She Owns It

Celebrating, Connecting, and Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

Strategize your social plans: How can starts-ups maintain a steady social media presence? by @AlmaCausey

by Leave a Comment

Strategize your social plans: How can starts-ups maintain a steady social media presence?

“Hello, all! I am so excited for our weekend plans!” Annie exclaimed as she barged in after work.

To her dismay, no one responded. Tania was angrily sending voice notes to someone. Mike appeared like he would shatter the screen with his furious typing. And Ben, as usual, was lying on the couch with earphones on. Disappointed, Annie went to her room, stumped on the bed, and began scrolling her Instagram.

Does this scenario ring a bell?

Pretty much, every home these days has turned into a media hotspot. From adults to kids, as young as five years, are a part of the target market for many businesses. Be it leisure, apparel, accessories, and firms specializing in designer footwear or academic applications.

Leaving the debate of its pros and cons for another day, let’s discuss it from a corporate perspective. Social media has become the central focus of business entities. It started as an entertainment tool, but now it is one of the most sophisticated marketing tools for entrepreneurs. Marketers spent over $89 billion on social media advertising and marketing in 2019.

The stats only convince them to spend more. Currently, more than 42% of the world’s population has a social media account. That is over 3.2 billion users!

Clearly, marketing on social media is worth the effort. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become indispensable parts of customer acquisition, brand awareness, content distribution, and lead generation. All of it becomes even more essential if you are a start-up. Strategize your social media presence to maintain a steady standing in the digital community.

Clueless on how to tread here? Let us spell it out for you.

Step one: Craft a Plan that Works

First things first, you must set some attainable goals. The best way to do that is to ensure they are SMART. Below, we have the image to decipher such objectives:

Source

It is good to expand your social network. However, unless you figure out what you want to achieve via expansion, you can’t expect successful outcomes. Following are a few goals a start-up usually looks forward to pursuing:

  • Generate new leads
  • Improve brand awareness
  • Enhance web traffic
  • Increase sales

Step two: Choose a suitable platform

Once you know your goals, it is time to find which platform caters to your needs. This depends on the niche you are working in. For example, if you are in tech, LinkedIn would be a better option than Instagram.

Note that not all social media channels have the same purpose. The target audience for each is different. Given the variation, you must pick a channel where you can connect with the right people at the right time.

Source

As a start-up, you can’t afford the luxury of failing often. You need to ensure your advertising budget works hard for you. Keep it minimum, but make sure your strategies are relevant. For instance, if you are a B2B, go to LinkedIn. If you are an e-commerce agency, work on Instagram.

There are a few ways you can go about finding where your audience is hanging out.

  • A straightforward approach is to carry out the customer survey. Ask questions like which social platform they use the most, which influencers they follow the most, and from where they get their online info.
  • Another method is to deploy social media sites. Platforms like Facebook allow you to estimate the size of the audience.
  • Also, you can research the demographics of each social site through the Pew Research Center for the Internet and Technology.

Next, follow what Patrick Ward from High-Speed Experts believes, that once you’ve identified where your customer resides, you can be consistent and valuable to master your chosen social platform truly. This will definitely make a strong impact!

Step three: Analyze competitor’s social presence

As soon as you have set up your social media profiles, it’s time to do some stalking. Snoop into your competitor’s social media profiles and check what the devil they are up to. Being the newbie in the industry, you have to spot the competing parties first. You should monitor the social media presence of mid-sized and even larger corporations.

Experts recommend using third-party tools to have a closer look at competitor’s social media performance. Websites like Keyhole, SEMRush, and RivalIQ can help you audit the social media of competitors. You can study the metrics and evaluate the content they are producing.

Here are a few things you should pay attention to:

  • Posting frequency
  • Content quality
  • Comments/likes details
  • Number of followers

Step four: Design a content marketing strategy

Your content marketing strategy, in its essence, is the outline of your start-up. It contains a detailed plan that you can use to address your audience. Bear in mind; there is no general content marketing strategy template. Each business has to design its own.

Allow your creative genies to join heads and come up with a plan meant to boost brand awareness. It is not always about crafting blog posts. It includes videos, infographics, case studies, research outcomes, graphics, animations, and much more. Filter out the type of content that will allow you to reach your audience in the best possible ways.

Source

When promoting content on social media, you must go both ways: paid and organic. For the latter, you can use third-party distributors or influencers to promote your content. It will assist you in reaching out to different sources and add your content to their social channels or websites. Besides, you must anticipate the frequency of posts your audience requires. A social media scheduling tool will allow you to keep up with the pace.

Step five: Build relationships and find leads

As a start-up, your ultimate success lies in the relationships you build. Use your social channels to interact with the audience, respond to their queries, and offer free or discounted items. Take their feedback when necessary and enlighten them about your long-term plans.

Summing Up

At the outset, building a social media presence may sound simple. Yet as you advance, you’ll understand it’s a bit tacky.

Don’t fret when this realization hits you!

Many entities made it big, and you can do it too. All you need is professional knowledge and a couple of experts up your sleeve.

Initiate your journey and share with us how it goes. Good Luck!

 

5 Tips to Follow Before Launching an App for Your Business?

by Leave a Comment

by Praveen Mishra

In 2018, global mobile app revenues amounted to over 365 billion U.S. dollars. In 2023, mobile apps are projected to generate more than 935 billion U.S. dollars in revenues via paid downloads and in-app advertising, says Statista.

Mobile apps are on the rise! With the huge demand for mobile apps in the market now, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that mobile apps have become an integral part of any business. It is a mobile app that keeps your users hooked to your services.

 

With more than 1.84 million apps available on the Apple App Store and almost 3 million apps on Google Play, the competition is very steep.

Ensuring your mobile app gets noticed and gets downloaded is only a part of the whole issue, while the other part is how will you monetize the app. If your app is free, there are still plenty of ways to monetize it. Whether you decide to sell advertising space, subscriptions, or in-app purchases, here are five ways to ensure your app is a success.

 

Here, in this article, I have discussed 5 ways to know how to monetize your mobile app. Let’s read in detail about the major 5 tips to follow before launching an app.

 

Make Sure There’s A Market For Your App!

Before you start with the development of your mobile app, it’s important that you look for other apps in the market. Do a proper market analysis and know about the other apps prevailing in the market space now. Determine the major demographics and identify their pain points. Once you have gone through the understanding of the target market, consider how your mobile app will benefit them. Know how your app can act as a solution for the users.

 

Create A Marketing Plan!

In order to ensure that your app is successful, it’s important that you devise a great marketing plan. Let people know about your app and how it helps in resolving their issues.  Although testing the app is a crucial task, making sure people know about it is even more important. This is where so many business owners and developers fail. To ensure your app gets the visibility it needs to be successful, you’ll need a marketing plan. You should create a marketing strategy as soon as you start the development phase. Develop the unique selling proposition and its main differentiator from the competition.

 

Design An Easy-To-Navigate Interface!

Great user experience is essential for keeping your customers hooked to your app. If the user experience (UX) is not easy to use, then the user will most likely delete the app. Also, if your app fails to allure the customers, then they will just ignore the app. It’s important that your app has an easy to use interface. Avoid adding unnecessary features into your app which makes the app more complicated. With so many apps used once and then deleted, it’s critical to ensure your app works flawlessly. Testing your app for bugs before you launch is key to your success.

 

Build An Audience Before You Launch!

Do a competitive market analysis and identify your target audience. Let your audience know about your app before you launch it in the market.  One of the best ways to ensure the success of your app is by building an audience before you launch. Ask your friends, family, friends, and colleagues to use the app. Share the app with others and get feedback from them. This will help you deliver a better product and ensure the success of your app.

 

Measure Analytics And Feedback!

After you’ve launched your mobile app, it’s critical to measure user engagement and activity. Here are some important key performance indicators you should pay attention to. Here is a list of all the questions that will help you analyze how successful your app would be.

 

  • How many daily and monthly active users does your app receive?
  • What is the retention rate?
  • How long does a user spend on your app?
  • How long does it take for your app to load?
  • How are users finding out about your app?
  • Are users happy with the layout and navigation? Do they find it useful?
  • How much revenue have specific customers generated over the time they do business with you?

 

Positive feedback helps to increase the visibility of your app thus making your app more successful. When users leave positive reviews, it can affect how visible your app is in the app store search results and how likely it will be featured on the app store.

 

If you want to have a successful mobile app launch, then you need to plan a great marketing strategy from the beginning. Your marketing strategy needs to be well devised and structured right from the beginning. If you miss this, there’s a decent chance the launch will fall short of your benchmarks.

 

Final Words

By now, I am sure you have got a clear idea of how to monetize your app. Clearly, implementing these steps will help you know how to ensure the success of your app. After reading these 5 important tips to follow before launching an app, you will get an idea of the things you need to consider before introducing your app in the market.

 

Praveen is a Computer Science enthusiast with a flair for creating content. He is passionate about helping businesses achieve their goals. Praveen is currently associated with Resourcifi.

5 Best Free Photo Websites in 2020

by Leave a Comment

by Amos Struck

Yes, I am going to tell you the 5 best free photo websites in this post.

However, you must first learn why it is necessary to use photos while developing a website or maybe for your marketing campaigns, building blogs, etc.

You must have heard this famous saying by Albert Einstein, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

It just never gets rusty because of its practical application. Imagine you are writing about the drought in Africa and want it to have maximum impact on your readers. What would you do? If it were up to me, I would search for a heart touching story.

Supposing, I am able to unearth the story of a single mother who travels several miles daily to get water for her children. Now, try comparing a piece of writing (narrating the story of that mother) with a picture of a woman carrying an infant and a water container in her arms, walking on barren land bare feet. Which would have more impact on the audience? You know the answer.

Because of the impact it has, the value of photos has increased. There are several sites where you can find premium quality images for any niche, including  marketing, trade, technology, etc.

In this post, I’ll give you a list of 5 best free photo websites that you can use. Let’s dive right in!

 

Pexels

Pexels is the most used free stock photo site, owing to the variety and quality of pictures available. It also provides free stock video clips, which can be used for various purposes like in a TVC.

Pexels offers a vast library of free photos and videos. Attribution is not compulsory, but giving credits to the photographer is always appreciated. You can find high definition images in almost every niche.

Pexels offers an unending variety of more than two million free stock photos (as of now). It really is justifiable that Pexels topped my list.

 

Pixabay

Pixabay is the second on my list, but there is one category where it surpasses Pexels.

Along with photos and videos, Pixabay also offers free vector illustration (Yes, with free-to-use vector source files).

Apart from this uniqueness, Pixabay also offers more about 1.7 million high resolution and free stock photos. They also have a quite decent and ample collection of videos.

Some experts rate Pixabay as the number 1 free photo site, and they might be right. I would say that both Pexels and Pixabay stand as equals.

 

Unsplash

With a library of over 1.5 million photos, Unsplash is the third most searched free stock photos’ website.

Unsplash has more than 50,000 contributors, and hundreds of photos get published on a daily basis. The part they lack is that Unsplash does not offer free stock videos like Pexels and Pixabay.

They offer only the best quality photos, and their stock is growing quite rapidly. You can use the images on Unsplash for free, without attribution.

 

Pikwizard

Along with a huge library of stock photos, Pikwizard is really a wizard in the realm of stock photos.

The added option of basic editing and adding text overlays makes Pikwizard stand apart among many other free stock photo sites. Along with a basic free version, Oikwizard also has a fully loaded paid version.

It doesn’t have any video stocks and is solely targeted on stills. If you like to add texts and overlay filters on your stock photos, Pikwizard has just the magic you are looking for.

There are very few other sites like PikiWizard that give you multiple options to edit your pictures, so give it a shot.

 

RawPixel

RawPixel claims to have the most diverse collection of stock photos, and it is somewhat true.

So what makes it stand out?

It provides not only access to free HD photos but also vectors and “PSD Mockups.” PSD Mockups can come in so handy for your marketing and branding purposes. Moreover, the quality of the photos, vectors, and mockups is superior to other such sites.

RawPixel also has paid elements, but the best part is that whatever you pay to them (for acquiring a premium file), it all goes to the fund for the “Hope for Children” initiative.

This makes RawPixel an exceptional platform, apart from the fact that you can find the best quality stock photos on Raw Pixel.

 

Important Note on Licensing

Before you start using free stock photos, you must read their licensing clauses in order to use them safely.

The most common license used by free stock photo sites is the “Creative Commons Zero” represented mostly in the form of its abbreviation “CC0”. It is the license with the least restrictions and rules for using these stock photos. But is that all?

You should know about the risks attached to using these photos.  Last year, there was a case where a photographer had to face legal consequences for using a photo from Unsplash.

Most sites do not really have the muscle and resources to verify the credibility of the source (from which the photo came from). In simpler words, they can not really check that every image is coming from its real owner; the one who holds the copyrights.

So, you should be careful to avoid any legal issues. Also, it is a good practice to have a clear understanding of the licensing details. If you are interested, you can take a look at this guide for safely using free stock photos.

 

 

About the author Amos Struck: WordPress and Photo Geek. Amos is a publisher and entrepreneur in the stock imagery field. He is focused on providing knowledge and solutions for buyers, contributors, and agencies, aiming at contributing to the growth and development of the industry. He is the founder and editor of Stock Photo Secrets, one of the largest networks of online magazines in the industry. He created several software solutions in stock photography including WordPress plugins.

 

 

 

 

The Latest Influencer Marketing News for 2020 That You Need to Know by @Shane_Barker

by Leave a Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit every industry out there and the influencer marketing industry is no different. Marketing budgets across many industries were slashed and this meant fewer influencer marketing campaigns.

While this might paint a grim picture in your minds, it’s far from that. In fact, 71% of marketers still feel that influencers can make a positive impact for their brand during the pandemic. Also, once the lockdowns are lifted, about 74% of marketers plan on doing as many or more influencer marketing campaigns.

What’s more?

Mobile apps flourished during this time.

But why?

Let’s find out.

The Rise of Mobile Apps

As people were more confined to their homes, they increasingly started turning towards their phones. In fact, mobile phone usage increased drastically due to the COVID-19 outbreak around the world.

This meant more usage of mobile apps. Thus, it made sense for mobile app companies to promote apps on social media.

One of the major reasons for this is the boost that social media platforms have managed to get due to the pandemic. Messaging across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram grew by 50% in the past few months.

What’s more?

This means that apps had a chance to reach their audiences with ease through social media.

Influencer marketing, being one of the best ways of reaching people on social media, did thus see many partnerships between apps and influencers.

But apps aren’t the only ones benefiting from the pandemic. Ecommerce stores experienced a tremendous boost too.

Let’s take a look at them.

A Big Boost for Ecommerce Stores

Ecommerce stores were posing tough competition for brick-and-mortar stores before the pandemic. However, due to the widespread lockdowns around the world, most brick-and-mortar stores had to shut shops.

This meant that ecommerce stores could proceed with their business without any competition from brick-and-mortar stores. As a result, the number of first-time purchases on ecommerce stores of traditional chains across the US and Canada grew by nearly 119% as compared to the previous year.

Even the digital native ecommerce stores hosted on digital platforms experienced a similar bump.

The first-time purchases from these stores grew by 53% as compared to 2019.

digital native ecommerce stores hostedImage via Bluecore

As a result, these businesses partnered with influencers to promote their products and grow their sales.

For example, Ickle Bubba partnered with Jade Marie King to promote their stroller.

Ickle Bubba partnered with Jade Marie KingImage via Instagram

What’s more?

These businesses could also leverage social media ads to promote themselves. They can also leverage dynamic ads to get people to purchase from them. These ads mean that the audience can instantly purchase the products by clicking on the links.

But that’s not all.

Even email marketing has worked well for brands.

In fact, the number of email sign-ups has risen by 89% for traditional chain stores according to the same Bluecore study. Similarly, digital native ecommerce stores experienced a 25% rise in email sign-ups too, (as compared to the previous year).

traditional chain storesImage via Bluecore

And that’s not all.

All stores have experienced growth through email marketing from February, including traditional department stores. Even they got a 19% increase in the number of new sign-ups in April as compared to February.

Transparency is the Key

As the traditional stores closed down, the demand from online consumers skyrocketed, as can be seen from the stats above. This meant that the brands needed to be more authentic and transparent with their consumers.

It has become essential for them to win the trust of their consumers. For this reason, many brands started partnering with their existing customers. This helps boost their transparency as the customers will write authentic reviews about the brand.

It also means that the brands don’t need to spend big bucks on partnering with mega-influencers to woo their audiences.

The focus of many brands is thus shifting to nano-influencers, i.e., their customers.

Final Thoughts

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a meteoric rise in internet usage. With more people sitting in their homes, social media and app usage increased too. It also meant that many people ended up purchasing products from ecommerce stores as the brick-and-mortar stores were shut.

As a result, many brands reached out to influencers to partner with them to promote their products. Many of them even ended up partnering with their customers to win the trust of their audience.

Designing Your Website for Your Customers by @DONNAAMOS

by Leave a Comment

Designing Your Website for Your Customers

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Now that your business is up and running, it is time to go about designing your website so that it is both awesome and effective to help get the word out about your brand as well as attract prospective customers.

In fact, an effective website, which is one that puts you right in front of your target audience, helps you stand out among your competitors in online searches, thus also helping to increase the chance of conversions due to the number of quality visits.

However, as a new business or a business that is new to the online world, knowing the various elements that go into effective web design can be difficult without prior training and knowledge.

But the following information, also used by professional marketers themselves, will help provide you with the training tips and resources you need to help take the guesswork out of what makes a website effective and propel you towards success.

Begin With Your Target Audience in Mind

Contrary to popular belief, a business website is less about what the business wants the customer to know and more about what the target audience wants to accomplish, which helps decrease the bounce rate, or the rate of visitors who enter your site only to leave before viewing the site in its entirety or making a transaction.

In fact, research shows that more and more customers are turning to the world wide web as their source of information and even research a company’s website before making a purchase decision online or in person.

Therefore, to be without a website, let alone one that fails to cater to your customers, can cause you to miss out on valuable leads, which can be detrimental to your sales and cut into your bottom line.

Some ways to ensure your website is customer-focused include:

Make It Personal Yet Inclusive

For customers to appreciate and find worth in a product or service, they need to feel as if it was designed with them in mind.

Therefore, the general notion that your visitors are a part of your business should be built into every aspect of the user experience, so that they don’t feel alienated but instead like they belong, which helps build strong, long-lasting relationships that can ultimately lead to repeat business, as well as other potential customers in the future.

On the other hand, it is also impossible for your business to cater to every customer and every need, so before you begin, identify your target audience, as well as what your product or service will do for them to help make your marketing efforts and web design even easier.

You should begin by learning the main customer groups that engage with your site, and why, which user research and testing can help you do. Using this customer insight will help you plan the most effective web design and features, thus easily safeguarding against any factors that may hinder the goal of your site.

Focus on the Content Before the Web Design

The content or message of your site helps set the stage for all else that follows; therefore, it is important to develop your content or message before the actual web design.

However, when it comes to content, quality is key because it plays a major role in the user experience. In other words, it adds value to the user. When done right, it can even capture the attention of future users, which in turn also helps increase your sales leads; therefore, it pays to carefully plan it out.

To help develop quality content, after you have conducted thorough research on your target audience, next consider the goal you hope to accomplish from conveying the content to your audience and then create a strategy to display it on the web site.

You can also hire a ghostwriter to do it for you.

Provide Factual Information

In the era of search engine rankings and social media popularity, unfortunately, many websites have turned away from being customer based to solely focusing on SEO

rankings, likes, shares, and Tweets, etc., which has caused them to resort to various questionable tactics, such as publishing misleading content, in hopes of going viral or to increase their ranking in major search engines.

However, this does not add value to visitors, which can not only cause you to lose credibility as well as sales in the long run but also land you in hot water with the powers that be.

In fact, as of recent, various social media entities, including Facebook and Twitter, have incorporated several measures to prevent the sharing of false or inflated information, including having content checked by independent fact-checkers and then boldly labeling the content as false if it is found to be untrue.

Meanwhile, Google also has various penalties for publishing false or misleading information, which can not only cost you search engine rankings but, in some cases, even cause your page to be blocked or removed altogether.

Therefore, rather than just focusing on short-lived fame, you should instead aim to provide information that is both useful and fact-based, which can actually help grow your business in the long run.

Some ways to help show your visitors that your site contains factual content include:

  • Clearly state whether the content is sponsored – If your website contains sponsored content, don’t try to hide or disguise it. Instead, label it as such. It should also be displayed in your design work, such as using larger fonts for the title and making sure the author’s name is obvious, which provides visitors with someone to follow up with for greater assurance.
  • Use reputable sources – Using or linking to reputable sources in your content encourages readers to consider the weight of your sources, which also helps boost your credibility. You might also consider linking to or listing author credentials to also help build trustworthiness.
  • Incorporate related content – Linking related content using an encouraging heading, such as You Might also Like, provides users with additional information and contrast, which enables them to conduct their own research and reach their own conclusion. It also makes your content look unbiased, which helps build trust.

User-Friendly Digital Trends

Today’s consumers are consistently looking for ways to be awed by added convenience, sans the gimmicks; therefore, as part of your customer friendly web design, you might also consider incorporating, or at least checking out, some of the latest technological trends that promise to do just that.

Some digital customer experience trends for 2020 include:

Responsive Web Design

Responsive web design is and will continue to be a growing trend as customers are always looking to access the internet on the latest device.

This type of design, which a professional web designer can help you achieve, enables websites to look good across all devices, and it should also include fast page loading times to help enhance the user experience, which helps reinforce your professional image.

Voice Commerce

Voice assistant technology, think Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant, is another growing trend in 2020, as it enables customers to activate a device or make purchases hands free while they go about their daily routines.

In fact, research shows that voice shopping is expected to rise from the current $2 billion to $40 billion in 2022.

However, companies can also develop their own eCommerce experiences using their own platforms, which will enable their customers to also interact with their brand through voice.

Omnichannel Delivery

Omnichannel delivery enables consumers to start their interaction with your brand from one touchpoint and then pick up where they left off another, which essentially turns more objects into connected devices.

To utilize this function in your own website, you will need to incorporate a  headless content management system , which an experienced web designer can also help you do.

Web Design That Works

Gone are the days of slapping up a website that just looks nice, in today’s world, it must also actually function as an effective marketing tool to increase the chance of conversions, which means you must put in some work.

Simply begin with customer research, which can be easily done using customer surveys and more, to gain valuable insight about key customers that can then be used to help make designing your website much simpler and your campaigns more effective.

Meanwhile, web analytic tools, such as Google Analytics, can help track customer behavior, such as page views and bounce rate, etc., once your site is launched, which can also be used to help improve your focus.

 

Now is the New Later: Building Passive Income and Freedom with Online Courses by @IrinaPic

by Leave a Comment

 

by Irina Pichura

As an entrepreneur, you start with massive amounts of passion and drive at the beginning, it’s all SO exciting! In fact, it’s likely you have or plan to, watch every single program online and podcast on how to build your business.

You know what you want! A flexible lifestyle, a business that has an impact on other humans, all with your unique talent. But then reality kicks in… you begin to work, hard, and you may no longer have vacations worry-free as you are still taking projects and dealing with client temper tantrums, even on a plane, or a beach no less. (Where’s the fun in that?)

This is where passive income comes into play.

You may be thinking that you can’t possibly build a course online to get passive income while you are enjoying a margarita during your beach vacation! You have too much work to do.

Not to mention the layers of doubt in your head like:

  • I could never make time to build my course. With all these projects! No way.
  • Will my clients buy that course? I am an imposter! I don’t actually know that much…
  • Or, courses are already over. It’s too late for me.

Don’t let that critical inner voice bring you down, the time to build a course online is now! Now is the new later.

And, I’m going to teach you each step you need to create YOUR amazing course.

 

 

Create your foundation – Organize, research and implement

 

Lack of ideas and resources is not the problem to finish creating an online course for your business, but...lack of strategy and drive is.

Here is what you need to stay focused, and create excellent content:

  1. Course Prep: Set a time when you can finish your online course, 60 days is a good amount of time for preparation. Create an evidence-based plan and stick to it.
  2. Audience: Get clarity on who your perfect course student is, or who your ideal customer is and go specifically into what problems you are solving for her/him with your course and how.
  3. Course Type: Not all courses are the same, and not all of them are right for your audience. It is key to use the information you have about your niche, audience, expertise and business model to figure out what problem you can solve – success comes by designing the right course for those who desperately need it.

 

 

Validate!

 

The best entrepreneurs trip on the same step in the road if they don’t have market validation of the course offering they are putting together.

Be sure to pre-test and post-test your audience:

  • Validate: There are different ways to validate your idea from beta testing in small groups, seeing what is out there in the market to solve the same problem, etc..
  • Survey your audience: Knowing who your audience will land you in the right spot, but testing them will keep you from impostor syndrome, after you’ve had a beta group test your product or idea – survey them! What did they enjoy, learn and appreciate? This is also a fabulous time to collect testimonials.

 

 

Design and Refine

 

What makes your course special in a crowded market with infinite options? 

You will need more than a catchy course name, you need to deliver in solving your client’s problem effectively.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A Unique Selling Proposition: You have a superpower and your clients want some of that! Showcase what you can do for them and what makes you a unique solution to their problems.
  • The Best Name Ever: Your course name shouts the value you have in it. The name needs some thought behind it so you can show the amazing value you provide through a few powerful words that will haunt them until they enroll.
  • The Offer: Pricing is key but being able to deliver the promises you made to your client is even more important. Build out a plan so you can charge the right price for the promises you will deliver on.

 

 

Creating Your Masterpiece

 

You have mapped out the course, your masterpiece, this is it! This is the moment to shout it out loud!

  • Crushing the outline: This is not a thesis, This is your way of showing an amazing idea into a streamlined plan.
  • Create your content: You want to provide the best learning experience for your students. Learn how to shoot videos, what graphics you will need and balance the right amount of info, no one wants to be overwhelmed.
  • Speechless branding: The information on your course is important but you need the shiny object to be in a silver lining package for your client to purchase it.
  • Recording: Let’s be honest, this is going to be the hardest part, but with some research and a nice mic or video equipment – you can do it!

 

 

Delivering like a Boss

 

Get familiar with the platforms that are right for you and will allow you to deliver your beautiful content like a boss to your eager to learn students.

  1. Organize your deliverables: Once you have your videos all done, assemble the perfect slide decks and your award-winning worksheets
  2. Get the tech right: Choose wisely on the platforms that serve you best. Here is a link with all of your course platform options.

 

 

Optimize, Optimize. Did I say optimize?

 

The art of creating your course is a never-ending job but you can still sell your course while you refine what is out there, as Marie Forleo says, “Done is better than Perfect.”

Your goal is to provide your course students with the best experience, but they can’t have an experience if your course isn’t uploaded. Of course, you want your course to be the perfect solution to their problems, but don’t be afraid to refine and upgrade your content in real time.

Need more help? Feeling overwhelmed? Click here to see my course… on courses, yes, it’s a thing – and it may just be the thing you need to FINALLY put your work out there with confidence.

 

 

About Irina Pichura: I spent 10 years in corporate recruiting working with Fortune 500 companies like Goldman Sachs, Investopedia, The Daily Beast, and some of NYC’s hottest startups. Grew my coaching business from zero figures to 6 of ’em (figures that is) in just ONE YEAR. Packaged my genius into a course that’s bringing me buckets of passive income & helping hundreds of people (all while I catch up on my beauty sleep).

 

 

 

Taking A Stand in Your Business by @HeidiDalzell

by Leave a Comment

by Heidi Dalzell

“I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.”

— Shirley Chisolm, first Black woman in Congress

Change has been a constant over the past weeks. I can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since the death of George Floyd, and longer since the passing of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey and Tony McDade. This has been a time of personal reflection and change for me as well. As a business owner — and a therapist — I’ve asked myself some difficult questions about how to address racism within my business and my practice. I have considered what I am communicating to others, including clients and colleagues. My hope is that sharing these thoughts may jumpstart your thinking processes. I write this from the perspective of a White, Jewish, educated woman. Some of those statuses afford opportunities that I would not have otherwise.

When I shared my first blog for She Owns It, the topic was about embracing the changing world of Teletherapy and reinventing my business. I was thrilled to have my guest post published, and am now even more excited to be featured as a contributor on this site. None of us could have anticipate the recent examples of racism and injustice affecting our nation.

These events represent generations of violence against Black and Brown people. I stand in solidarity with the Black Community and state emphatically that Black Lives Matter. Sadness, anger and outrage are just a few of my emotions connected to the deaths of these innocent men and women. What can I do with these emotions.

Businesswoman and Advocate

Core values of my psychology practice include compassion, acceptance, tolerance and love. These values are the literal foundation on which my business is built. I have seen other women owned businesses speak out and some remain silent. Not speaking out and walking the walk would feel incongruent and inauthentic with of my mission.

I know that sharing my views may affect my business, and after a recent newsletter and blog post in which I advocated for change and racial justice, some people unsubscribed from my email list. That was ok. I do not want to be complicit in the racism that lies behind ignoring the voices of Black people.

I can use my privilege to speak out. Imagine if all people did this. When Martin Luther King led civil rights protests only 25% of Whites supported these ideals. Gloria Steinem encountered similar opposition. While many of us know Steinem, others are not as familiar feminists like Shirley Chisolm, Dorothy Pittman Hughes and Flo Kennedy. These women taught us that women should speak out.

Examining Privilege and Bias

Racism is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” Privilege refers to unearned advantage or entitlement that benefits White people over non-white people.

As business owners, it’s important to be aware of our privilege. It aids our communication with others. And systematic privilege hurts everyone, especially women in the business world. Many of us would not be reading this blog had we not dismantled the systems of patriarchy during the Women’s Right’s movement. And while it’s still an uphill battle for women, Black women face bigger challenges in the workplace.

While conscious examination of privilege is a start, it is equally important to thoroughly examine our biases.

There are three main components of bias: stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Stereotypes are beliefs about a group, such as the false belief that Black men are violent. Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that isn’t based on reason or actual experience. Discrimination often begins with prejudice, and involves unequal treatment of people due to the various groups they belong to (racial, ethnic, etc.). Discrimination can range from inequities in opportunity to hate crimes and violence.

We form biases at an early age based on things we see in the media and learn from parents and peers. It can be helpful to sit down and create a list of adjectives that describe your feelings about a group. Are they factual, or do they reflect stereotyping or beliefs that may not be true? If you used these adjectives in your everyday communication, would the language be seen as neutral or dehumanizing?

Be honest—this list is for you.

Don’t Allow Invisibility

How do you promote diversity and allow Blacks within your organization to be seen? This includes being sure to actively provide depictions in artwork and other items within your work setting. For example, one of our waiting room magazines is Essence. Within workplace settings, provide ways for Black men and women to take up space and to be visible. It’s also helpful to consider the additional challenges faced by those with intersectional identities, such as Black transgender women. They are a group who face significant violence, discrimination, and many kinds of disparities.

Bring It Home

Another way to work on racial justice is to bring it home —literally. Seek out places where you can genuinely and authentically interact with people of different races and ethnicities. This may include in social settings or religious settings—places where you are interacting as peers. This does not include settings where there is an imbalance of power, such as interacting with someone who is providing a service. If you have children in your life, it’s also nice to be able to volunteer. If you choose a setting in which that imbalance of power exists, such as a soup kitchen, be sure that you augment the activity with a discussion of the disparities and injustices which led to economic disadvantage.

 

 

As we continue to witness the nationwide trauma unfolding, I encourage She Owns It readers to be kind, be sensitive, be compassionate, and be part of the solution. Please use your anger and grief to work for systemic change, and dismantling institutional racism and inequality in our communities.

 

6 Clever Ways Small Businesses Can Benefit From Blockchain and Digital Currencies by @johnstonaussie

by Leave a Comment

by Mike Johnston

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies and are great unknowns for most of the small business owners. They are more often than not, utterly unaware of their ability to create an entirely different business environment.

Thanks to its decentralized nature, blockchain’s transformational power lies in the fact that it enables verified and secure transactions between two parties, without any need for third-party verifications, reducing the costs and risks attached to the transaction. Especially now, when Covid-19 did some serious harm to economies and companies, modern technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, can be used for a quicker recovery.

Read on to learn about the ways blockchain and digital currencies can benefit your small business.

 

Reduced costs

As they carry many different fees, traditional payment methods can put a financial strain on your business due to the amount of money you have to waste on banks. Every time someone purchases your services or product using their card, your business is losing money. Over time, this loss can accumulate and reach some truly shocking numbers.

On the other side, digital currencies allow you to eliminate or reduce or most of the fees related to traditional card payments. By using cryptocurrency, your business can averagely save between two and five percent on every transaction. Besides, you will be able to eliminate chargebacks, which will significantly improve your overall cash flow.

 

No need for middlemen

The use of blockchain technology will make transaction intermediaries obsolete. Today’s small businesses rely on third-parties, known as intermediaries, to manage the transactions, mostly serving as a source of verification, making both parties feel secure about the transaction. It’s the way financial transactions function, and the banks make a pretty good profit out of charging fees for their part in the process of connecting businesses and their trading counterparts. Blockchain can make this verification through its own network, without any external verification.

Small businesses involved could avoid all the costs related to intermediaries -bankers, brokers, or lawyers, while still being sure that their transaction is safe. They will also have more control of the process, and the transaction will still be safe, as the consensus of blockchain users will internally verify it.

 

Trust and transparency

Blockchain will be highly appreciated by businesses who will now be able to provide some clarity to their customers, and consumers who are longing for transparency. This is especially the case when it comes to Millenials, the generation with the most purchasing power. Concerned with sustainability, Millenials make their purchasing decisions considering the planet, the society, and finally themselves. They are also ready to pay for this transparency, both with their loyalty and their money.

Millennials, but many other consumers too, want to know whether their food is grown organically or whether their clothes were produced in a textile factory are paid fairly. Small businesses will have no trouble verifying how and where their item was produced or in case of the food, how and where it was grown. Or any other information, whatsoever.

 

There is a high demand

Even though some people are still afraid to use cryptocurrencies, the number of enthusiasts and professionals who are getting into crypto mining is on a constant rise. Because of all the benefits cryptocurrencies bring, many people, especially the younger ones, are starting to live entirely on digital currency, using it to purchase their goods and services.

Furthermore, a recent survey shows that more than 39% of the respondents want Bitcoin as a payment method for their general purchases. By adding a cryptocurrency-based payment system to their list of payment methods, small businesses can easily command additional market space and grow their customer base.

 

Go global

Due to its decentralized nature, small businesses can now follow the most recent cryptocurrency trends and open their doors to international buyers and tap into new consumer’ groups for whom their services or products were once inaccessible. Cryptocurrency has the potential to go global, as it knows no boundaries when it comes to business’s digital assets – it eliminates high costs associated with exchange rates and waiting times needed for processing international transactions.

Many businesses recognize the importance of adapting to the trend to stay ahead of the curve, especially in industries such as IT software and services, hospitality and travel, finance and fintech, and international export and sales.

 

Keep data secure

Our every transaction, and in some cases, our every movement, is an opportunity for businesses and authorities to collect data, and analyze it. For example, during the Coronavirus outbreak, Israeli authorities are using mobile phones location to identify persons who were in close contact with confirmed carriers. In China, authorities are using another technology advancement – facial recognition, for the same purposes.

Even if such data usage can sometimes seem justified, it severely affects privacy and opens up many opportunities for misuse. With blockchain technology, your and your customer’s data will be safe, as it will grant the power over data you want to share, who you want to share it with, and for how long.

 

Whatever the motivation behind your small business is, as an entrepreneur you’re no stranger to challenges. New technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are challenges waiting around the corner, so you better be well prepared to welcome them at the right moment.

 

 

Mike Johnston is an avid blogging enthusiast and experienced content writer with a focus in business, technology, entrepreneurship, and real estate.

 

 

 

 

How to Prepare for a PR Expert for Maximum Business Exposure by @eileenystheim

by Leave a Comment

 

by Eileen Ystheim

Business owners like yourself know just what you need to do to market your business online successfully, and you’re already on top of the latest market trends:

When it comes to blogging, you’ve got it covered.

When it comes to doing social media, you’re busy turning new followers into raving fans.

When it comes to podcasting, you’ve become a voice your market listens to.

When it comes to marketing, business professionals like yourself know what it takes to make income and impact – for a while.

But then the magic suddenly stops. Traffic to your website (both paid and organic) seems to have reached its peak. Your mailing list is no longer growing, and your income has plateaued.

When this happens, it’s time to get some outside help to ignite your traffic and help you get the attention that you need. Yes, it may be time to hire a PR expert and get some attention from radio shows, newspapers, magazines, and TV – both locally and nationally.

 

 

Have swipe files on hand

If CNN wanted to get your take on what’s going on concerning a current event, would you be able to respond quickly with a written bio and photo?

If you can’t respond in 5 minutes or less, then you need to reboot your swipe files before you start any PR work. A successful PR campaign is one that has ready-made media files on hand that you can use in case a producer or journalist needs your bio or headshot quickly.

Until you have these types of files at hand, hiring PR professionals at this point would be a waste of their time.

 

Narrow your focus

Being a jack of all trades sounds nice, but experts specialize in one area. Success is achieved in business when you dig “an inch wide and a mile deep.” That means success in business is best achieved when you focus on one area of your industry. A specialized focus allows you to provide better services to your chosen market.

Therefore, you need to target a particular client and only go outside your selected audience on rare occasions. When you adopt the three suggestions listed above, then you’ll be ready to do media outreach successfully.

 

No outlet is unworthy

Get your feet wet and start with local media outlets first. You can get exposure through local newspapers, magazines, and news channels that need to interview or quote an expert in your field.

Take advantage of local and regional outlets because they will most likely not be able to get interviews with national figures. For example, let’s say you’re a wellness coach with a lot of expertise worth sharing.

A local morning show in your hometown won’t be able to get wellness coach, David Kirsch, but you’re available. An advantage of starting small allows you to get your brand out there and establish your credibility as an expert in your niche.

Also, smaller media outlets give you practice that will help you be prepared for the bigger outlets.

 

Ways to show off your expertise

You can be one of the best wellness consultants or freelance writers around, but how will others know this about you? Do you share tips on healthier eating or writing tips on your social media pages? Do you blog about special diets or different types of content?

I’m sure you do, but you’re going to need to do more than this to get recognized as an expert in your niche. You have to put yourself out there further if you want to attract the attention of larger media outlets.

In other words, you’re going to have to look like an expert. No, you don’t have to go around buying expensive headshots, but you do need to establish your brand. Professional brand traits will let the media know that you’re the one they’ve been looking for.

 

Update your brand

It’s going to take more than just creating a logo and choosing your brand color to establish your brand. Remember, your brand represents your voice. It speaks to the people who will become your customers, and it tells your target audiences what makes you different compared to your competitors.

Your branding sets the tone for how people remember you, and it lets your target audiences know that you’re the one that can meet their needs successfully. Remember to cover the following areas when updating your brand:

• Facebook profile, business page, and groups
• LinkedIn profile
• Pinterest boards
• Podcast artwork and messaging
• Training/coaching programs
• Website and blog
• YouTube channel

 

Invest in Your Content

Expert advice that’s poorly written and filled with grammatical errors will scream unprofessional in a heartbeat! If you want your content to look professional and you need help, you must hire a content writer or editor.

They will lend your content a professional feel, and others— including media outlets—will see you as the expert you are. When your goal is to gain more brand recognition, you must take an objective look at how your business is operating.

Is your message in sync with your brand? Are you looking like a professional on your website, blogs, and social media profiles? When you address these issues, the media will start looking for you instead of you trying to get their attention.

 

 

I’m Eileen Ystheim, a vision-aligned SEO copywriter. I have over 13 years of writing experience as a journalist and press officer for a non-profit.

Now I run my own copywriting business where I offer compelling web articles, guest posting + SEO content for purpose-driven brands on a mission.

My secret sauce is compelling brand storytelling that makes your customers the heroes of your story, toppled with an extra spice of organic SEO traffic.

 

 

 

How To Perform A Competitor Analysis (And Why It’s Important) by @BlairKaplanPR

by Leave a Comment

by Blair Kaplan Venables

There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to light a preverbal fire under you. With the increase of businesses moving online during this COVID era, you need to make sure that your business stands out online. If you’re one of the 1% of entrepreneurs who managed to create a business with no direct competitors, congratulations! If you’re like 99% of the rest of us, it’s time to do some homework. Stat. It’s important to know who your competition is, what they are selling, how they are selling it, where they are marketing and what they are doing right. If you know this information, you are able to work on a strategy to potentially capture their clients and grow your business.

A good place to start your investigation is by performing a social media competitor analysis. By scoping out your competition, you will be able to see where their weaknesses may lie, which is information that you can use to you advantage. For example, if you see that your competition isn’t on a specific social media network and you know that your target demographic is spending time on that social media network, you may want to build up a presence there.

 

Identify Your Competitions

What other companies are competing for the business that you seek to obtain? You should be able to identify at least five companies that are your competition. You can do this by Googling key words, asking friends and doing your own research.

The best place to start finding out information about their social media presence is via their website, where these links should be posted. It’s also helpful to go into each social media platform and search their name because sometimes websites aren’t up to date with social links.

 

Document Your Findings

Creating a competition chart is the best way to record your findings. Open up your favorite spreadsheet program (I’m an Excel or Google Sheets gal, myself), open a new document and make rows listing your competitor’s names. Then create columns for the following four key pieces of information about your competitor’s online presence:

  1. Where are they on social media? Don’t forget about LinkedIn, TikTok and other surprising places they may be.
  2. What type of content are they creating? Is it instructional or do they share personal stories?
  3. How many followers they have on each social media network?
  4. Any notes you may want to reference later.

Determine Key Opportunities

We aren’t just cruising social media to be a lookie-loo. We now need to analyze the stats that we have found. Once your chart is filled in, you will be able to see what your competition’s social media strengths are (which may be places you don’t want to compete with them) and where their weaknesses lay (which may create opportunities for you to lead the pack).

Keep in mind you’re not trying to replicate someone else’s strategy. Your social media approach should be unique. But you are looking for opportunities. You may also find content ideas that your top competition isn’t executing yet, which is fantastic news. Learn what they are doing and you can figure out how to do it better or differently. There are always opportunities on social media to create great content and grow your brand’s presence.

 

 

Blair Kaplan Venables is an expert in social media marketing and the president of Blair Kaplan Communications, a British Columbia-based PR agency. As a pioneer in the industry, she brings more than a decade of experience to her clients, which include global wellness, entertainment and lifestyle brands. Blair has helped her customers grow their followers into the tens of thousands in just one month, win integrative marketing awards and more. She has spoken on national stages and her expertise has been featured in media outlets including CBC Radio and Thrive Global. Blair is also the author of Pulsing Through My Veins: Raw and Real Stories from an Entrepreneur. When she’s not working on the board for her local chamber of commerce, you can find Blair growing the “I Am Resilient Project,” an online community where users share their stories of overcoming life’s most difficult moments.