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Behind the scenes at BIMS in Florida

From the suburbs of Denver, Colorado to the beaches of Palm harbor, Florida, working from home has been an adventure! Being able to spend time as a family and raise our daughter Allisun who turns 5 in September has been such a blessing.

Managing a company was easy, being able to manage a company, a child and life, now that takes some skill!

Since the day Allisun was born she came to networking events, meetings, one-to-ones and much more! Our clients loved it! We moved to Florida in 2015 and once we moved she started preschool 3 days a week, which is a great for me to get work done and for her to learn!

Meet the Florida family:

Allisun:

She is 4 ½ , turning 5 in September, but what’s that saying 4 going on 16?? Yeah that’s what I deal with! I love my daughter she is funny, smart, caring, sporty, fearless and such a DIVA! She has such a good personality and I love to watch her grow each and everyday! 

My Hubby Charlie:

He is the reason I wanted to move to Florida, to be able to give him a chance to get out of corporate, spend more time with his girls (Me & Alli of course) and enjoy life! He worked 12-13 hours a day in Colorado, loved his job, but the commute was very hard! Money was great but didn’t buy our happiness! He is my rock!

Charles Irwin

Our high-maintenance PITBULL Bodhi:

He is 6 years old, we rescued him from a puppy shelter in Colorado when he was 3 months old, we just fell in love with him, he is such a baby! He likes for us to stand outside with him when he does his business, his food needs to be a certain way, and certain distance from his water bowl, oh the list goes on with this little boy! I have raised a high maintenance, spoiled, loving dog!

Oh let’s not forget our two tortoises:

G.G. Emily (named after Allisun’s Great Grandma who passed in 2014) and Mavis who is named after the turtle on Dolphin Tale 2! These were our “Black Friday Special” in 2015 a month after we moved to Florida. They will be in our family for along time!

 

 

Thank god I am an AMAZING multi-tasker, because there is never a dull moment in our household! I truly enjoy most days HAHA! Being an entrepreneur and having a business of my own (with business partner Caitlin) has been amazing! I wouldn’t trade this adventure for any other!

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Social Media Myths That Cripple Marketing Campaigns

As a start-up business, you are probably working on a limited capital. You’re trying to do everything yourself because you still can’t afford to hire people for your marketing campaign. It’s no wonder you chose to introduce your brand and reach out to your target audience through social media.

Social media is a powerful tool for business owners, especially for start-up entrepreneurs. In fact, it has grown in popularity over the past decade and has contributed to the success of several businesses all over the world. However, there are a number of myths floating around. These myths can ruin your chance of selling to your target audience.

Let’s put these social media myths to rest.

You need to be on every social networking site

Maintaining a social media account takes time and effort. There’s no point in opening an account on Instagram if your target audience isn’t there. What you want to do is to determine where your audience, and focus your efforts on those platforms.

Blogging is a waste of time

With so much information on the internet right now, some of you may think that creating a blog won’t help you reach your bottom line. But the truth is, a business blog is a great way to capture the attention of your target audience.

Make sure that you supply them with interesting and informative blogs, and they’ll surely be coming back for more. Give them tips and share your knowledge with your audience. Eventually, people will see you as an industry expert.

You need to be online 24/7 to be successful

While regular posting and fast response is important, you don’t need to monitor your social media accounts 24/7 just to build a strong social media presence. We understand that you’re busy, but please make sure that you have at least one social media post per day. Post less than that and your fans and followers will eventually forget about you.

Your social media accounts can replace your website

Although it’s easier to reach out and engage with your potential and current customers on social media, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t update your website from time to time.

Write blogs, provide updates about your recent projects, and then share them on social media. Use it to attract your audience. Encourage people to share your post or voice out their opinions. Because these social media posts are linked to your website, it can help drive traffic to your website. Remember, the more professional your website is, the more advantages you can gain.

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What does being a “social business” mean?

Being a business owner today means you need to do more than just run your company, you need to be social! Social Media has been a great tool for business owners to speak with their customers and target audience, one problem some businesses have is making social media a 2-way street. Businesses should not just be posting everyday to social media, businesses need to get involved! Think of social media as an online networking event, you go and ask other people what they do and what they need help with in their business and get to know those people. Social media is the same thing; you need to ask questions, get feedback, answer questions, and get involved in your online community!

I did some research on what does it mean to be a social business, and I found this great article from YFS Magazine: Here are a few things they mention in the article that we totally agree with, be sure to read the whole article here http://yfsmagazine.com/2013/08/27/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-social-business/2/#axzz2pvcIdtPw

What was most surprising, however not really, was the disconnect between social media strategy and overall business objectives. In our research we found:

  • Only 34% of businesses feel that their social strategy is connected to business outcomes.
  • Just 28% of companies studied felt that they have a holistic approach to social media, where lines of business and business functions work together under a common vision.
  • Only half of companies surveyed said that their top executives were “informed, engaged and aligned with their companies’ social strategy.”

 

What does it mean to be a social business?

A social business is more than social media. Yet, it’s a term that’s often confused with social media strategy. There’s an important difference between a social business and a social media strategy.

Each represent distinct qualities for which “social” is simply a qualifier. In the context of “media”, social is an adjective that describes the nature of channels, networks, or platforms that facilitate conversations online. When placed ahead of business, social articulates a philosophy or approach.

In this case, “social business” is a philosophy, a way of business in which social technologies supported by new approaches facilitate a more open, engaged, and collaborative foundation for how we work.

Isn’t ‘social’ just, a necessary nuisance?

The fact that social media and social business still cause debate, or even confusion after all these years, is understandable. Many business owners see social media as a novelty or a distraction for young adults and kids. They haven’t realized the impact of social networks because they either:

  • Don’t have time
  • Can’t see the value
  • Find it difficult to keep up with all of the networks
  • Or a combination of all of the above

Understandably, the priority and focus is driving business objectives, creating opportunities, and solving problems. Many founders and CEO’s don’t make decisions based on technology or trends, yet when their teams talk about social they tend to emphasize social media rather than social business goals.

 

The Goal of a Social ‘Business’ Strategy

A social business strategy starts with a vision for how social media will improve customer and employee experiences and relationships. It aligns social media initiatives with business goals and opportunities. Technology thus becomes an enabler for a bigger mission and purpose.

A social media strategy outlines how a business will employ social networks to engage customers or employees. When social is viewed through the lens of customer expectations, preferences, opportunities and challenges you can’t help but to at least consider further research and pilot programs that lead to bigger initiatives.

In the end, you will learn that a true social business strategy employs social media as one of the primary channels, not the only channel, to deliver a consistent, connected, and additive experience online, through mobile and in the real world by modernizing and improving the complete customer and employee lifecycle.\
Read more: http://yfsmagazine.com/2013/08/27/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-social-business/#ixzz2pvgAECFl
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives
Follow us: @YFSMagazine on Twitter

So our question to you is . . .  What is your company doing to be social? Please share with us what has worked and not worked! We want to hear from you!!!!

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Internet Marketing Trends for 2014

As another year comes to an end we have seen the online world continue to evolve!  Businesses are finding more success with original content than with advertisements within content. They are also building brand awareness and building online communities.

Internet Marketing Trends for 2014

1. Content Strategy- Businesses gain consumer trust by creating valuable content, this content can be different amongst social media platforms. This takes into consideration industry information that gives greater insight and entertainment to audiences. Having a good content strategy and marketing in social media on websites, blogs, as comments, in emails plus videos and more often provides opportunities for businesses and high brand recognition.

2. Social Media- Social Media is not going anywhere, but the key factor is to see what platforms work best for you and your business. There are always new Social Media sites popping up, that does not mean you need to be on every single one, you do need to do your homework and see if Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr etc. are a good fit.

3. Keep it simple– People want simple! Keep your marketing messages and recognizable logos simple, they are the key to your online marketing. Don’t burn out your audience by constantly barraging them with advertisements and content that is irrelevant, boring or non-productive. Consumers today want to look at what you have in about ten seconds and move on to something else!

4. Mobile Marketing- The usage of smartphones continues to grow, this means you need to make sure your website is mobile friendly, and may require that you have apps and online marketing adaptable to smartphone and tablet use. They say by 2017, it is predicted that 87% of cellular phone use will be via smartphones. Provide a marketing experience that can be easily used through smartphones.

5. Info graphics- We are a visual society, people want to see pictures and info graphics that explain something to them in a simple format. Info graphics are a great way to create a blog, social media post and post on Pinterest.

6. SEO (search engine optimization) will continue to be used in online marketing and play a very important role in search ranking in 2014. Providing users with the best and most relevant content is what makes Google run. Share good, targeted content, and the higher ranked a website will be. Also keep in mind that top ranking search results often connect to social shares.

With all of this being said online marketing will continue to grow and it is important that your business is online and being seen! Social Media and blogging and add some videos into that mix can really help your SEO for your business. Does all of this sound a little overwhelming? We are here to help you navigate your way through your online marketing and manage it for you! Email us today for a FREE 30 minute consultation!!! Marketing@TheBIMSTeam.com

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