website Archives - Canadian Small Business Women

Mar 18 2020

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/.

May 07 2018

Treat your Website like a Resume

What do you do when we want to “sell” yourself to a prospective employer? You build a resume that “upsells” your product (YOU!) in the best, most flattering way. It’s the same for a website. Your website tells a story about you, your product or service. Make it a good one.

I think we’ve talked about this before but it bears repeating. There are just too many sad websites out there. Like a resume, your website should be very targeted. It’s easy to cast a wide net into the sea and hope to catch some fish. Problem is, you might snare an octopus or two along with the good fish. The octopus becomes a problem because, with all those sticky-legged tentacles, it takes up a great deal of your time just trying to get rid of it. Instead, “fish specifically” by creating a targeted, streamlined and well worded succinct website that only attracts the type of clients you desire.

It’s pretty simple:

Answer the “Who x 2?” question: Who are you and Who is your target audience? Identifying these right off the top will eliminate the suckerfish that draw attention away from your core business. If they aren’t buying from you anyway, why waste time talking to them?
Answer the “WHAT.” What do you do? Again be specific. Apply “K.I.S.S.” and Keep it short and simple!
WHERE and WHEN? Where do you offer your services and when do you offer them. If you promise 24hr turnaround to queries, make sure you deliver – if you don’t, don’t promise it. All people want to know is the where and when. If you’re not willing to drive to Pickering from Caledon for a service call – say so up front. Chances are someone local can do the job and you’ve just saved yourself a time waster of a phone call explaining why you can’t.
Lastly, address the WHY you do what you do and the HOW but again, keep it brief. Explaining your “why” – you passion for doing something, will appeal to the right-brained consumer who shops for services based in part on how they feel. That means your website should be just creative, colourful and engaging enough to attract their attention without being so overwhelming that your left-brained customer is annoyed by all the “bells and whistles.” Explaining your “how” will attract the left brained amongst us who seek out the details and want to be sure you really do “know your stuff.”

A website dances a fine line: balancing information vs. graphics, SEO words vs. pictures and allowing your personality to shine through vs. providing too much detail. Just like a resume. I think the key difference is that often, in the rush to establish an online presence, we secure a domain and “throw content up on the web” with the intent of cleaning it up after we’ve been open for a while. Problem is we get caught up in the minutiae of business and that clean up never happens. You wouldn’t send out a resume that wasn’t perfect, so don’t sell your business short either. Targeted marketing means making your website work just like you used to make your resume work when you were looking for work!

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed? Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Mar 05 2018

Now’s the time to refresh your website

Now the weather is changing and we’re moving out of the gloom and cold of the winter season, we can feel the returning spring in our step and the sense of renewal that this new season brings. For most people it has us starting to refresh, renew and reset in many areas of our lives and spring cleaning is a right of passage at this time of year. An area that is often overlooked though (for several reasons) is your business website. What can you do to remove the stale and encourage the sale? You can take some time and refresh in a few of the areas shown here.

Start with a review: When was the last time you updated your website? It’s not a bad idea to refresh a couple of times a year to keep your content current and to keep things fresh. Take a walk through your site as a visitor, or a potential client. Is it easy to find the information you want to highlight? Does the content support your directive and speak to your ideal client’s pain points? With some focus here, you can improve the visitor experience, and that can really help.

Refresh your colour palette: If you have a branded colour palette have you been using it? You can freshen up the how visitors feel about your content by selecting images and photos that reflect your colour palette, when you update font colours for your headings, quotes, and pull-out text you can get a huge bang for your buck. Is it worth it? Yes. A simple change in this area can work wonders and give you a brand-new vibe within your chosen palette.

How’s your blog? If you’ve been a little lax about your blogging lately there’s great value in getting back in the swing. Your clients and potential clients can learn so much from what you have to offer, and blogging is a way to share that knowledge as you spread your word. As an entrepreneur or small business owner you will get love from search engines such as Google, Bing and others because they love fresh content. Remember, growing your blog doesn’t have to be about writing. There are different options to creating content for your blog – think video blogging, audio (podcasting), or having guest writers provide content for your blog.

Add a survey: You can encourage your visitors to interact with your site and you can learn from them at the same time! Choose a topic of interest and use one of the many survey tools out there to learn more. Looking for an easy to use survey tool? Consider Type Form for an elegant solution. There’s lots of options out there from the plain (Google forms) to the complicated and expensive. You can find a solution to meet your needs.

Set objectives for your website: Create your key objectives for your site, then work to meet them. For many website owners an important objective is to build your subscriber list. Make it easy to find and use your opt-in boxes by placing them strategically and make it valuable to the visitor to trade their email address for what you have to offer.

Ready for video (or audio)? Using either of these items on your website can make it so much more interesting, particularly in these days of mobile devices and short attention spans. It’s becoming easier and more affordable to use either or both options. You can do something as simple as adding a Facebook Live video to your website or add an audio file to your about page for better effect.

There are so many options you can bring to your website that can help clear the cobwebs and breathe fresh air into your content and your visitor experience and it doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming as these examples demonstrate. If you haven’t refreshed your website in the last year, where will you start to bring it into the same realm as your business strategy right now? Pick as least two things to refresh because it will make a difference to you and your visitors, and now is a great time to start!

Barbara Jemmott is the founder and business strategist at Your Entrepreneurial Spirit. Her 4-point YES to Customer Acquisition Program (C.A.P.) allows her to work her passion which is helping entrepreneurial women grow their audiences and income, online. She got here through her 20+ years of experience helping businesses understand and implement systems, strategies and procedures to increase productivity as well implement change and streamline operations. With experience and responsibilities to design, develop and deliver training for small to large technology training initiatives for Fortune 100 companies, she brings “Big Business” expertise to the small business space. Learn more about Your Entrepreneurial Spirit and the YES to Customer Acquisition Program at www.yourentrepreneurialspirit.com

Dec 11 2017

Setting New Year’s Marketing Goals You Can Actually Accomplish

A new year means a fresh a start, right? When it comes to your business, December is a perfect time to strategize for the year ahead, especially for your marketing strategy. The problem is, it’s really hard to set marketing goals that make sense for your business while driving it forward to help you grow throughout the year.

Before you can strategize for the year ahead, it’s always best to look back to see what you have accomplished in the past year. Using simple metrics, you can track your progress. Reflect on what worked, what didn’t work, and what your best marketing moments were for the year. That will shape how you move forward in this process. You should always focus on whether your marketing strategy in the past year helped you reach your business objectives for the year. If it didn’t, then setting your goals for 2018 will be especially important.

To help you follow through, your marketing goals for 2018 should:

Reflect on your overall business objectives – you are building your business through marketing.
Be measurable – you won’t know if you have achieved your goal if you can’t measure it.

Here are a few goals to consider as you are preparing your 2018 marketing strategy.

Cut the fluff from your strategy

Build a solid strategic foundation by figuring out what’s working and what’s not. If something isn’t working, set it aside. You can always revisit a strategy later if the timing is better. By eliminating tactics that don’t work you’re freeing up resources (time and money) to invest in other tactics. Cutting things from your marketing strategy might be the easiest thing to accomplish because you are saving time and money rather than spending it!

Identify the time and budget resources you can allocate to other marketing projects throughout the year.

Engage daily on social media

Social media isn’t something you say you are going to do and then log in once per week. It takes commitment, but you should be engaging with your followers and potential follower on a daily basis. This is how you will build relationships with customers and potential customers online. If you can’t commit the time to social media (at least 15 minutes per day), consider hiring a third party to build your social media strategy. Your success depends largely on your ability to create dialogue among your community, and social media is a great way to connect with large numbers of people at once.

Make sure you track your increasing engagement through specific and measurable metrics such as brand mentions, retweets/shares, Likes, Review ratings, etc.

Drive traffic to your website

Your website should be an information hub for your brand, and if you are selling products on your website, then traffic is even more important. Customers should be able to navigate across your online channels easily, and all roads should lead back to your website. Post new content regularly to your social channels (ie. Blogs, product reviews) that links back to your website. If you are running a sale, change the link in your Instagram profile and drive people to that link in your promo posts.

Track metrics such as website traffic numbers and your click through rate.

Try something you haven’t tried before

It’s easy to get stuck in a marketing rut. Maybe you’re afraid of change, or perhaps you were just burnt out, but success usually lives outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes that means learning about something new or really getting to know what your audience likes. You will start to see business growth when you push your own personal boundaries as a business owner. This will also help to create new touchpoints for your customers to experience your brand. For example, if you have focused a lot of your energy on social media and digital marketing tactics, try something experiential to hit a targeted geographical group.

Make sure you choose metrics to measure the success of your new tactic. If it is successful, continue doing it, if not, there is no point in wasting the resources.

Your marketing goals for 2018 should make you feel a little uncomfortable, but they should also excite you. It is a good combination when you are building your strategy. Your audience will appreciate you taking the time to see your relationship with them through a fresh perspective and it gives you the opportunity to stay on your toes in business.

Candace Huntly is Founder and 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

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

Feb 24 2017

8 Creative Ways to Build a Mailing List

Do you send a newsletter for your business? A newsletter can be an easy way to inform your customers and potential customers of a new product, a sale, an event or just another way to showcase your expertise. Here are 8 Creative ways to build your mailing list.

Add it to your website or blog: Most mailing list generators (we use mail chimp) have a widget that you can easily add to your website. This has been the most popular way new visitors have subscribed to our mailing list.
Host a giveaway or contest: Whether it’s online or at a trade show a giveaway or contest is a fun way to build your mailing list.
Have a mailing list or guest book: At trade shows in particular have a mailing list or guest book in the corner of your table. Interested potential customers may add their name to learn more about you.
Ask for it: While closing a sale ask the new customer for their email address. You can also use this to follow-up with your customer.
Add it to your facebook page: An easy to use app can be added to your facebook fan pages.
May I?: When a new customer inquires, it’s okay to ask them if you may add them to your mailing list.
Post in on Facebook: Once in a while, pose the question on your facebook page – Have you subscribed to our mailing list (link)?
Tweet about it: Tweet it – Have you subscribed to our mailing list (link)?

Jacqueline Hunter is the Director at Craftadian. In addition to hosting annual Craftadian Handmade Markets, Jacqueline is a resource for Handmade Business owners by offering online courses, work shops and support. She showcases, supports and promotes Canadian artists, artisans and designers.

Connect with Jacqueline

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Email

Jan 30 2017

Doing Business Online – Your Website and Legal Notices

The theme of globalization that took center stage at the Canadian Small Business Women’s Expos in 2016 made one thing very, very clear – for small businesses, our communication HQ for reaching the rest of the world is our website.

While most of us are great at talking about our offerings and communicating our brand online, taking the time to set out certain legal notices, demonstrates how seriously we take our business and emphasizes what makes it unique. Drafted and presented properly, such notices can even take on the character of a binding contract between users and your business.

Here is an overview of the kinds of legal notices that should be considered for every website:

Terms of Use – These are notices, which let web surfers know the ground rules for using your website by setting expectations with respect to the use of information and other content on your site. Different terms of use may be noted on various pages or footers, and/or consolidated on a separate page of your site. At a minimum, you need to notify users that the content of your website is: i) for their personal use only, and not for commercial application; and ii) intended for general informational purposes and not as advice that can be necessarily applied to their personal circumstances. You also need to provide notice about your intellectual property (IP) rights and the rights of others you have permission to use in connection with your business and site (such as trademarks and copyrights). If you provide links to the websites of others, it is a good idea to also remind users of your website that you are not responsible for the content of other sites which you do not control.
Privacy Policy – This is a policy which every business needs to have to be able to describe for stakeholders, among other things and in accordance with applicable legislation: i) what personal information is collected and for what purpose; ii) how an individual may provide and withdraw its consent for the business to the use its personal information; and iii) how the business collects and safeguards personal information. In Ontario, most businesses collecting personal information are subject to the FederalPersonal Information Privacy and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Especially, if collecting personal information through its website, a business should provide notice of its privacy policy online, either as part of its consolidated Terms of Use, or on a separate page. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada offers guidance and a tool kit to help businesses comply with PIPEDA at https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/pipeda-compliance-help/guide_org/.

Marking Intellectual Property Rights – Every business website is likely to include copyrighted content and present its content using various branding elements, such as a logo and word marks to distinguish various service and product offerings for the benefit of customers. In addition, business offerings may have other IP rights associated with them, such as industrial design registrations and patent rights. Making users aware of these rights by marking them where they appear helps you communicate to users what is unique to your business and makes it easier to prove that someone who misappropriates these rights had notice of them. Furthermore, if you are using IP rights, such as copyrighted content and trademarks with the permission of others it is best to include specific attribution regarding those rights, unless otherwise agreed to with the rights holder(s).

Marking IP rights is a shorthand way of giving notice of the existence of such rights. A basic copyright notice at the footer of every webpage using the ‘©’symbol and using the ‘TM’ and ‘®’ symbols to denote unregistered and registered trademark rights, respectively, will be familiar to many business owners. Similar shorthand ways of denoting industrial design and patent rights also exist. It is important to be aware that different countries may have different rules for how to properly apply IP markings to ensure that rights holders are not being misleading about the rights they have, or otherwise engaging in anti-competitive conduct. Given that websites transcend jurisdictional boundaries, understanding these rules in the markets you are targeting with your website is something every business owner needs to learn about, or seek the advice of a legal professional.

Providing conspicuous and clear legal notices such as those outlined above is a pillar of a B2B and B2C communication strategy that leads to mutually beneficial business relationships. It lets the public, potential business partners and competitors know you are aware of, and value your legal rights, as well as the legal rights of others.

If you would like to find out more about how to draft and create legal notices for your website, study the notices used by IP savvy businesses on their websites and consider consulting a lawyer to review the language of your notices and IP markings to make sure you are achieving the benefits that these notices offer.

Ariadni Athanassiadis is the lead attorney of Kyma Professional Corporation, which provides intellectual property (IP) legal services to help your business develop and benefit from the creative efforts and assets that make it distinctive. Whether it is your brand, product, services, designs, technology or business processes, Ariadni can help design IP legal solutions which let you make the most of what you give to your business.

———————————

Ariadni Athanassiadis

Kyma Professional Corporation

T: 613-327-7245

E: ariadni@kymalaw.com

W: www.kymalaw.com

Nov 29 2016

Just ASK – Making Photo-Legal Groundwork Add Up

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There are few mediums which can universally capture the hearts and minds of people like the perfect photo. When updating your website, blogging or developing ads for your business, the hunt is always on for the images that say it all. Just don’t be tempted to turn a blind eye to the origins of those perfect images and the conditions for copying them, in case you find yourself exposed because of a copyright violation.

Your exposure is no less just because you may have relied on someone else to put your website, blog content or ad together and get those little copyright details right. Your business is your business and you have the responsibility to make sure it is not threatened by wasted investment, a senseless tarnishing of its reputation and in some cases, litigation that bleeds your time and your profits. Taking the time to find photo perfection may mean digging around a bit, but in the end the effort will help you and your business stand tall above the rest.

Let’s start from the obvious – the mantra everyone knows – just because a photo can be downloaded from the internet does not mean it is free to use.

Okay, great, so you know that, but what about stock photos? You may have paid for them, but you still have to read the fine print. Not all stock photos can be used for any purpose, or come with permission for indefinite usage. Similarly, accessing images under a Creative Commons license (e.g. through Flickr) is still a license and has terms that have to be respected to stay on the right side of the law. These are issues you have to educate yourself about, either through your own research or by asking the professional who helps you put your ad together.

And what about those photos you commission? Again, there are questions you need to ask to be sure you can put them to the uses you are contemplating to market your business:

If there are models in the photos, were model release forms executed?
Will you own the copyright in those photos? This is a question to discuss with the photographer in advance.
If the photographer won’t assign to you their copyrights in the photos taken for the benefit of your business, do you have a solid agreement (license) that you can rely on to use the photos the way you want to?

When it comes to getting the ‘pics’ you want for your business use, you always have to be prepared to assess your resources, seek the appropriate rights to use them and be prepared to adapt if too many unknowns are left unanswered. While it may feel like only one image can say it all, remember that neither you nor your business is one, or even two dimensional – there is more than one photo waiting to be snapped, or out there, to help capture the brilliance of your enterprise and message.

In summary, your photo-legal groundwork boils down to a simple practice – Just ASK:

Approach, get consent and acknowledge the original source of the images you use.

Substitute with other images, if in doubt about making copies of your first choice ‘pics’.

Know your options because today there are many, and there is really no reason you can’t be efficient finding the imagery you want without jeopardizing the integrity of your enterprise.

———————————

Ariadni Athanassiadis

Kyma Professional Corporation

T: 613-327-7245

E: ariadni@kymalaw.com

W: www.kymalaw.com

Nov 07 2016

Websites and the 5 W Principle

Sheralyn

Are you looking to do a refresh of your website? Is it time for an update or perhaps a wholesale change to your content? Today we talk tips on creating short, snappy website content that resonates! Similar in nature to when we looked at blogging for business, we’ll take a brief look at the “5 W Principle.”

To begin, keep this in mind: Treat your website like your resume and engage in TARGETED MARKETING. Like a resume, what do people most need to know about you? Do they need to know every job you’ve ever held, from that very first day working on the fry line at a fast food chain or do they only need to know that which is most relevant to the business you are engaged in now? Certainly you should talk about any relevant prior experience but brevity is key. No need to share your life story, just clearly talk about your product or service by answering the “5 W’s” – the who, what, where, when and why questions. In doing so, you’ll create an edited version of your skill set that still sells you and your product or service, just like a resume “sells” you to a potential employer.

Here are your key considerations:

Be targeted (or very specific) in narrowing down your potential audience. You do this by answering the question “who x 2?” That is, who are you and who is your intended audience? It’s actually not limiting your business by weeding out potential customers before you even speak to them, rather, its good time-management. You’re preventing unwanted, time-wasting phone calls from people who will probably never do business with you anyway. To help with the “who” question, you also need to clearly identify your “why?” Why do you do what you do? This is where your passion for what you do will come through. Use thoughtful, engaging language that helps others understand why you are so passionate about your business. Sharing your passion is what engages potential “right-brained” customers. By addressing the questions of WHAT and HOW (how do you do what you do) you will engage with potential left-brained customers who both need and want specifics in order to determine whether to do business with you. Providing some level of detail will appeal to them. Answering the where and when is easy and somewhat self-explanatory. Finally, I’ve said it before and I will probably say it again as it comes up in all of my seminars; always make sure that your website content is “CORI” content. That is create content that is:

Current
Original
Relevant
Interesting

By creating and maintaining content that’s fresh and relevant to your industry – you are demonstrating that you are “on top” of industry trends. Keep your website updated by blogging, posting specials, providing seasonal information and by sharing tips and tools that matter to your customers. Give information away for free to establish goodwill and credibility. But always remember, don’t be that annoying person who shares and posts constantly just to be heard because you risk being ignored or “unsubscribed” instead! So when it comes to websites, practice the “5 W Principle” for a wonderful website that works.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Jul 12 2016

The importance of small businesses blogging

When blogging made its first appearance in the late 90’s, it was mainly used by individuals wanting to express their thoughts and feels towards various topics. However, over the years blogging has evolved and is now used as a main tool for many businesses to express ideas, pass along valuable information and is a means of keeping connected with clients. Blogging is one of the biggest, easiest and not to mention free marketing strategies out there. Entrepreneurs, whether established or starting up, need to understand the importance and value of this tool.

What having a blog site can do for you:

Boost your websites search engine optimization (SEO): by posting blogs frequently, Google and other search engines will be able to use the important key words, which are plugged into your post and your appearance on the search engines result page will increase.
Causes traffic to your website: by linking your blog site to your business’s website, you will increase traffic flow, along with creating more awareness around your brand.
Establishing relationships: end your blog post with a question and get conversation going, create a section under your post for readers to leave a comment or additional feedback. Being able to review and respond to their comments will give you some insight as to what your customers are looking for from your business.
Connecting to the brand: most outbound marketing techniques do not allow you to show off your personal side, blogging gives you the opportunity to show your business’s true personality.
Free marketing: whether readers share your post on Facebook, tweet it or email your blog to a friend, this is helping create more buzz around your business.

Dwania is the Founder and Executive Director of Canadian Small Business Women Contact Canadian Small Business Women:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website

Jun 21 2016

Dealing with Negative Comments on Social Media

It’s happened to all of us. We work hard to publish an article or a social media post only to have someone come along and respond with a negative or defamatory comment. It’s disheartening, frustrating, upsetting and even angering and it takes every ounce of patience to not want to write back an equally negative and snarky reply. I’ve been there, and I’ve felt the same way. But I can honestly tell you that the best way to respond to negativity on social media is with positivity.

Sir Isaac Newton described his 3rd Law of Motion by explaining that “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” In elementary Mathematics, we are taught that a negative and positive number of the same absolute value cancel each other out in an equation (ie. -4 + 4 = 0) What does this have to do with social media? Well, the same notion of countering forces can be applied to all positive and negative forces, energy and comments.

As a rule of thumb in customer service, it is always best to respond to customer complaints in a calm, professional manner. As business owners, we need to recognize that the customer just wants to feel validated for their complaint. This can be handled in a number of ways, but it is always best to acknowledge their negative experience and try to offer a solution. There may not always be a mutually agreeable solution, but remember that an angry customer has more potential to do damage to your business’ reputation than a happy one.

Here are some important Do’s and Don’t’s when considering how to respond to customer complaints, reviews or feedback on Social Media….

What not to do –

Don’t ignore it. It might be tempting to try to delete the comment, or hope it quickly fades down in people’s newsfeeds, but there is never any guarantee. It is always better to respond and address the problem than ignore it and hope it goes away.
Don’t respond back with negativity. In the world of debates, two negatives never equal a positive! Responding with anger or offence is just going to add fuel to the fire. It’s upsetting for everyone involved and surrounds your business with negative energy.
Don’t get into a battle. There is nothing to be gained from trying to have the final say. Anyone following the discussion on your social network will be able to “see” the entire battle unfolding and each of your followers has an easy click to unfollow you and refuse to see any future posts from your business.

What to do instead –

DO take time to formulate an appropriate response before typing any reply to the comment. If possible, ask a colleague or trusted friend to read your reply first before you publish it online. Taking time not only allows you to respond with a clear head, but it also has likely given your disgruntled customer a chance to cool off too.
DO respond with professionalism and offer to address the complainant’s concerns offline, perhaps via email address or over the phone. Offer a solution to the problem right up front so that the next step is in their hands to either take you up on the offer, or to walk away.
DO end the discussion quickly, after a single, well composed reply. There is nothing to be gained by carrying on the discussion if you first response did everything to address the complaint, offer a solution and provide a non-social media form of communication to use to continue the conversation.

Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Business owners through social media for over for years. Teach Me Social 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.

Jun 07 2016

Perfectly Precise

Precision. It is such an important word and embodies a world of meaning. Depending on your industry, precision could be a technical term that relates to accuracy or, for your business purposes, might simply mean choosing the best words possible for your website content or next marketing campaign. Typically, we associate precision with the accounting industry more so than we might when thinking of those whose primary “tools” are words. Today however, I take this opportunity to remind you that being precise when it comes to words is not only nice, it’s necessary.

Our friends at Merriam-Webster define precision as this: “the quality or state of being precise: exactness or accuracy.” For my husband, as a Tool and Die Maker, exactness means working to tolerances that represent less than the width of a human hair, on molds that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If he makes a mistake, it could have huge and expensive ramifications. Given that one little piece of metal he once worked on is now actually orbiting in outer space, you can imagine how important precision is to his business. Any firm who has undergone an accounting audit will also be able to describe the importance of precise, accurate records.

Words, and the precision with which you choose them, may not make space exploration history but they are still critically important to your mission – that of making your business a success. When you go to a paint store, you don’t ask for “green” paint, you state the specific shade of green you seek. You ensure accuracy by being precise. There is a world of difference between “forest” green and “lime” green and being precise will help ensure you only have to paint the room once!

What can be frustrating about the English language is that occasionally there are several appropriate words to choose from. How do you choose the best one? For newcomers in particular this can be challenging. Simply deciphering the “their,” “there” and “they’re” conundrum can be frustrating. However, the very fact that there might be two or even three great words to select from simply highlights that you both CAN and SHOULD choose the best word possible. Clarity is the goal. Consider using a dictionary or a thesaurus when writing, ask a friend to review your content or poll your customers to ask what about your website attracted them and whether any particular word, logo, slogan or marketing material grabbed their attention. Ask a professional to create or edit content for you because statistics consistently show that you only have between 10 – 30 seconds to make a favourable impression on your website. That’s not much time. If you want your message to resonate, attract customers and turn a website search into an actual sale, it’s imperative you make every word count.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Apr 07 2016

Creating “C.O.R.I.” Content

Much has been written (by me, for CSBW, never mind from all those other experts!) about creating great website content and how to blog for business. Today, I would like to add to the narrative by sharing my short and simple acronym for creating meaningful content that works. It’s “C.O.R.I.” When writing about your business in any capacity and particularly when creating content for your website, make sure that it’s Current, Original, Relevant and Interesting.

Social Media encourages, to some degree, a tendency to “over share.” I attended a networking event recently where a person told me they shared to Facebook 7 or 8 times per day!!! I am not sure when they were getting any work done but unless you are actually in the business of Social Media, providing this as a service to clients as part of their business strategy, this is probably a little too often. It also begs the question are you sharing relevant information or just re-posting randomly? So unless you’ve hired an expert like my good friend Kelly Farrell at Teach Me Social, stick to the C.O.R.I. principle.

Your website content should always be current. Create a schedule where you build time into your business to regularly refresh and update. There is nothing worse than searching for something on the web and coming across a Christmas special at Easter. Your product or service may not necessarily change but you can tweak the wording, offer a seasonal special or post a blog all of which could help your rankings if a search engine like Google thinks you are posting new content.

Make sure your content is original. First and foremost if it isn’t that’s plagiarism and we all remember the consequences of that from school. Secondly, if you are posting and sharing excessively, from other sites, again your rankings could be affected because Google sees it as duplicated content. Besides, your website is about you, your product and/or your service so it SHOULD be original.

Relevancy is a big one for me. This is not so much about your website content because it is assumed if you are describing your service, the content is relevant to your business! However, when sharing information across your other social media platforms it is imperative that you share content that is related to your business. Sharing stories about cute kittens or babies sucking on a lemon is not only irrelevant but frankly, might just annoy your potential clients and see you placed on their “blocked senders” list.

Finally, when it comes to content, do your best to make sure that it is also interesting. Provide tips and tools that your potential clients can actually use. Share a news story that is current, interesting and related to your industry. Perhaps, offer a little known “fun fact” about your product that people might not already know. Post something regularly that engages your audience without inundating them.

By creating content that is current, original, relevant and interesting you will create an audience that comes looking for you rather than you having to seek them out! Be an original. Share responsibly, not randomly.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Feb 08 2016

Bridge Building 101

Using bridges as an analogy for great communication is a pretty common theme for me and I believe it’s a message that occasionally bears repeating. Great communication is about building bridges between people. Like a bridge that facilitates transportation between two geographical points, a communications bridge acts as your platform to transmit information. It requires a solid foundation, pillars of support and the actual bridge span that connects the two. The definition of communication is this: “The development of skills in three critical areas: Listening, Language and Writing.” Think of these three skills as your pillars, foundation and bridge span. Communication is about sending a message and ensuring that message is both received AND understood. When communication fails, it’s because the bridge was left unfinished or because it crumbled, not having been built on a solid enough foundation.

The bridge could be your website, a blog, a video about your business, perhaps it’s a sales call to discuss your product or it takes place while you’re conducting a seminar in front of an audience. Whatever your “bridge” it is based on the premise of creating a two-way flow of information. (It’s important to note however, even a one – lane bridge allows traffic to flow in both directions, we just have to take turns! Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we did?)

Here are a few simple tips on how to build a better bridge to your customers:

Keep your communication clear and concise. State your position (just the facts) using language that is precise and carefully chosen.
Avoid over reliance on industry specific jargon – not every one “gets” it.

Avoid excessive and unnecessary elaboration. Say more, with less.
Ensure understanding by soliciting feedback.
Encourage two-way dialogue by asking questions.
When creating content for your website follow the techniques we have blogged about before: Treat web content like it was a Resume and answer the basic “Who, What, Where, Why and How questions.
If you have a contact button on your website – RESPOND when people use it! Encourage the conversation. If you put a tollgate on your bridge, make sure it’s staffed otherwise no one is getting across and not answering a customer query means a lost business opportunity.

If communication is further defined as the ability to “express or exchange information” what else can you do in your business to ensure that exchange takes place? I would argue that listening is the single most important pillar of the communications bridge. In any relationship, business or personal, listening to the other person helps them to feel valued, that their opinion matters or that there concern has been addressed. By listening, I am referring to “listening to hear,” (to understand) not “listening to respond” (planning your comeback.) Listen to what your customer is asking for rather than trying to sell what you think he needs.

Just like a poorly built bridge, the stakes are high and the consequences long term. Perhaps you read about the recent collapse of the Nipigon River Bridge, severing the Trans-Canada Highway, the only road linking Eastern and Western Canada. It’s not only an enormous and costly mistake for the bridge builders but has long term consequences for any business attempting to transport goods and services to its customers along this corridor. Similarly, what are some of the consequences of poor communications for your business?

Misunderstandings
Lost business opportunities
Angry employees or customers
Poor sales
Potential legal ramifications
Long-term damage to your reputation

You may have heard the old saying; “If it’s worth saying, say it right the first time!” or my personal motto “Say only what matters because it matters what you say!” Either promotes the same message – good communication needs a solid base to “bridge” the gap between your customer and your business, between fostering good relationships and repairing bad. Communications is a bridge that runs both ways and if it doesn’t, it leads to nowhere.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Jan 16 2016

39 ways to hand out your business cards

Jemi

Welcome to the world of networking. Business cards are the most inexpensive way to get your name out there. They are small, thin, and easy to give out. Your name, contact, website, and slogan tell the prospect all they need to know about you and your business. You can get 500 for less than $60 in colour. This means when you have successfully handed out your 500 cards, that’s 500 people that didn’t know about you before. There’s no telling what this can do for your business. If you try these 39 ideas on a regular, you’ll see more traffic to your website, and more referrals coming your way.

Post them on community bulletin boards (churches, laundromats, grocery stores, etc)
Place them in thank you cards, birthday cards, anniversary cards to your clients with your handwritten notes
Make sure you have more than enough to hand out at networking events
Attach business cards to all your bags with products
Place them at the bottom of gifts
For an event place them in goodie bags to hand out
Punch a hole in the corner of each business card and attach them to sucker to hand out
Look for businesses that have a community table where you can place a stack of business cards for their customers to take
Deliver them to mail boxes
Before presentations, attach them to each folder
Make sure you have an electronic copy as your signature of each e-mail
Use your electronic copy as a banner for your social media platforms
Place them on windshield wipers
Place them in bathroom stalls
Add them to your invoices
When you are out running errands, use this opportunity to meet new prospects and exchange numbers. Hand out your business card
Have a card display attached to your car with your business cards
Attach your business cards to balloons at an event and hand them out
Keep samples in individual bags with your card in each of them. Get their information in exchange for your samples
Have a referral system with professionals similar to you but are not your competition. You keep their cards, and they keep yours and together you spread your business
At networking events have your card in a clear plastic name tag
At an event, hand out water bottles. Punch a hole in the top right hand corner of your business cards and tie with a string to each water bottle
Glue your card to clothes pins and pin your card everywhere
Stick your card onto a magnet and hand them out
Give a few cards to friends and family to hand out for you
Ask your good customers for referrals. Give them cards to hand out for you and for every business transaction that comes from a customer, give them a discount.
Throw a party, hand out your cards to your guests
Place them in individually wrapped bags with candy and hand them out
Get mini cards and hole punch them for your customers to add to their key chains
Canvas to restaurants and small businesses, and introduce yourself and your products
When you leave a tip, give your business card with a thank you note
Give your child(ren) to hand out your business cards at events. No one can resist cute children!
Wear a clear lanyard around your neck at all times with your business card
Keep business cards in stands on tables or counters from businesses in your area. Make sure you make good connections with these business owners and recommend their business whenever you can
Place them in books at your library related to your business
Stick them in free newspapers
Go door-to-door and introduce yourself with your business cards and products
Stick them on a hat as a creative way to attract interest to you
Bring a brightly covered basket of your products in crowded places and when people ask you about them, give them your card

Hope these ideas will inspire you to get out there and meet new prospects! For more information call Jemi Echevarria at (647)785-5851 or e-mail her at jemiechevarria@gmail.com.

Nov 11 2015

What to do if the Media Aren’t Interested In Your Story

You have developed your campaign, put the work in to build your launch story (and your perfect pitch!), and you have actively been pitching and following up with the media with your beautifully written media release. Unfortunately, you are sitting and waiting in silence. You can’t seem to get any media interested in the story you have to offer.

There are a few reasons why the media might not be interested in what you have to say:

You targeted the wrong media. Do your research to make sure they cover stories like yours.
There is no relevant connection to an overarching newsworthy storyline (ie. Current events, pop culture, etc.)
You didn’t give the media enough time before your launch or event. They need to have time to put together the story before it’s past.
Bigger news came up. Do your research to make sure there isn’t a major event happening. However, it’s impossible to predict when the latest scandal or huge news story will break!
Your pitch was too long.
Your subject line wasn’t attention-grabbing.

Maybe you have done everything right. From a media perspective, sometimes they get hundreds of pitches every day, so despite how hard you try, your email or Twitter pitch may just get lost in the shuffle.

Here are three ways you can get creative with your outreach strategy to build buzz if you need can’t seem to get through to the media:

Build a strong content strategy. If you have built a great brand story for yourself or your business, you should also be putting out great content on all of your marketing channels – your website, social media, blog, e-newsletter, etc. You have to make sure you are putting out great content on a regular basis. That means setting up a schedule for posting and keeping up with it so your audience expects it from you and they can engage with you. Sometimes a strong content strategy will actually put you on the radar with media who often look for story ideas online.
Become a guest contributor. Try connecting with publications, industry-related blogs, and blogs of associations you are part of. They are often looking for great content, and this is a fantastic way for you to get your name out there and showcase your expertise.
Be active on social media to grow your community and brand awareness. Social media is all about relationship building and empowering others to talk about your brand. Keep it social and go on at least once per day.

The key is that you shouldn’t give up on generating buzz about your brand just because you can’t get media coverage. Media coverage is a great goal, but there are so many other ways for you to get your brand out there that shouldn’t be ignored.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal at SongBird Marketing Communications, an 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 it unique to you.

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