Business

  • The Quick and Easy Way to Proofread

     

    If you are short on time and attention span but know proofreading is a must then let me share my quick hack on proofing the quick and easy way.

    Once I write out my blog post, or other lengthy write-up, I then copy the entire text.

    Then I hop on over to  Google Translate (https://translate.google.com/) where I paste my text into the left side box. Then press the speaker icon and listen to your story. Sweet and simple!

     

    As I was publishing this little post, my 15-year-old son walked by and told me about Grammarly. It’s a free Chrome extension and is very easy to use and install. I just installed it and used it on this post. I’m impressed. So there are now TWO Quick and Easy hacks to proofreading. Is the word ‘hack’ overused? I bet it is but ‘tip and trick’ is old too. I’m leaving as is because I think you will understand.

    Have any tricks you want to share? Let me know in the comments and/or follow me over on Instagram or Facebook.

     

     

    Never miss a post, tip, freebie or sale. Sign up below! We would love to have you join us.

    Continue Reading...

  • Why Selling on Social Media is Hurting Your Business

     

    Hi! Okay, I am going to make this quick and painless. Hopefully. Here are 3 reasons you are potentially doing damage to your business and stunting your own business growth if you are selling on social media:

    Selling only on social media and not being able to send your customer to a real live website hurts your appearance and professional standing. It’s like going to the mall and having one of those girls in a kiosk asking if you want to have your hair straightened or maybe have a massage. In the middle of the mall. My first thought is that if their product is so great why aren’t they investing in a real store front? Same with social media selling. If you have the good goods and you are going to be around for awhile, set up a real store front online (AKA a website). Are you a running a business or are you playing around with a hobby/sort of business? If you are running a business – get a website.

     

    When you sell on social media and you ask your customer to leave their size, state, and email in the comments you are putting their information at risk. If (and when) a spammer, spambot, creepy hacker type automated program gets a hold of their very visible email address you just bought your customer trouble in the form of a ton of nasty spam to something worse. I am sure you value your customers so stop doing this at once if you are guilty of this.

     

    When you post on social media the goal is to get them to your website. When you send them to your website the goal is to get something from them – whether it be a purchase, a newsletter signup, an entry to a giveaway, etc. And it’s even better when they do multiple things on your website. When I see a post on social media selling a cute t-shirt, as a consumer, I go through one of two processes (yes, I buy t-shirts online way too much. Follow me on Instagram and you will see me often giving shout outs to businesses and showing off the t-shirt I just bought from them). Stay with me. This is good insight here.

    Scenario one (the almost sort of winner): I see a post on Instagram where this business is selling a t-shirt and I want it. (I almost always do because I am an easy sell). If they ask for my email address and size, I cringe because I don’t leave my email address on social media because of Reason 2. So sometimes I skip on by because it’s too much work to buy their shirt. If I really want it, I will DM them and give them my info. Not a great sell because they left money on the table. Tsk! Tsk! Where did they miss out on more money? Well, they missed selling me more. They did nothing to retain me as a customer and no relationship was formed. Read below.

    Scenario Two (the real winner): I see a post on Instagram of this must have t-shirt. They give me all the info in the post and tell me to click the link in the bio to visit their website. Sweet. I skip on over to the website, see the awesome shirt I want, and add it to my cart. Am I done? Nope. I check out their other products because while I’m here I might as well scope out the store. And I might find more t-shirts I want and therefore spend more. Even better is they offered an incentive to sign up for the email list/newsletter. So now in two weeks when I have forgotten about this store because I have moved onto something else they send me a newsletter to my email inbox telling me about a sale they are having. So, I have just been reminded of this business and I remember the last time was a great shopping experience so I click on over to their website again and potentially give them more sales. Winner winner chicken dinner. I win as a customer because I have found a great little place to shop and they care enough about me to send me info on their latest happenings so they win, too.

     

    If you are in it to win it and you want to see your business become something solid take the time to learn the best strategies for selling on social media. I know you have better things to do than to guess what works on social media. If you want to dive in further, download my free guide here. It won’t launch you into making millions overnight (I so wish!). But it will show you 5 successful things I do for my own business on Instagram.

    [convertkit form=4989469]

     

    Continue Reading...

  • The Three Mistakes You Might be Making with Your Business.

    I bet you would agree with me when I say ‘running a business is NOT easy”. I have been in the game long enough now that I can spot mistakes other businesses are making. And my first reaction is to want to help them because I sure wished for help for my own little business way back when.
    So, I want to share with you three mistakes that you can easily fix if you are making them in your own business. I’m sure if you are reading this you aren’t happy with where you are right now in your business so read on for ways to stop limiting your business and get growing!
    Not knowing something in your business so you just let frustration win. 
    I see and hear this so many times from my own clients and other business owners. Sometimes they feel challenged in some way by something in their business and instead of digging in and figuring it out they head for the hills. For example, I was on a coaching call with a client a few weeks ago and they were frustrated because they felt ‘technically challenged’ so instead of going with their plan of taking their brick and mortar store online and starting a website, they just made excuses and continued to be frustrated. That is one approach. However, it’s not the best approach considering they are leaving a lot of money on the table by not selling online. Being technically challenged or not knowing all the ins and outs of online business is frustrating. But there are so many resources online these days it’s not an acceptable excuse to not do something in your business just because you don’t know how. So, get in there. Hire a coach. Read business articles on Pinterest. Don’t be afraid to invest in your business. You can’t know it all and you are not alone. Learn from other businesses. Investing in courses for my own business and learning what I could about running a business online was vital to my success. Did I want to part with the $500 for that particular e-course that taught me how to run ads on Facebook? Heck no. Did I really have the extra cash at the time? Uh no. I have three kids and I am a single mom. But I figured it out because I knew I was worth it, I knew my business was worth it, and I knew my family would reap the benefits of me being a smarter business owner. Being a business owner means getting in there and figuring it out and doing what it takes to build upon your skills. Bottom line: If you don’t invest in learning how to run your business, you are going to stay stuck or grow very slowly.
     Not setting yourself up for success by adopting the right mindset and goals.

    This one took a little while for me to get. My first few years in business I didn’t set goals and I didn’t know anything about the “right mindset”. But I was able to learn it through e-courses, business books, watching business videos on YouTube, etc.

    You have to believe enough in your business that it will provide for you. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that success is owning a business and watching God pay the bills. Small business is BIG time scary at some points. You don’t know if that sale is going to come in to cover the water bill, or if you are ever going to make enough to leave your full-time job. It’s also hard when you put so much effort in only to see so little return. So I will let you in on a little secret – trust that your business will provide. Trust that if you are following your dreams, that God will make this work out. Some way. Somehow. And not only trust that it will happen but thank Him even before it does happen. You know something along the lines of ‘thank you God for making a way for this to work out even when I have NO idea how it will’.

    And set goals for goodness sake. If you don’t set goals and have a plan of how to reach them you are blindly leading your business in the dark. How will you know when success arrives if you aren’t working toward a goal? What do you want out of your business? What do you want your life to look like in one year? Five years? Take time to think about this and make a plan. Then break it down. What is your goal for your business this year ? How are you going to work toward that over the next 12 months? And then break down each month. And then break it down again into each week.

    Having a goal, a positive mindset, and a grateful heart helps in making  an unstoppable business plan!

     Not investing in a good website. 
    Now this one kind of goes along with Mistake #1. But also ties into Mistake #2 as well in not having a goal. If you are selling online and you are selling off Facebook or another social media then I urge you to make the jump and find an official ‘home’ for your business online. There are MANY reasons to have a website and one reason is because it’s hard to take a business seriously if it doesn’t have a website. Are you running a hobby or a business? If it’s just a hobby and you don’t really have plans to reach a significant level and make some cash then keep your corner on social media. But if you are chasing a dream that is big enough that you are wanting to build something substantial and lasting, do whatever it takes to get a website by all means. I could probably write a whole book on just this topic alone. Social media is a great place to get the attention of your customers but if you want to get into the pockets of your customers (that might sound tacky but that kind of is the point of having a business afterall) then you need a website. And having a firm presence on the web (i.e. a real website) is a way to connect with customers – not just their pockets but connect with them as people. A website can showcase your business and you -the business owner- as well as what the business stands for. You can’t convey that across social media in 140 characters or less or a post that might not even be seen. Small business owners are at an advantage of being able to connect with their customers. Having a website is a great place to show them how awesome your business and you are.
    3 mistakes and 3 easy solutions. If you are thinking it’s not easy to get a website up and going I am going to show you it is. If you are needing a website, how about ‘try before you buy’? Click here to sign up for a free Shopify trial. (You don’t need to enter a credit card. If you don’t like it, there is nothing lost. You walk away and you don’t even have to cancel your account because there is no obligation.)
    But maybe you want one on one help to set up your Shopify site the right way. The easy way. I am more than happy to help you out with that, as well. My FREE Shopify for Success video course is the easiest way to go in starting up a Shopify site. Plus you get a FREE Shopify trial. You can’t beat that!

    Continue Reading...