Category: 30-SECOND READ (Page 5 of 11)

My 30-second read blog posts give you a quick hit of marketing or small business knowledge.

Ideas for Free Downloads for Your Business

May 16, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Today I have some free business download ideas that are ideal if you have a blog, website or even on your social media pages.

By offering a free download that your target market is searching for is a great way to get new customers to notice your business. The key is to make sure it includes your branding, hyperlinks back to your site, and is optimized for Google SEO.

IDEAS FOR FREE DOWNLOADS

Not sure what to offer? Here are some ideas, all of which you can do in Canva. The key is to focus on top Google searches to maximize the SEO opportunities:

Travel Agent: Printable Travel Packing List PDF
Real Estate Agent: House Buyer Checklist PDF
Kids Store: Holiday Coloring Pages Printable
Restaurant: Local Summer Event Calendar Download
Art Store: “How to Hang Art” Printable

Get more easy marketing ideas like this in my My 12-Month Marketing Plans.

I’m Gail Oliver and since 2012 I have advised thousands of small businesses and I can help yours too! Be sure to see my services and products below: free download ideas for your business

Cool Side Hustle Opportunity

May 13, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you are looking for a cool side hustle opportunity, I have one for you!

Both the house sitting and pet sitting industries are experiencing huge growth right now, and this has opportunities for not only a cool side hustle, but I also see it as a way to expand your business if you’re a real estate agent, travel agent or pet business.

GenZ and Millennials are using house sitting and pet sitting “gigs” as a way to get around the unaffordable housing market right now (since they can work remotely) and as a way to travel the world for free.

So, not only is this a great side hustle – to get paid to live in someone’s house for house sitting and/or pet sitting duties – but I feel that it can also be a new service for you to offer your clients.

If you’re a realtor, you can connect reputable “sitters” with home owners for a commission fee. Same thing for travel agents and anyone who owns a pet business. It’s a great add-on service that will bring in more revenue and expand your customer base with little investment on your part. Hope you are in a position to try this cool side hustle opportunity.

Need more ideas for a great business or side hustle? Set up a phone consultation!

Also read 54 Creative Small Business Ideas.

Free Publicity Opportunities for Your Business this Summer

May 11, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Want some free publicity opportunities for your business this summer? Here are the best opportunities in June, July and August.

SUMMER PR IDEAS

June is pride month, so writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “LGBTQ-Owned Businesses to Support for Pride Month”.
Juneteenth is on June 19^th and writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Observe Juneteenth by Checking Out these Black Owned Businesses”. You can try this again for August, which is National Black Business Month.
July is Independent Retailer Month, so local writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Celebrate Independent Retailer Month by Shopping these Local Businesses ”.
July 1^st is Canada Day, so Canadian writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as “Canadian-Made Products to Shop This Canada Day”.
July 4^th is Independence Day, so American writers will be looking for businesses to include in stories such as, “American Small Businesses to Love this Independence Day”.

I offer a Publicity Pitch Writing Service and all of these events are covered in my best-selling 96-Page Marketing Plan Template.

Also read: Easy Free Local Publicity Opportunity

Time Management Tip: Dedicate Certain Days for Certain Tasks

May 5, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need a time management tip?

When you’re a small business owner, you have a variety of daily tasks from product fulfillment to marketing to accounting to customer services, it goes on and on.

So what does your typical work week look like, and is it possible to tackle it in a different way so that you work more effectively?

For example, instead of trying to do a bit of everything every day, why not establish certain days for certain tasks:

Maybe Monday you focus on marketing, creating all of your social media posts for the week, your blog posts for the week, sending out publicity pitches, etc.
Tuesdays, you focus on development of new products and services.
Wednesdays, you focus on improving your SEO.
Thursdays, you focus on administrative tasks.
Fridays, you focus on finances, cost cutting, revenue building, etc.

Obviously, you have certain tasks that have to be done every day, but maybe some of these other tasks that have to do with growing and maintaining the business, can be divided up by days of the week. This way you can focus more effectively on the one thing you have to do that day.

Also read: Is a Recession Coming? Tips for Your Small Business.

Be Sure to Also Check Out:

Do You Really Need to Offer Free Shipping on Etsy?

May 3, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

free shipping etsy If you sell online, it has been drilled into your head that offering free shipping on Etsy will raise your sales conversion rate. But, this has been a little blown out of portion.

Published research from a variety of sources has continually showed that the number one reason for cart abandonment was HIGH shipping charges, which is not the same as saying shipping charges altogether.

For example, I was buying flowers from an online florist. The florist offered “free shipping” but when I went to checkout, while the shipping was free, there was a $15 transaction free. I went ahead with the purchase anyway, because I have ordered flowers many times and I expect a shipping fee. I did think this was kind of a slimy way of doing it.

But again, it is perspective. The flowers were $75, so if the transaction/shipping fee had been $30, then I would have abandoned the purchase because I am not going to pay another 40% of the price in shipping. In other words, a reasonable shipping fee will not likely stop the purchase.

I recently had a client whereby another “consultant” had told her that she absolutely had to offer free shipping on Etsy, and this was difficult as her product was heavy as it was made of cement. Looking at her stats, I saw that she had a good sales conversion rate of 3.3%, so to me, shipping did not seem to be an issue. As long as she kept it reasonable, she was better off to keep charging it. Otherwise, adding the free shipping into the price was going to substantially increase her product price, making it much higher than her competition, and that’s not a good thing either.

If you would like professional advice, please see my small business consultation as well as my other services.

©2012 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Free Shipping on Etsy

Why You Need an Engaging LinkedIn Profile Summary

April 27, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

There are many reasons why you need an engaging LinkedIn Profile Summary. This is why I started offering a LinkedIn Profile Summary Writing Service.

Whether you’re a small business owner, an entrepreneur or actively looking for employment, your LinkedIn Profile Summary is a valuable marketing tool.

Most social media sites only give you about 150 characters for a bio, but LinkedIN gives you over ten times that, up to 2,000 characters, so there is a real opportunity here to show your personality, tell your story and add a little marketing flair.

Trust me, hiring managers get sick of reading the same old tired summaries. A fresh approach will get their attention and keep them reading.

Plus, if you are looking for employment, you can use the same wording in the profile for your cover letter, exploratory emails to prospective employers as well as on your personal website or blog.

Here’s my own LinkedIn Profile, for example:

I really believe in writing your LinkedIn Profile Summary in the first person. It’s more personal and relatable, and it feels like you are speaking directly to the reader.

I like a statement-making opening line to engage them immediately.

Then, it is up to you whether you want to just talk about your unique abilities and/or your “wins” and/or your experience and/or what you do and why you do it. You can break it up with headings like I did here.

Finally, I close with a call to action about what it is that you hope the person reading will do next.

Now, I’m only using half of the allotted characters, but I just want to quickly get across what it is I do in an interesting way, to attract potential clients and business partners.

If you would like to add a little marketing savvy to your LinkedIN, check out my LinkedIn Profile Summary Writing Service.

Be Sure to Also Check Out:

How to Market Yourself

April 26, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

People ask me all the time to help them market themselves.

This can take on a variety of forms:

New college grads (or their parents) hiring me to write a marketing savvy LinkedIn Profile.
An influencer needing an attention-getting Bio for their Media Kit.
Upstarts asking for a Business Plan Executive Summary that will land them a loan.
Small business owners wanting an engaging Brand Story.

Have you ever thought about the need to market yourself, particularly as a small business owner?

Some Ways to Market Yourself

Apply for a small business award. Check with your local small business bureau to see what opportunities are available.
Have a profile piece written about you in a local trade publication. Simply pitch a compelling story about how or why you started your business to your local small business writer and they might see value in writing a profile on. you.
Apply to speak at a local or industry event. Try an online place like Event Brite to find opportunities near you. Remember, you need to apply for these opportunities at least six months in advance.
Have a professional head shot taken. It is worth it to hire a professional photographer to take several good head shots of yourself. You can use these in your marketing material, as social media avatars, on your About page in your blog, and on your business cards to name a few.
Try to get quoted. Check HARO (Help a Reporter Out) requests daily to see if you can contribute a quote to an article being published. If you do get quoted, promote links to these articles on your website, blog, social media, and so forth.
Have a personalized and stylishly written bio. This should always be ready to go, and always be part of all of your marketing collateral.

I have been doing these types of writing services as custom orders for a while now, so I decided to add them to my Shopify store and Services.

SEO-Friendly Content Ideas for May

April 25, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need some SEO-friendly content ideas for May?

Every month, the top searches on Google are typically questions. You can take advantage of answering these questions in your blog or social media posts as an easy way to drive traffic to your business.

For example, based on past Google Search Data, these should be the top questions for May:

What do you write in a teacher appreciation card (May 4^th)
What is Cinco de Mayo celebrated for? (May 5^th)
What horses are in the Kentucky Derby? (May 7^th)
When is Mother’s Day 2022? (May 8^th)
What happens during a lunar eclipse? (May 15th)
What is a flower moon?
How fast do Indy 500 cars go? (May 29^th)
When is Memorial Day 2022? (May 30^th)
What is Memorial Day and how is it observed?
What side does the tassel go on graduation cap?
You might also like, What to Post to Social Media in May

For your social media marketing, you would like my 365 Social Media Post Ideas.

For your blog or content marketing, you would like my 365 Blog Post Title Ideas.

Be Sure to Also Check Out:

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

4 Marketing Ideas for National Small Business Week

April 19, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

marketing ideas national small business week National Small Business Week 2022 is May 1st to May 7th. Here are 4 easy ways to maximize this opportunity:

Immediately send out pitches to your local media (newspaper, blogs, radio, local tv) about being included in any editorial they are doing for the week. You need to pitch one major feature (i.e. female or minority run business) or accomplishment (i.e. six figure sales in first year) about your business.
Every day during small business week, every hour on the hour, if possible, tweet a #shoutout to another local but non-competitive small business. They will likely return the favor or at least share the tweet, giving you exposure to their followers (be sure to thank and share anyone who does the same for you).
Email customers a special offer that if they give you a shoutout on social media anytime during small business week, such as a free gift or 10 entries into a giveaway. Make sure you give them a #hashtag to use so you can track it.
Get together with several other local small businesses and create a flyer with all of your businesses on it, hand it out at your particular places of business, leave in mailboxes, and post other places around town. You could also do this online, adding a “blog roll” of small businesses to your website and social media accounts, and ask the other businesses to do the same, just for the week.
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