Top 7 New Years Marketing Resolutions For Your Business

New Years Marketing Tips, Tricks, and Ideas by Targeting Pro Marketing

Top 7 New Year’s Marketing Resolutions For Your Business

We know marketing is not easy.  It is one of the most diverse and dynamic parts of running or owning a business.  Knowing when and where to spend your invested marketing money can be nerve-wracking.  With the new year brings great promise of the future.  Many individuals make New Year’s resolutions… to get healthy, to drop a bad habit, to further their education, to step outside their comfort zone, or to simply grow as a person.  What if you apply those to your business?  These top 7 marketing rejuvenation efforts will leave you glowing for the upcoming year!

1. Stop Procrastinating With Your Marketing Plan

We all know how difficult it can be to carve out the time for a Marketing Plan.  This important first step usually hangs up most entrepreneurs, but it is the most vital.  Charting out a course for where your business is headed, what you would like to achieve, and setting milestone goals is imperative to achieving the goals you set forth.  How can you possibly know where you are headed without a road map?  This huge first step is what will fundamentally shape your marketing efforts not just for the upcoming year, but how you operate moving forward.

2. Be Mobile-Friendly

It is not just about the desktop PC anymore… more and more users are gaining access to and using their mobile devices as their main source of information.  Waiting for your gas to pump, in the doctor’s office, getting directions, or simply looking up info while you are watching television, mobile devices have become our pocket window to information.  Countless users are looking on their devices rather than breaking out their laptop or sitting down at the computer in the evenings like they used to.  Creating mobile-friendly information for your clients and customers to consume will set you that much ahead of your competition. 

3. Create a Responsive Website

Continuing with the mobile gateway, it is extremely important that your website is responsive.  That means it will adjust for whatever device the viewer is using at that time – whether it is tablet, iPad, iPhone, Android, or other device, your website can adjust itself automatically for maximum usability for the user experience.  As an example, check out our Marketing Project Gallery most recent responsive website design for The Home Team of North Central Florida. 

4. Say Hello to Inbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is expensive and outdated.  Long gone are the days of cold calls or huge amounts of mass postal mailings to “maybe” reach the customers you are looking for.  Inbound marketing puts a positive spin on marketing.  Don’t just spam customers, create content that they love!  Providing detailed information on goods, services, educational materials, informative articles, and photo galleries gives customers what they want, which is to initially consume information.  Once your customer lands on your blog or website, brand awareness has been achieved.  Move these clients further down the pipeline and you have a lucrative sales process! Need help with a Marketing Plan? Contact us for assistance!

5. Map Out Your Content Strategy

Although many folks may think this belongs under the previously mentioned Marketing Plan, but your content strategy is a part of that.  Your content strategy will specifically target your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, grant you higher placement in the search engines, and you will be providing the content your clients have come to know and love.  Determine what it is you would like to convey in the upcoming year (superior service, outstanding product quality, availability), how you want to market those items (graphics, video, dedicated landing page on your website), and who your target audience is (especially helpful if you are going to invest in paid advertising).  Laying out your ideas, scheduled content, and information aspects of your marketing will better help you prepare for major upcoming events.  If you need help developing a content calendar, contact us and we will be happy to assist you!

6. Adjust Social & Email Strategies

Content is great, well-written and visually-inspiring emails, landing pages, and social media posts are all fantastic… but how effective are they?  What times are working well?  What days of the week work best?  Do certain posts or email releases work better on certain days over others?  How can you track that?  When you sign up with Targeting Pro Marketing, we will do a social media assessment of your current efforts, and where you can improve moving forward.  Contact Targeting Pro Marketing for a consultation today.

7. Consider a Homepage Revitalization

Reinvest in your homepage!  This is literally your digital face to the world.  If it is old, outdated, clunky, hard to navigate, or just plain old unattractive, you can be losing potential income!  You do not necessarily have to get an entire website redesign, sometimes just a little “facelift” makeover will work just fine.  Putting fresh, relative content with up-to-date images can mean the different between a bounced customer that leaves your website or a client who takes the time to browse through what you have to offer.  You cannot sell a client on your professional knowledge, services, or products if they never make it past the first page!  Contact Targeting Pro Marketing for information and pricing on a homepage facelift.

Let’s kick it into high gear this year!

Need help with your marketing promotions?  Feel free to contact Targeting Pro Marketing!


Mark and Christine Barber
Targeting Pro Marketing
Your Ticket To Virtual Freedom 
Virtual Assistant | Web/Graphic Designer | SEO | Drone Photographer | Social Media Expert
Phone: 352-553-8739
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Facebook Contests - What To Avoid For Your Fan Page Promotions

How To Get Your Facebook Fan Page Shut Down – Run A Contest The Wrong Way

 Facebook Contests:

We have all seen them, win a diamond ring, post here and enter to win an all expense vacation, like and share this picture to get a free pair of sunglasses… First of all, how many people do you know have ever actually won a Facebook contest like that?  Did you know it is not possible for some companies to even be able to track user activity to win a contest like that?  Facebook does not have the metrics to even allow most interactive features, let alone being able to tell when they happened if they even fell within the contest timeline.  This is not all fun and games, and make no bones about it, Facebook WILL shut down your page.  It is your responsibility to read through the Facebook User License Agreement and know what is allowed for your Fan Page and what is not.  It will not matter how long your Fan Page has existed, how many Fans you have, or how big your corporate name, Facebook WILL shut you down for this offense when you are caught.  (Do not put it past your competition to turn you in, either!)

Facebook App Insights:

Facebook has several systems in place that users can alert them of these spam contests.  So if you are paying to sponsor an ad like this, you are essentially paying to get your Fan Page shut down.  Want to know how well any campaign is doing?  You can check it out in your Facebook Fan Page “App Insights” in the Facebook Developer App. 

Facebook Contest Laws:

Be sure you are also not breaking any local, state, or federal laws with your contest as well.  Prizes that exceed a certain dollar value may have to be bonded.  You may also fall into sweepstakes or lottery laws depending on what type of contest you are running.

Notifying Your Facebook Contest Winner:

How are you notifying the winner of your contest?  You are not allowed to notify the winner with only a status update on your Fan Page.  The safest way to do this is to use a third party application that handles your contest entries for you.  This way you can collect data from your fans, and you can then contact your winner by phone or email from their entry information. 

Be sure to double check Facebook’s Fan Page Guidelines and stay up to date on any changes they make to their User License Agreement or Terms of Service on how to handle your promotions.

 

Need help with your social media marketing promotions?  Feel free to contact Targeting Pro Marketing!


Mark and Christine Barber
Targeting Pro Marketing
Your Ticket To Virtual Freedom 
Virtual Assistant | Web/Graphic Designer | SEO | Drone Photographer | Social Media Expert
Phone: 352-553-8739
Let's Connect!
Targeting Pro Marketing Professional Marketing Website
Targeting Pro Marketing on Facebook  
Targeting Pro Marketing Blog
Targeting Pro Marketing on Twitter
Targeting Pro Marketing on LinkedIn

eMail Marketing Campaigns - Valuable Tool In Your Sales Arsenal

eMail Marketing Campaign - Design, Implement, Initiate

Custom eMail Marketing eBlast Design and Developement

An eMail Marketing Campaign can prove vital to growing any business.  We often receive a lot of questions on where to start.  Let's face it, setting up an eMail Marketing Campaign can be a little intimidating - especially if you have never had any experience with starting one.

Custom Graphic Design Marketing Campaign

The first thing you want to establish is what your eMail Marketing Campaign will be for.  What is the purpose behind it?  To sell more products?  To sell more of your services?  To educate your customers about your products or services?  To showcase how your products or services are superior to your competition?  To drive more traffic to your website?  To nurture your leads to eventually make a purchase?  To nurture your current/past customers to turn them into new customers again?  ALL of these are great reasons to want to start an eMail Marketing Campaign, and having several types of emails you would like to focus on will be crucial to what direction you will take when you want to plan.

Newsletter eMail Marketing Campaign - eNewsletter

Planning is essential to know what it is you want to accomplish.  How much time can you allocate to building comprehensive and professional looking emails?  Granted we would all like to get our message across - but if you do not present your company with a professional face to the world, will they really give your email a second glance?  Think about how you feel about email in your own inbox and what you find valuable enough to open, let alone actually read.  This is the most essential part of your endeavor into email marketing!

Custom eMail Marketing Campaign Development

Next in the process is to determine your schedule and time allocation for each email produced.  If you or someone on your marketing team is proficient on design.  Typically each email marketing campaign program comes with it's own "what you see is what you get" editor - which can be utilized with basic computer knowledge.  If you or someone on the project team is proficient in HTML and graphic design you can really design a piece that will knock the socks off your readers!  If you do not have a graphic and web designer at your disposal, you may want to consider hiring a third party marketing consultant that can help you design an email template that you can reuse over and over again for future marketing (the biggest bang for your buck).  After determining how much time it will take you to create and design an email marketing piece and still take care of all of the other business tasks at hand, you can develop a release schedule for your publications.  Do you want to do a stringent bi-weekly regiment or something a little more flexible like a monthly publication or a monthly publication plus major holidays?  Lots of things to consider!

Custom Designed Holiday eMail Marketing Campaign

Staying out of the spam filter is inherently important - otherwise everything you have done before this point is for naught.  If your email is too "salesy" or "spammy" your readers will never even have the opportunity to see it in the inbox.  You must develop a good marketing plan for each and every email piece you publish.  This includes subject, from email, intro text, body content, graphics, links, alt tags and clear unsubscribe area.

Tracking and ROI are also important follow-up and feedback for your mailing pieces.  How many opens did it generate?  How many unique opens?  How many click-throughs?  How many unique click-throughs?  How many unsubscribes?  Does your website have the ability to track your web traffic?  Or better yet track the customer who receive your email, opened and clicked on it to see if they purchased a product or service from you?  What about those who didn't as a lost sale? 

Sales Event eBlast Marketing Campaign

Follow-up planning is also a key element.  Are you pulling up the report of click-throughs and landing pages?  Are you following up with customers who clicked on items in your email they were interested in by email or phone?  This is an easy way to turn a lost sale in a return on investment!

Custom Graphic Design Facebook Cover Photo

It is also good to be sure to reinforce your marketing efforts cross-platform.  Be sure to share your promotional email on Facebook, Twitter, your Blog, LinkedIn, YouTube and more - it will grow your efforts exponentially!  

Custom Holiday Graphic Design - Christmas Special

Sound overwhelming?  Need a little help?  Not to fear!  Targeting Pro Marketing is your one-stop marketing shop and can help guide you through your entire eMail Marketing Campaign to get you setup, on plan, on schedule, on target and earning money!

Targeting Pro Marketing
Contact Targeting Pro Marketing

Success! - New Degree In The Arsenal!

Hello Friends and Fans!

I know that you have been waiting patiently for an update.  We must apologize in advance (without really feeling sorry, and I'll tell you why) - in my absence I am very proud to announce that I am now the proud beholder of a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Information Technology with an emphasis on Multimedia Communications from University of Phoenix.  (See, I told you I wasn't really that sorry!)  And not to toot my own horn or anything, but finished with a 3.82 GPA as a strive for excellence - and I am completely happy with that number.  With only holding 3 B-Level grades for my final grades, I have to say I was happy to work hard through grueling courses, working full time (+ overtime) and launching my career in IT forward, I am happy to say I am back here at Targeting Pro Marketing and Consulting and of course, at your marketing and consulting service!

I have had a set of IT skills carried over from experience, and have the opportunity to refine them.  I have also had the opportunity to enter new skill sets, technical knowledge, business process and fundamentals in successful implementation of new IT projects - specifically from a consulting basis. 

Some of the classes I have taken, and internet marketing and business skills I have acquired are:
Skills For Professional Development
Management Information Systems
Fundamentals of Programming with Algorithms and Logic
Web Design
Technical Writing Fundamentals
Business Systems
Fundamentals of Business Development
Project Planning and Implementation
Database Concepts
SQL For Business
Network and Telecommunications Concepts
Java Programming
Image Editing and Implementation
Electronic Publishing
Instructional Design
Multimedia Development
XML
Applications Implementation
Advanced Mathematics
Advanced Creative Writing
Critical Thinking
Human Motivation
Success Strategies

The purpose of this list is not to pat myself on the back, but to show my customers and potential customers of Targeting Pro Marketing the professional knowledge they have in their arena when they select us for their digital marketing consultant.

I am indeed proud of my degree for personal reasons, but they are far overshadowed by my professional reasons - to help others.  As a small business owner, I am passionate about the success of small business and is my (successful) niche market.

As an FYI I am currently employed full time as a Business Development and Marketing Manager for an incredible local software and retail company in the DeLand area.  With just six total employees I have not forgotten my roots in small business - and am happy to share that knowledge with YOU!

For a FREE website analysis, or a FREE one-hour consultation, please feel free to contact me!

Contact Targeting Pro Marketing for your next marketing project.
Christine Barber
Targeting Pro Marketing - Web, Graphic, SEO & Social Media Expert
Targeting Pro Marketing Professional Website
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Social Media Marketing - Emphasis on Quality

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is beginning to get more attention these days than say, seven years ago when we were first getting into it for business.  Now more and more companies are starting to see all the benefits social media marketing can give them, and what kind of exposure they can get in our now plugged-in world.  The problem that arises with this, is that there is no degree in social media marketing, there is no certificate, there is no training program one can go through to verify they have the knowledge, the skills and the understanding of how to do it properly.  So – how do you make an informed decision if there is no verification certificate?  The purpose of this article is to help guide you through the process on how to select the social media marketer that is right for you and your company, and how to spot red flags.

How To Choose A Professional Social Media Marketer

Social media marketing is a delicate balance of compelling graphics, valuable information/content, and modern trends you offer your friends, fans, followers and partners.  Does this mean you have to sacrifice quality?  (And we do emphasize QUALITY social media marketing!) Absolutely not.

It seems that every teenager or person living in their parents’ basement can claim to a “Social Media Expert” … but what does that mean, exactly?  You spend 30+ hours a week on Facebook?  You tweet 20 times a day?  What makes a social media marketer rather than a social media addict?  Quality content.  Anyone can make Facebook posts (heck even Grandma is doing it), anyone can use their smart phone to send out a tweet.  But what is the purpose behind it?  What does it mean?  What is it offering?  If you’re not giving your listeners something important – you’re just making digital sound waves.  And not the good kind. 

Sometimes social media marketing doesn’t get taken very seriously – if you are a social media marketer (ahem, check out Targeting Pro's SMM information here), you often get the “Oh so you just play around on the internet all day?”  After the dedicated professional side of us has to seriously refrain from doing bodily harm to that individual, we realize that this is simply due to a lack of understanding of the power social media marketing holds within a business plan.  There are many individuals out there who claim to be SMM’s but honestly, they do not take their marketing seriously nor do they perform it in a professional manner.

Question on social media posting quality: “ZOMG, Wud u want thsi 2 represint ur companee?” 

Not very impressive, is it?  In fact, poor social media marketing can be damaging to a company.  How would you feel if your name was misspelled in a post?  How would a partner feel if their name were misspelled in a promotional offer?  What about offering incorrect information on a sale item or give-away and having to honor it?  What about misrepresenting a product?  You lose credibility.  You lose customer trust – and that is a hard thing to build.  The world wide web, and especially social media, has made it easy for a dissatisfied customer to share their experience with the world, so great care should be taken into who you want being your “voice to the world” in social media.

Some things a company should consider when selecting a social media marketer to add to their team (either in house or contracted):

• Brand Awareness
• Event Promotions
• Sale Promotions
• Business purpose behind each action
• ROI (tracking) & Analytics

Some companies feel the cheapest form of social media marketing is the right price for them, and they may lack the time or ability to research their business options adequately for their needs.  Often times when the cheaper option is taken without investigation, there can be a a lot of negative impact that occurs when a poor SMM gets a company labeled in a poor public light.

Now try to put yourself in a customer’s shoes – how would you feel about a company that offered marketing material that had:

• Punctuation errors
• Spelling errors
• Grammatical errors
• Poor sentence structure
• Misspelled graphics
• Inconsistency, either with branding or sale promotion that offered something different after the link was clicked
• Using “I” when speaking as the company’s voice
• Linking to articles that display competitor advertising/links
• Lost sight of the purpose of being in touch with customers on a social media outlet
• Delayed responding to a question or comment posted on a social media outlet
• Did not respond at all to a question or comment posted on the company's social media outlet
• Flat out erased complaints on the company's social media outlet instead of dealing with them

Would you trust your hard earned money with a company that partook in the above marketing activities?  Would you not think they perhaps “didn’t have their stuff together” and would not be a good candidate for handling your purchases, processing your credit card, or may be unable to offer you the deal they promised?
 
We pride ourselves in being a social media marketing company.  It is a specialty niche in the marketing world that is constantly evolving and are addicted to it.  A social media marketer is always on, always learning and always a professional voice for their client.  There is no “We don’t know” in our vocabulary.  Targeting Pro Marketing is completely upfront with clients about our abilities and skill levels when it comes to meeting your needs, and if we are unable to assist your company directly we can certainly give a reference for a partner who can.

Want some tips on picking a great social media marketer?  Be sure to at least ask for the following items from your next candidates:

• Ask for references (happy customers should always be willing to refer a good marketer, talk to them, not just reference a review page that can be falsified)
• Ask for examples (request links to previous examples of work to show professionalism and tone in writing or graphic design)
• Ask for a proposal or business model (what are they going to do for you, exactly?)

These are what we would call a bare minimum requirement for any social media marketer you are looking to hire.  After all, a company should not think twice to request these three items from a web designer, graphic designer  or SEO expert, you should expect no less from a professional in the social media marketing field. (PS: We do all that, too!)

Contact Targeting Pro Marketing for your next marketing project.
Phone: 352-553-8739
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Facebook Zen - Don't Fight Facebook, Learn To Love It!

You heard that right - don’t fight Facebook – learn to love it! I understand a lot of people may be intimidated by social media, but it really is not anything to be afraid of. (I promise!)
Facebook is a great casual networking arena where you can interact with individuals, organizations, companies, like products, and partake in causes. In this dynamic interactive space, you can make many types of connections that not only enrich you the individual – but can also enrich you the professional, the business owner, the entrepreneur, the expert.

Just dive right in, I promise the water is deep and you won’t hurt yourself, go ahead and make an account (or you can have someone help set one up for you, like a Virtual Assistant). Once you have an account set up you can begin to familiarize yourself with it and get used to how Facebook functions. There are some great articles to help you get started with Facebook out there I highly suggest reviewing. One thing to note is your privacy, Facebook offers privacy settings but please be aware of your safety at all times and the kind of information you are sharing with others.

Considering it is hard for one to interact with themselves – your first step to take is to “find friends.” Trust me when I say this begins to get addictive! Start with family members, branch to close friends and then coworkers. This will give you an excellent foundation to building your Facebook network. You will be surprised at how many Facebook users you know that will help connect you with others or give you friend suggestions. Soon your connection network will branch out in every direction imaginable.

Now that you have a nice friend base, you can move on to what it is exactly you would like to DO with Facebook. This is where some people get a little fuzzy or things begin to blur. Is this a personal account? If you want to keep family and friends separate from business, I suggest creating an additional “professional Facebook account” – one that reflects your network of colleagues and associates, vendors and clients. Since this article is referencing Facebook for business, we are going to focus on how you can use this very easy social medium to your business advantage. Remember – if it is professional, keep it professional.

Photos are a lot of fun, and are a great thing to share about you, what you do, what you are involved in, what passions you have, what activities you partake in and a way to offer a piece of you with the world. They make great conversation starters, so don’t be afraid to post about the great things going on in your life!

Videos are another way to share yourself with others and can also offer a great marketing platform. Videos are highly indexed in the search engines, and when linked to other social media networks like YouTube, you have a great start at a viral video (and did I mention FREE?). (Don’t worry, “viral” isn’t a bad thing, it simply means that it spreads on the Internet because people enjoy sharing it by all networking and link sharing means, including Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Status updates – pretty straightforward. Update your friends on what you are doing, what is on your mind, a quote that inspired you, a link that interested you, etc. I would suggest trying to get these in once a day as a normal interval (which it is completely understandable if you are not able to do this) but no less than once a week. Having a stale account can sometimes be a bad reflection when a potential client comes looking for you. The great thing about Facebook is that once your business gets hopping and using social media to boost your search engine rankings begin to pan out, you can always ask a Virtual Assistant to help you maintain your social media websites on an as-needed basis.

Comments are a lot of fun, too – this is how you interact with your friends list. When you see your “feed” you will see posts, status updates, videos and photos of the people you know. You can place comments on these items to mingle with your peers. Let the real you shine through!

The “Like” button is also an easy tool to use when interacting with friends. If you don’t really have anything to add to the discussion you can simply “like” someone else’s activity. This is a great way to keep active even if you are running short on time, and lets your friends know you are still in touch with them.

Not to mention you can link your Facebook page to your Blog, Twitter and other networking websites to get all of those feeds spreading out from just a single source - that's online marketing efficiency!

Again, it is always a good idea to be mindful of your posts and comments – Facebook is indeed a public networking site, no matter how private you think your comments are. Keep everything professional and please also be mindful of your safety and do not offer information that is too personal.

See? Not so scary now is it? Go forth my friends – go forth and network the world! If you want a great place to get started, feel free to friend Targeting Pro, I look forward to networking with you!

“God bless the Geek, for they shall Internet the earth.”

Email: TargetingPro@gmail.com
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Stay tuned to the Targeting Pro blog for my upcoming articles that will delve deeper into each aspect of social media – we will be really getting into the meat and potatoes of what it takes to be top in your field. If you need assistance in setting up or maintaining your social media outlets, feel free to contact me to discuss if Virtual Assisting or Ghost Writing is right for you!

Technology - Are You Up To Speed?

We are in the heart of the Information Age, where innovation can take you to the top of your industry, where unique ideas are key and clever business plans can boost you above your competition. Business has become a challenging marketplace, and especially so for the hard economic times befalling the Real Estate market.

There is no “magic strategy” or “secrets to success” in this market - it is hard work, innovative ideas and putting the time into your business to reflect the revenue you want out of it. It really does not matter what other agents in your area are doing and what makes them successful - what matters is what makes you different in your field. What do you offer that other agents don’t? What services do you provide that other agents lack? What kind of guarantees do you offer for your services or products that bring comfort and security to your clients? Are you leveraging technology in your favor to get an edge on your competition?



Being successful in business is being able to take problems and turning them into opportunities. With technology rapidly changing, becoming more complex and niche out more focused markets, it is playing a vital part of business plans today. When you delay, you lose business. When you are the last on board with technologies that make your job more efficient either in the realms of money, time or procedure, you are lagging behind in the market. Working in the service industry we are in a world of increasing customer expectations and needs, if you are not able to satisfy these you are more than likely not going to be able to retain the clients and contacts that you manage to come across. Responding quickly to new products and services that better your customer experience can rocket you ahead in this hypercompetitive market.

Is your website up to speed? Do you currently partake in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Do you have dynamic contact forms? Do you partake in Social Media outlets? Do you have unique and completely custom content on your website that sets you apart from the standard template real estate agent of your competitive market? If not… you may be missing out on your slice of the market share.

“The amount of information available on the Internet more than doubles every year, and most of it is free.” - Business and Information Technology

What are you offering on the world wide web? Are you simply hoping that sticking property statistics on your website will bring a buyer? Are you offering information about your area? County? City? Subdivisions? Retirement Communities? Public Parks? National Parks? Recreation Areas? If you haven’t gotten into updating your website you’re behind your competition. Don’t have time for updating your website, your blog, or your Twitter account? Find someone who can. What are you doing to keep yourself ahead of the pack? What is even scarier to think about - what do you think your competition is doing?


One of the keys of success in any business is to leverage ingenuity and to enact on a future that is continually being built upon information technologies. Our world is constantly changing and if you do not have the ability or you flat out refuse to change with it - you will find yourself trying to live in a world that no longer exists. The “old school” way of performing real estate services is exactly where it should be - in the past. Are you stepping up to the plate of revolutionary change to perform better service than any other agent out there? To remain ignorant of today’s technologies is to put yourself behind the proverbial eight ball - don't be left behind. If you need help to get ahead, don't be afraid to ask for it!

Email: TargetingPro@gmail.com
Blog: http://TargetingPro.blogspot.com/
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Quote from:
Business and Information Technology
Author: Efraim Turban, R. Kelly Rainer, Richard E. Potter
copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

5 Simple Tasks To Boost Your Business in 2010

Gearing up for 2010 can be the best and also the scariest thing you can do - don't know where to begin? These five simple tips will help you on your way to kick-start your business!


1. Check Your Email Regularly – Your clients know we are living in a virtual world and responding to emails promptly has been as important as returning a phone call. If you do not have a mobile email service with your current phone company, check your emails often and respond to potential clients even if you have to research the information and get back to them later once you know the answer. Business does not wait!

2. Answer Your Phone With A Smile – Sounds simple, right? An old trick that works well to get you started is to hang a small mirror facing you where you receive most of your phone calls. Before you answer the phone – smile – the caller will hear it in your voice. Before you know it you will be trained to answer the phone like this all the time – a positive attitude can be priceless!

3. Focus On Accomplishing Tasks – Another simple one? It is so easy in today’s day and age to get distracted. Plain and simple – distractions take us away from our focus. Whether your task is to return all of your calls before 9am, to complete a load of laundry or to publish your blog post – remember this: You are only human and can only complete one task at a time. Even if you are a multitasker you will know that jumping from one subject to another causes you to break your concentration on what you are doing. Stay focused and complete one task (no matter how minor) before moving on to the next.

4. Set Goals – No matter how you want to do it, whether you want to write out a business plan for the year, post a white board, create a checklist or plug asks into your mobile calendar, set yourself up with reasonable goals. Achieving goals not only accomplishes work but it motivates us to take it to the next step. Break it down to small items that accomplish a large goal. Do you want more internet presence? Well then are you putting unique content on your website? Are you using search engine optimization strategies? Do you have a call to action on each page? Don’t overwhelm yourself with long-term goals, just break them down into more manageable ones and you will see your progress.

5. Social Media – You’ve heard it all over the web and you’ve watched it on the news – Social Media is the next big thing. NO it is not. IT IS THE BIGGEST THING. We are all becoming “plugged in” to the internet. We are finding our niches, our outlets, our interests, our coworkers and even our friends and family with the help of social media. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn help you stay connected to the things you value most. Don’t miss out, be out of the loop or find yourself sitting on the sidelines – Take the plunge and dive right in!

Let's face it - every business could use a booster shot. If you are finding yourself running short on time or it is taking you away from your clients, think about the possibilities of hiring a Virtual Assistant (or VA) to help with your tasks. Hire for as long as you like - no long term commitments!

Email: TargetingPro@gmail.com
Blog: http://TargetingPro.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TargetingPro
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What is a Virtual Assistant?

A Virtual Assistant is a highly trained individual in various areas of expertise to help support your business in lieu of a full or part time employee. These business services are typically done via the internet, phone or fax to meet a client’s specific needs.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA) is much more cost effective in today’s economy considering wages, benefits, unemployment and the ability to keep an employee hired for the originally agreed upon hours once a project has been completed. You hire a VA for as long as you need them – with no worry of over-extending yourself or possibly having to lay off employees in the future.

A Virtual Assistant will typically have an appointment with you or supply you with a questionnaire to help solidify the type of work that you need. Once the needs of the client are established the client is given a rate of pay for the services they are requiring. If the pricing is acceptable a Virtual Assistant can then be hired on a contractual basis depending on the needs of the client.

If you would like to start the process of hiring a Virtual Assistant - I would be more than happy to figure out a plan that works for you!

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Twitter – Tweets, Tweeters, Twitterings, Twerps, Twalking and Twits, what does it all mean exactly?

-->What does Twitter do? Well its social networking in its simplest form!

I have a lot of questions from people asking me what the importance of Twitter is in a business sense. They have gone as far as to check out Twitter itself, other Twitter user’s pages and perhaps even create a profile – but have not taken the step of actually utilizing its power.

Targeting Pro Marketing on Twitter

“I don’t have time to read about people who are tweeting about insignificant things to me.” - That is the number one response I have when I tell people that if they have a business they need to be on Twitter. Here is the thing – what about the people who do? You don’t need to just have your children on there who tweet about every time they use the restroom – you can have business contacts, fellow partners, clients and vendors that offer vital information via the Twitter platform.

It is not all about updating every minute of our mundane lives – even though that is what some users have turned it into (okay and some spam hounds). I personally enjoy Twitter very much, it allows one to send and receive information about your personal life, business, industry, current projects, sales specials and news in very short, palatable quips of conversation. You no longer have to read through a ten page report to receive an update – it is done in 140 characters or less (including links and the updated feature of being able to add images to your Twitter posts).

So contrary to popular belief to those who feel they don’t have “time” for Twitter – Twitter is actually perfect for you! If you don’t want to spend a lot of time sifting through pages of news and updates on your industry, create your Twitter list to include those who are sharing information that is relevant to your interests or organizational goals.

Ready to take the Twitter plunge? There really isn’t anything to be afraid of! The first thing you have to do is setup your Twitter profile (or get help setting up your Twitter profile) – your tweeting face to the world. The site is very user friendly and you can accomplish this task rather quickly (or again, request help setting up your social media outlets). Be sure to include your homepage link and branding (both your user icon and background). You can also choose to receive updates on your mobile device, for either a particular fellow Twitter user. You may also setup email notices for follower notifications, direct text emails or newsletter updates.

Targeting Pro Marketing on Twitter

If you want to see how the dynamics of Twitter works, just do a search for people you already know using it. Once you are following them, you can see how they interact with one another. It is easy to pick up quickly on re-tweets or “RT’s” (if you like a post another user has made you “retweet” what they tweeted and give them credit by including their username so others can follow them as well if they like the information, it is a great way to share) and Follow Fridays “FF” (for the people you enjoy the most, you can do a “follow suggestion” on Friday to suggest your other Twitter followers, again another way to share information and great users). There are lots of other tips and tricks you can pick up along the way – let alone lifelong friends and associates you don’t know how you ever lived without.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start Tweeting! Please feel free to follow me, I would love to be a part of your Twitter Family! http://twitter.com/TargetingPro

If you need any assistance in setting up or maintaining your Twitter account, my services are available - feel free to send me a tweet! ;) Don't be shy!

Homepage: www.TargetingPro.com

Blog: http://TargetingPro.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TargetingPro
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