Is Facebook right for your business?

In my role at Main Street Webworx, I have the opportunity to work closely with different business clients to develop a strategy, launch and even maintain social media applications for a broad range of clients. I feel fortunate to help them utilize these for both SEO purposes and to develop more engaging relationships with their customers.

Still, even though we talk constantly about the benefits that social media, specifically what having a Facebook Business Page can bring to a business, it is important to remember that taking this leap may not be the best move for every type of business. 

Take United Airlines for example… Have you ever visited their Facebook page?  Sure, there are a few nice things said about the airline, but overall the posts point out failures in customer service, errors with tickets, delays, anger, and mostly negativity.  It begs the question of whether or not certain companies should “go social.”  Is Facebook helping United and its brand image? I’m not so sure…

The most important thing a business must realize when deciding whether or not it will launch a Facebook page is: It’s all about building community and interacting with your customers

Facebook does a pretty good job of spelling this out in its “Facebook for Business” information page. In fact, in the “how to” build a business presence with Facebook it states:

Step 2: Talk to your customers - "Post regularly to develop deeper relationships with your customers and create an engaging community. Give your Page an authentic and consistent voice, and encourage people to like and share your posts."

The main point I’m trying to share is that if you aren’t prepared to have dialogue with your fans – i.e. take the tough questions with the positive praise – it might not be the best move for your business. Facebook is a much more “personally driven” social media outlet than Twitter, YouTube, etc.and it is just that – social. It was and is intended to be used to create conversation and a sense of belonging, i.e. community.

Overall, any business should ask themselves the following before launching a Facebook business page.

1. Will it help my business?  Will customers see it as an opportunity to learn, connect, or even be rewarded? Or, will it end up like the United Airlines page and just – very vocally – reinforce the shortcomings customers feel your company has? If there’s a chance it’s the latter, maybe Facebook isn’t for you.
2. Am I willing and able to create dialogue with my customers, even on tough topics? Your customers will see your presence on Facebook as an opportunity to connect with you quicker and more directly. They will want to interact with you and will expect you to do the same.

 So, I’ll ask again… Is Facebook right for your business?

Looking for ways to improve your business or increase sales? Ask your customers!

Like many of our clients, Main Street Webworx is a small business serving other small businesses. Because of this, I feel it’s important to share information that goes beyond the scope of web design and online marketing. We are first and foremost committed to the success of our clients, as well as the flourishing of Greenville and Upstate SC. So, we’d be remiss to not share a little bit of what we learn along the way with you!

A few months ago, I listened to a great webinar by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.

As the world becomes increasingly technological – moving further into the virtual world, every business is actively looking for ways to continually improve. At Main Street Webworx, we frequently ask ourselves how we can do a better job for our clients. We evaluate our processes, procedures, abilities, services, and how well we are delivering on our core message in order to grow our business.

 The Burning Question: How?
 The Answer: Ask your customers.

After each and every customer experience, you and your business have the opportunity to both ensure client satisfaction and gather high-quality insights applicable to both your marketing and your processes. Even better, you’ll gather quotes and testimonials which you can share with prospective clients. What should you ask? Below are some of the best questions out there:

 1. What made you decide to hire us?
 2. What’s one thing that we do better? What did you like most about the experience?
 3. How can we improve?
 4. Would you be willing to refer us?
 5. If you were looking for our company, what would you “Google”?

Beyond gathering great insights, taking the time to reach out to your clients provides an added-level of client devotion, leading to more highly engaged customers. Meaning customers that are more likely to tell their friends and colleagues about you, and who are more likely to refer your business. Everyone appreciates a little extra attention and the value found in their opinion. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

This tip doesn’t just apply to new businesses either! Regardless if you’ve been in business for 20 years and have never conducted this type of client survey, it’s never too late. Create a plan and start boosting both your client experience and your business.

Unified communications can benefit your business

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot lately about “unified communications” – what it can do for me, how great it is, how it saves me money, and so on and so forth… And I realized that this is yet another term that many technology savvy people assume is widely known. In turn, they take this for granted when speaking with your every-day, main street consumer or business person. That being the case, I decided to do some detective work and explain it more thoroughly to the non-geeks, like myself!

Basically, unified communications (UC) is the integration of various services we use to communicate with one another. By combining real-time and non-real-time services into one sleek user interface – individuals are able to keep better connected and up-to-date with clients, friends, employers, and more. In case you were wondering, real-time services include: telephony, instant messaging, video conferencing, webcasts, and data sharing; while non-real-time services are things like voicemail, email, text-messaging and fax (many times integrated into unified messaging).  Unified communications allows individuals to utilize multiple media types and devices to monitor, update, and communicate.

Are you still with me?  I hope so! I know that last paragraph got a little technical towards the end.  At this point, I’m hoping that you’ve begun to get a clearer picture of what unified communication is. That being said, maybe you’re wondering why it is important to you. Well, the main reason that it’s becoming increasingly important is that UC provides you – a business person – the ability to stay on top of numerous projects and client concerns in a more streamlined manner.

Here are a couple quick examples:

1.  If you need to step out of the office and cannot answer calls, you can set up your voicemail to automatically be converted into text and sent to you in an email (voicemail-to-email).  If you’re like me – you are able to read that voicemail directly from your SmartPhone. How cool is that?!

2.  Another example is utilizing instant messaging or text messaging, rather than a telephone, to speak to individuals within your office, across town or even across the ocean. This manner of communication is quick and to the point – saving time, money, and even the possibility of disrupting workflow.

Overall, unified communication is actually pretty simple and very useful. It is the evolution of how different, changing technologies are increasingly coming together to form the most streamlined and efficient methods of communication. Furthermore, by utilizing new technology – like a VoIP Business Phone System – you are able to more easily integrate your telephone, computer, cellular phone, fax machine, and more – keeping you better connected to your clients in today’s fast-paced society. Read more about the importance of “being connected” in our blog: Attention Small Businesses! Are you connected to your customers?

To put it simply: unified communications can save you time, money, and even help to retain customers by empowering you to act more quickly when necessary. It can make your life easier! And who doesn’t want that? My point exactly

Change is inevitable. Make sure you’re ready!

Change is one of those words that can induce many different emotions within a company ranging including, but not limited to, excitement, apathy or even fear.  During my years in business and also in my studies, it’s become apparent that, inherently, most people tend to avoid change. People and businesses get comfortable in their routines, their level of knowledge, and even their level of success. So, why break from the status quo? Well… because you must.

One of the most important things leading to personal and business success is the ability to adapt quickly to change. Innovation and agility are what have made companies like Google, Groupon, and Apple so successful. These companies never allow themselves the chance to get too comfortable – and because of this, they’ve been able to remain a few steps ahead of the competition. For other companies who may not be in such “innovation-focused” fields, the ability to deal with change can be a make-or-break situation.

As a business owner, just as in any personal endeavor, you must be able to accept the need for change and be able to adapt to things that change beyond your control. Am I saying you need to have an exit strategy? No, nothing that drastic… But – you should have the ability to act quickly and move in a positive direction. Why? Because, in general, business owners and managers have a great deal of influence over setting the tone for employee and customer reactions.  If you are confident in your ability to handle changes, and in the necessity of making positive changes, those connected with your business will be much more at ease.

Overall, as I said at the start, change is inevitable.  We live in a world where a new innovation, technologies, gadgets, etc. seem to change daily – and it’s important for us as small business individuals to utilize these to our full advantage. Whether it be adapting to and embracing VoIP technology and its many benefits (as we promote here at Phoneworx), dealing with a staffing change, or upgrading to the newest technology, those who do it well are sure to succeed for years to come.

Above all, don’t fear change – embrace it.

Financing & Credit: Things Every Business Should Know

With the ongoing discussions in Washington D.C. on the debt ceiling, it got me thinking about my past life as a banker. I thought I’d share some really important information that is crucial for business owners to know as they embark on a journey to launch or grow their businesses.

Over the past few years, banks have really tightened up their lending guidelines to be more conservative or “risk averse.” Does this mean they aren’t lending? No. It just means they are taking a deeper look into businesses before extending unsecured lines of credit – or any loans for that matter – which proved to put many banks (and businesses) in a bad position during the turbulence in 2008.

As a business, you have the option to purchase items up front or, many times, to finance them.  At Phoneworx, we work with a third party to provide financing options to our clients if they choose to go that direction.  Other options available through banks are secured term loans, lines of credit – often times secured by your company building and/or your home, business credit cards, etc. So what do financing companies look for? Below are the 5 C’s of Credit (which I learned while at PNC):

1. Character – Dependability based on credentials, references, and past performance in terms of meeting obligations – to creditors, customers, your bank, employees, utility companies, etc.
2. Capacity – How much debt you can handle as a business. Based on borrowing history, debt capacity, and liquidity ratios. Cash flow is a big factor here.
3. Capital – How much money is invested in your business – your financial commitment.
4. Conditions – Current economic conditions of your industry and market.
5. Collateral – Sources of repayment beyond cash flow – hard assets. Many times this is real estate – personal and/or business, equipment, inventory, etc.

In today’s business world, a personal guarantee is often requested of the business owner. Banks want to know the level of commitment and belief you have towards your company’s success. If you are not willing to bet on it, it is difficult for a bank to justify doing so.

As it relates to the telecommunications business, if you’re in the market for a new business phone system, Phoneworx does provide financing options. But more importantly, this blog is intended to share essential items you must know when contemplating whether or not to finance a business purchase or apply for a line of credit.

If you’re ready to grow your business, a phone system just might be a step in the right direction! How? Read our blog: How to use your phone system to grow your business.

At Phoneworx, we’re committed to helping you and your business succeed on all levels.

How to get clicked! Pay-Per-Click & Online Advertising

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising is a form of outbound marketing that can be a very powerful tool for small, and especially new, businesses.  You’ve probably heard people mention Google AdWords, but it is important to remember that Google is not the only search engine out there.  Although it is arguably the most popular, many older American consumers are using Bing and Yahoo! Beyond simple search advertising, sites like Facebook, Yellow Pages, LinkedIn, and Yelp all offer paid advertising options.

In prior posts, I’ve talked a great deal about Social Media Marketing and the importance of both being on these networks and keeping them active.  In addition to these great FREE tools, there are many ways that utilizing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising methods can help to boost your business. In fact, paid search can help to support your inbound marketing efforts.

Be found on page one or two, even if you’re new - If you are the “new guy in town” paid search advertising is a good way to get your business featured on the first or second page of search results.  It takes one to two months for Google and other search engines to fully “trust” a new website – meaning that many (like us) start on page 60+.  I think it’s pretty safe to say that no customer is going to dig that deep to find you! However, by paying $3-5 per “click” you are gaining web traffic from local people looking for your business. In a saturated or competitive market, PPC is an effective way to fill in some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) gaps.

Get to the top, faster - PPC advertising can actually help your business to rise more quickly within the search engines.  By being seen and clicked on by new visitors, your site not only expands its reach – but builds credibility. Once they’ve entered your site, the possibility of them connecting with you via social media increases significantly. Many of our clients who have found us through PPC have gone on to read our blog posts, telling us that this is one of the things that really convinced them to choose us over other local designers.

Cost control and ease of use - many of the different options are relatively easy to use. In addition to this, it is easy to control the overall cost of the campaign – something extremely beneficial to companies with a limited budget.  You can set limits on price-per-click, daily limits, or overall campaign limits. The different providers will keep you “up to date” via email on your spend and performance.  Depending on how closely you’d like to monitor results, you can schedule reports to be sent directly to your email.

Overall, many of the providers of PPC advertising have gone to great lengths to make it easy for you to advertise your business. They provide assistance in setting up your campaign, YouTube video training, FAQs, webcasts, and more. In fact, Google sometimes provides a $100 credit to help you get started and test your campaign. It will also help you develop and set up your initial campaign to the extent necessary based on your computer savvy and specific needs.

Still not sure if this is the right move for your business? Feeling overwhelmed? Give us a call or reply to this blog post! We’d love to help you “be found” in your local marketplace!

Being “good enough” is no longer enough… personally, as a business, or on the web

The importance of differentiation in making one’s mark in the business world has a direct correlation to gaining success as a business leader. Recently, I completed my Masters of Business Administration from Walsh College and found myself at a crossroads.  Friends, family and colleagues began asking me “what are you going to do now?” And to be honest, I had no idea!  It also got me to thinking why I decided to pursue this degree in the first place?  What I realized was at the heart of my decision – it was all about differentiating myself from my peers, i.e. the competition.  

My journey in business has been anything but straightforward. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from Notre Dame. Faced with the real world – insurance, rent, etc. – I decided to switch gears and pursue a career in business. During interviews and even as a branch manager for National City Bank (now PNC), my background often surprised others – and not always in a good way. I realized it was important that I do something, and fast, to “adjust” my professional image. Graduate school seemed like the perfect solution.
To my surprise, pursuing my MBA gained me more than I’d hoped. In addition to more respect from my peers and clients – it led to promotions, salary increases, and expanded skills which I continue to use on a daily basis.   Of course, like any “upgrade,” it cost me time and money – but the resulting benefits were worth it.

The same goes for your business.  Just like potential employers previously judged me by my undergraduate degree first, potential clients in the 21^st century use your company website to gain a first impression of your business.  If it is outdated, if links are broken, or if it looks like every other website in your industry – you could be losing “candidates” to competitors who have a unique, functioning website filled with quality content. A website that is just as good as your competitor across town isn’t helping you to win new customers, and it certainly isn’t helping to grow your business.

Overall, what I hope you’ll take away from all this, is how important being different, better, or unique is to your business. Take a good look at your website and the websites of your competitors. Are you just like the other guy? Or similar to my experience with a degree unrelated to my occupation, could it be that you’re possibly lagging behind with an old, irrelevant, or “underwhelming” website?

If the answer is yes, or if you’re not sure, I encourage you to give us a call.  We’ll sit down with you and discuss ways to make your website work better and harder for you. Does improving your website cost money? Yes. Will it take some investment of time? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely, 100% YES!