Since my last post, I've been absent from my Blog for over six months. That wasn't my intention but I've taken a long break from business to pursue other interests and some less interesting duties. I had a ball working on a huge government event for two and half months last spring, renovated my house this summer which I've now sold, and I'm in the process of packing to move to southern Ontario.
This move is for business more so than for personal reasons, but I'm looking forward to the change nonetheless. Though I love the small town rural area I'm leaving, I realize to grow my business in the way I want, I need to be in a larger, more urban city. Not wanting to go back to the "big" city, I'll be just an hour outside in a place where I attended High School many years ago. It has just the right demographics for my business and it's a good fit for my personal life.
I'm excited about the move. The next few months promises to be full of new experiences, hard work and fun as settle into my new life. The change will come with it's share of challenges ... I'm sure ... but I'm looking forward to sharing them as I meet them head on.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
FaceBook to Flea Market
Wow! I passed another benchmark on Twitter this week. I now have over 500 people following me and, I'm sure, each of them is hanging on every word I tweet. I'm pretty impressed! It's not the thousands that are following some celebs but more than the handful or two following some of my fellow Tweeters.
I've had some people show an interest in my services and others contact me about theirs. Some have re-tweeted things I've tweeted and others have been grateful for my RTs of their events or words of wisdom. One follower promised to pass my business info on to a friend in my area and I plan to look at doing business with a couple of the people I've been following. So I've decided to declare my ventures into the world of Twitter thus far a success.
I opened a page on FaceBook too as you'll recall. A few very supportive friends have become friends of my page but that seems to be the extent of that. To be honest, other than the standard blah blah blah about what I do and a heartfelt plea to visit my website, I'm not really sure what else to do on there. I'm sure I'll come up with something somewhere along my journey.
In the meantime, I had a little fun yesterday. For an insignificant fee, I booked a table and took my business to the Flea Market. To look the part, I had a friend join me to sell some of her darling little handicrafts alongside my cardboard display showing all the reasons this garage sale crowd could use my services. I even insisted we sport matching T-shirts promoting my business.
To my surprise, it went quite well. In the midst of all the used wares, jewelry, antiques and flea market baked goods, we definitely stood out from the rest. The handicrafts didn't go over quite as well as expected as they were a little pricey for this bargain hunting crowd. But they were cute enough to bring the customers over for a look.
Once my posters and pictures caught their eye, I was able to introduce my service and tell people about what I do. That in itself is important because my service is quite new for around here and the more people who know about it the better. Best of all, I even got a couple of potential customers out of the deal.
I can't say Flea Markets are going to be a standard part of my marketing strategy but, as experiments go, I got more out of it than I expected. I also had plans to participate in a local Outdoor Fair this summer for some much needed exposure and I feel really good about that being an even better success.
Any chance I get to talk about my business with potential clients is better than all the print advertising I can do. So be it Twitter, FaceBook, Flea Markets or Fairs, for better or worse, I'm putting myself out there. And that's what it's all about!
If anybody reading this has any other "budget" & "off the beaten track" ideas for promoting a business to home and business owners, I'd love to hear about it.
I've had some people show an interest in my services and others contact me about theirs. Some have re-tweeted things I've tweeted and others have been grateful for my RTs of their events or words of wisdom. One follower promised to pass my business info on to a friend in my area and I plan to look at doing business with a couple of the people I've been following. So I've decided to declare my ventures into the world of Twitter thus far a success.
I opened a page on FaceBook too as you'll recall. A few very supportive friends have become friends of my page but that seems to be the extent of that. To be honest, other than the standard blah blah blah about what I do and a heartfelt plea to visit my website, I'm not really sure what else to do on there. I'm sure I'll come up with something somewhere along my journey.
In the meantime, I had a little fun yesterday. For an insignificant fee, I booked a table and took my business to the Flea Market. To look the part, I had a friend join me to sell some of her darling little handicrafts alongside my cardboard display showing all the reasons this garage sale crowd could use my services. I even insisted we sport matching T-shirts promoting my business.
To my surprise, it went quite well. In the midst of all the used wares, jewelry, antiques and flea market baked goods, we definitely stood out from the rest. The handicrafts didn't go over quite as well as expected as they were a little pricey for this bargain hunting crowd. But they were cute enough to bring the customers over for a look.
Once my posters and pictures caught their eye, I was able to introduce my service and tell people about what I do. That in itself is important because my service is quite new for around here and the more people who know about it the better. Best of all, I even got a couple of potential customers out of the deal.
I can't say Flea Markets are going to be a standard part of my marketing strategy but, as experiments go, I got more out of it than I expected. I also had plans to participate in a local Outdoor Fair this summer for some much needed exposure and I feel really good about that being an even better success.
Any chance I get to talk about my business with potential clients is better than all the print advertising I can do. So be it Twitter, FaceBook, Flea Markets or Fairs, for better or worse, I'm putting myself out there. And that's what it's all about!
If anybody reading this has any other "budget" & "off the beaten track" ideas for promoting a business to home and business owners, I'd love to hear about it.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Where you'd least expect ...
It's funny how things happen. Last week I left the house to market my services in one way and ended up getting business in a completely unexpected place.
As with most people starting up a new business, I tend to get caught up in working on jobs or on the administrative tasks of running a business. I have to make a point of making time to go out to sell my services. That in itself can be a challenge when everything else is demanding your attention. But reality is such that if there's no sales, then there's no business. So I make a point of scheduling time to call on potential customers as often as I can. Last week, one of these outings turned out to be a real learning experience for me.
We had beautiful, unseasonably warm spring weather last week. So I decided to go out and call on a number of businesses in the area. I chose an area, made list of the ones that were my target customers, Googled their locations and off I went. I made my way from one to the next not having much success. In most cases the owners weren't there or they were too busy to see me. Maybe everybody was out enjoying the nice day like me!
Along the way, I stopped at a couple of other places "on a whim". Neither of them fit the description of my preferred customer, but it turns out that I'm glad I dropped by. I got bookings for my services in each of the unplanned places I stopped and was called to do a job first thing Monday morning. You can't beat that! It turned out to be a very productive day in every respect.
It also made me stop and think about some of the other times I've had success that way. It happens more frequently than I'd imagine. I'll be in the area and just feel like calling on a business or leaving my card on the door. I'm more likely to get business from that call than any of the other planned calls I make.
What's probably more significant, is that in both these cases, neither client was even close to my target customer. One was even in an industry that I would consider the last one in need of my services. As it turns out, in that new customer I have discovered a whole new target market that I wasn't even aware existed. It may end up being a more important source of business for me than my initial target market.
So I guess it never hurts to go with your gut sometimes or to explore avenues that you wouldn't normally. You never know what you'll find in the least expected places.
As with most people starting up a new business, I tend to get caught up in working on jobs or on the administrative tasks of running a business. I have to make a point of making time to go out to sell my services. That in itself can be a challenge when everything else is demanding your attention. But reality is such that if there's no sales, then there's no business. So I make a point of scheduling time to call on potential customers as often as I can. Last week, one of these outings turned out to be a real learning experience for me.
We had beautiful, unseasonably warm spring weather last week. So I decided to go out and call on a number of businesses in the area. I chose an area, made list of the ones that were my target customers, Googled their locations and off I went. I made my way from one to the next not having much success. In most cases the owners weren't there or they were too busy to see me. Maybe everybody was out enjoying the nice day like me!
Along the way, I stopped at a couple of other places "on a whim". Neither of them fit the description of my preferred customer, but it turns out that I'm glad I dropped by. I got bookings for my services in each of the unplanned places I stopped and was called to do a job first thing Monday morning. You can't beat that! It turned out to be a very productive day in every respect.
It also made me stop and think about some of the other times I've had success that way. It happens more frequently than I'd imagine. I'll be in the area and just feel like calling on a business or leaving my card on the door. I'm more likely to get business from that call than any of the other planned calls I make.
What's probably more significant, is that in both these cases, neither client was even close to my target customer. One was even in an industry that I would consider the last one in need of my services. As it turns out, in that new customer I have discovered a whole new target market that I wasn't even aware existed. It may end up being a more important source of business for me than my initial target market.
So I guess it never hurts to go with your gut sometimes or to explore avenues that you wouldn't normally. You never know what you'll find in the least expected places.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Networking by any other name ...
What's the secret to productive social networking? I've been thinking alot about this lately. Since I started experimenting with all these new methods of marketing my business online, on several occasions I've had to try to explain to the lay people among my family and friends just what it is I'm doing or trying to accomplish.
So after some serious thought on the subject, the best analogy I can come up with for myself is that my Website is like an ad I'd place in the local newspaper. My business Blog should be like a press release or a story the local paper runs on a new business and what it's all about. Facebook and LinkedIn are like belonging to the local Chamber of Commerce or a professional organization. And, last but not least, Twitter is like networking. Easy peasy!
At least when I look at it this way, it all makes a certain amount of sense to me. So in keeping with this logic, my next step should be to come up with an online marketing strategy just as I would have a traditional marketing strategy. In the above analogy, neither component works well without the others. Now the trick is to get them working all together like a well oiled machine. Easy peasy? Hmmm ... We'll see!
So after some serious thought on the subject, the best analogy I can come up with for myself is that my Website is like an ad I'd place in the local newspaper. My business Blog should be like a press release or a story the local paper runs on a new business and what it's all about. Facebook and LinkedIn are like belonging to the local Chamber of Commerce or a professional organization. And, last but not least, Twitter is like networking. Easy peasy!
At least when I look at it this way, it all makes a certain amount of sense to me. So in keeping with this logic, my next step should be to come up with an online marketing strategy just as I would have a traditional marketing strategy. In the above analogy, neither component works well without the others. Now the trick is to get them working all together like a well oiled machine. Easy peasy? Hmmm ... We'll see!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Social Networking - What???
Blogging, Twittering (or is it Tweeting?), Facebook, LinkedIn ... and on and on! Only weeks ago these were only vague impressions of phenomena that other people were talking about. Before I knew it, I'd been thrown into a whole new world.
I've started two new businesses in the last year and I have been doing the conventional advertising and networking to get them off the ground. Networking is fun, it's social and it's something I actually enjoy. Not everyone can say that. Business people around town, and into the neighbouring towns, are getting to recognize me. That's the point, isn't it? I figured that was a good thing and that all was going as it should. Or so I thought!
All of a sudden, I started being told by all and sundry that I simply must have a blog, and I must Twitter, and I must have a Facebook page for my business. "You have to try Social Networking." As if I don't have enough to do in a day. Not willing to risk being left behind in this new digital world of business, for better or worse, I proceeded to wade bravely into each of these new forums.
I already had some experience in Facebook. I'm on there like most of my friends and relatives. I started off slowly and cautiously, only letting a selected few onto my carefully monitored list of friends. But as more people "found" me, so the list grew to include most people who know me, who care to be my friend. But I still wasn't sure how I was going to fit this motley crew into my business agenda. So Facebook was put on the back burner for now.
Next, a couple of people I'd met networking around town asked me to add them on LinkedIn. Okay, time to dip my toe into new digital waters again. I signed up, picked a password and Linked up with my fellow business Networkers about town. Ah ha! This one lets me recommend their services or give testimonials. What a great idea! I'll keep that in mind.
As if on cue, the representative from the Canpages Directory came by to solicit my listing. A printed directory ... this was something I could relate to. "Where do I sign? Oh, that's not all? You have a whole array of online forums too, you say?" All of a sudden I'm registering for GigPark, list my business and start recommending every business I like around town. That was fun. This was followed by signing up for a whole bunch of online directories.
Next on my digital bucket list was Twitter. I have to admit, I had to take a couple of stabs at that one. It made no more sense than the steady stream of chatter the first few times I entered a chat room back in the day. I figured out pretty quickly that I should follow people, clicked on a few celebs that I thought might have something interesting to say. #Well @bleepingbleep #Omg RT! What on earth is this all about?
Several hours and a few tweets later, I gave up. I figured I was in way over my head this time. Thankfully, I met an experienced tweeter who gave me a ten minute crash course in the whole social networking scene. Determined to sink or swim, I jumped in again with both feet. I started from scratch, and worked on following a list people and organizations of interest to my business.
I seem to be making progress. After less than two weeks, I now have over 250 followers and tweet a few times a day. It's been kind of fun and interesting too. I also like retweeting things that I find of interest from the over 600 people that I follow. As with traditional networking, time will tell if all this will increase my business. It can't hurt though. I hope I have time to actually do some work!
Well, I'm out there now! Directories, online networking, website (of course), Facebook, Twitter and so on! The last leap is into the world of Blogging. So here we go again! Wish me luck.
I've started two new businesses in the last year and I have been doing the conventional advertising and networking to get them off the ground. Networking is fun, it's social and it's something I actually enjoy. Not everyone can say that. Business people around town, and into the neighbouring towns, are getting to recognize me. That's the point, isn't it? I figured that was a good thing and that all was going as it should. Or so I thought!
All of a sudden, I started being told by all and sundry that I simply must have a blog, and I must Twitter, and I must have a Facebook page for my business. "You have to try Social Networking." As if I don't have enough to do in a day. Not willing to risk being left behind in this new digital world of business, for better or worse, I proceeded to wade bravely into each of these new forums.
I already had some experience in Facebook. I'm on there like most of my friends and relatives. I started off slowly and cautiously, only letting a selected few onto my carefully monitored list of friends. But as more people "found" me, so the list grew to include most people who know me, who care to be my friend. But I still wasn't sure how I was going to fit this motley crew into my business agenda. So Facebook was put on the back burner for now.
Next, a couple of people I'd met networking around town asked me to add them on LinkedIn. Okay, time to dip my toe into new digital waters again. I signed up, picked a password and Linked up with my fellow business Networkers about town. Ah ha! This one lets me recommend their services or give testimonials. What a great idea! I'll keep that in mind.
As if on cue, the representative from the Canpages Directory came by to solicit my listing. A printed directory ... this was something I could relate to. "Where do I sign? Oh, that's not all? You have a whole array of online forums too, you say?" All of a sudden I'm registering for GigPark, list my business and start recommending every business I like around town. That was fun. This was followed by signing up for a whole bunch of online directories.
Next on my digital bucket list was Twitter. I have to admit, I had to take a couple of stabs at that one. It made no more sense than the steady stream of chatter the first few times I entered a chat room back in the day. I figured out pretty quickly that I should follow people, clicked on a few celebs that I thought might have something interesting to say. #Well @bleepingbleep #Omg RT! What on earth is this all about?
Several hours and a few tweets later, I gave up. I figured I was in way over my head this time. Thankfully, I met an experienced tweeter who gave me a ten minute crash course in the whole social networking scene. Determined to sink or swim, I jumped in again with both feet. I started from scratch, and worked on following a list people and organizations of interest to my business.
I seem to be making progress. After less than two weeks, I now have over 250 followers and tweet a few times a day. It's been kind of fun and interesting too. I also like retweeting things that I find of interest from the over 600 people that I follow. As with traditional networking, time will tell if all this will increase my business. It can't hurt though. I hope I have time to actually do some work!
Well, I'm out there now! Directories, online networking, website (of course), Facebook, Twitter and so on! The last leap is into the world of Blogging. So here we go again! Wish me luck.
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