Do you treat your business like Valentine’s Day?
This was a question I posed at The Colchester BWN yesterday in a 5 minute promo slot (incidentally I didn’t talk about my business at all and gained 2 new clients yesterday – there’s a powerful message in there about how to do a promo slot right?)
A good thing or a bad you ask, right?
Valentines comes around once a year, and once a year you are expected to get lovey dovey cats eyes, think about your loved one, shower them with affection, and your time and energy. But hang on for just one day of the year?
I have been very happily married for 16 years and my hubby 1st kissed me 19 and a half years ago on Valentine’s day and I still get flutters in my belly just thinking about him and a silly grin on my face (OK this is no Disney Fairy tale – I still berate that I’m the only one that can carry things up the stairs or put dirty socks in the wash!) But is that from putting effort and energy in once a year?
No!
It’s from always considering his needs, his passions and his feelings. Every day when he gets home from work I always say “How was your day?”Recently he said why do you always ask me that? And I said “Because I care” and I care for more than one day of the year.
(Me Loving My Husband and Me Loving My Business)
Now let’s flip over to your business (before you all throw up with my lovedupness – made up word, but I like it!) Do you treat your business like Valentine’s Day?
Do you once in a while say “Right let’s look at our marketing, let’s power up the results. Let’s check out our website and if people are engaged by it and getting in touch”
OR…
Do you think daily;
Is our website getting the right message across to our potential clients? Does it match up to what we have been doing recently?
When I attend networking events am I saying things that compliment the marketing message on our website?
Am I getting our business in the local press, talking about what we have been doing recently and the great story that is hidden about our company?
Do I use this press release information and my marketing material on social media?
Do I sing about this when delivering my 60 seconds promo slots?
Do I think daily – How do I interact with potential clients, When do I, Where do I interact with them?
Do you always ask in the back of your mind where your next client is coming from?
Because if you don’t you are a once a year, special occasion Valentine’s Day business owner. And Guess what that does for your sustainability? For your Growth? For your Success?
8 years ago I had severe clinical depression and nearly died (twice – just for good measures!) and my husband was my rock, we know that whatever life throws at us we will be able to deal with it, together, as a team. Once a month we pick a row with the kids and get them off to bed early so that we can light candles, cook a nice meal and snuggle up in a mountain of cushions and watch a film and be just us. It’s always a Tuesday night because, hey Tuesday was never a special night of the week and it needed a bit of attention. Regularly putting in effort keeps our relationship fresh, special and wonderful.
Valentine’s Day is never going to be enough to create something lasting for all time.
So ask yourself are you having the same attitude to your business?
If so isn’t it time you gave your business full time love?
For ideas on loving your business full time, gaining more customers and making the sales (without spending sacks of money) get in touch or head over to the Free reports and the BWN blog as they are both packed with ideas to rocket your sales. As a business coach and as founder of The Business Womans Network both my coaching clients and business women that attend the BWN are seeing great results in their business because of the way I work – I would love to hear all about your business and how I could support your success too.
Mandie@thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk
07989935556
Why bother with Hootsuite?
Is a question I got asked today from someone new to Twitter who was yet to get to grips with how wonderful social media and social networking is for business, but then its a question I get asked a lot.
But really why bother with Hootsuite (or Tweetdeck – the choice is yours, and personally I love Hootsuite) and the reason why to bother with Hootsuite, the why I love it?
Well…..
I can schedule messages – so I can share some tasty top tips, advice, ideas and pearls of wisdom while I’m busy with a client or at a BWN networking event – which if you get it right means you get targeted traffic to your website and the ping ping of people buying from you.
I can keep all my social media in one place – ensuring I comment and interact with all the fabulous business people I know on a regular basis – remember my rule – “You can’t dictate when someone is ready to buy, but you can have a say in who they buy from.”
I can follow key words and join in the important and relevant conversations to me, my target audience and people that I want to engage with.
I can schedule messages – I know I have already said this, but seriously how great is it that I can share some great ideas to motivate and inspire business women, while being out and about working in my job motivating and inspiring business women! I love that, I know us women are notoriously good at multi tasking but Hootsuite allows you to take that to a whole new level.
And now for a word of caution (because this a blog post not an indepth how to use Hootsuite lesson – although I do offers those since I’m so in love with social media!) Hootsuite is a tool to make social media easier, to make it fit into your busy life. It is not an alternative to listening to conversations, to interacting and RT-ing what others have to say. Its an accompanient.
And those that forget that, forget at their peril. People don’t want to be sold at in your tweets – its the fastest way to turn people off of you and stop engaging with you. The days of repeating your business promo literature are long gone!
So get in there and have a go – as I often tell newbies to social media success a) you can’t break it and b) you will always be learning and c) (if you get it right) you will love it too, for what it delivers to your business success.
I run social media workshops, 1 to 1’s and a ton of other stuff along side the work I do to support business women to get more customers and grow their business, so if you would like to power up your results, say hi at a Essex BWN event or give me a call for a chat – BTW I find a lot of time when you get your marketing message clear to the right target audience things start to slot into place rather nicely!
Mandie Holgate mandie@thebusinesswomannetwork.co.uk
07989 935556