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2 Essential Social Media Tips for Small Business Owners
Small Businesses should leverage social media marketing to grow sales. Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith offers two essential tips all business owners should use.
6 Steps to Achieve Your Small Business Vision
Whether your business is in the planning stages or an established venture, these tips from Rieva Lesonsky will help you shape a long-term vision for growth.
The Importance of Video Marketing
As technology has changed, marketing has changed with it. However, video remains the most effective advertising format. Learn more from the newest Small Business Community contributor, Joel Comm.
Sell Your Products On Instagram: A Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses
Learn how your small business can utilizing Instagram’s built-in sales tools. Mari Smith shares step-by-step tips so you can take your social media presence to the next level.
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As a small business owner, you want to make sure your business is as profitable as possible. But higher profit margins don’t just happen. Instead of hoping for good fortune to bring you more profit,… (Show moreShow less)
Did you know that food is the No. 1 most engaging topic when it comes to video content on Facebook? There are quite a few things we can all learn from these drool-worthy posts about how to drive… (Show moreShow less)- vineet18del achieved a new status level:
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Pioneer
You’re not unique. Whatever you do, someone else is doing the same thing—or something very similar. That’s how it should be. If your business really were the only one in its field, there would be… (Show moreShow less)
The best way for any small business to make sales is always face-to-face. Nothing beats the personal touch. A talk with a company rep is often the only way to understand a buyer’s doubts, overcome… (Show moreShow less)
My business needs a website that is one of the main sources of value to the customer. It needs to provide information on the product, as well as list the customers involved in the current program using photographs and a short description. I don't have a lot of web design skills. Wondering if I should create a site myself or have a professional do it? Thoughts?
As per the study of a market research firm called Yankelovich, an average consumer on the internet and other forms of media can view a minimum of 3000 to up to 20.000 marketing messages every day. Even 3000 views per day is a great number for any brand to create a difference.
As a matter of fact, this is neither the development of the recent past nor is developed by the internet or e-commerce. Studies indicate that it started way back in the 1960s, the early days of television and since then, television viewers have been watching as many as 5000 advertising messages every day.
The fact of the matter is that marketing in today’s world is unreasonably over communicated and at times, they make no sense at all. The idea of market positioning has evolved back in the 1960s itself to help genuine brands break out of this advertising clutter and create a brilliant impression on their target audience with a reasonable amount of advertising messages that emphasize on making a whole lot of sense.
Understanding Market Positioning Strategy
Market Positioning is a meticulous branding plan which comprises a very deep analysis of the consumers’ consciousness and behavior. Based on that, a business or marketer will develop the most precise and accurate approach to reach and influence the target audience in a more meaningful way at a perfect time and place.
If you are still wondering if it is really possible, it is absolutely possible. It may take a considerable amount of time in collecting the most authentic business data as well as developing the most effective and organized way to create the best impression on the target audience but it is certainly worthwhile in the long run.
Ways to Position Your Brand in a Competitive Niche
Positioning your brand in a competitive niche isn’t really impossible and in fact, you can help your brand rank higher even in a competitive niche provided that you follow the right approach. There’s one thing for sure; there is no shortcut to it.
Research is the only thing that will help your brand in ranking higher and the deeper the research, the better the results are going to be. In this post, we are going to share six brilliant ways by which you can conduct deep research in all sense for better positioning of your brand.
Evaluate the current position of your Brand
The success of any business lies in going right the basics first. Evaluating the present position of one’s brand or business may seem to be a pretty basic thing but it is how one should start if at all one cares to position one’s brand in a competitive niche. This is going to give you a very clear picture of the competition. Now, when you plan to do it, the first thing you need to consider is the target audience.
Also, it is quite crucial to comprehend the various aspects of your audience. This can be studying their behavior with the other brands, their exact requirement, their purchasing power and of course, their grievances pertaining to the product or service that they have been using so far.
This will certainly help you define your customers well. The next best thing you can probably do is identifying your mission, values and of course, the factors that make your pretty different from the rest of the market. Also, analyze as to how friendly is your current position towards your audience for them to approach you.
Determine your competition
After you make it this far, it’s time to take a close look into the market and see who are the ones who are doing really well in your niche. There are various ways to go about it.
One of the most common ways is enquiring from the sales team as to who are the competitors that are coming in the way of their sales. Also, you may so a search using a market keyword related to your niche and see what are the companies listed for that keyword.
Another brilliant way of determining a competitor is asking the customers about their favorite brands or products in your niche. Choose the ones that you think are the best and begin your competitor analysis. Now, a lot of you might wonder as to why would one even need to do competitor analysis and might genuinely feel that it’s a waste of time.
However, in today’s world, every business performs a competitor analysis as it helps a business comprehend the various strategies that one’s competitor has used in attaining to such a brilliant position in a particular niche. Of course, you ought to pick a competitor who is doing unimaginably well in your niche.
Competitor analysis
After determining your competition, the next thing you can probably do is perform deep research on your competitor. If you really think your competitor is doing exceptionally well in your niche, you ought to find out as to what is actually helping your competitor do so well.
Most importantly, you need to ensure that you don’t miss out on any important aspect of competitor analysis. Here are the most important factors to bear in mind while conducting competitor research:
- The kind of products and services your competitor deals with
- The strengths and weaknesses of your competitor
- Marketing Strategies of your competitor
- The current position of your competitor
You can’t afford to miss out on any of these above points else the research would be just so incomplete.
Analyze the things that make your brand unique
You ought to ask yourself a very simple question as to why the customers will even care to buy your products or services when there are already multiple vendors dealing with the same products or services in the market. Customers would only consider buying the same thing from you if you can offer something better or unique, right? The competitor analysis will certainly help you comprehend the strengths, weaknesses and marketing strategies of your competitor but in addition to that, you need to find out if there’s anything better or unique you can provide the customers with. It can be achieved by comparing your products or services to those of your competitor and you never know; you might find a certain area of weakness of your competitor in which you are good. This will eventually help you offer the customers something better and find a leading edge over your competitor.
Develop your positioning statement
After you fully understand your strengths and weaknesses as well as that of your competitor, it’s time to create a brilliant positioning statement. A positioning statement is usually a declaration comprising a couple of sentences to emphasize the unique value of your brand and communicate it well to the customers. Most importantly, it should answer the following questions:
- Who is your target audience?
- What’s your category?
- In what ways your products or services are better than that of others?
- What’s the proof of that?
It is important to create a positioning statement that will stand out among several others. One of the best examples is Amazon’s positioning statement: “Our vision is to be the earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
Must Read: How to Build Customer Loyalty Through Your Brand Image
Check if the positioning statement is workable?
Although there’s no denying the fact that it takes a great deal of time and effort to create a positioning statement, it is still seen as a small part of the whole thing unless and until it achieves its goal. However, the actual success lies in measuring the impact of the statement on the consumers, going through their feedback on a regular basis, working on the feedback and making it more workable.
The Bottom Line
Positioning your brand in a competitive niche is never an easy job and it can be only achieved with a great deal of hard work and research. Understanding one’s current position as well as that of one’s competitor and finding out the best strategies will certainly help you create the best positioning statement.
However, the hardest part is achieving the goal which will, of course, take a lot of tests, experiments, and gathering of customers’ feedback. If you are prepared to do this meticulously, you can certainly position your brand higher even in a competitive niche.
Brand Positioning Infographic
Source: http://browniecomms.com/2016/09/infographic-8-ways-position-brand/
This article was originally published at The Startup INC.
Health is wealth. This a common line we all have heard since our childhood. This line has proved to be true throughout history. Health ensures the quality of life. You can enjoy all the blessings of life and live to your full potential only when you have health.
Your body consists of mind, body parts, and internal organs. In order to keep them healthy, follow our tips.
- Drink water:
Water is essential for living. But it is also important for keeping our body clean from toxins. It is advised to drink eight glasses of water daily. It cleans your liver and digestive system, thus keep your organs healthy. You can see a huge difference in your skin, and bodily performance, once you start to maintain water levels in your body.
- Use the toilet on time
Don't hold yourself from using a toilet for longer periods of time. Discharging the unwanted materials from the body is really important. Not using toilets on time is one of the biggest reasons for illness regarding, stomach, intestines, liver, and colon. Especially before sleeping, make sure that you empty your stomach of toxins.
- Incorporate walk:
The walk is really important if life. Make sure that you do at least 30 minutes of continuous walk daily. Go for an evening walk or morning walk. If you have a busy schedule still incorporate it in small intervals, whenever you can. But make this your habit.
- Exercise and stretching:
Even if you do it for 15 minutes try to exercise at least for 15 minutes daily. You can simply incorporate stretches in your routine. It increases flexibility and adds strength to the body. It keeps you energetic and fresh throughout the day and in the long run, improves quality of life.
Don’t think of finding someone to write my paper on healthy habits, but do it yourself. Feel free to take help from our article.
When you're being interviewed for a podcast or media show, your host will often ask, "Tell us about how you got here."
They're really asking, "What's your story?"
All too often the guest goes into a long episode of True Confessions.
Everybody gets bored. Sometimes you can sense the host is having trouble staying awake.
What a waste! You've got a captive audience.
This question gives you an opportunity to answer the question, "Why are you qualified to offer the services you are promoting?"
So which story will you tell? The answer depends on you and your business.
Your choice of story will depend on your brand, based on your persona.
Good Luck
I want to know what is investor pitch deck and how it helps in business startup.
In today’s Internet-powered world, smart entrepreneurs and small businesses are growing faster and becoming stronger with every passing day. So, to stay on top of your business endeavor you need to master some of the great tools that will make all the difference in your small business success.
To beat the competition in your industry you need to implement the tools that will increase the productivity and efficiency of your team and provide you time to focus on the most important aspects of your business.
There are hundreds of marketing related, services related and modern technology related tools available online to help you grow your business. However, to choose the best ones you have to put a lot of time and efforts.
So, to save you from that hassle we have reviewed and listed 11 of the best business tools that are cost-effective and provide great values to your business.
#1 Hootsuite
Managing all social media accounts regularly and publishing new posts frequently can become an area of concern for small business owners and entrepreneurs simply due to lack of time and proper resources. After signing up for Hootsuite you can manage all your social media platforms with its simple and easy to use dashboard.
Features:
- Schedule post - You can schedule your upcoming social media posts in advance which will save you a lot of time and will keep you active on various social media channels.
- Analyze the performance - You can analyze your social media performance by tracking the number of followers you are getting, your most shared and liked posts by your audience.
- Find content - With Hootsuite you can find lots of attractive and compelling content and images which you can post on your social media channels to engage your visitors.
- Security - Hootsuite prevents your brand from all sorts of social media threats by providing its advanced social media security features.
Pricing:
- 3O Days free trial.
- Professional Plan - 29$ per month
- Business Plan - 599$ per month
#2 Slack
Slack is a communication and teamwork management tool. Slack lets you manage project works and conversation with your business partners or team members from a single platform across all devices. Using slack you can send emails, reply to text messages and follow up someone on Twitter without any headache.
Features:
- You can divide your team members according to their profiles, projects to properly monitor the work of your organization.
- Collaborate and share your channel with the companies and businesses you frequently work with to expand your business network.
- Make conversation over voice or video calls and share screen to track the progress of projects.
- With the help of slack, you can effortlessly share files, images, videos, PDFs with others and make an archive of feedback of your work.
Pricing:
- Free version
- Standard - 6.67$ per month
- Plus - 12.50$ per month
#3 Evernote
Evernote is a note-taking application which is very helpful for busy business owners and entrepreneurs. It lets you take notes of business-related ideas, plans, thoughts from anywhere in the world. Further, you can save the notes, audio recordings, photos, clipped web documents etc. in an organized way so that you can find them later easily.
Features:
- You can write your notes, collect web clippings and page screenshots, record audio notes, create a to-do list, highlight or comment on images.
- Sort your documents and important files by date, tag or title to arrange them properly.
- Share your notes with anyone in your business group.
- You can set permission-lock to prevent anyone from accessing your personal notes.
- You can convert your notes to a PowerPoint presentation with one click.
Pricing:
- Basic - Free version
- Premium - 7.99$ per month
- Business - 14.99$ per month
#4 Trello
Trello is one of the most popular projects management software to organize and track the progress of any project in your organization. You can create various cards, boards, set deadlines, add notes using your Trello account.
Features:
- Organize and plan collaborations with clients, colleagues, business owners.
- Customize your account with various tags, labels, cards, and categories.
- Upload various files and attachments.
- The mobile-friendly
- With its free version you can access some basic services, but for other advanced features, you have to subscribe to their premium plans.
Pricing:
- Free forever plan.
- Business class - 9.99$ per month
- Enterprise - 20.83$ per month
#5 Shopify
Shopify is an e-commerce software that helps you build an online e-commerce shop of your own. With the help of its marketing, drop shipping, shopping carts, SEO features you can manage all the functionalities of your online store from a single platform.
Features:
- You can use top quality themes for your website from its collection of more than 70 professional themes.
- With the help of its easy-to-customize templates, you can customize your online store according to your choice and build your brand online.
- Your Shopify store comes with an in-built mobile commerce shopping cart feature that lets your customers browse your products, services, and buy directly from their smartphones or other mobile devices.
- You can integrate your Shopify store with more than 100 payment gateways across the globe.
- You can offer free shipping services to your customers for a certain order size and price point.
Pricing:
- 14 Days of the free trial.
- Basic - 29$ per month
- Advanced - 299$ per month
#6 Skype
Skype is the world's one of the most used and recommended internet calling services offered by Microsoft. It provides audio and video calling services, messaging, file and screen sharing between computers and mobile devices across the world.
Features:
- Calling service - You can connect with your friends, families, business members, colleagues with the Skype calling service for absolutely free. You can even make a group-call with up to 25 people at once.
- Video service - You can chat through video calls and virtually interact with others face to face.
- Message service - You can send text messages, emojis, video messages, voice messages instantly using Skype.
- File sharing service - You can share documents, images, videos etc. of any size. At the same time, you can share your screen with others to track the progress of any task.
Pricing:
- Skype is free
- Skype for Business is not free
#7 Asana
Asana is a productivity tool to manage your works, projects, and daily tasks. This tool helps you grow your business and improve the efficiency of the team members.
Features:
- Plan your tasks and prioritize them according to the deadlines, and share them with the team members.
- With Asana you can track the project improvement in every step to achieve your certain business goals.
- As Asana connects with Google Drive, Dropbox, Onedrive you can easily share files and documents from your computer.
Pricing:
- Premium - 9.99$ per month
- Business - 19.99$ per month
- Enterprise - Contact sales team
#8 Boomerang
Boomerang for Gmail is an email-communication tool to improve the email service. It provides you with an option to schedule emails and monitor their performances.
Features:
- Using Boomerang, you can write your emails and schedule them to send at your preferred time.
- At times there are some important emails we need to send or receive. Using its reminder feature you can easily send, receive or follow up with people.
- Boomerang is also available for Android and iOS devices. This lets you stay connected over email on the go.
Pricing:
- Basic - Free
- Personal - 4.99$ per month
- Premium - 49.99$ per month
#9 Google Analytics
Google Analytics is one of the best analytical tools which has loads of features to improve any website’s performance. There are some of the best features available in Google Analytics which every marketer and small business owners must know to grow their businesses.
Features:
- You can track your campaigns and monitor the traffic on your website. Further, you can analyze their activities on different pages of your site.
- You can track the leads and conversions of your website by the number of requests for the product demos, email sign-ups, ebook downloading, contact form submissions, purchases etc. This will help you to target your customers according to their interests.
- You can create custom reports with the Google Analytics data according to your business goals.
Pricing: Free
#10 Hubspot
Hubspot is inbound marketing software that helps to gain more traffic to your website, generates leads and converts your website visitors to potential customers.
Features:
- Increases visitors and generates leads to your optimized landing pages.
- Follows up with the buyers through email automation system.
- Provides full customer assistance and builds relationships with your customers.
- The free version of Hubspot provides basic marketing facilities whereas the paid version gives you many other advanced marketing features.
- Hubspot is available for Windows, Mac as well as for Android and iOS devices.
Pricing:
- Free version
- Starter - 50$ per month
- Enterprise - 3,200$ per month
#11 Paypal
Paypal is one of the most used and trusted online payment service providers. Using Paypal you can make and receive payments for your business in more than 100 currencies. It is one of the fastest and safest payment options available online.
Features:
- You can make payment for any online purchases using the credit card, debit card, online banking etc. or send money to another PayPal account in 100+ different currencies.
- You can withdraw your payments from more than 200 countries using PayPal.
- You can request payments from people who don’t have a PayPal account using an email address.
Pricing:
- Free sign up.
- 3.7% of the transaction amount plus $0.30 USD
Conclusion:
Hope you have found this article helpful. Though there are plenty of tools available today, the tools we have mentioned here will fulfill most of your business requirements. Most of the aforesaid tools offer free trials, so you can include those tools in your business plan to check their effectiveness. And as your business gets bigger, you can go for the paid versions that fit your budget and resolve your business needs.
This article was brought to you by PromozSEO Web Marketing Academy, a Digital Marketing training program in Kolkata, India.
I would like to know how much you would pay to have a web site built? Or, How much did you pay to have your website built?
Hello! I'd like to ask if I can get a 1000 loan with a bad credit history. Please give me any tip if you have a credential. Thanks.
No one can underestimate the value of building trust. It is essential for any organization to win the trust of its employees as it is crucial for the success of the company and the peace of its environment. Trust is the only emotion that bounds employees to the vision of the company. It sets the behavior of employees and effects their work progress.
Mistrust of employers translated into the suffering of the company as they lack passion and drive to benefit the company. Distrust gives birth to fear and suspicion that reduces the work capacity.
If you are a manager who is struggling to win the trust of your co-workers and employees, here are the tips that you can use to build trusting relations ship with employees and gain their loyalties.
- Be an Active Listener
Pay attention to your employees when they are talking to you. Look at them directly and maintain positive body language. Act as you care about them. Nod when required and reply them. Listen to understand and obtain information. This will make them feel worthy and accepted.
- Keep them in the loop
Always keep your employees in the loop about the changes that you are making in the company, especially those that will affect them directly. Show honesty while explaining the differences. Listen to their queries about the changes and respond positively and openly.
- Adopt an open door policy
Adopt a welcoming attitude with your employees. If they are suffering from any problem personal or work-related; you should be willing to listen to them. Help them in their challenge and making a decision. Show empathy, and your employees will appreciate your positive and caring attitude towards them with their loyalty and trust.
- Give importance to opinions
Not asking the views of employees is the most overlooked strategy that stands in the way of building the trust of employees. Talk to them! And as their views and opinions regarding issues and situations. Give importance to their views; this doesn’t mean that you have to implement their suggestions.
- Offer them trust
Give them what you need from them. Trust them first and then expect them to trust you. Assign them simple tasks and give autonomy regarding the work. This will make them feel that you believe them and relies on them. This gesture can begin of a new trusting relationship.
- Remember important dates
Make a journal that includes all the birth dates of your employees. Give them a surprise and greet them on their birthdays. Similarly, make sure that you welcome them on their promotion and bonus. This will create feelings of warmth between the company and employees, and they will feel like part of the company.
Follow these tips and initiate a trusting relationship with your employees and coworkers that will benefit your company’s progress.
About Author
Alex Stephen is a business coach as well as a digital strategist who has played an active role in numerous businesses. His behind the scene work made many businesses successful that included ten popular brands to one writing website for education
Message was edited by: Alex Stephen. Removed one link.
Business Planning Goals Choosing your business, you need to decide how you will organize it, which means you need to plan for the near future. Everyone needs a business plan: Those who you are trying to lend money for...
Business Planning Goals
Choosing your business, you need to decide how you will organize it, which means you need to plan for the near future. Everyone needs a business plan:
Those who you are trying to lend money for the implementation of your project, that is, bankers and investors.
Your employees who want to understand their tasks and prospects.
And you yourself - to test the reasonableness and realism of their ideas.
A business plan is a document that:
- Describes all major aspects of a future enterprise or project.
- Analyzes all the problems that it may encounter.
- Determines how to solve the problems identified.
A properly formulated business plan is a clear answer to the questions: “Is it worth it to invest money in the planned business and will it bring revenues that will pay back all the effort and money?”.
Important! Planning should be carried out by current or future leaders of the company, that is, those people who are not afraid to take responsibility for the implementation of the business plan. But this does not mean, of course, that it is not necessary to use the services of consultants and experts in this field. However, consulting firms charge decent amounts for its compilation, ranging from anywhere from $ 2,000 to $ 40,000. But you can make it yourself, having incurred minimal expenses. Involving yourself personally in this work - you will not only model your future activities, but also check for yourself and the plan itself. 
So, the main purpose of the business plan: it helps entrepreneurs to solve the following tasks:
- Examine the capacity and development prospects of the future market.
- Estimate the costs for the production of the desired market products. Compare them with the prices.
- Identify those indicators by which it will be possible to regulate the state of affairs.
Keep in mind! The business plan is usually written for the future, and it should be made about 3-5 years ahead. At the same time, for the first year, the main indicators should be divided in a monthly breakdown, for the second - quarterly, and only starting from the third year, it should be limited to annual indicators. Although if we take into account our economy, its variability, then planning for more than a year is not very effective. Therefore, many are now limited to writing a plan for the year.
Business Plan Structure
The business plan has a complex structure. The whole life of the company from the moment of creation to the moment of stability and sustainability must be spelled out in a business language, while being intelligible and lively. The business plan should be clear to any entrepreneur, financier and banker, as well as potential partners. A confidentiality memorandum is prepared in order to warn persons familiar with the business plan about the confidentiality of the information contained in it. The memorandum may contain a ban on copying, on transferring the project to third parties and the requirement to return the project to the author -
The business plan should always be short and capacious. However, sometimes, in order to reveal the essence of the problem, it is made quite deep in content. Recommended volume: 30 - 70 pages, not more. And all the additional materials should be put in the annexes to the business plan.
Remember! It is important to provide dispensed information.
Here are the main points that you will need to provide:
- Abstract (up to 1 page) - a written appeal for senior management.
- Resume (1-3 pages) - basic information to get acquainted with the business plan.
- Business plan (45-60) - for a detailed study of the project by investor’s experts and experts.
Remember! Any business has its own characteristics, therefore, there can not be a kind of "standard" plan that is acceptable in all cases. There is, so to speak, only a general principle, the structure of a business plan.
Next, we describe the content of the business plan in more detail.
Summary
Your business should always start with the conclusions, you should write them at the very least, but they should be the very first item in your business plan. A resume is the result of an already written business plan. This is the only part that most potential investors read.The purpose of a business plan.
- The need for finance, for what purposes they are needed.
- A brief description of the business and its target customer.
- The main differences from competitors.
- Key financial indicators.
Business plan:
1. Goals and objectives
Here you will need to give an analysis of the idea (SWOT – analysis). Reveal strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats.
- Analysis of the idea.
- The purpose of the activity (what you want to achieve).
- Characteristics of the industry.
2. Product (service)
It is important that this part be written in a clear, precise language, understandable to a non-expert.
- Description of products or services and their application.
- Uniqueness
- Necessary technologies for business and qualification.
- License / patent rights.
3. Market analysis
Market and marketing is a decisive factor for all companies. You need to first collect and process a large amount of "rough" information.
Buyers.
- Competitors (their strengths and weaknesses).
- Market segments.
- Market size and growth.
- Estimated market share.
- The composition of your clientele.
- The impact of competition.
4. Marketing plan
At this stage, the main task is to gain the trust and location of a potential investor. If you do not have a special education, you should read the book on marketing, contact a specialist.
Marketing arrangement (the main characteristics of products, services in comparison with competitors).
Pricing (how to set the price of the product).
The distribution scheme of goods.
Methods of sales promotion.
5. Production plan
Here you should consider all issues related to the premises that you occupy, their location, equipment, staff.
- The location of the premises.
- Equipment.
- Sources of supply of basic materials and equipment.
- The use of subcontractors.
6. Managerial staff
Investments are made in specific people, not in a business plan, because this section is one of the most important.
- The main management team.
- The composition of the staff.
- Reward
7. Sources and resources required
In this section, you should provide your thoughts on:
- The amount of funds required.
- Sources of their receipt, form, terms.
- Terms of refund.
8. Financial plan and risk analysis
Business people are divided into those who like to work with numbers, and who are afraid of them. For those in the first category, this section of the business plan is undoubtedly the most important.
- Sales, profit, cost, etc.
- Risks, and how they can be avoided.
9. Detailed financial plan
You need to include in your business plan a detailed financial plan:
- Forecast sales.
- Estimates of profit and loss.
- Analysis of cash flow (monthly for the first year, then quarterly).
- Annual balance sheet.
And finally, I would like to give some useful tips for developing a business plan:
- First, read a few other business plans.
- The business plan should reflect your personality.
- Preparing a business plan is a job that requires the connection of the imagination.
- Gain experience and skills in the chosen direction.
- Write only on those days when you are full of energy, not when you are morally and physically exhausted.
As a small business owner, you want to make sure your business is as profitable as possible. But higher profit margins don’t just happen. Instead of hoping for good fortune to bring you more profit, make these smart moves to keep more of the...
As a small business owner, you want to make sure your business is as profitable as possible. But higher profit margins don’t just happen. Instead of hoping for good fortune to bring you more profit, make these smart moves to keep more of the money your business makes.
1. Know your profit margins. “What gets measured, gets managed” is a business truism. Knowing what your margins are is essential to improving them and will allow you to accurately calculate how taking actions such as raising prices will affect your margins.
2. Look for places to cut costs. Focus on costs that don’t add value for your customers. Start by looking for wasted money, such as memberships to groups you no longer attend or excessive spending on office supplies. Cutting even small unnecessary costs over time can make a big difference.
3. Raise prices. It’s the easiest and fastest way to boost profits. You’d be surprised at the difference a price increase of 10 percent, 5 percent or even 3 percent can make to your margins—and most customers won’t even notice.
4. Streamline your payment processing and invoicing. Invoicing customers as soon as possible avoids payment delays so you get your money faster and it can work harder for you.
5. Negotiate with your vendors. Can you get lower prices from your vendors—perhaps by paying early or paying in cash? Finding a win-win arrangement with vendors can mean more dollars in your pocket.
6. Reassess insurance costs. Shop around for health insurance, business insurance and vehicle insurance. See if increasing your deductible or adjusting your coverage will reduce your premiums.
7. Consider relocating your business. Can you move to a more affordable location? Could you run your business from home and have your employees work remotely?
8. Reduce excess inventory. The cost of carrying inventory that’s past its prime can eat up your profits. Consider selling it to liquidators or posting it on sites like eBay.
9. Track the cost of customer acquisition and work to reduce it. Monitor the results of your marketing and advertising activities so you can focus on those that deliver the most bang for your buck.
10. Identify high-value customers and focus on them. Use customer relationship management (CRM) or customer loyalty software to pinpoint which customers spend the most with your business. Give them the VIP treatment and see if you can get them to spend even more.
11. Get existing customers to buy more and more often. Acquiring new customers is more costly and time-consuming than convincing existing customers to buy from you again. Develop a marketing campaign to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers.
12. Narrow your target customer focus. If you try to be everything to everyone, your business will lack an identity. Instead, laser-focus on your ideal target customer and how to deliver value to them. You may have fewer customers, but you’ll sell more to those you have.
13. Upsell and cross-sell. Don’t stop with closing the sale. Offer related products or services, warranties, service contracts and other value-adds that increase your profits.
14. Set up automatic re-ordering or subscription options for customers. If you can make buying more convenient for consumers, they are more likely to become loyal customers.
15. Spend your time where it matters. As a small business owner, your time is valuable. Focus your efforts on profit-generating activities, not on managing minutiae.
16. Look for places to automate your business. For example, using marketing automation software to respond to leads or a virtual assistant to schedule meetings can free up time for you and your team have more time to focus on profit-generating work.
17. When an employee quits, don’t fill the position right away. See if you can automate the work or distribute it among remaining staff members.
Increasing your profitability is a never-ending battle. Stay on top of your business’s cash flowand watch your profit margins closely. Then you’ll be able to spot new opportunities to bring home even more profit.
About Rieva Lesonsky
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and Co-founder of GrowBiz Media, a custom content and media company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship, and the blog SmallBizDaily.com. A nationally known speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, Rieva has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for more than 30 years. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media, Lesonsky was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. Lesonsky has appeared on hundreds of radio shows and numerous local and national television programs, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show and Oprah.
Lesonsky regularly writes about small business for numerous websites and for corporations targeting entrepreneurs. Many organizations have recognized Lesonsky for her tireless devotion to helping entrepreneurs. She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate, and received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE. She is a long-time member of the Business Journalists Hall of Fame.
Web: www.growbizmedia.com or Twitter: @Rieva
You can read more articles from Rieva Lesonsky by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Rieva Lesonsky to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Rieva Lesonsky is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Rieva Lesonsky. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
Did you know that food is the No. 1 most engaging topic when it comes to video content on Facebook? There are quite a few things we can all learn from these drool-worthy posts about how to drive engagement, whether you run a restaurant, sell food,...
Did you know that food is the No. 1 most engaging topic when it comes to video content on Facebook? There are quite a few things we can all learn from these drool-worthy posts about how to drive engagement, whether you run a restaurant, sell food, or, frankly, other goods.
Our friends at BuzzSumo conducted a study of over 100 million Facebook video posts and discovered that videos related to food generated 250 percent more engagement than other content types.
In another study of over 777 million Facebook posts, BuzzSumo found video posts get at least 59 percent more engagement than all other post types. Although photos are widely accepted by marketers to be one of the most successful post types, video outperformed photos by 73 percent.
Create short, compelling videos
I cannot stress this enough: Facebook is determined to become a destination ‘digital streaming television platform,’ competing with YouTube, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and the likes. This means Facebook is placing extreme emphasis on video content throughout the platform.
The good news for marketers: we can really take advantage of this growing trend.
Facebook users, in particular, have short attention spans. The ideal length Facebook recommends for a teaser video is 15 seconds if it’s being used for ads or organic content that you intend to boost. Otherwise, longer videos of between 3 and 5 minutes work well, per research by BuzzSumo.
Here’s a great example by the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas -- showcasing their signature Chocolate Praline Cake with a call-to-action to make a reservation. A video like this can be shot with a dSLR camera and inexpensive lighting. Or, you can just use your smartphone and make sure you place the dish under good lighting. Tips from food videos, like optimizing video length and taking clear, beautiful footage, can be applied to other types of content to improve engagement.
Related:
Promote your message to the right audience at the right time
With Facebook organic reach at an average of 1 to 6 percent, you’ll definitely want to allocate an advertising budget to ensure your message reaches your target demographic. Ideally, you should utilize Facebook Ads Manager (or Business Manager). Otherwise, the Boost button is the simplest way to get started.
I’ve often said that local businesses can reach their audiences much easier using Facebook because you’re not trying to reach the whole world. You’re drilling deep into very specific geo-targeted locations using zip codes and other parameters. Facebook makes it really easy to do so.
In addition, I suggest trying a feature in Ads Manager called ‘Dayparting’ where your ads will show up across the Facebook family of apps and services (which includes Messenger and Instagram), during specific times of the day and days of the week. This is super handy for when your business offers a timely discount such as a restaurant’s special on brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Related:
Market to the third visit
I had the great pleasure of keynoting a special event for my client, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants. In researching my talk, I listened to this fascinating interview on the Entreleadership Podcast of Jon Taffer, host of Bar Rescue.
In the interview, Taffer describes what he calls, “marketing to the third visit.” Check out these stats:
- If somebody comes to a restaurant for the first time and has a great experience, the statistical likelihood of them returning for a second visit is less than 40 percent.
- Say that person comes back a second time and has another flawless experience, the statistical likelihood of them returning for a third visit is about 42-43 percent.
- But the third time a customer returns to your restaurant, the statistical likelihood of them returning for a fourth time increases to over 70 percent.
So, Taffer says the secret of smart restaurateurs is to market to three visits, not one. Three visits get the customer into a lifecycle. Make sure your restaurant staff is trained to greet and identify first-time customers differently. They get a special invitation to come back again. Listen to the podcast interview for Taffer’s full strategy. It’s brilliant!
(I’ve been a big fan of Dave Ramsey’s Entreleadership Podcast for many years and highly recommend small business owners subscribe! Listen to my own interview on Supercharging Your Facebook Marketing.)
And, if your target audience includes a younger demographic, then check out this great nugget from the print version of this Modern Trader magazine article about the restaurant industry and technology:
“The 100 million people who make up Generation Y, Millennials and Z need to eat and want something different than their parents… …the battlefield is constantly changing, and there is a lot at stake. The outlook for the restaurant industry is positive for those who are prepared to strategically fight with the right tools. Technology will be the driver of success.”
These 100 million young folks spend an inordinate amount of time on their phones. Now is the time to ensure your messaging gets in front of them with thumb-stopping content that inspires them to come in (and maybe even bring a friend!)
Related:
About Mari Smith
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Facebook marketing and social media. She is a Forbes’ Top Social Media Power Influencer, author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. Forbes recently described Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” She is a recognized Facebook Partner; Facebook headhunted and hired Mari to lead the Boost Your Business series of live events across the US. Mari is an in-demand speaker, and travels the world to keynote and train at major events.
Her digital marketing agency provides professional speaking, training and consulting services on Facebook and Instagram marketing best practices for Fortune 500 companies, brands, SMBs and direct sales organizations. Mari is also an expert webinar and live video broadcast host, and she serves as Brand Ambassador for numerous leading global companies.
Web: Mari Smith or Twitter: @MariSmith
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Mari Smith to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Mari Smith is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Mari Smith. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
You’re not unique. Whatever you do, someone else is doing the same thing—or something very similar. That’s how it should be. If your business really were the only one in its field, there would be a reason for that, and...
You’re not unique. Whatever you do, someone else is doing the same thing—or something very similar.
That’s how it should be. If your business really were the only one in its field, there would be a reason for that, and that reason is likely everyone else already discovered it’s a bad idea. When an idea is good it always has competitors.
That truth is why hundreds of companies churn out almost identical glass and metal devices for making phone calls and connecting to the Internet. And although there is no shortage of car companies, it’s why they all offer similar solutions to the same transportation problem. And it’s why when venture investors hear an entrepreneur say they don’t really have any competitors, investors roll their eyes, shut their wallets, and assume the founder hasn’t done the research.
Everyone has competitors.
Successful businesses know how to stand out from their competitors.
One way to do that is to know your unique selling proposition (USP) —and make that USP clear to everyone else. When prospective customers think of your company they should know what you do, what your competitors do, and how you do it in a different way.
In the smartphone industry, for example, Apple has managed to brand itself as the company that pays the most attention to design. It even has its own app store and its own operating system so it can retain control over the way the phone looks and behaves. Samsung? Well, that’s the non-Apple in the market. Its phones are also well designed—its curved edges and equally high prices make that clear. But it’s not dependent on Apple’s software or user experience, and it offers a look that’s just different from Apple’s well-known branding. Mi is best known for its low prices, and Blackberry is still touting its business-friendly keyboard.
Those differences aren’t huge. All of the devices made by these companies largely do the same thing. But Apple’s USP of “better design” is enough to help differentiate the company, and it’s consistent in all the company’s products. Whether someone buys an iPhone or a Mac, they know they’re getting that same emphasis on design and functionality.
That quality helps the company stand out, and it encourages consumers to choose Apple over competitor brands.
A set of features only does part of the work helping a company’s products stand out, though. It’s what happens when you put those features together that has the biggest effect.
That’s what creates the company’s voice.
One of the most prominent effects of social media marketing has been the deepening of the relationship between brands and customers. People now see marketing messages from businesses mixed in with updates from their friends. They hear their friends talking about their trip to the beach, then they hear a restaurant talk about their new menu item. Those messages need to fit that casual environment.
Even if your product is made by 20 other companies, you should be able to identify a set of characteristics unique to the products your company makes. They could be an element of your design, the warmth of your customer service, your emphasis on low prices, or anything else that sets you apart. No one business can do all of those things. Apple can’t be cheap and luxurious. Blackberry can’t be professional and fun. There’s always room for your business to carve out a strong USP.
One way to think about this is that you should know what those characteristics would sound like if you were to put them together in a person. You should know how your brand would speak, how it would dress and what it has planned for the weekend.
When you can give your products a unique experience and combine that experience with an authentic voice, you’ll have a company that has a real relationship with customers, and that stands out in a crowd like a friend.
Read next:
- What’s your secret sauce? By Steve Strauss
About Joel Comm
As an Internet pioneer, Joel has been creating profitable websites, software, products and helping entrepreneurs succeed since 1995. He has been at the frontlines of live video online since 2008 and has a deep expertise in using tools such as Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram or Snapchat to broadcast a clearly defined message to a receptive audience or leveraging the power of webinar and meeting technologies.
Joel is a New York Times best-selling author of 15 books, including “The AdSense Code,” “Click Here to Order: Stories from the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs,” “KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays and Twitter Power 3.0.” He is Co-Host of The Bad Crypto Podcast one of the top crypto-related shows in the world and has spoken before thousands of people around the world and seeks to inspire, equip and entertain.
Web: https://joelcomm.com/ or Twitter: @JoelComm
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Joel Comm to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Joel Comm is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Joel Comm. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Q: Hi Steve – From reading your articles, I see you used to be a bankruptcy attorney and I would like to tap that expertise. For various reasons, my business has accumulated a lot of debt. But the thing is, I don’t want to file...
Q: Hi Steve – From reading your articles, I see you used to be a bankruptcy attorney and I would like to tap that expertise. For various reasons, my business has accumulated a lot of debt. But the thing is, I don’t want to file bankruptcy. Any suggestions on how to get out from under, aside from BK?
A: Too much debt can definitely make life and business very difficult. But, notice I said, “too much debt.” I say that because another thing I know is that not all debt is bad debt. If you took on some debt to fund a profitable expansion, for instance, that is good debt. If, on the other hand, the expansion went south, and you charged a week-long trip to Hawaii, that, needless to say, is bad debt.
All of which begs the question: What do you do when you have too much bad debt? Essentially you have three options:
1. Cut a deal with the creditor: Of course, you would like to pay your creditors in full, but sometimes that is not possible. Rather than just walk away from the debt it is usually best to try and work out a payment arrangement with the creditor. Maybe they can give you more time to pay, lower your payments or even cut the principle.
You don’t know until you ask and, especially if you are behind in your payments, you may find the creditor is more amenable to a negotiated settlement than you may realize.
2. Cut a deal with the collection agency: If the debt is so overdue that it has been sold to a collection agency, you actually are in better shape vis-à-vis a settlement. Why? Because the collection agency bought the debt at a steep discount, maybe 10 or 20 cents on the dollar. As such, anything over that amount is profit. That is good news for you insofar as negotiating a deal, but yes, bad news for your credit rating (that’s a different article.)
What you can do at this point is call the collection agency and look to strike a bargain. Offer them, say, 40 cents on the dollar for the debt. They may say no, tell you are crazy, etc. But if you can get together a lump sum payment of, say, 50 percent of the total or so, and offer that, you just may find they are willing to listen.
But in order to take advantage of this method you have to 1) have a lump sum payment ready, and 2) be willing to suffer the consequences on your credit rating.
If they do agree to terms, make sure you get all relevant terms in writing, especially that they will agree to consider the debt paid in full and will report it to the credit agencies as such.
3. File bankruptcy: Yes, I understand that no one wants to file bankruptcy, but I would be remiss if I did not go over this option.
Depending upon your goals and your desired outcome, you could file a Chapter 7, 11 or 13 bankruptcy. A Chapter 7 wipes out most debt but is also called a “liquidation” for a reason – you will likely have to close the doors to your shop and the bankruptcy trustee will liquidate your assets to pay your creditors what they’re able. A Chapter 11 or 13 filing are types of reorganizations whereby you repay some of what you owe over time.
The good news about an 11 or 13 is you get to keep the business open. And from a personal perspective, if you are really so deep in debt, even a Chapter 7 can be a relief since at least it ends the stress associated with managing a lot of bad debt.
No matter which choice you make, it will take you a few years to get a decent credit rating again. In reality, that is just the cost of doing business sometimes.
Learn how to define personal bankruptcy from Better Money Habits.
Struggling to keep up with your payments? When your financial situation calls for it, seeking the services of a good credit counseling agency can help you get back on track.
| Non-Profit Credit Counseling & Advocacy | Description |
| Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies layer | A member-supported national association representing non-profit credit counseling companies that provide consumer credit counseling, debt management, and financial education services |
| National Foundation for Credit Counseling layer | Promotes the national agenda for financially responsible behavior and builds capacity for its members to deliver the highest quality financial education and counseling services |
| Government Financial & Debt Education | Description |
| Federal Trade Commission layer | A U.S. government institution that protects America's consumers by providing help for choosing a credit counselor |
| Consumer Financial Protection Bureau layer | A U.S. government agency that protects America's consumers in the market for consumer financial products and services |
| Financial Literacy and Education Committee layer | The U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education |
| National Financial Education Network Database for State and Local Governments layer | A national database that brings together representatives from different areas and levels of government across the nation to advance financial education efforts |
About Steve Strauss
Steven D. Strauss is one of the world's leading experts on small business and is a lawyer, writer, and speaker. The senior small business columnist for USA Today, his Ask an Expert column is one of the most highly-syndicated business columns in the country. He is the best-selling author of 17 books, including his latest, The Small Business Bible, now out in a completely updated third edition. You can also listen to his weekly podcast, Small Business Success.© Steven D. Strauss
If you’re having trouble finding qualified job candidates for your small business, you’re not alone. According to a survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife, 55 percent of small business owners are focusing more time and...
If you’re having trouble finding qualified job candidates for your small business, you’re not alone. According to a survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife, 55 percent of small business owners are focusing more time and money on training existing employees because they can’t find qualified workers to hire. Eight in 10 are working longer or handling more duties to fill the void and 61 percent have asked existing employees to work more hours.
Finding qualified job candidates starts with where you search. Here are the best places to find employees for your small business.
Online job boards
The secret to successfully listing jobs online is to choose the right job boards for your needs. If you want a high volume of candidates, Indeed.comis the best known and most popular job search site, and also lets you list jobs for free. Because of the volume of postings, however, your job might get lost so you’ll probably want to spend the money to promote your listing as a Sponsored job. You only pay per click, which helps keep this cost manageable.
GlassDoor and ZipRecruiter are also very popular mass job sites; however, they charge to post jobs. On both sites, you can choose a Standard plan where your job appears on the website, or a Premium plan where your jobs are included on job alert emails sent to jobseekers.
For a small business that doesn’t want hundreds of resumes, niche job boards can be a better option. Targeted to specific industries, they can deliver more focused results. Popular niche job boards include:
- For hourly jobs
- For sales jobs: SalesJobs.com, SalesGravy
- For tech/IT jobs:
- For entry-level employees: CollegeRecruiter.com
- For restaurant and hospitality jobs: JobsOnTheMenu.com
- For retail jobs: All Retail Jobs
- For advertising, marketing, and creative jobs: TalentZoo
Outside the box (and around the world)
If you can’t find the talent you need in your community, look farther afield. Many jobs can be done remotely. You’ll have access to a much wider range of talent if you expand your job candidate search nationwide or even worldwide. Use We Work Remotely, FlexJobs, JustRemote,and Outsourcely to post remote jobs.
On social media
Sometimes the best candidates aren’t on job boards because they’re not actively seeking a job. Use social media to reach these “passive” job candidates. On LinkedIn, keep your eye out for people who might fit your needs, or use keywords related to the skills you need to find potential candidates. LinkedIn Recruiter Lite, designed for companies that hire only occasionally, lets you accessup to third-degree connections and gives you 30 free pieces of InMail per month to contact candidates. Another tactic is to post jobs on your Facebook Business Page, then use paid promotion on Facebook to boost their visibility to potential candidates.
At school
Looking for recent college graduates or entry-level employees? Contacting local colleges, high schools and trade/vocational schools is often a good way to find enthusiastic employees with up-to-the-moment skills. For example, if you’re looking for a marketing person, contact a local college with a strong marketing program.
Networking
Seeking job candidates in networking groups you belong to is a no-brainer, but why stop there? Find networking groups targeted to the role you want to fill (such as graphic designers or real estate agents) and see if any of their members are looking for a job.
Your employees
Promoting from within is a smart strategy for building employee loyalty. However, if you don’t have the necessary talent in-house, enlist your employees as recruiters. Have them spread the word that you’re looking to hire and offer a bonus for anyone who recommends a candidate that makes it through your probationary period.
Finding new hires isn’t easy—but by trying the routes above, you can boost your chances of discovering the perfect employee for your business.
Read more about finding and retaining employees
- Why Do Millennial Employees Job Hop? Can You Keep Yours from Leaving? By Rieva Lesonsky
- Why Businesses Should Hire Ex-Entrepreneurs by Carol Roth
- Four Steps to find your best employees by Ebong Eka
About Rieva Lesonsky
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and Co-founder of GrowBiz Media, a custom content and media company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship, and the blog SmallBizDaily.com. A nationally known speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, Rieva has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for more than 30 years. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media, Lesonsky was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. Lesonsky has appeared on hundreds of radio shows and numerous local and national television programs, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show and Oprah.
Lesonsky regularly writes about small business for numerous websites and for corporations targeting entrepreneurs. Many organizations have recognized Lesonsky for her tireless devotion to helping entrepreneurs. She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate, and received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE. She is a long-time member of the Business Journalists Hall of Fame.
Web: www.growbizmedia.com or Twitter: @Rieva
You can read more articles from Rieva Lesonsky by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Rieva Lesonsky to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Rieva Lesonsky is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Rieva Lesonsky. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
March 8, International Women’s Day, is a daycelebrating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements around the world. But it’s also a day to take action to build a more gender-balanced world. This year,...
March 8, International Women’s Day, is a daycelebrating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements around the world. But it’s also a day to take action to build a more gender-balanced world.
This year, IWD’s theme is #BalanceforBetter. Creating a better balance at work pays off for more than just the women involved. A global study by Accenture found that when women advance at work, men are more likely to advance, too. (Check out Pixar’s short film Purl for a humorous look at how diversity makes a business a better place to work.)
How can your small business help strike a better balance at work by putting more women in positions of power?
- Make gender diversity a priorityin your business. A balanced business doesn’t happen by accident. Create a plan for achieving gender balance with specific, measurable goals. Do you want to increase the percentage of women in management roles? Achieve pay equity (according to the Department of Labor, women still earn on average 78 cents for every dollar earned by men)? Attract more women to IT jobs in your business? Share your plan with your employees to hold yourself accountable. Then share your commitment on social media to celebrate International Women’s Day. Download IWD selfie cards, posters, event packs and other tools at the IWD website.
- Be sure your hiring practices are balanced. Your hiring policies may be inadvertently turning women off from applying for jobs at your business. According to a study from researchers at Cornell University, women and minorities generally won’t apply for a job unless they meet every single requirement for experience, skills and qualifications. Instead of saying “5 years minimum experience as accounting manager required,” say “Successful candidates will demonstrate significant experience in a senior role in accounting.” You’re likely to get a wider range of candidates applying. Cornell’s research also found that using male-oriented words like “ninja” or “rock star” in your ads tends to discourage women from applying.
- Implement policies that support women. Child care and elder care responsibilities still fall disproportionately on women. Many women don’t climb the workplace ladder because the long hours or frequent travel required by leadership roles don’t fit their family needs. Offer flexible hours and remote work options that make it easier for women to advance while handling family responsibilities.
- Consider off-hours activities, too. A friend of mine worked at a company that routinely invited male executives to golf outings, paintball battles, sky diving and other “manly” pursuits on weekends. Female execs at the same level didn’t get invitations and were excluded from the chance to build relationships with co-workers and clients. While this is a blatant example of bias, you could be unintentionally biased if activities that help people advance at work are held outside work hours, when many women can’t attend due to family issues.
- Prepare women employees for advancement. Identify women with leadership potential and provide mentorship, training and encouragement to help them develop their skills. For instance, you can enroll them in professional organizations or send them to leadership development and training programs.
Educate your employees. Bias against women is sometimes so ingrained we don’t recognize it. Lean In has partnered with IWD to offer free ready-to-use presentations, like the workshop “50 Ways to Fight Bias,” which offers specific examples to help participants identify gender bias. The presentation is sure to spark conversation, and also provides research-backed recommendations for how to remedy gender bias. You can also browse Lean In’s library of expert talks, discussion guides and resources.
The 2019 #BalanceforBetter campaign doesn’t end on International Women’s Day—it runs all year long. Keep your commitment to a better-balanced business going, and you, your business and your employees all stand to benefit.
READ NEXT:
- Visit our Small Business Story Collection on Celebrating the Power of Women for highlights on how to embrace the unique challenges women face and thrive as small business owners.
- Bank of America recognizes that women play a vital role in driving economic growth and offers resources to connect women entrepreneurs to mentoring, capital and other tools.
About Rieva Lesonsky
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and Co-founder of GrowBiz Media, a custom content and media company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship, and the blog SmallBizDaily.com. A nationally known speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, Rieva has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for more than 30 years. Before co-founding GrowBiz Media, Lesonsky was the long-time Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine. Lesonsky has appeared on hundreds of radio shows and numerous local and national television programs, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show and Oprah.
Lesonsky regularly writes about small business for numerous websites and for corporations targeting entrepreneurs. Many organizations have recognized Lesonsky for her tireless devotion to helping entrepreneurs. She served on the Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council for six years, was honored by the SBA as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate, and received the prestigious Lou Campanelli award from SCORE. She is a long-time member of the Business Journalists Hall of Fame.
Web: www.growbizmedia.com or Twitter: @Rieva
You can read more articles from Rieva Lesonsky by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Rieva Lesonsky to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Rieva Lesonsky is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Rieva Lesonsky. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2018 Bank of America Corporation
According to the third annual Bank of America Hispanic Small Business Owner Spotlight (HSBOS), 79 percent of Hispanic business owners plan to grow their business over the next five years, a full 24 percentage points higher than non-Hispanic...
According to the third annual Bank of America Hispanic Small Business Owner Spotlight (HSBOS), 79 percent of Hispanic business owners plan to grow their business over the next five years, a full 24 percentage points higher than non-Hispanic entrepreneurs (55 percent).
According to the HSBOS:
Hispanic entrepreneurs are significantly more optimistic than their non-Hispanic counterparts when it comes to both their business and economic outlooks. Similarly, Hispanic business owners report greater confidence in the direction of the national economy, as well as their local economies.
The stats bear this out. When asked about their outlook for the next 12 months,
- 87 percent of Hispanic business owners said they plan to expand (vs. 67 percent of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs)
- 74 percent said they expected revenue will increase (vs. 57 percent of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs), and
- 51 percent said they planned to hire more (vs. 26 percent of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs)
So yes, that is a lot of optimism!
One of the things I love about the Bank of America Small Business Owner Spotlight is not just that it is full of headlines, but it actually digs deep to give reasoning and context for the news it always seems to break.
In this case, what was so interesting is why Hispanic entrepreneurs are so optimistic. If I could sum it up in one word, it would be community and family. (OK, you got me, that’s two words, three actually, but you get the idea.)
The bottom line is that Hispanic small business owners are buoyed by their families around them, both actual and extended (and in that, there is a vital lesson for the rest of us. Read on.)
- It’s a family investment: 23 percent of the non-Hispanics surveyed planned on passing their business onto their children. But among Hispanic small business owners, that number is almost double since they see the business as a familybusiness, making it both a motivator anda creator of optimism.
- The community is involved: Survey participants stated that their community is another influential participant in their success, with 86 percent saying community support is an important part of their success and motivation. Furthermore, and significantly, 22 percent of the Hispanic entrepreneurs said they became a business owner specifically in order to make a difference in their community (compared to only 17 percent of non-Hispanic entrepreneurs.)
- Employees make a huge difference: And an amazing 91 percent of survey respondents indicated that their employees are critical to their ability to achieve their goals.
All of this begs the question: Does all of this optimism make a difference, and if so, how? The answer is an unequivocal yes. While entrepreneurs are optimistic by both nature and vocation, that optimism eventually needs to rest on something real, lest it becomes just so much hot air.
In the case of these Hispanic small business owners, their optimism is tied directly to not only a strong economy but to an even stronger family and extended support network. This gives them the ability to take smart, calculated risks and grow their businesses.
Example: One interesting takeaway from the HSBOSis that the entrepreneurs surveyed are clearly more inventive and creative when it comes to hiring. The Hispanic entrepreneurs surveyed say they have had to refine their hiring and recruiting approach to better compete in this ultra-competitive job market. How?
- They have turned to social media in far greater numbers than other groups to find and recruit talent (32 percent vs. 23 percent of non-Hispanic business owners)
- They have begun to offer a more flexible work culture (27 percent vs. 25 percent of non-Hispanic business owners)
- And maybe most indicative, they are paying higher salaries (26 percent vs. 17 percent of non-Hispanic business owners)
As I mentioned, there is a critical lesson in here for the rest of us: By involving one’s family in the business, by getting even more involved in one’s community, and by engaging with and rewarding that extended community, you can create the sort of safety net that simultaneously reduces your risk while increasing the likelihood of your success.
About Steve Strauss
Steven D. Strauss is one of the world's leading experts on small business and is a lawyer, writer, and speaker. The senior small business columnist for USA Today, his Ask an Expert column is one of the most highly-syndicated business columns in the country. He is the best-selling author of 17 books, including his latest, The Small Business Bible, now out in a completely updated third edition. You can also listen to his weekly podcast, Small Business Success.© Steven D. Strauss.
Web: www.theselfemployed.com or Twitter: @SteveStrauss
You can read more articles from Steve Strauss by clicking here
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Steve Strauss to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Steve Strauss is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Steve Strauss. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. ©2019 Bank of America Corporation
Every day, more than 2 billion people are active on at least one of the Facebook family of apps and services, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. These 2 billion people are scrolling through their feeds, inboxes...
Every day, more than 2 billion people are active on at least one of the Facebook family of apps and services, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.
These 2 billion people are scrolling through their feeds, inboxes and Stories. Your job as a small business owner is to get your content in front of the exact right audience and stop them in their tracks. You want your ads to be absolutely ‘thumb-stopping!’
My three secrets to creating irresistible ads:
- Refine your audience targeting.
- Use compelling messages and creative.
- Choose the right placement.
Let’s break them down.
1. Refine your audience targeting
Let’s face it, you can have the most amazing ad with gorgeous creative and a super-compelling offer, but, if it’s placed in front of the wrong target audience, your ad will fall on deaf ears and you won’t get the results you want. In fact, you could even yield negative results with the wrong audience reporting your ad as spam.
I see this time and again as I study the ads across the Facebook app ecosystem. I see ads shown to me for something that is totally irrelevant.
Refining your target audience before launching your ads can make all the difference between a very successful ad campaign or a total dud.
Tap into the power of Facebook Audience Insights to define your target demographic. Here’s a helpful article by AdEspresso: How To Find The Best Audiences On Facebook.
RELATED CONTENT The Power of Facebook – with Mari Smith (Video)
2. Use compelling messages and creative
So, here’s where we get to the ‘irresistible’ part. With so much noise across all social networks, it’s important that you find a way to cut through the noise to capture potential clients’ attention. We must also recognize that the nature of social media content has shortened attention spans, so your imagery needs to be vibrant and your text brief.
Use vibrant images
It’s true that a picture says a thousand words. Instagram, in particular, is an entirely visual platform. Keep text overlay to a minimum and say what you need to say in the description/caption of your ad.
Embrace short-form video ads
Facebook recommends 5-15 seconds for the ideal video ad. Facebook’s studies have shown that retention rates start to taper off even with a 15-second video. But that’s the ideal max length for both ads and organic videos. I call these ‘teaser’ videos, which are ideal for driving traffic to your blog posts, for example.
I recommend creating 15-second videos in square format with a short description and publishing to your Facebook Business Page as an organic post. Then turn the post into an ad (using the Boost button or Ads Manager). Once you’re in the process of boosting the post you’ll have the option to add a call to action. Put the URL of your blog post or squeeze page in there and start driving traffic to your site.
I recently hosted an educational Facebook Live with my friends at Wave.video to teach this process and you can find that here. (Wave.video just released a free forever plan with no watermark for 15-second videos. Plus they have several very affordable plans with more features for small business owners). See this helpful article - Facebook Video Ads: 10 Examples to Help You Beat Your Competition
You’ll also want to have the Facebook Pixel installed on your website in order to retarget visitors with other ads.
It’s always worth giving Lead Ads a try for conversion-level results. This is a great tutorial: How to Create Jaw-Dropping Facebook Lead Ads That Convert
3. Choose the right placement.
Small businesses can create ads using Facebook’s Ads Manager (or Business Manager). When you leave the default setting for automatic placements, Facebook’s algorithms choose the most optimized platforms for your ads.
“Use automatic placements to maximize your budget and help show your ads to more people. Facebook's delivery system will allocate your ad set's budget across multiple placements based on where they're likely to perform best.”
Learn more about automatic vs. manual placement here.
Yes, we’re talking predominantly about Facebook ads in this article. However, most advertisers tend to leave the automatic placements enabled by default. You may think you’re just advertising on Facebook, but if the placement option is selected your ads may be showing up on/in the following places:
- The Facebook feed
- Facebook videos (as pre-roll ads)
- Facebook Marketplace
- The Instagram feed
- Stories on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger
- Messenger home screen
- Throughout Facebook’s Audience Network
To clarify on that last placement, Audience Network allows advertisers to extend Facebook and Instagram campaigns across the internet - onto thousands of high-quality websites and apps. People spend a lot of their time on Facebook and Instagram. But they are also spending time on other apps and sites. Audience Network helps advertisers reach more of the people they care about in the other places where they're spending their time.
Place Stories ads on both Instagram & Facebook
There are currently 500M daily active users on Instagram Stories and 300M on Facebook, and you can tap into this highly engaged audience.
RELATED CONTENT: Instagram and Facebook Story Ads: How to Make Stories Work for your Small Business
Many advertisers may not even realize they are already placing ads into the Stories feed on both Facebook and Instagram because of the automatic placement feature mentioned above.
Although Facebook’s delivery system does do the hard work for you, it’s worth it to spend a little extra time and create individual ads for placement in the Instagram Stories format, for example.
To really optimize your Stories ads, it’s best to create for the native environment. And that is 9:16 vertical video – it is full screen and immersive. Strive for big bold creative, thumb-stopping images and creative stickers and GIFs.
Utilizing all of the steps above can help make sure the dollars you’re putting toward promoting your small business on social media are working as hard for you as possible.
You can read more articles from Mari Smith by clicking here
About Mari Smith
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Facebook marketing and social media. She is a Forbes’ Top Social Media Power Influencer, author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. Forbes recently described Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” She is a recognized Facebook Partner; Facebook headhunted and hired Mari to lead the Boost Your Business series of live events across the US. Mari is an in-demand speaker, and travels the world to keynote and train at major events.
Her digital marketing agency provides professional speaking, training and consulting services on Facebook and Instagram marketing best practices for Fortune 500 companies, brands, SMBs and direct sales organizations. Mari is also an expert webinar and live video broadcast host, and she serves as Brand Ambassador for numerous leading global companies.
Web: Mari Smith or Twitter: @MariSmith
Bank of America, N.A. engages with Mari Smith to provide informational materials for your discussion or review purposes only. Mari Smith is a registered trademark, used pursuant to license. The third parties within articles are used under license from Mari Smith. Consult your financial, legal and accounting advisors, as neither Bank of America, its affiliates, nor their employees provide legal, accounting and tax advice.
Small Business Story Collection: Celebrating the Power of Women Women small business owners are paving the way. This collection highlights how to embrace the unique challenges women face and thrive as small business owners. ...
Small Business Story Collection: Celebrating the Power of Women
Women small business owners are paving the way. This collection highlights how to embrace the unique challenges women face and thrive as small business owners.
![What Every Woman Should Know Before Starting a Business [ebook]](https://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-2821-228795/Women-Ebook.jpg)
Additional Resources
Small Businesses should leverage social media marketing to grow sales. Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith offers two essential tips all business owners should use in the latest podcast episode of “The Heartbeat of Main Street.”...
Small Businesses should leverage social media marketing to grow sales. Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith offers two essential tips all business owners should use in the latest podcast episode of “The Heartbeat of Main Street.”
“The Heartbeat of Main Street” delivers timely insights tailored to the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Featuring a rotating line-up of small business experts and industry leaders – and covering a range of topics – each episode explores the trends that have an impact on revenue creation for small business owners.
The series is hosted by ForbesBooks, and more information can be accessed through a dedicated home page. New episodes will appear regularly on the Small Business Community podcast page. Be sure to check back often – so you don’t miss a beat.
Narrator: Welcome to “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks at forbesbooks.com and Bank of America at bankofamerica.com. Here's your host, Gregg Stebben.
Gregg Stebben: Welcome to “The Heartbeat of Main Street” brought to you by ForbesBooks and Bank of America. Mari Smith joins us with two essential social media tips you can quickly put to work in your business today. Mari is often called the queen of Facebook marketing. IBM says she is one of seven women who are shaping digital marketing and she is a Forbes perennial top social media power influencer. Mari, thanks so much for joining us.
Mari Smith: Thank you Gregg. I'm delighted to be here.
Gregg Stebben: Mari, you are the author of The New Relationship Marketing and Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day, and you are also a columnist for Bank of America. So you talk with small business owners about social media marketing every day. What are the two most essential social media marketing tips all small business owners should put to work in their businesses, literally today, right now?
Mari Smith: Right now, I tell you what Gregg, the number one thing that I see small businesses doing incorrectly is not having crystal clarity on their target audience. So that's number one. When you get super, super clear on who you're wanting to reach, who your customer avatar or avatars are, that will go a long way to inform the type of content that you create, and your messaging, and then definitely your ad targeting. When you're doing your Facebook and Instagram ads, you want to be able to know who am I speaking to, what are their interests or demographics and so forth. Really, really critical.
I would say number two is to focus on creating roughly 80% of your posts for Facebook as video content. Facebook is really favoring video content, and the good news is you don't have to be on camera if you don't want to. You can use tools and repurpose and reuse different videos and different formats and use them across other social channels. My favorite video tool is simply called wave.video. That's wave.video.
Gregg Stebben: We know that if we go to your website, and to your Facebook page, and if we go to your Twitter account, we're going to see great examples. Tell us where we should go, your website address, your Twitter handle, your Facebook name, so we can come find you and learn more.
Mari Smith: Thank you so much. Absolutely. I'm marismith.com. On Facebook, it's facebook.com/marismith. Twitter is @marismith, and Instagram I'm @mari_smith, and as I like to say, just Google me.
Gregg Stebben: By the way, just to add a fine point to that, Mari is M-A-R-I, Smith, S-M-I-T-H, Mari Smith. Mari, thanks so much for joining us.
Mari Smith: My pleasure.
Gregg Stebben: For more great tips from Mari and other small business experts, check out Bank of America's online Small Business Community at bankofamerica.com/sbc.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to “The Heartbeat of Main Street” with ForbesBooks at forbesbooks.com and the Bank of America at bankofamerica.com.
Learn more about video marketing. Visit these articles on the Small Business Community.
- 3 Social Video Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business by Mari Smith
- The Importance of Video Marketing by Joel Comm
- How to use Compelling Video On Social Media for your Small Business by Mari Smith
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