September 2024 marks Social Light’s 15-year anniversary, and we’re celebrating by looking back at some of the top lessons we’ve learned in hopes that we’ll help other small business owners reach their own milestones. 1. Get a deposit before you do any work Forcing people to put some skin in the game ensures they are…
No matter how great of an idea you have, if it doesn’t fit into your business strategy, chasing it down may be a waste of time.
As #smallbusiness owners, sometimes we’re so focused on keeping our budgets down that we don’t see it keeps us from growing.
You know you’ll need graphics, and a way to run the promotion, but you also need to have a plan to fulfill the prizes, and ensure everything is legal.
If you’ve read up on how to leverage LinkedIn to grow your business, then you’ve heard about how important it is to write a personal message when connecting to people, rather than sending the generic request. But here’s the thing: all messages are not equal. I’ve gotten some weird messages on LinkedIn, and from what…
Since COVID-19 came around, more and more businesses are seeking ways to do more business online. If that’s the case for you, it’s important to be aware of your choices when it comes to electronic payments. In this episode of 5 Business Rules, Monika and I cover 5 ways you can get paid online. Spend…
Strategic planning is something that sounds pretty daunting, but it’s an important exercise for business owners to go through, especially if they want to grow. The point is to help you go beyond the day-to-day aspects of running your business and take a longer view. This might help you predict when you’ll need to expand…
When you are running a business, feedback is crucial to your success. Having real people tell you what’s working, and what’s not, can help you refine your products and services so you are offering things that people really want. Logically most people get that. Unfortunately hearing something negative often triggers an emotional response that throws…
What is a lead box? You’re probably more familiar with the term popup box, which has become an umbrella term for messages that appear on your website, generally with a special offer. While a popup lightbox is the most popular form of a lead box, the truth is there are lots of options to highlight…
As small business owners, we are often terrible at putting our own talents to work for our business. Give us a task for a client and we have plenty of creativity, but ask use to promote ourselves and we often fall short. In her book, Customer LLC, Hillary Berman says: All too often, I hear…
Bad clients. You know the ones that make you cringe when you see their name pop up in email with yet another hoop for you to jump through? Whether they are demanding, rude, or just don’t seem to get where you’re coming from, some clients are just hard to please. Most of the time, our…
This morning I read a request for people to comment on whether smarketing was a good idea. Without naming any names, here’s what it said: The “smarketing” trend involves integrating sales and marketing efforts. Is this a good idea for small businesses? How can they move toward a “smarketing” strategy? I won’t lie. This one…