Posts Tagged ‘Business Marketing Strategy’
Last Updated: March 6, 2019
Last Updated: December 4, 2017
VA 101
Top 7 Ways to Use Meetup.com to Promote Your Business
1. Create Own Business Target Personas
To start off, you need to fully understand the kind of personas you want to target with your business. On Meetup, one can have more than one persona for their customers. This will give you a good idea of what sort of activities and events to launch for each persona.
Once you do this, you can then start to create several descriptions that will entice prospects to join your Meetup group and engage with other members.
2. Start a Meetup Intended for Each Persona
There are times that a business will have more than one persona. For example, a restaurant can target customers who just want to eat but at the same time, they can also offer culinary studies to those who would like to learn how to cook.
As of now, you can lead up to three Meetup groups on a single account so if you have different customer personas, it’s best to create a separate Meetup group for each one. You can then customize each of the events and activities you put together to suit each persona.
Create and promote events that will give each group a taste of your business’s ability to accommodate their specific needs. Provide a catchy name for each of the groups that represent the audience you want to attract well.
The organizer of Hudson Valley Hikers describes it as an extremely active group with hikes every weekend for people who like being outside, hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking, cycling, mountaineering, rock / ice climbing, caving, etc.
3. Start Forming Connections
Join Meetup groups and meet members. Don’t pitch too soon. Instead, get a feel for the individual group, its interests and offer costless but helpful information.
They will be drawn to know what other knowledge you have in store for them. As a plus, they will most likely to spread the word about what you know and what you are doing.
4. Activate Your Social Media Presence
Set up social media pages like a Facebook Group, Twitter account, or Instagram for your Meetup Group to give them another way to keep in touch and get updates about upcoming events.
5. Build an Email List
Meetup is a pool of future subscribers. Encourage members to join the list. Then send out notifications of new events to all members. Members can also download the Meetup app on their smartphones so they don’t miss out on notifications.
6. Freebies! – Give Out Free Information & Samples to Meetup Groups.
Everybody loves free stuff. So during the events, make sure as a group organizer that you will pass along some freebies to other members.
You can then simply include your company’s contact information for each of the giveaways so Meetup members can easily reach you.
7. Promote Your Meetup Group
You can easily promote your event because Meetup.com will display it to local visitors when they’re searching for Meetups within your city. You can do the following to give your group a head start:
- Use an attractive header image
- Write an introduction that defines exactly what you’re organizing and for whom – This will be the first thing that new members of your group see, so make sure it attracts the right kind of people.
- Add two of your most active members as Organizers so that they have an access to promote your group to their own social networks.
- Print up flyers to announce your local Meetup event and post them in your neighborhood. Motivate members to take their friends along and invite more to join your group.
For example, if you are a business coach who helps entrepreneurs increase their profits and improve their trade, you can organize a workshop for these owners so that they get an appetite for more information. Eventually, you will introduce the concept and importance of business coaching.
Groups like the New York Entrepreneurs and Startup Network is ideal for a startup business or entrepreneur to create because it will attract your ideal prospects.
The main reason for creating and organizing a Meetup for your business is for your customers to know you more in person and also to bring in more potential buyers through events and referrals.
It is proven that people are more likely to do business with those they like and respect. Being the organizer allows you to showcase your abilities as a businessperson and the capability to influence people to trust your brand more.
Register for our Upcoming FREE Webinar on How to Use Meetup.com to market your business and generate new prospects each month!
We will cover proven techniques on how to leverage your Meetup.com account to generate new prospects and build your opt-in/marketing lists.
This webinar will feature Ken Varga, who has built 35 successful, profitable businesses in his career of 38 years. One of Ken’s off-line businesses had over 460,000 ongoing customers. He has also developed and sold multiple businesses for over 9 figures.
Sign up for one of our upcoming webinars that is most applicable to your business:
For Business Owners: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7292910370967727876
For Insurance Agents: Thursday, September 22, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6635610225255493124
For Network Marketers: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 from 8:00am-9:00am PST / 11:00am-12:00pm EST
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6557567989427615748
References:
www.blogbrandz.com
www.business2community.com
Last Updated: December 4, 2017
VA 101
Virtual Assistant Versus In-House Employee: How to Save $46,000 a Year
The savings you can accumulate year after year can go a long way to expand your business, generate more sales, and upgrade your systems. Keep these things in mind when comparing a full-time employee to a remote worker or VA. Good luck with hiring and taking your business to the next level!
If you need help with hiring experienced virtual assistants, contact us at our main number 1-866-596-9041 (510-400-8006 local). We have client representatives on standby from 8am to 9pm EST to assist you with any questions.
References:
Last Updated: December 18, 2017
Resources
2016 Online Marketing: 6 Trends Every Business Should Watch For
Last Updated: September 9, 2016
Outsourcing
STOP MULTITASKING! What Startups Do (And Maybe You Should Too)
Last Updated: December 19, 2017
Outsourcing
Top 8 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Help You Implement Your Speaking Engagement Strategy
Last Updated: December 20, 2017
Outsourcing
How to Grow Your Business and Promote Your Brand through Public Speaking
But sometimes the problem is how to get started or where to look for these business-building opportunities. Others just don’t have time to do it. Below are some tips to help with your speaking engagements.
How to get started – and what to talk about
- Focus on your expertise and what you are passionate to speak about
Take a closer look on your expertise and passion and focus on what you’re actually knowledgeable to talk about. It would be beneficial for you and your audience if you speak about a very specific area of expertise than to present a general topic on which you have less to offer.
- Join events that you would be interested to speak at
Get to know the organizers of the events that you usually attend and the kinds of people who speak. As people get more familiar with you, chances are, you’ll be invited to speak, or more likely be accepted if you ask to speak. If you are just starting locally, look for opportunities to speak to colleges and universities – they are always looking for experts to come share their experiences and knowledge.
- Create thought leadership content in your blog
Start out by writing as much as you could about your company niche and share it on your blog, industry publications, etc. If you consistently write about specific subjects and establish yourself as a unique voice, you will be eventually regarded as expert in that field. When this happens, speaking, networking, and publishing opportunities will naturally arise.
- Do things that show what you’re good at
What do you know better than anyone else? Host a workshop in person or virtual like a webinar where you can do some demo or share about a topic. People will take notice in what you do, and you can then set up a squeeze page on your site or blog where they can register for your next speaking engagement.
Always remember that if people are paying for your presentation, they are not there to listen to your sales pitch. You should mention what you do at the beginning and end of the presentation and how to reach you. But keep in mind that your audience is there to learn, so you need to deliver.
How to find speaking engagements (where to look online and offline)
- Start local to go global
You can approach your city’s organizations or clubs that meet regularly – everything from Lions Club, Rotary, to Chambers of Commerce. Connect with the programming chair and offer to speak on your specialty or ask your friends and colleagues who participate to connect you with these groups.
- Business networking groups
Popular groups such as Business Networking International (BNI) and Local Business Network (LBN) are groups of people from diverse businesses who share opportunities to each other. Join in and let the members know that you’re interested in speaking opportunities.
- Local business publications
Local business news will often list industry events. Check out the periodical’s Events page listed either in print or online, then contact the organizations listing presentations and pitch them for speaking.
- Other professionals who speak
Look at the websites and LinkedIn profiles of your fellow professionals and competitors who target the same audience you do and see where they’ve spoken. You can then contact those same groups and pitch yourself, too. Or, you can collaborate with a like-minded speakers to share opportunities and refer each other.
- Just Google it!
Search for events in your industry.
“Call for Speakers” AND “[Your topic]” “Call for Presenters” AND “[Your topic]” “Call for Speakers” AND “[Industry]”
You can hire a virtual assistant (VA) for a few hours a day to search for speaking engagements, take note of all the important details, and prepare a dashboard for you to review and choose from. You can sit back on a weekend while viewing your dashboard and preparing your speech.
- Social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
You can search for events by topic and geographic location using Facebook Events. During your presentation you can take questions via Twitter and even share your slides using Slideshare.net or other material to help multiply your leads.
Online sites such as Meetup.com and Eventbrite.com also lists marketing events. Again, a VA can do all of this for you so you can focus on your most important task – delivering your message.
- Online tools and directories
- BuzzSumo.com, Topsy.com, SocialMention.com, Twitter’s search feature
- InsideInfoMarketing.com – offers up-to-date listing of events hosted by thought leaders in Information Marketing. If you sell online programs and information products, this is your site!
- Online conference directories
– AllConferences.com, Lanyrd, Plancast, Conferensum and Conferize are online directories, exclusive for conferences.
– EventsinAmerica.com – find events, trade shows, meetings, conferences and conventions in America’s Top Trade Show & Conference Directory
– Lanyrd.com – suggests events for you based on those attended by people you follow on social media and keywords in your profiles.
Choose one or two of these tips to get more speaking engagement opportunities. Always make contact, present your credentials and your proposed topic. There’s a whole lot of people who NEED and WANT to hear what you’ve got to say!
6 ways speaking engagements benefit you, your brand, and your business
How it benefits YOU
- Present yourself as a go-to expert
Nobody will know about your pool of knowledge unless you demonstrate it. Position yourself as an authority within your industry by speaking publicly on matters within your niche.
- Grow your network and build connections
Engage with the audience at the event in a meaningful way by encouraging participation from the crowd. If you have an opportunity for a Q&A session, take note of the questions and valuable insights that the attendees might offer.
How it benefits your BRAND
- Boost your brand visibility
Speaking engagements help increase your or your company’s brand visibility. By giving a talk at industry conferences and other events, you will have the opportunity to market your knowledge and skills, and attract more traffic to your website, increasing your online presence.
- Define your reputation as a thought-leader
As you reach a wider and bigger audience, your speaking gigs will help establish your brand as a go-to source in your field. Talking about what you learned from past mistakes and sharing your expertise on how to avoid them in the future is a positive way to present your company as a thought-leader and a reliable source of information for other like-minded professionals.
How it helps grow your BUSINESS
- Connect with existing clients AND prospective ones
Speaking engagements are a good way to increase your network of clients, both existing and prospective. You will have the opportunity to reach out to new prospects by answering their questions; and reconnect with your existing clients by interacting with them during the events.
- Make content accessible online and offline
You can use online tools such as GoToWebinar to document speaking events and post the video online using Vimeo or YouTube. Not only that, you can use SlideShare.com to share your presentation slides. All of these contribute to your portfolio of valuable marketing materials. Later on, you can repurpose them to promote your company online and as giveaway materials.
Public speaking, whether in person or virtually, is a great way to establish your credibility, generate a consistent stream of leads, and educate your audience as a thought-leader in your field of expertise. If you don’t provide increased awareness to your target market, your competition surely will.
PS. If you need any help on searching for quality speaking engagements within your target audience, please contact Virtual Assistant Talent today.
References:
famousinyourfield.com
99u.com
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.axiapr.com
