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Internal and External Goals

Today we are talking about setting your internal and external goals. Every year we all set goals and New Year’s Resolutions but sometimes we get lost just focusing on the destination and not the journey. When we are talking about your internal goals we are looking at your creativity, feeding your soul, positive things, finding your purpose and fulfilling yourself. Whereas External goals focus more on how people view you, the extravagant things like a huge house, nice cars, making 6 figures a year, now those things are great, but are are you wanting them because they mean something to you or because of how people will view you? The external goal focuses more on the outside appearance and just your destination and not your journey.

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How To Work SMART In 2018

I don’t know about you, but my mind has been consumed with planning for 2018!  Specifically, I have been asking myself “how I can grow my business in the new year?”  The biggest question I have been asking myself is “What are the activities that I need to be involved in to grow the business and how can I tell if those activities will work and are working?”  Almost like kismet, I stumbled over the SMART acronym while surfing social media.  While it is not a new idea, it is definitely a timely one!

If you are not familiar with the SMART acronym, here is how it breaks down as it applies to business and goal setting:

S – Specific (make your goal is clear and not ambiguous) 

M – Measurable (how will you measure your results to ensure you have reached your goal?)

A – Attainable (make sure the goal is something realistic, something you can achieve)

R – Relevant (does the goal make sense for your business and your business plan?)

T – Time-Bound (how long will it take you to achieve your goal or what deadline did you assign to this goal?)

This acronym is a favorite as it reminds me to be laser focused when planning my goals for 2018.  Each goal I set for 2018 will need to be SMART.  Each letter of the acronym will be filled out in order for it to be considered a serious goal for 2018.  To do that, I created a 2018 SMART planner that I am excited to share with you!  You can download the planner and complete SMART for each goal you plan to achieve in 2018.

To get your SMART planner, click HERE.

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Using Canva to Create Beautiful Images

Canva is a great tool for business owners to use, to create those eye-grabbing images for social media. It is an easy to use platform, that allows you to be super creative and make amazing images without being a graphic designer and having to pay a fortune for images. Canva is great for creating your branded images, marketing materials, presentations, menus and so much more! Sometimes you will see an image as you scroll through social media and say WOW that is an awesome image! You may think to yourself “how did they do that?” Now you know! Create images that STOP THE SCROLL as we say! Enjoy!

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Defining Your Core Values

Each business should have a list of core values, your core values are what makes your business run. What type of people you want to hire, or work with. This is the foundation of your business.

We will learn in 5 simples steps how to figure out what your core values are.
Download your FREE Core Values Checklist Here

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Boosted Posts vs. Facebook Ads

boosted posts vs. facebook ads

Scratching your head about whether to ‘boost’ a post on Facebook or to utilize the power of Facebook ads?  Boosting a post is sometimes ‘simple’ but not always the best answer to get to the folks that really matter to your brand!  Remember, Facebook is not a spray and pray proposition. Getting into the newsfeeds is getting harder and harder for ranking capability.  Soooo…get ready to dig into your pocketbook, whether boosting or using Facebook ads.

Boosting a post on Facebook, let’s face it, is easy-peasy, as opposed to going behind the scenes and utilizing the awesome tools on Facebook Manager. All you have to do is hit the ‘boost post’ button and off you go, right?  WRONG. Hang on ‘pardner…

In the past, boosting did not have many of the attributes that Facebook Ads Manager had, but now the Boost post button might not be such a bad strategy after all.  You can now actually re-target and optimize your boosts to actually drive traffic for developing your brand followers!  

There are some key factors that come into play when boosting your posts.  You must consider:

  1. What is the goal for the boost?
  2. DO NOT boost a post that does not benefit you, such as a resource post that does not lead back to your website, as an example.
  3. Again, boosting is not a ‘spray and pray’ proposition.  Make sure that you are targeting your demographic for the post.
  4. It’s all about the Facebook Pixel!!!!  In order to get the best traction, make sure that you have installed the Facebook Pixel (it’s FREE) on your website so you can get your tracking enabled.

So why is Facebook Manager a greater preference for ads?  Let’s be frank, candid and honest…Facebook Ads Manager does have a learning curve…no doubt…but it does have the ability for in-depth targeting, which is a HUGE coup! AND AND AND…if you are an organizational freak, the only way to keep completely organized with your ad spend is to create campaigns within Facebook Ads Manager.  You don’t have that ability with boosting posts.

For example, if you want to stay organized on Ads Manager for ‘campaigns,’ you can organize your campaigns strategically:

  • App installs
  • Engagement
  • Brand Awareness
  • Reach
  • Traffic
  • Video Views
  • LeadGen
  • Messages
  • Conversions
  • Product Catalog Sales
  • Store Visits

If you are merely ‘boosting’ a post, you do not have the ability to categorize your ‘boosted posts’ into strategic campaigns on Facebook to examine analytics per campaign goals.

So, to wrap it up quick and easy…boosted posts will help you develop a fan base and reach, and ads can actually help you transition your brand’s presence into tangible brand outcomes!

Stay tuned for more info…lots to share!

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Twitter Tactics

How can you get the most out of Twitter for your business?  We get that question A LOT!  Twitter can be confusing and some may be stumped on how to use Twitter.  When getting started with Twitter, it’s best to take baby steps and then grow from there.  Once you get your feet wet and splash around a little you can’t help but take a swim in the deep end.

Starting Out…

When first with Twitter, use it for two things:

  1. Gather information
  2. Share information

Gathering Information:

Twitter can be extremely valuable for gathering information on a number of topics.  To do this effectively you will want to follow these steps:

  • Follow credible sources who deliver valuable content about the topic you are interested in.  Topics can range anywhere from sports scores, business trends, world news, marketing tactics, etc.
  • As you identify the sources you want to follow, add them to lists in order to sort the feeds by category or topic.  Using lists will help you keep all of the topics you want to follow organized
  • To create a list, follow these steps:
    • Visit your “Lists” section of Twitter by clicking the gear icon drop-down menu or by clicking Lists on your profile page.
    • Click Create List.
    • Name the List & create a description.
    • Mark the List as Public or Private.
    • Save the List.
  • Now that you have your list created, you can easily add sources to the list by:
    • Click on a Twitter user’s profile
    • Click on the person icon drop-down menu on the profile.
    • Choose add or remove from Lists.
    • Choose the List you would like to add the person to or uncheck the List the person was already a member of.
  • Add as many people to your various lists as you would like
  • Check your lists often to get the latest news from your trusted sources

Sharing Information:

Twitter is a great way for you to position yourself as an authority on a certain topic, field or industry.  The trick is to share “tweet-able” information, share it often and on a consistent basis.  A good rule of thumb is to share 21-70 Tweets a week.  That is a minimum of 3 Tweets a day or a maximum of 10 Tweets.  It seems like a lot, but there are a couple of things to remember:  

  1. You are Tweeting sound bites of information that link back to a bigger story (your website, blog, landing page, or another social platform that has more detailed info).
  2. There is only room to Tweet up to 280 characters which is not a very large amount of content.
  3. If you do not maintain a constant flow of information, a single message will get lost in the Twitter-sphere minimizing your opportunity to be found by others.

So What’s “Tweetable?”

We are glad you asked!  Below is a list of some generic ideas to get you started:

  • Industry trends
  • Tips
  • Events
  • Statistics
  • Recommendations
  • Best tools for your industry
  • Links to your blog post
  • Pose questions (this is a great way to encourage engagement)
  • Attention-grabbing graphics
  • Video
  • Quote
  • Poll
  • Follow appreciation post
  • Short and sweet “how-to”
  • Data
  • Something funny

Now that you get the idea of what types of things you should post, it’s time to put a plan into action.  An efficient way of releasing multiple Tweets a day is to use a bulk scheduler like Hootsuite or Buffer.  Visit this blog post to get more information about bulk schedulers.

Happy Tweeting!

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3 Steps to a STRONG Personal Brand

What is a personal brand?  

A personal brand is a feeling, an emotion and an expectation about who you are as a person and and a professional.  Your personal brand tells people what your character is and what they can expect to experience when working with you.  

How Do You Build A Strong Personal Brand?

Our 3-Step process will help you identify what your personal brand looks like.  Once you identify what your personal brand is, it will be your job to nurture, grow and tweak it along the way.

STEP 1:  WHO YOU ARE

Identify 3-6 core values that describe you.  Core values are those things that drive you and make you who your are.  They can be anything from trustworthy, respectful, innovative, leader, etc.

  1. _____________________________________
  2. _____________________________________
  3. _____________________________________
  4. _____________________________________
  5. _____________________________________
  6. _____________________________________

Power Tip:  

Need help?  Use Google to do some research!  Type “List of core values” into the Google search engine and see what comes up.  Select core values that really describe who you are and how you want people to perceive you.

STEP 2:  WHAT YOU DO

Write out a descriptive statement of what problem you are able to provide a solution to.  

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The point of this descriptive is to illustrate how you think and want people to perceive you.

STEP 3:  THE VALUE YOU PROVIDE

Strong personal brands deliver value ALL THE TIME!  With everything they do, there is always a piece of value available.  Two value-focused brands that quickly come to mind are:

Facebook:  Provides people the opportunity to connect with friends, family, and businesses everyday!

Google:  Delivers information instantaneously!  It costs you nothing to do research from the comfort of your own home!

Make a list of all of the pieces of value you offer to your target market:

    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________
    • _______________________________________________________________

 

 

Putting it ALL Together

Now that you have a clear picture of:

  • What makes you who you are
  • The solution you provide
  • The value that you offer…

You begin to see what your brand looks like.  From here, you can go anywhere!  With every piece of marketing you do, the product you deliver or conversation you have, you can design it all to reflect how you want people to perceive you, your business, and the product or service you deliver.

Take It One Step Further…

Put your brand to the test.  Work with a trusted colleague, mentor, or friend, someone who will give feedback, and tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you WANT to hear.  Ask them how they honestly see your brand and the product you deliver.  If they are unable to identify the problem you solve, how valuable your product or service is or if they are unable to identify any of the 6 core values you listed above to describe you and your business, you have some work to do.  You must either change one or all of the steps above or you must change yourself.  

Personal branding is a marathon, not a sprint, and, it is definitely a journey.  You will need to constantly work at it and improve it each and every day.

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Personal Brand or Personal Image. What’s The Difference?

Many times people use the terms personal brand and personal image interchangeably but, they shouldn’t.  There is a BIG difference between the two!  Once you understand the difference between them, it will make a difference in your business.

Let’s dive in…

Personal Image:  

Everyone has one!  It what helps people form a mental picture of you.  Here are some characteristics of a Personal Image:

  • Sense of humor
  • How you talk, the language you use, the accent you have
  • Sense of style
  • Favorite color
  • Your overall preferences of what you like and what you do not like

Personal Brand:  

A personal brand is how people perceive you and it sets the expectation of how you will conduct business with another professional.  Your personal brand:

  • Sets you apart from others in your industry
  • Broadcasts your skill set
  • Describes your work ethic is
  • Provides insight into your character and values
  • Illustrates the expected level value you provide

Think of your personal brand as your professional reputation on steroids.  Your personal brand is the emotion, thought and an idea that is conjured up each and every time your name and business name are mentioned in your target market.   What do you want that thought or idea to be for you and your business?

Now that you know how important your personal brand is, you must protect it at all costs by delivering a consistent message each and every time you interact with your target market whether it be on social media, through a marketing program, during a meeting, consultation or a deliverable product.

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