Why Every Internet Marketer Needs At Least One Membership Site

by | Mar 18, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Entrepreneur, Memberships

Are you looking for other ways to increase profits using the web? Aren’t we all? One thing to consider is starting a membership site. It’s really quite simple… set up a website, charge a monthly fee, offer your customers awesome content, keep it running, aaaaaand profit. Ok – maybe there’s a little bit more to it than that, so that’s why we’ve got this handy list of benefits to owning a membership site.

• Dominate the competition in your niche
If you have a membership site, you’ll stand out amongst the people who have a score of e-books but nothing else to offer their customers.

• Get more money out of your list
You may have heard that “the money is in the list”. And, you’ll want to get as much money from your list members as you can. A membership site is the perfect way to do this.

• Increase customer loyalty
If your site has great content and you respond promptly to all queries, a membership site will increase customer loyalty a lot better than selling individual products. This is because the customer will feel as if you’re more accessible.

• Develops a sense of community
Membership sites that have a forum help encourage a sense of community. So not only do the members interact with you, but they can interact with each other. This is a good selling point and a benefit for the owner of the site because it is another thing that will help increase your customer’s loyalty.

• Great way to build a list
If you want to start a free membership site, or offer portions of your membership site for no cost, it can present an effective way to build a list.

• Develop passive income
Although internet marketing is a great career, the money can be a little unstable. A membership site is a good way to not only make more money, but to make the income you do bring in a lot steadier.

• They don’t need to be complicated
A lot of people assume that a membership site is complicated. Not necessarily. There are plenty of options that are simple, such as exclusive content delivered via autoresponder.

Back to that profit, let’s look at the math… say you have a membership site that offers exclusive content related to your niche. If you charge $19.95 a month and have 100 subscribers, that translates to nearly $2000 profit and all you needed to do was refresh the content and make sure the site is running properly.

Not a web person? Or a writer? We can help you with both. Shoot us a note at Smart to Finish – we can build, maintain, and market your new membership site and really make it a seamless process.

5 Ways To Be Available And In Control Of Your Time

by | Feb 14, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Delegating, Entrepreneur

These days, it seems like the world is moving way too fast for any of us to keep up. If you’re trying to run a small business while trying to keep up with the hustle and bustle of life today, it’s especially difficult. There’s just so much to do and so little time to do it. We’ve all experienced times where you’re so bogged down with stuff to do it seems like you’re never going to get to everything you need to. Where does the time go?

If you feel like you’ve lost track of time and you’re ready to take it back, then read on my friend. We have compiled a list of five ways you can take back your free time and be more in control of your availability. So without further ado…

  1. Where is all of your time going in the first place?

    Before we can figure out how to better manage your time, we need to know where it’s all going in the first place. Track your time for a couple of weeks and see where you’re spending the most of it.

  2. Time to Eliminate

    Now that you’ve figured out where all your time is going, you’re ready to start eliminating those non essential tasks you’re spending way too much time on. Have a virtual assistant or part time employee? Delegate these tasks out!

  3. Avoid Multi-tasking

    I know, I know, this is much easier said than done. But think about it… if you focus on one important thing at a time and just keep busting them out, eventually, you’re going to be through your to-do list and it’s only noon… Time for a lunch time margarita, don’t ya think?

  4. Set Aside Time to Communicate

    Only check email a couple of times a day and set a specific time aside to do it! Continuously checking your email throughout the day is extremely wasteful because you’re focusing on more than one item, and you’re going to get distracted by new items coming in all day long. Just stop. Check first thing in the morning and after lunch, and that’s it!

  5. Learn it’s OK to say NO

    You need to figure out what your limits are. If you’re already stretching your time thin, say NO. It’s really OK to say it if you just can’t manage the work. Your customers will be much happier waiting for products and services if they know you can focus your entire energy making sure they’re getting the best of your products and services. If you’re rushing through too many client orders at once, things can get messed up, mistakes can be made, and customers can get upset.

Still having trouble trying to figure out time management? We would love to help get you back on the road to vacations and free time with the family. Contact us today to get started.

 

5 Contacts You Need As A Small Business

by | Feb 7, 2017 | Blog, Business Development, Entrepreneur

It’s not easy building a business by yourself… In fact, we feel it’s almost impossible! There’s just so many little things you have to do all the time, it’s easy to get lost in all of the commotion. When you’re building a new business, it is important to have a group of contacts that can help you get things done the right way and in a reasonable amount of time. We’ve compiled this list of five different people you need to keep around in order to have a successful business.

1. Accountant

How are you going to run a business without someone to run the books? It’s important to always have your finances in order when your running a small business and most times… you’re better off giving it to a financial professional to handle so you can focus on other important aspects of your business.

2. Web Developer

This day in age, you NEED to have a website. If you don’t, you’re missing out on such a great opportunity we can’t even begin to explain it to you.

3. Graphic Designer

You’re going to need all kinds of graphics for your business. Things like logos, marketing flyers, social media images, graphics for your website… they all need to be created. A graphic designer will be helping you to build the brand of your business, so make sure to do your research and find a designer that understands the look and feel of your business.

4. Marketing Specialist

You’re going to need to market those awesome products and services some way. A marketing specialist can help you determine what strategies you should spend the most time and money on to get the most bang for your buck.

5. Virtual Assistant

There’s no better way to take care of all the redundant aspects of your business. Virtual assistants can literally run your business online so you can forget about having to deal with running your email marketing campaigns, updating your website, running weekly reports…you get the point.

So now that you know who you need to have sticking around… how do you find them? Being a business owner, I’m sure you’ve got a network of friends or old colleagues who might know someone who might know someone. When you’re looking for someone who is going to be responsible for sensitive business information and the reputation of your business, it’s important to make sure they are reputable. Referrals are one of the best ways to find someone worth your awhile, especially if it is a referral from someone you trust… So ask around!

Looking for help with a Virtual Assistant? Try hiring a virtual assistant team company that has access to several different types of professionals… kind of like STF ;-P.

Simplero vs Infusionsoft – The Major Differences

by | Sep 29, 2016 | Blog, Entrepreneur, Infusionsoft

Hey there fellow entrepreneurs! We recently moved one of our clients from Infusionsoft to Simplero and wanted to give a big shout out to the product. While we still love, Love, LOVE, recommend, and use Infusionsoft…. we have to say we are very impressed with Simplero. The application is built upon the basis of being “simple” compared to a lot of similar products on the market. We’ve found it to be a great solution for those who are not quite ready for all that Infusionsoft has to offer. So let’s jump right into it – here are 10 basic features of Simplero we found to be pretty freakin’ neat.

  1. Each product also has a “freebie” order form. This is great for testing or for giving this as comp to clients without requiring a credit card.
  2. You can add a gift email and message on an order form – and it can be purchased for another person.
  3. You can create an order form that has a donation amount, which means the customer has the ability to add a custom amount to pay. Helpful for fundraising and collecting odd amounts.
  4. The unsubscribe page allows the customer and prospect to see what lists they are on and opt-out of the lists they want while staying on others they are more interested in such as; product updates on something they purchased from you.
  5. Terms and Service on order forms.
  6. Mobile responsive order forms
  7. You can broadcast to customers in their timezone.
  8. Mobile responsive emails
  9. No limit on account users!!
  10. Month to month subscription plans. No lengthy yearly subscriptions!

*Keep in mind. Infusionsoft does offer many of these features as well… but you do have to purchase additional integrations to make them available.

But hey! We can’t give you all of the good without letting you know some of the bad… here are a couple of features that Simplero does NOT have:

  1. No phone support. It’s all ticket based (we’ve had good luck with quick response times though!)
  2. No cart page or view cart page so that customers can add multiple products to their cart /order form.
  3. Does not include the advanced automation tools found in Infusionsoft Campaign Builder.
  4. Not as many integrations and plugins available.
  5. Not a full CRM
  6. Not as many email marketing features

All in all, it’s a pretty sweet product. If you’re interested in learning more about Simplero and how it could help your business, shoot us a note.

Why You Need to Delegate to Succeed in Business

by | Sep 14, 2016 | Blog, Delegating, Entrepreneur

As a small business owner, do you ever think you yourself, “I’m doing way too many things myself”? Guess what, most small business owners are in this category. They’re doing way too many things that they could, and should, be delegating to someone else to take care of for them. If you feel like you’re overloaded in work and don’t have the time to focus on more important things (like growing your business), ask yourself these four questions:

  1. What am I doing that someone else could do better? (social media graphics, blog posts, admin tasks?)
  2. What are tasks that you could easily give others to do? (posting on social media, updating your website, filling out weekly reports?)
  3. What are tasks that you don’t necessarily like completing? (bookkeeping, legal stuff, faxing?)
  4. What kind of budget do you have to spend on extra help?

Chances are… you’ve got about twenty things on your list of tasks that could easily be delegated to a virtual assistant or someone else on your team suited for the role at hand. There’s no reason for the owner of a company to take the time to send a fax or file folders when they could be focusing on revenue generating activities such as meeting with prospective clients and joining planning sessions for new products and services. Let’s face it, a lot of things just aren’t in your job description any more. Doing work that takes away from accomplishing the tasks that you should be doing will distract you from getting anywhere with growing your business.

Delegating tasks is a great way for you to build teamwork and trust with your team. Giving your employees work to do tells them that you trust them to get the job done. Splitting up big group projects and giving tasks to different individuals helps your employees understand the role they play within your company and encourages open communication and trust between team members. In addition, it stimulates creativity and initiative within the team to get things done together.

Don’t have a team to help you get stuff done? Hire a virtual assistant! Most of the time, these individuals can take care of simple tasks and even help to manage the more sophisticated parts of your business (with a little training… you know, as a manager, it is your job to develop people after all ;-P). Virtual assistants can be a highly valuable asset due to their cost effective nature and the specialized services that they offer. You could find someone to take care of simple administrative tasks, or hire a virtual assistant to literally manage your whole company online for you.

When you invest in extra help to take care of the more mundane, time consuming tasks, you give yourself the opportunity to get back to what you do best: bring in new clients, keep current customers happy, and creating innovative new products and services to help your business flourish. Get back to focusing on the aspects of your business that only YOU can do, and let someone else take control on managing the rest. In addition, handing off a load of tasks will lower your stress level and get you back on the track to a healthy work/life balance.

Overall, delegating work will always benefit your team, your organization, and yourself. If you’re not delegating, it’s never too late to start.

9 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Virtual Assistant

by | Sep 7, 2016 | Blog, Delegating, Entrepreneur

There are a lot of reasons why small business owners and entrepreneurs should hire a virtual assistant. One of the biggest reasons is to help you pull yourself out of the giant pool of work you seem to be drowning in. Sound familiar?

Here are just nine reasons why you should consider hiring on a virtual assistant to help you get things taken care of.

  1. You’re Letting Core Tasks Slip Through The Cracks
    Ever feel like you’re so overwhelmed with things to do that important tasks start to fall through the cracks? Don’t worry, we’ve ALL been there. If you’re starting to let the important stuff get behind, it’s time to hire some help.
  2. You’re Not The Best At Everything – Others Could Do It Better
    Ever heard the phrase “Jack of all trades, Master of none”? Is this what you’re currently considering yourself as a busy entrepreneur or business owner trying to handle everything yourself? Guess what, it’s time for a reality check. In most cases, there’s something way better suited for the job than you. Don’t be afraid to give up a little power and let the professionals take care of it. NO MORE STICK FIGURE GRAPHICS OK!
  3. Your Business Is Growing And Employees Are Expensive
    Office overhead can get super expensive… and so are full time employees. The positive thing about hiring a virtual assistant? No overhead costs since they work from their own space and no additional employee costs since they are strictly contract workers.
  4. You’re Absolutely SICK Of Repetitive Tasks
    I don’t know about you… but I get sick of repetitive tasks I have to do on a daily basis. TALK ABOUT BOOOOORING! Want to gain that time back so you can spend it on more important things? Get a VA to do it for you.
  5. You’re Sick Of Trying To Find Work To Keep Your Employees Busy During Downtimes
    Growing a small business usually keeps employees pretty busy, but what do you do about those pesky downtimes that always seem to show up? It can be hard trying to find productive ways to keep your employees busy and making you money. With a VA, you can assign them a couple of hours of work and bam, that’s it. You can reach out to them again when you’ve got more to do… No worrying about keeping them busy during a typical work day.
  6. My Customer Service Sucks Because I Am Too Busy To Respond
    One of the biggest challenges of growing a business is keeping up with GOOD customer service and with all the ways customers can contact you these days (social media, email, phone, etc) it’s almost impossible to keep up with it all. Don’t get caught up in administration… Let a virtual assistant handle your business reputation and keep customers happy.
  7. Ready To Take Back A Health Work/Life Balance
    Often time’s clients tell us their biggest pet peeve at the moment is not having enough time to enjoy their own lives outside of work. They’re so bogged down with things they need to get done they literally don’t have any time left over for themselves. Take back your work/life balance by pushing off work on a VA so you can get back to being YOU.
  8. You’re Overwhelmed Trying To Keep Up With Schedules/Meetings/Calls/Emails
    It’s Monday morning and you’re sitting there looking at your calendar like, “How am I going to keep up with all these meetings, calls, emails this week?!?!?” Guess what, virtual assistants can handle your scheduling just like any personal assistant. Let them take care of your inbox, manage your phone calls, and set up your meeting schedule (making sure to keep that life/work balance we talked about in #7).
  9. Your Work Is No Longer Making You Happy
    Are you so stressed out about your job or business that you’re no longer enjoying it? Or you’ve completely forgotten why you got into it in the first place? A lot of that stems from being way too bogged down with work and business responsibilities. Knock that crap off and get back to doing what you love by hiring a virtual assistant to deal with all that nasty stress and anxiety. Focus on the tasks you love doing the most and delegate the rest.

Any of this sound like you? If so, you should totally give us a call. No lies, we can really take the stress out of building a business and help you get back to the things that matter most – growing and running your business efficiently.