All Entries Tagged With: "digital marketing"
Making The Most Of Your ‘Downtime’
We’ve all had those days. In fact, we’re having one of those days today. There’s about 12 inches of snow making it’s way down all day, client meetings are cancelled, and we’re pretty much caught up on work. It’s a wonderful feeling to have things crossed off your To-Do List. Wonderful that is, until the guilt starts creeping in. If you’re anything like us, you don’t do “downtime” well. While you may be dreaming of cuddling under a blanket and mindlessly binging on Netflix, when it comes to actually doing it, you find it hard to shut your working brain off. And now it’s a snowy Tuesday, and while you probably deserve a day off, you’re finding it hard to get past that “I should be doing something” feeling.
Well, we’re here to tell you it’s ok. It’s ok to take a little downtime every once and while, and it’s also ok to want to make the most of it. We’ve got a list here for you of some of our favorite ways to take it easy, all while keeping your brain churning and your business growing.
1. Review relevant publications. Take some time to review the newest trends that are happening in your business, or better yet how to market your business. You may learn a new way to advertise, how to better optimize your current outlets, how markets are shifting, or how other businesses, like yours, are succeeding. Some of our favorites (for our industry of course)? SmartBrief – An awesome collection of business, marketing and advertising news focusing on newest and upcoming trends. Advertising Age – Check out what some of the largest companies and agencies are doing and brainstorm about how you can use similar strategies in your own business. Business Insider – After checking out a few of the entertaining op ed’s, we head on over to the Advertising and Media sections to get some of the insider information on what’s happening in the industry.
2. Get your learn on. Have you jumped onto the online class trend yet? If not, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to learn some best practices, new marketing techniques, insider secrets and ways to inspire growth. Learn from some of the best in their business and learn the same tips and tricks they’ve used to grow their businesses to become major players in the market. Amy Porterfield – A former business consultant, she’s completely transitioned her business into online training ranging from webinars to social media marketing. Melanie Duncan – The Pinterest queen, Melanie Duncan teaches you how to kick butt in one of the fastest revenue driving platforms on the market. Marie Forleo – The founder of B-School, Marie Forleo can help you get past any negativity or doubt that can come creeping in when you’re not looking. Courtney Foster-Donahue – A little quirky, Courtney breaks down the always illusive Facebook, and how to actually create Facebook ads that work. Hub Digital – Who can forget your favorite crew from Hub Digital? With classes ranging from prepping your digital content, to blogging, to getting your website to the first page in search (that’s right! Exciting stuff coming soon!) we’re sharing all our best secrets that we use to propel our small business clients.
3. Plug into a Podcast. Grab your headphones and listen to some of your fav’s without having to read through lengthy blogs. Better yet? Jump on a treadmill, pick up your duster, or apply a your favorite face mask, and you can now multitask growing your business while getting a little quality “you” time. Amy Porterfield – She’s back, and bringing in some of her favorite friends sharing their top insider secrets. Gary Vaynerchuk – If you’re not offended by swearing, Gary Vee gets real about all things social media, entrepreneurship and business best practices. The Fizzle Show – who says growing your business has to be so serious? The Fizzle Show hilariously takes on entrepreneurship and focuses on how to stay creative.
8 Tips To Organize Your Business
GUEST Blog! We are SO excited to share some fantastic tips on how to get organized by RI’s Organization Guru, Kristin MacRae of Organizing In RI, LLC in this month’s Guest Blog! Check it out and be sure to follow (and use) this rockstar to get yourself organized so you can rock 2017!
Whether you’re starting a home based business, a start-up, or you’re already established, you need to read this article. If you’re disorganized, you’re going to create more work for yourself and you aren’t going to work at your fullest potential. In order to maintain organization in your office, you’ll need to have systems in place for processing day to day functions.
Here are 8 systems you’ll need:
Process your mail. Many people have difficulty with paper management. Most have difficulty setting up and following through with a system. I can’t stress this enough: Process your mail every day. As soon as you touch it, either file it, attach to your to- do list to take care of during the week, shred it or handle it right away. It will be easier to take 5 minutes and tackle it when it arrives than to spend hours on it at the end of the month.
Process your email. Create categorized folders. Have a process to handle an email as soon as you open it. Treat it just as you would treat your physical mail. Decide whether to send it to a folder, trash it, act on it, or print it and attach it to your to-do list.
Work with a to-do list. Keep a daily to-do list. Make a to-do list every night before you leave work. You’ll know exactly what you need to do when you arrive to work the next day. This process will keep you on track with your day. Clear the mental clutter by getting things out of your head and onto paper. The less clutter you’re carrying around in your mind, the better.
Filing systems. Without filings systems, piles will form and chaos will ensue. If you need to locate an important paper, you should be able to locate it in less than 10 seconds. Keep files that you utilize on a daily basis close to you. Files that you use less frequently, you can keep in another area of the office. I’ve seen many important business deals that fell through, found significant sums of money and very important documents in piles of papers on desks because business owners didn’t have filing systems in place.
Keep track of your bills. If you’re receiving bills through the mail, create a system where the bills aren’t lying around on your desk buried under papers. Incorporate due dates into your calendar to remind you to pay and file immediately after you pay them.
Business cards. Every business owner I work with has issues with business cards. You must develop a system to file your business cards. Whether it is through electronics or good old rolodex, or a binder with clear card inserts, you must have a system. Be realistic, how often do you refer to them?
Workspace. Have a place for everything at your desk. Only keep items you use on a daily basis on your desk top. Have an organized pile that you need to work on the next day with your to-do list on top of the pile. Try to avoid having a corkboard at your desk with too much information pinned to it. Less is more. Utilize drawer organizers and organizing supplies to keep you organized.
Time management. Be as efficient and productive as you can be. If you’re a disorganized person, you have to get organized in order to have great time management skills. Take a look at your physical space, get organized and then you’ll realize that your time management skills may fall into place. Look at the way you function. I’m always trying to find an easier way to do something. How long does it take you to complete a task? Can you take it from 8 steps to 4?
Just because your fellow business owners have a smooth system that works for them, doesn’t mean it will work for you. Evaluate how you function and create a system that works for you. The more complicated the system, the more likely it is to failure. Keep the system simple and streamlined. Many offices I work with have made attempts at getting organized, but the systems have failed and a new attempt at another system was never made. Once you create a system, re-visit the system in a couple of months and tweak what isn’t working to make it work better for you.
Kristin M. MacRae, Organizing & Efficiency Expert, Owner, Organizing In RI, LLC
Hub Digital – Who We Are
While it might seem like we’re super education-focused lately (our online classes), we are tenaciously passionate about working with small to medium sized businesses to reach their business development goals.
Who are we? We are a dynamic boutique digital marketing firm that is dedicated to serving businesses that know their niche, but might be having some trouble reaching the right audience. Check out our latest video to find out more about Hub Digital.
Email – 5 Seconds Can Make or Break Your Next Customer Sale!
Optimizing Your Email OPEN Rates…
Today, we’re (Hub Digital) proud to feature one of our favorite partners and friends, Michelle Girasole of Constant Contact, who is breaking down how to get more attention with your email marketing.
If your customer reads your next email on their mobile device, it will take them just under five seconds to decide if they will read it or delete it. That email had better be good if you want to get their attention and your next sale!
Despite this daunting fact, email is still one of the best values for your marketing dollar. Entrepreneur Magazine just published an article suggesting that email marketing is the “The One Marketing Tool Entrepreneurs Should Focus on for 2017”. It is more effective than many other marketing tactics – not only for building brand awareness, but also for inviting ACTION, the lifeblood of your business. And remember, a customer sale is not the only measurable action, though this is the ultimate end goal. If customers are opening your emails, reading the content, clicking on buttons, links and graphics, asking questions and/or sharing your content on their social media channels, then congratulations! This means you have nurtured a treasure trove of highly engaged subscribers, which will soon lead to sales with consistent, relevant and valuable marketing outreach and sales effort.
If you send an email out and hear only crickets, it is time to rethink your strategy. There are three questions you need to ask in order to achieve success in email marketing:
1) Who cares? You have likely built a large list of email subscribers. Are these people all prospects for business, or just people you know? Do you segment your list and send targeted messages based on their interests, or do all subscribers get the same message? It may be time for a list review. Clean out those addresses that bounce. Segment the folks who click on emails into a “VIP” list that gets special offers or early notice of news or deals. Treat them special, because they are. On average, only 5-18% of subscribers click through, according to Constant Contact, who reviews 200 million customer emails every year. The ones who click through should get special attention, and if you don’t know who they are, you need to find out.
2) What do they care about? What you say in the subject line of your next email should speak directly to the very topic that your customers care the most about. About 1/3 of email subscribers decide to open the email or hit delete, based solely on the content in the subject line! Make your subject line compelling and deliver on the promise of the subject line in the body of your email. Create content based on what they have clicked on in the past – what are their interests? What questions are they asking you at the networking meetings? What problems have you solved for customers this week? Turn those questions and problems into the storytelling that sells your services or products. 80% of your content should be informative, educational and/or entertaining. Only 20% should be sales-oriented, so if you are using your email to deliver discounts and sales offers exclusively, you are missing the point.
3) What happened last time and what do I do next? Most email marketing platforms worth their salt have automated reporting that tell you exactly what happened the last time you sent an email out. Who opened? Who didn’t? Who clicked? What did they click on? What time of day did most people read it? Who came back more than once? What emails bounced back as undeliverable? All of these factors should be studied within 24 hours after you send your email, and careful consideration should be given as to what to do next. There is so much knowledge at our fingertips that can help us pack some power into the next email we send, and yet many of us just look at the open rate as the single factor of success. Read your reports and make marketing decisions based on what you find.
Email is the number one app used on smartphones today. Access to email is everywhere we go, and so we have an opportunity to reach people wherever they are. We’re no longer restricted to communication during daytime working hours to people sitting at their desktops. We can reach them at the coffee shops, football fields and even in their beds. (When was the last time you checked messages one more time, before turning out the light, hmm?) This is a powerful marketing tool, and we must use this power wisely. By using email to nurture your audience, you will build credibility and trust, and invite action. And, people taking action is the only thing that will drive ever your business growth.
Michelle Girasole is an email marketing industry veteran. A marketing professional for 24 years and a Constant Contact solution partner since 2003, Michelle is the only one certified to teach Constant Contact workshops in Rhode Island. She teaches many free workshops for Rhode Island small business and non-profit organizations, many sponsored by SBA/SCORE and the area chambers of commerce. For a calendar of her upcoming workshops click here.
