Small business owners are expected to be creative and inventive, otherwise how could they hope to have their business stand out from the crowd and grow? If you have a sneaky feeling that creativity is not one of your strong points, what can you do to stimulate your brain and get it kick-started?

Be Unlimited

Too many people are ‘limited thinkers’. They have their world placed squarely in a box and nothing can exist outside of that. If it’s on the Internet then it must be right. If Joe next door says that something is impossible then he must be right. As a small business owner, you cannot afford to be a ‘limited thinker’. You have to be an ‘unlimited thinker’. Get into the habit of seeing no boundaries; decide that there are no taboos. Have the belief that with a bit of focus you can find a creative solution to all of your problems. This is the foundation for a creative thought process.

Be Future-Focused

Creative ideas invariably come when you ‘look’ into the future. The feeling of propelling yourself forward and seeing the problem solved is a great motivator. Do you think you could achieve the same result if you were backward focused? I don’t think so! Train yourself to be future-focused, always looking ahead, not a traditional thinker who tries to find answers in today’s world.

Be a Writer

Once you open your mind to the joys of creativity the ideas will quickly start flowing, as if someone has opened the flood gates! Just like flood water, unless you catch it the ideas are lost for ever. Capture all your ideas by carrying a small pocket notebook with you. As soon as an idea pops into your mind, write it down. It doesn’t matter how outlandish it is, you can look at it in the cold light of day later on.

The fact that you are responding to the ideas by noting them will further encourage you to be even more creative – good deeds encourage more good deeds!

Be Clutter-Free

If you are naturally an untidy person, then get out of the habit! A cluttered office will lead to a cluttered mind. You cannot expect your brain to work efficiently when all it’s doing is constantly reminding you how untidy your office is. To be creative remove all the clutter from your life and free your mind.

Be Action-Oriented

All of these points are great, but if you don’t take any action with your ideas, then you may as well not have bothered. An idea is nothing but a thought unless you take a specific action to help bring it to life. Periodically review your notebook and see if there are any hidden gems, or ideas which can be quickly actionable. A lot of your ideas may not suit at all but in there somewhere is probably an idea, which if acted upon, could change you or your business. Commit fully to move forward on as many of your ideas as you can.

Don’t be afraid to break down the boundary walls. As John Stuart Mill said, “That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.”

Let me close with one question: Are you as creative as you’d like to be? No? Then get practicing! I’d love to hear from you how your ideas are coming along!

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Relationship Consultant

The post How to Be a Creative Entrepreneur first appeared on .

The practice of sharing with and educating others has been around since the beginning of human social interaction. These days we just have a whole lot more options when it comes to choosing the medium.

With the ready availability of low-cost (or no-cost) conference call lines podcast services and live streaming, instead of spending thousands of dollars traveling to give an in-person presentation, you can meet your customers and prospects from where you are to right where they are, without even having to change out of your pajamas!

Here are a few ways teleseminars can help you grow your business:

Get to know your audience, including in a new market. Being able to interact with your audience in real time allows an unprecedented level of market research, right in the moment, so you get to know more about your market.

Answer questions about your area of expertise. Explain how your product or service works.

Interview experts and share their knowledge with your audience. If you interview experts in your area, you will not only help provide others’ valuable content, you will also be seen as an expert by association.

Sell more. By presenting a sales presentation over the phone, you offer much more interactivity and a stronger personal connection than you can through a website or direct mail piece.

Create products. The calls themselves can be turned into products or classes. You can sell access to your live events, or you can record them and sell them later as CDs or audio downloads. And that’s just for starters.

Build your list. It’s easy to invite people to your free events — and as they sign up, they become part of your list.

Create trust. Trust is crucial for business success. And one of the best ways to build trust with your audience is to interact with them directly. As they hear your voice live on the call — and as they ask questions and get answers right then and there — you become “real” to them and they’ll be able to bond with you. This is something that’s much harder to accomplish through sales letters and emails.

[tweetthis]With teleseminars, you can meet your customers and prospects from where you are to right where they are. Here are a few ways teleseminars can help you grow your business[/tweetthis]

But what about skills? Don’t you have to have some kind of “chops” to host a teleseminar? Stop wondering! If you have enough experience to start a business, you have enough experience to produce and host a teleseminar!

What other ways have you found that hosting online has helped your business?

Deidra Miller
Customer Relationship and Administrative Consultant

The post What Can Teleseminars Do for You? first appeared on .

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster rate of recovery from surgery.

But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefits, it still can be difficult to sustain. So many of us are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives. And for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. And that can take some time.

That’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.

There are many things to be grateful for: colorful autumn leaves, legs that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, fresh eggs, warm jackets, tomatoes, the ability to read, roses, our health, butterflies.

Your turn: What’s on your list?

Some Ways to Practice Gratitude

• Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly or monthly lists. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in a grateful way.
• Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.
• Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.
• Make a game of finding the hidden blessing in a challenging situation.
• When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. You may be amazed by how much better you feel.
• Notice how gratitude is impacting your life. Write about it, sing about it, express thanks for gratitude.

[tweetthis]Practice gratitude as a tool for happiness. Long-term studies support that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, and a higher sense of well-being.[/tweetthis]

As you practice, an inner shift begins to occur, and you may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. That sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work.

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Client Relationship Consultant

The post The Power of Gratitude first appeared on .

One of the most significant keys to the success of your business is getting traffic to your website. The more visitors you have, the better you can help others and increase revenue.

Here are five quick and easy tips to get website traffic fast!

Tip #1: Make sure to create tags with your keywords

Do you spend a lot of time optimizing your content and then neglect to create tags on your webpage? Tags are where search engines look and if there are no tags they’ll pass right by your web pages. There are a number of tag types including:

• Title tags. Title tags are quite possibly the most important place to situate your keywords. Your title tag is where you place your primary keyword or keyword phrase. The sentence will describe your business in less than 90 characters.
• Header Tags. Header tags are next in order of importance to search engines. They’re ranked in order of importance. Header tags are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., 1 being the most important header on the page.
• Meta Tags. Meta tags provide the small descriptive text found underneath the title tag on the search engine results page. Like title tags, these should be kept brief, informative and up to date.
• Alt Tags. Alt tags are used to provide a text description of a graphic. Each graphic on your site should have a description and an alt tag.

Tip #2: Add valuable content to your site regularly

Content is essential for traffic and top search engine ranking. Content is what search engine spiders look for and index – without it there’s nothing to index or rank. Give visitors and search engines a reason to visit and index your site. Make a commitment to provide regular, optimized content and your traffic will soar.

Tip #3: Procure valuable and relevant incoming links

The more websites which link to yours the more valuable search engines perceive you to be, though not all links are created equal. Search engines give more leverage to links from sites which are popular and reputable, and from sites which are relevant to your topic.

You can encourage linking to your website by:

• Adding content to your site.
• Submitting to article directories.
• Publishing press releases.
• Blogging and participating in social networking forums, chat rooms and social networking sites.

Tip #4: Be social

Whether you offer a forum on your website or you participate in social networking sites, social networking is a valuable traffic generating tactic. Social media sites can be powerful tools for generating links and traffic to your site. Create a profile and then post comments, links to your site and ideas which generate conversation. It’s all about building a community.

Get involved – many chat rooms and forums are industry specific, find those which cater to your industry, and begin participating. Speak to and connect with a highly targeted audience.

Tip #5: Advertise for more exposure and traffic

Advertising, when handled strategically, can be used to promote your content and products or services. PPC advertising is often the tool of choice because you control the advertising budget on a daily basis and have the tools to test and track your advertising efforts. Once you’ve honed your PPC ads the return on investment can be phenomenal in terms of traffic and purchases.

[tweetthis]Getting traffic to your website is one key to the success of your business. Here are 5 tips to get traffic to your website fast![/tweetthis]

For maximum results, create a traffic and SEO strategy. Outline your plan and your goals and then take the necessary action. Take advantage of these five traffic and search engine tips to boost your business.

Your turn: What are other ways you encourage traffic to your site?

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Service Consultant

The post 5 Tips to Get Website Traffic Fast! first appeared on .

As an entrepreneur, networking, both online and off, is a wonderful way to build connections in your industry. It’s a great way to increase awareness for your business and to build your customer base and ultimately your profits. But you probably know that already. What you may not know is networking is also a great way to motivate yourself.

Here are five reasons why networking is such a great motivator:

1. Networking exposes you to other business leaders, entrepreneurs and motivated individuals.
Even if you don’t have a single competitive bone in your body, when you network online and offline, you’re going to be inspired by the energy, ideas and productivity you see in those around you. It gives you the unique ability to mingle with like-minded individuals who may have a different perspective, a different experience or a different story than you do.

2. Networking forces you to stay on your game.
When you put forth the effort to network, you’re going to have to be at your best. When you communicate with people, you want to put your best foot forward and make a positive impression. When people ask you what you do, you want to be ready, willing and able to give them an informational and inspirational elevator pitch. Because you just never know when you’re going to meet your next great business partner, a superior customer or an enthusiastic advocate of your business.

3. Networking motivates you to be prepared before you head to the event.
It forces you to think about your business, where it’s going, what your future plans are, and how you want to be perceived.

4. Networking is a great place to get inspired by other successful people.
We see them and think, “If they can do that, so can I.” We hear great ideas, product launches, marketing tactics and business strategies and we think, “I can do that!” Competition is very motivating!

5. Finally, networking both online and off makes us feel and act more professionally.
The simple act of being a professional makes us feel more professional. We start to feel less like a person who works at home in their pajamas and more like a business person, an entrepreneur, a CEO.

[tweetthis]Need a boost in your #motivation? #Networking Is a great motivator for #entrepreneurs[/tweetthis]

Your turn! What are other ways you find that networking helps you in your motivation and your business growth?

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Service Consultant

The post Need a Boost in Your Motivation? Networking Is a Great Motivator for Entrepreneurs first appeared on .

So what is magic content?

It means valuable content that speaks to your audience, lets them know you understand their problems, and provides a clear solution. Creating magic content is an important part of your business. What you say and when you communicate are important for building your brand.

Your visitors and email recipients will then want to keep returning to your site and look forward to your future emails, as well as refer their friends to your site.

How do you find the solutions to the problems being discussed online?

A good way to do this is to look at the content already out there about your topic. Look at authority sites, such as Ezinearticles, Wikipedia or popular forums. They are the most likely to have a lot of content about your subject. Then take note of the main points being discussed, and pay particular attention to the questions being asked. This will give you an idea of what to write about.

Another idea is to read sales content related to your topic, and see the main benefits being emphasized.

Some tips for good content writing

• It should be conversational; be yourself, show readers you’re human and care about them.
• Have a clear understanding of what your purpose is for writing the content.
• Your content should actually cover what the headline says it will.
• The content should be relevant, what readers need and want to know about.
• Provide a clear call to action of what you want your readers to do next. Include a sense of urgency, such as a limited number or for a limited time.
• Make it easy for readers to share your communication on their social media, and include clear links to your social media accounts so readers can connect with you.
• Don’t overload them with information, and don’t just include random, disjointed tips. Instead, provide the answer in a step by step format to make it easy to follow.
• Always remember the 80/20 rule: 80% of communications should be valuable content, no more than 20% selling.

Telling stories provides an emotional connection with your audience

A great way to create magic in your content is by telling your story. This gives you credibility and establishes an all-important emotional connection. If you can tell a story about how you overcame the problem yourself, people will relate to you and they will feel that you know exactly what they are going through. They will trust you more and believe that you can help them achieve the same results. Put your passion into your story, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.

[tweetthis]Create “magic” valuable content that speaks to your audience, lets them know you understand their problems, and provides a clear solution.[/tweetthis]

The bottom line is, if you identify the needs of your market and meet them, you will establish yourself as someone they can turn to for valuable information that they can use. And then they will be much more likely to want to do business with you.

Your turn: What are other ways you create “magic” content?

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Service Consultant

The post How to Create Content That’s Magic! first appeared on .

The Logo

When thinking about branding, the first thing that comes to mind to most business owners is the logo design. The logo design is important for brand recognition; It’s the image that customers will link with your brand and use to ‘visually remember’ your brand (who doesn’t know immediately what companies have the “golden arches” and the “swoosh”?).

The Big Picture

But your brand is about more than just your business name or logo design. According to the article “20 Stats That Will Remind You of the Importance of Your Branding” by zimmercommunications.com, 64% of consumers say that shared values are the main reason that they have a trusted relationship with a brand. Your brand message and image convey not just your products or services, but the values of your organization. You need to be clear on the big picture that your brand presents, including your company values and how your business is perceived by your prospects and customers. You need to develop your complete brand image with intention and be clear on what values and important messages you wish to present to the world. Or you will end up marketing an altogether ineffectual image for your business – resulting in reduced impact on your target market and hence less sales.

Overall good quality brand development can help give you the edge over your competitors. It’s well known that customers will happily pay much more for products and services provided by ‘brand name’ companies, and you will find it easier to convert customers who have already heard of your company through your brand.

Determine the Image You Want to Convey

What are you values? What sets you apart from the competition? Once you are clear on that ethos, your logo can be designed to clearly reflect that. And it will inform everything you and your team do and say.

[tweetthis]Why is your business branding so important?[/tweetthis]

Your overall branding is evidence to your customers that they can trust in your brand to deliver what it always delivers them…that they can always trust you and your company to provide the quality of products and/or service they have come to rely on.

The post Why Is Your Business Branding So Important? first appeared on .

Social media is a fantastic tool to help start conversations with prospects and customers. However, if those customers don’t transition to your website, how are they going to learn more about you and how you can help them?

Here are a few tweaks to your social media strategy that may help you gain the traffic you desire.

#1 Make Your Content Searchable

Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow you to include tags in your posts, AKA hashtags#. Pinterest allows you to identify categories and include tags. Use these features in your post so that your prospects can readily find your information. This simple tactic will help attract more people to your social media profile and subsequently more people to your website.

#2 Obvious Contact Information

You might be surprised how many business owners have social media pages but their website address is a real challenge to find. It’s a simple thing; make sure your URL, email address, and even your phone number are on your site. Be completely transparent so prospects feel comfortable trusting you. Additionally, the more obvious your URL is, the more likely a prospect is to click on it and visit your website.

#3 Incentivize

Give your social media followers a reason to visit your website. Host a special promotion for them. Give something away ,or hold a contest or sweepstakes. For example, you might offer a discount for your product or service for Facebook followers only. In your promotion, include a link to the promotional page.

#4 Value Driven

Before you post anything on any social media site, make sure it provides value to your audience. If it doesn’t have a clear benefit, don’t post it. That means often keeping personal posts and business posts separate – unless your personality and personal life are relevant to your brand.

Test and track your posts to identify which posts generate the most traffic and interest. Also consider including a call to action and a link in some of your posts, and test and track those as well.

#5 Teaser

Some social media posts should lead directly to your website. Include a short teaser on your social media page and a link to read more. You can do this on any of the social media sites, from 140 characters on Twitter to tantalizing paragraphs on LinkedIn, Google+, and Facebook.

There are dozens of tactics for using social media to drive prospects to your website. At the end of the day it requires two key steps. The first is to make sure you’re providing value to your prospects. The second is to test and track your results so you know what works.

[tweetthis]5 social media tactics to drive traffic to your website so your visitors can learn more about you and how you can help them.[/tweetthis]

Your turn: What are ways you use social media to drive traffic to your website?

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Service Consultant

Want more information on unlocking the profit hidden in your website?

Join me for my next Ask the Experts interview. Website and marketing expert CJ Gilbert will discuss “5 Keys to Unlock the Profit Hidden in Your Website.” Our conversation will be jam-packed with ideas to improve your website, your business and ultimately your profits.
Click here for more details and to save your seat!

The post 5 Social Media Tactics to Drive Traffic to Your Website first appeared on .

1. Not knowing enough about your customers

Are your customers a big question mark to you? You can’t meet the needs of your customers and prospects if you don’t understand what their needs are. Get as much information as possible about them.

How to find out about them:

• Send a survey or email – ask them what are their problems, what they need help with – so you can get focused how you can help them.
• Try to know them on a one-on-one basis with phone calls or in-person meetings.
• Call and ask them about them and their business.

2. Not showing appreciation

A very simple but effective way to show appreciation is to say “thank you” often. Remember that your customers don’t have to buy from you so it’s a great business practice to thank them for their continued support. Show them in whatever way possible how much you value their business.

How to thank them:

• Send occasional free offers and bonuses to thank them for their business.
• Send a hand-written thank you note.
• Give a gift specific to them – such as a book they would like.
• Give social media shout outs.
• Treat them to a cup of coffee and just spend time getting to know them.
• Be sure and thank them when they refer someone to you.

3. Not communicating regularly

This is about creating content that your contacts will find valuable. Keeping in contact is so important to growing your business because if you don’t send communications regularly, you disappear off your prospects’ and clients’ radar, and they will end up buying from someone else.

How to enhance communication:

• Send emails and/or newsletters and on a regular schedule.
• Post blogs and videos.
• Use live communication tools – webinars/teleseminars, online interviews.

But remember the “80/20 rule” – 80% of communications should be valuable content, and no more than 20% should be promotions.

4. Not following up

This is the other side of the coin of communication, focusing on responding to customers. Think of it as helping them, not selling to them, providing information that only you in your uniqueness can provide.

How to follow up:

• Think of what you can do each day to follow up with your contacts.
• Respond in a timely manner to comments on social media and your blog posts. Establish rapport so they get to “know, like and trust” you, and perceive you as an expert.
• Do what you promised – if you say you’re going to call or send something, be sure and do it as and when promised

5. Having a poorly designed website

Does your website look like this one? This is probably the worst designed web page I’ve ever seen! (Some identifying text has been blacked out.) And it’s worse live because everything is flashing and/or moving, and the eye has nowhere to settle!

If your visitors are confused and aren’t sure how to find out what they need to know about you, that’s bad customer service!

How to ensure your website is customer friendly:

• The design should be clean and not too busy.
• Your site should be easy to navigate so that visitors can find the Information they’re looking for easily.
• Make it about your ideal client and their needs, not about you.

[tweetthis]5 customer service mistakes entrepreneurs make-and how to avoid them![/tweetthis]

Your turn: What are other ways you create great customer service?

Deidra Miller
Customer Service and Administrative Consultant

The post 5 Customer Service Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Make – and How to Avoid Them! first appeared on .

Want to stand out from your competitors? Adding value is one of the most overlooked and underrated strategies for showing people your expertise and how you can help them. Offer that little something extra that nobody else does.

How can you add value?

There are many ways, of course, but in this blog let’s look at one way: giving surprise high quality and useful gifts, something that your competitors aren’t offering. It’s taking care of your clients and always providing something that your clients need and want, when and where they want it. And who doesn’t like to receive a surprise useful gift?

If you receive a free gift from someone when you don’t expect it, do you remember that person? Answer; yes usually. For example, if you subscribe to a newsletter, what do you expect? You expect to get what you subscribed for, a newsletter, right?

Now imagine that you subscribed for a newsletter about financial advice, and when you open the confirmation email you find you’ve also received a free report containing tips on how to save money. Wouldn’t that make you more likely to open and read future issues?

Here is how you can use this approach:

1. Create your free report and either upload the PDF directly on your website (preferably on a stand-alone page), or stored on an outside source like Amazon S3.

2. For new subscribers, send a welcome email and include the link to download your offer.

3. You can do that for your existing subscribers as well. Create your report and send an email with the link to download your offer. Let them know you’re sending it to let them know how much you appreciate them.

4. You can create a separate stand-alone page with an opt-in form and send an email to your entire list (less your current subscribers) with the link to that page.

5. Post a link to the opt-in page on your social media.

How your free gift has helped you and your followers

• You have developed a product (at no cost to you) that will entice people to want to learn more from you, and that helps you build trust and rapport.
• You have used that product to increase the chances of your new subscriber opening your next email.
• You have promoted your offer to your social media followers to get your name out to a wider audience.

After they have opted in for your free report, you can let them know about the next offer. Get the idea? It’s all just a matter of finding ways that you can add value and provide information that will help them.

The more you give, the more you will receive!

[tweetthis]Add value that no one else does to stand out from your competitors![/tweetthis]

Your turn: What other ways do you add value to your prospects and clients?

Deidra Miller
Administrative and Customer Service Consultant

The post Add Value to Stand Out from the Crowd! first appeared on .