Category: Business Blog

Has social media taken over your time? Do you find yourself living in reaction to social media notifications and email pings like Pavlov’s Dogs, jumping to attention each time you hear a “ding” from a notification?  If so, it’s time to take back your life and start automating your email and social media interactions… as nowadays, we have become so attached to our digital devices that we barely have any down time.

Indeed, we can spend so much time behind our computers that we don’t even realise we are still hooked in, when sat on the train or even with our partner at dinner – tapping away on our phones, and this digitally connected world we live in, can be incredibly harmful to living a balanced life particularly in terms of our emotional wellbeing and social lives.  

One of the best ways to ensure we find the time to enjoy a more balanced life is to automate your digital marketing by creating a network of automated process, systems, and apps to automatically take care of marketing tasks such as following up on emails, posting to facebook, and so on.

This will not only free up physical time, it will give you peace of mind, and a sense of certainty that things are being taken care of.

Furthermore, rather than having to deal with the headaches that can come with technology, web design and social media marketing reach out and get some advice from experts in their field who can act like an armco barrier in that they can help you avert disaster and keep you on the right track.  Essentially, what might take you three hours to figure out could be done in three minutes with access to the right expertise.

Tim Ferriss, a well known productivity expert, talks about the importance of automation in our work lives so we can focus on managing our business rather than being trapped working within the business.  Further to this, he urges us to go one step further and outsource many of our more menial digital tasks to a virtual assistant.

In this article we’re going to look at automating a number of the most time consuming digital tasks such as being inundated by emails, following up on sales leads, and managing our social media presence.

When it comes to email, there are plenty of time-starved business owners frantically sending out an email to a customer thanking them for their order and letting them know when it will be shipped.  The key point with automation is that it frees your time to be working ‘on’ the business at a strategic level rather than ‘in’ the business where you are wasting your time doing the same job as a low-level employee.  You could use something like mailchimp in order to start automating your emails at very low cost.

Managing your social media marketing campaigns can be extremely time consuming.  Many business owners consider hiring a virtual assistant in order to manage this time consuming task though there there are several free apps such as hootsuite and buffer that can help you automate this task.

In summary, it’s time to take back your time and put your digital marketing activities on autopilot rather than live life chained to your device.

When you first start a business venture, your blood, sweat and tears goes into it. It’s easy to lose the balance between work and life because your business becomes your life, you know that you’re the one who is responsible for making it a success. However when things progress and you’re doing well, it’s natural to want to take a step back. This allows you to reap the rewards of the profits without burning the midnight oil night after night. It frees up time for you to spend doing other things, whether it’s being around for loved ones or setting up more ventures. Either way, it’s many entrepreneurs dream to create a business that eventually ‘runs itself’ And thankfully, in many ways it’s possible to do this. Here’s how you can go about it.

Hire an Incredible Workforce

If you want to be able to take a step back, but want to ensure business is being run correctly then hiring the right staff is essential. These are the people who will be managing the day to day tasks, while you might choose to oversee them it’s their work which essentially gives you a business that ‘runs itself.’ These people need to be experienced, motivated and able to work to their own initiative when needed. If you don’t want too much involvement, they need to be able to solve issues without having to run to you for every little thing. As the boss, you can ensure that everyone has good equipment and a pleasant office space to allow them to do their job as best they can. If you want to futureproof your process, you could take on junior staff members too. They can be trained by senior staff, and when people leave or retire later on you have people ready to slot into the existing positions who have a good understanding of the role

Use The Right Software

Another way you can create a business that ‘runs itself’ is by utilising the incredible business software that’s out there right now. It means that time-consuming tasks can be done in a matter of seconds or minutes with the click of a button- instead of paying a worker hours out of their day. Using business software correctly means that you’re not hiring more workers than you need, which means more profit for you. It can be anything from an invoice editor to rota planning software, legal software, accounting software and much more. Find out what’s out there and what suits your business.

Utilise Social Media

One of the best things you can do to ensure the success of your business is to be smart with social media, One of the most incredible benefits of it is that it acts as a free source of advertising. Customers reviewing or talking about you and your products really gets you name out there to others. When potential customers get a genuine and honest recommendation from someone they can see is a real person, they’re far more likely to trust the company. This is an easy way for the word to spread about your business, and requires no effort or money from you to do so. Be visible on social media and your customers will do the rest.

When you decide to start up your own small business, you probably have one main goal in your mind: making sales. After all, this is what generates profit and keeps you out of the red and in the black. No matter how much you are invested in your products and services for their own sake, you’re going to rely on sealing deals to keep your company going. So, how can you help keep these figures rolling in and boost the cash flow of your company? Well, as we are all well aware, there are various things that you can do. Advertising is more advanced, more widely distributed, and more easily accessible than ever. It is no longer limited to leaflets, posters, and billboards. So, for now, let’s take a look at using different types of media as a means of advertisement. Use the following advice as a springboard directing you in the right direction!

Videos

Video advertising is the next big thing when it comes to raising awareness of your products and triggering desire in your potential consumers. But What sells video production? Well, in short, it helps you to sell a lifestyle to your consumer. You can pose an alternative reality to them. One that’s within reason. But one that would be incomplete without the product or service that you’re selling. The best video campaigns tend to be discreet. They use beautiful people in beautiful places enjoying themselves. Then they subtly incorporate your product or service into the scene. Not only does this introduce consumers to your product, but it helps them to see what it could help them to achieve in their lives. Not only will content greatly influence the success of these types of campaigns, but style and aesthetic are indispensable too. So, know your target audience. Understand the type of lifestyle that they want to lead. Help them to understand and truly see what you can provide them with!

Social Media

Social media is becoming an increasingly commonly used means of establishing a brand and selling products. More and more people are creating social media profiles for personal use, and if they’re directing a lot of their attention to social media, you should be on there too! Not only is this a free means of advertising, but it’s extremely effective too. You get to curate your own feed, thus establishing your brand’s aesthetic and showcasing your products in the best light possible too. You can even post short videos to show them in use or demonstrate what they can do. The beauty of social media is that it also provides a point of contact between you and your customers, as they can comment on your products or send direct messages. It’s also an easy way to spread awareness of your brand, as they can tag their friends in posts too!

These are just two forms of media that you can easily use to your small business’ advantage. So try them out sooner rather than later. They really can help to get things up and off the ground!