Blogs

LinkedIn is the Rodney Dangerfield of social media: despite having 200 million highly influential subscribers, it gets no respect. Even though it is consistently ranked among the social giants Facebook and Twitter, it doesn’t seem to get as much hype from the mainstream media. But as a tool for marketing your beauty salon business, it provides a huge edge over its more popular peers. Because unlike Facebook and Twitter, which regularly exchange cat photos, inane one-liners and political rants from nutty uncles, LinkedIn is all business.

How companies are leveraging LinkedIn

You operate a beauty salon business. Your time and energy is scarce. So why should you worry about LinkedIn? Here are a few ways your peers (there are 1.3 million small-business owners on the network) are employing it to their advantage:

1. Sharing wins: As a beauty salon business owner, you're working hard. Why not share your success stories? Promoting your accomplishments is just good marketing. And with 2 million C-level executives using the site, you might suddenly find yourself with some deep-pocketed suitors.
2. Getting referrals: LinkedIn makes it easy to get peer and client endorsements for the work you do. Best part? When someone recommends you or writes a testimonial, everyone within your network sees it in his or her activity feed. This type of social proof is the BEST way of getting new customers.
   
3. Finding new talent: If your beauty salon business keeps growing, you'll undoubtedly need to hire new employees. LinkedIn is a great place—scratch that, it’s the BEST place—to find new players to include in your team.
   
4. Promoting events: LinkedIn’s event feature is a game changer! It has never been so easy to spread the news and drum up enthusiasm about upcoming events, sales and get togethers. You can even use their service directory to find professional event planners to help you.
   
5. Boosting website traffic: A little-known secret about LinkedIn is that it’s very influential with Google; if you have a presence on LinkedIn, you’re likely to see a jump in search engine visibility, too. More clicks = more customers!
   
6. Getting answers: LinkedIn is a goldmine for information on operating a successful beauty salon business. You can uncover great advice from some of the savviest business minds in the world in LinkedIn Answers and Groups. You will discover over 2000 groups devoted to small-business and beauty salon business related topics.
   
7. Finding investors, vendors and partners: It’s a networker’s paradise. Whether you require some capital, a new accounting firm, or even a beauty salon business partner, you’re not going to find a better resource than LinkedIn. Anywhere.
   

We’re just scratching the surface here, folks. The benefits don’t end there. Pay a visit to LinkedIn, set up a page for your business and see for yourself. I know your time is scarce, but trust me, it’s worth it.

About Author:
Charlotte Howard is a Radio Host and Beauty Salon Success Coach. She specializes in beauty salon business start-up and client attraction. Contact her today for all of your burning beauty salon business questions, visit www.CharlotteHowardInfo.com

I know, I know. You don’t have the time for an alternate social network. Nevertheless I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t talk up Pinterest, as this image-centric social network has become an amazing spot for beauty salon businesses to:

• Meet new customers
• Boost website traffic
• Increase brand recognition
• Drive sales activity

So let’s run through why this visual social network so cool—and so effective as a marketing strategy.

Visually pleasing! Less whining!

Instead of being a platform for tedious updates of what people ate for breakfast or ALL CAPS rants from your weird uncle, Pinterest is all about bringing people together who have common interests, whether it’s fashion, beauty, art, food, crafts, architecture, photography, cocktail recipes, interior design..you name it. Copyblogger contributor Beth Hayden sums up Pinterest very well with this quote: “Pinterest is visually appealing, positive, and unlike Facebook, there isn’t any whining.” Can I get an amen?!

Why are marketers so energized about Pinterest?

For starters, the site is incredibly popular. Last year, in a five month span, Pinterest rocketed to a jaw-dropping 10 million users. No one was expecting it. Even social media watchers were caught off guard. Almost overnight Pinterest became a MAJOR driver of online traffic. Get this: Pinterest drives more traffic than YouTube, Google and LinkedIn—combined. Here’s another thing: users love Pinterest. They can’t get enough. It’s addictive. As per comScore data Pinterest users average 89 minutes monthly on the site and Google users average just 3 minutes per month.

So what?

Why should beauty salon businesses like yours care about Pinterest? It’s really quite simple. First of all, the site is a low-key, non-threatening method to meet consumers who are passionate about what you’re interested in! This built-in permission makes it possible to build new relationships with others in your target market. Secondly, Pinterest is a fantastic place showcase your products or services, stay top of mind and grow your “tribe” of like-minded people. Just create an account. You’ll see an array of businesses on the site, such as…

• Beauty Salon Businesses
• Hair Artists
• Makeup Artists
• Fitness Coaches
• Yoga Studios
• Non-profit Organizations
• Jewelry Makers

The list is endless.

No excuses; start pinning!

Most businesses tend to swiftly think of reasons why they shouldn’t use social media—nevertheless the truth is, many sell themselves short and don’t become involved because they don’t think they have a natural place in a certain network. Now, if you run a bookkeeping business, maybe Pinterest isn’t the best fit, but then again, it’s quite possible that you might be a trailblazer and use Pinterest to showcase your business and have great success. Hey, if a plumbing franchise in Waco, Texas can make Pinterest benefit their business, you can too! It’s just too easy to sell yourself short and come up with reasons to remain on the sidelines!

About Author:
Charlotte Howard is a Radio Host and Beauty Salon Success Coach. She specializes in beauty salon business start-up and client attraction. Contact her today for all of your burning beauty salon business questions, visit www.CharlotteHowardInfo.com

A vehicle needs a tune up every two years or 30,000 miles, whichever comes first. The key to keeping a vehicle in good working condition is scheduling regular maintenance.  Right?  Well, just as your car needs scheduled care, so does your business.  According to Browder, founder of National Association Women on the Rise, it is vital that entrepreneurs get in the habit of looking “under the hood” regularly.  That means reviewing your operations, marketing and financial processes.  So, are you performing regularly scheduled maintenance for your business?  Here are 3 tips to tune-up your business.

Change the oil

Regularly changing your car's engine oil and filter is one of the most important things you can do to keep your car running well.  Consistent maintenance to your business each year is equally important.  Take some time to look at your business processes.  Think about your accomplishments.  Is there room for improvement?  Here are two ideas.

• Reflect on the successes and failures of your professional and personal life.  Have you considered what changes you would like to implement this year?  As women entrepreneurs, it is important to look for ways to improve work-life balance.  Take some time to reflect on your business' progress and make plans on how you want your business to grow.
• Reorganize to get rid of clutter.  What have you accumulated this past year that is hindering you from functioning at your optimal best?  Write down all the things that are cluttering your mind, distorting your life’s vision.  Take each of the things on your list and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why am I holding on to this clutter?
2. What purpose does it serve?
3. How do I rid myself of it?

Clutter can be distracting while adding to the chaos in our lives.    

Check engine light

The "check engine" light is part of your vehicle's onboard diagnostics (OBD) system. If a problem in the electronic-control system doesn’t ‘fix’ itself, the computer that controls the OBD turns on a yellow warning indicator that's labeled "check engine.  Ignore the warning and you could damage expensive components. 

Just as your engine is vital to your vehicle, your clients are the engine that drives the success in your business.  Do you know who your clients are?  Have you refined your target market (clients) to increase your bottom line?  We all know that the success of your business depends on making sales.  To identify your target client, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do you know who your customers will be? 
2. Do you understand their needs?
3. Do you know where they are located?
4. Will you offer the kind of products or services that they will buy?
5. Will your prices be competitive?
6. Do you understand how your business compares with your competitors?
7. Will your business be conveniently located?

By refining your target market, you are ensuring the success of your business! 

Balance the tires

Balanced tires are imperative to safe driving. When the tires are out of balance, they place pressure on the bearings, shocks and other parts of the wheel assembly. When your business is out of balance, you can lose current and potential clients which can cause the loss of revenue or worse, your business!

Is your business running smoothly? Re-examine contracts with your suppliers such as telephone service, business and life insurance policies.  Look for ways to cut costs.  Check out your current memberships; local chambers and business and civic associations to make sure you are getting the most for your money.  In addition:

• Create new revenue streams. 
• Find innovative ways to promote your business and attract potential clients.

In conclusion, by taking control of your business and keeping it running at peak performance, will increase your chances for success and profitability!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:  Sylvia Browder is founder of National Association Women on the Rise, a virtual community for aspiring and established women entrepreneurs. The association’s mission is to provide professional and personal resources while uplifting and empowering women entrepreneurs through collaboration, education, mentoring, spiritual and peer support, leadership and networking. She has served as an online volunteer SCORE counselor since 2004.  For FREE weekly articles go to Sylvia Browder’s Blog for Women Entrepreneurs, www.sylviabrowder.com.  She can be contacted at info@nawomenrise.com.

• Become a fan of ‘National Association Women on the Rise:’ http://bit.ly/9qqvWW
• Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/sylviabrowder 
• Are you LinkedIn? http://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviabrowder 
• Join ‘National Association Women on the Rise’ on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/dsd5E0 
• Join our community on NING, www.nawomenrise.com

“There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.” Madeleine K. Albright

We all want to believe that women are all busy connecting, supporting and empowering one another, but reality is that some are not doing their part.  What is causing women to lack compassion or become envious of other women?  Why would you not want to share your knowledge or resources?   

In a recent MSNBC interview, Elura Nanos, an attorney and a managing partner of Morange, an educational firm for law students, has seen tons of women, including herself, not helping other women but doesn’t think it’s about being “bitchy.”  Nanos said, “Many women are too busy to help each other. I own a business, work full time, I have two small children, and does charity work hobbies. I have a wonderful husband, but he doesn’t do half the amount of things I do.”

Yes, we are all busy wearing many hats, but is it really a good reason not to help others?  Think how you would feel if you needed help and nobody wanted to help you.  By putting yourself in their shoes, allows you to be more apt to find time to help them overcome challenges so that ultimately, everyone can achieve their goals and aspirations. 

Last week, two women from my virtual community, felt compelled to call me for advice.  Both gave me permission to share a little of their stories:     

·         Lisa (not her real name) works full time at a non-profit agency that provides career training to several rural communities.  In her spare time, she offers coaching services in a virtual setting. In a recent meeting with her immediate supervisor, who is also a business owner, she was surprised to be given an ultimatum; either stop her coaching business or resign from the company!  Mind you, her business model is very different from that of her employer.  So, she contacted me for a listening ear and advice. 

·         Diane (not her real name) recently started a human resource firm but struggling with deep personal issues which has caused her to doubt her abilities as a business owner.  She feels unworthy and was recently told by her mentor, a prominent business woman, that she should just give it up until she gets help with her issues and find a real job!  Can you imagine how devastated Diane felt as she shared her story with me?  After talking to her, I found her to be extremely experienced and capable of running a successful business! 

I could have easily used my jam packed calendar as a reason not to talk to these ladies, as I am as busy as Nanos is, i.e., employed as a full time director of a non-profit agency; run two virtual businesses, “National Association Women on the Rise” and “Browder Consulting Group;” have a very active family; hold two board positions, an avid motorcyclist and attend church regularly.  But, I didn’t think twice about my schedule when Lisa and Diane contacted me.  In fact, it was my pleasure to schedule an appointment to talk to both.  So, why are some women reluctant to help others? 

To help, here are 3 ways every woman can make a difference.   

Mentor

Successful business women understand the importance of having a mentor.  In fact, developing a portfolio of mentors to meet different aspects of your life, both personally and professionally, is paramount!  By becoming a mentor allows you to visualize someone in your image who you’ve helped to become as successful as you someday!  After talking to Diane, I volunteered to mentor her monthly with weekly emails that includes action steps and affirmations.  In addition, I connected her with one of NAWR’s expert spiritual advisors.  

Network

Many of us know the value of networking.  It is less about handing out your business cards and more about paying it forward.  When you are talking to people, think about who would be a good connection for them.  For example, at a recent chamber event I attended, I met a woman who was a writer for a newspaper and currently freelancing technical and ghost writing services.  Immediately, I thought about another business owner who wanted to start a blog but didn’t have time to write articles.  I was able to later connect them.

Peer-to-Peer Support

Why not form a peer advisory group?  This group of entrepreneurs could be from diverse industries and get together on a regular basis to share best practices, solve problems and be a source of support for the group.  

I have a dynamic group of peers who serve as expert advisors for NAWR’s members.  We are all supportive of each other.  Having a strong and solid relationship with this group of women makes it easy to give and receive business referrals.

In conclusion, we must strive to make it a part of our personal mission to support and be great role models to others.  When one of us succeeds, we all do!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:  Sylvia Browder is founder of National Association Women on the Rise, a virtual community for aspiring and established women entrepreneurs. The association’s mission is to provide professional and personal resources while uplifting and empowering women entrepreneurs through collaboration, education, mentoring, spiritual and peer support, leadership and networking. She has served as an online volunteer SCORE counselor since 2004.  For FREE weekly articles go to Sylvia Browder’s Blog for Women Entrepreneurs, www.sylviabrowder.com.  She can be contacted at info@nawomenrise.com.

·         Become a fan of ‘National Association Women on the Rise:’ http://bit.ly/9qqvWW

·         Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/sylviabrowder 

·         Are you LinkedIn? http://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviabrowder 

·         Join ‘National Association Women on the Rise’ on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/dsd5E0 

·         Join our community on NING, www.nawomenrise.com

• Your message will appear across the Twitter board over and over by your followers who will retweet your message to their followers. Can we say ‘viral?’
• Stay abreast of industry trends to market effectively to potential customers.
• Publish your Twitter handle on all email newsletters, direct mailings, on your Web site and all other marketing channels.
• Promote your latest blog posts and newsletters

• Track new trends your customers are talking about using Twitscoop or Trendistic
• Share exclusive Twitter coupon codes using Coupon Tweet or TwtQupon
• Promote special offers, promotions and events using Twitzu

• Hoot suite: a web-based tool that allows you to set up a number of social media profiles to manage. The free application offers basic analytics and five social media profiles including LinkedIn, Face book and Twitter. www.hootsuite.com
• Market Me Suite: allows thousands of small businesses to manage their social media. It allows each of your individual tweets to say, www.yourwebsite.com or via your name. http://marketmesuite.com/
• Seesmic: a powerful collection of social management tools that provide businesses and individuals with everything they need to build their brand online. With applications on every platform, Seesmic is the most comprehensive solution on the market. http://seesmic.com/
• Tweet Deck: your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Face book, LinkedIn and more. www.tweetdeck.com

• MyTweeple: a great way to manage your Twitter people in one place. You can easily see who you are following and who's following you. With a simple click, you can follow, unfollow, or block people, and these changes instantly update Twitter. http://mytweeple.com
• Tweeter Karma: a flash application that fetches your friends and followers from Twitter when you click the “Whack!” button, then displays them for you, letting you quickly paginate through them. http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/
• Twit Cleaner: Analyses the profiles & tweets of your followers, looking for certain patterns of behavior, such as overly repetitive, common spam tactics, and posting the same links repeatedly, thus, allowing you to decide who to save & who to unfollow. www.twitcleaner.com
• Twibs: Give twitter users a place to find businesses on twitter. www.twibs.com

• Hash Tags: You can find information pertaining to tags, users, trends and whatever else is available or site if you are lucky.http://hashtags.org/
• Twitter Search: Twitter Search helps you filter all the real-time information coursing through our service. http://search.twitter.com/
• We Follow: view popular tags, the most popular people on Twitter by tag usage. http://wefollow.com/

• Qwitter: a service for tracking the tweeps that unfollow you. http://useqwitter.com/
• Tweet Stats: graph your twitter stats. http://tweetstats.com/
• TwittUrlLy: tracks the URLs around the Twitter verse and provides a quick, real-time view of what people are talking about on Twitter. http://twitturly.com/

• Social Oomph: a service that provides free and paid productivity enhancement services for social media users. A focus on productivity solutions for users of Twitter.com. http://www.socialoomph.com/
• Twitter Feed: tweet blog posts. http://twitterfeed.com/
• Twit Dom: The Twitter Applications Directory with over 2000 apps. http://twitdom.com/
• Klout: A tool used for an individual to measure and leverage their influence on twitter. www.klout.com/

• Become a fan of ‘National Association Women on the Rise:’ http://bit.ly/9qqvWW
• Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/sylviabrowder
• Are you LinkedIn? http://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviabrowder
• Join ‘National Association Women on the Rise’ on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/dsd5E0
• Join our community on NING, www.nawomenrise.com

I was talking to a friend and avid blogger recently about how much time and effort goes into starting and growing a blog.  She talked about a client who recently started a blog but frustrated from lack of followers.  So typical!  Natalie MacNeil, Media Producer and award winning blogger for “She Takes on the World, says, “Remember, it's not about you. When I ask most new bloggers what they want out of blogging they usually want to grow their business, sell more products, and maybe make money directly from blogging. Once they finish telling me everything they want out of blogging I say, "Now what does your audience want?" That answer doesn't come as quickly and that's the most important question bloggers need to ask themselves. At the end of the day, the success of your blog will depend on how focused you are on the needs and wants of the people who read your blog. It's all about them.”

Nearly two years has passed since I first launched my blog.  I remember having a few followers and posts.  I was determined to create a quality and informative blog so that my target market, aspiring and established women entrepreneurs, could find good content relevant to their business needs.    

• Google Ad Sense. This is a free program that enables website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads and earn. http://tinyurl.com/ygt6y2h
• Link Share. A leading provider of full-service online marketing solutions specializing in the areas of Search (SEM), Lead Generation and Affiliate Marketing. Link Share pays for affiliate marketing. http://www.linkshare.com/
• PayPerPost. This site allows you to make money blogging! You can pick your advertisers, name your own price and negotiate your own deals. https://payperpost.com/
• Sponsored Review. Bloggers write articles for advertisers after reviewing their products and services. Blogs are posted for review on your blog. Each advertiser has his or her own requirements. Bloggers can earn anything from $10 to $500+ for each review. www.sponsoredreviews.com

• www.ezinearticles.com. Expert Authors & Writers are able to post their articles to be featured within the site. The searchable database of hundreds of thousands of quality original articles allows email newsletter publishers hungry for fresh content to find articles that they can use for inclusion within their next newsletter.
• www.associatedcontent.com. Associated Content enables anyone to participate in the new content economy by publishing content on any topic, in any format (text, video, audio and images), and connects that content to consumers, partners and advertisers.
• www.articlesbase.com. Articles Base is a free article directory where you can submit and find articles. You can publish your articles for free or find content for your website, ezine, or newsletter.

• Facebook - Create a Facebook profile and add the "My Blog Application." Again, join groups and pages that pertain to your blog topic and interact with other members. Share your link with pages and groups and participate in discussion topics.
• Twitter - Twitter allows you to post updates (called Tweets) as often as you want (and limited to 140 characters). When people follow you, they see your tweets. So, by posting the link to your blog, your followers can follow the link back to your blog. If they like the content, they will retweet it.
• LinkedIn - LinkedIn's edge is the fact that it's tailored for businesspeople, unlike other social networking sites that also attract a great number of general users. You can use LinkedIn to network with people or groups, or answer questions that other members ask, thus, providing a link to your blog as a reference.
• Digg – The ultimate social media site; it’s become notorious for producing traffic waves so massive that they can have a DOS-style impact on smaller hosts.
• Stumble Upon – Helps members discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble, the site delivers high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of 8 million+ other web surfers with interests similar to you.
• del.icio.us – A social bookmarking website; users can mark their favorites with del.icio.us and share them with each other; making it onto the front page of the “recently popular” section on del.icio.us will send a decent amount of traffic so long as the category you’re tagged into is popular.