As a small business owner, managing your time and expectations are extremely important if you want to maintain the proper focus. Time management is one of those skills that no one teaches you in school but that you have to learn.
I recently received an email in my inbox with the subject line “Hi Lisa!” The from address only said “Suz.” I get hundreds of emails a day and this is the type of thing that I would normally just send to my spam folder – between the dubious subject line and the cryptic “from” address, it really triggered all my red flags. But I had just sent a few photos, via Facebook, to a friend named Suzanne and thought that maybe she was replying to say she received them. I opened it and was surprised to see that it was a note from an old client, writing to set up another appointment!
Many people now use email as a primary way of communicating with friends, family, co-workers and others who are important to each of us for different reasons. You may be contacting someone about employment, a business venture, following up with customer service or emailing instead of using the telephone.
The rules have changed. Your clients are no longer willing to accept anything less than what they want when it comes to doing business with you and your company. They want what they want and they want it now.
Trust and credibility are two of the most critical elements when it comes to the success of your business. It can be challenging to bring home that trust and credibility for your business through your online interactions with business associates.
As polite and appropriate as you try to be online, sometimes you may write something that is misconstrued or that inadvertently causes offense. This happens to everyone on occasion. What’s important is how to fix it if it happens.
You post content on a regular basis and you are sensitive to what you can and cannot appropriately post online. With that in mind, you should share your knowledge with others who are not as aware of what to do.
You have a great deal of information to share with others. You don’t want to force it on others. You want to earn their attention instead of demanding it. Earned attention is a building block of a sustainable relationship.
Since 2008, when the US economy seemed to hit rock bottom, many people were forced to consider new ways of earning a living. Many opened their own businesses and introduced themselves to other business owners.
For all businesses that have an online presence, the two critical elements to address when it comes to going global are money and chance of success. If the answer to either is “no,” you might want to think twice.
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