Popular Advice

In simple terms, Wix is a lot easier to setup and use compared to Wordpress.

Wordpress is a lot more powerful with a lot of different options.

I would stick with Wordpress if you have used it before and you didn't have too much trouble with it.

Hi Rachael,The EA/PA you're targeting probably gets hundreds of sales calls/emails and as a result probably already has a rejection wall built. I've got to say, it's damn hard work trying to sell/market to anybody unless you are helping them with a problem they currently have.If you genuinely think you can help them, the following idea will definitely warm up your potential client:Send them something in the post that doesn't look like a piece of 'junk mail'.-Mail is great because it isn't obtrusive. -It's that initial soft approach that's needed in the beginning stages of your sales cycle. -I've used clear envelopes, blank (un-printed/no branding) envelopes, kraft boxes and black shiny bubble bags. This way, you can at least give your mail a chance of being opened. Now what you put inside is important. Don't make your EA/PA think she's been tricked to open your mail!-Become the solution for your potential client, don't try and sell. -Nice giveaway that your EA/PA will use-Offer / call to actionAs an example: I have a 'launch-pad' with launching business tips on each page as a giveaway to any start-up that enquires. It's an A6 sized quality pad that has my branding on the cover and on each page. If you'd like any more info on this, feel free to contact me.I hope this helps you :)

Allow them to experience your product. That's the best way. I see you are in the transport industry? offer them a complementary trip. That way they will brag about it and recomend you to their bosses.

Absolutely.

Going through the mountain of resumes I receive to find someone appropriate. Also responding to each one to say that I have received their application and then responding to say whether they are successful or not. It is very time consuming.

Greetings Kirsten from rural Australia,

I agree with all of the above.

Social media is not relevant for all businesses. And, at its best, can be a monumental time waster.

People are on social media to be - social.

Plus. When they're on social media, they are very self serving.

They don't want irrelevant ads thrown at them every time they page through their newsfeed.

And they're most likely to only respond to posts where there's enormous benefit to them.

What's new in your shop - or on your website - is always a good start.

Discounts come quickly to mind.

Free. The most powerful word in advertising. We all want something for free.

And tips on how to do things better. That are entertaining while imparting those tips. If you look at what's shared the most on social media, it's videos. On how to do things.

The above is what has the greatest appeal to followers of social media. All of the above come at a financial cost. And a cost in time to do regular postings.

If you have something new to post almost daily. Can easily give discounts. Or give something away for free on a regular basis. Or have the ability to make fabulous videos on how to do things. And that effort is worth it to you. Go for it.

But if it's not. Give social media a miss. Sometimes it's not wise to follow the herd.

Best wishes,

~Carol Jones, Ironing Diva❦

Purveyor of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies

350,000 customers. In 29 countries.

I agree with both Hunter and John in that how you use it *does* depend on the nature of the business.

But when you consider the level of market penetration social media has achieved in a relatively short space of time, you'd need a pretty compelling reason NOT to utilise it in some form.

It's not a case of 'it fits' or 'it doesn't fit' but rather, which platform is most popular amongst my target audience?

The next obvious question is 'Are my competitors using this platform, and to what effect?'.

I strongly believe that how social media works for your business depends on lateral thinking, and how willing you are to to engage and interact with - rather than broadcast - to your customers. Treat it like traditional media and advertising, and you're bound to be disappointed.

John,

I'll give you some insights from a designer's perspective (I do graphic, branding, web and user experience just to name some). Why is mentioning those disciplines important? They all factor into typography choices and ideas.

First you must think about your format (or media). Fonts that look great on paper do not always translate well to online consumption.

Unless a font is selected for artwork (poster, flyer, or a logo) you want to minimize the strain you are putting on your audience (e.g. would you want to read an entire book printed in cursive or calligraphy? No, the strain would hurt your eyes).

There are literally 1000's of fonts you could choose from, however, you should always keep your audience and the amount of words in mind.

Popular fonts online are Roboto (Android), Ubuntu, Helvetica Neue and San Francisco (iOS) as well as classic Helvetica and Arial.

In my opinion fonts that should always be avoided are (Comic Sans, Papyrus and Stencil). These fonts are typically overused, hard to read and just plain obnoxious.

Good fonts for printed material are Verdana, Univers, Gill Sans and Courier New. These are easier to read printed out than many other fonts.

Again, adapt for your needs, but do try to avoid mixing more than 2 to 3 typefaces (in all applications).

John

Your question reminds me of the Desert Island typography game. You can only take 10 fonts with you, so list your go-to typefaces to cover every conceivable written situation. Yes, it's fun and interesting, but no, it can never be definitive.

What the font "says" about the business depends on whether it has been selected for corporate/internal use and is therefore standardised across multiple media, or for a piece of promotion. For the latter, the only consideration is whether the type appropriately conveys the message to the market.

In every case, font choice is down to the skill of the designer, and how successful S/He is in creating the desired impression in the reader.

Font choice is completely subjective. One man's Helvetica is another man's Comic Sans. What I consider professional may not carry the same connotation with others.

In the most basic sense, most typographers and designers I know generally accept that serifs can traditionally be invested with impressions of: conservatism, elegance, legibility, high quality etc. And sans are often associated with: modernism, clarity, adaptability, etc.

Equally, the reverse can be true, depending who you're talking to.

I have a short list of personal Desert Island favourites, but none are selected on the basis of "professional appearance." All are selected for their appropriateness to the project. Horses for courses.

Most Australian book keepers seem to charge between $40 - $70 per hour. Fixed packages also work well based on clear outcomes, such as checking figures at BAS time and preparing the BAS statement for lodging. For regular work based on a defined responsbility I prefer the fixed package deal, so I don't risk cost blowouts for inefficiencies or other issues.

I think the honest answer is it depends on the teenager and their interests and abilities as well as access to startup funds. A couple of low-cost options:

Lawn mowing business. Dependent on them having a ute, or car with a trailer. Fairly low startup cost, they just need to buy a lawn mower and a whipper snipper, maybe a few other things. Base your rate on an hourly rate, work out roughly how long it might take you to mow a particular lawn, then just do fixed-cost for that lawn. You'd be competing with Jims etc, but it's an option.

Car wash/window wash. While not really a business, when I was much younger I used to spend time at the small local shopping center, offering to wash car windows for $1.00 while people were shopping. Maybe as a teenager you'd want to charge a bit more though.

As the second poster mentioned - become a reseller or dropshipper and sell things on ebay? Dropshipping - where you as the business don't actually own and hold the things you're selling, but the supplier delivers them direct to te end-purchaser, with your branding.

 

If they're into art or craft, they could make their own art, or photo prints, or handmade things and put them up on an Etsy store.

Or they could put up signs or flyers around their neighbourhood and offer tutorials to older people on how to perform basic tasks on their computers, like email, and searching on the internet, or even showing people how to use their mobile phones and set top boxes. Stuff that is natural to kids, but that some middle aged and elderly people may not have caught up with yet.

Or the traditional gardening help, flyer dropping, and so forth.

There are also a lot of sites popping up where you can register to do tasks, like O-Desk, Fiverr, Sidekicker, Airtasker, and so forth. People post odd jobs, admin tasks, and web projects for a certain fee, for people to complete.

Depends on how creative and enterprising the kid is. Sky's the limit. They could learn to code, and build the next big app!

I think the main benefit is that the social media feeds cannot ensure that your target clients have seen your message. Even if they have liked your page or followed you on twitter they simply may not get shown your items in the feed or may miss them. Well timed and useful emails will be opened, and you can often use services that will track reciept and opening, so you have a better sense if they have got your message.

Email marketing is MASSIVELY powerful and in my opinion, perhaps more powerful than other online marketing techniques. Email marketing allows you to tailor messages to different customers based on the actions they take and their stage in the customer lifecycle, making it a much more intimate and effective conversation with your customers.. if you do it right.

Success is a very personal thing. Success should be defined by your financial, lifestyle and other goals and aspirations, rather than what society says they “should” be. It’s crazy that we consistently let others dictate what it means to be successful. That generally means money and material possessions by the way.

But what about health, happiness, peace and love for starters? Why don’t they get measured more openly when evaluating a person’s success?

And what if your success goal for being in business is simply making enough so that your family can go on a paid vacation every year? Or you can afford the cost of private school fees? Or braces for Amanda?

That’s why I talk about building a "Higher Purpose Business” – one that revolves around the values and aspirations of the owner of the business, particularly those linked to their personal higher purpose.  

It's impossible to define. Perhaps it's when others start coming to you for advice, having seen you gone from strength to strength and wanting to know what you're doing right or differently to what they are currently doing.