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Social media training

Sharing on social media

Decide what you’re sharing

When it comes to social media, you have two jobs:

– Share stuff to meet your goals above
– Engage with others.

First, we’ll cover sharing.

In sharing your content, the major challenge with social media is maximizing your exposure. This is hard because each platform is different. Some limit the number of characters (Twitter) and others involve primarily graphics (Pinterest or Instagram). In this post and subsequently, we will discuss easy steps to planning your sharing strategy. The first being:

1) Decide what you’re sharing.

Are you sharing a blog post, email sign up list, giveaway, inspiration, etc. In your planning, you should have a variety of things to share. For example, you can share new blog posts, reshare old posts, promote your newsletter, and cross-promote across social media (i.e. share Twitter feed on Facebook).

We remain committed to supporting you all along.

Keep winning.

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Social media training

Sharing on Social media

Track what works

Lastly on creating content and sharing on social media, we thought to remind you that it is important to track your posts.

Google analytics and social media tools will tell you what social media posts are achieving results. Further, your analytics will tell you what’s popular on your blog or website, so you can schedule social media posts of those pages to keep the traffic up.

This means that while you may posts regularly on the basics such as Instagram and Facebook, it is important to have a plan for a website.

Remember we are available to support you all the way.

Keep winning..

Share your post on your networks at the time of the post

Hey ladies, welcome to another new week to break boundaries.

Still on getting our social media strategy right, our post for today focuses on :

1. Sharing our posts on our network, through creating initial eyeballs on your post by getting it online when it’s ready. You can put up the link to your post on your WhatsApp status, or send as a message to your WhatsApp contacts.

2. Schedule reposts of content over the next few days: You don’t have to share your content once and then forget as you create new content. Instead, you can repost past content over and over. For example, you might Tweet your various blog quotes with a link to the post once a day over the next three days. After that, you might post it again once a month.

When it comes to posting, watch that you don’t over post to certain networks. For example, you can get away with sending many Tweets (various content, not just your posts) a day, but that doesn’t work well on LinkedIn, in which over posting can annoy your followers.

Social media experts recommend casual social media users post to Facebook/Instagram 1-3 times, Google+ 3-4 times, LinkedIn 1 time, and Twitter 8-12 times a day. These numbers double for hard core users.

Finally, don’t forget you can schedule content using social media tools we will discuss in the week, as well endeavour to target the appropriate timing for your followers on the other side of the world, especially for product business owners.

Keep winning.

Make a calendar or other written plan

Hey ladies , today, we will focus on creating a social media plan or calendar for your business. This way you can effectively make your posts.

Social media experts believe in colour-coded spreadsheet on which they schedule what content are posted to what platforms and when.

Having a social media calendar will help you remember to post as well as know what you should post. There are social media tools that allow you to schedule content. For example, you can set a blog post to be shared once a month over the next six months on any and all your social networks. Some social media tools, such as CoSchedule and Smarter Queue have automated reposting options, so you don’t have to reschedule posts manually.

Remember we are available to support you all the way.

Keep winning.

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social media training

Pre-Planning your social media strategy

Upload an Appropriate Picture

Hey ladies , good morning. This week , we plan to focus on social media marketing and ways to improve our social media content.

Social media marketing is an ideal way to promote your business. It’s free, it’s easy, and often, it’s fun.

The problem with social media is that it’s also overwhelming and unwieldy, and can be difficult to track the results . To get started with this let’s have a recap of some basics that will enable us achieve the expected results after this series.

You may want to check post for a bucket list of items that you may have missed on your social media page. Do this to ensure you :

1. Upload the appropriate pictures.

2. Complete the major profile sections on all your pages – Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook and Instagram.

3. Follow influencers or key personalities and accounts in your industry.

4. Integrate social media tools on your website or blog.

5. Decide what results you want from social media. – Whether you want to : – – Increase readership of your stories, posts or blogs.

– Get more email subscribers.

– Find more followers across other social media sites (i.e. promoting a Facebook fan page on your Twitter feed).

– Increase influence (credibility and expertise) with your target market.

– Built rapport with your target market (i.e. showing you’re fun or friendly).

Identifying and ensuring all the above points are implemented is a sure way to enhance your social media growth yourself this year. You may not really need to outsource your social media management , especially if you are a small business.

Remember, you can always reach out to us for any support that you may need.

Keep winning.

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How to start a successful side hustle

Hey ladies, welcome to the second working week in 2021. From the profile of many of our members , we realised that a lot of us still have our regular 9-5 job and are looking for ways to venture into our business. As our first post for the year, we thought to address the concerns of this class of people, before we roll out our business growth techniques for the year.

If you’ve ever thought about starting a side hustle, you’re probably motivated by one of three reasons:

It’s a hobby, and you’re feeding your interest during your free time.

You’re supplementing your primary income. Maybe you have financial goals you want to reach, and having an extra income source will help get you there quicker.

You plan to transition into entrepreneurship full time, so you’re testing the waters with a side hustle before taking the big leap and quitting your full-time job. 

Regardless of your motivations, you’re about to start a business. And the moment you expect people to start paying you money in exchange for value that you provide, you can no longer treat it as a passive endeavor. But when you have a full-time job—in addition to a life that you’d really like to enjoy—that’s easier said than done.

There’s a reason it’s called a side hustle: you need to work hard to make it a success. Follow the tips listed in this post to get you started.

We remain committed to supporting you.

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PROACTIVE MEASURES DURING CRISIS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Proactive strategies for small business.

Hey ladies, welcome to a new week to conquer. With all the recent happenings in Nigeria, for small business owners who have employees, as well as those who do not have, we generally may be reluctant to return to work this week after the entire mayhem for several reasons. One, of course, is fear of a mishap or a security threat.

We have thus put together some points that can help business owners and employees navigate this period.

Do read through.

  • Educate your staff and the people around you
  • Identify hazards and ways to mitigate them
  • communicate your plan
  • implement and monitor your plan
  • implement safety protocols

Was this article helpful? Tell us at the comment section

Remember you can reach out to us if you have any questions or require any support.

Keep winning!!!

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CREATING YOUR UNIQUE SELLING POINT

Unique selling point

WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE SELLING POINT?

A unique selling proposition (USP), or a unique selling position, is a statement that clearly/effectively outlines how your business, product, or service is different from that of your competition. It identifies what makes your business the better choice, and why your target clients should choose you over your competitor.

Your USP can be an effective tool that helps you focus your marketing goals and verifies that every piece of marketing collateral you create successfully sets you apart from the competition. Your USP can also be an important part of your branding that makes your business memorable.

Have you identified your unique selling position? Read on as we address & redefine our sales processes using effective unique selling points.

Writing your USP

Let us run through more insights on identifying and telling the USP of your business.

The first step of writing a USP requires that you take a step back and review some of the basics included in your mission statement ,business plan, market analysis, and overall business goals. (Are you yet to have these, we can run through them for you.)

Start by answering some preliminary questions that recap what your business is selling, who you’re selling it to, and why you’re selling it.

For example, a company that sells boxes used for moving large deliveries may compile and answer questions like this:

What products or services are you selling?
Boxes and moving supplies.

Who is your target audience?
Local homeowners who are moving and don’t have a lot of time to look for used boxes in order to pack.

What does your business do well?
We provide quick, responsive service while making the purchasing process easy for our customers.

What is your most important customer-focused business goal?
Helping our customers get the moving supplies they need quickly, easily, and affordably.

For the business in example above, it will be easy to create a Unique selling proposition beginning from the above.

Your USP should solve a problem

After reviewing your mission statement, the next step is to identify your target audience’s problem and explain how your product or service solves that problem.

The company from of our example of above that sells moving boxes may identify the potential customer’s problem as not being able to easily locate the proper containers when they are packing their belongings and preparing to move.

Identifying the needs of your audience will definitely make it easier to sell to them.

Identify the differentiators

The third step focuses on identifying what it is about your solution to your customer’s problem that is different, or better than the solution your competition offers. The value you identify here will be one of the primary reasons why your customers will choose you instead of a competitor.

The potential differentiators of our moving supply company may be that they offer stronger boxes, less expensive boxes, complete packing solutions, same-day delivery, or exceptional customer service.

Identifying and sticking to the differentiator between your business and that of the competition will always make it easy to sell to your customers.

Make a promise

The last step of creating your Unique Selling Proposition combines the most important elements of the previous steps into a concise statement that embodies the value your company has to offer. Keep in mind that your USP essentially implies a promise or a pledge you are making to your customers.

The moving supply company, which we have been using as an example, may create a USP that says simply, “Sturdy Boxes in 24 Hours,” aimed toward their overwhelmed customers who are getting ready to move and quickly need boxes that won’t collapse.

Once you have a working USP, it’s always a good idea to sleep on it, run it by others in your company, or even create a focus group or a test run with a few customers to measure the impact it has. It may take several tries, but once you hit the perfect USP, it can be an integral element of your marketing toolbox.

Remember you can always reach out to us with all your concerns or support that you may need.

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HOW TO ENSURE YOU GET PAID WHEN A CUSTOMER MISSES PAYMENT

Hi ladies, we love to see your business bloom & so we will share some more tips on how to handle debt collection for your small business.

In this post, we will focus on ways to ensure this money hits our account. Yes ladies, how do you ensure you get paid
after delivering that service? This is actually very important for service providers , where the client says I will give you 50% now or you get paid after you have set up the decor (for event planners & decorators).

Hate collecting your money? Join the club. 

Recent studies shows accounts receivables is the top cash flow concern of small business owners. To ensure that we get paid, we will share some debt collection tips and best practices that you can adopt for your business.

First on the list is:

1. Take a Positive Stance.

Don’t take it personally if your customers aren’t paying their bills on time (remember not to lose your customer service tact ,even when this can seem very difficult to do). Look into why the bill is late. It could be your client simply forgot (always give
the benefit of the doubt, this way you remain positive). 

To help avoid these types of missed payments, provide a gentle reminder immediately following the invoice due date.

2. Empower the right person

As a small business owner, the temptation is great to have the salespeople handle their own accounts receivables, but it’s much better to assign one person to the task of debt collection. Designate your debt collection lead and provide proper support, training, and incentive to do the job right. Also endeavor to have the sales person handling debt collection send invoice emails for your business through a specified email address… E.g account@aytfarms.ng or aytfarmsaccount@gmail.com.
This way, you can actually process all invoices separately

3. Use multiple channels

Email correspondence can easily become buried in an overstuffed inbox. Use additional means of reaching out to your customers who have missed a payment. Picking up the phone is a great first step, whereas a certified letter may be used after weeks of no response.

4.  Sample debt reminder/collection letter

Collection starts when you send the invoice, which should have a due date for payment. When that date passes, it’s time to start thinking about following up with a collection letter. Don’t wait too long. It’s better to send a reminder notice sooner rather than later. Remember, this is money owed to you. The longer you put off collecting it, the more strain it can put on your business.


If you’re not sure what to write, you can use the sample below. Remember these letters are to be short, precise and end with a thank you.

January 8, 2020

Linked Group
123 Lekki Road
Anywhere, Nigeria

Account# or Invoice #:123
Balance due or Past Due Balance:
100,000 Naira

Dear Kola,

This is a reminder that your account balance of One hundred thousand Naira was overdue as of November 28, 2010.

Please pay this amount today, I have enclosed a stamped payment envelope for your convenience.

Thank you for your payment.

Sincerely,

Shade Smith
Linked Group

We remain your support community.

Wishing us a great weekend. Please endeavor to empower a girl child, knowing that when you do so, you build a nation.

Remember you can reach out if you have any questions.

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USING THE SCOPE OF RELATIONSHIP BUILDING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Hello ladies, trust we are keeping well?

It’s a new week and we need to do things differently & take new steps to achieve those mile stones in our businesses.

In general, there is a lot being said about using the core marketing channels- advertising, social media etc to grow our businesses. However let’s consider Relationship Building in Growing Your Business.

Most marketing is about creating awareness of your business. But once you have people’s attention, you need to gain trust and rapport, whether that’s through email, social media or face-face marketing.

Below are some major steps in using relationship building as a tool for your business growth.

1. focus on building relationship not making sale,

2. send out a customer satisfaction of sales made: always ask for feedback from anyone who buys from you or  uses your service.

3. Ask for referral, always make a referral.

4. Cross promote your product and services with other local businesses, using the business women hub platform.

5. Join the professional organization of your business sector

6. plan your next promotion/gift for your best customers

7. Consider partnership/joint ventures. If you sell hair/skin care products, liaise with a makeup artist

8. Become a mentor – share your business story, talk about your business. This helps you make deliberate decisions about your business.


Do you have further questions or would like to share your thoughts/concerns, do reach out to us.

Kindly tag a friend who should see this.