Why Use Social Media to Market?

by Barry Brennan on February 29th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Sales & Marketing

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Barry Brennan, Marketing and Business Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

Barry-Brennan

Decades ago there were limitations when it came to opportunities for marketing. The internet has opened the door to alternate marketing methods. Businesses and companies can now use traditional marketing tools and those central to the internet. Using free marketing methods like social media has become a staple for many businesses.

It doesn’t matter, what field or industry that you represent. You can benefit from the use of social media. Twitter, Facebook, and various other outlets are terrific when it comes to marketing new products. They are also opportunities to gather diverse clientele through simple techniques. Social media has served to transform the way that business is conducted. At the same time, you can change your own model for success by using social media daily.

Introduce Businesses and Products

Many businesses utilize their social media presence in order to introduce themselves to new customers. You could be a boutique owner or niche café location. Social media is a terrific option for making that first impression on the public. This is a massive spin on word-of-mouth marketing. Businesses count on the use of their followers to earn them even more business.

From Followers to Customers

The uniqueness of social media is very beneficial to businesses and companies. You can attract followers even before they become your customers. If these customers love your products or services, they will likely share it with their friends and contacts. This becomes an renewable source of business. It allows you to constantly market yourself, while gaining customers.

Increasing Productivity

You can use social media to increase your company’s productivity. Having multiple avenues to earn profits is essential to any business. The internet is certainly one of those realms that businesses seek to master. Linking tweets, comments, and blog posts to your webstore helps you to benefit from your social media presence.

Social Media started as a way for people to simply communicate. Today, these outlets are used to conduct business. They are avenues to reach out to many people in a semi-personal way. You can use social media to stay connected with existing customers. This method of marketing also ensures that your products will be seen by a host of potential customers as well. Social media gives you an additional opportunity to make your business a success.

HR Management 101

by David Parkinson on February 24th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Human Resources

David-ParkinsonSPECIAL GUEST BLOG By David Parkinson, Management Mentor, Mentors.ie

For those establishing a business or making a resolution to refocus on Human Resources “best practices”, there are a few topics to consider based on provisions under Irish employment law.

Employee Status. Employees are secured either via contracts of service or contracts of services.  Only those under a contract of service will be an actual employee that is protected by the full range of employment legislation, while a self-employed person (independent contractor) would be engaged in a contract of services for those providing work in the role of a vendor.

Employee Terms. There may needs of the business that dictate using workers with atypical terms including fixed-term, part-time and temporary employees.  While all terms do not have to be in writing, some conditions, such as method of calculating pay and any sick pay scheme, must be recorded within two months of starting employment.

Compensation. While most experienced adult employees are entitled to the the minimum wage of €8.65 per hour, there are some exceptions including those working that are under 18, apprentices, trainees or those employed by close relatives.  There are also certain industries that require a higher minimum wage, such as those working in drapery, printing, electrical contracting and construction.

Employee Rights. As governed by the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, all employers are responsible for providing employees with adequate work hours.  This includes daily and weekly rest breaks, public holiday entitlements and annual leave.  Other leave entitlements for eligible employees could include general health and safety matters along with adoptive, parental, maternity and long-term care situations.

Policies and Procedures. Record keeping is key in having successful HR relations with employees and governmental officials.  During a National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) Inspection a number of documents will be requested including all of the previously stated information along with payroll details, holiday entitlement specifics and any employee-related history of the business.  Other internal policies and procedures should include how to deal with matters regarding absences, grievances, discipline and dignity (anti-bullying/harassment) should also be determined.

Partner for Promotion

by Barry Brennan on February 22nd, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Sales & Marketing

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Barry Brennan, Marketing and Business Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

Barry-Brennan

There are benefits connected with partnering for promotions. Recently retailers like Toys R Us and Aeropostale partnered with eBay to benefit online customers. This partnership offers these customers with coupons that can be used at physical store locations. Partnerships of this sort are used in a two-fold way. They encourage customers to shop both via the internet and in store locations. Depending on the savings of coupons, these promotions could encourage customers to make multiple purchases. This is a smart way to attract new and existing customers to take advantage of sales. Partnerships work to benefit both businesses and customers. Small local businesses, as well as, large popular chains can use these techniques to inspire customers and to get sales.

Multiple Benefits

There are multiple benefits to online retailers when they enter into partnerships like the one with eBay. Using specific guidelines for acquiring deals and coupons is a part of this process. Some promotions may require specific payment methods. This one in particular led people to make purchases through PayPal. Coupons can then be redeemed within the time frame of one year. The goal for these relationships is that everyone gain a benefit.

Combining Business

A company cannot success if their in-store sales aren’t as good as online sales. This is why partnerships are beneficial across the board. Customers who shop primarily through the internet are happy to redeem in-store coupons. This is a way to combine business formats and objectives, as well as, meeting productivity goals.

Diversity Instead of Competition

Partners can find businesses to work with that are polar opposites to them. You don’t have to select a partnership that will pit you against your competition. Diverse businesses working together can more easily benefit from a partnership. This is a way to encourage a long-term relationship whether you use it seasonally or monthly.

Partnerships from local businesses is a unique way to apply big-business models. Those that have an internet presence can have even more of a significant benefit. This type of promotional idea showcases thinking outside-of-the-box. It also provides customers with savings that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter.

3 Principles of Business Leadership

by Tony Ritchie on February 17th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Leadership, Mentoring Questions

Tony-RitchieSPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Tony Ritchie, Management Mentor, Mentors.ie

Whether you dream of starting your own business or you just want to enter the exciting world of Irish business, there are three basic tenants of leadership to follow in order to become successful.

1. The ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ must burn within.

The yearning of building a successful business will hinge on passion, innovation and enterprise.  Efficient business leaders possess the characteristics and mindset of an entrepreneur with the initiative to make money through risk.  The level of risk is highly critical and can determine the amount of success.  However, taking that initial risk is a must in order to profit in any new endeavor.  New and existing business owners and executives should continue to assess entrepreneurial opportunities in this knowledge-based economy by taking innovative ideas and commercializing them.

2. Business plays a fundamental role in society.

Social issues are always concerned in business dealings and relationships.  Society affects everything from internal ethics to external marketing and all other aspects of corporate behaviour and strategy.  Business creates employment and wealth, thus contributing to public services.  Issues like resources depletion, treatment of factory workers in developing countries and global warming are among the vast array of societal concerns that impact the decisions of business leaders.

3. Life-long learning fosters greater success.

Continuing advancement in personal development is also a key component of successful leadership in the modern business world.  Staying informed of news and technological advances in every niche of enterprise along with routine assessment and improvement in soft skills like diplomacy, interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, team-building and persuasion are integral to success and happiness as a business leader.  Life-long learning in the traditional form of continuing education happens in many settings but especially conferences, webinars and other meetings of business professionals.

Use Proven Marketing Methods

by Barry Brennan on February 15th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Sales & Marketing

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Barry Brennan, Marketing and Business Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

Barry-Brennan

There’s no need to recreate the wheel as it relates to marketing methods. Proven methods for marketing are great ways to improve and increase your business. No successful business these days can operate effectively without the internet. This medium offers business owners the opportunity to connect with existing customers. At the same time, they can attract new customers to their business.

Simply existing on the internet, however, will not provide you with the success that you want. Businesses that have achieved this level of success have used marketing methods that work. It doesn’t matter, whether you are selling goods, services, or resources. The public must know who you are and what you have that benefits them. Finding the best way to market is the key to your overall success.

Offer a Good Product

No company or business is going to be success if their products are not good. Customers will not be attracted to substandard products. They certainly will not be interested in becoming a repeat customers. It is important that you provide offerings that meet customers’ needs. You will find it easier to market a useful product than one that is outside of normal fields.

Provide Intriguing Content

In the process of marketing, content is very important. This is the case whether we are talking about articles, website content, or product descriptions. Successful companies have found out the secret of blanketing the internet with content about their offerings. This content must be professionally written and to include keywords that steer potential customers to you. These techniques have proven successful no matter what your industry.

Connect with Your Traffic

Successful businesses connect with the traffic that visits their sites in a variety of ways. They first must have an effective product. This needs to be something that is priced well and answers a specific need. Search engine optimization is critical when it comes to improving your rankings online. The easier it is for people to find you and your product, the more business you are likely to receive.

There are effective tools available to help you to steer people to your products. It is important to deliver a product that is useful and well-designed. At the same time, you must market your product to the public. Utilizing search engines and the right content online are important as well. Iterro offers the products that are needed to sufficiently market businesses and to attract new customers.

5 Business Plan “Don’ts”

by ColinLewis on February 6th, 2012 / 1 Comment

Category: Finance, Leadership, Sales & Marketing

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Colin Lewis, Marketing and Business Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

As mentioned last week, I've been reviewing David Ronick's take on the "Do"s of successful business plans. There were also five business plan pitch tactics that the losing teams had in common to be avoided:

1. Text Overload

Great slides make complex ideas simple and abstract ideas tangible, using numbers, diagrams, or pictures. But for the most part, words in pitches are best when spoken, not written. So stick to writing the headlines and telling us the details.

Comment from Colin: The MOST ignored piece of advice in history. What possesses people to write essays on slides? If you cannot work this out, go to slideshare.net and find the winners of their presentation of the year for the last few years. No words, yet incredibly powerful.

2. Too Much Focus on Product

We’re judging your business, not just your product. So don’t focus simply on what you’re selling. You should also keep in mind that you’ll probably wind up changing certain aspects of your product once you put it in front of customers and see what they think. So if your pitch is 15 minutes long, don’t spend more than two of those minutes on your products.

3. Passive Research

It’s good to use some statistics in your presentation (e.g. “The market is growing at 10 percent.”), but reserve the details and sources for backup slides. Don’t base your entire business plan on quantitative research. Be sure to show that you’ve gotten out of the library and have gathered some qualitative research by talking to potential customers. “We interviewed 50 customers and they said…” carries much more weight than “A study showed…”

Comment from Colin: ‘Studies show’ or worse, ‘recent studies show’ is up there with ‘people say’. I always want to shout ‘who says?’ when people say this!!!

4. Overlooked Execution

A start-up idea by itself is pretty much worthless; it’s all about the execution. The weakest teams underestimated how much time and money it would take to develop and tweak a product, or they outright failed to think through how they’d attract customers in a cost-effective, repeatable way. So be sure to spend time really thinking about and researching how to properly execute your idea.

Comment from Colin: For all you people who require NDAs, remember this point. All the ideas in the world are irrelevant. All that matters is execution. If you ask me for an NDA, I start getting suspicious as it proves that people do not know the difference between and idea and execution.

5. Lack of Authenticity

Stick to what you know and care about. One team pitched an idea related to parenting, but didn’t include even one story or picture of a child anywhere in their pitch. As a result, it felt like the team wasn’t truly passionate about parenting—even though that probably was not the case.

Ironically, some of the best business ideas in this year’s competition rated poorly with the judges because they simply weren’t pitched well. It’s important to understand that pitch tactics can make a huge difference in how well your business plan is received. So be sure to take your good idea, and turn it into a great pitch.

Comment from Colin: Possibly the most important statement of the lot. Building a better mousetrap does not mean they will beat a trip to your door.

 

Rewarding Your Workforce

by David Parkinson on February 3rd, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Human Resources

Finding and training new employees is a substantial cost, no matter the size of the organization. One of the best ways to retain employees is to reward them for their work. One of the primary rewards for working adults is to feel a sense of meaning or purpose in their work. If employees feel that they are serving a useful purpose, they are much more likely to stay at their current job.

A common complaint from employees in small- to medium-sized organizations is that they feel burned out. A common symptom of burnout is to feel unappreciated. One of the best ways to address burnout, and retain employees, is to ensure that they feel appreciated for their work.

Thus, it is critical that organizations give careful consideration as to how they reward their employees. Organizations do not need huge sums of money in order to reward them (besides, the belief that money is the major reward is just a myth). Guidelines in this section will help you to think about what might be the best rewards for your employees and to take steps to ensure that you are providing those rewards.

Guidelines to Rewarding Employees

There is not a set of standard rewards to be used for employees everywhere. Instead, each person has his/her own nature and needs. The following guidelines will help you to determine what might be the best ways to reward your employees.

  1. Reward employees by letting them hear positive comments from customers about how the employees’ activities benefited the customer.
  2. Occasionally have a Board member come to an employee meeting to thank them. This usually means a lot to employees, almost as much as having customers provide positive feedback about the employees’ activities.
  3. Understand what motivates each of your employees. You can do this by applying the “Checklist of Categories of Typical Motivators” in the previous subsection about supporting employee motivation on page 199. A major benefit of this approach is that each employee is afforded the opportunity to explain what motivates him or her.
  4. In each monthly staff meeting, take a few minutes to open the meeting by mentioning major accomplishments of various employees.
  5. Present gift certificates to employees who have made major accomplishments. Guidelines for determining who gets this reward should be clearly explained in your personnel policies in order to ensure all employees perceive the practice as fair and equitable. Allow employees to recommend other employees for awards.
  1. Probably the most fulfilling for employees is to be able to do useful work. Be sure that each employee understands the mission of the business and how his/her work is contributing to that mission. Post your mission statement on the walls. Discuss the action-planning section of your strategic plan with employees so that they see how their activities tie directly to achieving the strategic goals of the organization.

Employee Capabilities and the Prevalence of Technology

by Pat OSullivan on February 1st, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Human Resources

If employees and executives are frequently guilty of downplaying HR’s role, often so too is HR in assessing employees’ ability to manage information. Computers first appeared in schools over 12 years ago and today are used by 75 percent of employees to access the Internet for three hours a day on average. Still, many in HR are reluctant to give up basic self-service benefit management tasks that would save a tremendous amount of time and allow them to better address company objectives.

While it is true that online benefits management can be a scary prospect for those who may be less computer savvy, having access to employee benefits online is another way to provide greater employee satisfaction through accessibility and choice. In fact, many employees will expect online access, especially today’s younger generation for whom iPods and IM are part of everyday life.

Self-service HR has become so invaluable that a September 2006 Forrester Research report termed it “an essential core application” for businesses. The report pointed to the ability of Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) to help manage personnel costs, operate efficient business processes, comply with regulations and manage legal exposures, and optimize the value of human capital.

HR personnel who are currently postponing  the introduction of a self-service HRMS in their business should consider implementing such a system in the near future – not only to provide better value for the company but also to allow them to focus on key strategic tasks that are unique to their role.

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