HeatherStone commented on the following stories on BizSugar
15 Social Media Tips For Entrepreneurs For 2014 • The Smart Internet Lifestyle Blog
"Hi Reginald, Just looking at your first point here, there are so many social platforms out there these days. (And realistically, you cannot use all of them and be effective.) What one question do you think an online entrepreneur should ask themselves when trying to choose a manageable number of platforms to use effectively?"15 Social Media Tips For Entrepreneurs For 2014 • The Smart Internet Lifestyle Blog
"Hi Reginald, Great idea about focusing on where your target audience is most active. My question, for online entrepreneurs starting out, is, what is the best strategy for figuring that out in the first place? Do you try a few platforms and figure out where you get the best response? Another question comes to mind from your answer. How do we make sure a platform that is giving us engagement is also giving us customers? In others, I'm sure we've all experienced the situation of getting involved with a social media platform and seeing plenty of engagement but not much traffic returning to our sites. Or if there is traffic, it is not resulting in conversions. "Small business marketing case study – make your blog your art with Lizzie Rose Jewellery
"Martina, Great case study! You're absolutely right that not all blogging is created equal and I think this is particularly the case when you start to look at blogs intended to be monetized as a business in and of themselves vs. blogs intended to promote another business. I also think Cath's behind the scenes idea is probably a good one in terms of content to share with her potential customers. I'm wondering what advice you give to small business owners in general when they're thinking about the content they should create for a blog? What kinds of questions should a small business owner ask themselves when considering the kind of blog that is best suited for their business? "Do You Need a Business Plan? - Create For Cash
"Julie, I think most entrepreneurs and small business owners here in the BizSugar community would agree you don't need to spend thousands of dollars to create a business plan. It's also probably fair to say that there's a difference between creating a "formal" business plan and simply planning for your business. What's the best advice you could give someone starting a business for the first time about exactly what kind of planning, if any, they need?"Amazon Agreements with Big Brands Could Cut Out Small Sellers
"Hi Martin, The issue, as we understand it, is that Amazon is using a pay-to-play approach by which major brands can limit the number of resellers who may market their products on Amazon. As for the ability big brands have to limit resellers to be on Amazon in the first place, the reality is that even if they could place limitations on authorized distributors or even retail outlets, there's no stopping the resale of items, (think second hand merchants), except by getting Amazon to disallow sales of the items. "Disqus Comments vs. CommentLuv & Other Comment SystemsInspire to Thrive
"Hmmmm. Lisa, I think your point about making it easy to comment on a blog or any other social platform is right to the point. If memory serves, Disqus does require a signup. I have no experience with whether CommentLuv does or doesn't. There's also the point that today so many comments happen away from your blog on various social platforms where your contents are shared too. Consider BizSugar here as just one example. I'm wondering. Why do you feel bloggers out there may be considering a switch at the moment in their blog commenting system? And does such a switch involve loosing all your past comments? I'd suspect that would be a pretty big deal! "Warning: These Out-of-the-Box Linkedin Marketing Tips Are EXTREMELY Actionable and Effective
"Hi Jimmy, In regards to commenting and interacting with content creators, I sometimes feel like a broken record repeating this over and over again in the comment section here at BizSugar, but there is a huge difference between really letting a content creator know you've read, shared and been influenced by a comment, and just "faking" engagement. This is just leaving the brief "great post, man" or "so true" on someone's post. To turn this around, I'm wondering what you've found to be the worst and least effective marketing techniques to use on LinkedIn...or any other social platform for that matter? "Small business digital marketing: The big ROI debate [video]
"Hi Martin, This is a very interesting discussion! What has been your experience, not so much in terms of measuring the actual return on the cost of social media marketing in time and money, but in terms of figuring out, say, the kind of content that works the best to draw traffic back to your websites etc?"The Solopreneur’s Guide to Building a DREAM Marketing System
"Hi Summer, Enjoyed the video in this post, in particular. Just to pick out one little idea here that really grabbed my attention, you mention that when identifying your target market, you should identify the typical buyer. But you also add that this is not always the person who purchases your service? Can you elaborate on this point for the BizSugar community? "Subscribe
“Rachel: Great to hear! Thanks for your kind words! :)
All the Best,
Martin...”
“Thank you, Martin. That's a fantastic motto... and I couldn't agree more!...”
“Lisa: Good to hear! Thanks for your response....”
“For sure, I know I did years ago when I was working for others....”
“Lisa: I wonder if they potential employee is doing a background check on...”
This Should Be On Your To Do List - VIDEO
"Hi Carol, Some people looking at this post might not (at first) think it's a business post...but, of course, it is. For those small business owners really struggling to get a business up and running, I'm wondering what your best advice is to give yourself the permission to take out some time for friends and family. "