Growing Social Biz Blog
Are Complaining Customers An Opportunity?
"Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business." - Zig Ziglar Early in my career I discovered the truth in Zig Ziglar's quote, that...
7 Important Areas When Managing Your Social Networks
Social media has the potential to help build brand name recognition and amplify word-of-mouth advertising for your business. Both important pieces that can help sales, especially in a local environment. However, reaching your target audience requires more than setting...
Small Business Has Big Impact On BC Economy
(All images in this article are sourced from the BC Ministry of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction report, 'Small Business Profile 2015.') Small businesses play an important role in our provincial (BC) and the Canadian economy. BC Small Business Has Highest GDP...
Is Your Online Presence Costing You Business?
A seemingly nice guy called me recently about business. It was unclear from the outset whether he was a potential new customer or a telemarketer. In reality he was neither - but it took me a few minutes to figure this out. His telephone approach was obviously quite...
Tips And Tricks To Get The Most Out Of Your Printer
Most small businesses (and individuals) have a home printer. It allows us to print documents, and may double as a scanner and photocopier too. This Infographic from Stinky Ink Printers in the UK (yes, that's their real name!) offers some great tips and tricks to get...
To Become More Effective, Say ‘No’ To Multitasking
For many small businesses, September is like the start of a new year. Kids are back in school. Family vacations are done. And the somewhat slower pace, that seems to be part of warmer weather and school holidays, fades away with the cooler...
Starbucks Memo Reinforces Employee Role In Customer Experience
Howard Schulz, CEO of Starbucks sent a memo to his 190,000 employees on Monday. The gist of what he wrote is this: How employees interact with and react to their customers makes a difference in the lives of their customers and how customers' experience a business....
Do You Deliver A Great Customer Experience?
My husband and I went out for brunch this past Sunday, and the experience provided a good example of what sets apart "the men from the boys" when it comes to delivering great customer service. Things started out reasonably well. We were greeted by the hostess and told...
Facebook Pages: Why Being Interesting Just Got More Important
Facebook, the still reigning King of social media, recently made it a bit easier for interesting Facebook Page content to make it into the news feed of followers without paying. (Although chances are, you will still need to pay to gain any real traction with your...
Responsive Website Design: Is Being Mobile-Friendly Enough?
Today I left a phone message for a local business owner/potential customer who has a website that was designed a number of years back. The website has 'good bones' - it is just a bit dated and is not responsive/mobile-friendly for a good viewing experience on mobile...
Choose The Image That Goes Along With Your Facebook Post Link
Did you know that you can CHOOSE the image / photo you want to go along with that status update you're sharing on Facebook, where it includes a link (URL) and where that link automatically pulls an image from the link? Like from a blog, for instance? I'm not talking...
Why People Unfollow Brands On Social Media
Have you ever wondered why people unfollow brands on social media and email? "The Unfollow Algorithm" infographic, appearing in AdWeek's Social Times, shares some of the findings from a survey of 900+ respondents done by BuzzStream and Fractl. Some of the data...
Marketing Your Business: It’s Not All About Facebook
Okay, so you’ve finally gotten on the social media bandwagon. You’ve been putting it off and putting it off, but now you’ve finally made the move. You’ve decided
Google Makes Mobile Optimization SEO Ranking Factor
Are you looking for a leg-up when it comes to your website ranking with search engines? A good place to start is ensuring your website is mobile optimized. While not everyone searches for web content using a mobile device, more and more Internet users are doing so...
Are You Afraid to Dive Into Social Media?
Yesterday I was checking my personal Facebook profile (don't tune out yet) when I noticed a 'sponsored post' from HubSpot. They were offering a downloadable resource for those who want to write better. The resource is titled "The Marketers' Guide to Writing Good Well"...
Employee Engagement: When Things Go Wrong
Mistakes happen! Business owners make them and employees make them. And just as important as fixing the mistake is how we handle the situation. How we handle mistakes made by a staff member or a team of people can build trust or tear it down. (Of course, this is just...
What Is A Social Media Management Tool? Who’s The Best?
Small businesses that have been around social media for any length of time have heard about, checked out, considered using or used one of a handful of social media management tools. Many of these tools offer free options or a window of time where you can test them for...
Focus On Your Customers First, On Your Business Second
When launching a new small business or working hard to grow an existing one, we can get so caught up in looking for ways to promote our business and bring in revenue, that we can forget one of the most important factors in our short and long-term success: what it...
Shooting Video With An iPhone
If you're thinking of shooting a video using your iPhone, Wistia offers helpful tips and advice in their short (roughly 4 minutes) 'Shooting Video with an iPhone' video. In fact, many of their tips are valuable for shooting low budget video period. The best way to get...
Your Business Website: Shopping 21st Century Style
In the good old days a website was not a 'must have' for business. The print yellow pages and traditional advertising was where it was at! People rarely went online to find out about your business, products and services and those of your competitors - because most...
Branded Websites A Trusted & Influential Advertising Source
With all the talk of social media, we can sometimes lose sight of one of our most important online resources: a branded business website! A Nielsen global survey on consumer trust in advertising reported Second only to recommendations from people we know, the #1 most...
Helpful Resource: G2 Crowd’s Business Software Review Platform
Today I did my first software review on the G2 Crowd platform. G2 Crowd likens itself to Yelp for enterprise software, according to a 2014 article in TechCrunch. I was introduced to the platform last Fall after noticing that Nimble is highly rated as a Customer...
Social Media Explained (or is that MEowDIA?)
Looking for an easy and visual explanation of the top social media sites? Check out this 'Social Meowdia Explained' infographic. Created by Matt Sitala, president of AvaLaunch Media, the Social Meowdia Explained Infographic uses cats to "explain exactly what social...
Leadership in Business
Early in my career leading was more about being ‘the boss’, the one in charge who made the important decisions. The one who kept people in line and things going in the right direction. My view of leadership today is quite different than it was then.
The Importance of Client Follow-Up To Your Bottom Line
As a small business owner, one of my personal challenges is following up with potential new business after providing a proposal/quote. It's easy for me to assume, when I haven't heard back from a client, that: they don't want to deal with me, they've got a better...
Facebook: The Truth About Engagement
Why Is Facebook Engagement Important? Facebook engagement is important as an indicator of how interesting your Facebook page content is to those who view what you share in their personal Facebook newsfeed. Engagement is calculated as the percentage of people who saw a...
Improve Customer Service, Increase Sales (Infographic)
Thanks to Jon Ferrara of Nimble for sharing an article that pointed to this interesting infographic from Sage in the UK (software for business). I couldn't agree more with their supposition: "Improve customer service, increase sales." And the statistics they share...
Are You Missing Out On Facebook Opportunities?
Many of us will remember the moral of the story about the tortoise and the hare: slow and steady wins the race. While slow and steady may not seem to fit in our fast paced world, sometimes it does. For instance, in a world where instant gratification is sometimes par...
Social Media: The Challenge & The Opportunity For Small Business
One of the most cost-effective marketing tools for cultivating and growing word-of-mouth advertising today is social media. It isn’t a slam dunk to growing your business. Far from it! But with a serious commitment, a clear strategy and a long-term commitment that is...
Social Media for Business: Facing Reality
Many of us are familiar with the quote "If you build it they will come" from the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams" with Kevin Costner. While this saying may have held true in the movie, real life doesn't usually work that way! Just building something ... whether it's a...