4 Tips for Marketing “Write” on Social Media

Let’s face it: we’re living in a society of likes, links, friends, fans, followers and tweets. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then clearly there’s no wi-fi connection in the cave where you are living. And you’re certainly not running a successful business from there, so come out and get social.

According to Nielsen’s Social Media Report Q3 2011, nearly four in five active internet users visit social networks and blogs.

A study done by AOL and Nielsen found 27 million pieces of online content are shared daily in the U.S. The key to using social media effectively for your business is providing content of value. Your clients and potential customers want information they can use and share with others. Being the provider of the information, your credibility gets a huge boost and could ultimately lead to new sales or repeat business. That being said, your ability to write well is tied directly to your social media marketing success.

Here are four tips to help you write to win on social media.

1.     Write a hot headline. So you’ve got great information to share, but if you don’t get the reader’s attention, who cares? A compelling headline is your chance to hook ‘em, so pique their interest with keywords they are interested in and power words that get them motivated. Be careful not to be misleading, though. Make sure your content delivers what your headline says. Jazzy tip: Need inspiration? Check out the tabloids. Hate them or love them, they have the best headlines.

2.     Write in a conversational tone. As tempted as you may be to post pages from a technical report full of jargon (yawn) or that perfectly scripted corporate sales presentation, don’t do it. Social media is about being social, being a part of the conversation. Jazzy tip: Read your writing out loud before you hit the share or tweet button.

3.     Write information that is “scannable.” People do not read at length on social media. More often than not, they scan. So write in a way that readers can easily skim your content. Rather than a long article, present your information in chunks of text that are more manageable to read and easy for readers to digest quickly. Try writing short sentences and paragraphs, and use bulleted lists and subheads to help identify key information. Jazzy tip: Include links to more detailed information and articles, such as a link to your blog.

4.     Write and then Edit! Edit! Edit! Just because it’s online content doesn’t mean you can forego the all-important step of editing. If you don’t take the time to check spelling and punctuation, prospects may not take the time to get to know your company. On Twitter you only get 140 characters to get your message across, so eliminate delete unnecessary words. Jazzy tip: When crafting your tweet, edit down to 120 characters, leaving enough room to be re-tweeted.

Bonus tip: Add images or video. On Facebook in particular, image posts receive 54% more engagement than text-only posts.

For more tips on writing for social media and to learn the dos and don’ts, register for Writing Your Way to Results” a half-day workshop presented by Joan Burke Stanford of Jazzy Pen Communications and Carolyn Ortman of CKO Marketing Group. This exciting, info packed workshop delves deep into writing content that takes your marketing efforts to the next level. Visit www.writingforresults.ezregister.com

Joan Burke Stanford, founder of Jazzy Pen Communications, is more than a professional writer/editor. She’s a communications stylist who ensures that business owners rock the marketing runway with their best words forward. She writes the content they need to get the results they want. For a jazzy article, blog post, newsletter, tagline or other communications project, visit www.jazzypen.com

The 5 C's of Credit: What They Mean to Your Business

Businesses face any number of financial challenges. Often, it's as simple as needing financing to grow and stay competitive, expand business operations, purchase assets such as new equipment or a commercial building, or even consolidate and restructure business debts.
One of the most common questions among small business owners seeking financing: "What will the bank be looking for from me and my business?"

While each lending situation is unique, many lenders utilize some variation of evaluating the five Cs of credit when making credit decisions: 

 1. Character:

• What is the character of the management of the company?
• What is management's reputation in the industry and the community?

Investors want to put their money with those who have impeccable credentials and references. The way you treat your employees and customers, the way you take responsibility, your timeliness in fulfilling your obligations — these are all part of the character question.

This is really about “you” and your personal leadership. How you lead yourself and conduct both your business and personal life gives the lender a clue about how you are likely to handle leadership as a CEO. Your character immediately comes into play if there is a business crisis, for example.

As small business owners, you place your personal stamp on everything that affects your company. Often, banks do not even differentiate between “you” and “your businesses." This is one of the reasons why the credit scoring process evolved, with a large component being your personal credit history.

2. Capacity:

• What is your company's borrowing history and track record of repayment?
• How much debt can your company handle?
• Will you be able to honor the obligation and repay the debt?

There are numerous financial benchmarks, such as debt and liquidity ratios, that lenders evaluate before advancing funds. You should become familiar with the expected pattern in your industry. Some industries can take a higher debt load; others may operate with less liquidity.

3. Capital:

• How well capitalized is your company?
• How much money have you invested in the business?

Lenders often want to see that you have a financial commitment and that you have put yourself at risk in the company. 

Both your company's financial statements and your personal credit are keys to the capital question.  If the company is operating with a negative net worth, for example, will you be prepared to add more of your own money? How far will your personal resources support both you and the business as it is growing?

If the company has not yet made profits, this may be offset by an excellent customer list and payment history. All of these issues intertwine, and you want to ensure that the lender perceives the business as solid.

4. Conditions:

• What are the current economic conditions and how does your company fit in?
• What are the trends for your industry, and how does your company fit within them?
• Are there any economic or political “hot potatoes” that could negatively impact the growth of your business?

If your business is sensitive to economic downturns, for example, the bank wants a comfort level that you're managing productivity and expenses.
 

5. Collateral:

·         Primary Source of Repayment

·         Secondary Source of Repayment

Business cash flow will nearly always be the primary source of repayment of a loan. Lenders also look at what they call the secondary source of repayment such as business assets and the strength and financial support of guarantors.

Collateral represents assets that the company pledges as an alternate repayment source for the loan. Most collateral is in the form of hard assets, such as real estate, business assets or equipment. Alternatively, your accounts receivable and inventory can be pledged as collateral. The collateral issue is a bigger challenge for service businesses, as they have fewer hard assets to pledge.

Until your business is proven, you're nearly always going to pledge collateral. If it doesn't come from your business, the bank will look to your personal assets.

Keep in mind that when evaluating the 5 Cs of credit, lenders do not place equal weight to each area. Lenders are cautious, and one weak area could offset all the other strengths you show.

Debra Murphy is Vice President and Relationship Manager at Union Bank. She works with small to medium sized business in the Inland Empire and tailors financial products and services to help businesses grow, expand, and get to the next level.

5 Ways to Increase Profitability This Summer

It is officially summer. The weather is hot, the kids are out of school and many business owners are gearing up for some time off. But while you may be thinking summer is time to relax a bit because business will likely be slow, now is actually an excellent time to evaluate profitability and figure out ways to increase it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to give up your vacation or cancel summer plans. But after you enjoy your R&R, regroup and ensure that strategies are in place for your business to achieve the profitability you desire. Let me put it another way. It’s time to make money, reach sales goals and finish the year strong!

I’ve interacted with several incredibly knowledgeable women business owners over the past few months and they’ve shared some great ways for increasing profitability. I want to pass along five tips for boosting profitability this summer.

1.       Build profitability into your schedule.

Marley Majcher, CEO of The Party Goddess and author of “But Are You Making Any Money” says, “Look at your calendar and see what’s coming up. Block time for what gives you the highest return on investment.”

I love this tip, but if you’re like me, this may involve some shifting of a few calendar items, reprioritizing and perhaps simply saying no to requests that do not add to your bottom line. Or, as Majcher suggests, “Figure out what your goals are and get rid of garbage on your calendar.”

2.       Become more efficient.

Sounds simple but this again may require you to really roll up your sleeves and dig deep to discover the things that are making you inefficient and limiting your profitability. Majcher recommends that as business owners, we should track our time. Time, after all, is an expense. So for every project you take on, track the time spent. Another tip for being more efficient is “Batch your tasks and don’t spend all day on email,” says Majcher.

3.       Develop a rock star social brand.

Wouldn’t you like to have clients and customers clamoring for your products or services like fans enamored with a rock or rap star? According to Lisa Steadman, bestselling author, results coach and CEO of Woohoo, Inc., rock star branding is the next evolution of personal branding. To begin building a rock star brand, you need to embrace and celebrate your big mission—the premise behind your business—and then broadcast your message widely and frequently. Steadman says, “Shift your messaging to be more engaging, inviting and enrolling.”

4.       Add multiple revenue streams.

Once you’ve established a rock star brand, leverage it and create multiple revenue streams. One idea is to consider writing a book. The fastest way to become an instant expert is to add “published author” to your resume. Whether you sell one book or a million books, simply having written the book catapults your credibility and leads to more sales. Another way to parlay your brand and make more money is to do speaking engagements. You’ve shown expertise online, so why not offer it in person? Consider adding training to your platform by offering seminars/webinars and workshops. With a celebrity-like brand, people will want to learn from you.

5.       Ask for the business (or more business).

Seems obvious, but women often have an aversion to selling. We like the developing, creating, coordinating and managing, but selling, not so much. The trick is to not look at it as selling. Julie Steelman, Selling Mentor and author of “The Effortless Yes” says, “It’s a conversation and problem solving.” Your potential client has a problem and you can solve it. If the potential customer gives you an objection, don’t freak out. Steelman says, “An objection is just a vocalized thought about where the customer is in the decision process.”

I love that. And speaking of decisions, while you’re relaxing in the sun this summer and sipping fruity drinks with cute umbrellas, don’t forget to make the decision to be more profitable by year-end and put a few strategies in place.

Joan Burke Stanford, founder of Jazzy Pen Communications, is more than a professional writer/editor. She’s a communications stylist who ensures that business owners rock the marketing runway with their best words forward. She writes the content they need to get the results they want. For a jazzy article, blog post, newsletter, tagline or other communications project, visit www.jazzypen.com

Customer Service Gives Little Guys Edge over Big Companies

“Economic recovery will be powered by small businesses. Period," wrote Tina Loza, current president of the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), upon returning from the National Conference in Washington, D.C. She said, "The message during the conference was clear and coming at us from all sources, Nancy Pelosi, Valerie Jarrett, and Karen Mills. They all had one clear, unwavering message...." Small businesses are the answer.

But small business owners need to start believing it and acting like it!
 
Recently after conducting a workshop on the topic of Small Business Marketing, a young woman approached me about a business she wanted to start. I was encouraging her with statistics and information, when she let out a big sigh and said, " Yes, but who will want to do business with my little company, when they can go to the big established company in town?" With a mixture of surprise and mild scolding, I warmly asked, "Girlfriend, have you not heard anything I've said in the last two hours?" She muttered, "I know, I know."

I pondered her comments as I drove home that night. It's one thing for business owners to hear all the "shoulds" of marketing techniques - the importance of having a plan, conducting research, formulating a target audience, determining your niche and value, and serving your customers through knowing their expectations. But it's quite another to actually apply and live it.

Let me enlighten you with the grim statistics: 50 percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. That's not even counting the hundreds more that never even get off the ground. Several reasons contribute to their failure. Lack of planning is a major factor. And business owners don't fully grasp that they have a major competitive advantage: their small size. This becomes the basis for providing personalized customer service.

Small businesses do themselves and their businesses a disservice by not knowing enough about their customers and what those customers expect. A few years ago, Bain & Company conducted a study of 382 companies, revealing some interesting findings: 80 percent of the companies surveyed believed their customer service was already exceptional. And did their customers agree? In fact, only 8 percent of these same companies' customers rated their customer service experiences as "superior." It sounds like someone is out of touch --and it's not the customer.

Small businesses have the opportunity to learn from this study to leverage their competitive advantage. Here's how:

• Understand that everything you do as a business owner shows your commitment to customer service, from answering the phone to delivering the invoice.
• Learn what customers want; learn what they expect. Remember that a basic, human need is to feel important and respected. How can you deliver this for your customer --even in a small way? A handwritten Thank You card produces a big impact.
• Apply the "WIIFM" concept: know that your customers are asking "What's In It For Me if I continue to do business here?" Ask yourself, "Would I want to do business here?"
• Deliver consistency of product and service. Train your employees. Use yourself as the model.
• Create systems and standards so that excellent customer service becomes the norm. Customer loyalty is the reward.
• Document great customer service moments. Use these to inspire your staff.
• Embrace customer service. Adopt these practices and begin building a stronger reputation with your customers. Those who provide world-class customer service will stand out from the crowd.
• Be a part of jumpstarting the new economic recovery.

 

Carolyn Ortman is owner of CKO Marketing & Training Group and is a 17-year member and past president of the American Marketing Association - Inland Empire. She can be reached at 951-784-9174 or www.ckogroup.com. Carolyn also teaches Customer Service Management at UC Riverside Extension.