Archive for the ‘Online Business Manager’ Category

I am having such a great time listening and sitting at the feet of the experts this week during List Attraction Week.

One of my favorite calls was yesterday with Kim De Young – How to Leap Your List by Creating a High Traffic Blog.   There were three golden nuggets that I pulled from this call that I feel is important to share with my Online Business Manager clients and audience.

Why does every business owner need a blog?

1. to get your message out
2. build your list
3. educate your audience
4. establish your credibility and your expertise

Thank you Kim DeYoung for sharing.

PS: Copyblogger.com is a great resource to come up with great headlines.

Come and join me for List Attraction Week, March 8 – March 12, 2010.

It is my honor to have been asked to speak to the FastTrac New Venture class at the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center tonight, March 4, 2010.

I completed this program in December 2008 at the University of Bridgeport. I simply cannot say enough about the business building teaching and guidance I received from this program. The class is made up of individuals who are either beginning to think through the process of building a business or are in the start up phase of building their business.

As Tina Forsythe always says, “Being a business owner is not for the fate of heart”.

We are video taping, along with conducting a drawing for a lucky student to receive 1 hour of free coaching on how to build their internet presence. Stay tuned and I will let you know how it went.

Posted by Craig Canning, VA Classroom

http://ow.ly/16H5jM

There’s a new kid on the block in the world of Social Networks, and if you use Gmail, he’s already living on your street! Google recently unveiled Google Buzz, a Social Network that’s built right into Gmail. If you have a Gmail account, you might have noticed a colorful balloon that showed up on the left-hand side of the page – that’s Buzz!

Google had some great ideas when they unveiled Buzz. Check out this YouTube video posted on the Official Google Blog to introduce Buzz:

Unfortunately, despite these good intentions, Buzz has caused some frustration among loyal Gmail users. For example, the blog post “Buzz off, Google: Social networks should always be opt-in, not opt-out” highlights the fact that all Gmail users were enrolled in Buzz without being asked first. Furthermore, Google automatically made a social graph of your most-emailed people and made sharing of that graph opt-out instead of opt-in. As this article explains, “it’s super easy to miss the check box, and the default should always be the safest choice.”

In Google’s defense, they listened to users’ feedback and have introduced some improvements. The Official Gmail Blog reports that the following changes have been made to Buzz:

1. There is a more visible option to not show followers/people you follow on your public profile.

2. You have the ability to block anyone who starts following you.

3. There is more clarity on which of your followers/people you follow can appear on your public profile.

Given Google’s popularity and history of creating quality products, there is definitely the possibility that Google Buzz could someday rival Facebook and Twitter.

What do you think? Are you ready to tell Google Buzz to buzz off, or do you think Google can rise to the challenge of making Buzz the best Social Network around?

Posted by Craig Canning, VA Classroom

Today, I want to share with you an excellent way to keep on top of the operations of your business.  Most small business owners have reached a level of disorganization in their business and regret it when they are under pressure to meet critical deadlines.   This state is not because they are necessarily disorganized people, but just very busy people, and perhaps think that some day they will sit down when they have time and document everything. Read the rest of this entry »

Who needs a website?

If you were building your business in the offline world you would choose a physical storefront, such as a restaurant, boutique store, executive office, etc. to sell your products and services.  Businesses that are selling their products and services primarily offline still need to have an online presence and I will talk more later in a upcoming posts.

In the online world your storefront is your website.   This is the place where potential customer’s window shop to see what you are all about and have to offer them.  How does your product and services solve their problems?  The importance of having a website is extremely important if you are running an online business.  Better than a physical store front, an online store front (your website) is open 24/7, 365, and does not shut down for holidays.  Potential customers can visit your business anytime that is convenient for them.  Over the past couple of years I have heard it said many times that a website in today’s marketplace is the business owner’s business card. Read the rest of this entry »

Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that they can do it all in their online business.  The internet has paved the way for people to learn how to perform tasks that they need to know to build an online business, but is learning those skills to save a few dollars the best use of your time and energy.  Let’s face it you have decided that you have a skill, experience, and talent that you want to share with the world and hopefully it be the path to generating income.  Why waste precious time on learning and implementing tasks that take away from your core services?  Just think when are not losing time trying to get a website up, creating social networking profiles, figuring out how you are going to sell products and services online the more you can strategically plan, network, grow in your industry and of course work with client and generate income.

Who is your target market?

It is extremely important to do your research regarding this area of your business.  I know it’s not fun, but it is critical to your business success.  Too many times business owners will think and say to others that my products and services can be for anyone.  Believe it not the more narrow your target market the more successful you will be in your business.  You will waste precious energy and marketing dollars while trying to market to the whole world.  If you have a nothing to small marketing budget you will need to spend as wisely as possible.  Some questions you will want to ask yourself:

1. What skills/knowledge/expertise do I have to offer?
2. What professions are in need of what I have to offer?  How am I solving their problems with my services?
3. What type of industry would benefit and be willing to pay for my services?  If an industry does not need your expertise or are not willing to pay for it, you may be better off finding another industry that does.
4. What kind of clients do you want to work with?
5. Do you prefer to work with men or women? What age group?  Do you work best with people that are older or younger than you?

With a clearly defined target market you can speak and market directly to those you want to attract to your business.  Then your business will begin to grow.

Listen: My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-b46d4047eb3d243ba12fa6248d064774}

A business nugget that I have learned after two years as an entrepreneur running my own virtual business is how important it is to identify the challenges that business owner’s face and market to the people who really need their products and services.  I would love to hear from you to find out what are the biggest challenges you face in your business today.  You may be thinking that you would love to partner with someone to help you in your business, but simply do not have the time to consider how you could utilize a online business manager or virtual assistant in order to get things done.  I can help you with that process to determine how you can utilize a virtual professional to bring the growth you want to your business.

Focusing on meaningful social networking strategies is an essential aspect of generating sustainable growth and higher profits. Signing on for a membership in a social networking site such as LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook can create far reaching ripples that jump start your company or career into a new path of positive growth. Through social networking sites, you gain access to new people, reconnect with old acquaintances, discover different points of view and insights, and develop greater exposure of your business or particular set of skills.  To read the full article:  Social Networking and Your Online Business