at how my business makes money and look at different opportunities to bring in additional sources of revenues into my business. However, I find most business owners do not do this.

How does your business make money? Yes, you may have a product or service that you sell, but there are so many different areas to consider in terms of how you make money. Who are your strongest consumers, and which outlets do you make the most money in? How profitable is your business? You’ve got to understand the financial health of your business.

It’s unfortunate, but finances tend to be where most small business owners tend to fall short. Entrepreneurs are highly creative, and there’s so much we have on the go, and sometimes the numbers part is what we tend to look at last. However, I’m a firm believer that you really need to look at your numbers and understand your numbers on a consistent basis. Understanding your finances allows you to make the right business decisions, know how healthy your business is, and will help you build a business with longevity.

Take time to sit down and add all the numbers. Do not be afraid of the numbers. When you’re afraid of the number, and ignore them, that’s when you get yourself into trouble. Set an annual (yearly) target and break it down into monthly and weekly targets. Depending on how big your business is, you may want to start with monthly, but I really love breaking it down into weekly.

When you do your budget, don’t forget to take account your own basic needs. Some business owners tend to budget solely on their business expenses. That’s great if you have a full-time job and you’re bridging your business. However, if you want your business to sustain you and you want to run it full-time, you really need to take your personal expenses into account.

You also need to also understand your break-even point. Your break-even point is the point where revenue actually starts to cover your expenses. The more money you make on top of that will go into your profitability.

Start tracking the return on all those activities you’re doing. So, if it’s Facebook marketing, your email newsletter– how are those converting? You need to know how much money you’re getting in return for all the money you’re spending to bring in sales.

Taxes are another great thing to consider. A lot of small business owners miss this completely, and I’ve been guilty of this too in the past. What tends to happen is we forget to set money aside for taxes. But once you do your taxes, especially when you start making more profit, you’ll have to pay taxes, and depending on how much profit you made, you may get a big tax bill. If you have not been setting any money aside for it, it will leave you scrambling to get money to pay for the taxes. Furthermore, it will cause you so much stress and energy. It will also take the focus from running your business to worrying about finances. Always set some money aside, especially if you’re making profit to pay for your taxes.

There’s so much I can write about this, and feel it’s so important to the success of your business that I dedicated a whole module in my 4-Week Business Success Bootcamp online program to ‘Know your Numbers’.

I like to say, ‘your numbers tells you a story’.  That story will show you how healthy your business is and areas you need to improve to make it more successful!

 

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Speaker and Writer, but most importantly, a proud Mother and Wife. Uchechi is Founder of My Empowered Living (http://www.myempoweredliving.com) a website aimed at helping women shift their mindset and live their passion! Whether it’s starting and building their dream business, or helping them create a lifestyle they crave, Uchechi is the modern woman’s secret to success! Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com to get her FREE online video training series The 4 Keys to your Business Success! This free 4-day business training reveals her 4 key strategies needed to build a profitable and successful business, and how to put them to work in your business!

Take Control of Your Online Reputation Management

TCORM

Many small businesses that don’t take online marketing seriously are unaware that their reputation online may not match their local reputation.

It is possible that a disgruntled customer, former employee, or even a competitor is putting up bad reviews about you.

When 97% of consumers use online search when researching products or services it pays to know what people are saying about you online.

It is just plain crazy to think just because your business does so well locally that no reputation management needs to be done online.

It is erroneous to think that your customers are so loyal that they will disregard bad reviews. Small business owners need to pay even more attention to Online Reputation Management (ORM) – If you don’t take control of your online reputation, someone else will!

Start Your Online Reputation Management Today!

1. Assess your online reputation

Start assessing your online reputation by performing searches on the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Bing.  Don’t just search for your business name but also search for your products, your highest-profile employees, your own name, and any usernames or handles you use on any other site.

2. Customer Service

Always address customers’ comments, and complaints. Be proactive about customer feedback and even more so about customer service. When customers reach out on social media it is usually because emails and phone calls have been ignored. When phone calls and emails go unanswered, customers feel as though they have no other option but to make themselves be heard.

Have a customer service policy in place to respond to phone calls and email in a timely manner.

Monitor social media sites for conversations about you and your business and be prepared to join the conversation.

3. Address the issue

If a complaint or bad review is legit, take the time to acknowledge and offer solutions. A mistake some companies make is to fight back but that only escalates the issue and makes you look worse. Remember to offer positive feedback.

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4. Reputation Repair

Sometimes it may be impossible to remove a false review or complaint. You can fight bad reviews by soliciting and posting good reviews. Get your satisfied customers online to spread the word about your great products and services.

It’s time to take your online marketing seriously and take control of your online reputation by monitoring, responding and getting positive feedback.

Dwainia Grey is an online marketer at Awesome Biz Online. She creates
awesome websites and blogs for businesses as well as working with
companies to optimize their websites with Search Engine Optimization and
Social Media. She can be reached at Awesome Biz Online or by phone at 647-799-1090 x 104. You a can also follow her on Facebook to get the latest on online marketing.