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The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

Megan Totka

Recent Posts by Megan Totka:

6 Great Ways to Lose Customers

You just might be making a mistake or two that’s costing you customers! Just a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits up to 95%, so it makes sense to find your problem and implement a solution before your business takes a hit.

Topics: Customer Service Business Success Tips

Three Things to Know About Snapchat for Business Marketing

Today’s small business owners all share a common goal: to get more for their dollar and find the best strategies for small business marketing.  A newer app in the marketing world is Snapchat.  This app is much more than a simple photo and video sharing app. Since its debut in 2011, it primary use has been for fun, but Snapchat is evolving into a marketing tool that has a lot to offer businesses. Marketers who strive to find an out-of-the-box way to reach their target audience, especially those with a younger demographic, are especially seeing the benefits of using the app.  It’s the marketing wave of the future – 77 percent of college students are using Snapchat to send 400 million messages daily.

Topics: Business Software Guerrilla Marketing Social Media Marketing apps

Six Tips to Hiring the Best Employees

Small businesses often begin with just a few family members or even as a solo venture.  Hiring strangers to take on integral roles and represent your business can be scary – but the economy is on the upswing and a recent survey even tells us that more than seven-in-ten businesses plan to grow their business over the next six months. So many businesses are finding themselves in the position of needing more employees.  As you contemplate how to hire a web designer or prepare to bring on an SEO specialist, consider these tips:

Topics: Hiring Recruiting HR

6 Big Mistakes of Business Blogging

Blogging has become a way for small businesses to further connect and engage with their readers – and the concept has caught fire. 

A solid and well-written blog can help you in more ways than one – it can build your credibility and a more credible website will rank better in Google. However, with so many eyes on your business blog, mistakes can be detrimental.

As you write your business blog, make sure you avoid these six big mistakes of business blogging:

Topics: Business Blogging Marketing Inbound Marketing

Key Ingredients to a Winning Mobile Content-Marketing Strategy

Of the many ways customers may find themselves on your website, the likely driver of traffic is via mobile phones.  The latest statistics from Pew Research tell us that 56 percent of Americans own a Smartphone and many use these devices to browse the Internet.   Does your content-marketing strategy take these changing trends into account?  As a business owner, you may run your business from a Smartphone, so you know the importance of a website that’s tailored to your mobile phone for ease of use. As you develop a winning mobile content-marketing strategy, keep in mind these key ingredients for success.

Topics: Content Marketing Mobile Marketing Marketing Strategy

The 3 Biggest Sins of Building Business Relationships

Success…how bad do you want it?  My guess would be probably be pretty badly.  Business success is founded on the concept of building and maintaining relationships with other business people. 

Relationships hold a real value when it comes to business practices.  A recent network survey by the Referral Institute of over 12,000 business professionals from all over the world said that networking played a role in their successes -- and spent 6.3 hours every week in activities related to networking.  So what are some business relationship blunders you should avoid?  We recommend steering clear of these three big sins of building business relationships:

Topics: Networking Guerrilla Marketing Personal Branding Business Success Tips

It's Possible to Run a Successful Business in Your Pajamas

Today, it is possible to run a successful business in your pajamas thanks to advances in technology.  Beyond just the convenience of running your business on the go, ditching the formality of an office setting offers a plethora of benefits.  From flexibility in scheduling, significant savings in overhead costs, the reduce of stress, and the fact that no one has to worry about lengthy commutes getting in the way of a productive day, more people are picking up on this phenomenon.  A recent survey of over 3,000 business owners found that many believe that by 2023, most businesses will be built entirely with teams of virtual workers.

Topics: Business Success Home Based Business

6 Tips to Be More Responsive to Customers

In an era of instant communication, information overload and search engines, word of mouth recommendations and customer satisfaction are more important than ever before.  Your online reviews ARE your reputation and how you handle Yelp, Zagat (Google+), Facebook and Twitter make the difference between success and failure.  It’s vital that your business responds quickly and efficiently to customer requests, complaints and questions.  Communicating with your customers across a variety of different channels, along with timely responses to inquiries and support issues, will help keep them happy, satisfied and ensure they remain customers.

Topics: Customer Service SocialMedia

Break the Barrier: A Guide to Successful International SEO

International marketing is gaining online momentum and sweeping the industry as businesses realize the number of opportunities to sell overseas. With a staggering 86 percent of Internet users coming from outside of the United States, it is imperative that businesses move forward with their SEO efforts and market internationally. To best reach your multinational audience, use these tips we’ve compiled and watch your business rankings escalate to the top in Google.de:

Topics: SEO International Sales Internet Marketing

6 Free Apps to Bolster Your Online Presence

A strong online presence is essential when it comes to the success of your small business.  In fact, according to the marketing firm Optify, it is vital for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in the top three positions. These spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks by web users.

In order to increase your credibility and boost your online profile, you have a couple of options to select from.  You can hire a costly professional in the internet marketing field, or take hold of the reins and find ways to bolster your online presence yourself. 

If you take the route of doing it alone, there are several free applications you can take advantage of to help you.  Read on for 7 brilliant tools you may not know exist:

Topics: Business Software Branding apps

Four Ways to Reduce Stress and Increase Bottom Line

The end of the year tends to bring on feelings of nostalgia and reflection in all areas of life. People make personal resolutions to lose weight and set professional goals meant to ultimately improve quality of life. Sole proprietors and small business owners often sit down with a  calculator and crunch numbers to find ways to save money and increase revenue in the coming year. While cutting costs on utilities, using smarter marketing techniques and improving efficiency are definite money savers, there are some intangible factors, like stress, that affect bottom line too.

Topics: Leadership Business Success Tips Personal Development

Three Ways to Establish a Good Reputation

You may feel like you are carrying a heavy burden on your shoulders, especially when first starting out. Keeping up is not enough to build success. There are also marketing considerations to take into account – especially when it comes to brand reputation.

Whether you have a product to sell or services to offer, it is vital to establish a good reputation with your potential client base. It is unwise to assume that consumers will automatically view you in a positive light. There is a certain amount of wooing that comes with the new business territory. Like any part of a small business strategy, setting up an accurate and effective view of your services can make a big difference in revenue.

Topics: Reputation Management Online Marketing