Workmanship Creations | Website Design, Logo Design and Online Marketing Services

Top 5 things to avoid when marketing your business!

Melvin Evans — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:32:57 +0000

You may understand the value and importance of marketing, but like many business owners you may struggle with doing so effectively. Some have even given up and never see their business reach its full potential. This doesn’t have to be the case for you!

Top 5 things to avoid when marketing your business

1. Not having a clear plan or strategy
If your marketing isn’t concise and is all over the place, your customers will know. If things are confusing to you, it will be for others. Take the time to think about what you want to say/convey and how you want to do it.

2. Thinking ______ isn’t perfect yet.
Like so many business owners, I got hung up on this many times. Our business is near and dear and things have to be perfect… The problem is, things are never really perfect. There is always one more thing or another tweak here and there. Perfection happens over time. The important thing is to get moving and do business. You’re probably stressing over something that your customers could care less about. At least, I’ve found myself doing that.

3. Not officially making marketing part of your schedule.
Like any other task, if you don’t plan to do it, it probably won’t get done. Wait, am I talking about myself again? I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone. Schedule marketing like any other important to-do, because it is.

4. Giving yourself the excuse of not knowing how to ______.
You really might not know how to do something. However not knowing becomes an excuse when you let it stop you from taking action. If you don’t want to learn and do it yourself, then hire someone or have an existing employee help out. You can’t afford not to.

5. Getting discouraged with initial results.
The initial results and response (or lack thereof) from people can be downright depressing. You’re not alone. Marketing takes time and consistency. Give people time to get to know and trust you.

Once these barriers are overcome, you can begin to have success and see a return on your marketing efforts. I’m cheering for you and your business! Don’t allow yourself to be stuck!

Which of these 5 things to avoid in marketing have been a problem for you? What would you add to this list? What noteworthy things have you learned to avoid? Comment below.

Get customers to say, “This is just what I was looking for!”

Melvin Evans — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:31:02 +0000

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Image is everything,” but did you know everything is your image? Everything you do coveys an image to others about what type of business you have, whether you can be trusted, or whether you’re the right fit for them. Your image is your brand… and every point of contact with your current and potential customers establishes their perception of you.

Branding is all about managing the perception of your business while also revealing the value within.

Your image/ brand is more than your logo, website, or other marketing materials. It’s what others think when they hear your business name or see your logo, website, and other marketing materials. It’s what people perceive about your business whether it’s true or not.

It might not be right to judge a book by it’s cover, but you must understand that people will. Regardless of the content of the book or how good your product and services are, people will first judge your cover.

For business, that “cover” is often understood as the logo. However, your cover is whatever initial contact your customers have with your business. It can be your logo, business name, website, other marketing materials, a reference, a review, receptionist, social media presence, etc.

You are not going to be able to stop every negative perception about your business, but you can ensure that positive ones are generated.

Take a look at every point of contact your business has with current and potential customers. How can you improve and maximize the opportunity to establish the image you want to convey?

Think about…

the quality of your visual image (logo, website, etc)
the mental images that are created by the copy (words) in your slogan, website, promotional items, etc
the emotional undertone that clients may have following direct contact or communication with you and your employees

Sometimes, simple gestures like the “It’s my pleasure” line from Chick-fil-A can further convey the image you desire. You can be exactly what your target audience is looking for and appreciates.

What does your target audience expect from your business?
What is the current perception of your customers?
What extra tweaking and polishing needs to be done?

Everything you do impacts how your business is perceived by others. Although you can’t control anyone’s perception, perhaps you can help steer it in the right direction. Imagine the growth your business will experience if you reach your target audience with a targeted image. Then, your customers will say “This is just what I was looking for!”

Save money, time and energy; Get Results With Your Website!

Melvin Evans — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:07:51 +0000

This is the first in a series of posts that I’m discussing how to ensure you get results with your website. If you’re thinking about getting a website or re-designing your current one, consider what I have to say first. Yes, it is critical that you have a website, but it shouldn’t just be a site on the web.

Ironically, most designers/developers don’t know what makes a website effective. Most just focus on the direction given to them. You must take control of your website development so it’s done right the first time. I hear [horror] stories and see websites all the time that don’t exemplify or get results for the business it was made for – simple because of some cut corners and oversights in the process.

There is a lot of work an energy that goes into an effective website; most clients don’t realize what this means for them too. I know the headline says save energy… and these posts will help, but you can’t escape what’s needed.

In the first post of this series, I’m discussing…

The first key to great results: Your thought process and approach to your website

The number one reason people waste money, time and energy on their website project is lack of any form of a business plan, goals, objectives, structure, policies, procedures, organization and/ or marketing strategy. These are the foundation of any business which support everything else. Missing these elements cause website projects to be drawn out, constantly changing, or just completely unfinished. These things should be worked out before the start of any website project.

Your website is your virtual reality. The key here is reality. If there really isn’t a solid foundation for business growth, your website isn’t going to magically make it happen.

If your business has foundation in place, use that information to decide the purpose and functionality of your website. Every aspect of your website, including imagery, copy, layout, functions, etc., should all be intentional and driven by strategy.

The websites that get the best results seamlessly incorporate, and are built around, their business model, processes and marketing plan while keeping the user in mind. Here are some questions to help you get started:

Who is your target audience? (link to great article via @fabienne)
How do you pitch to prospects face-to-face?
What major concerns do your customers have?
What expectations do your customers have of you?
What do you provide that differentiates you from your competition?
What do past customers appreciate the most and least about your business?
What processes do your customer go through from A to Z?

Whether your website project is for a business, organization or personal brand, the above basic questions will lead to many more. The more understanding and organization you have, the better you will be able to approach your website project, and get results.

I will be sharing more tips and advice to ensure you get results with your website. Get updated as soon as I add to this series by subscribing via RSS.

I’d love to hear from you. Comment below and or connect with MakeBizGrow on Twitter or Facebook.

Your Business Should be on Facebook in 2012

Melvin Evans — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:42:00 +0000

Hands down, no questions asked, your business should be on Facebook in 2012. For the business owner that isn’t yet convinced of this ‘fact,’ I’m going to share some of the most compelling reasons to consider.

Business owners often shy away from social media because they don’t know anything about it (or how to implement it) and get overwhelmed.

There are 4 categories that a business falls into:

You know nothing about Facebook, social media or marketing at all.
You heard it could be good, but not convinced enough to make the investment.
You’re on Facebook but aren’t getting any results.
You’re leveraging the benefits of the platform to gain more clients/customers.

Every business can get in the forth category with a little creativity, consistency and connectivity. Let’s start with why your business should be on Facebook in the first place. Please note, your business should at least be on all the most popular social platforms (that fit your business model): Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, and now Google+. Right now, I’m taking about Facebook – which is a great start.

1. ‘Everyone’ is on Facebook

There are 800 million active users world-wide. This staggering number has been growing rapidly. A little over a year ago, Facebook passed the 500 million active user milestone. That’s incredible growth! There are currently 250,000,000 (that’s million) active users in the US. So, what can we conclude? ‘Everyone’ is on Facebook. It’s huge and it’s growing.

It’s safe to say that your next client or customer is already on Facebook. Go introduce yourself!

Facebook was built around the concept of connecting people. Here is a snippit I grabbed from Mark Zuckerberg’s (founder of Facebook) bio:

“Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers.”

Let me add to the list: “…with their friends, families, coworkers and clients/customers.”

If there was a big event, you would probably be getting a booth, some brochures, and a nice table display to market your business. You would go where the people are. Facebook is very similar in concept. Note: there are some drastic differences in approach. The point is, you want to be where your next clients/customers are.

2. Establish your brand, credibility and trust

It’s important to understand that Facebook, or any other social platforms, are just tools to support what you do offline. Social platforms make it easier to connect, communicate and share with others. Due to the social/viral dynamics of social media, you get a chance to market your business more effectively than other avenues. You still need to strategize about what your brand should be, look like, and convey. Facebook will enable you to share it.

There are plenty of options [other than your business] for people to choose that offer the same services/ products. Even though that is true, if a person trusts you, they will do business with you before considering others – even if your prices are higher, you’re out of town, or they have to wait longer. Clients/customers don’t mind making sacrifices and investments if they believe you are genuine, helpful, reliable, trustworthy, and value your service. A great marketing/social media strategy will subliminally convey these things over time as your business becomes social.

3. Massive exposure for your business

Like I said, ‘everyone’ is on Facebook. Facebook is all about people sharing content with those they’re connected to. By default, when someone engages with your business on Facebook, their friends will see that activity. People who may have never heard about you otherwise, get a chance to be exposed to your business by a trusted source (their friends). People are more likely to do business with you if their friends have; hopefully, it was a good experience.

4. Drive traffic to your site

I’m a firm believer that even though a business is on Facebook, a website is still needed. I won’t get into all the reasons here. Just know that it adds greater credibility and trust.

With that said, Facebook can be a great source of traffic to your site. You may even want to have a specific landing page for people visiting from Facebook. You can track your website traffic from Facebook for free using google analytics.

5. Stay connected with your client/ customers

Facebook is a good way to help build and maintain relationships. This is a huge element for repeat and referral business, particularly, when you want to get the news out about that new special deal you just launched or an announcement about your business hours changing.

Also, Facebook provides an easy platform for others to give you feedback on your product or services. Hopefully, its good but either way you’ll know what to tweak or keep. The great thing is, when someone give a great review, everyone will see. The same goes for bad reviews but at least you have a chance to correct and respond openly. That too can go over really well with others if done right.

Hopefully you’re seeing the value a business being on Facebook. Please comment and provide feedback.

Where do you fall in the categories previously mentioned?

Do you currently have plans to increase your Facebook business presence?

Good luck with your business.

3 Ways to Ensure Social Media Success

Melvin Evans — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:03:19 +0000

You can start to have success with your social media efforts, and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Many business owners question whether “playing around” on Facebook and Twitter will really have an impact on their business growth. There are plenty resources on the web that validate that it can with the right approach.

Like with any marketing effort, you need a clear goal and strategy to be effective. However, whatever goal, strategy or business you use, there are 3 ways to ensure your social media success.

1. Consistency and Frequency

This is huge! Once you start a social network account, you must attend to it. Consistency is conveyed as trust and reliability to your followers. Likewise, the lack of consistency leaves potential clients and customers wondering if your service or product will be any good. No post, updates, helpful resources, and so on make it seem as if you are not alive–a dead social account is thought to be a dead business. If your social accounts suffer from the lack of consistency, it can actually be hurting more than helping. People connect with you or your business because they want to engage and hear from you. Lack of engagement online is like walking into a retail store and no one greets you, asks whether you need help, or assists you with checking out.

Frequency is the rate at which you post to your account – number of times per day, week or month. This will depend on your overall strategy. I recommend posting content more than once a month. The idea is to have fresh content for whenever someone visits.

It’s highly recommended that you schedule post ideas and content in advance. Carve out time when you can focus on providing great content that is consistent with your overall strategy. Although its easy to do, persist in not allowing your social media efforts to get postponed by other important business.

2. Building Connections

Of course, social media is all about connections. You want to reach as many people as possible within your target audience. For starters, don’t overlook leveraging your existing connections – past clients, family, friends etc. These are the ones that will already vouch for your services and can spark social goodness for you. Reach out to them and let them know you want their support; most will be glad to help.

Be creative and take advantage of every opportunity to promote your social presence on- and offline. Building connections on your social platform is just as important as figuring out what to do once they get there.

You have to be focused and intentional in growing your online network. Yes, one piece of content, video, photo etc. can go viral but it has to start somewhere right?!? Besides, most social media success happens over time by practicing these basic principles.

3. Interactions

You can’t have interactions or engagement without connections, but why have connections with no interaction. With that said, you can’t force anyone to interact with you but you can inspire them. After all, they connected with you because they want to hear from you. The more likes, retweets, comments, clicks etc. you get the better! Keep this in mind while building your content strategy. How likable or sharable are your post?

If you capture the attention of a few, it can capture the attention of many. Every interaction is a little viral juice to help your business get exposed to more and more people.

Begin interacting with others. Find people that are the center of influence (not your competition) for your target audience, then read, like, and share their content. In most cases, they will return the favor. At the least, your name gets exposure and/ or you provide your audience with great, helpful content.

Social media is a huge party – don’t be the shy one in the corner.

If you can answer the following, it will point you in the right direction for social success:

Why would someone want to connect with you?
What type of content would your audience like and share?

These 3 basic focus areas all work together to ensure your social media success. You must be focused and intentional with managing your consistency, building your connections, and inspiring interactions. Over time, the ROI of your social media efforts will increase via brand recognition, customer/client trust, and ultimately the bottom line.

Welcome to the MakeBizGrow blog

Melvin Evans — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:00:27 +0000

MakeBizGrow – Our mission is to live up to our name.

MakeBizGrow (blog, consulting & training) started out of a passion for business, marketing and overall success for my clients.

The Story Behind the Blog

Initially, my focus was just to provide tools, such as websites and graphics. There was little attention to ensuring growth was actually taking place and goals were being met. However, I began to understand exactly what clients really desired when they hired me.

What Client said: “I want a website.”

What Client meant: “I want my business to grow and if a website is going to help, make me one.”

You’re in business to get business and for it grow! As I focused on business growth for clients, there were several problematic areas uncovered, including identity branding, marketing, sales pipeline, presentation, management, productivity, public relations, and so on.

A successful business has a strategic plan, clear goals and objectives, tools to accomplish them, and synergy between the various components. A great website or good marketing materials alone won’t ensure business growth.

Inside the Blog

The MakeBizGrow blog focuses on best practices in business, marketing, social media, and productivity. In a nutshell,

What works, what doesn’t and how to do it
Insightful content from personal business experience
Discuss/share latest trends, strategies, and resources
Get feedback and network with other business owners

The goal is to provide valuable content to help you MakeBizGrow. Feel free to share your insights, ask questions, and give feedback.

Connect with MakeBizGrow

The Company Behind the Blog

Workmanship Creations provides business marketing and consulting services. WC is comprised of four main divisions: ID Branding, Websites, Graphics & Social Media.

If a business is going to grow, it needs a marketing strategy and tools to do so. However, every strategy, website, graphic material, or social media effort doesn’t work. We help businesses grow by defining and refining their approach and creating tools with an emphasis on purpose and functionality.

We’re passionate about helping businesses grow and are currently accepting new clients. Let’s schedule a free consultation where we can discuss how we can help.

Visit the WEBSITE to view logos, websites and other marketing material in our featured portfolio.