Author: Scott Asai

Helping people develop their leadership skills to advance in their career

There’s So Much More To A Content Marketing Strategy Than Blogging

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You are proud of your business. You worked damned hard for a great many years to build it up from nothing. You love your customers and value each and every one who alights on your website or walks through the doors of your physical premises. You also appreciate that if you’re to continue to enjoy their loyalty you can’t just expect them to keep coming to you. You need to extend a hand to them. You need to offer them something for nothing. You need to lift the curtain and let them take a peek behind. You need to take steps to forge a meaningful bond with them that will result in years of happy trading. That’s where content marketing steps in. Content marketing can not only strengthen the relationship your customers have with your brand, it can help you to create a brand identity that attracts legions of new clientele, strengthening and promoting your brand.

Yet, despite the power of content marketing, many entrepreneurs think only of blogging when it comes to using content to engage your audience. While your blog is certainly an important string to the bow of your brand, it is hardly the be all and end all.

Here are some other essential aspects of content marketing which should be incorporated into your strategy…

Video marketing

In an age where most of us consume digital content through mobile devices, in short bursts and on the go, long form written content may not be the best platform to reach busy customers. Video content, however, is quick and easy to digest and can make a huge impression. Given that video will account for 81% of online traffic by 2021 it’s a growth medium that you need to get familiar with. If you’re not using it, there’s a good chance your competitors are.

Email newsletters

Email newsletters are a tried and true method of not only keeping regular customers abreast of what’s going on with your business, it’s also a great means of building a sense of exclusivity. Thus, forking out for the best email marketing software is a worthy investment. You can alert your faithful customers to special offers and promotions as well as delivering targeted content and promotions designed specifically for them. Be warned, however, this is only effective for customers who opt in. You’ll need to tread lightly when it comes to staying on the right side of anti-spam laws.

Tweets and social media posts

Brevity is the soul of wit, and if you master it, you can concoct some devastatingly effective Twitter campaigns. See what you can learn from some of last year’s most successful campaigns. Remember also that a picture is worth a thousand words, and creating engaging content on Instagram is a great way to build a relationship with visually oriented customers.

Tips and tutorials

Finally, perhaps the best free gift you can give your customers is knowledge. Give them tips or tutorials that can help them to overcome the hurdles they face regularly and they will trust in your authority. It’s also a great way of illustrating real life ways in which your product can benefit them or even highlight unorthodox uses for your product.

5 Clear Signs That You Need SEO to Help Your Business

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Search engine optimization is a term that we’ve all heard before. It’s a series of strategies and techniques used to help us improve our search rankings. That means getting us higher in the Google rankings, it means more exposure and it means making your website easier to find.

However, most people ignore SEO because they either don’t understand its importance, or they simply don’t think it’s worth the money. Instead, they choose the DIY SEO route and attempt to stuff their websites full of keywords and use outdated strategies to rank higher. Unfortunately, many of those methods are considered underhanded black-hat methods that could eventually get your website blacklisted.

Here are five signs that you clearly need some SEO help with your website.

  1. Your website is growing stagnant

Original content is king when it comes to SEO. Make sure you add original descriptions, blog posts and general content to your website to keep it fresh.

  1. Your website doesn’t look good on mobile

SEO now includes making your website fit on a variety of different platforms. If your website doesn’t work properly or looks horrible on smartphones and tablets, then you need to optimize it for those platforms.

  1. You rank, but you don’t convert

Ranking high is one story, but actually converting those page views into sales is another matter. SEO can only carry your business so far, but what will you do even if you do reach the number one spot on Google?

  1. You don’t have a social media page

Social media pages and SEO go hand-in-hand. If you don’t have a social media page that’s incorporated into your SEO strategy, you’re doing it wrong.

  1. You have no idea what you’re doing

Let’s face it, you need to be a specialist to do DIY SEO. However, if you’re serious about learning, then take a look at the infographic below to learn some of the biggest SEO trends in 2018.

 


Infographic By: Oregon Web Solutions

Nifty Ways to Promote Your Brand Right Now

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There are a lot of things you can do that will help you to take your business forward, and it is essential to make a good impression. It is so important that you consider the amount that is involved when it comes to boosting and improving your company, and the right level of marketing is perhaps the most essential component. This is the way you can make sure you get better exposure, and that you improve and enhance the status of the company.

These days advertising and promoting your business is everything, and it is important that you do as much as possible to enhance and improve your growth. The more you can take the company forward the better equipped you will be to take on additional clients and really focus on brand potential. So, these are some of the epic ways of marketing your brand in style, starting right now!

  • Use Social Media

Social media has got to rank as the best way of promoting a business in the modern world. There are so many wonderful things you can do across social networking platforms to take the company forward, and creating in-depth profiles helps you to interact better with people. Make full use of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and learn how they can help you improve your business.

  • Create a Jaw-Dropping Website

It can’t be stressed enough just how important it is to make sure you have the best possible website. There are so many factors to consider here, but you have to make sure you are focused on improving and enhancing the site. A poor website is one of the main reasons why no one is visiting your website, and this is something to rectify. It should be as informative and engaging as possible, and this is something you have to get right for the good of the business. Hire a professional web design expert, and this will help you get the best possible outcome.

  • Get Some Promotional Items

Promotional items are also essential for a lot of business owners these days. They represent a wonderful way of raising awareness and bringing more interest to the company. Merchandising can have a hugely positive impact on the rest of the company, and can often bring in more business. Whether it is custom t-shirts, lanyards, mugs, or stationery, this is something you need to focus on to try to improve the business and take things to the next level.

  • Make Use of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is actually one of the most useful and under-utilized forms of promoting a modern brand. This is where you get online influencers, like bloggers and graphic designers, to market and promote your company and its products as much as possible. In return, you can pay them, or give them free products as an incentive. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways of making sure you are focused on taking things to the next level, and a way of generating a fresh audience for your business.

  • Focus on Content

In the world of online, digital business it is pretty clear that content is king. This can have such a profound impact on the company, but not enough people actually ensure they get it right in the long run. Content is the best way to inspire people to find out more, as well as selling all the great points about your business. There are loads of excellent options you might like to think about, and hiring freelance writers to improve your content is something that is really essential in this capacity.

  • Celebrity Endorsements

There are a lot of things you have to think about when it comes to improving the way the company comes across. One of the best things you can do is to make sure you try to get celebrities on board to endorse your business. This can be expensive, but the potential reward involved is huge. Reaching out to celebrities via things like Twitter is so important, and you never know who might say yes!

It’s pretty clear that there are a lot of really excellent ways of making sure you think about how you can promote and enhance your brand. This is something you have to take into account when you move forward. Use the ideas on here, and you will be well-placed to get the best for the company. This is something you need to make sure you get right, and there are a lot of things that play a role in improving this for you.

5 Reasons No-One Is Visiting Your Website

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If business wasn’t cruel from time to time, would it be any fun? Not in our book. However, some things seem especially cruel. Take all those business websites that no-one ever visits. Those companies spent long hours – and perhaps paid good money – getting their website just right, working on content, and all the other small details of setting up a website, and then…no-one is stopping by to check it out, or, if they are, they’re not there long. So if you’re in this position, what’s the problem? We take a look at some of the common reasons why your visitor numbers are low below.

It’s All About You

Your website is going to be kind of about your business, but “your business” is not the main thing that people are looking for when they visit your site. They’re looking for themselves. What does that mean exactly? It means that if you’re making all of your content about your business, then people are going to click X. Make it about THEM – as in, what they want – and they’ll stick around. Be a company that’s like a person who asks questions rather than a person who just talks about themselves.

They Don’t Know You’re There

Sometimes businesses fundamentally misunderstand some things about the internet. They think it’s a place where people hang out, and if they’re just there, then people will stop by. But it’s not. The internet is not a public space where people will naturally drift to your corner of it. You have to lead them there. If you don’t, they’ll have no idea that you exist. It would be like trying to find an underground shop in a packed city: it’s not going to happen. As such, you need to light up your business online, and that means organic SEO marketing. If people can search and find you, they’ll stop by.

All Your Focus Is On Social Media

Social media is important for your business, and anyone who tells you differently is wrong. However, sometimes business owners take this to the extreme edge and put ALL of their focus on their social media accounts. There are companies out there who have plenty of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers, but low website visitor numbers. It’s because they’re not using their social media platforms for its proper use, which is direct people to their site.

Old Content

You could have the greatest web content found anywhere online…but if you’re not updating it periodically, then who’s going to come back? There’s only so often you can visit a website you like without seeing new material. So keep things fresh. Videos, blog posts, new photos will help to do this.

It’s Taking Too Long to Load

Finally, don’t forget the number one sin: taking too long to load! People these days have the attention span of a goldfish (actually, this might be generous), and won’t stick around if the pages are taking too long to load. Speed that baby up.

Taking On New Team Members: How To Find The Best Talent

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The truth is that in theory, hiring new team members always seems like a simple process. However, the fact is that realistically it is far from simple. It’s not just a case of posting an ad on a few job boards, cherry picking candidates and asking a few interview questions, it’s far more complex than that. As many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs will tell you, hiring the right team will give your company the best chance of success. When a business fails, usually it is not simply down to who is at the helm, but who is on the team steering the ship, as it were. So what goes wrong?

According to business experts, far too often business owners hire team members to fulfill their short-term goals, instead of thinking further afield regarding their long-term goals. When it comes to the hiring process, you need to be thinking about your long-term business plan and how much growth you want to achieve. What this means is that if you only take on team members with the short-term in mind, you will need to constantly repeat the hiring process as your company grows and develops because your needs will change. Doing this is costly and time-consuming, and wholly unnecessary.

Of course, that doesn’t have to be the case. If you are mindful about who you are hiring and strive to take on the very best talent and choose people who you know will benefit your business in both the long and short-term, you shouldn’t have to deal with this problem.

Want to know how you can find the very best talent for your business? Read on for all the best tips and advice.

Make a plan

The first step to hiring new team members should be making a plan. As a business owner you are naturally eager to surround yourself with the best talent, but what you don’t want to do is rush the hiring process. That’s why making a plan is such an important step and one that should not be skipped. Don’t hire team members based on anything other than your business’s long-term needs and goals. By putting a plan in place, you can use your long-term strategy and business budget to ensure that you make the right staffing choices.

An example of this is that influencer marketing is big right now – everyone is talking about it and how essential it is for businesses. This may make new business owners feel like they need to hire an influencer strategist immediately, but this would be a mistake. You won’t be able to afford a strategist straight away – it will take time to build up the budget to be able to afford the strategist and the process of working with influencers.

By having a plan in place that acts as a roadmap in regards to the team members you need and when you need them, you can ensure that you are not hiring unnecessarily.

Be specific

Before you start listing your job openings online on networks such as LinkedIn, it’s important that you know exactly what you want and need. You need to create a specific job description – you need to know what you need. You don’t want your job description to read exactly like every other one on the site.

A generic advert means a generic number of responses. If you want to source all the most unique talent, you need to create a more unique job advert. Tailor your job advert perfectly to suit your needs as a business owner. Be clear about what you’re looking for and what you require. The more comprehensive the job description is, the better. You want to attract the right kind of people, so being specific is key.

In the personality traits section, ensure that you add some relevant information. What kinds of person do you require? Be clear about this – if you need a specific personality type you need to state this. Remember, it’s essential that you look for diversity – diversity in the workplace is vital for success, which is why you want to ensure that you are hiring a diverse team of people.

Put skill ahead of experience

Often, experience is something that business owners put ahead of skill, but it shouldn’t be. Just because someone has more experience that doesn’t mean that they have the best skills. So as a business owner, take the approach that skill comes before experience – just because a candidate is fresh out of university that doesn’t mean that they aren’t the best person for the job, and it’s crucial that you remember that.

Say, for instance, you’re interviewing two candidates; one with five years experience and the other fresh out of university. While the experienced candidate might have more industry knowledge, the graduate may have a range of skills that the more experienced candidate may not have. Courses change all the time, methods are updated, so often younger and more newly qualified people can be the better choice.

There you have it, a guide to how you can find the very best talent for your business when it comes to hiring.

A Fresh Work Ethic: Boost Your Office Interior For Productivity

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Your office environment is where you and your team will spend most of your working week. However, with so much happening with your business; it can often be an aspect of your company that gets forgotten and left at the bottom of the priority list. Many feel that as long as they have enough surfaces and equipment to carry out the day-to-day tasks within a company; their office space with merely suffice. However, a neglected and tired working environment will have a negative effect on your staff, and your team may not be as productive as they could be.

A lack of enthusiasm and motivation within a group is what can drive a business downhill, so it might be time to take a look at your surroundings and make change where needed. Therefore, it’s worth investing in the workspace for your business, so you’ll benefit the company long term, and it can continue to grow and develop. The following are some things to consider, and some ideas and inspiration for those looking to update the space in which they work with their staff.

Fresh Facilities

Your team should be able to feel comfortable and inspired when they arrive to work each day. Therefore, you’ll need to ensure that they have enough facilities to utilize and that they are kept to a high standard. Start with the basics, and create a pleasant bathroom environment; your workers will appreciate somewhere clean to use and freshen-up. Therefore, make sure you look into cleaning and janitorial services so that the environment remains clean and hygienic. The same goes for your kitchen facilities; a break or lunch hour is a vital time for your employees to recharge for a successful afternoon of work. Therefore, the kitchen space needs to have enough equipment to prepare their food and drinks, and feel clean, modern, and somewhere they enjoy spending time.

Inspiring Interiors

Get as much natural light into your office environment as possible; it’s the best way to lift a room and ensure people aren’t suffering from the effects of a dark and gloomy work day. Take away old and tired blinds or curtains and keep each window pane as clean as possible. If the space doesn’t have the benefit from plenty of windows; think carefully about the lighting you utilize. Your decor should help the room feel light and spacious. Neutral colors are best on large wall and floor areas, and you can add areas of interest and inspiration with artwork, quotes, and the achievements of your company. You want your team to have items to look at that will inspire and motivate them to work hard for your company, so bear that in mind when your design and decorate the space.

Sensible Space

It can be difficult to think clearly in a stifling and cramped environment. Therefore, it’s vital that your office feels open, easy to maneuver around, and fresh. There’s no better, or more affordable way to enhance a space and give it a new lease of life than to start moving the large items of furniture around. Think about moving desks so that they face the best areas of natural light; this will boost the mood of your team and productivity will start to improve immediately.

Should Your Business Be Aspirational or Relatable?

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For the most part, businesses fall into one of two categories: aspirational, or relatable.

Aspirational businesses seek to sell an idea to the general public. They sell a lifestyle; their entire focus is tempting, somewhat luxurious. Their products or services are sold in a way that makes customers want to buy, rather than customers seeking them out because they need to buy.

Relatable businesses are almost the exact opposite. They sell their products and services based on need. They relate to their customers’ existing lives rather than trying to sell them a better, brighter life; they seek improvement rather than replacing.

Almost any product or service can be sold in an aspirational or relatable way.. For example, if you sell luxury soap:

  • Aspirational: “You deserve this soap. Your skin, and your life, will be better if you use this soap. This soap will grant you a touch of luxury during an everyday routine. It’s a treat, a way to care for yourself.”
  • Relatable: “Your life is tough, and it’s nice to have to have a little luxury to cheer you up after a hard day. This soap can be a ray of sunshine that powers you through, ensures your hands are clean, and is kind to your skin at the same time.”

The above text has been somewhat embellished to make the point, but the basic idea is the same: anything can be aspirational or relatable.

Which is better: aspirational or relatable?

Here’s the thing: there is no “right” answer to this question. Both aspirational and relatable services can be incredibly successful; they just represent different approaches.

So why does the decision matter?

If both types of approach can produce a successful business, it’s natural to wonder why you have to ponder this question at all. The answer is simple: the aspirational/relatable choice influences nearly every decision you will make over the course of running your business. For example:

  • As mentioned, marketing choices you make are most influenced by the aspirational/relatable choice. The wording you use, the images, what you’re trying to sell to your customers – they are all governed by this decision. When you have a strong relatable or aspirational vision to take to professional marketing services from Third Angle and similar companies, you will be able to achieve a cohesive campaign that genuinely benefits your company.
  • If you sell products, the packaging you choose is influenced by the aspirational/relatable choice also. For aspirational products, you would use high-end packaging that looks good in a cupboard or on a dressing table; for relatable, you’d keep things more basic and friendly.
  • Your brand’s voice is highly affected by this decision also, encompassing everything from product labelling to how you communicate with customers on social media.

The above areas are just the most obvious areas that are governed by this choice, and are in and of themselves highly significant to the success of your business. While there is no right or wrong decision when contemplating this choice, the fact that you have to make a choice is undeniable.

Whichever you choose, be sure to continually adhere to the same principle throughout every business area. Not only will this help ensure that your business is cohesive across its presentation, but it will also allow you to make quick, concise, on-brand decisions every time.

3 Tech Tools to Make Your Business Easier to Manage

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Running a business can sometimes be an uphill battle. You need to make sure everything is working as it should and that you’re meeting your targets, while also looking out for your employees and ensuring that they’re happy. Luckily, we have technology on our side to make everything just a little bit easier.

Even when business is good, there are ways to make it run even better and function just a little bit smoother. And when things are going downhill, on the other hand, these tips will certainly come in handy.

Here are the best ways to make your business a bit easier to manage on an everyday basis so that you have more time to make it prosper as it should.

Communication: Slack

Sure, you know that there is an ocean of communication tools out there to make collaboration a lot easier for your team. Yet, some of them are better than others – and Slack enables file sharing, direct messaging as well as group chats.

Plus, you can enable to it notify your employees directly on their computers once they have a message and it is, of course, available as a mobile version as well.

It’s the go-to tool for everything from large businesses to small start-ups, and is currently boasting more than 3 million users. You don’t even have to pay for it unless you want to use the full version, so try it for a bit before you decide on anything permanent.

Planning: Doodle

Everything that your team needs to decide on can be a real headache. Once you’ve gathered everyone that should have an input on planning a meeting, for example, there are always some participants who can’t make it – and you’re back where you started.

The app Doodle makes it a lot easier as it suggests a time in the calendar which everyone has to vote on. That way, you won’t have to send endless rounds of email until you’ve found a date and a time that works for everyone. Plus, it’s really great for planning a trip out with your friends to make sure everyone is available.

You can get a free version of Doodle as well, by the way, or just go for the paid version straight away if you already know what you want.

Online marketing: PPCnerd

Every business deals with some sort of online marketing, and it can be a tiring task to optimise a campaign. Instead of automating everything and analysing various reports, you can be using PPCnerd Scripts for Adwords automation and avoid the hassle altogether.

Simply download the script and save yourself the hours you would have spent on managing and monitoring it on your own.

Integrate your tools: Zapier

While all of the apps and tools above are great, they become even better when you let Zapier integrate them seamlessly. This application takes advantage of application programming interfaces to connect various custom web tools.

You can create automated actions between the tools and apps as well, by the way, to make it even easier for your business to cope. Have a look at this article too, though, if you’d like to know about even more excellent apps that your business can make use of.

No matter the size of your company, there is always some great technology out there to make it a whole easier for you to manage it. From synchronizing your calendars to meeting up through an easy-to-use communication platform; these apps will simply make your business run smoother.

It makes those Wednesdays a bit easier to get through and, when you’re having a bad day, it’s going to make a huge difference.

Should You Reward Employees?

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We pay our employees to do a job. They are employed and given a wage and stable employment, on the condition that they do that job. It seems simple. Yet, many of us wonder about the prospect of employee rewards. Some feel that they shouldn’t have to reward their employees for merely doing their job. They are getting paid to do it, and that should be reward enough. Other people see the benefits of initiating an employee reward scheme and feel that it often leads to staff doing much more than their basic job. Here are some of the advantages of rewarding your team for their hard work.

They’ll go Above and Beyond

You pay your staff to do a job, and they do it. But, the very best staff do much more than that. They go the extra mile. They provide exceptional customer service. They make great suggestions. They care about your business, and they give their all. Incentives are a fantastic way to promote and encourage this. If you want them to do more than simply meeting the requirements of their job description, then you could offer more than their salary.

Increased Productivity

A fantastic way to utilize an incentive scheme is with competition. You don’t want your staff to turn against each other, so a small incentive like custom gift cards or an extra-long break are perfect. Run contests, give your staff challenges and reward them when they win. This will get them working faster, increase overall productivity, boost morale and improve team spirit.

Loyalty

Staff turnover is very high in many companies around the globe. This is terrible for business. Your team will never get the chance to build relationships, they’ll never receive enough training and experience to be excellent at their job, and they’ll never build relationships with customers. Offering small rewards, bonuses or incentives can hugely increase staff loyalty. They’ll want to stick with you for longer because they feel valued and appreciated.

You’ll Save Money

This decreased staff turnover can save you an awful lot of money. Sure, you might be spending a little on the incentives on offer, but did you know that the average cost of turnover for one employee is between 150 and 250% of an annual salary? Keep your staff, spend more time and money on them, and you could save a fortune.  

You’ll Build Relationships and Respect

Running a business isn’t all about numbers, sales, and customers. The very best managers and business owners know how to manage people. They understand that it’s their staff that make their businesses work and that a good team can be the difference between making it big and going bust. To have that great team you need to build relationships. You need to understand them, and to trust them. But, you also need their respect. Many managers try to be too friendly with their team, and lines get blurred. Respect is lost, and the company suffers. Incentives and rewards give you a great way to start building the right kind of relationships with your staff. They’ll want to work for you, but they’ll know who is in charge.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you. No one can tell you that you should reward your staff, but it can have some fantastic results.

Useful Tips For Making Choosing A Business Premises Simpler

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When it comes to choosing a business premise, there’s a lot that you need to consider. Whether you are moving from one premise to another or are only just looking for a business premise after working remotely, it’s important to ensure that you know what you are doing when it comes to choosing the right premise for you business to run from.

The process of choosing a business premise can be an extremely daunting one, which is why it’s so important that you take steps to make choosing a business premises a little simpler and less stressful. To help you to do that below is a guide to what you can do to make it easier to find that perfect business premises.

Write a tick list

First things first, start the process of finding a new business premise by writing a tick list of all the things that you need your new premise to have. This could include things like on-site parking, space to expand in the future, areas for relaxing as well as working – think about what you and your team members need from your premise and create a tick list that incorporates all of those things. Obviously, it’s important to bear in mind that you may not be able to have everything that you want, and may need to compromise on some factors.

Decide whether to rent or buy

The next factor to consider is whether to rent or buy. This is a tricky one to consider as there is a lot to think about and take into account, from the cost of buying to whether any premise can give you what you may potentially need for the future. If you’re concerned about the financial side of buying, you could consider taking out a commercial real estate loan to help make buying a premise more doable. However, if you don’t want to be in debt or are not eligible for this kind of loan, then you might want to consider renting instead.

Utilize the internet

Once you know whether you are renting or buying, take advantage of the internet to look at properties and get an idea of which ones you like and which ones you don’t. The internet can be an amazing tool for property searching as it gives you access to properties in various locations, giving you a greater amount of choice, regarding where you buy from.

Ask your employees for their insight

When you find a business premise that you like, take one tour of it by yourself and take a look around. Then, ask for a second viewing and bring a selection of your employees along with you, to see what they think about the premise. It can often be highly beneficial to get an outsider’s insight into choosing a property, as sometimes you will miss things, which is why having a second pair of eyes can be so helpful.

There you have it, a guide to everything that you need to know about making choosing a business premise simpler and less stressful for everyone involved.