Kay Green, Author at She Owns It

5 “How To” Examples We Can Learn from Amazon’s Success by @DrRKayGreen

March 17, 2017 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

This year, Amazon made the number one spot on the Harris Poll for reputation quotient ratings. This is not surprising considering that you can’t seem to have a conversation regarding retail prices anymore without hearing, “I’ll just order it on Amazon”. Amazon’s soaring reputation and success make it a company worth looking to for “how to” examples for business success. That said, here are 5 leading examples to be learned from Amazon:

#1: You have to be willing to fail, but able to see real opportunity…

When Amazon began in 1994, everyone involved took a pretty big risk. I say this because in 1994 online retail was quite new and it was still unclear whether or not it was actually going to catch on in popularity, but founder Jeff Bezos saw an opportunity and he took it. He was willing to fail because he knew that innovation takes risk and that you have to be willing to experiment and accept your failures in order to become successful. As Bezos says, “If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.” and his dedication to experimentation has held strong ever since the start of the company despite the occasional failure. It’s all about risk management. You need to be willing to try things that could succeed, but also to reduce as much risk -added as possible.

#2: You have to start specific, but be ready to expand…

When Amazon first began (if anyone still remembers those days), the company’s focus was on selling books (the specific). This reduced the company’s risk by sticking to only one thing being controlled out of Bezos garage. But today, Amazon seems to sell almost everything; they even sell groceries now! This was exactly what Bezos was hoping for when he first began the company. From Amazon’s strategy, we learn to start with a very specific need and be ready to gradually branch out as the success allows for it.

#3: You have to keep groups small…

Amazon is known for small work groups based on Bezos “two pizza rule”, which is based on the idea that groups should be small enough to feed with only two pizzas (roughly no larger than 5-7 people). The idea is that with less people you will optimize productivity. When focusing on specific tasks it’s important to keep groups small in order for the groups to stay focused on the specific task.

#4: You have to be customer oriented…

Amazon is one of the most popular sites for customer satisfaction. Bezos put the customer above short term pay off and it made him more successful. Amazon has taken on the strategy of using less marketing and focusing more on customer satisfaction; and it’s working great. Amazon’s superior shipping options were initially seen as risky behavior, but in the long run this ended up paying off in customer loyalty and more orders (aka: more money), which in turn made the company even more successful. Amazon Prime was actually a marketing tool that ended up gaining more customers and making more money in the long run. Amazon knows that when the customer is happy, you’re more likely to be successful.

#5: You have to always be looking towards the future…

Bezos acknowledges that it is impossible to know what the future holds, so he recommends focusing on things that absolutely won’t change about business. For example, customers will always want fast shipping, reliable service, and the cheapest price for the best quality. Knowing this, it is important to make things that are consistent (or are unlikely to change) a priority. This is why Amazon experimented with video in the way of the Amazon Fire TV (when considering trends, this was likely to succeed). This is also why Amazon has such great deals, a successful shipping plan, and high membership because these are value added benefits that customers enjoy.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Dr. R. Kay Green is the CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. With over 190,000+ Twitter followers, 35,000+ Facebook Likes, and the Top 1% LinkedIn profile designation, Dr. Kay, a self-motivated trailblazer, is the Quintessential “New-Age” Professional Woman, and PhD Marketing Pro. She earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Marketing, and has completed PhD coursework in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Management, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and an Associate of Arts in Marketing Management.

She is affiliated with several prestigious universities and has instructed over 350 courses online. A popular speaker on Marketing and Business topics, Dr. Green is currently featured on Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Black News, The Network Journal, Business Review USA, Digital Journal, College View, Business New Hampshire Magazine, Bay State Banner, Reader’s Circle, North Dallas Gazette, Harlem News, Top News Today, One News Page, NE Informer, Women in Business PR News, Consumer News Today, Women PR News, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, The Miami Herald, and Book News Articles.

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Should I have sent that? Your Guide to Online Communication Etiquette 2017 by @DrRKayGreen

March 3, 2017 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Every so often when I send an email, or compose a Facebook message, I am left thinking something like, “should I have started that off with dear?” or “was it okay to put a smiley-face emoji in that text?” If you have ever experienced this, you are certainly not alone when it comes to online communication etiquette in the business world. Because online communication is relatively new, and ever changing, it is sometimes difficult to know the proper way to go about conveying an online message. Let’s examine some common problems that many people encounter with online communication.

Email:

The first point I would like to make, and hopefully the most obvious is corporate email should always be used for business. Private messages, jokes, and anything that is not related to your work should never be sent out, or received on your company email.

The Subject line: Emails should always have a subject. If you see an email in your own inbox that does not have a subject, what do you think of it? Spam, right? Subjects are good because they help the receiver stay organized. Subject fields should only be a few words and should not have typos or should never be all uppercase, or all lower case, you do not want people thinking you are spamming.

Unless you have built a relationship to a casual point, you should always take a formal tone. Sometimes email is seen as a less formal way of communication, but it is often a conduit for serious business. This means standard black fonts at a 12 or 11 point size, usually whatever the default is, or a Times New Roman will suffice. No abbreviations should be in the body text of the email. Nothing like “sry” or “u”. You should always begin your email with a ‘Dear Mr. smith,’ or a ‘Hello Ms. Newman,’. Notice how there is a title, and the comma goes after the person’s last name. I often see emails where the sender puts the comma after ‘dear’. – Oh dear. Until a person tells you, “call me Leslie,” always use Mr. /Ms. /Dr./etc.

To and From. This may be redundant but make sure that you have the proper styling for people’s names. Always capitalize the first letter of their name, and first letter of their last name.

BCc, and Cc. BCc stands for Blind Carbon Copy. When you are sending an email to multiple people who do not know each other always use BCc. This hides people’s emails from one another. Email can be a huge privacy concern. Cc means Carbon copy. This is used for a group of people who know one another, and would not mind having their email addresses shared.

Be cautious of ‘Reply to All.’ Think about if everyone on the list needs to see your email before clicking the button.

Keep your formatting to a minimum if at all. This means stay away from bold colored words. Unusual fonts, or any of that attention getting jazz. Email companies are getting smarter, and usually will classify overly stylized emails as spam.

Attachments should only be sent when asked for. You do not want to send an Excel spreadsheet to find that the person does not have Excel, or a huge 500mb Power Point presentation that could clutter up their inbox. Always aske before you send an attachment. Attachments should also have a name that fits them. Image1234.pdf is confusing for the receiver.

Never reply to an old email with a new unrelated email. For example, you need to send an email to Judy that has a list of new clients, but instead of composing an email, you go back through your inbox and find the email Judy sent you about your presentation from a week ago, and reply to it with the contacts she wanted. This looks unprofessional.

Editing replies. This is a courteous step you can take, that makes you look more professional. When replying, do not just hit reply, take a moment and look through the correspondence. Look to see if there are any unneeded headers, signature files, or general clutter from previous emails. This cleans the correspondence, and makes for clear communication.

Use a short signature that has your name, your position, your email, your phone number, etc. This makes it easier for people to get in touch with you.

Always begin with, Hello, Hi, Greetings, Dear, Good Day. Always end with, Thank You, Sincerely, Best regards. Common courtesy can go a long way.

Time. Make sure that you send emails during the business day. When people are home from a long day of work, or enjoying their weekend, the last thing they want is to be reminded of work. In the event that you must send an email during the ‘off-hours’ be sure to apologize for any inconvenience e.g. “I apologize for sending this at such a late hour.”

Social Media:

It is becoming more commonplace that people are discussing business through social media. Only use social media for business if it is encouraged by the company.

If you need to discuss business matters, never write your statement publically. Always message them directly.

If you have business clients as your friends or followers, use caution while posting. Do not go on political rants, or post pictures of your bachelorette party. If you are using Facebook as a professional platform, keep it professional.

Etiquette for Social Media Managers:

These rules are for people who are acting as the company on social media.

Never beg for likes on other company’s pages, or promote your page in comment sections. This may come across as unprofessional.

Never piggyback off national tragedy. Cancel your posts out of respect.

Keep you content original. If you wish to share a relevant tweet/post/etc. credit the originator.

Do not spam posts. It is okay to post the same thing for visibility, but space the posts out, and try and limit it to 4 times a day at the most.

Do not have your twitter posts programmed to post on Facebook, the other way around is fine, but the nature of Twitter is more rapid than Facebook so having too many Facebook posts, even if they are different appear spammy.

Be sympathetic of your follower’s notifications. Mass messages clutter up people’s notification centers.

Lighten up when dealing with negative commenters. Do not engage in back and forth banter. Use humor to diffuse the situation, this makes you look friendly in the public eye. If you are dealing with someone entirely disrespectful, delete the comments, and block the user.

The 80/20 rule. 80 percent of content on your page should be engaging customers. 20 percent should be promoting your business/product.

Business Texting:

Only text if it is accepted by your company.

Do not use abbreviations. This looks unprofessional, and let’s face it, there are so many abbreviations out there, and it can be difficult to know all of them.

Sorry. No emojis. Emoticons can help set the tone of a message, but they are too whimsical to be taken seriously. Take your time to word your message to convey the tone you want.

Watch your auto correct, and make sure grammar, punctuation, and spelling are in order. Texting may seem casual, but there is really no excuse. You have time to go over your message before sending it. Also, always double check the recipient. Slow down.

In business texting it can be beneficial to sign you text with your name, or initials. This is helpful to keep the receiver organized, especially in group texts.

Make sure that if you are going to text someone who is outside of your business, they are ok with it. If you are not sure, send an email asking if it is alright to communicate via text message.

Analyze the context of what you want to say. Is acceptable to text? It is like a breakup, you do not do that over text. Really assess if text messaging is the best conduit for your message.

Be mindful of people’s time. Avoid sending texts on weekends or at night. Even if they are work related, let people enjoy their time away from work.

Do not send multiple texts. The person likely has received it. They were probably away from their phone. If it is important, pick up the phone and give a call.

Do not text during meetings, or anytime you are engaged in conversation with another person. It is disrespectful. If you are expecting an important message, make sure to let the person/group know your situation, rather than just ignoring them to look at your phone.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

3 Holiday Online Shopping Trends to Watch for in 2016 by @DrRKayGreen

December 6, 2016 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Welcome to the Holiday Season 2016! This is undoubtedly the most important time of year for many retailers and consumers. Shoppers are out in full force seeking out the best deals and are wasting no time to jump on the latest offerings. According to data from the National Retail Federation, more than 154 million consumers have shopped over Thanksgiving weekend, up from 151 million shoppers in 2015 https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-data/holiday-headquarters.

The data is not surprising given that consumers are increasingly shifting more of their attention online. Changes in consumer behavior and the accelerating adoption rate of new technologies (e.g. mobile devices) are also contributing factors. It pays to look closely at emerging online trends to gain useful insights.

Below are some of the most impactful online shopping trends this holiday season.

1. Early Holiday Shopping

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping days of the year. According to the National Retail Federation (2016), 55.7 percent of shoppers have already started buying holiday gifts, the second-highest level in the history of the survey, down slightly from the record 56.6 percent at the same time last year https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/more-half-of-consumers-have-already-started-holiday-shopping.

Walmart is promising savings on a broad selection of its products from electronics to toys for eight weeks. This is in stark contrast to the usual limited time only deals that many retailers offer. Target is also launching major sales early with additional perks including free shipping and an expanded Price Match Policy beyond the 14 day window. Users of its Cartwheel app can browse deals on hundreds of products including half off on a different toy every day until Christmas Eve.

Other retailers including Amazon and Kohl’s have also started to offer early online promotions and sales.

Main takeaway: Consumers are doing more of their holiday shopping early. Consider offering storewide discounts or other perks to attract more sales to your site.

2. Growth of Mobile Sales

Mobile usage has seen explosive growth in the last few years alone. More consumers than ever before are now using mobile devices including smartphones and tablets to shop online. These usage patterns will contribute significantly to online sales this holiday season as they already have in previous years. In fact, Amazon and Target have both reported that 60% of their holiday traffic to their sites last year came from mobile devices.

Mobile will undoubtedly play a major role in the explosive growth of online sales this holiday season. But retailers risk losing sales to competing brands if their site isn’t optimized for mobile devices. A survey from Google found that 52% of users were less likely to engage with a company if it had a poor mobile experience.

Main takeaway: A significant amount of online holiday sales are expected to occur on mobile devices. Invest in a mobile friendly design for your site to capture and convert more visitors.

3. Online Personalization

Personalization is another growing trend that creates a compelling customer experience. It makes customers feel more valued and appreciated with a personal touch. But personalization goes beyond simply welcoming back a returning customer. It uses existing data about a customer to create a more personal shopping experience which in turn contributes to higher brand loyalty.

A Traf-Sys survey found that 78% of consumers are more likely to be repeat customers if a retailer caters to their preferences with personalized offers. Another survey from the E-tailing Group Inc. found that 59% of shoppers indicated it was easier to find what they were looking for when retailers personalized the shopping experience.

Personalization is key to increasing brand loyalty and even attracting new customers. Whether it’s greeting new site visitors, sending personalized emails, or tailoring deals based on previous purchasing history, adding a more personal touch creates a unique shopping experience.

Main takeaway: Many customers actually want a more personal shopping experience tailored to their preferences. Increase engagement during the holidays by incorporating personalization into your campaigns.

The year is quickly coming to a close so shoppers are in full swing. Understanding the latest trends as detailed above ensures a strong competitive advantage. It’s not too late to start planning and implementing your own marketing campaigns to prepare for the holiday rush.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

The Social Media Effect: Are You Really Who You Portray Online? by @DrRKayGreen

April 18, 2016 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Over the past 15 years, the world as we know it has been taken by storm through the onset of social media. According to Comscore (2011) about 90 percent of U.S. Internet users visit a social media site each month. Because we live in such a largely global-society, creating and maintaining an online presence has become most relevant in promoting your brand and expanding your social network.

As we know, perception is everything; especially in the world of social media. In terms of perception, we all have an ideal self. We all wish to maximize our careers, our profession, and aspire to be like those who we find most successful. As the use of social media continues to evolve; the concept of presenting our ideal selves versus our real selves has become more and more prevalent on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, and even LinkedIn.

As research suggests, your “real self” is what you are – your attributes, your characteristics, and your personality. Your “ideal self” is what you feel you should be; much of it due to societal and environmental influences. From a societal standpoint, many of us are driven by competition, achievement, and status; hence, the creation and portrayal of our ideal selves.

Consider the fact that on social media sites, we consider our profiles to be presentations of who we are. Therefore, through interaction with the social medium, the real and ideal selves intersect; and the ideal self is at least partially actualized. In essence, our online selves represent our ideals and eliminate many of our other real components.

The question we have to ask ourselves is: Are we really presenting who we are or are we presenting a hyper-idealistic version of ourselves? It has been argued that the social media effect creates a false sense of self and self-esteem through the use of likes, fans, comments, posts, etc. For many social media users, it is an esteem booster, which explains why so many people spend so much time on social media. It provides many individuals with a false sense of self and an inflated sense of who they really are.

In considering these points, here are three important factors to consider while social networking:

1. Stop comparing yourself to others. When you compare yourself to others, you are comparing yourself to the perception of what you think the person is. In reality, many people are presenting only their ideal selves online. Therefore, you are comparing yourself to an ideal figure, not a true representation.

2. Authenticity is Key. Stay true to your real self. Instead of creating an inflated, unrealistic version of yourself; examine who you are and your best attributes. Determine what makes you unique and focus your attention on enhancing yourself. Ask yourself this question, “Would you rather 1,000 carbon copies of replicas or one authentic version of yourself?” People like individuals who are relatable, yet, real. Do not be afraid to show who you really are.

3. Align your “Real” self with your “Ideal” self. If you are portraying yourself as an ideal figure or with an ideal career, why not work towards those goals to achieve your ideal status? As we know, everything in life worth doing takes time, effort, energy, and persistence.

As a final point, if you’re consistent and transparent in your online and offline persona, you have nothing to fear from exposure (Emily Magazine, 2013). Everything about your online persona should be reflective of your offline persona i.e. your background, experience, education, etc. Rather than focusing your attention and effort into creating an ideal online persona, use your time and effort to accomplish the goals that will align your real self with your ideal self. By doing so, you will ultimately become more fulfilled as you accomplish the goals that will lead to your path to self-actualization i.e. becoming the best you… the “real” you.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

The Game Changer: Social Media and the 2016 Presidential Election by @DrRKayGreen

November 17, 2015 by Kay Green 1 Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

And the clock is ticking….

Only one year remains until a new president is elected.

Presidential candidates from the Democratic and Republican party are naturally pushing hard to win voters to their campaigns. Political ad spending is expected to reach an astounding $11.4 billion, 20 percent more than the amount spent in 2012. Spending on social media is estimated to account for more than half of the $1 billion budget for digital media.

Embracing Social Media

President Obama was the first president to successfully leverage social media before it became as ubiquitous as it is today. His AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, the popular networking site, quickly became one of the most popular threads of all time. Part of the campaign strategy was to reach minority groups and young voters which proved to be highly effective in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Given the success of these campaigns, it’s hardly surprising to see most of the presidential candidates active on Facebook and Twitter. Other candidates including Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush even have Instagram and Snapchat to reach the growing number of users who prefer these platforms. Both are actually the first candidates to use Snapchat to announce their bid for the presidential nomination.

Targeting Millennials

The message here? Social media will undoubtedly play a major role in the upcoming election.

The ability to reach the millennial demographic is an important component to campaign efforts. And the reason why is simply because young adults are shifting more of their attention online to social networks. Candidates are naturally incorporating social media in their campaigns to stand out to millennials.

The importance of social media in elections has been studied extensively. One study published in 2012 found that Facebook feeds have a significant impact on voting patterns. The findings indicate that certain messages increased turnout directly and indirectly by a total of 340,000 votes. Close ties were also found to be far more influential than weaker ties.

According to research from Ipsos Mori, social media also has the potential to have more of an impact for 18 to 24 year olds. More than a third (34%) of this group indicated that reading something on social media would influence their vote, second only to televised debates. This is yet another reason why the presidential candidates are increasing their ad spending budgets on social networks.

Another study found that 41% of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 had participated in some kind of political discussion or activity online. These included sharing a video from a presidential candidate or tweeting about world events. These same individuals were much more likely to vote than those who weren’t as engaged.

As the election nears, spending on social media will doubtless increase to encourage more people to vote and the presidential candidates will be more active to reach their target demographic. It can also be said with certainty that the candidates will continue to leverage social networks to generate support and even raise funds. As the presidential election draws nears, its is evident that social media has become the game changer. Using the influence of social media has and will continue to improve each presidential candidates’ chances of winning the election.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

Market Your Startup Online For Less Than $20 a Week by DrRKayGreen

September 29, 2015 by Kay Green 2 Comments

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Just started your business on a very limited budget? Like many small businesses, marketing your business can be a very expensive task. Launching a startup is an exciting endeavor but the reality is you need marketing to get the ball rolling. Otherwise, your new business will fail to gain any traction in the early stages.

How a business is marketed plays a major role in everything from how the brand is perceived to its success. Companies like Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola are some of the top brands in the world with billions of dollars in market value. But they certainly didn’t get there overnight. These brands took decades before they were able to reach that point. Even the biggest companies in the world began as startups.

So, as a small startup, what can you do to market your business when you have a limited budget? Here are some online marketing strategies you can get started with for less than $20 a week to start bringing in sales:

1. Bing Ads
Google is by far the most popular search engine in the world. But advertising on AdWords can cost several dollars a click depending on the keywords you bid on. Not a very practical or affordable option for most startups.

Bing is often left as an afterthought but it can be a great source of targeted traffic for much less. In fact, advertising on Bing is 33.5% cheaper in terms of cost per click compared to AdWords. Less competition also means better ad positions.

A smaller marketing budget can actually result in greater efficiency. When paid traffic is not resulting in sales, you need to figure out why. It forces you to carefully analyze key metrics such as click through rate and conversions. Even a small budget of a dollar a day can lead steady targeted traffic that translates to sales.

2. Facebook Advertising
Facebook is the largest social medial network in the world with over a billion active users.

This platform represents a huge opportunity to reach practically any demographic at a fraction of the cost. Compared to other advertising mediums (e.g. newspapers, magazines, radio, etc.), Facebook is extremely cost effective with an average of $0.25 per 1,000 impressions. The minimum ad spend is one dollar a day which potentially puts your startup in front of 4,000 people.

Facebook is a massively powerful platform for any startup. Advertising to promote your posts ensures you get even more exposure and recognition for your brand. Similar to Bing Ads, you can specify targeting options based on certain demographics. This lets you reach more of your target market and increase the effectiveness of your ads.

3. Retargeting
Most online visitors leave without ever converting; but, what if you could bring them back to your site?

Retargeting lets you do exactly that and the way it works is rather straightforward. A tracking tag on your site places an anonymous cookie in the browser for previous visitors. Your ads then appear on other sites they visit. Retargeting is extremely powerful as it allows you to stay connected with your audience and increases brand exposure.

AdRoll is one of the largest retargeting platforms and works with a vast majority of advertising partners such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. It even offers more advanced targeting option based on specific actions. You can easily get started with a retargeting campaign for less than a dollar a day and eventually increase your spending as your budget allows.

Start Slow
Between Facebook Advertising, Bing Ads, and retargeting, you can expect to spend a few dollars a day. The effectiveness of your campaigns ultimately depends on a number of factors. But for less than $20 a week, you get great value for your money and a potential return on your investment. Once your startup begins generating results, you can gradually ramp up your ad spending and invest in other online marketing channels.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

Mompreneurship is the “New Normal” by @DrRKayGreen

September 4, 2015 by Kay Green 1 Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

No one said it would be easy. Raising a family and running a business are far from easy tasks. Both are full-time commitments that are often at odds with each other. The working women of today frequently have to balance between the demands of their business and the persistent needs of their children. Yet despite a chaotic schedule, many are still able to make it work.

The Population Reference Bureau reports that 68% of women with children under age 6 are now working. The high percentage of mothers in the workforce is attributed to different factors including the recent economic recession, the gradual decline in men’s earnings, and the increase in women’s educational levels. The data shows a growing class of mothers turning to entrepreneurship.

Now more mom entrepreneurs or “mompreneurs” already strapped for time are starting–and successfully growing–their own business ventures. Zipcar is one of many companies started by mothers of young children. Many more are being created and transforming industries in completely new ways. But how exactly do they do it?

Here are the steps that many mompreneurs have followed to successfully build their own businesses:

Start With an Idea

Melissa Lanz was working nearly 70 hours a week which meant she rarely ate dinner with her kids. Her own meals consisted primarily of frozen foods and take-out meals. But what she really wanted was to be able to enjoy healthy meals at the dinner table. Her search turned out to be fruitless so she had the idea to start her own business: The Fresh 20, a meal planning service focused on healthy eating for busy families.

Entrepreneurship is about identifying a problem in a market and delivering a solution. Even a simple idea (e.g. meal planning) can turn into a multimillion-dollar business. Look for inspiration in your own personal or work life. Make note of the things that frustrate you and pay attention to your surroundings. Oftentimes the best ideas are the ones staring right in your face.

Assess the Market

Amanda Steinberg founded DailyWorth, a financial e-newsletter to help women better manage their finances. Securing advertising contracts was essential in the early stages to prove the viability of the idea. Investors were initially skeptical when she had first pitched the idea but Steinberg was able to dramatically grow the company.

There are already so many unknowns when starting a business. Not every idea will be profitable. But you can greatly reduce your risk by validating your idea and conducting competitive analysis of the market. Validation confirms that a market exists and builds initial traction for your new idea.

There are numerous free and low cost ways to validate a business idea. Seek feedback from friends and family. Browse social media networks and forums. Create a landing page and drive traffic with a paid search campaign. Or even contact people directly in your target market to interview. The information you gather from this step can be absolutely invaluable.

Streamline Productivity

Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar dreamed of having her own business. But soon she started to have reservations when she realized it would require a much larger time commitment. Her daughter convinced her otherwise and Chase began moving her plans forward to create a car sharing company.

Time is already a valuable resource with demands for attention coming at every angle. A distinguishing factor with successful mompreneurs is effective time management and being able to streamline productivity. Whether it means delegating certain tasks to a spouse or bringing on new employees, successful mompreneurs find creative ways to maximize productivity and still leave time for their families.

Being a Mompreneur – Just Do It

There are countless stories of mothers who have built successful businesses while raising a family. Start with an idea and get feedback using resources available to you. Never be afraid of competition as it only demonstrates potential market profitability.

Set goals to continuously move your business forward. Even if you manage your time well, understand that there may be times where the business gets more attention than the kids and vice versa. Part of being a mother and an entrepreneur is finding a balance. Being a business owner while raising a family is incredibly demanding, but most mompreneurs wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

Lights, Camera, Action! Why Video Is Your Best Marketing Tool in 2015 by @DrRKayGreen

August 17, 2015 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

What do YouTube, Snap Chat, Instagram, Vimeo, Daily Motion, Veoh, and Vine all have in common? All of these platforms have maximized the use of video to capture massive worldwide audiences. As we’ve witnessed the success of websites such as YouTube, online marketing and technology are converging in a way that make video files a must-have on every website and platform.

In fact, research increasingly suggests that consumers are more likely to view video than any other resource online. Considering this fact, if you have never thought about posting videos on your website and/or social media platforms, here are 10 key reasons why you should be using video…very frequently:

1. SEO Makes a Huge Difference
Many video searches are conducted on Google and other search engines when a user may be looking to review or “check-out” a product or service before they actually purchase. As your website maybe SEO optimized, this gives your videos an advantage within the search results.

2. Searching YouTube for Ideas
Did you know that more than 700 million unique users search YouTube monthly? Placing a properly optimized video on YouTube, along with placing it on your website; will expose your business to many more perspective consumers who may be interested in purchasing your product or service.

3. Attracting Social Shares From Around the Globe and Back Again
People just love to share videos. When your social shares increase, so does your brand awareness. In turn, this will increase the traffic through your website.

4. Social Communities Built From the Ground Up
Having video is a fantastic way to get consumers thinking about you, and talking about your product or service. This also is a great way to get prospective consumers to talk to you as well. Through the images, the feelings and rewards become wrapped into your video clips; you have everyone’s attention.

5. Show Them Who You Are
Video allows prospective consumers to see who they are buying products and services from. In turn, this brings prospects a step closer to being your customer, as well as bringing your occasional customers a step closer to becoming lifelong customers, and so on.

6. Appeal to the Emotions
When a perspective consumer sees all text on your website it creates a feeling of being distant and detached. Adding video makes your website more intimate giving your present consumers, as well as prospective consumers, a connected feeling. We all like those warm fuzzy feelings, why not share the love with customers?

7. Explanations That are Just a Bit Easier to Understand
Many people have short term interest when it comes to complicated issues. Adding video when a complicated issue arises will convey the message, quickly and clearly. This will enhance your consumers understanding of your distinctive value, rather than going to a different source for explanation.

8. New Product…Instructions Please!
They purchased your product, but how do they use it? Having a series of well thought-out small instructional videos is a fantastic way to get prospective consumers to consider you as a go-to source within your area of knowledge. So show them what they are missing out on! While writing about that new product or service may be great; it may not be as persuasive as showing your consumers exactly what the product or service is, what it offers, and how it functions.

9. Dress to Impress and Show Off Your Pretty Face
New prospective consumers will take notice when you have taken the time to put a video on your website. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Blow them away, they are your customers…your #1 priority.

10. Customers Hate Reading? No Problem!
Many prospective consumers as well as current consumers are visual learners. Moreover, many people do not like to read or just don’t want to stare at their computer screens for very long. If your website relies on primarily text, you are ignoring a major segment of potential consumers.

Now that we have covered ten primary reasons why you should incorporate video into your website and social media platforms…..let’s get ready….Light, Camera, Action! Create your first or next video that is aimed to Impress, Inspire, and Capture all those potential customers that are in the market for your product or service.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn

Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

6 Golden Rules of E-Marketing Your Small Business by @DrRKayGreen

July 22, 2015 by Kay Green 1 Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Do you own a small business? Are you operating on a fixed budget? Do you aspire to reach a global market? If you answered yes to each question, E-Marketing (online marketing) maybe perfect for your business! At the most basic level, E-Marketing enables you to build relationships with clients and prospective consumers. E-Marketing relies on low-cost niche-marketing which reflects the transition from traditional mass marketing.

So, how does this benefit the Small Business Owner you ask? Let’s consider a few key benefits here:

Lower Operation Cost

E-Marketing has a lower operation cost than traditional methods of marketing. It enables small businesses to have a higher frequency, reach, and affordability than traditional methods of advertising. On average, full page ads in newspapers, television, as well as ads in directories are typically very expensive. As an alternative, getting a free listing in various online business directories cost less than placing a full page ad in a newspaper. In the same manner, sending an email is more cost effective than paying postal cost for mass mailings.

Tracking Your Advertising Results

The second advantage of E-Marketing is that small businesses are able to track the results of their marketing efforts through the use of visuals and comprehensive graphics. This allows for tracking growth, leads, and sales conversions from advertising search campaigns.

Social Marketing

E-Marketing enables small businesses to benefit from the growing significance of Social Media. As a small business owner, you can benefit from this by incorporating social media networking into your online marketing campaigns. In today’s market, an escalating number of customers have used or will use social media to explore information about a product on a mobile device to research product and price prior to making their final decision. According to Forbes Magazine, “Social media allows salespeople to see what prospects are saying about their brand and competitors. You can really get to know his or her needs through social listening. It’s a great way to research a market and initiate conversation leading to a sale (Forbes, 2014).”

Personalization

E-Marketing enables small businesses to personalize offers to clients by constructing profiles of their purchasing preferences and previous shopping patterns. By tracking specific web pages visited, small businesses may construct customized offers to targeted customers. The information made available from visited web pages will also provide data for cross-selling campaigns. These campaigns allow for cross-selling which maximizes profit.

Demographic and Psychographic Targeting

E-Marketing offers the use of demographic and psychographic platforms which targets and measure consumer responses from various backgrounds and perspectives. Also, it allows for targeting specific consumers – those who are more likely to purchase your product/ service. These platforms rely on survey research or the use of questionnaires that business owner can use to discover background information on consumers and customer service/quality improvement information.

Global Marketing

E-Marketing allows small businesses the advantage of selling to consumers 24 hours, 7 days a week, from all over the globe. With competitive SEO (search engine optimization) strategies, small business owners can secure millions of viewers to their website as well as reach a vast pool of potential consumers. SEO enables your marketing efforts to reach beyond the range of geography.

Given the benefits E-Marketing and the fact that we live in the Age of Technology, this is certainly more than a viable option. Not only does E-Marketing reduce the overall bottom-line, in many cases, it creates a competitive advantage for small businesses. Who wouldn’t want a business with a competitive advantage in the market?

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn

Kay Green

www.drkaygreen.com

Self-Actualization: Become the Best Version of You by @DrRKayGreen

April 6, 2015 by Kay Green 1 Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Self-Actualization: Become the Best Version of You

Photo Credit: citirecruitment via Compfight cc

Why is it so difficult for people to accept who they really are? In a word, pressure. There’s so much pressure — especially in today’s hypercompetitive and hyper-informed society — for people to be something they’re not. You get it from parents, from friends, from spouses, from television, from the Internet, from magazines, from advertisements you pass in the street, from nearly everything you see and do in any given day.

With all of the pressure that exists in today’s hypercompetitive, hyper-informed society, how does one truly accept themselves holistically? As Abraham Maslow highlighted, we all follow our own paths, it matters only how completely we dedicate ourselves to achieving the personal and psychological greatness that lies at the top. At the top of the self-acceptance pyramid lies the concept of self-actualization.

With self-actualization, you achieve expert control of your creativity, spontaneity, and problem-solving skills. You have assumed a comfortable and sensible morality. You operate with the ability to separate fact from fiction, while eliminating prejudice. It is, in its own way, the clearest definition of what it means to be enlightened as a person and as an entrepreneur.

The first part of self-actualization is accepting your true self, but the second part is understanding that the journey has no end point. To self-actualize, you must always strive to expand your horizons as a human being. To achieve success, you must always seek it. The potential to self-actualize is something that lies within us all. You must only make yourselves willing to progress and then take the steps necessary to unlock that self-actualization. Having stated this, here are four important steps to consider on your path to self-actualization:

1. Stop measuring yourself against others.

Most of us have the tendency to measure our self-worth by comparing our accomplishments and abilities to those of the people around us. If you want to see how you’re doing, the easiest way is to see how you measure up with your counterparts. It’s the surest way to demonstrate how far along are you on the path to achieving success. If you’re farther than others, you deem yourselves achievers. If you’re not, you tend to stress and work on ways to improve.

The problem is that self-actualization doesn’t have anything to do with the people around you. Notice the “self” part of the term. The only thing that matters is your progress, not the progress of others. If you hope to self-actualize — or at least get on the path to self-actualization — you must stop gauging yourselves against other people’s accomplishments. Whether it’s education or material things or even beauty standards, you cannot consider this as your standard. You must not work from a standpoint of how you compare; rather, you must work from a standpoint of where you are personally and independently of everyone else.

To achieve this step, you must be able to look in the mirror and say, “This is my portrait. This is who I am. This is my canvas.” With that canvas in mind, do everything in your power to not let your perception of others color that canvass. Only you can paint the picture of who you want to be. No one else is in control of your destiny.

2. Learn to accept yourself holistically.

It’s so easy to become dissatisfied with who you are and what you have accomplished. Oftentimes, when you look in the mirror, it actually serves to increase the negativity with which you think about yourself. You cannot fall into that trap. In order to self-actualize, you must accept your whole self — your strengths and weaknesses — and you must embrace them all. You cannot downplay your weaknesses or exaggerate your strengths if you hope to get anywhere in life. If progress is to be made, you must operate first from truth.

3. Understand that you are in control.

No matter how much influence an external factor might have on the people around you, the self-actualized remain unaffected. This is because they know exactly who they are, and can therefore always adapt (and adapt quickly). Because they do not lie to themselves about their own identities, strengths, and weaknesses, they have an immediate and clear picture of the adjustments they need to make to render the external factor irrelevant. Understand that the power you possess in terms of your outlook is absolutely astonishing. If you are realistic, honest, and above all, authentic, there is nothing you can’t achieve.

4. Don’t stop growing.

Those who self-actualize understand that the journey is never over. To self-actualize requires self-awareness, and self-awareness requires an understanding that there is no such thing as a finished product. There is no such thing as perfection and no such thing as an endgame. To be self-actualized means to understand that you must never stop growing as a person and learning as a professional.

To achieve self-actualization, when you conquer one thing, you must move on to the next. Self-actualization does not require any tricks or tools. To reach this level, you need only to accept who you are and then take the steps necessary to becoming the best version of you that you can be. Once you are 110% comfortable with who you are, who you’ve surrounded yourself with, and what you’re destined to do on this earth, you may begin your journey towards self-actualization.

As a final point, see who you are. Really see it. When you have seen it, adopt an attitude that you’re not afraid to go against the grain. Stop adapting to society and start being you. The empowerment that results will astonish you.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

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Kay Green