Category: Tips

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Social Media: People Are Hungry, No, Starving to Connect

I am shocked really, today I worked on my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and sent out some invitations and requested for LinkedIn recommendations. Within minutes I had a slew of question responses, tons of new friends, and six recommendations. The response has staggered me. I have toyed with social media networking, it has seemed like a time pit to me without any selling value, but I have to say I am strongly rethinking my viewpoint.

Here’s what I have found so far:

  1. People who are acquaintances, colleagues, and clients really want to know you better.
  2. People want to share what they know through LinkedIn questions and answers.
  3. People want to share resources that they have found to help someone they know.
  4. People are not afraid to give you a recommendation, if you ask for it.

Interesting, as I thought people would just be too busy to do any of these things and that Facebook and LinkedIn were only for people who had a lot of time on their hands. Not so, clearly.

My big question has always been, and has been shared by other professionals, is that the time you invest in social media, specifically social networking, may not translate into sales. But based on what I have seen this may be a concern that I may need to reconsider. Most of my business comes from referrals of other satisfied customers. With these new networking tools, I may be able to tap into the second degree of separation to my colleagues and clients to garner additional clients and access to news and emerging technology through my own connections. This would provide more value to me personally and warrant the time investment not only with increased sales and contacts, but access to new emerging trends and technologies.

As I got responses from others in from my LinkedIn question on how others are effectively using social media, I am finding that use of the question and answer tool is very important and video continues to pop up as a very important aspect as well.

You can click in and join my three social media networks from the badges on my right side bar right now and I’ll accept you. This way you can be part of the conversation as I do additional research on how to effectively use social media and social networking for your business. I’ll be sharing my findings with my networks and offering ideas and suggestions.

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Escalating Costs Push Businesses to Raise Prices

We’re not alone when it comes to getting the “squeeze”! It’s all around you – higher gas prices, pending winter fuel price increases, rising food prices, increases in Internet service, changes to credit policies, the list is endless and growing.

It is not surprising that many businesses are trimming down, cutting back or being forced to raise prices to offset the increase in costs to just stay in business.  So what can you do, anything to stay profitable in this changing and shifting business climate?

Here are a few tips to help you weather the storm and stay profitable.

1. Trim your overhead first any way you can before you automatically consider a price increase passed on to customers. It may be as simple as moving from 24 pound paper to 22 pound paper, not ordering office supplies that simply sit on the shelf – ordering only when needed, to installing a programmable thermostat in your office. Trim where you can smartly first.

2. If you do feel that you must raise your prices to cover your overhead, be sure that you can afford to do so. It is naturally for some clients to simply decide to chop your services when you increase prices. If losing any clients will mean real trouble for you, consider layoffs, payroll cuts, and dropping perks before raising your prices first. For some raising prices may simply mean better efficiency and improved quality of life, for other raising prices may start a downward spiral that will be hard to stop.

3. Work smarter, try to share the load when you have multiple tasks. Here’s one example it may be more cost efficient to turn over routine reporting tasks to a person who you will pay $25/hour to and then have the higher paid team members start an ad on selling program to existing clients with their new free time. Make sure that all clients know about your service offerings. You may be able to very easily pick up extra business with a few phone calls offering expanded services to your existing client base. You may even want to consider adding services to your offerings to complement what you do sell or provide now looking to sell more to the clients you do have now.

Anyway you look at it, the business client is tightening, pulling in, and adjusting. Make sure to look for creative options before you try to put the “squeeze” on your own customers.

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Building Sales Through Your Web Authority

If you have worked hard to become the authority in your field or industry, now’s the time to use that clout to leverage sales. But exactly how do you do that?

By using your platforms of course! If you have created web authority with your blog, your e-newsletter, or your own website, now is the time to add the marketing push to make it all translate now into sales.

What I routinely will do is to create a timed promotion and then heavily promote what I am offering or selling on my platforms. If you have the ear and readership of your audience, you will not alienate them with a judicious use of self promotion.  I mainly use my monthly e-newsletter for my special promotions and not my blog but you may choose otherwise.

In fact, as you have worked hard to establish yourself as the authority in your field you have shared, tips, strategies, and your intellectual capital. Now’s the time to call in the “chips”. I don’t mean change your message all the sudden and use your platform for a “spamming marketing machine”, but I do mean, making sure that client’s and prospects know what you sell and service, and that you want them to call you when they need help. Done in a non-threatening, non-pushy way, you will find that you are providing a real service to those reading or watching your platforms.

So here’s my little “bug in your ear” on this specific topic. We provide webmaster services if you didn’t know. We don’t need to have designed your website to provide content updates to your website or to tweak it for performance. Webmaster services are a core business for us and we employ two contractors to assist us with updates. Typically updates are completed within 24 to 48 hours and sometimes even on the same day. Although we are not a good technology match for every website, those that we do work on, we are attentive to detail, and provide very affordable fast service. Our minimum billing is only $7 and our hourly rate is $68 per hour rounded up in 6 minute increments. So, if you need a responsive webmaster on your side, think of McCord Web Services! Now that was painless wasn’t it?

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Microsoft Clip Art Gallery and Free Images

This is a hidden tool for some people something they simply did not know about, but Microsoft does allow commercial (not logo use) of there clip art and photo images. If you have Office, then you have this tool – the Microsoft Clip Art Gallery.

Access the Gallery from Start> Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Tools > Clip Art Gallery. Then go online and load up your Gallery with new neat free images and sounds at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx. You’ll love the selection. Just add the items to your basket and then click download and run to load them onto your disk.

We use these free images for blogs, websites, and newsletter content. The EULA states that you can use them for commercial web use, but not for logos or things that are proprietary to your business. But that means you can use them for website images, brochures, and so much more.

Updated as of 7-14-18: Microsoft no longer supports the Clip Art Gallery. There may be other free images resources available online. One to consider may be PikWizard.