Author: Jeff Hora

Setting Up for 2018 – Best of December

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Make the Leap to 2018

Make the Leap to 2018

The end of 2017 brings a focus to planning, strategy and change in the marketing teams of every business, whether you have an actual team or it’s just you, the solopreneur. This collection of the best of December articles reflects this focus and gives you the thoughts and processes for consideration as you launch into the new year.

Sincerity

Sincerity

This article about sincerity and dialogue in business is my most popular for 2017. The value of sincerity in business cannot be overstated, especially as building solid, long-term relationships with your customers is easily one of the most profitable things you can do.

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Where Should I Be? – The Case for Facebook

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Facebook

Facebook

OK, so you’ve done all the heavy lifting research about your market, your products and services, and your audiences.

You’ve worked closely with your marketing lead (either your own or a trust-worthy consultant…), deciding that digital marketing is a key component of your plan. Now you have arrived at the question that bedevils a LOT of small businesses:
Which social media platform (or platforms…) should I choose?

This is more than just a familiarity choice. This decision must be based upon:
  • What are your goals for your digital marketing?
  • Where are the bulk of your customers / audience?
  • How and where do you your customers / audience prefer to consume content?
  • What are the resources you have to devote to executing the plan?
There are many reasons to go with one or another platform, or more than one!

With this article I’m starting a series of articles (one platform per article over a few months…) that will give you some data, some analysis, some rationale, and a few recommendations. Each article will help you make that fateful decision:

Do I spend my limited and valuable resources on THIS platform, or not….or What?

First, the proverbial “Elephant in the Room”….

FACEBOOK

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STORY: A Must-Have for your Facebook Business Page

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Tell Your Story

Tell Your Story

There are a LOT of things that make for a successful Business page on Facebook. 
Books and entire web sites (and businesses!) are devoted to staying on top of the almost daily churn of what works best for your business.
There is no “one size fits all”. However, there are a few things you can do, regardless of your business, to check a few of the boxes towards having an effective business page.
So, What’s Your Story?
The ABOUT tab on your page is one of the most important parts of the page you will neglect. There are two spots on that tab where you can enhance your discoverability and help visitors get to know you.

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Content Ideas and the Holidays – Best of November

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The Holidays are Here!

The Holidays are Here!

Well, here we are….

It’s after Thanksgiving and before the twin end-of-the-year holidays of Christmas and New Year’s Day. If you’re like me you already have a lot going on, both in your business AND in your personal life (all those holiday get-togethers, plus trying NOT to gain, like, 50 pounds thanks to all the food involved…)! You’re probably wrapping up your 2018 business and marketing plan, executing on the holiday marketing and delivery, and trying to keep the cat(s) out of the tree. Still want to keep up on what’s happening in the digital marketing world? You KNOW it impacts your business and has knock-on effects on your plans, right? I thought so….
So here are my recommendations for the TOP articles from November to help you stay on top of it all!

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The Best Ways to Utilize Dialogue and Communication

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Dialogue and Communication

Dialogue and Communication

The articles, books and webinars / workshops focusing on communication (a term that is becoming more and more vague, actually…) are multiplying as rapidly as cat videos online, frankly.

Who to pay attention to? How many are publishing because it’s a way to get clicks, a way to push a new book or membership offer, and how many are really spending time standing upon the shoulders of the giants who have come before (or who are working now…) and seeking ways to execute on the most effective thoughts and frameworks to bring dialogue into our lives and businesses that will change things? Few have the time or patience to figure this out.

I must confess to being caught up in this myself. This goes way back for me, to my early days as a musician and composer. I have always been fascinated by how music can touch that part of a human being in a conversation that goes to a deeper place. We are simultaneously very complex and very simple. Truth, trust-building, the components, if you will, that comprise a close and meaningful relationship with someone are common across us all. While music is as individually interpreted as any other form of communication, the use of words can be more of a challenge due to internally established meanings and contexts for each person.

The complexity comes with what Anthony de Mello calls “our programming”. We are each utterly unique in our make-up and our experiences. As a result, how I react or “hear” something from you is quite likely to be different than how someone else does. Hence my focus on dialogue in all walks of life.

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Mindfulness and Taking Stock

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Mindfulness

Mindfulness

This past week was a good and difficult one.
One of the hard bits was working to get five + days of work done in three, as I had scheduled Thursday and Friday off to celebrate my anniversary and birthday. I work to do this every year and have been pretty successful to date, although banishing work from my mind is always a challenge as an entrepreneur. Still, it was good to get away from the screens and focus on each day and the moments each held, along with the commemoration activities.
I focus on this set of events for a couple of reasons.
First, I wish to celebrate life and relationships, and this is another way to mark them as memorable and life-giving.
Second, this particular birthday gives me pause. I am now the age my father was when he was consumed by cancer and died. That, along with the near approaching anniversary of the death of my younger brother in two weeks, I am particularly aware of being present in each moment and how this manifests itself in my “normal activities”…..”normal activities” being the usual, rather mundane things of every day.
You may be thinking (if you’ve read this far..), “Why is he writing about this on a business blog?” A fair question…

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Survey Says!!

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Survey
The best way to find out what your customers are looking for from you is ASK THEM, Right?! Well, that’s the message this week.

I’ve written frequently about the importance of really listening to your customers and acting on what you hear. Now you have your chance to participate, and I have a chance to “Walk The Talk”: I am announcing the first ever survey for my blog.  The objective is to provide you with more of the kind of information and conversation you actually find valuable to you and your business.

As I look at the articles for this year that have been the most read, the Top Five are:

 

 

 

 

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Loyalty, Customer Experience, and the Death of Your Business

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Customer Experience

Customer Experience

The deeper I get into the research concerning customer loyalty and engagement, the more it is pounded into me that it centers on Customer Experience (CX for short). The kicker about CX is that, while there are certain common factors and processes that carry across most customers and audiences, it really is an individual experience with you and your business. What does this mean?

First let’s look at the percentage of Loyal customers / audience you already have. Recent studies propose that you may have between 8%-15% customers that can be considered Loyal (your mileage may vary, especially given the differences in businesses: e.g. a coffee shop may have a greater opportunity for “regular” loyalty than a real estate office…). Let’s posit that your customers (a) DO have the opportunity, given your product / service, to purchase from you again within 12 months (and can certainly REFER you at any time!), and (b) this product /service is of value to them and at a fair price. The end-to-end CX for them has been better-than-just-positive overall, hence their loyalty. Their post-purchase experience has also been “positive+” (better than just OK…).

As it turns out, that bit is very important! 

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All About the Numbers! – The Best of October

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Holidays!

Holidays!

The holidays are nearly upon us!

Shortly we start that Rocket Slide toward year’s end…a rapid countdown, for sure.
In the spirit of a countdown, this month’s articles all have numbers as part of their headlines, so you can come away with some actionable points you can use.

Grow Your Facebook Page

Grow Your Facebook Page

Not every idea will work for you business, but these 32 “out-of-the-box” notions just might give you some other ideas about how to grow your Facebook page. Be Creative! Try new stuff…..

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If You Read One Article About Ideas, Read This One!

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BOOKS: Ideas Bound

BOOKS: Ideas Bound

I have long had the habit of reading more than a book at a time…

Since the advent of the Amazon Kindle, however, this has become something that is second nature. I don’t think it odd, and, with the ready access to who-knows-how-many books and samples I carry around, it just “is”! Much lighter, and a bit easier to keep track of where I am in each one….

This has allowed an enhanced creative journey for me. I read several kinds of books, according to my mood and focus…right now I am in the midst of:
…along with a couple of physical books (I have an enormous number of them that I either haven’t read yet, or return to regularly…):