Blair Stover

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Posts Tagged social media

Key Advice for Your Business Marketing Plan

Sep 27

Posted by Blair Stover in Business, Marketing, Small Business | No Comments

Owning a business is hard work for every business owner, no matter the background. So whenever you can catch a break by getting advice, jump on it. Blair Stover has stumbled upon some great advice for business owners who need some help with marketing plans, including these important points below:

1.     Writing Preparation. Anytime you begin writing anything, information gathering is a must. Doing so beforehand avoids interruption during the writing process. Have things like the company’s financial reports, sales figures, listings of every product, organization tables, marketplace info like demographics and customer relations issues.

2.     Market Situation. This section contains clear-headed description for the current state of the business. Here are some of the questions you should ask: What are your services or products? What demographic do you sell to? What geographical area are you selling to?

3.     Opportunities and Threats. This is the extension of your market situation area. It has to focus on both the good and the bad issues of the market. Ask these types of questions first: What trends are against you? What trends favor you? Are there demographics working in your favor? What about against you? Have you found any competitive trends?

It doesn’t matter how great your marketing plan seems, it should be organized and straightforward as well as easily understandable. It should provide people with a clear understanding of the marketing efforts you plan to enforce in the near future along with giving it an incisive look into the future. Readability is the key to success.

 

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Blogging and its Importance for Your Small Business

Sep 5

Posted by Blair Stover in Business, Business owners, Marketing, Small Business | No Comments

Having a small business can be a tough job even for the most seasoned entrepreneur. However, one thing that can make every business owner’s life a lot easier and boost consumer flow is blogging. You may not think that something so simple can do so much to help a business but as Blair Stover will show you below- this simple tool will do wonders for your company.

  1. Gain some visibility by being a “Thought Leader”. Every post you jot down on your blog can is considered as a type of public demonstration of integrity, professional insight, leadership and humor so make the most of it.
  2. Engage your customers by using a dialogue. Your readers could have the option of commenting on what you are writing. This could be a great way of letting your consumers feel that they really matter.
  3. Every blog is considered as the perfect SEO opportunity. No consumer likes being a part of SEO but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop using it. People use it when they type in and hit search and 99% don’t even think about the fact that this is SEO!
  4. Consider your blogs like “link bait”. Make sure you link your services or products to your blogs. This is the perfect way to drive traffic to your business using your blog.
  5. Humanize your business. Make sure your consumers know that there is a real person on the other side of the computer. Be helpful and insightful.
  6. Fresher content always equals a better website. Always search for updated and newer content!

 

 

 

 

 

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Using Pinterest to Grow Your Business

Jun 5

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

Pinterest is the latest and greatest in social media and there is still a waiting list to get invited! This social media platform is one that many are embracing because it is simple to use. It’s also a platform that can easily drive traffic to your website. It’s also been shown that Pinterest is growing faster than Facebook did in its early days.

The reason for Pinterest’s popularity is that it is a visual site. Pinners add photos to bulletin boards and sort their boards by interest. They can repin a photo from a friend, they can follow friends, comment on pins and make comments on their own boards. Many websites now are even playing host to Pinterest buttons which make it easy for visitors to pin from your website.

Just as you won’t use any social media platform to constantly sell to your followers, the same is true for Pinterest. Although there are some businesses better suited to Pinterest than others – think cake decorators or dress designers as compared to writers or insurance agents – you still want to pin information your followers will care about.

Make certain you are detailed in your description of your business and embed pertinent keywords and locations so that you’re found when people are searching on Pinterest. Don’t forget to link all of your other social media accounts to your Pinterest account.

While it may be increasingly difficult to keep up with all of the latest and greatest when it comes to social media, it certainly can’t hurt to check out the various platforms and see what works best for your particular industry. If you’re seeing traffic from one social media over another then make certain you’re spending the majority of your time there.

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Social Media Recruiting Tools for Small Businesses

Jun 16

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

If you’re an entrepreneur or a recruiter for a large company, it is not always easy to find the most talented, qualified applicants for the job you’re looking to fill. Now with social media being so prevalent, a hiring manager can leverage social media as a way to recruit potential employees.

Between Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, there are close to 550 million users and many of those users are looking for work. As a business owner looking to hire new talent, these numbers offer a large talent pool from which to choose, but with that many individuals on these social networking sites, it can be overwhelming to know how to narrow the prospects. We offer you these tips:

LinkedIn should be your first stop for professional talent as this is a networking site that boasts a more professional atmosphere and is also where job seekers – and those looking to fill positions – typically congregate. Keep in mind that LinkedIn also represents close to 200 industries and 200 countries, making the talent pool even larger. As a LinkedIn user you can “advertise” for talent or you can look through your contacts and the connections of others to find likely candidates.

While Facebook remains the largest social networking site, boasting 400 million users, this is a site that connects individuals in a more social way as opposed to the professional contact building done on LinkedIn. That is not to say you can’t find a full talent pool on Facebook, but you might have to search a bit more and depending on the privacy settings individuals are employing, good potential candidates might not get found.

Twitter can be used to connect a business owner with a potential audience of job candidates as well. You can certainly post on Twitter that you are looking to fill a position. Highlight the position within your tweet with a hash tag, for example, #hiring a #graphic designer as a way to get found.

In all of these examples you can post free “ads” in which you seek potential candidates or you can upgrade the accounts to purchase paid advertisements or ads on your personal page. Posting status updates on your company’s personal pages is a way to let potential candidates know you are hiring. Chances are, your company is likely being followed by “someone who knows someone” and thus the connection begin. Many hiring managers are having great luck in finding potential candidates and filling positions through the use of social networking — all of which are low to no cost ways to fill company vacancies — and that is great for the bottom line.

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