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Author: Sam Ryan

“Sam is an entrepreneur with a strong technical background and a bachelors degree in web development. His personal mantra includes a firm belief in the power of teamwork, the wisdom of taking risks, and that there’s nothing better than bacon. Sam has been a part of the launch of several companies, including Hatchwise, where he is the CTO and all-around guru.”

What Is Rebranding?

  • I’ve been reading about how to grow, reach more potential clients (hopefully through social media, like we’ve been encouraging you), and reach your full business potential.

    Someone suggests REBRANDING. What exactly is that though?

    Well, rebranding is an excellent way to give your business a new start. A fresh slate, if you must. It is a marketing strategy in which a new name, symbol, design, logo, or some combination of all of those are used to change an already established brand.

    So basically you take your company and give it a massive face-lift. Like, a big, big one.

    By changing the name, design, etc, you are letting people know that lots of things are changing. People tend to not read information that much, but change your business’ name and I bet they’ll notice!

    This is a great way to do a complete turnaround, and many businesses have successfully done it. Harley-Davidson, Pabst Blue Ribbon, McDonald’s, and Target, to name a few. They all sound that they were companies that either were stuck in a rut, considered unhealthy, cheap, and/or had a bad reputation. With a whole lot of vision, some good marketing, and some rebranding they are now some worldwide known businesses.

    Introducing a new logo, product, or service is also a perfect time to consider switching things up. What better time to change what you’re all about, company vision, or name as when you have a new product?

    So if your company is struggling, consider rebranding, because it may just be for you.

Instagram

 

I know I have talked quite a bit about social media in my posts, but there’s so much that social media can do for your business.  As I have said many times, social media is a must for your business, and not only is it great for advertising, but it’s free!

Since starting in 2010 Instagram now has over 150 millions monthly users.

Think about it for a sec. That’s a lot of people,

So you know that Instagram is one of the best places to advertise, but you don’t quite know how to start it and make it work. Well, that’s okay because I’m going to tell you how to make your Instagram business account productive.

One: Set up a business account. Business accounts have things that personal accounts don’t, such as showing your business location, phone number, and email, useful stats.

Two: Get posting. Start thinking up some post material and get busy posting on your account. In order to have a successful Instagram, your account must be active. Post at least two or three times a day, the more the better! Make sure that every post has a good caption and lots of hashtags. Hashtags are the key to getting followers, so make sure they’re good ones.

Three: Interact. In order to gain followers, you must visit other accounts, comment, and like photos. The more you interact, the more you get noticed. When people see you commenting on there post they go to check your page out.

Another huge and very important aspect of Instagram is the Instagram Stories. They show up across the top of the “home page” of your app, and if someone starts following your account they automatically see your stories.

There’s so much you can talk about on the “Insta stories”. Do a day in the life, talk about a sale that’s coming up, and hold a poll to see if your follows like this or that better.

You can also save your stories so people that didn’t get a chance to look at them in the 24 hours can. You can put them in different category and they go at the top of your profile above your photos.

Remember, keep things lively and engaging. You don’t want people losing interest! Be more casual in your stories than you usually are. People love having you talk with them like you are friends and not like you’re trying to just sell a product.

Blog post ideas

One thing we all have a problem with when writing for our blog is we run out of things to talk about. You probably mostly have this problem if you have a business blog. I mean think about it. If you have a personal blog then there is always something to talk about, whether it be a new house that you just bought, a painting you’ve been creating, or baby’s first birthday.

But when you have a business blog it’s not so easy as all that, is it? The answer is no. Not. At. All.

Here are a few easy ideas for you to use when all else fails!

What’s new: Write an update about your business, or a problem that was fixed. Tell everyone about the new addition you made to the business and how it’s working out.

Write something about the business: Tell people about how the business came about, what your mission is, or what the next step is that you plan to take to bring things to the next level. You’ve got to write about the most recent things that are happening, but you can’t forget to tell them a little history too, every once in a while.

Do a story on the owners: A post about the owner is a never fail! Write about what they love and what are their interests are. Talk about why they started the business. Make it a “get to know more about the founders” post. People will love it!

These are always good subjects to use because every now and then it’s nice to change stuff up. That way people want to come back to read more. If you just write the same type of posts day after day interest is quickly lost. Try to do a post like this at least once or twice a month.

Do you need a Social Media team?

 

  “Do I really need a Social Media Team?”

Every good businessman knows the answer to that question. There are no buts, no what ifs, you need a social media team.

We’ve talked a lot about social media, but we haven’t yet talked about what, or rather WHO you need to make those social media platforms work. When you have a business, in order to make the business run smoothly you need hard-working employees, and yes, also a good social media team. Because, as I have said many times, every good business should use social media to promote their company, and in order to make your social media platforms be productive, every good business needs a social media team.

The number of employees on your social media team can vary by the size of your business. 3-6 is a good amount to start with, and if you feel like you should add more, or your business starts to grow, add a couple more until you find an amount that works for you.

A good team for each should consist of: Two people for blogging, one for Instagram, one for Facebook, and one for Pinterest and Twitter. Now you might be thinking, “ Why two for blogging and only one for Pinterest and Twitter together?” That’s a good question!

When you have a blog for your business you’re going to want to have a couple of people writing blog posts, so you can have at least three blog posts a week, if not more. You can have them work together (one writing, the other editing) or separately.  And you’re probably going to need only one for Pinterest and Twitter because they don’t get as much business coming through. But if either of these social media platforms begins to grow and get more followers don’t hesitate to hire another employee to take one over! When it comes to your social media platforms don’t risk it. More is better, is the rule in this area.

Each employee should have their own social platform making it so that they can spend more time on thinking up new strategies and be devoting more time to that one platform.

You’re also going to want to have an overseer of the team, someone that the others can go to if they need help with something or have a quick question.

One way to get the perfect overseer would be to have one of the people who curate a platform and you seeing taking a strong lead be that person or you could just bring someone in from the outside that specializes in social media. Either way works, you just have to make sure you have someone to oversee things.

Our social media team has helped us a lot, and we believe that yours can too. So get together that awesome social media team that I know you can have and get busy!

 

Graphic Design

Graphic design is one of the most important aspect in a business.

Why? Well, because when you start a business your website, along with your social media accounts, have to look more than just “okay”. They have to look professional, clean, and, most importantly, speak for your company.

And, well some (very few) of us are good with graphic design most of us are not. That’s where the benefits of having a designer working with you comes in.

Designers will become your best friends when it comes to making your website, social media platforms, and blog look AMAZING. A little unsure about how to make your website look professional? Have an idea about what you want your business’ logo to look like but not sure? That’s where designers come in. They’ll take the vague idea you’ve got for your site and turn it into just what you are looking for.

Graphic design takes your business to the next level. One of the tough parts about graphic design is finding the right designers. And we understand that. Trust me, I know as well as anyone how difficult it can be. Nobody likes to research about the best designers for hours, or waste money working with an artist, only to have them not meet your standards. Well, when you sign up with Flocksy you don’t have to worry about that. Now, before you think I’m crazy let me tell you, it’s true. All you have to do is sign up, fill out a design brief, and get your design! Yup, it’s that simple.

And the quality of your design is only the best.

Now this process only works this way if you sign up with a graphic design business that has one set price for all the work you want done. Otherwise you might have to pay every time you want any (even minor) change done to a design.

You want to have the best of everything for your business, and that includes Graphic Design. Not only do you want (and need!) graphics to promote your business, but you want the best graphic design team you can get.

Three Benefits Of Social Media

When you think of using social media other that for recreation you probably think of it being a lot of hard work and time consuming. Yes, you are right, but what about all the wonderful benefits that come with that hard work and precious time?

I’m going to tell you three benefits of using social media for business and than you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it or not!

Free advertisement: When you get a Facebook , Twitter, or Instagram account for your business you get free advertisement for your business. In my opinion there’s nothing better! You gain interested followers and potential clients and with one click your post can reach out to them. Advertising is a big expense for your company, so by getting a social media account you’re cutting that expense in half.

Interacting one on one with customers: Getting to interact with your customers one on one is a huge benefit of social media. You have the opportunity to talk back and forth with your customers, being more relaxed and casual than you normally would on your site. They can ask you questions on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest that they may not feel comfortable asking you on your site. You get to see a little bit into their personal life, and you can show them a little bit of yours.

Tell People about the Latest Happenings: Think how easy it is to tell your customers about the 40% off sale you’re having, or those new arrivals that are in the shop! You can let your customers know about the latest deals that they probably wouldn’t have known of otherwise. And don’t forget, the more excited you are about these deals, the more excited your customers will be. If you tell your social media followers about a sale ahead of time you can almost be sure that you’ll have twice the amount of customers coming to your store for the sale you told them about!

This is a tried and true approach that many people are already using to gain clients, communicate better, and have a greater growth reach. We see it working in our business and know it can work for you too!

 

Four tips to make writing your blog easier

 

Sometimes writing a blog post can be difficult. Finding the right words to transfer your thoughts to a post isn’t always the easiest and you might find yourself sitting looking at a screen for far too long without any results. And I’m pretty sure that none of us really has the time to waste on blank pages, and empty screens.

Here are four tips to make writing a blog post quick and easy!

Have an idea: If you have an idea already in your head, and know that basic format and approach you are going to take BEFORE you sit down at the computer it’ll probably be much easier to start writing. It’s a common issue (like stage fright) to have your brain freeze when you sit down to write if you don’t already have at least an idea of what you want to write about before sitting down.

Keep it simple: Keep it simple and to the point. People like to see what they came to see and than leave. Nobody wants to sit reading something for forever-no matter how good the writing and content is. Use 300 to 500 words per a post, and no more or else it gets too long.

Bullet point: Pull out all the bullet points. It makes certain sections stand out, among your writing, highlights (without using the highlights). However, make sure when using bullet points you keep your paragraphs short. About five to six sentences. Say what you want without boring your readers.

Know what you want: When writing if you know what message you want to get across first, then getting it down in writing will be ten times easier. Think about what you want your post to be about. The newest iPhone, how to cook a steak, the latest  news, a book review, etc, have an idea and then get busy typing!

By using these tips you’ll be able to write fast and have awesome blog posts that people can read in five minutes or less.

 

Best social media platforms for you

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, YouTube. In a world of so many social platforms how do you know which ones you REALLY need? Obliviously it would be nice to have them all, but, let’s be real, you can only focus on so many accounts at once, and there’s got to be the best one, right?

Facebook is a no-brainer. Come on, even your Grandmother is on Facebook. Even though many are moving on and Facebook is not used quite as much as it was a couple years ago, it’s still the most used social media platform. You need a Facebook page for your business, and you need to use it.

Instagram is up and coming. More and more businesses are finding a way to reach their clients though Instagram and it’s working well. We really recommend Instagram as a way to reach out to your audience, let them know what’s new, and engage with them.

Twitter is also a must-have. Let others know what’s up, keep is simple, to the point, and fun. Got a new product, a update, a fun fact? Tweet and let everyone know in seconds without having to spend to much time writing it out.

Pinterest might not get used quite as much as other social media platforms,  but it is just as important, maybe even more important, for your business  as other social media platforms. People are able to pin something faster then they are to post on Instagram or FB and save it for later. Besides being more time efficient Pinterest is also great for your business in many others way. Unfortunately there are too many to include in one paragraph.

Other social media accounts are good, and important, but this is what we think are the best, if you’re only having four, start with these and then add more.  Give it a shot and see if they help you has much as they have helped us!

Thank you for your time, please feel free to ask any questions you might have.

How to clear your website’s clutter.

So you have a website. You have good content. How do you make all that stand out?

Clear the clutter? Yep, that’s right. Get rid of all the things pulling your audience away from what you want them to see, and get them focusing on the important stuff (i.e, what you have to offer them).

All the white space:

You need a lot of white space. You want your content to stand out. This means a white background, and plenty of neutral colors (no bright red or pink font, please).

Get rid of the junk: 

Have a messy header? Too much in the sidebar? Lots of ad between pages? Hit the delete button. You don’t want all that taking up space, and your audience sure as hell doesn’t want to have to wade through all that just to find your content.

Make them see what YOU want them to see:

If your writing in your strong point make it clear, concise, and to the point. If you have nice images make sure that they are large, and all the same size. Selling a product? Be sure to make the listing easy to view, be clear about what you are selling, and make sure that you have a good description of the product.

Make your site easy to navigate:

Nobody likes to wander around in the dark. You want people to easily be able to find things on your site. Whether it’s an “about us” page, or your terms and conditions be sure that you have them easily accessible.

Don’t get stuck in a rut:

Been doing things one way for a while? Maybe it’s time for a face lift. Sometimes new is better, and every so often take a step back to review, look over things, and (even better) ask for some objective insight into what others think about your site.

Make sure things WORK:

Nobody likes a slow website, and nothing makes folks leave  faster than a slow site. Make sure that you don’t have glitches, links that don’t work, and a wonky interface.

 

Using these six easy steps above your website will stand out bright and clear!

Thanks for taking the time to read. Questions are always welcome.