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Wow, I don't know about you, but January was crazy in our house! We had two birthdays (our oldest son turned 17 and our youngest daughter turned 10) and we traveled to Florida for some great fun vacation time in the sun. Our music school enrolled 40 new students and we passed a new milestone: 560 students are enrolled in our school and take lessons every week! I just finished teaching a 5 Day Mini Course on Online Marketing and the response was outstanding. Here's what people are saying: "Thank You Jen and Chris! Over a year ago I hired Never Alone Business Services to redo the website for my business The Bayport School of Music...all I can say is that everything presented in this mini workshop will help your business reach more potential customers...Bravo!" -David "So I watched the videos—very informative and clear, thank you, Jen!" -Carrie "Thank you for your investment in ALL of us! Thanks for your consistent encouragement. You DEFINITELY are fulfilling your calling, and we appreciate you much!" -Nancy "Thanks! You gave me a lot to think about." -Ruth "Hi Jen! Thank you so much for this very helpful mini course! You are awesome!" -Sandy If you missed out on the course this week, but would still like access to the free mini course, just email me and I'll get you access to the 5 videos! ALL the videos disappear on February 9, so you have one week to jump in! Too busy to watch all the videos? I get it! Life can get crazy! Even if you just hit play and passively listen, you'll get ideas and clarity for your business. You don't have to do all the homework right away to still greatly benefit from the content!  So what's next for you? As January fades away and we walk into February, I find that now is a great time to finally fix your website and get those print materials finished. As I catch my breath from a busy January, my calendar is now open and ready for YOU. Just book a call with me if you need help with:
Schedule HERE.
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Do you ever wish someone would just take you by the hand and show you how to use Facebook better for your business? Have you been looking for someone to sit beside you and just give you the basics of how to make online marketing work for YOUR business? Have you been on Instagram and wondered how on earth is works? And what about Google Ads? Are you getting coupons from Google but you have NO clue what to do next? Well this is your lucky day. I've put together a free 5 day Mini Course on Harnessing the Power of Online Marketing. Whether you're new to online marketing, or been doing this a long time, you're sure to get fresh perspective and some helpful tips and tricks for leverging the online platform to grow YOUR business! It's easy to get signed up. Just click here and you'll be all set: https://www.neveralonebusinessservices.com/mini-course.html Have more questions? Wondering how this all works? Just watch this quick video where I answer your most commonly asked questions: https://www.neveralonebusinessservices.com/minicoursefaq.html I work with people every day just like you. They are busy. They are in charge of so much. Their heads are spinning. But they all know that if they could just increase cash flow, it would fix so many problems. They could afford more help. They could grow to the next level. Well, I'm here to tell you that marketing fixes cash flow. Yes, it costs money to advertise. But when you get new clients from marketing CORRECTLY, you'll continue to increase your marketing budget because you see that it WORKS. I don't want you to waste your money with marketing. So first take this mini course so you can be sure that you are doing things the RIGHT way. The way that will actually work and get your business growing! Sign up and join us! Class starts on January 29! Join here: https://www.neveralonebusinessservices.com/mini-course.html   I wait in the car for my kids to come out of their theatre class. The heat is blowing full blast and my seat warmers give me a reprieve from the negative temperatures of our harsh Minnesota winter weather. I dare to take off my gloves--only to grab my phone. I check my email and Facebook, and then remember that I have been meaning to sign up my kids for summer swim lessons. I flip to Safari and search. Some websites I find are still desktop versions--I have to pinch and squeeze and zoom in. Others are clearly missing content--I can tell I've landed on a "mobile" site that is a stripped down version of their real website. I sigh. Frustrated, I flip back to Facebook.
This scenario is happening to moms everywhere. They are sitting in carpool lanes, thinking about YOUR services, and they are googling you. First of all, are they finding you? Are you ranking on page 1 when they search for what you do, in your town or city? Secondly, when they land on your website, is it a frustrating experience? Do you have 12 pictures all in a row that they have to scroll through? Can they click on your phone number or email address? Can they easily fill out a form--on their phone--to get more information? As a busy mom of four kids, ages 9 to 16 (and I thought babies were busy! At least they napped. Now I'm constantly in the car, bringing my kids to one activity or another!) my phone is my lifeline. It's how I touch base with friends, order groceries, text my house cleaners, check on my staff, touch base with my husband, track my calendar, keep lists for buying gifts, and where I keep my to do list. I used to settle down on the couch for the evening with my laptop on my lap---but not so much any more. Almost everything I do as a mom is on my mobile phone. When I flip to wearing my "business owner" hat, I can see that 70% of our website traffic for our music school is coming from mobile devices. So I know I'm not the only high-tech mom using my phone on-the-go. Google is taking note. In 2016, studies say that nearly 60% of searches were done on mobile phones. And the number just keeps climbing. More and more people are moving away from desktop computers and moving to tablets and mobile devices for their everyday use and for searching. Because of this shift, Google is making a major change in 2017. Since the beginning, Google has been searching the desktop versions of websites to get their search engine results. In the past few years, they have also started crawling the mobile versions of sites as well. The new change is that Google is going to start to stop crawling the desktop versions of websites. This change will slowly roll out throughout the year. This is the biggest motivator to get a Responsive theme installed on your website ("responsive" means the layout changes for ANY device, large or small). We recently moved to responsive themes on our business' website and it wasn't too painful. The hardest part was just reading through every page and making sure that nothing was affected by changing the "theme" of the website. Yes, the "look" of our site changed, but it had to. Our site was looking dated and it is now easy to view on phones, iPads, etc. Now here's the trouble. In the last few years, many businesses added a mobile version of their website, but didn't optimize it with the best organic SEO and they didn't include all the same content as the "full version" of their website. This is what Google is trying to make you change. No "full version" and "mobile version" is needed anymore. We need to have one website that is responsive across all sized devices. I'm sure you've noticed the crazy different sizes of phones and tablets that are out there--there is nothing "standard" anymore for phones or devices. We need to be ready for our readers (they are our clients and our prospects!) no matter what device they are using! As Google starts crawling mobile versions, don't let your rankings drop because you don't have your full content on your mobile site. Check the following: 1. Do you have good organic SEO on your mobile version? 2. Is all the content the same on your mobile version as your desktop version? 3. Better yet--are you ready to change your website to a "responsive" theme so you don't have two versions but, rather, one website that is optimized for ALL devices? If you're ready to make these changes on your website, so you don't have frustrated moms leaving your site without contacting you, just email us. Let's talk. 2017 is going to be an exciting year of growth! Don't get left behind.  Social Media has changed the way we all do business! It's astounding that we can show up in the living rooms of our ideal clients and connect with them right on their phone or laptop!
You can choose to be frustrated that marketing is always evolving and changing or you can be grateful for the amazing opportunity to leverage what is new and right in front of us! If you haven't cracked the code on making Facebook Ads work for you, you need to purchase my training! I'll walk you step by step through making Facebook ads work for your brick and mortar business. (Hint: it's very different from how online businesses use it.) Before you purchase my training, here are a few things you need to know! Have a Business Page You need a personal profile, of course, to navigate Facebook. But you must also have a Business Page. It's very simple to start a page if you haven't. (Just Google it.) Make sure your header photo is fun and engaging (build a collage here: www.picmonkey.com). For your profile picture, use faces, NOT your logo. Use Facebook ads during your peak response times Spend your money on Facebook marketing at your peak response times. Once you're getting good responses, then you can experiment during your "off" season. But when you first get started, make sure your clients are actually thinking about your product and what you are selling. Be Social Facebook is NOT a place to be "professional." It's for connection. You're going to have to deliberately change your "voice" on Facebook and make sure you are connecting with your audience in a fun, light, social way. Drop the formality. Be casual, just like you would when you're talking to a close friend! Trust me--you'll attract more business. Fill out your About Section Make sure all your contact info is current and filled out on your business Page. Fill out all the sections so people can find you! Change the "button" to say "Contact Us" and link up your website so people will be guided from Facebook to your website. Do FB Live! Video is king right now on Facebook. (Facebook is trying to rival YouTube for videos.) The BEST engagement you can get on Facebook is through Facebook Live. Yes, it can be intimidating to "Go Live" but just jump in and try it! Be fun and interesting and show people "behind the scenes" of what your company does. Get Training on Facebook Ads If you're thinking, "Facebook just doesn't work for me" you're wrong. You just haven't cracked the code yet! Contact me and request my Facebook training for brick and mortar, local business. People are reporting wonderful results. I'd love to help! By the way, Facebook is one of my top referral sources for my school of music! We got 93 new students just from Facebook last year. Does Facebook work for advertising? Oh yes, it does.  I was the editor of our school newspaper in high school. It was supposed to be a rotating position, but right away it was clear that I was the one who loved editing, correcting grammar, and cracking the whip on deadlines. I remember sitting in Government class, secretly editing articles and passing them back to my fellow newspaper contributors. It was a position that I loved so much that my plan was to pursue Journalism in college. (Until God made it clear that I should major in music. But that's a story for another day.)
An important consideration for any newspaper team or editor is the article that is "above the fold." You know the newspaper that's folded in half, lying on the stand at the end of the counter at Starbucks while you wait for your grande latte? You scan the headlines, right? You might pick up the paper and look underneath. But the most attention goes to article above the fold. The same is true of your website. First impressions are everything and "above the fold" is valuable real estate. For websites, we want to maximize the first few seconds the reader is on your website. Is it clear what your business is all about? Does the reader know what to do next? Are the pictures visually clear on who the target audience is? PLEASE don't waste the top half of your home page with announcements: "Enrollment ends soon. Hurry!!" or "We will be closed on Labor Day." These announcements are for your current clients. Use email for your announcements, not your website. Your website is mostly for new visitors. Potential clients. You have only seconds to win them over and to keep them reading. Please don't waste those seconds on "insider information." If a reader can't decide in 3 seconds that "this is the place for me," then you've probably lost them forever. Use only 2 different fonts on your page, keep your colors clean and appealing, and use photographs that are happy, smiling, and that draw in your reader. Make sure your address, phone number, and email address are front and center! This is super important for both current and prospective clients. Please don't make the reader search for this important information. Also, be sure to have a link to your Facebook page in the upper right hand corner. (Social Media is how clients can peak into the life of your business and decide if they want to work with you.) First impressions are everything. If you are stuck on how to improve your site, ask a friend or co-worker to give you their opinion. Then listen and make changes! |
About the AuthorHi, I'm Jen Hickle! Archives
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