Archive for Business Tips for Coaches
Multitasking is a Myth
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Everyone knows that multitasking sounds impressive. The majority think that the more tasks you can cram into a short time period, the better.
However, are multitaskers really more productive? The reality is, this skill is vastly overrated. This is because the human mind is made to focus on no more than one to two tasks at a time. Whenever you try to do multiple things, your effectiveness goes down dramatically.
This is supported scientifically. Each task will end up taking longer, and you will make more mistakes as well. The fact is that you are never more effective than when you just focus on only one task.
However, what if that isn’t possible for you? After all, a lot of business owners wear many hats. Some have to handle the advertising, product development, and customer management all themselves. What’s the solution to multitasking in that scenario? Here are two ways:
1. Batch activities
For instance, don’t pick up the phone throughout the day. Instead, have a set time each day that you handle all your calls. Answering the phone during the day causes a dramatic decrease in production, because you are constantly being distracted from the more important tasks.
And for some activities, batching can even save you time. For instance, instead of doing your company errands sporadically, get them done at the same time each week. This will prevent you from making multiple trips. This will save you time, in addition to reducing distraction.
The kind of things to batch include all your routine tasks like checking email, phone calls, tracking cash flow, and so on.
2. Outsource your work
Many tasks can be easily given to others. And the fewer tasks you have, the easier it is to single task.
For instance, let’s say you make handmade soaps and lotions. There are only so many hours in the day and at some point, your income is going to level off if the whole operation is dependent on you.
Not only is your income limited, but your effectiveness at making them will be as well. This is because you also have to focus on marketing, customer management, and other day-to-day tasks.
This produces a tremendous temptation to multitask. However, when you outsource the customer management and marketing, you can then produce a lot more of your handmade soaps and lotions. This will give you more time to focus on the important activities of product creation (a.k.a. Doing What You Love), which is why you started your business. The fewer activities you have to focus on, the easier single tasking will become.
The bottom line is, multitasking does not work and is a myth. Even if you don’t have the money right now to outsource anything, focusing on just one task at a time will result in maximum effectiveness.
Building Your Business on Facebook
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If you’ve been on any of my recent teleseminars or webinars, you’ll know that when used right, Facebook can be very profitable. The question most people ask is, “how do I network on Facebook effectively?”
Here are three tips to make it happen:
Get involved in groups
Many people think Facebook is an untargeted site, because of the wide range of users. However, there are many niche-specific groups you can join.
This enables you to target people who would be interested in your product or service. There is no sense in trying to network with people that would not benefit from the service or product you are selling. However, please keep in mind that you need to network with others and not always be a “walking” billboard for your business.
Get involved in the community
Once you’ve identified the groups you want to join, then you can engage in conversations with people. Developing trust is one of the most important things for effective Facebook networking.
If people believe you really want to help them, you are much more likely to “sell” them something. Most businesses make the mistake of ramming their sales message down others’ throats without asking what their customers want. This is a dead giveaway they are just in it for the profit and are the walking billboard I described before.
Instead, you want to get involved in community discussions and answer people’s questions. When you do this, they will come to view you as an expert, and therefore trust what you have to say more.
Don’t expect anything in return. You should look to benefit people even if they never buy your service or product. If you genuinely want to help people, profits will be an inevitable by-product.
Have a good profile
This is the golden rule. All that effort you put into answering questions is for nothing if your profile is not effective.
One very important part of your profile is having a blog that provides valuable content. Then you can add a link to your site at the bottom. Again, just focus on providing good free content. Don’t try to sell them anything here. Leave that for your site. You want your blog to benefit your readers even if they don’t buy what you are selling.
Developing trust is key. People can instantly tell the difference between somebody who wants to sell them something and one who wants to help them. So the key to making money on Facebook, like anywhere else, is providing good, free information.
Facebook offers plenty of income potential, so implement these three tips and you will see results soon.
Do you want to receive more social media tips, hints and tricks? If so, sign up for my weekly business tips, Biz Tips for Entrepreneurs and Solo Business Owners, which will be delivered to your inbox every Tuesday. As an added bonus, you will also receive my free ebook, Biz Tips The Book: Entrepreneur Edition as my way of saying thank you.
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Do You Want To Change the Life of Your Business and Help a Child at the Same Time?
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There’s a giveaway this weekend like I have never seen. It’s a fundraiser to help children with heart defects AND it’s a business education opportunity for you. An amazing combo and I am proud to be a part of it.
This is a big event with a big goal… to raise over $10,000 for children with fatal heart diseases. We’ll be paying for the surgery for at least 7 children! Donations during the giveaway are up to you, but please don’t miss the opportunity to get a wealth of free business-building information.
Many of you know I am at the Niche Affiliate Marketing Workshop this weekend in Atlanta and this giveaway is a learning exercise for that event. The giveaway lasts from August 20 to August 27, 2010.
Here’s what you can get:
reports, software, ebooks, memberships and powerful information in not only online business development, but also in self help and personal improvement
And this is material from some of the biggest names in online marketing…
Willie Crawford
Kevin Riley
Kathleen Gage
Jeff Herring
Ellen Britt
Bob “The Teacher” Jenkins
Maritza Parra
Nicole Dean
Denise Wakeman
Dan R Morris
And me, Janet Slack…
Hop on over to the site and find the info you need to get business results, make a contribution if you are moved and get into action.
Here’s where to find it all:
This offer only lasts this week, so jump in!
Don’t under-estimate the great feeling you’ll get knowing your donation saves children.
Getting Potential Clients to Take the Next Step After Watching Your Video
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You can produce the most compelling, interesting video online, but without a clear call to action, your video is just pure entertainment. Whether you want a viewer to buy your product, sign up for your list, or take another action, you have to tell them what you want them to do.
A call to action can take many different forms. Do you want the viewer to click on a link, click the “buy now” button, watch another video, or take some other step? Know what you want from your viewer before you even create your video so everything you do points to that desired end result.
Some people believe that if you push your message on your audience, they will resist any kind of “sell” and turn away. While you want to avoid the used car salesman approach, remember that when you have the solution to your audience’s problems, you’re doing them a favor by sharing it with them.
Your call to action can take many forms. Here are some examples:
- Click here to download your free copy of Biz Tips for Entrepreneurs.
- Click here to find out how to boost your business with Social Media!
- Schedule a consultation with me so we can work together to fulfill your business destiny.
- Click here to find out how you can build your business and brand using Facebook.
- Fill out the form below to sign up for our free teleseminar.
The logistics of creating a call to action within in a video will vary depending on the type of video you use, the location of the video and the rules of the site where you are hosting your video. Here are some ideas:
Mention in the Video – You can include a call to action within the video itself. Create the video to capture the attention of your audience, give them the information they need and then tell them what action to take next.
Text Within the Video – Another way to tell your viewers what move to make after the video is to add it across the screen of the video. This text can be a link to your website or an explanation of any other action you’d like them to take.
Clickable Video – By using ‘Flash’ software or YouTube’s video tools, you can create video that, when clicked on, can link the viewer to the desired page.
Make Use of Video Descriptions – You can add a call to action within your video descriptions. If you have uploaded a video to a hosting site, check the rules as to how you can link to your site and how promotional your videos and descriptions can be.
The most important part of your call to action is ensuring it fits with what your audience needs. When the call to action matches the exact needs of your audience, taking your recommended next step will be a natural next step for your viewers.
Facebook As An SEO Tool
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Facebook SEO is very important. If your profile gets ranked for highly searched terms, you will dramatically increase the number of people following you.
You don’t want to promote this page at the expense of your main moneymaking site. However, if your site is ranking, than why don’t you try to get ranking for your profile or page.
However, don’t just focus on SEO for Google. Facebook has many internal searches itself. It’s basically a massive search engine, although most people don’t think of it that way. Therefore, you want to get ranked within Facebook as well as Google.
Fortunately, the same tips that work for ranking in Google also are effective for Facebook. Here are five of the best:
Use your keywords in your title
Make sure to include your target keywords in your title. Many people don’t think about this.
Also, many users just include as many keywords as they possibly can. This is known as “keyword spamming” and it will probably hurt your chances of getting ranked.
Make sure you have a title that is interesting to human readers. If it’s not, people will view you as a spammer and avoid your page.
Use the keywords in the vanity URL
The URL you choose makes a big difference. This is known as a “username” on the site. The URL will change to reflect the username you pick, in the format http://facebook.com/yourusername. You want to go after the same keywords here that you did in the title.
Use the keywords in the “about” box
The “about” page is going to include most of the content on your Facebook profile. Therefore, it’s very important you get your primary keywords listed here, as you won’t have a chance to put them in other places.
Try to include the main keywords towards the beginning. You want the search engines to see them as soon as possible.
Get inbound links
Doing a traditional link-building campaign is a good idea. In other words, get links from directories, blogs and forums. However, another great strategy is to get more “likes” for your business page. This works because Facebook automatically puts links to your profile from your business profile page. So the more people “like” your page, the more links you will have.
Stay up to date
One thing you might want to do is continually read updates on the algorithm Facebook and Google use. This lets you know what they are placing the most weight on, and will help you focus on that for your page.
The bottom line is, Facebook SEO is very similar to traditional search engine optimization. Use these five tips, and you will see an increase in your rankings in both Facebook and Google.
