Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

3 Marketing Updates You May Need to Check In On

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3-Marketing-Updates-You-May-Need-to-Check-In-OnThis morning I was thrilled (please note the dripping sarcasm) to see that Mailchimp has decided to completely restructure their billing and their plan offerings. The good news if you already have an account –  you’re safe. But if you need to move to a paid plan (which based on what your automation and list needs are, you might) you are going to probably pay more. I’ve seen a few changes to marketing technology lately and I wanted to share 3 marketing changes that you may want to check in on for your business.

  1. LinkedIn Showcase Pages – I was talking with a client today about how great the LinkedIn Showcase pages are as a compliment to your business page. Then I clicked on mine to show her and the page was in need of a major update. SO – if you’ve had a business page setup on LinkedIn and added featured pages for specific products – it’s time to jump over and make sure it still looks as good as you hoped!
  2. Google My Business – With Google+ gone what’s a small business owner to do to promote their content on Google? Luckily if you have a Google My Business Page setup (and if you don’t stop now and do that first) you can add a post to your account. With G+ you could schedule these out like other social media posts, but with Google My Business you have to manually go in to add in a post. However, I appreciate that GMB will alert you when your post is about to expire so you can go in and post something new. Which you should…
  3. Mailchimp’s Update – If you have Mailchimp take a look at the email they sent out today with their updated terms of use and their new snazzy pricing structure. Reminder – if you already have an account – you’re safe!

Software and marketing tools are constantly changing. These are 3 that just happened to be talking about TODAY that I thought I’d make sure you’re aware of. What software has changed recently that small business owners need to be aware of? Please share in the comments…

5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post Checklist

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5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post ChecklistThe other day while chatting with a client she asked if I have a checklist for blogging. I sure didn’t (well, I do in pieces in my head) so I decided we should create one.

A few years ago I wrote about how 40% of my traffic comes from social media – but let’s update that for 2019…

  1. Linktree – If you’re using Instagram as part of your social media then you know that you only get ONE URL in your bio. Which is DUMB. With Linktree you create a page that has all your relevant links to your recent blog posts and any other links you reference in your Instagram. Check mine out…
  2. Buffer – you need a social media sharing tool to help keep you sane. I pay for Buffer and it’s awesome. I still mostly stick to this social media sharing schedule from this post a few years ago. Lately I have been monitoring how many tweets are scheduled/work/promo and how many are LIVE me. Evaluate your social media regularly to make sure you aren’t talking AT your audience but are talking to and with your audience.
  3. Add to your Newsletter – each month in my newsletter I feature a few of my latest blog posts. It’s a great way to get some additional exposure to folks who many not follow my blog.
  4. Reference Your Posts – a lot of my blog posts (this one included) are written so I can easily share my recommendations down the road without having to write this all out again. Make sure if you took the time to write a helpful blog post that you’re sharing it with your clients or a specific audience when the time comes. I was on a group call last week where we ended up talking about a topic I have written a few posts about so I was able to share those posts and get new eyes on my website.
  5. Add to Google My Business – Now that G+ is going away don’t forget that you can add a post to your Google My Business page! It expires in time but once you start posting you get a heads up – which might even prompt you to write another post!

What other behind the scenes tasks do you do on your blog?

When is the Right Time to Run a Referral Campaign?

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When is the Right Time to Run a Referral Campaign_The other day a client asked me to review a letter to clients about some technology glitches their company recently had. One person involved had included the idea for a referral contest to engage the clients.

All I could think was “How do I tell my client that this is a terrible time for this?”

Luckily my client agreed with me. Phew.

Running a referral campaign to increase leads to your business is a great idea. It might be a social media contest or an ongoing practice that you have in your business.

However, if your business is in the midst of having just upset a good chunk of your clients, that’s not the time to ask them to refer business to you. It’s the time to make sure that you go above and beyond in your customer service and acknowledge the hassle. On a case by case basis you can send a specific thank you/apology gift and make sure that all clients are happy to be working with you.

Then, once all glitches are worked out and things are running smoothly you can setup your referral campaign. Referral campaigns can be great. I recommend setting them up in a quieter time in your business. Make sure that you have time to do the follow up and have time for the additional work when it comes in. For some people that’s the summer, for some it’s the beginning of the school year.

Figure out when a quieter time is in your business, then figure out WHAT you want to offer – is it special pricing for new clients? What’s the contest reward for current clients?

By all means run a referral contest if that’s a good lead generation tool. AND make sure that your clients will gush about working with you.