Who has a profile page for their business?  Not sure the difference?  If you have to accept friend requests for your facebook page AND it’s for your business, then you are using a profile page for your business.   I DO NOT recommend doing this.   Facebook can and will delete any profile pages that are used to promote business services.   You can also only have up to 5,000 friends.   I am seeing a few of my clients as well as a few of my regular contacts going through the MAJOR ordeal of transferring a profile page over to a business facebook (fan) page. NOT FUN!

If you want to create a page for your business, here are the steps:

The easiest way to create a business page is to go to a page that you already “Like”.  At the BOTTOM LEFT-HAND corner of that page, you will see the options:  Unlike, Create a Page, Report a Page.  Click on “Create A Page”.  Then just follow the steps.    There are steps you can take to make it SEO friendly, etc., so if you are unsure that you are doing it right, you might want to contact a professional page builder to set it up for you.   Contact Us if you would like a free consultation on Facebook!

A little LinkedIn Talk:

Do you have a LinkedIn account?   That’s great, but how are you using it?  Do you have testimonials?  Do you have your Wordpress Blog feeding to your profile page?   Do you know about all of the fantastic Applications that can be integrated into your LinkedIn Profile?  How many local groups have you joined and are actively participating in?   How do you promote on LinkedIn?    Are your discussion posts frequently about the same thing and are they an in-you-face type of promotion?   LinkedIn is a great tool to use for business owners, but beware of how you use it and if you are really using it at all!!

A little Twitter Talk:

Ah, Twitter.  Some people love it and some people hate it.    The ones that hate it think they just can’t get their point across in 140 characters.  You know that if you integrate your facebook page AND twitter account, you really don’t have to worry about posting in Twitter?  Just make sure you at least thank those who follow you!  Also, the more you follow others, the likelihood they are to return the favor and follow you!   So, be selective in who you follow.  Also, remember that Twitter has it’s own search engine capabilities!  That means someone can type in that little search box actual keywords that pertain to YOUR business.  The search box isn’t JUST for finding people.  You can use it to find out who’s looking for YOUR services or who’s tweeting about your services.  That little search box is one of the best marketing tools on any social network!   USE IT!   And then there’s TWIBES, hashtags, Twitter Lists….. it goes on and on and changes almost DAILY!   Can’t keep up?  OUTSOURCE IT!

A little Business Talk:

The first and most important part of ANY business is a WEBSITE!  It’s the most important marketing piece you have!   This is followed by a GOOD SEO package!   There is never a point in having a website if no one can find you.  I often say, what’s the point in owning a car if you can’t drive it?   SPEND the money on a good site and get someone who KNOW how to ORGANICALLY perform Search Engine Optimization!!   In my line of business, I ALWAYS start on the company’s website and then I take a look at their competition.  How do their competitors’ sites rank against theirs and how do they look?   Are their competitors involved in Social Media and have they integrated it all on their website?   Research is a key component in coming up with a great marketing strategy!

The second is ORGANIZATION and ADMINISTRATION!  Are my clients organized and how are they handling their administration?   If these are some of the things you are lacking in or just don’t have the time to focus on, this would also be a good thing to OUTSOURCE!  Get someone else doing those admin tasks and have someone come in and help get you organized and caught up!   This is so essential to growing you business.  The minute you fall behind is the minute you loose control over your business and your business becomes its own entity!
Read my blog post titled: Managing A Small Business for more information!

Make 2011 GREAT and Outsource some of your projects!  Remember,  at Independent Projects, we understand that business owners can do anything, but simply can’t do everything.  We help get you organized and recognized by offering business management support, brand marketing and social media marketing.

Contact us for information on how we can help!

A few tips:
Place ALL emails in particular folders right away in the morning.

Label them: ACTION, FYI, EDUCATION(Newsletters), PERSONAL and SOCIAL MEDIA.
File your messages into these folders and tackle the action folder first.

If you have a virtual assistant doing this for you, it will save you even MORE time!

We can create and manage your facebook pages, twitter accounts and linkedin profiles. We are on top of researching all the latest social media trends and take careful thought as to our clients’ status updates, as fan pages and twitter accounts are search engine friendly. Because of this, the status updates must makes since to one’s business so that the fan page can be found appropriately in the search engines, otherwise known as social media optimization. We also do the best we can to drive trafic to your site from facebook, linkedin and twitter.

Our social media packages are affordable! Contact us today to find out how we can get started for you!

When a business becomes successful, it takes a life of it’s own. And as a small business owner running a successful business, you start to realize your juggling a lot more than what you may have originally anticipated.

Many business failures aren’t the result of bad economic times, but poor business management and administration. You must know where you and your business stand at all times, from planning to communicating, organizing and controlling, to directing and delegating.

Common Mistakes You can Make as a Small Business Owner:
–Contracting the wrong people
–Miscommunication or insufficient training (know your product and know how to delegate exactly what you need)
–Doing too much
–Misuse of time

When you find that it is time to delegate, you must be able to trust the person you are delegating to. You are letting someone else handle YOUR clients’ projects. It can be very hard for business owners to let go of the work, but when you find someone you can trust you can delegate at the drop of a hat, which leaves you more equipped to react instantly and decisively with confidence when problems arise. For small businesses one bad week can be fatal.

It’s always a good idea to go over your business plan on a quarterly basis to re-evaluate the administrative procedures of your business. When you get to the point where you are ready to delegate, pat yourself on the back! Not only does this mean you’re successful, but it also means that you are aware you can’t do it alone and you are ready for a change!

Good Luck and Happy Planning

If you’ve had to cut back your travel budgets, like so many companies have, then think about the affordability of hosting Virtual Events.  The reality is that Virtual Events are more cost-effective to deliver and attend, have the capacity to reach a larger audience and can be re-broadcast for continued exposure.

More and more companies are being driven to more complex virtual events.  Attendees can visit booths, chat with exhibitors, and connect with other attendees at virtual trade shows. 

Physical events and trade shows are great for that face-to-face interaction, but if you can’t make it to them or don’t have the budget to do your yearly corporate conferences and/or meetings, then consider hiring a Virtual Event Specialist to help you set up and manage your trade show, corporate event or conferences virtually. 

Find out how to get started now!

Your time is YOUR money.  When you spend time on typing letters and reports, creating spreadsheets, returning phone calls, filtering and answering emails, updating your website and your social media accounts, you are taking time away from business development, and more importantly, YOUR CLIENTS.  

In this economy, it is more important to build your client base and take care of your clients so they don’t move on to the next competitor at a cheaper rate.  Everyone wants to save money right now, but people still understand that you get what you pay for.  If you are spending your time nurturing your clients, making sure their needs are met and they are happy, you will retain more clients.  However, if you are spending your time focusing on the administrative part of your business, you are taking that time away from your clients. 

Independent Projects understands this.  They also understand that hiring a permanent employee is a commitment and costly.  Set fees are a thing of the past as every project is different and every budget is different.  Outsourcing your administrative projects virtually is proven to save you time, in turn saving your business money.

The goal of Independent Projects is to help business owners, not take their entire administrative and marketing budget.  By working within our clients’ budget, everyone is happy.  You do get what you pay for, and outsourcing your important projects to us can be a little scary.  That is why we explain in every consultation that our success is your success.  We can’t and will not stay in business if we don’t provide each and every client with the utmost professionalism.  

To find out more about how we can help your business succeed and grow, Contact Us today for a free consultation.