Every second Tuesday of the month, Costa Women and friends meet for a Business Breakfast and networking session at El Gusto in La Cala de Mijas. Each month has a different theme and in May the attendees each brought a tool, or business tip to share with the other business owners. The ideas were brilliant, and as our own Virtual Assistant, Rebecca, took notes and here’s the overview:-
- Find your unique selling point
If you make something to wear, always wear it! “You are a walking product, be natural and you find an organic connection” – Kim Abecasis, maker of boho jewellery and foot-kinis Something repeated by Eunice of Eunique Gemstone Jewellery who also wears her jewellery whenever she is out and about. Eunice also photographs new buyers wearing her pieces and shares one buyer a week on her Facebook page.
Do you have an elevator pitch? Consider writing one and practising.
Top Tip: Promote your belief and passion in your products by wearing, using and sharing.
- In peace, prepare for war
Be organised “in peace, prepare for war” – if you have a lull now is a good time to plan the way forward for your business said Virtual Assistant, Rebecca French. Determine your target market – sit with a friend to brainstorm the age, sex, needs and type of person who would be interested in your product or service. “Everyone has a target market, but not everyone is in your market.” Create a plan of action to start marketing. It may also follow that certain social media platforms are better for marketing than others. Find a suitable social media platform for your market, you don’t have to follow the crowd.
Top Tip: Ascertain who uses which type of platform and whether they are your target market before you spend wasted hours on marketing. Use a unique email address in your advertising campaigns – when using adverts, giving out leaflets, or on your Facebook Business page, so when you get an enquiry from that email address you know where it came from.
- A Picture can say a 1000 words
Images were also a topic raised by Aleksandra of Simple Life Project. She recommended that we take our own photos, rather than using images from the internet. There are free apps that help you edit your image on your phone. If, however, you need to use free images here’s a list https://blog.bufferapp.com/free-image-sources-list, https://pixabay.com and https://unsplash.com (which gives you 10 new free images a week)
Top Tip: Canva.com has all the templates used in social media and you can upload your images and logo to create professional looking images to share. Be consistent with your photos – when posting your images, make sure they include your logos, include your brand’s typeface and colours.
Add text to videos. Hayley said “Facebook plays without sound unless you click to watch the video so adding text will increase the sales opportunity”.
If you have a team who are spread over multiple locations, Jodie Barr recommended using “GoToMeeting” program and “Go2Webinar” for Webinars
- Avoid spray and pray
The real estate of your business card can be your most expensive asset. Don’t spray them around and pray they hit the target; handing them out to everyone who may just file them in the square container. When networking, remember we were born with two ears and one mouth – use them in that proportion. Have a strategy – not only for handing your business cards out, but also follow up. Build a relationship with a customer – “Thank you for your business card, can i take your number? Can I give you a call?” Ask the person you have met their preferred way of being contacted – email, phone, Facebook message, whatsapp etc. Follow up with each card you are given; remind the person where you met and ask how you can help them with their needs. Remember, Someday is never a day of the week – saying we must meet up for a coffee and never doing it means that you never move your business connections forward
Top Tip: Check out about.me – a free website where you can host all your information and social media links on one ‘website’ style page which you can then use on your business card. Add your photo to your business card to aid people remembering who you are and where they met you. Or get an electronic business card from Key to Mijas Costa which you can share via whatsapp to potential new Clients, Customers and business contacts.
- Be Authentic
Petra Mikat asked us to “Be authentic, be genuine with your product and yourself – We are our best business tool!” Don’t be afraid to collaborate with people who may even be selling the same product, or service. We are all unique – the way of selling our product is unique so don’t worry about sharing your knowledge. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help from others – we are all a work in progress. Decide the ideal outcome, visualise it and work towards it, suggested Julie McSorley author of Out of the Box.
Our next business breakfast is Tuesday 14th June, 0900 at El Gusto Restaurant in La Cala – hope you can join us!