Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Good Busy v Busy Busy

by // Leave a Comment

good busy
Make sure you aren’t too busy to walk the dog!

When I’m out networking I ask people how they’re doing and often the response is “busy.” Which is a lame answer. So, I ask “good busy, or busy busy.” And I’ll get mixed responses. And it’s fun to watch people stop to think about it. Here’s what I’m asking:

Busy Busy

Busy-Busy is running all over town for appointments you know could be a 20 minute phone call. It’s wasting time networking at events where your target market will never show up. Busy Busy is not having systems in place. Busy Busy is finding the need to stay busy so you can say you’re busy, but none of it is producing new clients or helping you to grow your business.

Good Busy

Good Busy is what we want! You have a full workload, you might be volunteering, spending time with family, work/personal commitments, etc. When you’re “good busy” you have your priorities in check, you’re really focused on what’s moving your business (and life) forward because you’re BUSY.

Good busy is what we all strive for when we’re “busy,” and it’s hard to achieve. It can also mean there’s down time when you aren’t good busy. There are afternoons where I can be done working at 1 because I’m done with my to do list and I don’t need to keep myself busy. When I have that down time it shows me that I have room to grow my business. And that’s AWESOME. So I start to figure out what my schedule will allow (2 new newsletter clients? a large scale marketing project client?) Because I continue to attend networking events that are with my target market, and I have systems in place (my newsletter for example) to touch my network regularly I usually have a pretty healthy pipeline that I can review and work with.

The next time someone asks how you are doing, actually answer their question. And if the answer is “busy,” ask yourself – is it’s good busy or just busy busy?

How 40% of My Traffic Comes from Social Media

by // Leave a Comment

This guy measures his trafficOn (or around) the first of each month I pull a report in Google Analytics for clients to see where traffic to their website is coming from. This month I was looking at my traffic and realized I had a lot (for me) coming from social media. Like 40% a lot. I was really surprised. And I knew exactly how it happened.

A few months back someone tweeted a blog post about how to double your traffic with social media.  And I started doing it. I setup Buffer at the beginning of the year and when I have a new blog post I spend 1 minute (okay maybe 90 seconds) in Buffer getting my post scheduled to go out a few times over the next month. That’s ALL I do.

Okay, maybe not all I do. I’m also engaging with my audience. What? Earlier this week the person who tweeted the article and I tweeted back and forth all morning about books. Like for fun books, not work stuff. ENGAGE. Will he ever be a client? I don’t think so, but people see that I actually engage with others on social media. My most popular tweet this week was about obeying the Olivia Pope diet for dinner. What does ANY of that have to do with work? Nothing. But when I do tweet out my most recent newsletter or blog post, people respect it because I don’t JUST force boring business stuff down your throat (but hopefully this isn’t boring). Be a real person.

Don’t assume that the ONE time you post your latest blog post to social media is when they’re going to be on and able to read it. Share it throughout the day (I always schedule an evening post, it’s how my husband usually finds it!) when your audience is active. Fun fact – Buffer will tell you when your traffic and posting times are best. YAY for a $10 a month tool that’s useful!

My favorite part? the traffic that comes from Facebook. I think we are all aware I’m not the one posting anything there. So someone must be referring to me or my posts there. You can’t measure what you don’t track. Here’s the analytics report I pull for clients each month. See what it shows you. It might not be the right fit. I’m not claiming to be an analytics expert (I mean, novice is generous..) but this is the info that’s interesting and important to me and my clients. Try it out, let me know what you learn!

How Do You Get Found Online?

by // Leave a Comment

IMG_2820Lately as I’ve been talking to clients, I’ve seen an increased request to get found online. But where do you start? Yes you can hire SEO firms to work with you on this, and depending on what you do that might be a great idea. But if you’re a small business owner like me, it may not be in the budget. So where do you start? Here’s what I suggest to my clients:

  1. Setup Your Google Business Page – First things first, start with the big guns. Make sure to completely fill out your profile and add photos and your logo! I also have my blog posts automatically posted to my page so that it’s regularly updated. That way people know I’m alive and kicking, and by people, I mean the Google bots.
  2. Setup Bing Places – Why? Because we live in the Northwest and people actually use Bing. Bing Places is great because you can set it up and forget about it.
  3. Depending on your industry I recommend a few other options: Yelp, Angie’s List, and Houzz are three of the most popular.

There’s a ton or sites out there you can choose from but making sure that the main places that people are finding you are claimed and your profiles are completely filled out is the key. Here’s three resources that I use and recommend for clients:

  1. Moz Local – this website tells you all the spots you’re found online and what’s missing.
  2. Google Analytics – if you have your analytics setup then you can see each month where your traffic is coming from. If I see a new referral source to my site I make sure that my profile is filled out on that site to increase my chance of being found.
  3. Odd Dog Media – my friends over at Odd Dog Media are a great web development and local SEO firm. If you need a company, they’re it. But if you don’t have the budget, they wrote up this awesome and simple guide to Local SEO.

Questions? That’s what I’m here for!