BUCKEYE V.A.

Archive for February, 2009

One of my 2009 goals was to exercise on a daily basis, along with taking the time to stretch. Isn’t it amazing how stretching can be painful but feel good, all at the sametime? One day, as I was working out, I got to thinking about how physical stretching can be a picture of business stretching.

As a business owner we have to be willing to “s-t-r-e-t-c-h” towards out goals. Just like physical stretching can be painful and a little awkward, so can stretching in our business. Here’s how my ‘business stretching’ has gone so far:

• Attending various seminar’s
• Participating on various forums
• Using social media to build ‘relationships’
• Offering advice where applicable
• Some ways I have been stretching is by being more active on forums, marketing my own business online, and through continous education.

Have about youself? Have you been stretching and reaching in your business? ed out to your target market? Have you seen an increase in your newsletter subscribers, social media followers or income? If you’re not getting the results you’d hoped for, then maybe your missing something in your marketing plan.

What’s holding you back from stretching yourself to success this year? Lack of time? Money? Focus? Organization? Whatever ‘it’ is do yourself and your business a favor and define it quickly.

To your success!
Stephanie Fish

If you are one of the million small brick-n-mortar businesses looking at ways to reach more customers and to stay in touch with current customers then maybe you should look into blogging. Now, I’m not talking about a “online diary” type of blog, but a custom-made blog that is made to look and work just as a website store.

5 Reasons You Need A Business Blog!

1. COMMUNICATE-Staying in touch with current and prospective customers is so easy when you add an RSS feed and/or ezine signup box.

2. UPDATE-You can update your A WordPress blog that’s being used as a website is so easy to keep update the design and to add content.

3. With a WordPress blog you can easily pre-date your posts, which saves you money spent from having to use an autoresponder.

4.

Networking is important for todays online businesses, in fact, I believe it crucial for your success ( and perhaps your sanity

My friend, Regina Baker, is hosting an awesome http://reginabaker.com/networking/ and I just signed up!

I hope you attend, you have nothing to lose and have knowledge to gain.

Have a safe and Happy Valentine’s Day. May God bless you, Stephanie

Welcome!
In the last few years I’ve met many content writers who not only offer writing services but also submission services. I know that you, as a writer, would like to focus on your writing and not so much in the submission task.

I’m currently offering a special pricing for content writers who would like to outsource the submissions of their clients articles and/or press releases.

Please contact me today for more information or to ask any questions!
I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Stephanie Fish
Buckeye V.A.

Marketing your business online isn’t difficult but it is time consuming, which is why so many business owners are looking to outsource this particular task. Article marketing should not be looked at as a “one time” deal and then expect to see an increase in your bottom line instead you should look at this as a long term business need.

Articles written specifically for your clients and marketed at the right places can bring you the increase in subscribers and buyers that you’re working so hard to gain.

Your article marketing plan might go something like this:
1. Choose 1 day of the week, such as Wednesday, to write your article.
2. Choose 1 particular day a week to submit your article.
2. Create a file/folder in google docs and/or on your hard drive and name it “articles” or something similar so you know what is in it.
3. Create a simple spreadsheet and keep a list of all your article marketing efforts in one place.

Challenge yourself to write an article one week, then submit it the next week. Keep doing this for 6 months straight and see if you gain more customers and/or subscribers.

If you’re looking to outsource your article marketing tasks please contact me, Stephanie Fish, today!

My little town is not immune to the bad economy and I’ve seen so many small “ma and pa”  stores closing their doors, it’s just so sad. When I see or hear this happening I just want to go knock on every door and tell the owner “No, wait! You don’t have to give up your dreams of owning and running your own business” instead “run to the internet!”

I’m not sure what the final reason for closing their businesses were, but I’m a firm believer that nearly every business can benefit by having an online presence as long as you take the right steps in the right order. When I’m learning something new, I try to create a picture in my mind (an illustration of sorts). So I will be comparing an online business needs to a  jigsaw puzzle. My opinion is creating an online presence is very similar to a jigsaw puzzle…let me explain why.

*for my illustration my puzzle is going to have 5 puzzle pieces*

Box Lid=Business Plan: Lets look at the jigsaw puzzles lid, we rely on that picture to tell us if we are on track, have all the pieces and helps us chart our progress.

Picture= Your Dream. Do you dream of keeping (or starting) your own business? By taking your business plan and weaving your dream into that plan, you will have a great foundation.

Puzzle Pieces=Building Your Website. You’ve laid out all of your puzzle pieces but right now you can’t tell what piece goes in which part of the puzzle. It can be very confusing to have a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces look the same…such as having the same color on every piece!

That’s why its so important to know what you need to get your business of that paper and into the internet. Let’s put some distinguishing shapes and colors to each puzzle piece, ok?

Piece 1: You’ll need a domain name (preferably a .com extension). Does your business name have a keyword in it (if you are wanting your own cookie business will your potential client type in “wedding cookies” or “birthday cookies” or “dark chocolate cookie”?) you’re going to need to know this so you can find the best keyword domain name.

Piece 2: Do you have a hosting company that includes how-to videos and has a good customer service area? Do they have a way for you to upload a WordPress blog? Can you access your CPanel anytime you want to?

Piece 3: Have you decided if you are going to outsource any business related tasks that you don’t want to deal with? (such as web design, autoresponder, social networking, customer service, etc?)

Ok so you have your business plan, your dreams, your domain name and your virtual assistant (who should be able to help you with this entire business building process) Now, lets move on….

Piece 4: Staying in contact with your customers is a must-do! You can do this by way of an ezine/newsletter, RSS feed, blogging and/or social networking.

Piece 5: Let’s not forget about web design! You’ll want to pick a web template (or outsource this to a professional website designer) because first impressions are lasting impressions! This saying is true in life and also online. Does you website look out-dated? Does it contain too much flash or load to slow? Does it contain fresh, new content?

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Whether you’ve been in business a long time or are just starting out and need a helping hand, please contact me Stephanie Fish, today or visit my service pages today!

I would be honored if you would vote for me.
Thank you!