Are you feeling stuck, constantly comparing yourself to the competition, wondering why they seem to be doing so much better than you?

Are you lying awake at night wondering where your next customer is coming from or how you’re going to survive the market uncertainty the current political climate is creating?

Has the constant pressure to create more content and get more social media engagement left you feeling burnt out?

These might seem like perfectly natural obstacles to overcome in the daily life of an entrepreneur, and many business owners accept these worries and pressures as one of the sacrifices they have to make to live the entrepreneurial life they dream of.

However, with the right marketing strategy driving your impact brand, these concerns can be lifted. you can feel confident about where your next customer is coming from. When you’re marketing strategically, you’re working proactively instead of reactively, so your business growth is consistent and not tied to the number of hours you put in.

When you take a strategic approach you can weather the market storms, stay adaptable and be confident that you’ll survive. Social media and content creation feel like an effective tool for business growth, not another draining chore or obligation.

Most social entrepreneurs know they need a marketing strategy, but get so busy with the tactics that they lose sight of their goals and quickly get overwhelmed. If this picture of the calm, confident and in control business owner feels a million miles away from where you are right now, it might be time to take another look at your strategy.

As a marketing strategist and business mentor, I’ve coached many entrepreneurs through this overwhelm and there are some common mistakes I’ve observed which often hold people back from a strategy that truly serves them:

#1 You’re overwhelmed and distracted by too many different techniques.

There are so many different techniques to raise brand awareness, grow your audience and convert them into customers – from blogging to social media, email marketing, pay-per-click ads and more.

As impact business owners we’re lucky to have the opportunity to connect with collaborators and customers all around the world (often for free!) thanks to the internet. But the pressure to be “always on” across all the platforms can leave us feeling overwhelmed.

There are algorithm changes to keep up with, content to create and new platforms to master. When you’re feeling overwhelmed and getting distracted by all the different things you could be doing, you end up falling into the trap of “churn and burn” marketing – trying (and often ditching) different techniques instead of doubling down, building on what works for you and growing momentum long term.

No technique will work in isolation. Nobody is going to see a post about your product on Instagram and purchase it then and there, unless they already know, like and trust you.

Without a strategically planned customer journey which builds and nurtures that relationship sitting behind the techniques you’re using, your marketing will be less effective.

It’s knowing the right sequence these techniques should be implemented – and how to tackle them with confidence – that allows you to grow your business in a meaningful way.

That’s what a marketing strategy will achieve for you, but too many entrepreneurs confuse their marketing plan (the list of techniques and content to try next) with a strategy, leaving them confused and overwhelmed.

#2 You’re on too many platforms.

You’re feeling the pressure to be on all the different social platforms at once. They all work differently and you don’t fully understand what you’re doing, so growth is slow and you feel guilty for not spending enough time creating content and engaging online – even though you feel like you live on social media!

You know you’d probably get better results if you focused on one platform and learn how to use it properly and invested your time in creating quality content and building your audience there – but you don’t know which one to choose what’s right for your brand and you’re scared of getting it wrong.

The best place to start is with your ideal customer – what problem do you solve for them? What content can you create to help them? Where are they hanging out online and likely to see that content?

Your marketing strategy should include a detailed customer profile to help you make strategic decisions about what content to create and where to post it.

Plus your strategy will save you time by identifying ways you can repurpose content across platforms (when you choose to expand your online presence) to make your social media marketing easier and more impactful.

#3 You’re stuck in the DIY danger zone.

In the past, marketing meant buying expensive advertising space to raise brand awareness. With the rise of the internet, the cost of growing a brand has fallen and it has never been cheaper to market yourself.

Anyone can start an email list, blog or social media account and business owners can learn how to market their own brand – often for free, with the help of online experts sharing their tips in blogs and podcasts.

But with so much advice out there, it can be hard to know who to follow and where to turn, and the accessibility of these platforms means everyone else is doing it too. When you rely purely on free courses, mini training and sporadic information from a range of online experts, you end up piecing together parts from everyone else’s strategies.

In the short term these techniques might work, but without a targeted strategy of your own underpinning what you’re doing, your marketing won’t be as effective as it could be and you’ll struggle to stand out from the crowd.

Hiring an expert and developing your own strategy will give you access to a tailored plan designed with your business goals in mind and created for your ideal customer – making your marketing more effective and increasing your return on investment.

This will actually save you time and it’ll give you a competitive advantage over everyone else who’s doing marketing DIY!

#4 You’ve been given bad advice.

The internet is full of experts and “gurus” dishing out advice in an unregulated space. Anyone can call themselves a marketer or a strategy expert, but there’s still so much confusion about what a strategy really is that often these “experts” are doing more harm than good.

The latest trend seems to be “do as I did” techniques, where someone who has set up a business for themselves gives you the “exact blueprint” so you can replicate their success.

When choosing a marketing strategist to work with, look for someone who has successfully implemented tailored strategies time and again for different brands, products, and services in different niches. Your strategy needs to be as unique as your business – a cookie-cutter approach isn’t going to work.

If you’re following someone who’s track record of success is entirely based on their own business growth, you’re likely to fall for the same mistakes they did at the start because nobody begins with a watertight strategy in place.

Without a background in strategic marketing, it’s hard to foresee the pitfalls of different techniques and remove the trial and error from your approach.

This is the real value a professional strategist can bring, so choose who to work with care and always ask about their track record with products or services in your niche.

Is it time to revisit your marketing strategy?

If one or more of the roadblocks above resonated with you, it might be time to revisit your marketing strategy. Give yourself some time to do this without the daily distractions that come from working in your business, so you can reflect and think long term.

Start by revisiting the problem you solve for your customers, the impact you make and the big vision you want to achieve – this should act as your North Star, and your marketing strategy should become the roadmap for where you want to go.

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I think the only people who love the word “traffic” is online entrepreneurs.

I posted a poll on my Facebook page asking my community whether they wanted to learn more about “How to get Massive Traffic” or about “How to Validate your Business Idea,” and my mother-in-law (bless her heart) chose Idea Validation only because she hates traffic!

She’s not even in my target audience, but you gotta love the family support!

In the online universe, traffic is a beautiful thing and we always want MORE of it!

Every time someone hits your landing page, it’s like a breath of fresh air. It tastes like opportunity.

Unfortunately, many in the online space do not prioritize traffic in their business.

Why Traffic?

Are you too busy to work on getting more traffic?

Or perhaps you believe that getting just enough clients to fill your schedule will get you more money, more flexibility, and more happiness. The online stuff is just gravy, so it sits in the backburner.

You’d be surprised to hear that the exact opposite is true.

When you neglect to create an online community in favor of having one-off clients, you are putting your business at risk in multiple ways.

What does traffic have to do with it?

You may be wondering “What does traffic have to do with creating an online following? And what does creating an online following have to do with the success of my one-on-one client work?”

In one word: everything.

When we talk about “generating traffic” we are specifically referring to you creating valuable content that attracts your ideal client, and posting it on your website (or other social media portals).

The worst thing that can happen is that someone finds you, gets your content, and never comes back.

Once your ideal client has become aware of your existence through your amazing freebies, or simply happened to land on your website, you want to make sure to hold onto them for dear life.

Your goal should be: for every person who becomes aware of you, direct them to your mailing list or to your Facebook group.

As you can see, generating massive amounts of traffic will inevitably lead to you creating an online community with you as the expert at the center.

In this article, I lay out 5 ways that creating an online community (by way of prioritizing traffic to your site or content) can springboard your business in ways you never imagined.

Ready? Let’s go:

1. Have a waitlist of clients

In any service or coaching business, you always run the risk of clients falling off the face of the Earth.

In most cases, it’s not as dramatic as that, but it does happen that clients get busy, deprioritize your meetings, or simply choose to go a different way.

Suddenly, your calendar opens up and you are left scrambling to fill the gap.

If you have prioritized generating great content, driving traffic to it, and growing a community, you should have no problem reaching out to your own tribe and establishing a waitlist of ideal clients who can’t wait to jump at the chance to work with you.

And just like that, you will never be afraid of losing another client ever again.

2. Establish yourself as an authority in your field

Put yourself in the shoes of your next ideal client.

They found you because their friend recommended you, and they hope you will work out.

Some of the time, potential customers who find you through word-of-mouth will hire you simply because you are the lowest hanging fruit: they didn’t even have to research other options, and they will just “give you a try” and hope for the best.

Other times, these same referrals do their due diligence. They will visit your website and that of your competitors. They will check out your Facebook page or Yelp reviews.

What happens next, you will never know because you never find out.

That same discerning customer found this other business which seems to be a little more “legit.” They have a huge following on Facebook, they have a lot more 5 stars reviews than you do, and it seems like other people are talking about them.

As you can see, this customer you never even knew was considering you made a judgment on the value of your services based on popularity.

You heard me: popularity.

When you have a fired-up online community, you become the authority in your field that everyone wants to work with.

You don’t want to be the business that gets passed up. You want to be the one everyone gravitates towards.

Traffic does this for you. An online community does this for you.

3. Charge higher prices

Consider the same scenario as above.

This potential customer is comparing you against someone else who has a larger following and a better-looking website.

Which of the two options do you think the client will assume is more expensive?

Hint: not you.

When you have an online following, you raise the bar in terms of expectations.

The rationale behind it is that: if so many people like her, then she must be the best!

And people will pay more for the best.

The larger your online following, the more your potential clients will be willing to pay for your services.

4. Be featured by other inspiring entrepreneurs

This is a bit of a circular reference, in that it is an opportunity afforded only to those with a large following, and it also helps you build an even larger following.

When you have created an online community that swears by your content and your services, other entrepreneurs will want to talk to you to tap into your audience.

This is a normal practice among entrepreneurs: help each other out, and grow each other’s audiences in the process.

When you first start out, you may be hurting to be featured in other people’s forums so your audience can grow. But once it’s made it to a certain level, you will attract feature opportunities like bees to honey, further cementing your authority as an expert in your area.

5. Open up unimaginable opportunities

This is the hardest benefit to describe because you don’t know what it will be.

When you put yourself out there and start engaging with other entrepreneurs and potential clients, your future opens up to a world of opportunities that you cannot imagine.

Many of us go through life calculating the ROI on our investment before we actually put our money down.

The truth is that most times it is impossible for us to know what the return will be on an opportunity we have never jumped into in the past.

This reward can take the shape of growing your audience, meeting amazing people who will change your life, or open up the chance to travel opportunities.

Jump In. Make Yourself Known.

The benefits of jumping in and making yourself be known in your industry are simply impossible to predict or to measure, and that is the definition of a wild adventure.

Does this article make you want to prioritize traffic and build a community? Leave us a comment and tell us what you are going to do in your business today!

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This article was written by Luke Bilton and originally published on Innovation Enterprise 

2017 was a year for high profile casualties in digital publishing, with Vice, Buzzfeed, and Mic all missing ad revenue targets and cutting jobs. Mashable sold to Ziff Davis for $50 million, less than 1x annual earnings and a huge drop from its $250 million valuation just one year earlier.

The Google and Facebook ‘duopoly’ now eats up 63% of all US digital advertising and this has taken its toll on ad-supported digital media. Facebook’s algorithm changes turned off the traffic tap, making a big dent in audience numbers for publishers reliant on social referrals.

Print circulations continue to fall by around -6% yoy in the UK. Time Inc was split and sold-off to Meredith and private equity. NME closed a month later after 66 years of publishing and Conde Nast closed Glamour, the tenth biggest-selling title in the UK. While both titles continue in website form and with occasional specials, these are significant bellwethers for the health of the magazine industry.

Innovation Feeling The Burn

Underneath these headlines, publishers continue to innovate – monetizing audiences through ecommerce and branded content, adopting the use of new technologies, developing new content formats and distribution channels.

The New York Times recently said it was more than halfway to its goal of doubling digital sales to $800m by 2020, thanks to online subscribers surging to 2.6m. The Guardian’s own paywall strategy is helping it to turn around its considerable losses to the point of breaking even next year.

The news itself is going through something of a renaissance. Despite claims of ‘Fake News,’ it is journalists, not opposition parties, who are holding governments to account with the Windrush Scandal, Cambridge Analytica, and similar scoops.

There is, as ever, a lot going on.

This summer, the Digital Publishing Innovation Summit will be returning to both London and New York. The summits are designed to give publishing execs the actionable information they need to chart a path to revenue and audience growth.

If you would like tickets to either event, use the code SURVIVAL for 20% off two-day passes.

Here are some of the highlights:

Digital Publishing Innovation Summit, London June 26-27

A taster of the full agenda:

Monetizing Media

With digital advertising under greater pressure than ever before, learn how publishers are finding success through branded content and paywalls.

• Dennis Publishing’s MD of Digital, Pete Wooton, will talk about revenue diversification across digital channels. Future Publishing will show they are monetizing their media audience with eCommerce. Tamsin Creed, General Manager, Private Media will be presenting how to pivot to a paid subscription or membership model.
• Branded content experts who will share their best practices include the Head of Digital, Commercial Content at Hearst, the Director of Branded Content, EMEA at Quartz and Head of Digital at MailOnline.
• Serena Guen, CEO of SUITCASE Magazine will discuss what it takes to launch a successful print magazine in the digital era.

Content Creation and Distribution Strategies

As the digital landscape grows increasingly crowded and social platforms shift, we shine the spotlight on how forward-thinking publishers are evolving their approach.

• Experts in trending content from BBC, Telegraph, and MirrorOnline will reveal how social listening is influencing marketing and product decisions, while Cristy Garratt will talk about how CNBC have used online video to find new audiences.
• Steve Rayson, Buzzsumo will be presenting new research into publishing in the era of ‘content shock’ and changing distribution channels, including an analysis of the impact Facebook’s recent algorithm changes has had on publishers.

Emerging Technology Platforms

Which technologies should publishers invest in to make the most of the opportunities presented by AI, voice and the data that unpins it all?

• New research from Wessenden Marketing will show how UK’s major media companies investing in digital and where they are getting payback, giving you real numbers to benchmark your business against.
• James Hewes, President & CEO of FIPP will be leading a panel discussion on new tech adoption and finding new platforms for engagement, which will feature participants from HuffPost, The Economist and Labiotech.eu.

Read the full programme here and use the code SURVIVAL to save 20% off tickets

Digital Publishing Innovation Summit, NYC July 18-19

New York publishers are making some of the biggest moves in the world to reinvent the business of news, and this year’s agenda is packed with publishing’s most influential leaders. See the full agenda here.

Meet the pioneer’s re-inventing news

• Kourtney Bitterly, Head of R&D, The New York Times, will reveal how they are adopting and monetizing Voice AI .
• BuzzFeed President, Ze Frank, Time Inc’s Editor-In-Chief, Mike Guy, and Vice publisher, Lars Bengstom, will talk about reaching audiences at scale through new approaches to content and social platforms.
• Francesco Marconi, R&D Chief and Head of the Editorial Lab, The Wall Street Journal will show the WSJ is applying media science methods to empower ambitious journalism.
• Jeremy Gilbert, Director of Strategic Initiatives, The Washington Post, will show how they are reimagining the election night experience,
• Jesse Angelo CEO & Publisher, New York Post will show they are evolving their organisation.

New revenue streams

A series of talks will cover new approaches publishers are adopting to monetise their media business:

• Brandon Berger, Chief Business Officer, the Skimm will talk about the new digital revenue streams and Dan Lagani, President & Chief Revenue Officer, Diply, will discuss powering up social commerce.
• DailyCandy Editor-in-Chief, Dana Levy Founder, will show how she turned an email newsletter into a $125 Million Business.

Digital transformation stories

Modernising established brands for the digital age is a key theme at this year’s event.

• Nathan Lump, Editor-in-Chief of Travel + Leisure, will explore the genuine opportunities ‘legacy’ media brands have in today’s world of commoditized content, and the pitfalls they must avoid if they hope to remain relevant.
• Subrata Mukherjee VP, Product Management, will go inside For Dummies’ digital transformation journey, as they move from books to taking content directly to the learner.
• Michael Villaseñor, Hearst Newspapers, will talk about how they have shifted their thinking from individual brand websites to a network that use a shared, flexible UX product framework.

Learn more about Digital Publishing Innovation Summit NYC here.

If you’d like to find out more get in touch or use the code SURVIVAL for 20% off two-day passes.

If you are running a B2B website then you are looking to convert browsers to leads then to buyers. Despite digitizing your business in this way, your business website could be slacking in generating you the business it should. If your conversion rate is lower than you think it should be, it might be time to evaluate if these 5 key areas of your website could be letting you down. Listen. If you want to learn more about B2B website best practices, it starts with what you are not doing well. That’s why we are going to talk about why your B2B site might not be working for you first.

In 2018, we are not going to rehash the importance of creating responsive websites, landing pages that convert, or how to optimize your B2B website’s SEO.

Instead, we look at 5 critical aspects of B2B website performance that could be hampering your overall inbound marketing ROI.

Your Content is Attracting the Wrong Target Audience

Content is king only if it is targeted to address solutions to the right audience. If you are struggling to get views, likes, comments, and so on, then your content may be irrelevant to the people reading it.

That can mean two things:

• Your B2B website content is reaching the wrong audience
• Your business content strategy is not optimized to attract your core audience

Are you addressing your prospects’ pain points?

Does your B2B website design incorporate content elements that your target audience easily identifies? Can they easily understand your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) without much explanation?

Also, you’ll want to strike a good balance with your content strategy using the 80/20 rule.

You’ll want to create 80% of quality content that is targeted to your core audience’s pain points and relevant solutions. Then you’ll want 20% of your content addressing a wider audience to allow you to onboard and network with other industry players that might have connections to your niche.

This way, you can become an authority in your niche as well as remain open to welcoming players and clientele from other sectors.

If you are wondering if you are creating the right content for your B2B website, start by re-evaluating your buyer personas. See if your B2B content strategy is properly aligned. Then you can use feedback-gathering tools such as Feedbackify, Hively, and Qualaroo to find out from your readers on different online platforms.

You Have Inconsistent Website Design Elements

You do not need to create a B2B website design elements list to get a crisp idea of whether your website design elements are inconsistent or not.

Keep in mind that website design elements speak volumes about your brand. They tell leads about you. Like whether you understand your buyer persona biases about branding. Whether you are informational or functional, serious or fun, and so on.

Inconsistent typography, calls to action, brand voice and colors tell you are not sure what you mean, and that can kill trust and make you look amateurish. It is off-putting to potential customers looking for credible brand authority, hence increases bounce rates.

Ensure your website design elements such as typography, H1 tags, meta tags, and color scheme are matching across different web pages of your B2B website to boost trust and increase conversions.

Your B2B Website Layout is Adding to Bounce Rates

You not only want your website layout to transition visitors to next pages seamlessly, you also want it to encourage visitors to move from awareness to purchase stages of your buyer journey.

Is your B2B website buyer journey clear and fluid through the different pages? Is your home-page chockful of blocks of text that make it hard for potential customers to follow your buyer journey?

Is your website’s navigation clear and easy to follow? Even for a complete stranger? For example, a Hamburger Menu was initially assumed to help boost your conversion rate compared to a visible menu. However, with time this has not turned out to be true since the Hamburger Menu assumes the user already knows what the three overlaying lines mean—when they might not.

Even Apple and Spotify have since ditched the Hamburger Menu UX, and the latter has gone on to experience a 30% jump in navigation clicks as people know exactly where to tap on to navigate the Spotify site.

If you have doubts about these questions, you have a new assignment in your in-tray. You can use Google’s Webmaster Tool to check for these and more.

While at it…

You’ll want to ensure you do not have 404 error pages on your site, which could be rudely crashing your conversion rates by interrupting user experiences along your customer journey. The 404 errors could also hamper on-page and off-page SEO optimization for your B2B website.

You also do not want your footer links mistaken for trying to manipulate PageRank on SERPS. Important too, is ensuring you submit your sitemap to Google through your Google Search Console account for indexing.

If you are still wondering what your searchers want while attracting search engines to your online platform, check out the Search Quality Rating Guidelines that Google released sometime back.

You’ll find a July 27, 2017 PDF document detailing how Google, through human testers, sets the criteria for awarding different page ranking scores based on what Google thinks searchers want to find online. You can use the valuable information contained therein to improve your website layout and copy based on searchers’ intents.

Your Website is Not Optimized for Local SEO

While you may have done the right thing by avoiding black hat SEO techniques in your content strategy and SEO optimization plan, you may innocently miss the smaller picture.

As much as the web empowers your business to market to the entire global market, you are likely to sell to everyone. The key, again, is to re-evaluate your target audience and align your SEO and SEM marketing to that core audience for better SEM returns.

For example:

If you are a digital marketing agency, the assumption is you can afford to market to a global market. But there are tons of different buyer personas across multiple regions and it might be tough to address all their pain points to increase conversion.

This is even more highlighted for B2B websites supporting a local store or brick and mortar premises.

Most buyers first check online to find a local business to buy from—instead of walking or driving around looking for billboards or knocking various doors. So improving your local SEO index will help you attract business to your local premises or store.

Your Website Has Unclear Calls to Action

A B2B website without clear, compelling CTAs is an unnecessary bog for your inbound marketing dollars.

Creating a good CTA for your B2B website is all about creating a direct instruction that encourages your visitors to take the next immediate or important action you want them to take.

You’ll want to use CTAs on relevant content pages and context, otherwise, you’ll confuse your visitors and risk losing them to a competitor with clearer and compelling calls to action sections on every page.

Your visitor is likely to be bombarded by a ton of information online that can easily feel overwhelming. One effective way to drive engagement and boost the attractiveness and effectiveness of your CTAs is to apply them in your content mix—especially with video.

Inc. Magazine found that 92% of B2B customers watch online videos. More importantly, though, 43% of B2B customers do so when researching services and products for their businesses.

By creating clear and compelling CTAs, you empower the reader to know what to do next to find the solution they seek while encouraging them to move along your customer journey towards your purchase page.

Some B2B Website Best Practice Tips

• Think about your brand at every touchpoint of your website, logo, color choices, your call to actions — don’t confuse your buyer with conflicting brands along the way
• Think about the buyer journey — what do you want your buyer to do?
• Always think mobile first — If your site is not responsive, it should be.
• Do have specific landing pages for offers and promote directly to them
• Do make the sign in processes easier.
• Offer some valuable free gifts to your audience. Give your audience some kind of information they will use over and over again, a reference material of some kind, a checklist.
• Have clear Call to Actions on every page.

Conclusion

While B2B website design elements such as mobile-friendliness and fast-loading pages will help retain more visitors, the above 5 key areas your B2B website could be letting you down will help convert that precious traffic to more quality leads and increase conversion and grow your business. Using a few of our B2B website best practice tips will get you off and running, making more money sooner than later!

We live in a world that forces us to acknowledge the suffering of others, more now than at any time in human history.

Thanks to the omnipresence of social media sites and apps, John Donne’s adage, “No man is an island,” is more meaningful than ever before.

In a season of back-to-back crises featuring destructive hurricanes and earthquakes arriving with assembly line frequency — as well as ongoing civil wars sending waves of refugees abroad — social media sites and apps have become tools for driving awareness, coordinating relief efforts and emergency response, and steering donations.

On-Site Reportage

Serious coverage, such as in Houston during Hurricane Harvey or in the Florida Keys during Irma, was occasionally hindered by the nature of the 24-hour news cycle and its decisions on how to report the storms. The network news model remains a stale one with on-the-scene reporters and increasingly incoherent coverage on the progress of the storm, minute by minute, hour after hour.

As helpful as some of the information presented can be, it often fails to convey the real plight suffered by those caught up in the fury. Often, to cover a “human interest” angle, reportage gets hampered by items of comical activity such as water skiing down a flooded highway or people getting knocked over by 6-foot waves. The prevalence of such images, especially when posted on trusted news sources, can only serve to trivialize and downplay serious threats to life and limb.

The reality of the recent hurricanes and their destructive aftermath could best be understood through status updates and tweets and live video feeds using apps such as Instagram and Periscope. Such apps served to inform others of the progress of the storm through their communities and the havoc wrought by wind, rain and wave.

Even during mass shooting situations, such as the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were used to post information to the public at large as the attack was being carried out. In the aftermath, friends and family could hear word from survivors that they were safe and found secure shelter.

Checking In

As mentioned before, social media updates and live videos allowed for family members to know if survivors of an incident found safety or were rescued.

Facebook developed “Safety Check” in 2014, a status update function on its site used in the event of a disastrous situation. It’s activated when “enough people post about an incident.” If in the affected area, the user will get a prompt to go to Safety Check to let others know you are safe, as well as the safety of others you may know to also be in the area.

Safety Check was helpful in finding and directing survivors of the Paris terror attacks in 2015, and of the Manchester Stadium bombing this past May.

There was some criticism in the aftermath of the bombing when the feature was enabled two hours after the attack. Despite this hitch, friends and family were made aware of the safety of their loved ones. The usefulness of Safety Check has proven indispensable once the chaos subsides.

Digitizing Donations

As soon as the first images from a troubled area grab our attention, the empathic response kicks in: “There must be something I can do!”

As our phones are how we keep pace with events as they unfold, our response is dictated by how quickly we translate response into action.

One form of action is donations by text, where a text message is sent as directed and a percentage of your phone bill goes towards a targeted charity.

A significant number of monetary donations were sent this way in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. After the Red Cross had set up a donate-by-text program, $43 million in donations were collected this way.

A CNN article cites a recent Pew Research Center study on mobile giving, in partnership with American Life Project, released a study based on interviews with 863 people who donated to Haitian relief that found that the donations were made on impulse, with three quarters stating that was the first time they’d ever donated using a text message.

There are an increasing number of apps that turn our daily interactions into charitable giving. Apps such as Tin Box, Share the Meal, and Donate a Photo make it second nature to donate charitably. Each app has its own unique approach to enabling users to act: Tin Box, as part of their effort as an intermediary between public, corporations, and charities, has users donate $1, that is sponsored by a corporate partner; Share the Meal, a UN World Food Program initiative, is “one hundred percent voluntarily funded” and directs funds to alleviate hunger in famine-wracked places; Donate a Photo, a Johnson & Johnson app, has users select a cause, share a photo, and Johnson & Johnson donates $1.

Crowdfunding has also proven to be a powerful fundraising tool. Some small businesses devastated after Hurricane Harvey were using KickStarter, GoFundMe, and other sites to bring attention to their difficulties encountered covering what insurance reimbursements couldn’t cover and finding the money to rebuild. Crowdfunding in most cases brought donations from mostly family and friends, as well as strangers willing to do their part in the recovery effort. With most people willing to make a transaction using a credit or debit card, donating can be as second nature as online shopping.

Crowdfunding is also a very popular way for celebrities and large corporations to build momentum for favorite charitable causes. On board for post-Hurricane Harvey crowdfunding, using the site YouCaring.com, were football player JJ Watts and his Houston Texan teammates, and the Houston Astros baseball team. Between their campaigns, they raised over $37 million. You can also find campaigns begun by pop star, Ricky Martin, for hurricane aid relief in Puerto Rico, and Mexican soccer players, Javier Hernández and Miguel Layún, running a campaign to aid Earthquake victims in Mexico on the site. These charities are also well on their way to reaching their goals. CrowdRise, a site that has recently partnered with GoFundMe, has performed fundraising duties for corporations such as Revlon, Viacom, and international aid groups, including UNICEF and Human Rights Campaign.

The fact that these sites are being used by major international aid organizations speaks to their growing importance in keeping funding channels flowing.

Facebook is determined not to be ruled out in the crowdfunding arena. It has been working to perfect the ability to steer users to causes whose ideals and goals are in harmony with theirs, as well as enable ad hoc fundraising. The “Fundraiser” function, much like page creation on Facebook, allows you to create a fundraising page, invite friends, and observe and manage donations as they come in.

Directing Rescue and Relief Efforts

Real-time reporting may inform the public as to the status of friends and loved ones, but updates can also be used to direct rescue efforts. An NPR report on rescue efforts noted how during Hurricane Harvey, the 911 system was overwhelmed to the point that volunteers created a Facebook group for those in need of rescuing to post to. Twitter blasts were also used to communicate information to local news media.

In the aftermath of the recent earthquakes in Mexico, volunteers out of Mexico City bridged the gap between victims and emergency resources. Teams of tech savvy citizens using Google tools created a database to coordinate services and supplies where they were needed, dispelling misinformation and confusion on the ground.

Helping Hands

Life on earth is obviously not without its hazards.

It can be expected that at any given time, any one of us will be affected by a disaster, man-made or natural.

Our technology is the one variable we have in navigating the tumult.

With social media and apps, we can let the whole world know the extent of the devastation, but we can also let our family and friends know we are safe. Charitable apps and sites let us inform survivors that we are touched by their situation and are willing to reach out with a helping hand.

More and more, we’re discovering how social media as an extension of rescue and recovery has been able to surmount the post-disaster confusion and chaos, allowing for first responders and volunteers to increase the range of their rescue efforts.

It is true that there can be drawbacks to social media use during disasters, such as misinformation and rumor. Over time, with developers learning from the data, these hurdles will be overcome. Social media is meant to build community and community awareness. As catastrophes make it clear how much we need each other, social media sites and apps will continue to prove their value in keeping us connected during an emergency.

Mass collaboration is an amazing concept with tremendous power. Once you have reached the masses you might want to know how to use your data for more impact. Check out How Can You Leverage Your Data Now for Better Growth and Impact

Even as a small business, you certainly have aspirations to expand and it might be a good idea to leverage your existing (and growing) data as well.

You probably already have a sizeable dataset and the key question is to what extent are you taking advantage of it or not at all – yet.

As a Change Creator, you most likely want to be cautious about your time and resources – what activities you invest in, spend your time on and what offers the best ROI (return on investment).

We are going to have a look at a few selected tools, which we believe should be contributing to data insights, which will subsequently have positive impact on your commercial objectives.

Which tools: simple use and commercial impact

First of all, you want to have a so-called 360 degrees view of your customer – some basic data about the customer or prospect, purchase history, record of previous phone conversations, etc.

When it comes to customer view, we would recommend a very user-friendly CRM (customer relationship management) system – Zoho CRM, which has a free version (very good actually) or if you want some more bells and whistles, it is about $30 USD per user/per month.

You literally just log in and start managing your accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities – no training needed, everything quite self-explanatory.

We have seen plethora of CRMs, but in terms of site navigation, usability and graphical interface, Zoho might probably be the best – and the price (free), of course = important fact to take into account.

If advanced reporting and dashboards is your thing, then you might want to consider a BI (business intelligence) system on top of CRM as well – for many Excel will do – however to be able to utilize the advanced features of Excel, you probably need to have a fair analyst skillset. If you have those skills, why not to avail of what Excel has to offer. This is an unlikely scenario though – you are an entrepreneur, wary of your time, focusing on revenue and not spending hours playing around with Excel – we just wanted to highlight the fact that the functionality is there.

In terms of BI tools, there is almost endless choice in the marketplace – here would probably highlight Tableau, the market leader, having a fantastic GUI (graphical user interface), focused on business user – time-to- value, user- friendliness = all the good things we like, as entrepreneurs. Also offering a free version.

It might be worthwhile to think how much time you spend managing your email – it usually takes a considerable portion of an entrepreneur’s time.

Email is not going away and that is not what we are trying to suggest here, however you might consider a complementary tool to reduce the time you spend on your email and leverage a collaboration tool called Slack – it helps to simplify your commercial communication.

You can create multiple groups, perhaps one being internal company one, another one with your partners or customers. So instead of sending that size-able proposal via email – why not to simply attach it via Slack and share it = saving time and resources.

As suggested previously, there is an infinite selection of technology tools today – however be watchful how many you get involved with – before you know, you will have ten different passwords for ten different tools, which is probably not what you are after.

Thus, we recommend the business instruments above – particularly Zoho, which actually offer certain business intelligence and reporting insights as well – so you would have one place to go to. It might not be sufficient for you though, thus we also mentioned the other two tools – Slack and Tableau.

The good news is that they all have free version – just go online and start playing around with these. You will see what works best for you personally, so that you make the right choice – hopefully some of these tools will bring new customer insights and knowledge – followed by new revenue streams, which is what we are all after.

Related: Russell Brunson: How to Build a Loyal Audience and Fund Yourself

Your business processes and culture – aim for better collaboration = faster commercial success

Now, we had a closer look at ZohoCRM, Slack and Tableau, which are the tools we have selected for your ongoing business success.

There is a popular word, perhaps little bit of a buzzword – alignment – important keyword though, which will be an umbrella for our discourse today – how to collaborate even better, how to connect the tools with your existing business processes and culture.

Let us assume that your business is not the size of IBM or HP – your business processes are unlikely to have the complexity, which the above mentioned behemoths have.

Still though, there is never enough of processes optimization and we believe it is always good to challenge the existing status quo with the objective to run things in a best possible way.

You probably want to think about how much time you and your team members spend daily and weekly on email, how fruitful are your internal meetings – are they all really necessary? Frequently there are meetings without firmly set agenda and before you know, you lose one or two hours of your time, without any real tangible or actionable outcomes.

It is an opportune time to emphasize the value of Slack – the aforementioned collaboration tool, which can be very effectively used internally as well as externally – with your customers, prospects and partners – creating particular collaboration groups.

In terms of leveraging existing resources – sometimes it might be appropriate to use Skype chat – just to keep things simple and effective.

Time-to-value = faster commercial success – this is our ultimate objective here. How can we keep things simple, collaborative and drive desired (and necessary) revenue goals.

Innovation is another important realm, which you should make an inherent component of your business culture. It easy easier said than done – you can read and hear about ‘disruptive innovation’ all the times these days, however what does it actually mean?

We believe in sequential innovation – perhaps not turning the business upside down right away but taking small steps, really listen to ideas and initiatives of your team members and things – business processes, related tools and overall collaboration should naturally be improving.

Initiative and employee engagement – similarly to customer engagement, if your team members do care about things, it makes a lot of difference to the business.

Now, this is very much related to your company culture – to what extent is your business open to risk or risk-averse, if all the decisions are made top-bottom – meaning that the company leader’s thoughts are the only ones being materialized – or on the other side of the spectrum (desired one) – employee activities, ideas, initiatives are seriously taken into consideration and there are multiple benefits of this collaborative team business model, as previously suggested.

Business processes optimization as a target area of both research and action has been here for decades – companies like Deloitte or McKinsey could come up with a 150 pages expensive action plan for your business as well. But that is very likely not what we want here – we want to be nimble, light-footed and aiming at an accelerated commercial outcomes in real-time = this is our primary objective here.

We could theorize about this tricky arena for quite some time, looking at various aspects of business processes and culture. And we are doing it actually today – most important thing will be how you translate some of the thoughts into your entrepreneur’s business reality.

We suggest taking partial, small baby-steps towards systematic business improvement. Engage with your team, listen to your team member ideas – evaluate – perhaps implement the ones, which you believe are promising, at the same time do not be afraid to dismiss some other ones = culture of open communication, which we believe is key to commercial success.

Track and monitor improvement or stagnation, for that matter, crucial team discussions can be captured in both ZohoCRM and Slack, so that no important initiatives are forgotten or left out.

All in all, this is a vast area for ongoing betterment, Kaizen, as the Japanese call ongoing internal company improvement. Start with some contemplation as a business leader, followed by action that you believe is currently the most appropriate for your particular business model.

You have the fundamentals right – now prepare for up-and- coming business growth

We have been addressing technology tools, as a foundation to get your business on the right trajectory as well as your internal business processes and culture – subject of an ongoing improvement in the long-term, also subject to specific tweaks and changes as your business evolves.

A grand question which every entrepreneur is asking himself or herself daily – how to prepare for growth and success? Firstly, you need to define what growth actually means to your particular business. Growth means more than just revenue, although bottom line is still number one priority, Still, you want to be aware of perhaps evolving needs of your employees, as you are growing maybe you might need a new bigger office space (which is a good challenge to have).

You might consider your own office or depending of your workforce size, in majority of cities today, there are some co- working facilities, which create a good buzz and additional partnering opportunities, as there are usually some other companies or entrepreneurs present as well. It is one of the options to be considered of course.

It is about setting the expectations – your life and lives of your team members will be likely to change a bit as well, so think in advance and be prepared.

As part of the preparation process, you might also want to do a cashflow review, just to make sure you are ready for the positive growth curve. If there are any weak spots, you might want to consider some credit options, which is probably an area worth a dedicated article by itself.

As you are poised for expansion now, it might be an opportune time to build a good talent pipeline as well – we are sure your team is great and it is a good challenge to have to look for additional brilliant talent in the marketplace. However, easier said than done, question also is if you, the business owner are going to conduct the talent selection or you have someone taking care of human resources related affairs. This might a time-consuming set of tasks and again it is good to envisage some of the related activities, which just will need to be done.

Clearly, once you have an even greater team in place, it is advisable to take care of your team members appropriately. High growth organization usually requires hard and intense work and this should be rewarded accordingly.

It might be helpful to reach out to leaders at similar organizations, preferably in your or related industry and ask for advice, tips, mentorship. People are usually keen to provide advice and this might be a golden source of knowledge for your business – the advising entity already got it right, so listening and following their wisdom might save you a lot of time and resources – this would be key component of the business acceleration you are after.

It is crucial to emphasize that this is the time when you should spend more quality time with your key clients – listen to their needs again, track what their growth and purchasing plans are, what are the current changes in their organizations. Make sure you effectively communicate with your core customer base, which is the lifeblood of your business.

Product or solution diversification might be a good thing, however make sure you maintain your focus. It is easy to get distracted into multiple directions and the result might be confused customers or prospects. Puzzled customers tend not to buy or usually postpone their purchasing decisions and that is certainly not what you want.

It is useful to be prepared for various business scenarios – just like being prepared for growth, which is what we are hoping for, it is equally handy to be ready for up-and- coming challenges and have adequate answers to solve them along the way.

Also, you might want to consider building up new competencies and skills of your team members to embrace new opportunities and positive business development trajectory these would bring.

There is never enough of evaluation when it comes to practical, as well as emotional needs of your customers – by constant effective communication both externally towards your prospects as well as internally, you make sure you are on the right pathway towards commercial success.

How about establishing a regular forum or weekly team meeting for open communication to monitor that you are on the right track?

Make sure your company vision, mission and value proposition is clear and thus also perceived by your prospects and clients. Clarity on ambition and company objectives also helps to charge up your core team members with the right optimistic energy to drive desired results.

Systematic approach towards your pipeline is definitely a good idea – identify your target customers into groups A, B, C and prioritize your tasks and activities accordingly. And of course, monitor and reevaluate regularly as your target business and are also evolving and changing.

There is no silver bullet or universal answers for all the up-and- coming growth process challenges, however we hope that some of the ideas and dialogue we held today will contribute to your ongoing business success.

Related: Russell Brunson: How to Build a Loyal Audience and Fund Yourself

Excitement. Stress. Wins. Losses.

It’s all part of the entrepreneurial journey.

Maybe you’re waking up early and working on your social business before your day job starts.

Maybe, you’re staying up late working on your social business after your day job ends.

Maybe your social business is your primary work focus already.

The two biggest challenges we hear from most of the entrepreneurs Change Creator talks with include:

• They can’t get the traction they need to reach the next level
• They can’t get funding they need to scale up

All entrepreneurs face those challenges but only some overcome them.

I usually reply by asking what steps they have taken to try to get traction. The typical answers include marketing strategies such as video, social media, groups and SEO…etc.

But that’s only half the battle.

You also have to build your network, brand equity and authority if you want to break through saturation and gain momentum. Easier said than done, right?

This is why a conference like SOCAP is so powerful for anyone in the social business space. It’s an opportunity to build incredible partnerships, brand equity and authority.

Here’s what you need to know as an early phase broke entrepreneur struggling for more traction and funding.

Related: The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Social Business

Investing in Opportunity

Let’s be blunt. At some point, you have to put money into the machine and see what comes out.

You can’t expect to have a successful social business that drives big impact if you’re not willing to invest in yourself or the business beyond a $20 Facebook boost.

I interviewed the founder of Bustle for Change Creator Magazine and in 2016 they earned $30 million in revenue but they also spent $30 million. Crazy right? They will be profitable in 2017. They play very big and believe in their strategy!

Big event’s like SOCAP offer a big return but you have to be willing to invest in attending.

I used to look at conference ticket fees and say, “but I need that money for marketing and operations.”

Here’s the thing, that ticket for the conference is an investment in marketing and operations. A very powerful and most times better investment at the early phase.

Why? Because one of the most powerful tools we have found for growth is building a great network.

You can hide behind your computer and fire off some emails or Linkedin messages but there is no substitute for meeting people in person to build a solid relationship. Remember, you’re interviewing people just as much as they interview you.

In 2017 SOCAP was saturated with over 3,000 of the most amazing like-minded people in the world tackling our most pressing problems. Everywhere our team turned we learned something new and connected with someone relevant to our business. Some were investors, some were in media, some were incredible social entrepreneurs. You can barely keep up with it. Good thing three people from our team attended!

You have to get out there and show up. When you do, opportunities you never would have expected tend to pop up.

For example, this was our team’s first year at SOCAP. Once we got into town we realized that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Muhammad Yunus was speaking at the Commonwealth Club. So, we decided to go check it out. Long story short, we spoke to his publicist and ended up interviewing him for the January 2018 Change Creator Magazine cover story! That never would have happened if we didn’t invest in our trip to San Francisco for SOCAP.

Remember, your network is your networth. You have to invest in your future.

Related: What early stage investors really look for in a social enterprise startup

Dust Off Your Dating Game

If you’ve ever been on a date that went well, then you’re ahead of the game and will do just fine at a conference like SOCAP.

Actually our team was blown away by the relevancy the dating analogy has to the experience. We would meet people and say, “do you think they liked us, will they call?” Or, “should we reach out now or wait a few days?” We had a good laugh about it.

What are you looking for in a partner?

Funding, content share, maybe a technology partnership, speaking opportunity, or advisory?

Let’s pretend you’re on a first date with someone you’re interested in.

For starters, we all get into character. When you go on a date you get into character to attract the other person. You don’t just wear your sweatpants and burp after each course. You’re polite, respectful and dress the part. This may go without saying but you’d be surprised! So, be yourself but play the part. No matter how you feel about it you’re playing a sales role.

How would your date feel if you dominated the conversation all night talking about how awesome you are? I can answer that. They would hate it and feel like it was an awful experience. If you haven’t read the classic book by Dale Carnegie that talks about winning friends than you should.

You have to listen to people and let them ask questions about your business. Their story is essential to understand so you can see where you might fit in and if there are partnership opportunities.

Now, let’s say you’re the type that ultimately wants to get married and have kids. Would you ask them to marry you that night? Of course not, you wouldn’t even bring it up.

You’d seem crazy right? So, don’t ask for funding on the first date either.

After listening to them, if you get a good vibe on a human level and see a good fit to work together, the best thing you can do and let them know that and plan a second discussion to explore ideas. Look them up on Linkedin on the spot to connect and pass that old school business card over for good measure.

Once that fire gets warm you want to keep it warm, so don’t let weeks go by after the conference before you lock in the next steps.

Stacking Success

Once you decide to get out there and show up you need to get a plan in place.

I’m the kind of person that loves strategy. It can be a flaw sometimes because I overthink things. But most times it’s a big benefit.

When is the right time to get to a conference like SOCAP? What do you want to get out of it? Who do you want to connect with?

I like to stack success. What this means is that I determine a big desired outcome and define the intermediate steps required to get there. It’s like a prerequisite for a class.

For example, we did not reach out to get Tony Robbins for the front cover of Change Creator Magazine until we had Neil Patel and Arianna Huffington. We also waited until his latest book was being released. Those were the prerequisites for connecting with his team as we felt it would improve our chances. And it worked!

Planning your experience at SOCAP is not much different. Based on where you are in your journey, you should clarify your desired outcome and plan accordingly.

If you want mentors and investors that can help you grow your business, what do you need to prepare to attract them?

A few thoughts:

• If you want to increase your chances for success, than you probably want more than an idea to share with people.
• Maybe something in beta form
• A well designed website
• Potentially some early adopter beta test feedback
• Maybe you already have some partnerships in place or a solid team of co-founders?
• It could be very good to have a small leave behind that’s visually appealing to share with people that amplifies your value. For example, we would show award winning social entrepreneurs we have featured on our magazine.
• Is your social business complicated? Can you explain it simply?

Those are some factors that can help attract people to work with you and take you seriously.

SOCAP and other conferences will also usually offer an app or forum to connect with other speakers and attendees in advance before the conference starts.

Make a list of key people you’d love to connect with and let them know you’ll be there, you’d love to introduce yourself and then share a little something to grab their attention.

Many conferences have a lot of people in one place which can get chaotic. Taking steps to connect before hand could be the difference in meeting specific people or not.

Lastly, don’t avoid talking to people because they don’t fit your perfect partnership profile. You never know who they know and what kind of incredible story they have.

Final Thoughts

The fasted way to build your network with wonderful people is to get out there and meet them. This is an exercise in building your brand, being on the inside track in the industry, and opening the door to new opportunities.

I cannot express enough, how much you can expedite your process by investing in networking. We have met people that we never would have met or gotten attention from if we just emailed.

Being in-person allows you to cut through the clutter and jump the line for attention. After you meet and make a good impression, they will reply to your email first.

Have you ever heard of the “breaking the fourth wall” concept? It’s an acting term that refers to the moment when a performer stops reciting their lines and talks directly to their audience. At that time, an actor or actress crosses an imaginary line and turns their audience into participants in their show.