Find Your Audience

Because Twitter  is such a popular website, many people believe that exposure through Twitter will do little but attract the wrong crowd. In this instance, the term “wrong crowd” would refer to a group of people who have little interest in the goods or services you provide. However, even though there are many people of all types and interests on Twitter, it is the best tool you have as far as gaining an interested crowd goes. Twitter uses hash tags to categorize messages that people send to one another on the website. These tags are great for business people because they help them find members of the exact crowd they are hoping to reach.

Are you in the book business? Then you can search for people in your business’s area that have made comments about books and reading. If you are looking for people to apply to your school, then a simple search will give you all the information you need about people around you who have been talking about furthering their education. With all the information right there at your fingertips, there is no reason for you to ignore the call to advertise your company on Twitter.

Professional Help

Online advertising companies have been created to give businesses who hope to advertise on the internet the help they need to get their name out there. There is a lot of protocol that goes into gaining a name for yourself on the internet, but with search engine optimization companies, there is no need to worry about that. However, online advertising isn’t all up to the SEO companies. The company itself must do its part to get the company name out there. By creating a Twitter profile and following people in your area who might be interested in your line of work, you are basically guaranteeing yourself a whole new base of potential customers who would have never known about your company if it weren’t for Twitter and the other social media websites that you subscribe to as a local business to advertise with.

Skyhook Internet Marketing is a Phoenix SEO Company that helps businesses increase their revenue through online marketing.

This may seem counter intuitive, but the most important factor of leadership is humility. Although having confidence and the ability to take charge is also essential, being humble is the key to having authentic leadership. According to a recent study by the University of Buffalo in the US, humble bosses are modest, lead by example and they admit to their mistakes. This results in lower employee turnover and more success for their organisation. Most importantly, they understand that leadership is not a one-way street. They recognise that a need for others builds success. Here is some advice on how you can be an effective – and a humble – leader.

Lead yourself first

According to leadership expert Robin Sharma (author of The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari), a true leader knows how to lead him or herself first. Only then can they turn their attention towards others. In order to be a successful leader, a high level of self-awareness is paramount. It is only once you have a thorough understanding of your own leadership style, that you can use it effectively to lead your employees.

cc licence flickr photo by sagoodnews

A leader has no title

Usually a leader is called a CEO or a Managing Director, but an authentic leader knows that these are merely titles. Respect and a lack of rank or favouritism are important. Treating the tea lady the same way as you treat an important investor will show that you appreciate each employee as an individual and not simply as hired workers.

The importance of others

Good leaders know that their success is entirely dependent on others. Robin Sharma relates a childhood story about when he saw Muhammad Ali in the street. Ali graciously took the time to pose for a photograph and Sharma has always treasured the memory. Ali wasn’t too busy or too important to ignore his young fan. The same idea should be applied to business. According to Sharma, everyone has the power to influence people around him or her, and this is especially true when one is in a leadership position.

Be adaptable

In order to be an effective leader, you need to be able to adapt your leadership style, as each individual will respond differently. According to Nancy Clark (author of The 18 Holes of Leadership), leaders need to know what their strengths are, as well as what strengths they need from others. A good leader will take these factors into account and will put individuals in positions where their strengths can enable them to grow and succeed.

When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally – Lao-Tzu

This is the mark of a true leader: to bring out the best in others, without them even realising it. If a leader can humbly facilitate success, instead of brazenly commanding it, the effect will be profound indeed.

Ang Lloyd writes on behalf of Now Learning, which promotes distance learning in Australia, including MBA courses and TAFE diplomas.

Business Plan

In order to succeed in this kind of business you need to come up with a very comprehensive business plan. If you don’t know how to write a good business plan you can seek the assistance of an expert. Basically a business plan for a drilling company should have a good executive summary and a marketing plan. These two elements are the heart of a good business plan and therefore sufficient attention should be focused laid on them. In general your business plan should cover the following aspects: financials; management; marketing and the budget.

Assess the Competition

Second and most importantly assess the levels of competition existing in the market. It is important to judge the level of competition so as to avoid unpleasant surprises once you set up. One good way of assessing the level of competition is by counting the number of players in relation to the size of the existing market. There are also some websites which can help you generate a list of competitors within a specific state or ZIP code. It is very important to be aware of what the competitors are up to so as to properly assess your strengths and weaknesses.

Look for a reliable source of advice

Seeking for advice before venturing into this business is a very prudent idea. For this you can look for a person who has extensive hands-on experience in this business. Desist from seeking advice from your local competitors as they will tend to shield you from entering into their market. It is better to approach an industry player from outside your locality. Such people will be very willing to share with you any information as much as they are sure that you are not going to pose any threat to them. Sometimes it might take a while for some of them to give you this advice but in the long run it is always worth your efforts.

Capital

As we have seen earlier, setting up a drilling business is a huge venture that calls for significant preparation. It is important that before you venture into this kind of business you consolidate enough sources of funds to avoid any hiccups. As you draft your business plan, you should clearly outline the nature of the services that you are going to offer. The main services you can engage in under a drilling business include drilling rigs, land drilling, rental tools, logistics, mining oil and gas jobs. As you expand you can incorporate other services such as health and project planning, safety programs and preventive maintenance among others.

Author bio:

Maya works is a part time writer and part time works for a drilling company, she specialises in writing articles about mining oil and gas jobs.

If you own a small business and you’re not using social media to promote your brand and attract customers, then you’re already late to the game.

Companies of all sizes are jumping on the social media bandwagon for one reason – because it works. Small business are unique in that they make up the majority of our nation’s employment base – and many people prefer to shop at small businesses – but they have a harder time becoming known.

Here are four ways social media can help your small business:

cc licence flickr photos by rasamalai

1. Establish yourself. Unfortunately, small businesses have to put in a lot more effort to let people know they exist, because they’re so overshadowed by big corporations. Fortunately, social media is a great tool to help you establish yourself. You can form a brand that speaks to people and makes them want to check you out – come up with something fun and innovative that will set you apart.
2. Find potential customers. Once you’ve established yourself and cultivated your brand, you can go scouring on social media to find all kinds of potential customers. You can search for people who are interested in the services you have to offer, or those who are customers of your competitors or similar companies, and easily interact with them. For example, if you just opened a Mexican restaurant, you can see who’s talking about eating at Chipotle and then send them a message asking if they’ve ever tried your food.
3. Give people a reason to check out your business. You should be updating your social media profiles on a regular basis by posting pertinent and interesting information, which can include everything from industry news to new products. Make sure some of your updates give people a reason to come check you out – maybe offer a coupon for first-time customers or come up with some other type of promotion to get people in the door.
4. Reward repeat customers. You not only want to get new customers in the door, but you also want to focus on building a loyal customer base, which is why you should reward people who frequent your business. Try offering a discount that encourages customers to come back again and again. For instance, if you own a small salon, you could give out a coupon that gives customers a discount on their third haircut.

Writer and content creator specializing in everything from job searching and recruiting to social media and technology. Check out this site for more.

Particularly those with family commitments. Recent research has confirmed that not only does it improve employee engagement but also their productivity, making it an attractive arrangement all round.

There is a strong belief among employers that offering flexible working to their employees helps to boost both productivity and engagement.  It was also noted that they felt it helped to reduce levels of absenteeism and helping to improve overall employee motivation.

Research into Flexible Working

CIPD (the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) report, released earlier in the week, revealed that some level of flexible working to at least some members of their staff were provided by around 96% of employers.  70% of the employers that do provide flexible working consider it a positive aid for boosting employee engagement and motivation as well as helping to reduce staff turnover.  Two thirds said that flexible working aided the organisation when it came to recruiting new members of staff and half felt that it had a positive impact on combating absence levels.

The report also discussed that out of employees with no managerial responsibility; six in ten would like to have the opportunity of flexible working.  The current legislation around employee’s rights to flexible working introduced ten years ago does not cover all workers at present.  It was also highlighted that only 4% of employers had had any difficulty with the demands of the legislation.

Legislation in America

The CIPD announced that they believe the legislation should be amended to cover all employees moving forward.  It believes that the concerns that have been forwarded, about the added burdens it would put on businesses, are unfounded and the legislation should be altered.  It would offer employers the opportunity for further engagement with their workforce and would offer better wellbeing for their staff.  The report, entitled Flexible working: provision and uptake, showcased the fact that employees with had a good work-life balance were more likely to be under less stress and pressure whilst being more engaged as opposed to those without.

The CIPD state that if the legislation was altered to include all employees, it would be advantageous to both employers and employees and will also result in a boost for the economy.  Employers offer a number of benefits to workforce to help boost engagement and productivity amongst other things.  Other benefits include company health insurance, subsidised gym memberships and employee bonus schemes.

Gareth regularly produces articles for AXA PPP Healthcare, a health insurance provider for individuals and businesses.

Many businesses never develop a business continuity plan, or at least hold off on it until it is too late and a catastrophic event has already occurred. Holding an accreditation in business continuity planning, such as BS 25999, will enable your business to continue operating in even the harshest of conditions.

Which steps can you put in place to ensure that you develop an excellent business continuity plan, and attain a BS 25999 certification?

Bear in mind when reading these steps that business continuity planning relates to simple occurrences, such as a broken computer terminal or fax machine, as well as more extreme events such as floods and bomb attacks.

Perfect Planning: The 13 Steps

1. Who are the key people in the business, who are absolutely critical to your operation? This list needs to be as large as necessary but as small as possible. List all of these people with full contact details so they can be always be contacted in the event of an emergency.

2. Can anyone work from home? If there has been a major event impacting the office, having people who can keep your business moving remotely will be a massive asset.

3. List external contacts. If you have contacts looking to deliver to your business, or who are meeting you for appointments, you will need to be able to contact them to notify any changes to plans. This list will be very long, and include anyone who may help your business such as lawyers, accountants, and key contacts such as police and other services.

4. List equipment. Ensure you have all information on computers backed up elsewhere, so in the event of your office being lost you can continue to operate. Is a photocopier a central part of your business? What is the contingency plan if something goes wrong with it?

5. What are the critical documents? Ensure you are able to access all documents that you would need to hypothetically start your business from scratch. Prepare as if you are planning for a worst case scenario, such as a fire totally destroying your facilities.

6. Source contingency equipment. If you are a delivery company, where can you hire a fleet of vans easily?

7. Have a contingency location. This could be a hotel, or another branch of your business. If you listed many people in point 2, can everyone work from home?

8. How to do everything. List what everyone’s responsibilities are, so you, or another superior, can continue to run the business effectively. Remember that your absence could be a reason for the plan to come into action!

9. Put it all together. Keep the business continuity plan in a binder, with a master copy and subsequent copies given to all key personnel in your business.

10. Communicate – make sure everyone who needs to know the plan, knows the plan!

11. Test out the plan. This will be a key part of any BS 25999 audit. Much like your regular fire drills, carry out the test to see how it works. Observe the test and look for what can be improved.

12. Have a plan for if the plan does not work. Sounds tedious, but say you are down to work from home, but the power cut affecting the office has also hit your house. What then?

13. Continuously review the plan. Another key part of BS 25999, keep your plan up to date and remember to update your documentation every time there are changes. Imagine if key person A leaves the business, and the plan is not updated. Who is carrying out person A’s role when disaster strikes?

Put these basics in place, and you will be well on the way to great business continuity and a BS 25999 certification.

Iso27001Standard is an industry leading online resource for the implementation of ISO 27001 and BS 25999 -2 standards.

There are a few things that you need to remember when you are establishing the rates you will charge for your services.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Regardless of how long you have been freelancing, you are the only one who knows the amount of experience that you have. There is no need to be self-conscious or undercut yourself because you feel you are not worthy of higher paying work.

Indeed, there are many companies that do not want to hire someone who charges extremely low rates. The companies assume the person is not very good at what they do because if they were, they would charge higher rates.

If you have a high level of expertise in a particular area, you can charge higher rates to take your education and experience into account. For example, if you have a degree in engineering, you can charge more than standard rates for articles on load cell manufacture, construction or other relevant technical fields.

Don’t be Afraid to Negotiate

When first starting out in the freelance world, it is a good idea to start small. Someone may want to take the time to find out exactly what a client wants and perform the duty to the best of their abilities. If the client is happy with the work that has been done, there is a great chance they will ask for more work to be completed.

One option is to charge a lower rate at first and explain to the client  this rate is for work on a trial basis in order to show the client what they are capable of doing. This will give the client, as well as the freelancer, confidence in their abilities. After the first project is complete, the freelancer can then renegotiate the terms of the agreement and raise their price.

Coming up with Rates

An easy way to come up with your rates is to figure out how much you want to make in an hour, and either charge on an hourly rate or figure out how many words you can do in an hour and charge at an equivalent per word rate.

Remember that some projects may require more research than others and should be charged for accordingly. Also, remember to factor in the extra costs that come with being a freelancer, such as self-employment tax, your own healthcare plan and your other overhead bills.

This post made possible by guest blogger Stephanie, a writer with varied interests, including technology, from load cell uses to working online as a tech writer.

1. By creating prebuilt websites based on keywords that people are actually searching for and driving the traffic to a website that you already own
2. Site is customise with your phone number, contact details and photos/logo
3. Option of monthly rental or pay by leads or buy the site
4. Monthly reporting on traffic and leads

To see examples of available sites

How Does This Work?

For example if your business name is Pete’s Plumbing and that is also the name of your website, unless someone already knows you they will not find you. So we create sites such as www.plumbingbrisbane.com.au which are based on research we do to find what people are actually searching for.

Some of the niches that are currently Available!

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These sites are great for Business Marketing to generate leads, via clicks through to your website and enquiry forms that are filled out by prospective clients. For further information please click here

1. Google Adwords

2. Google Places

3. Prebuilt Lead Generation Websites – Buy A Website

4. Business Marketing

5. Social media (facebook pages, twitter etc)

6. Other business advertising directories (eg Hot Frog)

7. Video Marketing

The marketing needs of every business are different, so it is important to think about how you want your business promoted, or how it can be best promoted. To discuss this with someone please fill in the enquiry form for a free consultation. Or see our preferred supplier.

Online Marketing is the way of the future