Business Tip: Join Social Medias

When you first start your business, create a business page on Facebook. Create a twitter account for your business and make sure to include your social media information on all your business cards, brochures and flyers.

Invite your customers to join your social media platforms.

Make sure to interact with them, offer them discounts, host contests and keep your customers informed on what’s happening with your business.

Remember to have fun while using social media or you’ll stop when it becomes overwhelming.

BUSINESS TIP: Do you have a website?

There are many businesses using Facebook as their home base.  What happens if Facebook crashed tomorrow? How would you get in contact with your followers?

Invest in your own website.  You want your customers to have a place to always come back to.  Create your own space on the net.  Introduce your business, share your contact information and include an opt in mailing list.

THE BUSINESS JOURNEY: Networking Tips from LaShanda Henry

When networking online or off line ask yourself these questions:

Why am I here?

What can I share?

Who do I want to meet?

Are you hoping to share your solutions and areas of expertise with others in need?

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL: The SistaSense Power Circle Webinar Series / TeleSummit for Web Women Entrepreneurs

I’m so looking forward to attending this telesummit today.  Its an all day event.  I learned so much from last years MP3s.  I didn’t attend last year, and refuse to miss this one.

If you’re a business woman online, I highly recommend you learn about Lashanda Henry.  This woman is dynamic.  I’ve learned so much about taking SORMAG to the next level from her and her products.

Pick up the MP3 for this summit.

THE BUSINESS JOURNEY: What’s In A Name?

When I decided to discuss my business journey I wanted to share my mistakes as well as my successes.  One of my mistakes when I started SORMAG was not having a vision.  I talked about that in a previous post. 

I never dreamed SORMAG would be online for 12 years.  I figured it would be a fun project.  I never dreamed I would make money from it or go past the first year.

If I’d known about vision I would have known to look beyond what I see right now and think about the next five – ten years.

Had I known I’d still be here. I wouldn’t have named the magazine Shades of Romance.  When I started I was about promoting multi-cultural romances.  Many of the writers I promoted moved on to writing mainstream fiction which meant I began to promote mainstream fiction.

I will admit I tried to change the name to Shades Of Reading, but my readers refuse to adopt the name, as a matter of fact, they stopped calling it Shades Of Romance and started calling it SORMAG to my disbelief.  I wanted to use the acronym SORM but sometimes you have to listen to your readers. 

My advice to you:

·         Give the name of your business serious thought.

·         Is this the  name you see for your business 5 – 10 years from now?

·         Is this the name your business can have as it advances in the future?

·         Is this the name your customers will use?

The name of your business is important and it should be created after much consideration.

My last bit of advice, if you plan on being online; make sure you secure your domain name before someone else does.  If you have a long name, like Shades Of Romance, use the acronym – sormag.com

When I created SORMAG someone had shadesofromance.com so I had to come up with something else. Thankfully sormag.com was available and was a lot easier to remember than shadesofromance.com.  Sometimes mistakes work out for the best.

What’s the name of your business?

THE BUSINESS JOURNEY - Vision

January is usually the month new businesses get started.  I thought I shared a few tips with those interested in starting their own business.

When I started SORMAG I honestly didn’t think of it as a business.  It was my way to say thanks to the many authors I enjoyed.  I thought it would be something fun to do for a little while.  I never dreamed it would grow into something wonderful or that I could make money from it.

So I’ll begin with my first tip:

VISION

Before you began your business, have a vision for what you want, what you want to achieve and what you want to do with your business.

This is very important because if you plan on being in this for the long haul you need to know where you’re going.

As I admitted before I didn’t have a clue where I wanted to take SORMAG, I just winged it.  Something I don’t think anyone should do going in.  Its hard not knowing where you want to go or what you want to do with your business if you don’t have a vision.

I highly recommend you dream big.  Imagine the wildest and make it happen.  I’m learning to let my imagination flow because I want only the best for SORMAG.

Here a few links to help you with your vision statement:

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/businessplanning/a/writevision.htm

http://internetindependence.com/your-vision

Are you thinking about starting a business this year?  Do you have a business, tell us about it?

P.S.  I wanted to share a link to a conference I've been attending this week.  Some excellent advice about driving your business.  It ends Monday, but there is still time to check out what you missed - www.SolopreneurSurvivalSummit.com.