Author: Hollie Clere

Setting Goals with Your Networking

I’m a big believer in the power of networking to grow your business. However, having overdone this myself, I also know how important it is to be intentional about where you network, how often you network, and how to get the most return for the time, energy, money, and effort spent. Here are some things to think about as you are planning your networking strategy for your small business this year.

Timing

Before you start making big plans to get out there and meet people this year, take some time to really think about how much you can handle. It’s easy to burn yourself out on networking everywhere, making this a less effective strategy for your business than it could be if you approach it realistically.

Where in your calendar do you have wiggle room to attend networking events? How often can you realistically be away from your business without it suffering? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Your energy will be impacted differently, depending on your answer to that last question.

Before you seek out the right networking groups, be certain you have an idea of what you can handle. This will help your networking efforts be more successful. Then you can jot down your networking goal of attending X number of networking events each month.

Picking the Right Group

Just as important as factoring in your time and energy, find the right group(s) is essential. There are plenty of options available from large, national groups to local meet-up opportunities. Each group will have their own schedule, leadership, costs, and set of rules to follow. Some groups are more formal with lots of expectations and rules because they are dedicated to getting results for their members. Others are quite a bit more informal with less rules and little to no cost, but your return on your time can vary. If you aren’t sure which networking groups to try this year, visit a few. Also, ask around. Other small business owners you know will probably have recommendations on groups they love to network in!

How You Network

Turns out that people approach networking differently. There is a traditional way of meeting and connecting with people and that works because it doesn’t surprise anyone. It’s expected that you offer to go on a coffee date or phone call to get to know one another better. In some groups, you are required to do a few of these each month. However, as networking progresses, people are finding that being generous, listening, be specific about their ask (instead of just delivering an elevator speech), and creating an easy way for people to say yes to you may be more effective than setting up a ton of get-to-know-you meetings. As you are identifying your networking goals, take some time to get creative and find out how you can stand out and do things differently as a networker.

Being Intentional

I’ve found, from talking to other businesses who regularly network, that it can be quite effective to set goals for each networking event. A tough goal to reach is to sign up 2 clients at each event. There are a lot of variables involved and most people need a chance to get to know you better and build trust before they are ready to sign up for your product or service. A reachable goal, however, could be to introduce yourself to 3 new people at each event. It could also be to arrange 2 coffee dates a month. How about practice your pitch 5 times this month? By getting intentional with what you want to accomplish, you can walk away from each networking event knowing that you are making progress towards your networking goals for the year.

I love networking. I truly consider it one of the most valuable tools in my business-building arsenal. I love networking so much that I now manage my own chapter of WEBO in Southeast Denver. If you are seeking a group of passionate, motivated women entrepreneurs and business owners on this side of town, I hope you’ll check us out here.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

Setting Goals with Your Social Media Marketing

If one of your marketing goals this year is to make a bigger impact on social media for your business, then you are going to need to identify the social media marketing goals that will encourage you to stretch out of your comfort zone while interacting with more people, building your online community and presence. Here are some options to take into consideration when outlining social media goals for your business.

Followers

While this is increasingly becoming a vanity metric, this is still an effective goal if your audience base is small and you are struggling to build community or get engagement on your posts. What can you do this year to encourage people to follow you on your social media platforms? Remember, whether they choose to follow you is largely based on what they feel like they are getting out of the arrangement.

Engagement

Engagement is one of the most valuable metrics when it comes to social media marketing. If your audience is not engaging with your content, they are less likely to see any of it in their feed. It’s the basic mechanics of how algorithms work. If one of your goals is to increase engagement on your social media channels this year, we back you 100%!

Hashtags

If you plan to be on Twitter or Instagram, hashtags are a must! However, they can be beneficial on any of the social media platforms, if used the right way. If you don’t understand the value of hashtags or how to make them work for your social media platforms, make it a goal this year to find out more about hashtags and create a strategy to expand your reach using them.

Quality Content

Hands down, the most important goal you can set for yourself when it comes to social media marketing is creating consistent, quality content that your audience actually wants. Achieving this will make all the other goals slide into place. This is a challenge for most business owners because it can be tough to get into the shoes of your audience and create content they actually want. But, it’s certainly not impossible, and is always going to make a larger impact than just posting to maintain your online presence. Make it a goal this year to talk to your target market and find out what content they want to see, track what content they engage in most, and create a content marketing strategy that will truly boost your social media marketing efforts.

These are just some of the goals you can work on this year. Regardless of what you choose, the Social Media Advisor team is here to support you and help you reach those goals.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

Setting Goals with Your Marketing

It’s a new year and that means you have a brand new chance to make an impact with your small business! You’ve gone through another year of trial and error with an even better idea of what does, and doesn’t work, when it comes to marketing your business. Now it’s time to take that information and create a plan for going even bigger this year!

First, let’s start with identifying your marketing goals.

Types of Marketing Goals

What sort of goals should you be aiming for with your marketing this year? The truth is always that this will vary based on loads of factors including type of business, industry, location, audience, and more. However, there are some tried and true recommendations for marketing goals that you can start with.

  • Online vs Offline – What percentage of the time will you dedicate to marketing yourself online? What percentage of time will you market yourself offline, such as events, networking, trade shows, speaking, and business functions?
  • Target Audience – Do you know your target audience and ideal client? If not, it’s time to figure that out. If you do, will that stay the same this year? What goals can you set to connect more with your audience?
  • SEO – What goals can you jot down that will help you be FOUND online?
  • Conversion – If you are at all interested in growing your business online, what conversion tools and goals will you set this year? (This could include websites, landing pages, social ads, or online courses.)
  • Authority – What goals will you set to increase your credibility and authority this year? Will you collect more online reviews and testimonials? Will you create original content? Will you pitch to be a guest on other blogs, podcasts, or videos?
  • Social Media Marketing – Last, but never least, what’s your goals for building your social media presence and audience?

Setting Your Goals with S.M.A.R.T. Way

Too often do I see small business owners setting goals based on what they wished would happen with no thought or data to back up whether or not their goals are even plausible. The S.M.A.R.T goals method ensures that you are selecting goals that are well thought out and built for you to be successful.

Specific – Your goals are not dreams. They need to be specific so you know what you are aiming for and can create a step-by-step for achieving it.

Measurable – If you can’t quantify the goal, how will you know whether or not you achieved it. A goal should be measurable. Once achieved, you should be able to prove that you’ve completed it so you can move on to something bigger and better.

Achievable – Goal setting only works if you are actually able to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Becoming a million-dollar business is an admirable goal but if you don’t even have clients yet, aiming for something lower that you can build on is a better plan.

Relevant – Does your goal relate to what you are trying to build this year? Can you tie the goal into a specific result you are targeting by year-end. Why is this goal relevant to where your business is at and going this year?

This should give you plenty to think about so that you can create a marketing strategy for 2020 that works for your business.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

#PlanAhead – How to Select the Holidays for Your Editorial Calendar that Reflects Your Brand Culture

You’ve probably seen people, and companies, post holiday graphics on their social media pages. Often, it’s their way of wishing you a Happy New Year or getting excited about fireworks on the 4th of July with you. Sometimes, it’s a silly holiday involving food, or animals, or something completely nonsensical.

Why do businesses post holiday graphics on their social media pages?

Easy. People love them.

Your audience is inclined to engage with a holiday post because

  1. It’s fun.
  2. You aren’t selling them anything.

You are simply sharing a moment with someone else and you aren’t requiring your audience to take action. Not only will they be happy to like or comment on your post, if it’s done well, they’ll also share it with their audience.

This is good news for businesses trying to get around algorithm challenges. Why? Well, each time a follower engages with one of your posts, it’s telling the algorithm that they like that sort of content (and your page) and it should send them more of your content. That’s a win/win/win. You’re happy, the follower is happy, and the algorithm is being trained to deliver more content tailored to your audience’s interests.

Where can you go to find some options so you can make a plan for the new year to create posts around holidays that mean something to you?

There are lots of places to go, but we recommend DaysOfTheYear.com. This site is not only beautiful, it is also easy to navigate. You can see holidays based on today or a specific month. We like to go month to month and hand pick holidays that we think our audience will enjoy. It’s loaded with tons of good options and, if you set aside a couple of hours this month, you could have a list of holidays for next year ready to go!

Keep in mind that some holidays change so just because it’s on a specific day this year, it could be different next year. For example, if the holiday you chose is always on the 2nd Saturday of the month, you’ll have to come back and check each day next year in order to be accurate.

Don’t go crazy with the holidays either. One to five a month is more than enough. Your content needs to be about more than silly occasions. Also, keep your brand in mind when choosing holidays. Does it resonate with the business you are trying to build?

Happy hunting! We can’t wait to engage with your holiday content this year.

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

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