Business Tips | Just A Minute, LLC

Flat Design

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 23, 2013

This Just In! – The Web Design World is Indeed Flat!

Everything comes full circle, even web design. You might not have seen it yet, but there’s a new trend out there, and its called is flat web design. It’s sweeping the industry, and the thing is it’s actually existed since Microsoft unveiled it in 2006.

So why is a design “flat”?

Flat design is seen as simple, bright solid colors, a lot of white space, plus the absence of drop shadows, gradients, and textures which have been a major element of a web designer’s arsenal for a while now. Often typography plays a leading role in flat web design. Flat web design is a “smooth” solution whose aim is to eliminate as many decorative elements of a “3D” type look as possible.

So why the change from 3D to flat design?

There are several reasons why this is happening, but possibly the most persuasive reason is that it’s an invention born out of necessity. The 2D environment that designers often have to work in, in this ever-more mobile world, necessitates economy of scale.
It’s become more and more difficult to cram all you may want onto a 4-inch screen, making a 3D simulation somewhat counterproductive and incompatible with a great user experience. Using a flat design pages load faster, are less bulky and are more responsive. In a very competitive world in which you have a few short seconds to win over and hook your visitors, every second counts.

Is this a fad or is flat design here to stay?

It might be simple to dismiss this as merely another fad in web design, and then leave it at that, Nevertheless, with the next Apple operating system iOS7 rumored to be seeking a more flat design, can the rest of the web be far behind? Although it might easily turn into a trend, its simpleness and user-friendly functionality might help it to stay around longer than most.

Buzzword Watch “SoLoMo”

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 18, 2013

What is SoLoMo and Why Do I Need It?

If you haven’t yet incorporated the concept of SoLoMo, (social, local, mobile) it’s high time to get connected and realize exactly how and why this is a most important direction for your small business to embrace.

So what is SoLoMo and why do you need it?

The melding of these three distinct technologies was bound to happen. As mobile devices get more and more sophisticated, letting geo-location services to track every move, it was only a small step into empowering businesses to send notifications to nearby customers. Research conducted recently by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that around 74 percent of smartphone users use them to get information, and approximately 18 percent are using them to check in on local businesses with services like Foursquare. This has led to both an opportunity and a challenge. A growing number of mobile users are searching for local products and services, and if your company is not using its social media to connect and draw these individuals who are out there roaming the streets seeking something to do, eat or buy. It’s your job to make sure they find you before they find someone else!

3 Ways to engage with SoLoMo

Use social media – By utilizing social media such as Facebook, Twitter and others to interact with and inform your customers and prospects, you’ve found a most effective and inexpensive way to build relationship and energize your brand at the same time.
Optimize your local presence – Ensure that your small business is optimized in local search directories that are applicable, and you are actively catering to local business in your marketing.
Spend some on mobile marketing – Mobile ads are returning very good ROIs, since most users who are searching local are out there searching for it in the field. Also, some local advertising methods are cheap or free, such as check in deal on Facebook or FourSquare.

A great example of SoLoMo in action is exemplified by Walgreens. Checking in with Foursquare gives their customers coupons and a whole lot more! SoLoMo isn’t going to do anything but expand exponentially, so take the time to make sure your small business is all set for it!

How to Use Twitter Hashtags in Your Small Business

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 16, 2013

What are #Hashtags and How to Use Them

Know exactly what a #Hashtag is? If you’re not a social media expert, and particularly Twitter, you might not have a clue what a #hashtag is. No need for that being the case any longer. A hashtag is a # paired with a word or phrase to perform a number of functions. Twitter users add hashtags to tweets as search conventions, a method of categorizing, and marketing tactics. #Hashtags can also be used in other social media platforms.

#Hashtags guidelines

Be certain to do your basic research and see if the keyword you’d like to use is not being currently employed elsewhere. This is as simple as doing a little research (a search on Search.Twitter.com) to ascertain whether or not that #Hashtag would be a good idea. Also, don’t try to make hay with deceptive #hashtags, even when they may be seriously trending. This will almost assuredly blow up on you. One more thing: make sure you proofread prior to when you create that #hashtag!

4 Ways to win with #hashtags

Make your #hashtags short and direct – Making it brief and direct is the best approach to win with #hashtags. If you need to combine more than one, fine, but don’t string together a small army of them, as that will actually annoy your readers and label you an amateur.
Make them #hashtags to not forget – Remarkable #hashtags are far more likely to be shared widely. Give some thought to this and you just may get your wish and have it go viral.
Use them on multiple social media channels – A #hashtag isn’t much use if it’s not shared. Although started on Twitter, #hashtags have become employed across multiple social media channels including Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Pinterest. This assists to instill the #hashtag into the minds of their audience.
Make use of keywords – If at all possible, work in your brand or major keywords. It is not always feasible, so choose judiciously.

Creating and using memorable #hashtags can keep your brand and conversation before your social media audience, and help perpetuate your campaigns. Give it a go today!

Small Business Innovation

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 11, 2013

How to inject a dose of innovation into your company

While on the surface it would make sense that the smaller, more agile entrepreneurial companies amongst us would be the more innovative. You would think this would be true. And you also would be wrong. It’s not for a lack of trying or desire. It’s simply that smaller businesses lack the R & D budgets, the staff, and the vision that larger companies can commission. Needless to say, the challenge for small business innovation is to break past the glass ceiling keeping it from innovating, and get into the game! Less than half of small businesses were brought into being as a result of a “new idea,” according to a study by Erik Hurst and Benjamin Wild Pugsley of the University of Chicago. They state that most new business is another “Me-too” venture, offering the already crowded marketplace another grocery, plumber or florist. Little innovation required, and thus little growth.

So what does it take for a small business to go from the ordinary to a business that is leading innovative ideas in their space?

4 Tips for creating a culture of innovation in your business!

Encourage innovation – Rewarding your employees with tangible incentives for helping to try new and innovative initiatives is an easy way to help launch your company’s venture into innovation. Aim to create a buzz around uncovering new and better ways to conduct business and improve products and services.
Know what your market needs and wants – Keep your finger on the pulse of current trends and ideas within your market. Endeavor to not only keep up, but be on the leading edge, which is only doable if you are watching and listening!
Connect with existing customers – As a way to truly understand what may be a great idea for your customer, you need to talk to them. And even more than that, you need to keep the conversation centered on customer’s problems, and shape your suggestions to provide those solutions!
Be open to new ideas – Don’t be reluctant to try something totally new. A great demonstration of this in action is Behance.net, a Web-based platform for creative works, where artists can display their work irrespective of their resumes, hoping to turn more ideas into reality.

How to Take Advantage of Instagram at Your Business

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 9, 2013

Instagram – A Picture of the Social Photo Sharing Site

Marketers hunting for a way to engage and grow their reach would be well advised to consider the meteoric growth and popularity of Instagram, a free online photo sharing and social network platform acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows members users to upload, edit and share photos with other associates through the Instagram website, email, and social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare and Flickr. On Instagram, you can follow other users’ photo streams, be followed back by those users, and search for friends by name or find any friends that might have previously connected to you on other social networks.

Some just silly numbers!

Just so you get an idea how popular Instagram has grown to be in just a few short years (founded in 2010), listed below are 7 eye-popping stats:

Instagram has 100 million monthly active users. (Instagram)
40 million photos are posted per day. (Instagram)
28 percent of U.S. Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use Instagram. (Pew)
98 percent of Instagram photos posted by top brands are now shared to Facebook. (Simply Measured)
59 percent of Interbrand’s top 100 brands are on Instagram. (SimplyMeasured)
There are 8,500 likes per second on Instagram. (Instagram)
1,000 comments are made per second. (Instagram)

How can your company use Instagram?

Knowing that individuals respond to sites like Instagram on an emotional level, small businesses taking some time to share what is important to the brand and to the core target customer are just where they would like to be. Smart business use Instagram as a snapshot into their company, and put a personal face to their business and enrich relationships while doing so.

Private Picassos, a children’s art studio in New York City, uses Instagram to record their student’s work, which has resulted in parents commenting and sharing the photos, thus increasing their business. “I don’t do any paid advertising, so it’s a way to encourage your client to do the marketing for you,” director Valeen Parubchenko says.

How to Leverage Facebook Graph Search

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 4, 2013

How Can You Use Facebook Graph Search in Your Business?

Facebook is at it again, and this time it’s called Facebook Graph Search. It is their endeavor to sway their search results from the keyword-based model like Google’s, to one where Facebook can make use of its greatest asset, the social interplay between all of its users. Still coming out, Graph Search may not be open to you yet, (still only available in the US, and there’s a waiting list) but it’s coming sooner than you think. And if you have a business that uses Facebook at all, you must learn how this can benefit you.

So what exactly is Facebook Graph search?

Facebook Graph Search is a search model whereby you are served up results based not on any keyword you entered, but instead results based on your social spheres. For example, your search will highlight people who share your interests, photos and videos they’ve liked, and connections you share. These results are unique to you as they’re determined by you and your friend’s interests.

How can you utilize Facebook Graph search in your marketing?

One of the primary benefits here appears to be that Graph Search will reward those people who are making a genuine effort with their social media, engaging and interacting with their fans and followers. Facebook is mum about the aspects of the actual search algorithm, but suffice it to say that it will go a long way towards weeding out pages that are wanting to game the system. Fake Likes and fans coming from strange locations outside of your common spheres, will be viewed with some skepticism.

Rather, this appears as if it’s going to greatly benefit businesses making a genuine attempt at engaging with social media. Some ways you can be ready for Facebook Graph Search are to:

Be sure your business page profile is entirely filled out, so that users can locate you.
Make sure to engage, not sell your visitors.
Be careful of what is posted online, especially on Facebook itself, as this may come back to embarrass your business in a big way!

Are Daily Deal Sites Really so Bad for Small Businesses?

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJuly 2, 2013

Are Daily Deal Sites Really So Bad for Small Business?

Like a comet blazing against the night sky, daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial burst onto the scene promising great things for small business. You’d be able to grab new customers easily and quickly using these sites, and without a huge expenditure.

Unfortunately; not so much. This is largely due to several things: stratospheric expectations, poor press and the lack of clear strategy by businesses using this new tool.

All the media can seem to focus on is how much these companies, the two largest players in the space, are bleeding money. While both have suffered through massive growing pains, this was practically inevitable given the fanfare and splash they made coming onto the scene.

However, we’re not quite ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater! We believe that with the right strategy and realistic expectations, businesses can use daily deal sites to their advantage and gain a new audience, as well as energizing their core customers. Let’s look at some key points in achieving this outcome!

Determine if your business is right for the daily deal model
Not every business is a good candidate for a model like this one. Be sure and ask an expert for their opinion, and contact some of their references for their take on it. Try and gather a decent sampling of data before signing on the dotted line.

The goal is repeat customers, not one-time buyers
Many of the sales generated by daily deals are people seeking a one-time purchase based solely on the price offered. This can and often does result in a customer who has no intention of coming back to you anytime soon. It’s your job to wow them into becoming repeat customers.

Track your results
To best understand whether or not daily deal sites will work for you long-term, you really need to track your results carefully, from total expenditures to customer behavior, including repeat purchases. Analyzing this data will help you make an informed plan going forward.

Be sure to follow up with these new customers
To increase the odds of securing a long term customer, make sure you follow up their initial purchase with some sort of incentive to keep shopping with you. This can come in the form of other coupons, sales, repeat customer spiffs or another incentive.

Daily deal sites aren’t dead, and neither will your business be if you can find the formula to make them work for you. The potential is enormous!

Simple Automation Tips to help you Re-gain Work/Life Balance

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJune 27, 2013

Simple Automation Tips to Help You Regain Your Work-Life Balance

Maybe you’ve bought into the dream of marketing automation, you know, the one where you set it up once and forget it, hit the easy button, and retire to the beach sipping margaritas. Or perhaps your experience is the opposite, where you are simply overwhelmed with all the tasks that need to be addressed with an online business, and can barely breathe.

The reality lies somewhere between these extremes. Unless you truly have gotten it together and are drowning in your own business, you likely need some help with regaining a sensible and profitable work-life balance. Let’s look at ways we can do this.

Some cool tools that can help with marketing automation

Hootsuite – Like it or not, social media is a vital part of your business going forward. Hootsuite helps you manage your social media marketing by aggregating all your important social accounts in one place, enabling you to respond with more agility, and saving hours of time.

Email autoresponders – One of the most lethal and useful tools in an online business arsenal is your email autoresponder. This keeps your brand in front of prospects on a regular basis, with practically no effort on your part, save setting it up once. A must-have!

IFTTT – If this, then that, is an ingenious tool (free) that works on formulas, or “recipes,” you create, such as “If I’m tagged in a photo on Facebook, then send me a text message.” IFTTT is tied into the web-based accounts that you chose to authorize, and will check for new data every 15 minutes unless you’ve chosen to make this instant.

Zapier – A paid service much like IFTTT, but with a few more premium features.

Google Alerts, Hangouts, Drive, Communities – The Google suite of tools is free and can be extremely useful for saving time and organizing teamwork. You can collaborate on work within Drive, Hangouts and Communities are terrific ways to synch up with team members and connect with prospects.

Best practices for automating parts of your online business

Autoposting – Can be useful for scheduling blog posts or other content.

Outsourcing – You can’t do it all. Delegate to staff, or hire outside outsourcers to handle tasks that you absolutely don’t have to do. Some good places to locate affordable outsourcing help are Odesk, Elance, and Fiverr.

Hire a virtual assistant – This can free you up in many ways, and allow you to focus on parts of your business you really need to attend to.

Worst practices (avoid these!)

Autoposting – Can be abused! Don’t schedule a load of mediocre or worse, poor content to be posted to your sites. This will hurt more than help.

Social Oomph – Though quite popular, this is one of the worst aspects of social media. No one wants to read a litany of quotes from dead men. This is the antithesis of “social” media.

Not paying attention – While it’s nice to have automated systems in place, that’s no excuse to not pay attention. Unanswered comments, questions and replies can lead to a reputation management problem, so keep an eye on it with the tools we’ve presented here!

Design is the Killer App

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJune 25, 2013

Consumers Have Choice – Don’t Let Your Design Make It Easy for Them!

So you don’t feel design plays a part in first impressions? Guess again! A study by researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2012 revealed that it takes two-tenths of a second to form a first impression, give or take a nanosecond. This makes it increasingly important, as the ability to obtain good design is growing, to ensure that we are doing all we can to get that favorable recognition. This is extremely important for small business, as a poor design can often lead to trust issues, an essential factor for smaller enterprises attempting to build their brand.

What can you do to promote good design?

The very first thing to do is to give this some thought. The competition has. Using a plan for presenting your brand and products to the world is largely accomplished by a carefully thought-out plan. Another significant finding in that study was that your logo gets the most attention, followed closely by images and social interaction. The visual elements matter considerably! So now that we have an understanding, there are essentially no excuses remaining, as now cost is not any longer a viable excuse for getting good design work done. The advent of crowdsourcing sites like 99Designs, CrowdSpring and others made what was once prohibitively expensive for small business, a very affordable item.

How are the benefits?

The benefits of good design in your business are numerous and sometimes intangible. While a visual redesign of your website is fairly obvious, other things like product packaging, your print and web advertising, and even site graphics are shared, Pinned and ReTweeted from your webpages. We are observing every day just how much this can impact your site’s reach and customer base. What’s more, that special feeling that visitors get when viewing a superb design may be hard to quantify, but when your site’s traffic increase and sales increase for no other apparent reason, you’ll be very glad you took a long look at your visual design elements today!

10 Ways to get Customers to Open Email

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Kari VanNoyJune 20, 2013

Why Won’t Your Customers Open Your Email?

Are your email open rates a source of embarrassment? Taking steps to improve them is a lot easier to do than you may think. According to Epsilon.com, email open rates sport an industry average of around 27.4 percent, with wide variations for markets. Understanding your email open rates and the way to improve them should be high on your to-do list!

Toward that end, listed below are 10 top tips for boosting your email open rates.

Create something worth reading – Undoubtedly, the easiest way to have your email opened is to write something your email list can’t wait to get more of.
Don’t write War and Peace – No one has enough time in their day, and long emails that meander and don’t deliver on the promise are one way to keep them from opening again. Also, make sure you make use of optimum sending times.
Build great subject lines – This is actually the most important aspect in whether or not your email gets opened. Spend some time to write great subject lines.
Use your first line effectively – Closely related is the first line, part of which is visible in their inbox. This as well is valuable real estate, and don’t permit yours to be populated with stuff like “If you don’t see any images in this message”
Address their needs and concerns – Solve problems and offer solutions.
Offer deals and savings – Everybody wants a deal, and email is a great way to communicate any deals or specials your company is offering.
Teach – Presumably they are reading your email and or newsletter because they want to learn something from you. Don’t disappoint!
Try and be entertaining – Don’t be boring! Use humor, wit, and a little controversy once in a while, but take care not to offend at the same time.
Make your “From” line recognizable – Having your company name or the person who is branded as the sender imparts trust.
Be sure and resend your unopened email – Quite simple to do, resending your unopened email is an easy method to increase your open rates.

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