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Social Media Trends to Watch in 2020 by @DONNAAMOS

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by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

There are trends that are occurring in social media that business owners can take advantage of to help them grow their businesses. As changes take place on platforms, it may benefit business owners to stay current on the changes so that you don’t use outdated practices that no longer work on social networking sites.

Growth of Tik Tok

This site has gained popularity as a social networking site for business owners. Tik Tok is a social networking site that has become very popular with Generation Z.

Individuals who are micro-influencers have gained popularity on this social networking video app. Influencers are aware that using the site to promote video can benefit small businesses because it’s not geared towards traditional sales. The lack of hard sales on the site is popular with users. By connecting with followers through good video content, it will help small businesses expand and provide opportunities to sell products. It’s expected that one of the social media trends for 2020 will include the expansion of Tik Tok to allow platform users to shop online like other social networking channels.

Increase in social shopping

Entrepreneurs can benefit from using social shopping on their company sites because of the growth of e-commerce. During the past decade, social networking sites have contributed to the growth of e-commerce. It’s now the norm for social shopping to occur on social networking channels. Customers enjoy connecting with brands and building relationships with them on social networking sites. Consumers enjoy having access to brands without leaving platforms to purchase products and services. Entrepreneurs can look to expand social shopping on their social channels.

The rise of small business owners as influencers

Small businesses can benefit from the increase in popularity that they have experienced as influencers. Users on various social platforms desire to connect with small businesses rather than huge companies. The ability to connect with an audience on a small-scale is something that small business owners can take advantage of because they have a unique following.

The use of social media to develop consumer confidence

Small business owners can benefit from using their social platforms to develop a relationship with followers that are based on trust. Followers can develop relationships based on the quality of content that is promoted that informs followers about the value that a business brings into the market. By having real conversations with followers and connecting on a human level, companies establish relationships on a much richer level because of the connection that is made by showing the company as a place where real people work.

Use of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful social platform because the site is geared toward business professionals. Business owners can reach decision-makers on LinkedIn to grow their businesses. If a company has products and services to sell and its budget is limited, being active on the platform can help generate sales and gain the attention of decision-makers.

Fewer boundaries between personal and professional lives

Social media trends include witnessing fewer boundaries between the professional and personal lives of business owners. Small business owners can grow their online audience by interacting with followers and showing them aspects of the personal and professional lives. Sharing unique content that shows followers portions of the daily lives allows followers to connect with business owners on a genuine level.

An increase in the number of brief posts

Businesses are posting new content that is online for a short amount of time, and this will continue to increase in 2020. These posts occur on sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Tikk Tok. The time-limited posts are primarily videos and allow businesses to share content that may be more personal and allows business owners to share special offers of their products and services.

Increase focus on customer interaction

Brands are working to focus more on customer responses in 2020. By responding to customer service issues that arise, businesses can learn what is necessary to meet the needs of their customers. Small businesses can gain attention from their followers by working to connect with followers and meeting the needs they address about the products and services they desire to purchase.

Expansion of the use of storytelling

Companies have increased their use of storytelling on social media sites using different types of media such as video and written content. By sharing what a company represents, it allows businesses to reach followers and potential customers. Business owners can engage with their audience telling stories on different social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Increase in video content

There is an increase expected in the amount of video content that brands produce in 2020 on social networking sites. Small businesses can increase their number of customers and followers by producing content that is appealing to followers. Business owners can determine which platforms work best for their followers and provide content that is based on what works best for their audience.

More social messenger apps

Small business owners can benefit from using social messenger apps to connect with their customers. The top messenger apps are used primarily by millennials. The top messenger apps include the following.

• Messenger
• WeChat
• Viber

There are over 2 billion messages sent on Messenger each month from businesses. The app is on over 1.2 billion phones. The potential exists for greater customer experiences to occur because of the growth of the social messaging service. Messaging apps that were developed using artificial intelligence have improved customer engagement. It’s expected that the customer experience will continue to improve because of the unique way that companies can improve the artificial intelligence they use to have more unique engagement with customers using social messaging services.

The use of messenger apps outranks the top social networking sites which include the following.

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Small business owners can work to expand their businesses by using social networking sites and social messaging services. By working to create personalized experiences with customers and potential customers, businesses can expand and provide their customers with good experiences. Having an awareness of what their customers desire will help small businesses grow and effectively market to customers of all ages.

5 Lead Generation Strategies for Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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5 Lead Generation Strategies for Solopreneurs

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

There are tons of ways solopreneurs can make money online and offline, thanks to powerful digital technology, affordable mobile devices and the internet. And many of these micro-businesses can be started on a shoestring budget of under $1,000 – or even under $100! As long as your lead generation efforts are bringing in new customers, there’s virtually no limit to how quickly you can scale your side hustle into a full-time business.

You might be a blogger and vlogger, creating content for your subscribers on your website and social media accounts, making money through ad revenue and affiliate marketing.

Or perhaps you could do freelance work offering B2B services to local small businesses.

Or you might run a small brick-and-mortar biz out of your garage or public storage unit, selling products via online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Craigslist.

You can also provide services directly to consumers as an independent contractor and through online apps like Uber, Postmates, Rover and TaskRabbit.

As a solo entrepreneur, you have tons of options today. But whichever path you choose for your lifestyle business, you will need a steady flow of new customers coming in every month in order to be successful.

So with that in mind, here are five lead gen tips to help you get more clients and more sales this year. Most of these methods are designed to bring in new leads online, but there are also some offline guerrilla marketing tactics here that still work really well for certain types of solo businesses.

1. Optimize Your Website to Capture Leads

Before you start investing time and money trying to scrape up traffic to your website, first make sure that your site is ready to receive those new visitors and convert them into subscribers, leads and paying customers.

Give your website visitors and blog readers plenty of opportunities to subscribe to your mailing list and receive free blog content, updates, and promotions. You should have subscriber boxes and contact forms on every page of your site. In fact, having multiple forms on each page isn’t a bad idea. Make use of your site’s header, footer and sidebar areas along with including custom lead capture forms on landing pages and service pages.

You should also have free lead magnets set up on dedicated landing pages in order to build your email list. These lead magnets, such as ebooks, infographics, and reports, are powerful tools for quickly grabbing new subscribers.

Then you could also segment your list based on reader interest and engagement and set up custom email funnels for each group to minimize unsubscribers and spam reports.

Remember, it’s not always about the hard sell. Sure, some people on your site are ready to buy, so you should make it easy for them to do so without having to click on a million links to find the “Buy” button. But most of your site visitors aren’t yet ready to whip out their credit cards – they’re just browsing or killing time on their lunch break.

So if you can catch their interest, offer some free value with your blog content and lead magnets, then you can at least get them into your email funnel and social media channels to start building a relationship with them that will eventually pay off for you and them.

2. Buy Ads on Google and Social Media

Compared to old-school marketing strategies like TV and radio spots, billboards, magazine ads, and late-night infomercials, digital ads on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google are way underpriced.

Unlike “Big Media” advertising in the old days – when national ad campaigns could easily cost millions of dollars per month – you can start running social media ads for a couple of hundred bucks.

And if you target those ads effectively, you can actually start seeing results in no time.

3. Collaborate to Build Authority and Reach

There are tons of ways to build relationships with other influencers in your niche and piggyback your brand message onto their content and vice versa in order to rapidly expand your audience, brand recognition and industry authority. Here are just a few ideas on how you can get started:
– Guest blog posts
– Podcast interviews
– Youtube video collaborations
– Live local meetups
– Online hangouts
– Charity fundraisers

By offering time, content and value to other influencers, charities and brands in your industry and related industries, you can quickly reach new markets and new customers who have never even heard of you but are part of your target market.

The secret is to choose influencers that are a good fit and then give plenty of value first before asking for something in return. Don’t just spam a bunch of influential bloggers and brands who are light years ahead of you and expect them to jump at the chance of featuring you on their blog or podcast. Reach out and spend some time becoming a part of their communities. Contribute first – genuinely and sincerely – before asking for anything for yourself.

If you give and give and give some more, and assuming you are building a great brand that offers tons of value, you’ll find plenty of collab opportunities eventually beating down your door. That’s when your reputation and reach will begin to expand exponentially.

4. Go Where Your Clients Like to Hang Out

The tricky thing about the internet is that you can reach just about anyone and get your brand and your content in front of them – but you have to know where to look.

Facebook ads can be super-effective, but only if your target customers hang out on Facebook every day. If they’re usually on TikTok and Youtube but only have a neatly-scrubbed-but-never-used-dummy-account on Facebook to please their nosy parents, then you’re wasting your money on all those Facebook ads.

Once you’ve located your target market and the platforms, forums, subreddits and social media groups where they spend their time, you can then start pouring your ad spend into the places that make sense.

But don’t think that you can’t reach them without paid ads. Joining those groups and forums and contributing helpful ideas for free pays off too. You just need to follow the rules and avoid coming across as spammy and overly-promotional. If you take your time to build relationships and offer value first, you’ll get plenty of chances to slide into those DMs and actually pick up leads that convert.

5. Pass Out Flyers and Business Cards Like Crazy

While the internet is all the rage these days, there are still some very effective ways to grow your solo biz and get sales without plugging in. Yes, we’re talking about flyers and business cards. It turns out that people still use them. If you’re operating a business that sells to local customers, then door-to-door flyer marketing might work really well, and it’s great because you can target your location easily.

And of course, no matter what kind of business you run, you should always have a few business cards in your pocket. Because every conversation is a chance to grab another subscriber and work on converting them into a customer.

Here’s an example.

If you’re starting up a lawn care company like this kid, with a few bucks you can have someone on Fiverr design a 8.5” x 5.5” flyer. Make sure it has a distinct discount coupon code to distinguish it from other deals you are offering through online ads or other marketing methods. Then email the file to your local print shop, go pick up the flyers and hire someone on Craigslist to pass them out to every house and business in your service area.

Solopreneurs have so many options for creating online and offline businesses today, and the low cost of entry makes it ridiculous for anyone to not take a shot and start one – or two or three. As long as you’re offering a product, service or content that helps people, you’ll be able to grow an audience and make money by selling to that audience. If you’ve already got your biz up and running but aren’t getting a lot of clients, try these five lead generation strategies so you can get more sales.

Video Marketing Strategies for 2020 by @DONNAAMOS

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video marketing 2020

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

The video revolution has completely transformed how we consume content. Now, information is delivered in a visual, entertaining, and even interactive manner that engages users better than any other medium. Video is also a natural storytelling medium, making it both compelling and persuasive. These combined elements are why video advertising is so successful.

Let’s look at some facts:

  • According to a Hubspot study, 96% of consumers between the ages of 18-34 watch videos several times throughout the week, and 75% of millennials watch at least one daily video.
  • 64% of consumers claim that marketing videos have had an impact on their purchasing decision.
  • 45% of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook and YouTube each week.
  • 90% of video viewers say that product videos are helpful in the decision-making process.
  • Videos are shared on social media 1200% more than images and text combined.
  • 85% of Facebook users watch videos with the sound turned off.
  • Videos in Instagram get twice the engagement of videos on other social platforms.

Statistics are from this link.

Using Video Marketing for Your Company

Of course, to be successful using video marketing, you will need to perform some preliminary work. Just creating and posting random videos will not bring leads pouring in. Use the following steps and linked resources to craft an overall approach to video marketing for your company.

  1. Research your target audience. Who is your target audience? What type of video content to they prefer? What social platform do they use most to consume video content? When are they most likely to be watching online video? What are the most effective types of video for reaching this demographic?

Resources:

  1. Outline a Plan for Sharing Video. What types of video will you use? What social platforms will you use to share your company videos? Will you need to craft specific videos for each platform? When is the best time to share video on these platforms? How often should you share video content? How often should you repeat the same video content? How much budget is available for paid video ads and promotion?
  2. Determine Who Will Create Your Videos. Do you need a professional media company? What types of video can your marketing team produce in-house? What do they need to produce quality videos? How much budget is available for creating custom videos? What is the best balance of video types for your company?

Popular Video Strategies for the Coming Year

As you formulate a plan for using video content in your company marketing, consider these types of video and how they fit into your overall plan. We give just a brief overview of each type.

Live Streaming

Live streaming on social platforms is a free, no-frills, personal method of promoting your company messages. Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and YouTube Live all help users feel like they are being spoken to directly. This feeling of intimacy encourages engagement since they know that their questions or comments can be answered in real time.

You can use live videos to promote practically anything, including:

  • New products
  • Announcements
  • Product demos
  • Webinars
  • Question and answer sessions, FAQs and SAQs (Should-Ask Questions)
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Tips
  • Testimonials

These are a great way to start because they require no editing, special studios, or preproduction efforts or costs. Just go live with your phone and create great content.

Video Podcasts

A video podcast, or videocast, is simply just an audio podcast that you record on video. As popular as podcasts are today, an occasional videocast will allow viewers to see who they regularly hear, and observe the behind-the-scenes goings on while the podcast is being recorded. It’s a great way to make users feel more connected with your company spokespeople or podcast host.

Video Tutorials

Tutorials and explanatory videos are highly sought-after content (remember the stats from above). Many consumers search for how-to videos for DIY projects or using certain products. You should have a video tutorial for each of your products. Even if you only provide serves, some video tutorials explaining how you provide those services, especially in certain situations or for particular needs, can be great tools for users. These can be professionally produced, created in your own setting, or done over Live Streaming video.

IGTV and Vertical Videos

Users spend more time consuming video on smartphones than over tablets or desktop computers. This has led to the rise of vertically formatted videos and IGTV, Instagram’s TV-like channel for users and brands. Now, vertical videos can be viewed on Facebook and YouTube. Vertical videos are easier to watch on mobile devices, meaning that your video is more likely to be watched and remembered.

Shoppable Videos

Shoppable videos allow consumers a direct way to make purchases and be redirected to product pages. On shoppable videos, users click on a hyperlink and go directly to the online shopping process. Every social media video should contain a shoppable link.

Testimonials

Testimonial videos are one of the strongest types of videos. They show past or current satisfied customers talking about their positive experience using your product or service. Honest personal feedback from a customer is stronger than anything you could say about your own company. Customer testimonials are usually between 30 seconds and two minutes long and can focus on one happy customer or several.

What kinds of video do you use in your company marketing? What level of success have you enjoyed through video marketing? Share your thoughts and insights with our readers in the comments below.

20 Business Ideas for Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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biz ideas

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

According to Startups.com, 73% of all US-based businesses are solo, or solopreneur, businesses. TaxFoundation.org reports that there are over 23 million sole proprietorships currently operating in the United States, making it by far the most popular form of business ownership. And that number is reportedly on the rise as more people become disenchanted with the typical corporate structure and its undependable reputation for stability and longevity.

However, many huge corporations actually began as solopreneur enterprises and grew into other business structures. Some of the most famous include:

Whether or not you plan to go big in the future, a solopreneur business is a great way to begin. In fact, thanks to the Internet, there are many ways to launch a solopreneur business remotely, right from the comfort of your own home. Many of the examples below are Internet-based businesses. Others may require more human interaction.

Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing allows you to share links to specific businesses or products and then earn a portion of the sales you direct to those companies.

Blogger

If you’re looking to build a business around your writing skills, you can start your own blog and manage it on your own, then make money through advertisements or sponsored content.

Bookkeeper

For another profitable opportunity to work with business clients, you could offer bookkeeping services for businesses looking to outsource that function. Many small businesses need this service but cannot afford to pay larger services for it.

Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants handle various tasks for businesses like email, payroll, transcriptions, scheduling, and social media management. It’s something you can do on your own from home or another remote location.

Consultant/Coach

Consultants or coaches specialize in a service or career type and then teach others how to succeed in their specific niches. If you have many years of valuable experience, you can pass on that wisdom to others through group or one-on-one coaching.

Social Media Manager

For social media savvy solopreneurs, you can offer your services to other businesses to schedule social media posts and manage their accounts. This can be very lucrative for the knowledgeable solopreneur.

eBook Author

You can also focus on writing more long form content and then self-publish your own eBooks to sell. Many self-published authors are very successful. This business takes time to scale into a full-time income, however.

Freelance Writer

Offer your writing services to other businesses looking for blog posts, ghostwriting, sales emails, or other types of content. There are many branches, or niches, for freelance writers.

Copywriter

Copywriting is another popular writing business. You can specialize in writing copy for websites, product descriptions, or even advertisements. Copywriting is more about sales and harvesting leads than regular topical writing.

Graphic Designer

For design savvy solopreneurs, you can start your own graphic design business and work with clients on a one-on-one basis. Many small businesses could benefit from this service, and cannot pay large firms for it.

Translator

If you know more than one language, you can start a business as a freelance or contract translator. There are many opportunities for this online.

Podcaster

Podcasting is easier than ever to set up on your own. You can host your podcast, build your website, and make money through advertisements or affiliate sales.

Event Planner

If you enjoy organizing and working with different vendors, you can set up your own business as an event planner. You can even niche into only weddings, corporate events, or other types of events.

Online Course Creator

Another way to share your knowledge with others, you can create your own online courses and then sell them to students so they can work on their own time. This can involve personal calls, video, audio, and print products, or require no personal involvement.

House Cleaner

Build up a base of regular clients and specialize in house cleaning services. Complete cleanings for new construction can be a lucrative offer for approaching home builders.

Lawn Service

For those who enjoy working outside, you can start your own lawn mowing service where you provide weekly maintenance during the summer. Consider offering fall leaf and winter snow removal, also.

Gardener

Specialize in setting up or maintaining gardens and more intricate landscaping projects. A variation of this is to raise and sell fresh produce at farmer’s markets in season.

Party Entertainer

You can use a number of different skills, from music to juggling to face painting, to start a business as an independent party entertainer. Specialize in birthdays, holiday parties, or whatever you like best.

Personal Trainer

For athletic solopreneurs, you can start your own business as a personal trainer who works with clients one-on-one. Sometimes, local gyms can help you promote this business and even send you clients.

Yoga Instructor

Offer fitness and wellness classes to bigger groups of customers. Yoga and Pilates are popular choices for women.

What about you? What is your best idea for launching a solopreneur business in the new year? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

 

How to Prospect for New Clients by @DONNAAMOS

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How to Prospect for New Clients

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Prospecting for new clients can be a difficult task for solopreneurs or small businesses, especially when your company is brand new. But even old hands mostly admit to struggling with getting new clients. While no business or solopreneur ever admitted to having enough or “too many” clients, most still struggle to prospect for new clients and avoid salesy marketing ploys.

But prospecting for clients effectively is something you can learn and incorporate into your regular business routine. Indeed, it should be something you always strive to improve, since your business depends on a steady supply of needy clients. Prospecting for clients takes time, but it needs to be one of the regular, systematic functions of your business. And since many potential customers or clients won’t buy or book a service on the first contact, you also need to develop a plan for staying in touch until they need what you have to offer.

Identify Your Target Market

It’s a no-brainer that you’ll save time and money by marketing to people who not only want what you’ve got, but also are willing and able to pay for it. And so, the first step in prospecting for new clients is to define the most likely buyer of your product or service. How old are they? What gender? What is their socio-economic background? Knowing who your market is, makes it easier to find them and deliver messages that entice them to check out your product or service.

Take the time to understand who your target market is so you don’t waste your time or money finding and selling to the wrong customers and clients. The best way to do this is to perform the necessary research and create buyer personas that represent each type of person in your target audience. Then you can tailor your prospecting and marketing messages to specific types of clients.

Begin Building a Potential Client List

Do you plan a party without a guest list? Likewise, you can’t start or run a business without making a list of potential clients. Listing people you know is a good place to start as you can make a quick sale and get referrals. But there are other sources from which to start your potential customer list. Here are some great places to start:

Personal Contacts: Your friends and family are the most likely to purchase something from you, even if they’re not your target market. Or, maybe they don’t need your product or service, but know someone who does or would be willing to tell others about it.

Existing Customers: If you’ve already made a few sales, call upon your existing customers to see if they need more of your product or service. Selling to an existing happy customer is easier than generating a new one. Also, ask these clients for referrals. Offer an incentive for clients to provide referrals. Word of mouth is still a great marketing tool.

Trades Shows or Local Events: Shows and events are great ways to network with other businesses that may fit your market (in B2B) or generate new customers and prospects through an exhibit if you sell to the end consumer (B2C). Even if you don’t make a sale, events can allow you to build your contact list. Ask show or event participants to register for a drawing and be sure to give away a spectacular prize as an enticement.

Social Media: Many service-based businesses find social media one of the best places to connect and build relationships with potential clients. Do you have social media followers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, or LinkedIn? Interact and converse with them to build a relationship. Seek to establish a reputation as an intelligent and thoughtful friend. With this foundation, you can offer advice from your expertise and even share the occasional sales message.

Contact Prospects

Once you have a list of prospects, it’s time to reach out and make connections. There are many ways to do this, and each one requires something a bit different. One thing remains the same – be genuine and kind in every mode of contact. Respect people’s time and attention and don’t be pushy if they aren’t interested. Popular methods of contacting prospects include:

Phone: Use an easy flowing, conversational script to introduce your product or purpose for calling. Asking questions and presenting your product or services’ benefits turns the focus of the call onto them instead of you. Be sure to ask for something: a sale, an email for more info, or a referral.

Email: Email is less scary and often a great way to introduce yourself. And email marketing works. The trick is to not simply send a “buy” email, but instead, offer something of value. Give a brief explanation of who you are, then provide a coupon or a free article on a relevant topic. Remember to only send a one-time communication unless you have permission to send repeat emails, such as to a list where the recipient has subscribed to receive emails from you.

Text Messaging: It is said that 98% of text messages are read within 2 minutes. The availability of text messaging is part of its power. Most folks with a cell phone are within arms reach of their phone 24 hours a day. Although texting is convenient, you can’t conduct entire prospect conversations via text. But it does pave the way for phone calls and sales meetings. Texting is a great follow-up option once you have the prospect in your pipeline.

Direct Mail: Direct mail is still effective, which is why we all still receive so much of it. Create the piece you plan to send and be sure it doesn’t appear to be junk mail. Bulk mailing services can save you time, and even a percentage off postage.

Social Media: This can be a great place to build relationships so that you can move prospects on to your calendar or to purchase your widgets. Requires effort such as identifying prospects, commenting on their posts, share content of value with them, tag them in posts when appropriate and share their content all before trying to sell them anything.

Continue Your Follow-Up Efforts

The fortune is in the follow-up. Research demonstrates that 80% of sales are not made on the first, second, or even a third contact! It can take five or more contacts to achieve a sale. The trick is to have a non-annoying system of follow-ups, such as a regular email list or an agreement to call again in six months. Solopreneurs and small businesses can keep track of various leads and prospects by using some sort of CRM software tool and database. Many have free options and calendar reminders that signal you when to follow-up with different classes of prospects.

How do you prospect for new clients? Which method has been the most successful? Share your tips and experiences with our readers in the comments below!

 

Influencer Marketing for Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Word of mouth marketing is still a powerful method for a single reason: it works. Consumers trust the word of other authentic consumers about what they have bought and used or services they have enjoyed. Influencer marketing is based on this fact. And because the average online user suffers through approximately 3,000 brand messages each day, people don’t trust brands. They know brands are out to sell them something.

Influencers are not just celebrities, whom people are trusting less and less. They can be anyone who has earned a certain authority in some area. They are open to trying new things relating to their area of expertise, they share an honest appraisal, and they are motivated to serve the public. Because of this, they have earned the right to be heard and believed.

Why Influencer Marketing?

I remember my father driving into town and doing business on a handshake with people he knew. Because they had an established relationship, he knew he could trust them. He also told me of the businesses in town that could not be trusted, and why. I grew up learning an important lesson: only do business with people you can trust.

Trust is still an important factor in marketing and sales, even more now in the realm of digital marketing. I cannot see and shake hands with the person I’m doing business with; I have to take the word of what is printed on his or her website. So, I really don’t know who I’m doing business with; I and most people don’t like that.

But grasp this important statistic: 70% of millennial consumers are influenced to purchase by recommendations of their peers. Enter Influencer Marketing. An influencer is a person who has worked to gain the trust of a large audience. They are viewed by their followers as a trusted peer, and they have tremendous persuasive power. Their word can be trusted.

Is influencer marketing really a thing? Can this method of marketing really work? Absolutely. Imforza reports that “86% of the most-watched videos on YouTube about beauty were made by influencers, compared to a mere 14% from brands.” This is just in a single industry. Where brands focus on promoting why you need their stuff, even if you don’t, a trusted influencer will allegedly tell you the truth about a product or service and leave the decision-making up to you.

The Best Influencers for Solopreneurs

Now as a solopreneur, it is not likely that you can convince a celebrity influencer or popular author to review and recommend your business; nor could you probably afford their fees. Solopreneurs can still benefit from influencer marketing. But we must choose a level of influencer that will reach our target audience and fit our marketing budget.

For example, you may benefit from a local influencer if your business is primarily targeting a local audience. This could even be a popular TV personality, radio personality, or some such person whom the public trusts. Sometimes, the influencer may have a local TV or radio program of their own where your business could be featured if you meet their standards and criteria.

Some authority figures are on a level where they could reach your target audience, but not be so influential as to demand a national audience and a corresponding astronomical fee. Some authors fit this bill, as would hometown sports heroes or favorite sons. These will also usually have a strong social media following, which is an added benefit if your audience is not limited to a certain locale.

Micro-influencers have a social media following around 10,000, which is large enough to have influence, but small enough to be within a solopreneur’s reach. You can do some research on Instagram and/or YouTube for influencers in your particular niche and quickly locate some on this level.

How to Select and Engage the Right Influencer for Your Solopreneur Business

As you research micro-influencers or local influencers, try to determine if they have supported solopreneurs in the past. Some may have a proclivity for solopreneur businesses and this can help you make a connection. Also, some may be against solopreneurs, and so knowing this and steering clear of them will save you time.

Ask yourself some questions when choosing the right influencer to approach:

  • Are their followers the right audience for my business?
  • Is there high engagement between the influencer and their followers?
  • Does the influencer have enough followers to be worth my efforts (minimum 5,000 and maximum 10,000)?
  • What are some other businesses they have endorsed? Do I approve or disapprove?
  • Do I find them honorable, trustworthy, and yet informative and entertaining?
  • Can I trust them to give an honest appraisal and represent my business well?

Here are some suggested actions to engage with influencers:

  1. Start by interacting on social media so they can get to know about you. If they are not responsive to comments on their posts, find another influencer who engages better with his or her audience.
  2. Be genuine with your engagement. Follow them on social media channels, like their posts, and offer intelligent comments. Share their posts, videos, and other content. Look for common ground in their content that you can talk about in your responses.
  3. Give before you take. Share a popular piece of their content on your own media channels or in an article. Drop them a personal email to let them know and express appreciation for the information in their material. Share genuine appreciation for their work and influence. Good influencers that you want to work with will have worked hard to earn their reputation, and they will appreciate you recognizing that fact.
  4. After establishing a relationship of mutual respect in this manner, formally approach them and ask about their influencer relationships and how you might apply. Be sure to express respect for their opinion and efforts.

Solopreneurs can profit from a relationship with the right influencer, or influencers. Just be sure to take the appropriate amount of time establishing a relationship of mutual respect before making an offer or request. A minimum of six months of researching and cultivating an influencer should give you an idea if the time is right.

Are you a solopreneur who already benefits from influencer marketing? How did you get started? How did you choose the right influencer for your business? Share your counsel and suggestions in the comments below!

 

5 Productivity Tips for Busy Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

First of all, let me correct the title of this article. “Busy solopreneurs” is completely redundant. If you’re a solopreneur who is not busy, the word to better describe you is BANKRUPT. The very word solopreneur means“entrepreneur who does it all.” But we all know that solopreneurs can use help with increasing productivity and efficiency.

The fact is, no one can do it all. Even solopreneurs need help. You may be the solitary person responsible for everything in your business, but that does not mean that must perform every task. In fact, that is a sure prescription for burnout and failure.

So, in your few free moments to read and invest in YOU, here are five tips to help you be more productive without robbing you of even more time for personal needs.

 

Set Priorities

It’s important to take time each day to prioritize tasks. Rate each task by its due date and level of importance. Then, arrange them in descending order of importance for each day. Now you can focus on completing each task one at a time. There is a distinct pleasure in checking completed tasks off your list.

Studies reveal that multitasking reduces your productivity. Besides, multitasking really just means switching your attention between tasks, which increases the risk of making errors and slows you down as you realign your thinking to each task.

Determine when you are the most productive, and schedule important tasks for those blocks of time. During each block, focus on one very specific task and ignore everything else. For example, if you’re most productive in the mornings, use that time for creative work and save responding to emails for the afternoon.

 

Schedule Tasks

Following a schedule makes efficient use of your time. Schedule business hours and work diligently during those hours. Schedule everything, including working times and breaks. Appoint mundane tasks to be completed at the same time each day, and save your best hours for creative client work.

This is different from simply blocking out hours of the day for certain types of work, discussed above. This is setting your regular working schedule for every week. Of course, sometimes projects demand overtime or weekends; that is inevitable. But with a regular schedule in place, if something demands overtime, you can more easily charge overtime costs for the extra time you work outside your normal working schedule.

 

Use Tools

There are tools and apps for everything, and a wise solopreneur will make full use of them. Consider utilizing efficiency and budgeting software to cut down on end-of-the-month tasks. Download a scheduling app to use with your working schedule. Join it to an organization tool and input your daily task list to stay on track throughout the day. Apps like this cut out paper lists that can be lost, and will even provide timers and reminders.

Your particular industry will determine what tools and apps will best help you with productivity. Keep that in mind. Just because everyone loves a certain tool doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Software and apps that help you write better are popular, but if you don’t create copy in your business, why do you need it?

 

Delegate Tasks

As a solopreneur, you’re likely accustomed to doing everything. But there are probably some tasks that you don’t enjoy, perhaps even absolutely loathe. Like bookkeeping, or transcribing interviews, or writing sales emails. Don’t be afraid to delegate those tasks to someone else, even another solopreneur with skills in those areas.

You can increase productivity by focusing on your strengths and delegating other tasks to people who possess strengths in those areas. This doesn’t have to be a paid gig. Sometimes, family or others around you would be happy to help out just to learn about your business or help you out. Besides, you can always review the work (and you should) to ensure it meets your quality and accuracy requirements. There are also options for finding a marketing apprenticeship like GenMwhere you can pay $150 for three months and get help for up to 10 hours per week.

 

Schedule Time for You

Solopreneurs can easily work themselves into the ground. And no one is around to warn them about hitting the brakes. So, this is your warning. Just like you schedule time for working hours and completing certain tasks, schedule time for you. If you don’t schedule it like a business appointment or task, you will allow something else (like a business appointment or task) to bump it from your schedule.

Eat healthy foods and incorporate exercise into your daily activities. Make sure you get adequate sleep. Take the time out to rest and rejuvenate. Schedule exercise, meal, and vision breaks into your daily routine. Scheduling time for yourself (and taking it) is the best way to honor your business and your clients. If you do, you’ll be able to give the business your all and even more when it demands it.

Schedule and invest in a vacation away from work demands, if possible. Pay into a vacation fund as if it were an actual monthly expense. Get away from where you normally work and relax, eat out, have fun, and celebrate your solopreneur freedom and accomplishments. If you plan ahead for a vacation, budgeting finances and time for it in advance, you can do it.

If for some reason you cannot get away from work, at least travel to a relaxing destination and work from there. In your off hours, you can still eat great food, visit beautiful places, and engage in relaxing or fun activities. Even working from an exotic or fun location can be invigorating and refreshing, just the thing a busy solopreneur needs.

What are the best productivity hacks that work for you? Share them with our readers in the comments below!

Top 10 Apps Solopreneurs Need by @DONNAAMOS

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Top 10 Apps Solopreneurs Need

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Solopreneurs enjoy countless benefits, but one of their struggles is handling every aspect of their business themselves. managing appointments, paying bills, creating proposals, sorting out taxes, following up with leads, and managing stress. Thankfully, there are numerous business apps available, many of them with free versions, to help busy solopreneurs. Here’s a list of 10 that we recommend.

Assistant.to

Just because you are a solopreneur doesn’t mean you want to do every single task for yourself. You may have to, but you sometimes don’t want it that way. Assistant.to is like a personal secretary that sets up your appointments by working with your email recipient, automatically adjusting time zones and even rescheduling meetings if something comes up.

Calm

Calm is the #1 app for meditation and mindfulness. Enjoy 100+ guided meditations to help you manage anxiety, lower stress and sleep better. Have trouble sleeping the try their Sleep Stories. What Solopreneur does not need to learn how to relieve their stress?

G-Suite (Google)

Half of G-Suite revolves around communication—we are talking Gmail, Google Hangouts and Google Calendar. The other half is a set of apps that will help you create and collaborate. This includes Docs (documents. Think: Word), Sheets (Spreadsheets. Think: Excel), Slide (Presentation. Think: PowerPoint), and Forms (surveying tool). All of the tools are stored together on a cloud called Google Drive.

Evernote

Evernote is the ultimate note-taking and archiving tool for collecting information, keeping it organized, and collaborating with others. Evernote is a cloud-based software service designed for creating, organizing and storing various text and media files. Whether a text document, a photo, a video, an audio file or even a web page, Evernote stores everything so you can access it on any device when needed.

Grammarly

Solopreneurs often do everything themselves, including writing their own copy for practically everything. Make sure that your text is free from typos and that you are using commas correctly usually with this handy desktop app. As you type, Grammarly checks your text for hundreds of common and advanced writing issues.

Mailchimp

Bring your audience data, marketing channels, and insights together so you can reach your goals faster. With Mailchimp, you can promote your business across email, social, landing pages, postcards, and more — all from a single platform. Populate different audiences for various uses and message them all from one platform for any reason. A free version is great for solopreneurs just getting started, with paid versions scaling up offerings.

Shake

Shake is a web and mobile app that creates legally binding agreements in seconds, which is an ideal way to create quick contracts for freelance jobs. You can also create loans, leases, sales and non-disclosure agreements, saving you time as you take on new projects.

Sighted

Sighted is an online invoicing app perfect for freelancers and solopreneurs. The free plan is perfect for a small business, offering 20 invoices per month in multiple currencies, for up to 10 clients. As the business scales, paid plans allow for unlimited invoices, expenses and 100 or more clients. All plans feature the ability to accept online payments and include a profit and loss report to make tax chores much less of a hassle.

Square

Square gives you the ability to take secure payments anywhere you are and has zero fees to get set up. The company will send interested individuals the hardware that attaches to a smart device for free and then keeps 2.75 percent of any transaction that is completed. This gives solopreneurs the ability to accept debit and credit cards from wherever they have the opportunity to make a sale.

Trello

Trello is one of the best project management tools. It works with boards and lists, and helps individuals and teams stay on top of a project from start to finish. No matter where you are, Trello stays in sync across all of your devices. Collaborate with your team anywhere, from sitting on the bus to sitting on the beach.

What are your favorite apps to simplify solopreneur tasks? Share your recommendations with our readers in the comments below.

 

Best Apps for Video Editing by @DONNAAMOS

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best videoo apps for editing

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Video is THE number one component in marketing that catches and keeps users’ attention, whether it be on your website or social media posts. And video editing apps are getting better all the time, with new releases coming all the time. Here are some suggested video editing apps for your Apple or Android smartphone for video marketing on the go!

Explore the options with each of these video editing apps, and find a link to YouTube video tutorials to show you the basics at the end of each section. Enjoy!

Enlight Videoleap – Mobile Video Editing App

http://videoleapapp.com/

Create & edit video clips on your iPhone with Enlight Videoleap! This was the App Store’s 2017 App of the Year. Discover how easy it is to get creative with video! Whether you want to make artistic Hollywood-level films or simply share memories and moments with friends, Videoleap video editor is the breakthrough video editing app just for you.

Pros will take advantage of powerful high-end editing features, while amateurs will have fun cutting and combining video clips simply, intuitively – from whenever, wherever! Users can utilize creative compositing, mix videos and images together to create double exposures and artistic looks, and choose layer-based editing – adding videos, effects, text and images. You can also customize video layers with transformation, masking, and blending modes.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vabPQVdtZiE&feature=youtu.be

PhotoFox

http://www.photofoxapp.com/

The PhotoFox video editing app was awarded the prestigious Apple Design Award at the 2017 WWDC and Apple’s App of the Year for 2015 in numerous countries. Photofox introduces a new layers system that pushes the boundaries of artistic photo manipulation and redefines expectations from mobile creativity tools. Photofox brings new tools and enhances previously loved features with a layer-centric flow that gives immense power to aspiring creatives on the go.

The latest app from Lightricks strikes a balance between powerful functionality and streamlined design, creating a seamless user experience within the world’s most advanced mobile creativity software. The new application has been tailored to captivate today’s growing mobile creative community, empowering them with the tools to generate amazing visual art.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA9qmfOg5eg&feature=youtu.be

Snapseed App

https://snapseed.online/

Snapseed is a free photo editing app. It’s more powerful than Instagram, and if you have room on your smartphone or tablet, you should download Snapseed right now, even if you are a professional photographer. Snapseed is a free app available for both Android and iOS mobile devices. Take pictures on your mobile device, apply Snapseed’s filters, and share them on social media platforms.

Snapseed is a Google acquisition acquired to beef up Google’s photo capabilities. Now it’s a Google app with powerful photo-editing filters you can use on your smartphone or tablet. Some see Snapseed as a response to Instagram, but it is intended to be part of a continuing effort by Google to improve its photo-editing and to share software in general. Snapseed isn’t a desktop version of Photoshop.

Snapseed is an artist’s tool with advanced features and recommended for serious photographers, but its easy-to-use controls make it suitable for everyone who likes to play around with their images. For the pros, it’s the app you use when you want to take a while to make an advanced image.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEdQmqAG24Q&feature=youtu.be

Swish Social Video App

https://www.swishvideoapp.com/

Swish is a video maker app that gives you the ability to create and customize your own video ads in under 3 minutes. Endless combinations of specially crafted templates, stock options, color schemes and music yield high-quality results that are polished and professional. Now you can get noticed online without that expensive price tag.

Easy-to-Use Templates

Customize the template to make it your own: change the text and write your own message, pick a font and a color palette that matches your brand best, add your logo, and choose appropriate music from our extensive music library.

Quick Video Editor

Whether you choose your own clip or find a perfect match from our stock, select your favorite part of the clip and fit it to the frame within Swish – no other video editing app required!

DIY Social Media Marketing

Learn which templates work best for you, and customize them: with plenty of templates, professional color schemes and fonts to choose from, you’ll never run out of ways to make great clips. Video ads are the future – don’t get left behind.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3WJi_9HHow&feature=youtu.be

Stop Motion Studio App

https://www.cateater.com/

Stop Motion Studio. Let’s Make a Movie.

Want to create movies like Wallace and Gromit or those groovy Lego shorts on YouTube? Stop Motion Studio helps you to create terrific stop action movies with a whole host of unique features. Like the frame-by-frame editor, the never get lost timeline and the sound editor.

Capture the perfect picture.

Capturing images has never been easier before. No matter if you choose automatic or full manual control of camera settings such as focus, exposure, ISO and white balance. Capture images in 4K or use a live green screen effect. You can also use a second device as remote camera to get a new perspective.

Use your digital camera.

Stop Motion Studio supports digital cameras from all the most popular camera makers, including Canon, Nikon and Sony. Use live view to easily control objects and movements. Control shutter speed, ISO and aperture directly from the app and take advantage of the full-size camera quality.

Desktop-class movie editing.

The unique frame-by-frame view shows you all the images you took in chronological order, much like the single frames of a movie. Cut, copy, paste, delete and insert frames at any position. Zoom in and out on the timeline view so you never get lost, even if you have hundreds of frames. Add audio clips, title, credits and filter effects. Create the movie the way you want it.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jLkl8AQIhA&feature=youtu.be

Enlight Pixaloop

https://www.pixaloopapp.com/

Your photos will never be the same! Join the living photo revolution & animate your images into mesmerizing masterpieces in seconds with Enlight Pixaloop! Enlight Pixaloop living photo creator is FREE to download, with the option to go Pro to unlock additional photo editing tools and creative features.

Enlight Pixaloop empowers you to get your photos moving for a new and mesmerizing kind of photo art! Choose any component of your photo that YOU want to come alive and capture a forever moment! Make interiors dance, be back at the beach with the sea breezes in your hair, or tease nature — reversing the direction of water to defy gravity. Pick from a lush menu of cool overlays like flames, light effects & raindrops to add mood — all in a few taps.

It creates animated photos that can bring your art to life. Any photo element: strands of hair, waves, clouds, or clothing can be animated. Pixaloop tools give you precise animation control so you can perfect your idea. Choose the speed of movement you want to create moving masterpieces: from the subtle flicker of a candle flame to Marilyn’s iconic billowing white dress to cascading waterfalls to two-way escalators.

YouTube Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0oYWuFcZCE&feature=youtu.be

Which of these video editing apps do you like the best? Do you have any tips for using them? Share your ideas and comments with our readers in the comment section below.

 

Social Selling: How to Generate Leads and Sales by @DONNAAMOS

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social selling

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Leads are life to your business. Leads are potential customers who have expressed some interest in your product or company and have provided contact information you can use to follow up with more information.

When thinking about how to generate leads on social media, consider that 76% of buyers are ready to have a conversation on social media.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of lead generation using social media specifically is the ability to focus on highly qualified leads through advanced targeting. Targeted leads are much more likely to respond to your sales pitch because the are already qualified and interested. That’s what I like to call “low hanging fruit.”

Useful Tactics for Generating Leads Through Social Media

So how do you go about using social media for lead generation? Here are some of the best ways to start filling your sales funnel with qualified leads.

Offer Links to Gated Content

Gated content is content hidden behind a virtual gate. If the content is valuable enough, interested readers will be willing to provide some basic contact information in exchange for access.

When using social media for lead generation, you can promote gated content by sharing a link to a landing page where potential readers provide their information before gaining access to the content.

Some people who click through to the landing page will click away without accessing your content—maybe they were mildly interested in the information but not so interested that they feel it’s worth sharing their contact details.

But those who are truly interested and understand that they will gain significant value are willing to overcome this minor hurdle, qualifying themselves as more than casual readers in the process. These are great qualified leads.

Run Contests

With contests, the prize has to fulfill two important criteria. First, it has to be valuable enough that people will actually be interested in entering the contest. But second, it has to be valuable specifically to the people who have the highest potential to become your customers, and not much value to anyone else.

If the prize is not valuable enough, no one will enter your contest. But if it’s so generically valuable that everyone who sees the contest will want to enter, you’ll gather loads of contact information but no qualified leads.

So, what should you offer as your contest prize? An extended trial of your product could be a good option, or an upgrade to a higher tier of your service. After all, those prizes only have value to people who are genuinely interested in using your product. If you sell physical products, you could give away some of the products themselves.

Pay-to-Play Social Media Advertising

While organic social media posts can be targeted to some extent, social media advertising takes targeting—and therefore the ability to collect leads from laser-focused groups of potential customers—to a whole new level.

Using highly specific target audiences to promote gated content is a great way to keep advertising costs low while ensuring the leads you collect meet certain desirable criteria.

Here are a few good places to begin:

Facebook lead ads

This specialized ad format offers a low-commitment, low-barrier way for potential customers to connect with your business without leaving Facebook. As with a gated content offer, the potential customer provides information in exchange for something of value. That something of value can be either digital—like a newsletter, white paper, or coupon—or something that’s delivered in real life—like a product demonstration at a brick and mortar store or a test drive.

One great advantage of Facebook lead ads over a regular gated content offer is that Facebook automatically populates the lead form with the user’s contact information, so it can take as few as two clicks or taps for a potential customer to connect. You choose how much information you need, so you can get enough information for the lead to be useful, but not ask for so much that it scares the user away.

Instagram lead ads

Since Facebook owns Instagram, Facebook lead ads can also appear on Instagram, as long as the ads meet Instagram’s design requirements. However, lead ads behave a little differently on Instagram.

Instagram can only pre-populate the lead form with email, full name, phone number, and gender. If you want to collect additional information, the user will have to type it in.

Since Instagram lead ads only appear on mobile, and it takes 40 percent longer to fill out a form on a mobile device than on a desktop, you should only request additional information if it is critical for your initial sales efforts.

LinkedIn lead gen forms

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms also make it very easy for potential customers to share their information, since they are pre-populated with details from the user’s LinkedIn profile.

Since LinkedIn is primarily a professional networking site, the pre-populated information can include work details like job title, company, and seniority, as well as education details, giving you an extremely rich set of data about each lead.

Like Facebook lead ads, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms require no typing at all to complete, making them easy to complete even on mobile devices.

Host a Virtual Hangout, Webinar, or Live Video

There are two approaches to generating leads with live video, hangouts, and webinars. The first option is to present the video as gated content, requiring interested viewers to register in advance by providing their contact information.

The second approach is to open the video up to a wide audience and generate leads from that audience in one of two ways:

  • During the video, direct viewers to offers, contests, or other social media lead generation tools on another platform, such as a landing page on your website or a custom tab on your Facebook page.
  • Encourage live interaction by offering a reward for participation, then be sure to follow up with those who leave comments. The follow up could be as simple as directing people to resources related to their comments (including gated content), or you could encourage them to reach out to your team on social media with any further questions.

Keep in mind that the more specialized or niche your video, the fewer leads you will likely generate, but the more targeted the leads.

Better Leads Mean More Sales

Of course, the more top-quality leads you can acquire, the better your chances of making more sales. The world is on social media. If your business plans to market itself to the world, and especially to target a select audience in that world, social media is a great place to start.

How are your results with social selling? Do you depend on totally organic results or do you spend dollars on social media ads? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.