Using Web 2.0 to promote your business

Technology has changed the way businesses interact with clients and prospects. We are now moving into a Web 2.0 era. As research shows, Web 2.0 allows users to participate in the web through applications like social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, and blogs. If you are not using Web 2.0 to enhance your presence, you may want to consider adding this to your business model.

Let’s take a look at some of the applications that are being used by various businesses.

Skype
An up and coming piece of software is Skype. Skype is a Voice over the Internet (VoIP) software application and service individuals can use to communicate via computer. Businesses are relying more on this software to conduct video calls with staff in various locations. Some businesses and entrepreneurs are also using Skype to provide music lessons, cooking lessons, and information sharing just to name a few ways.

YouTube
Another great piece of software businesses are using to leverage their visibility is YouTube. Playing for Change Foundation is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world. They visited countries like Bethlehem, Palestine, Barcelona, Spain, and Dublin, Ireland. Using multimedia technology, they pieced various video of musicians playing several songs (one being a famous Ben A. King classic “Stand By Me”). This organization has captured a new and captive audience using multimedia technology.

The company YouTube did something similar earlier this year. They conducted the first ever auditions through YouTube for individuals around the world to be a part of the YouTube Symphony in April 2009. There were 3,000 musicians who auditioned and 96 winning players were selected to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Research indicates:
- The average user spends about 30 minutes viewing videos.
- 20 – 30% of usage is within the U.S.

Facebook
Facebook is another forum businesses are using to establish a presence with clients and prospects around the world. Here are some prime examples of how businesses are using this social network to capture clients:

- Photographers share pictures from their portfolios.
- Nonprofit organizations promote various causes and events.
- Fashion designers share their designs.
- Graphic designers promote projects from their portfolios.

Many companies are starting to incorporate some of these Web 2.0 applications into their business model. As you can see, technology can enhance the visibility of your business.

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Reggie Waller is the president of RWJ Consulting Group a provider of business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit RWJ Consulting Group

Regain Focus To Achieve Your Goals

Are you on track to accomplish the goals that you set at the beginning of the year? If so, you are doing great. If not, you still have time to regain focus and get back on track. As times change, there are factors (economic, social, political, etc.) that can cause someone to fall behind and sometimes not be able to reach their goals. Let’s look at a few things that you have control over that will assist putting you back on track.

First, where are you now within your plan of action? At the beginning of the year, you identified a set of key goals that you wanted to accomplish. Did you keep a written list of your goals and did you revisit this list on a periodic basis? Locate your list and if you lost it, recreate a new one. Make sure you put it in a spot where you can easily access it to keep you on track for accomplishing these set of goals. Whether they are business or personal goals, keep the list visible.

Now that you located or recreated your list of goals you wanted to accomplish, let’s focus on when you wanted to accomplish them by. Has the target date already past? Did you set out to accomplish this by a certain quarter within the year? Maybe you need to readjust the timing based on certain circumstances. Where possible, try to break a bigger goal into a more manageable goal based on time and size. Breaking a goal down can sometimes assist on when you achieve it.

Finally, do you still need the assistance of someone else to help you accomplish these goals? Whom do you need to partner with to put you back on track? Maybe it is a business colleague or mentor. You’re not in this alone. Having the support of others, helps you keep focused and motivated to accomplish your goals.

Getting back on track to accomplish some or all of your goals by the end of the year can still be accomplished. Remember to identify what it is you want to accomplish and keep your list visible. Check the timing to make sure you are hitting the key dates you need to accomplish the bigger goal. Enlist the help of others if needed as they want you to succeed and accomplish your goals.

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Reggie Waller is the president of RWJ Consulting Group a provider of business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit RWJ Consulting Group

Quote of the Week #29

Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.

– Andre Malraux

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Reggie Waller is the president of RWJ Consulting Group a provider of business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit RWJ Consulting Group

Communicating Effectively - You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

You’ve been selected as a guest on the Donnie Deutsch show to pitch “The Big Idea”. You have thirty seconds to describe your business and how it can benefit others.

What will you say? What do you want people to walk away with? How many people are watching the show and can benefit from your “Big Idea” or even provide funding?

There was one particular episode of “The Big Idea” that stood out to me. There was a panel of expert entrepreneurs there to provide constructive feedback to the entrepreneur on their “Big Idea”. Donnie introduced the guest and asked them to describe their business in thirty seconds. The business owner started to describe their business and began to fumble while explaining their product. I started to become unclear on the purpose of the business and how it could benefit me. Were they nervous from all the lights and cameras in the studio? Was it the panel of experts?

Well, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. With more people out of work today, starting your own business is more of an appealing option to create income. In a survey conducted by a Fortune Small Business/Zogby International online survey of 755 small business owners, 40% of entrepreneurs said they feel more secure having their own business as they would if they worked for a large firm (27% just as secure, 22% less and 8% not sure). Entrepreneurs may have a great business, but when it comes to communicating the product and vision, the message sometimes seems to get lost in translation. Why is that? We are not all experts when it comes to presenting ideas, let alone speaking to a group of people. People fear public speaking, but let’s focus on an exercise that helps you confidently present your business to one or many future clients and investors.

Exercise 1. Keep these key questions in mind as they will come up during conversations about your business:

- Why was this business created?
- Who does it benefit and how?
- How can we purchase your products and services and what is the cost?

Exercise 2. To help you answer these questions, do a brain dump of everything you know about your business. If you have a business plan, pull some information from there as well. If you don’t have one, maybe it’s time to start creating one. I would even include the S.W.O.T. Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.) from the business plan.

Strengths: What does your business offer that your competitor’s may not offer?
- Better distribution channels
- Niche market

Weaknesses: What are some of the objections a customer may have to not select your business?
- New to the market place
- Limited product and service offering

Opportunities: What external factors will allow your business to prosper?
- Political
- Demographic
- Technology

Threats: What threats would impact your business?
- Pricing
- Substitutes in the market place

Exercise 3. Now that you have your thoughts on paper, start putting some structure around your responses to the questions above. You only have thirty seconds to make your pitch and you want it to count.

Write out your main points on what you want to say. Create variations, some may be short and some may be long. Have a business partner, mentor, family member or friend ask you questions about your business and practice giving responses to the questions so you feel comfortable when it’s time. Your network does not want to see you fail, so ask them for honest and constructive feedback. In fact, have several different people from your trusted network ask you different questions about your business, so you get used to the different styles. Have some in a formal and informal setting. If you have a camcorder, record yourself so you can see how you look when you’re giving your responses.

Some questions to ask yourself and the person working with you on your responses:

Do you seem confident and natural about what you’re discussing?
Does it look like you’re thinking about what you want to say?
Do you “um” and “uh” when responding?

Make sure your responses feel and sound natural like you are having a conversation with the other person. You want to look very knowledgeable when talking about your business. Repeat this exercise as much as possible until you become comfortable. It will be valuable for you as you begin to speak to more people about your business. Make it easy for people to understand what you do, so they can easily promote your business to their network.

You got the call from Donnie Deutsch to pitch your “Big Idea”. Who knows how many people may be watching the show that evening. With the exercise that you completed, you will now feel more comfortable and confident talking about your business, not just to Donnie, but future clients and investors as well.

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Reggie Waller is the president of RWJ Consulting Group a provider of business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit RWJ Consulting Group

Quote of the Week #28

"Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things."

- Frank A. Clark

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Reggie Waller is the president of RWJ Consulting Group a provider of business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit RWJ Consulting Group