by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 15, 2013 | Guest Blogger, Small Business
Focus on sales to reach calculated, repeatable success. Why? Mediocrity is, well, ‘boring’!
If you’re reading this the chances are that you are working with Ace Concierge (or thinking about how a Virtual Assistant can help your business) and enjoying the gift of time.
Kudos!
For most businesses (of any shape, size and look) outsourcing areas of business is a must. You know you have special skills. You know you have passions. You know your strengths can’t possibly lie in all the areas required to run a business.
So what now?
Does outsourcing mean you can spend more time on the beach sipping fruity cocktails out of a coconut shell?
Possibly.
The likelihood is that you are looking to leverage the new found time, peace of mind and rejuvenated focus working ON your business.
Where do you start? Well, that depends entirely on you, your business and the priorities that you feel deserve the attention you can afford them.
Where will you need to focus your attention? Sales.
(Save the jeers and tomato throwing!)
Yes, at some point to reach a point of predictable success your business will need to focus on sales and processes.
Marketing is vital. Especially if you think about marketing as the act of raising awareness of your business to your target market(s).
Sales is essential.
In essence, as small business owners our goal is to spend as much time as possible service those we are meant to serve. Our ideal clients.
In order to this we need to have a proportionate amount of sales conversations with prospects to encourage them to make the step up from prospect to highly valued client.
This much, we know.
Getting to the point of having these sales conversations is subject largely to the processes that we have in place to enable this to happen.
There 5 processes to implement on the road to successful growth.
5 Commercial Processes To Address In Your Business
- The Lead Generation Process – The act of encouraging prospects to have a sales conversation
- The Sales Process – the process of taking a prospect from potential target, through qualified prospect to valued paying client
- The Follow Up Process – The act of ensuring all leads are informed through the process
- The Lead Nurturing Process – A process dedicated to those that have illustrated an interest in your offer but have declined to purchase at this time
- The Data/CRM Process – The strategy behind contact management and analyzing your progress
Without knowing you I would like to say that I believe you to be compelling, genuine and passionate when speaking with prospective clients. Most small business owners and solopreneurs are and this is because of the belief you have in yours and your businesses ability.
Complacency can creep in bit by bit. As such, generate and implement process to ensure continued success and longevity.
This will make the fruity cocktails taste oh so much sweeter.
If you’re interested in learning more about this, sales processes and more, download a free copy of my report and short e-book here.
Guest Post by Michael Trow
Michael Trow is the owner of Michael Trow Enterprises LLC where he helps small to medium sized businesses grow by working with them to improve the effectiveness of their sales and marketing. Michael is a facilitator at the Workforce Development Program locally and has been sitting on the board for the Tallahassee chapter of The ASTD.
Michael has lived and worked in four continents, done business all over the world through a 12 year sales and marketing career. During this time he has helped launch new business units, lead and train sales teams and been responsible for growing businesses through front line sales and marketing. He is a self-proclaimed dog lover, wine appreciator and out of practice musician!
Connect with Michael
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 13, 2013 | Customer Service, Social Media
People buy from people – we know this. Take the opportunity to humanize your brand and build foundations to nurture trust and loyalty. Simply creating accounts and posting content is not enough. We all enjoy the human touch and conversations. We are not science experiments, sterile metrics or robots. We are thoughtful engaging humans who want to be valued and heard.
We are inundated daily with all sorts of tools and ideas of what we should do and how we should do it, seemingly a little clinical at times. Reach out; personalize the conversation. It takes minimal time and effort.
Just be nice, take genuine interest in the people you meet, and keep in touch with people you like. This will create a group of people who are invested in helping you because they know you and appreciate you. Guy Kawasaki.
You don’t want to be ignored when you shop at a store or dine at a restaurant. You want to be greeted. You want to be welcomed. When I first moved to North Carolina I needed some new furniture. I was not only empowered with my move but so excited to furnish my apartment. Upon walking into a local establishment, I saw 5-6 salespeople milling about. I wasn’t greeted. I wasn’t asked if I wanted help. No one seemed to notice me.
I never went back AND I of course tweeted to them about their horrific lack of service. The point is, whether offline or in the digital world, pay attention to your followers.
The most successful marketer becomes part of the lives of their followers. They follow back. They wish happy birthday. They handle problems their customers have with products or service. They grow their
businesses and brands by involving themselves in their own communities. Marsha Collier
Think about what impresses you most about the brands and companies you follow. What sets them apart from the competitors? What drives you to like, know and trust these brands?
How can you scoop up some market share and humanize your brand?
- Engage your followers in conversations. This is SOCIAL media. “Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships.” David Alston.
- Show authentic interest in their business and their lives. Sincerity drives rapport.
- Focus on relationships. Sure it can be a numbers game but the quality is better than quantity. I would rather have four quarters than 100 pennies. “Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball cards.” Jay Baer.
- Listen and respond to industry-related issues. We all like to have a voice.
- Follow up and respond to all messages. It is common courtesy and good business.
- Have a personal picture of yourself. Let them look into your eyes and see YOU, not a graphic.
- Provide introductions to other followers. Introductions are powerful tools – it says I know who you are, what interests you, and who is important in your network.
- Promote other people’s content. Self-promotion should be a smaller portion of your content marketing. A random act of kindness is paying it forward. It is always a nice surprise to see your own content shared by other thought leaders. “Social Media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.” Matt Goulart.
- Reshare your follower’s posts. A retweet is once again sharing the love and showing that you are listening and following.
- Show your human side. Your passions, failures, successes. Isn’t this what helps bring people closer together? It isn’t a weakness to share such details, but a strength to show your vulnerabilities as well as your dreams.
- Share your expertise on trending topics. Your knowledge is wanted and needed. Solve problems and inspire others to think deeply. Think value not “me me” fluff.
- Encourage feedback from your community. Asking questions and cultivating responses shows you value their input.
- Set up keyword alerts. Follow industry chatter, hashtags and your brand. Respond accordingly. Following the conversation and being able to troubleshoot promotes you as an attentive brand manager.
Be THAT company, THAT person, that you want to buy from.
Today people don’t trust companies. One of the things marketers want to do is to humanize their brand. What better way to do it than put a live person in front of them? Jackie Huba.
What steps do you take to humanize your brand?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 8, 2013 | Entrepreneur
How do you value or measure your success? Many place financial gain as their metric for success but does this really encompass all that you strive for? It is certainly one component but is it the “be all” to gauge your accomplishments?
There is always going to be someone else with more: more money, more things, more status, more friends. You name it; we are a society of more and that is unfortunate. This mentality leaves some in a state of inadequacy, never feeling secure, successful or complete.
When you are able to turn inward and discover your own strengths it becomes a healthier motivation for achievement. Remove the emotional tickers and learn what is good for you. How you can be better at your career, relationships, parenting, and in your community.
The desire to grow should be a daily goal but based upon you and not your perceived success of others as you are a unique individual. Sure, be inspired for change, realizing it on your terms, your gifts to make a difference in your unique value proposition.
Just the other day I was speaking with a client about measuring success against the success of others and she told me: “You have arrived.”
Did I dance a bit? Heck yes.
Did I believe her? Yes, I did.
Have I compared my success level to that of others in my industry? Honestly? I have. It became a powerful learning tool for me as I was able to look deeper into my company, what I am doing, what is different, what is the same, what is (isn’t) working, what are my strengths and where can I improve. I set my intentions, manifested goals, and knew what needed to be worked on.
Am I a success? YES and on many levels: as an entrepreneur, a mom, a caregiver, a thought leader, a friend, and even an X-wife. I love what I do and do what I love. I am a passionate business owner driven to help others succeed.
I think my greatest accomplishment is being the best mom in the world or so I have been told. My daughter recently graduated college with a degree in forensic science from VCU and I still get the calls: “I love you so much, mom. You are an amazing role model.”
My most personal empowering experience? During my daughter’s sophomore year in college, she wanted home closer than 12 hours away. Twitter directed me to North Carolina: a quick flight in August 2009 to find an apartment and then the solo 16-hour drive from NH to NC in October to begin my next adventure.
The most impactful would be caregivers for my mom and sister while they battled breast cancer. As my sister and I were leaving Dana Farber after her stem cell transplant, she looked at me and said: “I never could have gotten through each day without opening my eyes and seeing you in that chair.”
Treasured notes: one from my dad telling me how proud he is of me, my accomplishments, and my company. I love my dad.
Business successes are numerous: they can be counted, measured, and shared. “I have arrived” and I know this from the recommendations on LinkedIn, website testimonials, word of mouth referrals, shout outs on social media, growth of my client base, the client calls I receive just to hear their successes because they partnered with Ace, the positive network of other virtual assistants and colleagues, the expansion of my community, earning the trust and respect of others, and the recent opportunities for interviews, guest author posts, and podcasts.
This is my view of success or at least part of it.
Life and business are constant opportunities for growth. If we stop learning, we stop living: we stagnate. Create richer value to share and assist others. Look for ways to instigate change (the infamous words of Chery Gegelman of Giana Consulting).
Have I achieved everything I want on MY terms? Not yet but that is why I have goals and action steps.
Do I facilitate daily growth and change? YES. I have a thirst for knowledge and a quest for learning to benefit myself and my clients.
Am I ready to buy my private plane or oceanfront home? Not yet but it isn’t always dollars it’s YOUR view….
More importantly: Am I satisfied and content with my place in this world? A resounding YES!
“The joy of life consists in the exercise of one’s energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal.” Aleister Crowley
The day isn’t over and I am still breathing.
Watch out world because I have arrived.
What is your measure of success? Is it only financial gain or are there other more intrinsic metrics to exemplify your growth achievements?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 6, 2013 | Blogging, Social Media
Blog syndication provides a distribution channel to enhance your readership and exposure. You can’t just write a post and hope that it is found. In our last post: Why Should Your Business Bog? you learned about the purpose of a business blog as well as some core best strategies.
You have heard “content is king.” It is your currency to drive engagement, authority and conversions. After you have written such rich and educational content, share it on your social channels and start the buzz to develop your quality relationships and branding.
“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs.” Seth Godin
Social media and SEO are related as you have seen in your social searches and Google has validated this as well with Google+ and Google Authorship. Content that is relevant and can be trusted as authoritative will help drive both search engine and social media marketing. Content that is shared on your SM channels is prioritized and has a great deal of influence with search engines and your audience. When people see that your content has been liked and shared, this becomes “social proof” and they are more apt to visit your website and read your content. Content that has a social connection is presented more often in search results, giving you the opportunity for a higher ranking. Your social shares help to promote more inbound links, increases page rank and influences SEO with your use of keywords.
“Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.” Wikipedia
How and where can you promote your blog?
- Leverage the power of your website with a link in the navigation bar
- Link internally to other posts
- Use sidebars to promote popular posts
- Add a link in your email signature
- Include your blog in your email marketing newsletters
- Create a weekly or monthly digest of your most popular posts and email this to your opt-in list
- Add a blog link to your business card
- Include your blog on your social media profiles
- Share your posts with your network
- Become a guest author for other industry thought leaders
- Include social share options on your posts
- Add an RSS and Feedly button at the top of your blog
There are many other sites and different types of blog and article directories to help push your content for further exposure and notoriety. While the list below is short, it is a baseline to start the process of promoting your posts.
Here are some other resources and articles you may like to read:
TopRank Best List of RSS Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog and Feed
Link Building Strategies – The Complete List
The Content Marketing Conversion Funnel [Infographic]
YOU are at the center of The Conversation Prism
What steps do you implement to promote your blog content? Do you have any favorites that have considerably driven your engagement or met your goals?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 2, 2013 | Productivity, Time Management
Are you looking to increase your productivity and efficiency? Maybe get back on track to do more or better manage your time? There are hundreds of articles posted daily and it can be overwhelming to read and/or implement different tools or platforms. You have to find the one that works best for you and use it.
We can read and test with all best intentions but unless we begin to create new habits, committing to a goal, the tool won’t take effect. It is up to you to dedicate your time and energy to learning which one you will apply.
I know I have personally tested a variety of To Do lists, task reminders and project management applications. Some have fallen by the wayside while others have become SOP. I have made these part of my daily routine, for both myself and my clients. Without proper time management and organization, time would be lost and there could be a sense of chaos or overwhelm.
There are many professed gurus suggesting their best methods and time tested tools, but whatever you choose, it must work for you.
- You must want to be more industrious and systematized.
- You must be ready for change.
- You must utilize the application until it becomes second nature.
We search every day, every week for new articles and suggestions and here are few from this week.
6 Secrets Of Super Productive To-Do Lists
3 Threats to Effective Time Blocking and How To Solve Them
How To Manage Your Time
Project Lists: 8 Steps to Crush Your Chaos
The Science of Productivity (video)
Small Business Success Podcast: Time management, Delegation & Empowering Your Core Genius
Time management tips: 5 beliefs that limit productivity
Time Tracking for Productivity
So there you have it: a few tips, tools and commentary to guide you toward a little deeper efficiency.
Can you become a Productivity Maven?
