5 Tasks For The Slow Season – Gear Up For Fall

Get On Track This Summer

Many businesses experience a little downtime during the summer months. Especially, for those self-employed, small/independant businesses  and “Mompreneurs”. Children are home from school, customers are on vacation or people are just not interested. Those whose client bases are taking a breather – should take time to re-evaluate their business strategies.

This is a great time to assess your current strategies. Here are some things to consider while the lazy months of summer are upon us.

1. Review your current online presence

• Should you look at building a Blog
• Search online magazines, forums or complementary sites to see what you like and what you don’t
• Contact those who might be able to increase your traffic

2. Review your sales strategy

• If you are working with retailers – analyze your sales, costs and effectiveness with them
• Seek out new retailers
• Consider working with a wholesaler
• Research online retailers – like EBay, Esty or Kijiji

3. Attend Fairs, Tradeshows or Local Community Events

• See if they would be a good fit for you in the coming months
• Talk to vendors in attendance - you can get a sense of how successful each show is for them and why
• Talk to attendees of the event, find out their likes/dislikes about the event

4. Review your profit margins

• Doing what you love sometimes takes precedent over profit. Evaluate if after costs of goods sold (manufacturing costs, marketing costs, operating expenses and/or office expenses) you are actually making money
• If your profit margins are slim to nothing; it is imperative to review your revenue vs. expenses and assess what needs modification Conduct customer research
• Backyards and BBQ’s are a great way to get some key clients together and discuss their thoughts on your product/service
• Getting suggestions and feedback from your clients, not only enhances the existing relationship – but also provides valuable information in the form of
• new ideas for products/services
• innovative communication strategies – blog, website, email, advertising etc.
• suggestions for new channels of distribution

5. Research the competition

• If you are a Mompreneur and have the kids home for the summer – take them to places that sell your competition
• See how customers are reacting to their products/services and apply the useful information to you
• If you are on vacation or just slowed down – go out there and see what is happening on the street

Once you have done a review of the above, compile some ideas to implement in the coming year. Information gathered from all these sources get the creative juices flowing; and subsequently give you innovative and fun strategies for the new year.

September and October are “Back to School” months. Vacations over and busy Holiday seasons just on the horizon; provides the perfect opportunity to contact your existing customer base and target new customers. The creation of a launch for a  new product, idea, online venue or marketing strategy gives you  a fresh reason to contact. New clients are garnered by reaching a larger audience or maybe a more specific niche market; depending on what you have discovered over summer.

While summer may give a lull to your business – instead of resting on your laurels – put this time to good use. Then run into the Fall with both guns blazing.

If you would like to have your current strategies reviewed and/or are looking for consulting services, please do not hesitate to contact Kathleen Hogg - to receive a 1 hour free assessment.

Check Out The New Twitter

Image via CrunchBase

Twitter is an integral part of our Social Networking culture and now…our businesses. The New Twitter interface is now being used and the Old Twitter is only available for a limited period of time. The new features are being rolled out slowly over the next few weeks – so you will have time to assimilate – This presents a great opportunity to freshen your Brand/Image/Internet presence.

 

Some  Twitter Accounts are set up - so once a posts on the Blog/Website are automatically announced in Twitter. At the same time, any Tweets are automatically updated in Widgets placed on the Blog/Website. The Twitter account is not always directly accessed as frequently as it should. If you haven’t been working directly on Twitter for some time – here are a few changes:

• New design - the screen is a little wider – which allows for more content to be seen
• Discover Related Content - When you click a Tweet, the details pane shows additional information related to the author or subject. Depending on the Tweet’s content, you may see: @replies, other Tweets by that same user, a map of where a geotagged Tweet was sent from, and more.
• View photos, videos, and other media content - Now, it’s easy to see embedded photos and videos directly on Twitter, thanks to partnerships with DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.
• Mini profiles- You can click a @username to see a mini profile without navigating from the page, which provides quick access to account information, including bio and recent Tweets.

 

Video Link

This is a link to a video demonstrating all the features of the new Twitter page: 
https://twitter.com/newtwitter

Security Tips

• Use a secure connection where possible to encrypt your account information.
• Under Account Settings (top right corner under your account name)
• under the Account Tab – tick the box Always Use HTTPS
• If you would like to maintain a Private Twitter Account – then select the “Protect My Tweets” box -
• Only let people whom I approve follow my tweets.
  If this is checked, your future tweets will not be available publicly.
• Tweets posted previously may still be publicly visible in some places.

Design Options

If you are looking to make your Twitter page a little more exciting; check out Themeleon. This software is extremely easy to use, has many design options and is fun to play around with.

• You can select from hundreds of different background patterns and images
• new background patterns – there are over 1 million different options (this is an actual figure – not descriptive)
• top background patterns – almost 3,700 different options
• there are lots of Featured Themes – displayed along the top of the screen
• Colours on any background patterns can be changed to your colour scheme – if you like the pattern/design but not the colours – not a problem just switch them around
• If you don’t want to use the background Themeleon provides, you can use this software to upload your own design/logo
• You can change the Twitter display text and border colours
• Any changes are immediately displayed – so you can quickly and easily see what your Twitter account will look like

Themeleon allows the inexperienced user the tools of a Graphic/Web designer with no cost. It provides millions of different variations while being easy and fun to use.

Twitter for iPad/iPhone

To learn more about iPhone/iPad applications please click on this link –
http://itunes.apple.com/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8

It is always a good idea to keep up to date with all the changes, but they happen so often it is sometimes difficult to keep up. These changes are a terrific opportunity to refresh your Brand/Internet Presence and Image. Go into your Twitter account and play around with all the options – if nothing else it is fun and gives you something to Tweet about.

Happy Tweeting.

Helpful Facebook Security/Privacy Tips

Image via Wikipedia

Facebook is an innovator, revolutionary and progressive organization, that has forever changed the way people interact. We have grown accustomed to Social Networking, as a personal and professional tool for human interaction. However, we are still in the incubus of this platform and as their innovations develop – so do those of the malicious. Every element of privacy and security is an puzzle for a Hacker to solve. Do they do this because they are trying to hurt someone or obtain their personal information for nefarious purposes? Or, do they view it as something to conquer simply because it is there? Who knows, but the fact is whether your Personal or Professional Profile is up – you need to know how to protect it.

Yesterday one of my clients informed me that her Facebook account was hacked into and her business page deleted. Her personal page hijacked and someone had done updates for an hour or so, without her knowledge. This has left her feeling not only violated, but frustrated. All her postings, discussions, articles and logos for her business are gone….POOF!!! There is no way of retrieving this information and it now must be completely rebuilt.

A specific email address and account name is applied when creating a business or personal Facebook Profile. If you or someone else deactivates your account – you can’t use that specific email address for another account. As many business use a professional email as their direct address for all communication; losing it is a challenge. It is a challenge to keep up with different addresses. This creates another challenge in rebuilding your Facebook page.

If you have experienced a Hacked or Compromised Account – be sure to contact Facebook. Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/help/?topic=security
 You can also go through their Help Centre.

A friend told her a way of making her connection secure whenever possible. I had not heard of this before – so thought I would be as kind as my client and pass this information along to you.

To create a more secure connection, go through the following steps.

• On the top right hand of your screen – click on the “Account” drop down menu
• Select “Account Settings”
• Under “Account Security” – click on Change
• Select the following:

Secure Browsing (https)

Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible

• Then click “SAVE”



 If you would like to be made aware if someone is trying to access your account, selecting this option as well may be of help.

When a new computer or mobile device logs into this account:

Send me an email

If you would like to ensure that only certain information from your Profile is seen by certain people; the following steps may be of help.

• On the top right hand of your screen – click on the “Account” drop down menu
• Select ”Account Settings”
• Under Privacy select “Manage”
• Click on “Customize”
• Make changes accordingly

Blocking: If there are certain things that you don’t want certain people to see, you can. Here are some ways to stop certain people or organizations from viewing either your entire profile or parts of it.

• Under the Account tab, select “Privacy Settings“
• Under the grid (bottom) of “Sharing on Facebook”, click on “Customize Settings“ that is in blue font
• In each category there is the drop down menu that has the following options:
  • Everyone
  • Friends
  • Friends of Friends
  • “Customize” – select this one

Under this category you will see these fields -

• Make this visible to – and the drop down menu
• Input the names of those you wish to block from viewing that specific criteria
• Then click on “Save Setting”



Other helpful tips:

• Don’t put your full birthdate
• Don’t post an email address – you can be messaged through Facebook
• Ensure you are careful about the photos you post
• Get notifications about photos of you being “Tagged”, this allows you to go to those photos and decide whether you wish to delete or keep the tags
• Be careful about what is posted on your Wall, and who you allow to post on it
• Logout – after using Facebook
• Don’t have the “Keep Me Logged In” box checked

For more information from Facebook regarding Privacy and Profile Settings please click the various links below:

• Facebook Privacy Controls:
  http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php
  
• Facebook Privacy Policy:
  http://www.facebook.com/policy.php
  
• Facebook Privacy FAQ’s:
  http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=419
  
• Facebook Privacy Resources:
  http://www.facebook.com/help/?topic=privacyresources
  
• Facebook Safety Centre:
  http://www.facebook.com/help/?safety
  

Facebook has many great attributes. You can stay in touch with family all over the world, find old friends while keeping up with current ones. For Organizations, Communities, Events and Businesses, it is an affordable, effective and productive way to reach your audience. Using the “Privacy Settings” assists in protecting and separating your personal and professional profiles.

Facebook is like a living, breathing organism. The policies, procedures and formats are changing all the time. If you are using this as a business tool,  it is essential  to constantly update yourself on the changes. Maybe set a date in your calendar to review the Policies and Procedures. Take an hour or two a month to just play around with the format; this will help you discover changes to all the aspects of Facebook. This company is filled with innovators – so be sure the enjoy the innovations.

Happy  & Safe Facebooking!