Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Fixtures: The Baumans, Sellers of Really, Really Rare Books
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Best Las Vegas Mortgage Lenders of 2019
Despite what out-of-towners might think, most of what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas because it’s a decent place to live. Locals know that beyond the four-mile, neon-lit Strip is an abundant selection of neighborhoods and rich amenities for everyday living — parks, trails, good schools, golf courses, shopping districts and more. Whether...
The article Best Las Vegas Mortgage Lenders of 2019 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
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Fixtures: The Baumans, Sellers of Really, Really Rare Books
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Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Best Denver Mortgage Lenders of 2019
Buying a house in Denver raises some “Mile High” questions. Should you live in Jefferson Park so Broncos games are just a hop, skip and a jump away, or Stapleton so getting to Denver International Airport is a breeze? Should you buy new construction or an existing house? And most importantly, which Denver mortgage lender...
The article Best Denver Mortgage Lenders of 2019 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
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How to Make Positive Changes to Your Sales Process This Year
Yum! Are you eating cookies again after you swore them off on New Year’s Eve? Probably. New Year’s resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, so why not focus instead on what you can actually do this year instead of making resolutions that are likely to be broken?
No more excuses
Excuses. I’ve heard them all. We didn’t have the budget. I didn’t have the time. The buyer was unfair. They wanted too much. My competitor had more experience than I did. The buyer didn’t want to change. The list of excuses goes on and on. This year, make no more excuses.
No more excuses means you will be more successful. I am not promising that everything will go in your direction; I am promising that everything will not go in your direction! But what I am saying is when things don’t go the way you want, your default position should be something other than making an excuse.
Excuses are simply a free pass for failure. If you can blame someone or something other than yourself, you don’t have to take responsibility for what happens. Even more important is excuses allow you to stay the same. And what does that get you? Likely more failure.
When you take action after failure to do something different, you just might create the path to a future success. Instead of excuses, analyze what went wrong. What could you do differently in the future? What can you do now to prepare? What did you miss that needs to be addressed? Ask and answer the questions. Don’t make excuses.
You can even look at failure differently once you’re not making excuses. It’s been said that it took Thomas Edison 10,000 failures before he found a light filament that worked. But he didn’t see it that way. Instead he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
So develop your sales strategies and accept that some will fail. This year instead of explaining why you couldn’t succeed, plan on what you can do next—and start doing it.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
Start thinking
Thinking is an often forgotten selling skill. You need to start thinking about your business and any “what ifs.” What if your largest account went away? Where would you be? What are the conditions that might cause you to lose a large account? What if you couldn’t sell a particular product? How would that impact your business? Once you know what can cause you to miss your goals, you can start to address your shortcomings.
Just remember that thinking without action is like a car without fuel—it’s not going anywhere. Your ideas must be fueled by your actions so things change and are improved.
Do something to make yourself a better salesperson
Think of yourself like a professional athlete. Athletes work out to maintain their strength or improve their performance. What are you doing to improve?
It’s often said if you want to be a better writer you should read more. When you read, you see what others are doing. Your vocabulary increases. You get new ideas which you can apply. And to improve your selling, I would recommend doing more buying. When you are a buyer, you will notice how you’re being treated by the seller.
You often have to negotiate when you buy, and if you’re not negotiating, why not? Even your cable bill can be negotiated! (Hint: You can always ask if you’re getting the best deal.) When you’re a buyer, you also can ask questions to find out how knowledgeable your salesperson is.
Your awareness as a buyer will help you become a better salesperson. When you realize the areas needing improvement, make changes. This could be working on engaging your customers and building rapport, or becoming more knowledgeable about your competitors.
Make this year a good year
People who make New Year’s resolutions have the best intentions, but they just aren’t going about it the right way to get the results they want. Forget about the cookies. Stop making excuses. Instead, start thinking about your business and make improvements to have better sales results this year.
RELATED: Overcoming the Most Common Sales Challenges
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Is Now the Right Time to Franchise Your Business?
Franchising a business can be an exciting prospect for many entrepreneurs. You have found success locally, and are now ready to expand well beyond your home base.
But while the prospect of going nationwide is exciting, there are a number of issues to be aware of. That’s why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
Q. For anyone thinking about franchising their business, what is one crucial thing they should consider first?
1. Assess if there is enough demand
The last thing a new franchise wants is to see their franchisees fail. Make sure that your business has a great amount of demand before thinking about a franchise model. One way to determine demand is to pay attention to Google keywords mentioning your business. If you see a huge spike in people searching for your business in a certain city, then you know there’s interest there. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
2. Understand what you need to control
Franchising is about control. You want to know exactly what is critical to the business’s success and what can be put aside. When you franchise a business, you need to set standards and controls which ensure the business’s success and protects the brand. You may have to give on some areas and choose what they will be, but if you are clear on this, then you are in control. —Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure
3. Determine if your business can be replicated
Franchising can be a great growth strategy for businesses that can be replicated fairly easily. It’s likely to fail if a business depends on the input of specific individuals or if its processes are hard to duplicate. Start by thinking about your business’s core processes, documenting them and considering whether they could be replicated by other people in a different location. —Vik Patel, Future Hosting
4. Research the potential
Not every business has franchise potential. Research the interest and demand for what your business offers to see if it can be replicated in multiple areas, and have the potential to be successful and grow. It may not be something that is sustainable. —Serenity Gibbons, NAACP
5. Consider hiring a consultant
Franchising your business is a complicated process, so consider whether you should hire a consultant to help you along the way. There are franchise developers you can hire, if you have the funds, who will simplify the process for you and make sure the transition occurs without a hitch. —John Turner, SeedProd LLC
6. See if you can step away from your core business
Franchising is about a process. You need to define literally every single step of your business, from which suppliers to use through how someone would greet a customer at the door. Before you franchise, see if you can step away from your current business. If you have defined your processes well enough so that you can be away for a week—and be happy with the results—then you’re ready! —Aaron Schwartz, Passport
7. Understand the franchise agreement
You should understand how the franchise agreement will restrict you from setting up a similar business. For example, many franchise agreements include a non-compete provision prohibiting you from conducting a similar business for a certain period of time within a certain distance of a franchise location, and stringent confidentiality provisions prohibiting you from contacting customers. —Doug Bend, Bend Law Group, PC
8. Determine if your business can run without you
If your business cannot operate without you, it is not at a stage where it’s scalable. You have to get your business to the point where you’re no longer involved in the day-to-day in order to consider scaling. —Rachel Beider, Massage Outpost
9. Document everything
It’s crucial that you document your entire process from start to finish before franchising your business. You want your franchisees to be as successful as you are (or more) so they can spread the word and you can get more interest. Even the smallest things should be documented, such as phone scripts, email templates, and anything they may need in order to succeed. —Jared Atchison, WPForms
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
10. Choose the right location
Your business is special, so you want to make sure you’re establishing new franchises in the best location. For example, consider an area that is already aware of your brand and would be receptive to your business (but careful not to stay too close to home so it won’t interfere with your original business). Additionally, while a large city may be tempting, a smaller city may be less competitive. —Shu Saito, Fact Retriever
11. Make sure you have enough funds
Franchising is not cheap. I would know; I’ve built one. There are so many things to consider in terms of location, documentation, legality, and regulations. You won’t be able to do it without bringing on a consultant. Before that, though, ask a few questions. Can my business be simplified enough so that someone with only a high school degree could manage the entire operation? Who is willing to buy? —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting, Inc.
12. Consider potential risks to your brand
While having franchises can be profitable, it also means that you give up quite a bit of control over your brand. Franchisees, while they need to adhere to certain conditions, are still business owners, and you can’t simply fire them if you don’t like the way they’re operating. When setting up a franchise agreement, make sure you specify standards and policies that protect your reputation. —Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
13. Think systems-dependent, not expert-dependent
A systems-dependent franchise model creates a repeatable customer experience by relying on an extraordinary system that can be run by ordinary people, and not relying on the hopes that you’ll be able to hire extraordinarily talented experts at every location, every time. When your operations manual can be expertly managed by anyone, regardless of skill level, then you’re ready to make the leap. —Magnus Simonarson, Consultwebs
14. Start building your team now
Start building your team now. If you’re going to franchise and want to maintain your corporate culture, work environment, and a passion for your business, you’ll need to start looking for people now who are willing and able to take all of that on. Plus, they’ll need to learn a lot of that before they can put it all into practice. —Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
RELATED: 8 Reasons Not to Franchise Your Business
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How to Use Micro-Influencers to Grow Your Business
By Aljaz Fajmut
Ready to supercharge your sales? One of the most effective ways to boost your business is to implement an influencer marketing campaign. It’s one thing for you to love your product, and quite another when an influencer starts to rave about it. With an influencer’s help, you suddenly have access to a much larger audience.
And an influencer doesn’t need to have celebrity status in order to be effective. Here we will look at how to use the power of micro-influencers to grow your small business.
Micro-influencers vs. macro influencers?
While micro-influencers are defined as having 10,000 or fewer followers, their influence is just as effective as a macro influencer’s, if not more effective. (When a celebrity macro influencer gushes about a product, does anyone really believe they’re fans of it?) A micro-influencer’s audience may be significantly smaller than a macro influencer’s, but it’s a loyal, engaged, and dedicated following. Moreover, micro-influencers also are much more cost-effective and will be more willing to work with you.
How to find micro-influencers
When searching for micro-influencers, you need to visit the social media platforms where they are most active. For example, if you’re in the fashion business, you should search on Instagram; if you’re involved in digital marketing, you should cast your net on LinkedIn.
Also, be aware that size isn’t everything. Even though a micro-influencer may have up to 10,000 followers, there are other factors to be concerned about, such as:
- Engagement—Having 10,000 followers means absolutely nothing if no one is engaging with the posts. Check out their most recent posts. What’s the engagement like? Are people liking, commenting, and sharing?
- Audience demographics—This is an important factor because an influencer’s audience needs to align with yours. For example, if your product is aimed at men and their core audience is women, this influencer isn’t a good fit for you.
- Voice—What’s their style like? If it’s abrasive while yours is family-friendly, this won’t work.
For an influencer to be effective, they must be a fit. Their values and branding need to match yours—or be as close as possible.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
First impressions matter
Once you’ve identified a list of potential influencers, it’s time to make contact. Approaching a micro-influencer is naturally a lot less daunting than approaching an A-list celebrity, but you still need to make your first impression count.
There are two ways to do this. One way is to first spend some time engaging with an influencer’s social media posts, commenting on them and offering value to their community. Alternatively, you can shoot straight from the hip and send an email or DM.
When you finally make your approach, be brief, direct, and personable. Introduce yourself and outline what you want, explaining how it will benefit them. Usually, the biggest benefit is you have something their audience is going to love.
Working with an influencer
No influencer is going to do this job for free. While you can offer an influencer free gifts, you may want to consider a financial incentive, too. Micro-influencers are definitely more affordable than macro influencers, and how much they charge will vary. Do you want a simple retweet? That shouldn’t cost more than $10 if they only have 1,000 followers. However, if you want video content, you’ll need to up your offer.
Because micro-influencers know their audience better than you do, collaboration is the key to a successful campaign. They know what type of content works with their followers and what doesn’t, so you need to be open to their suggestions. Moreover, they may have special skills you can leverage: they may experts at creating video content, podcasts, blogs, etc.
There are different types of campaigns you can run. A lot of marketers will have giveaway contests; they’re popular, and their benefits will extend to you, your influencer, and their followers. Contests are also really easy to put together—all your influencer needs to do is ask their followers to do something for a chance to take home one of your products.
Offering influencers free gifts works well, too. Everyone loves a free gift, and if it impresses an influencer, they’ll be more inclined to post a review on their social media accounts. If they do, be sure to ask them to add a link to a coupon code.
Sponsored social media content is another option; however, it can be a bit risky if a micro-influencer already posts so much sponsored content that their audience no longer trusts them. Research how often an influencer posts sponsored content before going down this route.
As long as you are a professional, and you approach an influencer with a friendly opening message, there is no reason why you can’t be successful with influencer marketing. Once a campaign is up and running, don’t forget to monitor it, so you can figure out how to improve on it with your next influencer.
RELATED: Here’s Why Your Influencer Marketing Campaign Isn’t Getting You the ROI You Expected
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Monday, January 28, 2019
Best Atlanta Mortgage Lenders of 2019
Atlanta mortgage lenders cater to a massive real estate market that’s home to the employees of more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies, including Home Depot, UPS, Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines. In a city with diverse and growing employment, national mortgage makers, regional players and online lenders vie for the business of a broad array...
The article Best Atlanta Mortgage Lenders of 2019 originally appeared on NerdWallet.
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The Secret to Keeping Your Best Employees
Small businesses make up 99.9% of U.S. employer firms, according to the Small Business Administration. And as new jobs are created and employees get hired, it has become increasingly important to consider an aspect of the hiring process that goes beyond onboarding and training: workforce well-being.
Guardian, an employee benefits provider, recently released the 2018 Small Business Benefits Study and reported that “the well-being of 60 million Americans is linked to small businesses”—those businesses that act as employers, that is. Typically, well-being is classified under the benefits umbrella and is broken down into three categories: financial (salary, retirement, and 401(k) plans), physical (health, among other forms of insurance), and emotional (job security and enjoying what you do).
The Guardian study also reported half of all workers say their employer cares about their overall well-being. This number is important since employees who perceive their employer cares are more likely to stay with a company for at least 10 years compared to those employees who don’t, according to the study.
So how can small business owners remedy the situation for employees who may feel like their well-being does not matter to their company? The truth is there is no quick fix. Ordering catered lunches or issuing free gym memberships won’t fix what’s ailing these employees. If anything, this will only drive them further out the door because they won’t feel like solutions are being personalized to their specific situations. Small businesses that want to emphasize well-being need to take the following steps to create the change employees want to see.
Re-examine and re-evaluate existing benefits
Sometimes a house is built on a foundation that was hastily slapped together. The owners of the house have a choice: They can spend years trying to right what wasn’t stable to begin with or move out. What most people don’t do is tear down the house entirely because starting over is an expensive and time consuming approach. However, once the old model is gone, a new, better model can be built that benefits the owners and doesn’t depreciate in value.
The same can be said for small businesses and their existing benefits. Take a look at the benefits you currently offer employees. Do these benefits foster a culture of well-being? Are some dated or unnecessary, given the roles and duties of your workers? The Guardian study notes that within the next five years, 49% of small businesses plan to expand wellness initiatives and 46% will provide flexible scheduling and telecommuting options.
Creating a culture of well-being may ultimately mean tearing down an existing structure and building a new one in its place; however, before you move to strike any benefits or add new ones, talk to your employees about what’s going on. Explain that you’re working to change the overall company culture to one that better embraces their well-being. Ask them what kinds of benefits they need (instead of guessing), and then see what you can do to accommodate their requests.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
Study how millennial entrepreneurs run their businesses
Recently, I wrote about the unease millennial workers have towards businesses. The 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey reports that millennial workers are gradually losing faith in companies that put money first, lack flexibility, and are not prepared for the future of the workplace.
For many millennials, this has led to career pivots into entrepreneurship. In fact, according to the Millennial Small Business Owner Survey from Wells Fargo, 82% of millennial small business owners cite wanting to control their future as a top reason for starting a business.
However, the buck doesn’t stop there. Guardian’s study notes millennial entrepreneurs are more focused than older business owners on the financial and emotional well-being of their employees. Only 51% of baby boomers who own a business say their company creates a culture of well-being; on the flip side, 66% of millennial-owned small businesses emphasize well-being throughout their culture.
Does tearing down an existing culture that doesn’t focus on well-being sound like it’s too much for your business? Try taking a few cues from how millennials run businesses. The way entrepreneurs change the focus of their benefits strategy may tie in more with the company’s values and mission, which leads me to my final point in this post.
Everyone needs to care more
At the end of the day, employees don’t stay with companies that pay them the most money, give them tons of time off, or have the biggest TVs in their break rooms. According to the Guardian study, 55% of workers say they will stay with a business for 10 years or longer if they feel their employer cares about their overall well-being.
Loyalty is rooted in care: Great employers want their workers to have a solid work/life balance. But when employees feel like their company doesn’t care, they won’t feel compelled to do their best work; eventually, they’ll mentally check out altogether or quit, and the company will be left scrambling. Want to know the secret to avoiding this scenario? While it may not be applicable to all businesses, a lot of employee dissatisfaction can be prevented if employers make it a point to genuinely care from the beginning.
The good news is this mindset is shifting. The Guardian study reports 50% of small business workers in 2018 strongly agree their employer cares about their well-being, a 9% jump from 2015, and an exciting increase. And while it may seem like companies are moving slowly to build better cultures of well-being, they are indeed moving—and in the right direction.
RELATED: 5 Tips for Avoiding Employee Burnout
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Work-Life Balance Is Impossible—Here’s What to Strive for Instead
As a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and mom, I’m here to tell you something that may come as a shock: I can’t find a work-life balance—because it doesn’t exist.
If you’re like other busy moms, in moments of desperation you may have googled “work-family balance,” “how to prioritize,” or “advice for working women wanting it all.” There are certainly a lot of articles out there giving advice on these topics, but the problem is, it’s all “click bait.” With my hectic schedule, I know for a fact that balance is a myth that is fed to women, leading them to believe that constantly being in over their heads should be rewarding, pleasurable, and even fun.
Well, it isn’t.
Full-throttle living
Let me begin by saying that I’m insanely busy right now and there is no letup in sight. I’m hard at work with Garnysh, my Silicon Valley-based fitness and technology company that is in transition to shifting its entire focus from food tracking to fitness tracking and motivation to support fitness goals to get long-term results. Not only am I knee-deep in the process of turning this dream into a reality, but I’m also inundated with side projects as well as a mother of two budding actors with career goals of their own.
If I find time to do CrossFit, meditate, go on playdates, and relax with my husband, will I have achieved balance? No. What do I focus on instead? Diving in headfirst, doing my best, and embracing the feeling of living full-throttle. It’s not always easy—in fact, it never is—but the only way to climb a mountain is to just keep going.
Simplicity—the only thing that helps
Even though living full-throttle seems like an impossible task, in truth, there is a way to make the impossible possible, and that’s to simplify. If you can eliminate any tasks or commitments from your regular schedule that aren’t essential, then do so. But sometimes in the real world, even doing that is not realistic.
What you can do—and I try to focus on this as much as possible—is to simplify the steps that get you through the day. Everyone has a different method for making this possible, but for you it might be simplifying your family’s meals, organizing your home and eliminating anything nonessential, capsulizing your wardrobe and makeup, or something that works the absolute best: outsourcing. Quite simply, pay others to do it.
I want to chill out
Why do we try to find balance in the first place? Because we all want time to rest, chill out, and decompress. Sure, we want to achieve our financial and fitness goals, we want successful, healthy kids and beautiful homes. But we’re human beings who also need to rest and recharge on a regular basis.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
When we simplify, dive headfirst into our tasks, and don’t get caught up in self-doubt, we’re creating more space and time in our day to do the things that we love. That could be watching movies, reading books, going on vacation with family, and bonding with those whom you truly cherish. When we dive in without hesitation, we waste less time getting started and often discover pockets of free time that we never expected. Procrastination does not lead to more chill time.
Integration is the word
So, if balance doesn’t exist, what should we seek out instead? I like to use the word integration because it’s about not separating the compartments of your life, but rather thinking of them in terms of the whole. I’m not saying that your kids are a part of your business and your husband is included in your gym time; I’m saying that all the working pieces of your life create the whole. Don’t miss the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.
But when it comes to the nuts and bolts of integration, what the heck do you do? Honestly, think of your day more as watercolor than paint by numbers—things are going to bleed into one another. For instance, I take my kids to meetings when I need to, and I fulfill soccer mom duties while sometimes taking a business call. Over the holidays, I was scheduled with work/family duties from 2 a.m. till 2 p.m. just to get everything I needed to done before New Year’s. Was it hard to integrate all those things? Yes. Did it all get done? Yes.
This year, just go for it
The start of a new year is a time for people to reflect, make goals for the future, and focus on what wasn’t working in the past. My advice for all the mothers, business owners, artists, philanthropists—everybody—out there: Just go for it. The challenges that you face integrating family and work are unique to you, and no Google search is going bring up the Holy Grail.
So, here is the advice that I’m going to leave you with for 2019:
- Remember that there is no such thing as work-life balance.
- Dive headfirst into your to-do list.
- Integrate the various worlds you occupy.
- Commit yourself fully and know that you’re doing your best.
- Make sure you regularly give yourself time to relax and recharge.
RELATED: What Being a Mom Has Taught Me About Running a Business
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14 Overused Business Phrases We Must Retire (And Better Ways to Communicate)
By Rachel Fausnaught
There are over 470,000 entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, with scores added every year. Yet in business, we tend to overuse the comfortable phrases we’ve become accustomed to, thinking we sound smart.
News flash: We don’t actually sound smart.
I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. Your clients are guilty of it. Using these clichés must stop now. Communication (read: good communication) is critical for your business to succeed. It helps you establish credibility among clients and even employees.
I reached out to business professionals across the United States for their number one buzzword pet peeve, and better ways to communicate it. You’ll want to save this list.
I’ll get back to you
“For me, the most frustratingly overused term in our organization is ‘I’ll get back to you.’ As an international team working across multiple time zones, this puts a giant question mark over the schedule of the task at hand. A much better way of handling these situations is to tackle them head on. Set yourself a date and time to review the query, give yourself a little leeway to actually react, and reply and commit to it in your response. This keeps everyone accountable for their own tasks and allows people to remain in sync with their duties!”
—Jon Hayes, marketer at Pixel Privacy
I hope you’re doing well
“My number one overused business cliche that needs to go away is ‘I hope you’re doing well.’ Why? It’s not sincere. If you’re prospecting, either go straight to the point, or I usually compliment a person’s work—either their product or an article they have written, depending on how I found them.
“If you are writing to somebody you already know, there are millions of other ways to word this, including,
- How’s it going at X company?
- Hope your last quarter turned out well.
- Just wanted to follow up quickly since we last spoke.
- Loved your last article on X topic.
“And countless others, depending on the relationship you’ve already established with them.”
—Hung Nguyen, Marketing & Customer Satisfaction Manager, Smallpdf
Just a friendly reminder
The one phrase that really bugs me is when people say, ‘Just a friendly reminder.’ It can really come off as condescending since it is just a non-confrontational way to ask for something that’s late. Everyone secretly hates ‘friendly reminder’ emails. A better way to communicate this would be to send a direct reminder, not an overly friendly one with a soft undertone.
—Brian Meiggs, Founder, My Millennial Guide
Create synergy
“The phrase that we need to ‘create synergy’ is so overused! You can’t say it and expect it to happen. It’s like saying we should all get along and work hard for each other. The reality is most teams are looking out for their own interests.”
—Corey Vandenberg, Mortgage Consultant, Platinum Home Mortgage
Be disruptive
“Disruptive: It’s so ubiquitous in marketing speak that no one cares about what’s genuinely disruptive! It’s marketing’s ‘boy who cried wolf.’ By definition, disruptive invokes a radical change—normally beyond an industry and affecting everyday life for people outside the industry. The third iteration of your marketing software barely ‘disrupts’ your own market, let alone the average person on the street. If you say everything is special, no one will care when you might finally have something worth talking about.
“Stop using ‘disruptive’ and instead opt for showing potential customers the benefits of buying your product or service. Showing people how your product solves their problems with actionable language answers their questions more effectively than tooting your own disruptive horn. Let other people or industry experts label your product disruptive before you ever think about it. Focus on solving your customers’ problems, creating excellent solutions, and showing why people should look to your company for answers.”
—Matt Garrepy, Chief Digital Officer, DigitalUS
Touch base
“I absolutely despite phrases like ‘touch base,’ ‘reach out,’ or ‘get in touch.’ We have a perfectly good word in English—contact—that captures the same precise meaning without requiring cliched jargon.”
—Zack Gallinger, President, Talent Hero Media
“This is just such a vague statement, and it often leaves me wondering if a client is actually interested in my services or if they are trying to blow me off. I would much prefer that professional contacts be clear and straightforward about their intentions. Saying something such as, ‘My assistant will call you to schedule another meeting next week’ or ‘It’s just not the right direction for my company at this time’ lets me understand what the client means and prevents me from expending unnecessary effort.”
—Nate Masterson, CEO, Maple Holistics
“When someone says, ‘Let’s touch base in three months,’ it’s not actionable because you don’t know who is going to reach out and there’s no actual base to touch. For a better outcome, you should say ‘I’ll follow up with you’ or ‘I’ll call you.’ This way both parties know who is responsible for making contact and you can nail down an actual time this will happen.”
—Vladimir Gendelman, Founder and CEO, Company Folders
Move the needle
” I think everyone in business has used this cliché at one time or another, but I find it valueless. It’s an analogy simply meaning to make a noticeable difference.
“And although this is something every business aims to do within their industry, I think it actually hurts a company—saying over and over again that a business needs to ‘move the needle’ doesn’t accomplish anything. Rather, what businesses should be doing is explaining how they want to improve and what they want to work on.
“Instead of spouting off this cliché, make a list of actionable items for your business and each of its departments. Brainstorm your company’s weaknesses and come up with a strategy to improve on them. This will ensure you business will no longer be caught up in the problem and will be working to come up with a solution.”
—McCall Robison, Content Marketing Strategist, Best Company
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
Think outside the box
“‘We need to think outside the box’ is incredibly over used to the point it almost has no meaning anymore. What people should be saying is what are some other ways we can think of solving this problem that may not be the obvious solution.”
—James Green, Founder and CEO, OfferToClose.com
A team of rock stars
“It drives me nuts when companies refer to all of their employees as rock stars. They’ll say something like, ‘We only hire rock stars,’ or they’ll advertise an open position: ‘Looking for a rock star salesperson.’ Not every employee is going to be a rock star, nor do they need to be. It is more important that a company hire dedicated and hardworking individuals who put the company first, not someone who has such high confidence that they constantly view themselves as being the best, despite the company they work for.”
—Evan Roberts, Co-Founder, Dependable Homebuyers
Growth hacking
“The cliché that drives me crazy is when people say that we need to implement growth hacking as though it is a brand new silver bullet. Growth hacking is simply marketing. Instead of using this term say, “I think we should invest more resources into marketing with the goal of acquiring customers in the short term.” When people use the term ‘growth hacking,’ I just think of reckless spending on marketing, without a clear plan to accurately determine ROI.”
—Jeff Miller, Real Estate Agent, AE Home Group
The market wasn’t ready
“The most overused business cliché, in my view is ‘The market wasn’t ready’ or ‘The customers didn’t understand the true value of our product/service.” While it may be true in some unique cases, chances are you are blaming your customers for your inability to really alleviate their pain and/or market your product/service better. A better way to communicate your failure (even if the market REALLY wasn’t ready or the customers didn’t understand your product’s value) would be to say, ‘We didn’t do a good job of communicating the true value of our product/service.’
It’s smart business to NOT to blame your customer or target audience for your failure.”
—Brett Helling, CEO, Ridester.com
Utilize
“One of my biggest pet peeves in business communication is the word ‘utilize.’ All it means is to make good use of or to use for an unintended purpose, but it’s often just used as a pedantic spin on “use.” Instead of obscuring your meaning with ‘We’ll need to utilize the conference room starting at 3 o’clock,’ just say use. If you want to emphasize that something is being used well, or for an unintended use, just say that.”
—Joe Goldstein, Director of SEO and Operations, Contractor Calls
Put a pin in that
“What are we putting a pin in? Are we putting some darts in a blouse for a better fit? Are we throwing a fistful of pasta at the wall and then pinning our favorite bits that stuck? Where are you getting these pins, anyway?! In my experience, this phrase is used as a stalling tactic, often to put off simply admitting that you don’t know the immediate answer. Instead, why not acknowledge this contribution to discourse and promise to follow up. It sounds much better to say: ‘Excellent point, Sandy. I’ll be looking into that for you,’ rather than: ‘But, Sandy, for now, let’s put a pin in that.'”
—Allison Huntley, Real Estate Salesperson, Triplemint
Bring your “A” game
“Instead of implying someone may show up and not be engaged, emphasize the importance of a successful outcome.”
—Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead, Develop Intelligence
If you find yourself succumbing to one of these business clichés, stop and think: Is there a better way to communicate this? Chances are, the answer is always yes.
RELATED: 13 Memorable Movie Quotes to Inspire Every Entrepreneur
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Sunday, January 27, 2019
Is Now the Right Time to Franchise Your Business?
Franchising a business can be an exciting prospect for many entrepreneurs. You have found success locally, and are now ready to expand well beyond your home base.
But while the prospect of going nationwide is exciting, there are a number of issues to be aware of. That’s why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
Q. For anyone thinking about franchising their business, what is one crucial thing they should consider first?
1. Assess if there is enough demand
The last thing a new franchise wants is to see their franchisees fail. Make sure that your business has a great amount of demand before thinking about a franchise model. One way to determine demand is to pay attention to Google keywords mentioning your business. If you see a huge spike in people searching for your business in a certain city, then you know there’s interest there. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
2. Understand what you need to control
Franchising is about control. You want to know exactly what is critical to the business’s success and what can be put aside. When you franchise a business, you need to set standards and controls which ensure the business’s success and protects the brand. You may have to give on some areas and choose what they will be, but if you are clear on this, then you are in control. —Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure
3. Determine if your business can be replicated
Franchising can be a great growth strategy for businesses that can be replicated fairly easily. It’s likely to fail if a business depends on the input of specific individuals or if its processes are hard to duplicate. Start by thinking about your business’s core processes, documenting them and considering whether they could be replicated by other people in a different location. —Vik Patel, Future Hosting
4. Research the potential
Not every business has franchise potential. Research the interest and demand for what your business offers to see if it can be replicated in multiple areas, and have the potential to be successful and grow. It may not be something that is sustainable. —Serenity Gibbons, NAACP
5. Consider hiring a consultant
Franchising your business is a complicated process, so consider whether you should hire a consultant to help you along the way. There are franchise developers you can hire, if you have the funds, who will simplify the process for you and make sure the transition occurs without a hitch. —John Turner, SeedProd LLC
6. See if you can step away from your core business
Franchising is about a process. You need to define literally every single step of your business, from which suppliers to use through how someone would greet a customer at the door. Before you franchise, see if you can step away from your current business. If you have defined your processes well enough so that you can be away for a week—and be happy with the results—then you’re ready! —Aaron Schwartz, Passport
7. Understand the franchise agreement
You should understand how the franchise agreement will restrict you from setting up a similar business. For example, many franchise agreements include a non-compete provision prohibiting you from conducting a similar business for a certain period of time within a certain distance of a franchise location, and stringent confidentiality provisions prohibiting you from contacting customers. —Doug Bend, Bend Law Group, PC
8. Determine if your business can run without you
If your business cannot operate without you, it is not at a stage where it’s scalable. You have to get your business to the point where you’re no longer involved in the day-to-day in order to consider scaling. —Rachel Beider, Massage Outpost
9. Document everything
It’s crucial that you document your entire process from start to finish before franchising your business. You want your franchisees to be as successful as you are (or more) so they can spread the word and you can get more interest. Even the smallest things should be documented, such as phone scripts, email templates, and anything they may need in order to succeed. —Jared Atchison, WPForms
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
10. Choose the right location
Your business is special, so you want to make sure you’re establishing new franchises in the best location. For example, consider an area that is already aware of your brand and would be receptive to your business (but careful not to stay too close to home so it won’t interfere with your original business). Additionally, while a large city may be tempting, a smaller city may be less competitive. —Shu Saito, Fact Retriever
11. Make sure you have enough funds
Franchising is not cheap. I would know; I’ve built one. There are so many things to consider in terms of location, documentation, legality, and regulations. You won’t be able to do it without bringing on a consultant. Before that, though, ask a few questions. Can my business be simplified enough so that someone with only a high school degree could manage the entire operation? Who is willing to buy? —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting, Inc.
12. Consider potential risks to your brand
While having franchises can be profitable, it also means that you give up quite a bit of control over your brand. Franchisees, while they need to adhere to certain conditions, are still business owners, and you can’t simply fire them if you don’t like the way they’re operating. When setting up a franchise agreement, make sure you specify standards and policies that protect your reputation. —Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
13. Think systems-dependent, not expert-dependent
A systems-dependent franchise model creates a repeatable customer experience by relying on an extraordinary system that can be run by ordinary people, and not relying on the hopes that you’ll be able to hire extraordinarily talented experts at every location, every time. When your operations manual can be expertly managed by anyone, regardless of skill level, then you’re ready to make the leap. —Magnus Simonarson, Consultwebs
14. Start building your team now
Start building your team now. If you’re going to franchise and want to maintain your corporate culture, work environment, and a passion for your business, you’ll need to start looking for people now who are willing and able to take all of that on. Plus, they’ll need to learn a lot of that before they can put it all into practice. —Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
RELATED: 8 Reasons Not to Franchise Your Business
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How to Make Positive Changes to Your Sales Process This Year
Yum! Are you eating cookies again after you swore them off on New Year’s Eve? Probably. New Year’s resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, so why not focus instead on what you can actually do this year instead of making resolutions that are likely to be broken?
No more excuses
Excuses. I’ve heard them all. We didn’t have the budget. I didn’t have the time. The buyer was unfair. They wanted too much. My competitor had more experience than I did. The buyer didn’t want to change. The list of excuses goes on and on. This year, make no more excuses.
No more excuses means you will be more successful. I am not promising that everything will go in your direction; I am promising that everything will not go in your direction! But what I am saying is when things don’t go the way you want, your default position should be something other than making an excuse.
Excuses are simply a free pass for failure. If you can blame someone or something other than yourself, you don’t have to take responsibility for what happens. Even more important is excuses allow you to stay the same. And what does that get you? Likely more failure.
When you take action after failure to do something different, you just might create the path to a future success. Instead of excuses, analyze what went wrong. What could you do differently in the future? What can you do now to prepare? What did you miss that needs to be addressed? Ask and answer the questions. Don’t make excuses.
You can even look at failure differently once you’re not making excuses. It’s been said that it took Thomas Edison 10,000 failures before he found a light filament that worked. But he didn’t see it that way. Instead he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
So develop your sales strategies and accept that some will fail. This year instead of explaining why you couldn’t succeed, plan on what you can do next—and start doing it.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
Start thinking
Thinking is an often forgotten selling skill. You need to start thinking about your business and any “what ifs.” What if your largest account went away? Where would you be? What are the conditions that might cause you to lose a large account? What if you couldn’t sell a particular product? How would that impact your business? Once you know what can cause you to miss your goals, you can start to address your shortcomings.
Just remember that thinking without action is like a car without fuel—it’s not going anywhere. Your ideas must be fueled by your actions so things change and are improved.
Do something to make yourself a better salesperson
Think of yourself like a professional athlete. Athletes work out to maintain their strength or improve their performance. What are you doing to improve?
It’s often said if you want to be a better writer you should read more. When you read, you see what others are doing. Your vocabulary increases. You get new ideas which you can apply. And to improve your selling, I would recommend doing more buying. When you are a buyer, you will notice how you’re being treated by the seller.
You often have to negotiate when you buy, and if you’re not negotiating, why not? Even your cable bill can be negotiated! (Hint: You can always ask if you’re getting the best deal.) When you’re a buyer, you also can ask questions to find out how knowledgeable your salesperson is.
Your awareness as a buyer will help you become a better salesperson. When you realize the areas needing improvement, make changes. This could be working on engaging your customers and building rapport, or becoming more knowledgeable about your competitors.
Make this year a good year
People who make New Year’s resolutions have the best intentions, but they just aren’t going about it the right way to get the results they want. Forget about the cookies. Stop making excuses. Instead, start thinking about your business and make improvements to have better sales results this year.
RELATED: Overcoming the Most Common Sales Challenges
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14 Overused Business Phrases We Must Retire (And Better Ways to Communicate)
By Rachel Fausnaught
There are over 470,000 entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, with scores added every year. Yet in business, we tend to overuse the comfortable phrases we’ve become accustomed to, thinking we sound smart.
News flash: We don’t actually sound smart.
I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. Your clients are guilty of it. Using these clichés must stop now. Communication (read: good communication) is critical for your business to succeed. It helps you establish credibility among clients and even employees.
I reached out to business professionals across the United States for their number one buzzword pet peeve, and better ways to communicate it. You’ll want to save this list.
I’ll get back to you
“For me, the most frustratingly overused term in our organization is ‘I’ll get back to you.’ As an international team working across multiple time zones, this puts a giant question mark over the schedule of the task at hand. A much better way of handling these situations is to tackle them head on. Set yourself a date and time to review the query, give yourself a little leeway to actually react, and reply and commit to it in your response. This keeps everyone accountable for their own tasks and allows people to remain in sync with their duties!”
—Jon Hayes, marketer at Pixel Privacy
I hope you’re doing well
“My number one overused business cliche that needs to go away is ‘I hope you’re doing well.’ Why? It’s not sincere. If you’re prospecting, either go straight to the point, or I usually compliment a person’s work—either their product or an article they have written, depending on how I found them.
“If you are writing to somebody you already know, there are millions of other ways to word this, including,
- How’s it going at X company?
- Hope your last quarter turned out well.
- Just wanted to follow up quickly since we last spoke.
- Loved your last article on X topic.
“And countless others, depending on the relationship you’ve already established with them.”
—Hung Nguyen, Marketing & Customer Satisfaction Manager, Smallpdf
Just a friendly reminder
The one phrase that really bugs me is when people say, ‘Just a friendly reminder.’ It can really come off as condescending since it is just a non-confrontational way to ask for something that’s late. Everyone secretly hates ‘friendly reminder’ emails. A better way to communicate this would be to send a direct reminder, not an overly friendly one with a soft undertone.
—Brian Meiggs, Founder, My Millennial Guide
Create synergy
“The phrase that we need to ‘create synergy’ is so overused! You can’t say it and expect it to happen. It’s like saying we should all get along and work hard for each other. The reality is most teams are looking out for their own interests.”
—Corey Vandenberg, Mortgage Consultant, Platinum Home Mortgage
Be disruptive
“Disruptive: It’s so ubiquitous in marketing speak that no one cares about what’s genuinely disruptive! It’s marketing’s ‘boy who cried wolf.’ By definition, disruptive invokes a radical change—normally beyond an industry and affecting everyday life for people outside the industry. The third iteration of your marketing software barely ‘disrupts’ your own market, let alone the average person on the street. If you say everything is special, no one will care when you might finally have something worth talking about.
“Stop using ‘disruptive’ and instead opt for showing potential customers the benefits of buying your product or service. Showing people how your product solves their problems with actionable language answers their questions more effectively than tooting your own disruptive horn. Let other people or industry experts label your product disruptive before you ever think about it. Focus on solving your customers’ problems, creating excellent solutions, and showing why people should look to your company for answers.”
—Matt Garrepy, Chief Digital Officer, DigitalUS
Touch base
“I absolutely despite phrases like ‘touch base,’ ‘reach out,’ or ‘get in touch.’ We have a perfectly good word in English—contact—that captures the same precise meaning without requiring cliched jargon.”
—Zack Gallinger, President, Talent Hero Media
“This is just such a vague statement, and it often leaves me wondering if a client is actually interested in my services or if they are trying to blow me off. I would much prefer that professional contacts be clear and straightforward about their intentions. Saying something such as, ‘My assistant will call you to schedule another meeting next week’ or ‘It’s just not the right direction for my company at this time’ lets me understand what the client means and prevents me from expending unnecessary effort.”
—Nate Masterson, CEO, Maple Holistics
“When someone says, ‘Let’s touch base in three months,’ it’s not actionable because you don’t know who is going to reach out and there’s no actual base to touch. For a better outcome, you should say ‘I’ll follow up with you’ or ‘I’ll call you.’ This way both parties know who is responsible for making contact and you can nail down an actual time this will happen.”
—Vladimir Gendelman, Founder and CEO, Company Folders
Move the needle
” I think everyone in business has used this cliché at one time or another, but I find it valueless. It’s an analogy simply meaning to make a noticeable difference.
“And although this is something every business aims to do within their industry, I think it actually hurts a company—saying over and over again that a business needs to ‘move the needle’ doesn’t accomplish anything. Rather, what businesses should be doing is explaining how they want to improve and what they want to work on.
“Instead of spouting off this cliché, make a list of actionable items for your business and each of its departments. Brainstorm your company’s weaknesses and come up with a strategy to improve on them. This will ensure you business will no longer be caught up in the problem and will be working to come up with a solution.”
—McCall Robison, Content Marketing Strategist, Best Company
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
Think outside the box
“‘We need to think outside the box’ is incredibly over used to the point it almost has no meaning anymore. What people should be saying is what are some other ways we can think of solving this problem that may not be the obvious solution.”
—James Green, Founder and CEO, OfferToClose.com
A team of rock stars
“It drives me nuts when companies refer to all of their employees as rock stars. They’ll say something like, ‘We only hire rock stars,’ or they’ll advertise an open position: ‘Looking for a rock star salesperson.’ Not every employee is going to be a rock star, nor do they need to be. It is more important that a company hire dedicated and hardworking individuals who put the company first, not someone who has such high confidence that they constantly view themselves as being the best, despite the company they work for.”
—Evan Roberts, Co-Founder, Dependable Homebuyers
Growth hacking
“The cliché that drives me crazy is when people say that we need to implement growth hacking as though it is a brand new silver bullet. Growth hacking is simply marketing. Instead of using this term say, “I think we should invest more resources into marketing with the goal of acquiring customers in the short term.” When people use the term ‘growth hacking,’ I just think of reckless spending on marketing, without a clear plan to accurately determine ROI.”
—Jeff Miller, Real Estate Agent, AE Home Group
The market wasn’t ready
“The most overused business cliché, in my view is ‘The market wasn’t ready’ or ‘The customers didn’t understand the true value of our product/service.” While it may be true in some unique cases, chances are you are blaming your customers for your inability to really alleviate their pain and/or market your product/service better. A better way to communicate your failure (even if the market REALLY wasn’t ready or the customers didn’t understand your product’s value) would be to say, ‘We didn’t do a good job of communicating the true value of our product/service.’
It’s smart business to NOT to blame your customer or target audience for your failure.”
—Brett Helling, CEO, Ridester.com
Utilize
“One of my biggest pet peeves in business communication is the word ‘utilize.’ All it means is to make good use of or to use for an unintended purpose, but it’s often just used as a pedantic spin on “use.” Instead of obscuring your meaning with ‘We’ll need to utilize the conference room starting at 3 o’clock,’ just say use. If you want to emphasize that something is being used well, or for an unintended use, just say that.”
—Joe Goldstein, Director of SEO and Operations, Contractor Calls
Put a pin in that
“What are we putting a pin in? Are we putting some darts in a blouse for a better fit? Are we throwing a fistful of pasta at the wall and then pinning our favorite bits that stuck? Where are you getting these pins, anyway?! In my experience, this phrase is used as a stalling tactic, often to put off simply admitting that you don’t know the immediate answer. Instead, why not acknowledge this contribution to discourse and promise to follow up. It sounds much better to say: ‘Excellent point, Sandy. I’ll be looking into that for you,’ rather than: ‘But, Sandy, for now, let’s put a pin in that.'”
—Allison Huntley, Real Estate Salesperson, Triplemint
Bring your “A” game
“Instead of implying someone may show up and not be engaged, emphasize the importance of a successful outcome.”
—Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead, Develop Intelligence
If you find yourself succumbing to one of these business clichés, stop and think: Is there a better way to communicate this? Chances are, the answer is always yes.
RELATED: 13 Memorable Movie Quotes to Inspire Every Entrepreneur
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How to Use Micro-Influencers to Grow Your Business
By Aljaz Fajmut
Ready to supercharge your sales? One of the most effective ways to boost your business is to implement an influencer marketing campaign. It’s one thing for you to love your product, and quite another when an influencer starts to rave about it. With an influencer’s help, you suddenly have access to a much larger audience.
And an influencer doesn’t need to have celebrity status in order to be effective. Here we will look at how to use the power of micro-influencers to grow your small business.
Micro-influencers vs. macro influencers?
While micro-influencers are defined as having 10,000 or fewer followers, their influence is just as effective as a macro influencer’s, if not more effective. (When a celebrity macro influencer gushes about a product, does anyone really believe they’re fans of it?) A micro-influencer’s audience may be significantly smaller than a macro influencer’s, but it’s a loyal, engaged, and dedicated following. Moreover, micro-influencers also are much more cost-effective and will be more willing to work with you.
How to find micro-influencers
When searching for micro-influencers, you need to visit the social media platforms where they are most active. For example, if you’re in the fashion business, you should search on Instagram; if you’re involved in digital marketing, you should cast your net on LinkedIn.
Also, be aware that size isn’t everything. Even though a micro-influencer may have up to 10,000 followers, there are other factors to be concerned about, such as:
- Engagement—Having 10,000 followers means absolutely nothing if no one is engaging with the posts. Check out their most recent posts. What’s the engagement like? Are people liking, commenting, and sharing?
- Audience demographics—This is an important factor because an influencer’s audience needs to align with yours. For example, if your product is aimed at men and their core audience is women, this influencer isn’t a good fit for you.
- Voice—What’s their style like? If it’s abrasive while yours is family-friendly, this won’t work.
For an influencer to be effective, they must be a fit. Their values and branding need to match yours—or be as close as possible.
Other Articles From AllBusiness.com:
- The Complete 35-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
- 25 Frequently Asked Questions on Starting a Business
- 50 Questions Angel Investors Will Ask Entrepreneurs
- 17 Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
First impressions matter
Once you’ve identified a list of potential influencers, it’s time to make contact. Approaching a micro-influencer is naturally a lot less daunting than approaching an A-list celebrity, but you still need to make your first impression count.
There are two ways to do this. One way is to first spend some time engaging with an influencer’s social media posts, commenting on them and offering value to their community. Alternatively, you can shoot straight from the hip and send an email or DM.
When you finally make your approach, be brief, direct, and personable. Introduce yourself and outline what you want, explaining how it will benefit them. Usually, the biggest benefit is you have something their audience is going to love.
Working with an influencer
No influencer is going to do this job for free. While you can offer an influencer free gifts, you may want to consider a financial incentive, too. Micro-influencers are definitely more affordable than macro influencers, and how much they charge will vary. Do you want a simple retweet? That shouldn’t cost more than $10 if they only have 1,000 followers. However, if you want video content, you’ll need to up your offer.
Because micro-influencers know their audience better than you do, collaboration is the key to a successful campaign. They know what type of content works with their followers and what doesn’t, so you need to be open to their suggestions. Moreover, they may have special skills you can leverage: they may experts at creating video content, podcasts, blogs, etc.
There are different types of campaigns you can run. A lot of marketers will have giveaway contests; they’re popular, and their benefits will extend to you, your influencer, and their followers. Contests are also really easy to put together—all your influencer needs to do is ask their followers to do something for a chance to take home one of your products.
Offering influencers free gifts works well, too. Everyone loves a free gift, and if it impresses an influencer, they’ll be more inclined to post a review on their social media accounts. If they do, be sure to ask them to add a link to a coupon code.
Sponsored social media content is another option; however, it can be a bit risky if a micro-influencer already posts so much sponsored content that their audience no longer trusts them. Research how often an influencer posts sponsored content before going down this route.
As long as you are a professional, and you approach an influencer with a friendly opening message, there is no reason why you can’t be successful with influencer marketing. Once a campaign is up and running, don’t forget to monitor it, so you can figure out how to improve on it with your next influencer.
RELATED: Here’s Why Your Influencer Marketing Campaign Isn’t Getting You the ROI You Expected
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