Strategy — Barbara Saul and what she gets up to most days!

Just another online network? Playing with Empire.Kred

Earlier this year I promised a post on Empire.Kred, something you may not have come across before. I have struggled to really get to grips with it but have kept at it mainly because someone I respect, Steven Healey, has been there and encouraged me to join a few years ago – and I trust him…

…So I pop in and buy shares and do missions and not much else really until a Blab the other week saw me take another step and set a mission myself. I just dove in and it was indeed quite simple to put in place. I asked people there to visit my latest blog post – not the best mission to set but I wanted to see what might happen.

And what did happen was visitors to the post and, more unexpectedly, comments from over half the people I’d tempted via the mission. Now that is priceless – having people visit and join in – something all bloggers want and love – engagement.

Now I am even more intrigued, not just for the social media/marketing side of things, because of course there is potential there, but also for the community – something I’ve always loved online.

Today (Friday 20th May 2016) I will be Blabbing with Steven about exactly what I learned and enticing more tips and ideas from him and the audience there – join in if you like or watch the replay – I will add further thoughts here…

Meantime or otherwise do have a read of Steven’s thorough post on starting out with Empire.Kred here or join me on Empire.Kred and say hello.

Time to write more, to get stuck in and share what’s what again

This really is not an(other) empty end of year embarrassed out-pour of promises, I really am going to get posting more on the online social media landscape, not least because it’s growing and changing and more exciting all the time and seemingly faster (or that could just be my age). I need to know what on earth is going on out there, never mind you 😉

So, there is a plan of sorts. Here I will be exploring the variety of social media, and not just in a quick post and then away. No, I’m going to get stuck in with each topic and share the explorations through that month. You’ll see what I mean as we get into January with Empire.Kred (what was Empire Avenue) a seemingly pointless (to many) procrastination that has not gone away and about which I’ve always had a feeling that it could be useful – so we’ll play with that through January. (edit: OK, so we’ll move Empire into March – projects took over, which is great but not useful for this purpose… #cobblersshoes).

Then in February we’ll Blab – don’t ask, I have no real idea other than video is involved, but will be asking someone for whom I have great respect, Steven Healey. He’s invited me for a Blab later in the month and I’ve asked if he can answer a few questions for us here. Because if he is playing with it, then there must be something there worth exploring.

On through the year and we’ll do the obvious platforms – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, et al – and happy to consider others, even the disparaged Klout perhaps. Google gets its own series – something I’ve long outlined (I even have a book cover ready for when I have enough to publish – created back in 2010, I think – good grief) and which I have determined to carry out this next year, not least for my own enlightenment – there are so many areas to play with – Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Insights and Trends, Small Business, Adwords, Adsense – all kinds of really useful stuff that can be bewildering but for which I will don my cape and wave my wand and help you to know what to do with such delights.

Peppered between all this will be more on usability and the user experience (UX), blogging, websites, stuff you really need to know about – accessibility, responsiveness (aka what does your website look like on a mobile device), and strategies.

That’s it for the promises, before I get carried away. The above is in the schedule and the writing muscle is raring to get to work. Watch this space… (until I sort out my MailChimp!). And perhaps subscribe to my Blab with Steven later in January.

What are you up to next year? What do you want to achieve with your business, blog or online shenanigans?

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Don’t be cheap

I’m not talking about shoddy-cheap, obviously shoddy is never good, but affordable-cheap. For a small business can cut prices be a good thing, sustainably, for anyone concerned? From the point of view of a service provider just how long can you earn a sensible living doing “cheap”?

Following on from my previous post about avoiding the bootstrapping clients, I wanted to explore a bit further, but from the client/customer point of view. Because we are all customers as well as suppliers.

We enjoy a bargain but I do think it sensible to stop and consider just how much of a bargain it really is. Will it last? Is it done by an expert with plenty of experience or by someone wanting to make a fast buck who just happens to know the patter and jargon? And why would an expert be cheap?

On the other side, we’ve most of us been there. Bills landing left, right and centre and the chance to make a dent or two by doing a quick job for someone. But that way lies nothing good.

Back to the customer… Taking advantage of an expert with some fast offers is all very well but just don’t expect that same quality for price in future. It can be an introductory special offer but know that cut-pricing just cannot be sustained for a business to flourish or even remain in business.

So how to not be cheap? Well for my business being organised helps. The only problem with that is finding/making the time to stay organised, in between all the projects, both sensibly priced and cheap. My prices, therefore, have to include for someone to keep things organised. It had to be a case of stop everything and take the plunge. Just do it. Charge sensibly. Charge according to experience of both me and those I need working with me. And have the courage to say no to those quick fixes that end up with you working for less than the minimum wage. Another important thing is to be as clear as possible about what a client can expect for their payment, and then be really firm about meeting that expectation but anything beyond is chargeable.

As a customer, what is your experience of “cheap”? And as a business owner, do you manage to maintain a lower-priced service or leave that to the newbies, perhaps?

photo credit: ekkiPics via photopin cc

Nice website, shame about the tumbleweed

You’ve invested in a great website; it looks amazing, is user friendly and you’re justifiably proud of it. Everything works, the doors are open to receive customers/readers/visitors.

So where are they?

It’s a long time since just creating a website and submitting it to the search engines might have been remotely sufficient, if it ever was. And it takes more than a beautiful website to sell; building it will not make them come.

Your shiny new website is just the first step for your online business, these days more than ever. You need to put in more time or money to attract the customers, the visitors. But the potential rewards are also more accessible than ever before too – know what to do, where to spend your time and go for it.

OK, that’s all well and good, Babs, but do I have to do it all? Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, Google+?

I’m glad you asked, dear reader, because this is something I love helping people to work out and learn.

And you do not need to do it all, just understand how each aspect works and which your best customers are likely to be using. The focus remains with them – what do they want, where are they and what is likely to grab and hold their attention? Answer these and you’re away. We’ll do more on the various aspects here this year, covering each of the wondrous options, as well as pointing those of you who think “If only there was somewhere to show me how to do all this stuff” to the new JDI Club launching this month (shameless plug).

Just keep in mind that it is not rocket science, that more of us than ever can do this stuff with just some gentle guidance and a push in the right direction.

Ask anything here, too – it keeps me out of mischief 🙂

Babs

photo credit: Wheeler Cowperthwaite via photopin cc

Reviewing Your Online Marketing Strategy 2 – Who wants you?

Oh, the temptation to title this “Who loves you?” just so I could add “baby” at the end – but realise most of you are too young to have any idea what that would be on about. Aren’t you? 😉

So in part 1 we had a good look and think about what we want to achieve with our business.

Now to consider the people who will buy, your customers.

You need to understand who they are, get to know as much as you can about them. In the old days this was known as market research. I’m not sure if that is what fresh, wet-behind-the-ears business owners are taught at the local enterprise agency or modern equivalent, but it certainly was in my day, and at business college.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Yes, you are happy for anyone to buy, but you’ll have more success if you focus on the best possible customers for your product. If your market is very specific, you can plot the simplest route to it. This won’t stop others buying, but it will make the most impact on your marketing efforts.

So – picture them. How old are they? Where do they live and/or work? What do they enjoy? Do they go online? Do they surf the web or stick to the safe confines of Facebook? Do they use a computer, laptop, tablet or phone for online activity? Are they comfortable buying online? Do they have plastic yellow bodyparts (just checking that you’re paying attention!)? What websites do they like and visit?

For instance – the WordPress support website, The Blogmistress, is ideal for people who like to have control over their content but don’t want to have to sort out the updates. They want the control and to have an understanding of what can be done, but like to have someone on hand to ask or just do things if they are busy with their own work.

So the ideal Blogmistress customer runs their own business and/or blog, they love the flexibility of WordPress but don’t really have time (or the inclination) to get geeky with it as they are busy being successful at what they do. They also understand that using such a service is an investment in their business without me having to spell that out to them – this is useful for any supplier!

Understanding who your customers are can then guide you as to where they might look for and/or find you. Are they likely to be Facebook users, or perhaps more social media savvy and use Twitter or Google +? Are images relevant – might they enjoy Pinterest? Or are they not interested in the Internet at all? Do they just use email, or only go online if they absolutely have to?

Who are your ideals? Picture them in your mind and then consider what they want to know about you and what they have come to buy.

Make notes! We will bring everything together soon and with all of this information, you’ll have a good idea of a strategy that is likely to work for you, to succeed.

And you might like to join us on the November course on getting to grips with marketing online…

photo credit: Kaptain Kobold via photopin cc