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How Women Can Stand Out Professionally

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Professional Women|How Women Can Stand Out ProfessionallyTo stand out in the workplace, women must be proactive and differentiate themselves from their male counterparts. This can be done through networking, developing critical skills, and being mindful of personal branding. Additionally, it is vital to showcase your unique value proposition during job interviews and on the job.

Steps Women Can Take to Stand Out Professionally

There are several things that women can do to stand out professionally, like Cynthia Telles. Below are five steps to get started:

Step One: Commit to Continuous Learning

To stay ahead of the curve, women need to commit themselves to continuous learning. This means taking advantage of every opportunity to learn new skills and grow their knowledge base. Whether it’s reading articles online, attending webinars or workshops, or listening to podcasts, there are many ways for women to keep learning.

Step Two: Build a Strong Network

A strong network is critical for any professional woman looking to impact. Women should aim to build relationships with people who can help them advance their careers. This may include colleagues, mentors, and even former bosses. The more people someone knows, the more opportunities they will have.


Step Three: Stand Out from the Crowd

Women need to be creative and think outside the box to stand out from the competition. One way to do this is by developing their unique brand. This could involve creating a personal website or blog, participating in social media, or dressing in a unique way that sets them apart from other professionals.

Step Four: Be Confident and Assertive

Women often struggle with confidence and assertiveness in the workplace. However, these are two essential qualities for any woman looking to succeed. Women should aim to project confidence through their body language and voice. They should also learn how to be assertive without being aggressive or rude.

In addition to these steps, consider participating in an assertiveness training course to develop and enhance your communication skills in the workplace. This will not only help you assert your opinions and ideas confidently but also help you navigate difficult conversations and situations with ease.

Step Five: Take on New Challenges and Roles

Many women are afraid to take risks, but they shouldn’t be! Taking on new challenges and roles is one of the best ways to stand out professionally. This could involve applying for a promotion, taking on more responsibility at work, or even starting their own business. Women don’t have anything to lose by trying something new – so go ahead and give it a shot!

Know Your Worth and Ask for What You Want

The first step to standing out professionally is knowing your value and asking for what you want. This is important because if you don’t know how much money or other benefits are worth, you could end up getting less than what’s fair. It’s also essential that women ask for promotions when they deserve them instead of waiting until their boss recognizes this themselves. Women need to speak up in meetings so people will notice their expertise – even if it means interrupting someone else who may already be talking about an issue at hand! By putting yourself forward more often, others will recognize the value of your contributions and give credit where due.

In conclusion, there are many things that women can do to stand out professionally. These include committing to continuous learning, building a solid network, standing out from the crowd, being confident and assertive, and taking on new challenges and roles. By following these tips, women can increase their career chances.

Budget-conscious promotions ideas for your business

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Budget-conscious promotion ideas|Budget-conscious promotions ideas for your business Marketing tips that pack a punch without breaking the bankMarketing tips that pack a punch without breaking the bank

The internet, social media, and technology have transformed business promotions over the last thirty or so years. Once companies were limited by traditional (and often expensive) marketing channels like TV, radio, print, and billboards, today, companies can pull on the vast reach and power of online marketing to help spread their message.

From viral marketing to online seminars and conferences, there are now almost limitless opportunities for firms to reach out into wider markets and find new clients.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your company’s marketing read on for some ideas that could help spread your message better and further than ever before without putting a strain on your finances.

Up your social media game and start connecting with your clients

These days consumers expect companies to have both a website and also a presence on social media, so you should target the major channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. To be effective on social media takes time and patience, but you should follow some basic guidelines for the best chances of success:

  • Ensure you use the same tag across all channels, i.e., the forward-slash address on account pages
  • Post quality content regularly that will appeal to your market
  • Remember your market – they are your reason for being online
  • Use attention-grabbing headlines and back it up with similarly high-interest content
  • Use video if possible (video has the highest engagement rate online)

StrategyDriven E-Learning Marketing System | Online Training | Online Training Program | Entrepreneurship | Revenue Growth

Attend conferences and events – or hold your own

Networking is one of the most important parts of running a business. If you have a wide variety of quality contacts, you’ll find it much easier to spread the word about your company and will likely end up opening doors and discovering opportunities that might pass you by otherwise.

Attending events or conferences is a great way to meet like-minded professionals working in your industry. Even better is to organize your own event – either delivered online or in a more traditional, real-world hosted event. If you’re new to event planning and organization, a company like The Vendry will help you every step of the way to ensure things go as smoothly as possible.

As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know but who you know that counts,” so get out there and start building your contact list.

Don’t forget real-world promotions matter too

The online arena is great for expanding your marketing reach locally, nationally, and even internationally but don’t forget the importance of offline promotions too. So everything you send out from your firm should feature at least your logo, tagline, address and key contact details. Note, this also applies to email communications, press releases, etc.

Another great and very effective way to use real-world promotions is to invest in promotional items. As mentioned earlier, anything you send out should feature at least your logo, and promotional items offer a good way to do so. Of course, some promotional items can be very expensive. And since you’re looking for budget-conscious options, you can limit yourself to custom t shirts, keyholders, and calendars, as those are usually budget-friendly.

Think about branded vehicle livery

Using livery on company vehicles is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to get your company out there and in the minds of prospective and existing clients. Better yet, using branded vehicles is a form of mobile advertising, meaning your company image will go everywhere you go.

Overcoming Challenges within your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Challenges|Overcoming Challenges within your BusinessRunning your own business can be tough and challenging at the best of times. There are always obstacles and hurdles in your way. How you deal with problems and how you overcome challenges says a lot about your personality and about your leadership style. Tackling problems as soon as they happen and working out solutions is just what good business owners and leaders do. Here’s what to do to make sure you’re overcoming challenges effectively.

Facing problems head-on

Whether you run a bricks and mortar based business or an online-based business, you will have daily challenges and problems to overcome. These could be smaller problems like running out of office stationery, or they could be bigger problems such as sourcing last minute suppliers’ or making sure pallet rack protection is in place for your next delivery to ensure no goods get damaged when in transit. Whatever the problem, how you deal with it and overcome it will determine how successful you are within other areas of your business.

Seeing issues or problems through to completion is what needs to be done. Don’t be afraid to compromise to get the best solution for your business, but at the same time, don’t become a pushover – you will struggle to regain authority and respect.

Delegate and seek assistance

This may be easier said than done, especially if you have run the business from day zero, but remember that as an entrepreneur or small business owner, nobody is expecting you to do everything. To succeed in business, you need to know when to delegate jobs and responsibilities to others. Trying to do too much all the time will lead to burnout, which is no good for you or your business. Never shy away from seeking assistance or help from friends, family, and possibly even freelancers.

Evaluate and learn from your actions

To move forward within your business and to push it to the dizzying heights of success that you deserve, you need to regularly evaluate your business and yourself. Take some time out to focus on what you have achieved since you started out, and ultimately, where you want to finish up. It is important not to be too harsh on yourself but to simply see where and how you could have done things differently in certain situations or scenarios. It is beneficial to utilise business consultants when evaluating where you are wanting to take your business next and deciding which direction to go in.

Consultants have a wealth of experience and can provide you with an in-depth growth and development plan which you can implement within your business and start working on as soon as possible.

There will always be challenges to overcome within a business, this is part of the fun which you thrive on and live for. Make use of networking both online and offline to meet like-minded business owners and entrepreneurs. When you are facing difficulties or facing other small business challenges, the people you met through networking will be your business support network, which you can rely on to help you continue picking things up and moving forwards.

Tips to Make Your Digital Marketing Agency a Success

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Digital Marketing Agency|Tips to Make Your Digital Marketing Agency a Success
Image courtesy of Launchpresso

Starting a digital marketing agency is one thing, making it a successful entity is quite another. There are many such agencies that have reached the pinnacle of success with their own formula. They have worked hard and made all the right decisions at the right time. Their stories are inspirational and offer food for thought for all those people who are striving to succeed in this field. If you are in Australia then look for the digital marketing Brisbane has to offer.

Let’s discuss in brief how you can profit from the footprints of these successful entities, and reach the heights that you have always dreamed of.

1. The Essentiality of Networking

There is a saying in the business world: If you are easily able to count on your fingers the number of business connections that you possess at any given time, you better start working overtime.

In order to grow in any line of business, you must be out in the field connecting with relevant people. These connections will provide you with the referrals that you need for building your client base. In order to build a great network, you need to:

Begin locally: If you are in the same area as the business entities that you are targeting, nothing can be much better. You can introduce yourself and your digital marketing agency with great ease and comfort
Remain focused on your niche: You may find yourself compelled to offer your services to everyone, but you must first find out a target or a niche market. This is because you are an expert in a niche, and it would be best to not lose your focus by attesting to win over everyone.

2. Focus on Your Own Branding

Some digital marketing agencies are so busy working on the branding of others that they simply forget to work on their own brand management. However, the truth is that no one can grow their own business unless they are known well by their own clients and customers. This makes it imperative for digital marketers to keep aside a hefty amount from their budgets to be spent on their own marketing.

3. The Pricing Factor

Pricing is a factor that is very important whether you are making a million-dollar sale, or simply offering a T-shirt. Price is the thing that decides whether the customer will make a purchase or begin looking at other venues. Some of the promising digital marketing agencies have failed because – due to high competition – they wouldn’t charge enough for their clients. On the other hand, some failed simply because they were charging too much.

The pricing may differ for every agency. One of the best ways of arriving at the right pricing is to observe what your main competitors are charging for similar services. You can calculate their average prices, and see if the same price will provide you with a profit after you deduct all the expenses to be incurred on providing the required service. It is never advisable to set your price low in order to satisfy a few customers. You should never sell yourself cheap. Your price should always reflect the value being offered to the clients.

4. Develop Comprehensive Procedures

You should have comprehensive procedures for everything that you are doing, or plan to do. In fact, briefly defined procedures or SOPs are the cornerstones of any good business. These procedures serve as the blueprint for effectively managing the daily operations of the business in an efficient manner.

The reporting procedure should also be completely automated. Rather than typing big proposals every time all over again, there should be templates readily available that can be customized for clients, and sent to them a.s.a.p.

Appalments with clients should also be streamlined with the help of scheduling software. The team should have all the procedures and guidelines readily available so that they are able to carry out their tasks effectively and steadily.

5. Hire Professionals

One of the drawbacks faced by digital marketers and especially the newcomers is that they are unable to handle all the work coming towards them. Of course, it is your duty to deliver all the required work to the customers on time, but it is not essential that you do everything by yourself.

If you are busy doing all the work, how will you plan further growth? This means that you need a team of likeminded professionals who possess the set of necessary skills to assist you in delivering. You can also outsource some of your work to others. This becomes relevant when third parties have the required expertise in a certain field that you do not possess. This could be SEO marketing, Management of social media accounts, and other aspects of digital marketing. Your best option is either to hire people who can carry out the functions for you, or outsource them to third parties

The Final Word

Like in every other thing in life, there is no set formula for success in digital marketing. This is because the situations and circumstances differ from one business to the other. What is relevant for one company, maybe completely irrelevant to another.

However, the tips shared in the above article provide a general overview for digital marketers to follows. Of course, they will need to be taken into account and the unique circumstances in which they are operating, but still, the general rules will apply to each and every company. At the end how you are able to use these tips for your own success is entirely up to you.

The risk of 9 to 5. And the reality of BEFORE and AFTER.

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95 percent of all salespeople try to fit their sales day into a normal workday. They want their day to be from 9 to 5, maybe from 8 to 5, maybe even from 8 to 6, but very little before that or after that.

The reality is, that 9 to 5 is the riskiest time and the worst time to make sales. Especially a new sale, a sales call, or a cold call to a prospect. People are busy doing THEIR stuff from 9 to 5.

NOTE WELL: If you have a solid relationship with your customer, and are doing ongoing business, you have a good chance of making a daytime appointment. But a new sale, or a new prospect, you have virtually zero 9 to 5 chance.

And salespeople continually beat their heads against the wall, and sales managers continually demand more activity, even as foolish as cold call, in order to get their numbers up, when in fact numbers do not go up from 9 to 5, unless they are with existing customers.

From 9 to 5, people are busy working, not buying. Real salespeople make sales from 7 to 9 in the morning, and from five until seven or eight in the evening, and at breakfast and lunch.

Only about 5 percent of sales people get this. The 5 percent that make all the sales.

My financial planner, Walter Putnam says, “The best thing to know is: the best time to have meaningful conversation. And the best way to find out is to ask the prospect or customer. And get a date at the same time.” In other words, when you ask the question, make the appointment.

This self-assessment will reveal your opportunities or missed opportunities:

  • How many hours a week are you working or networking BEFORE the workday starts? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • How many hours a week are you working or networking AFTER the workday is over? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • Who are you meeting for early morning coffee? Why not have a daily coffee with a customer?
  • Who are you meeting for breakfast? Why not have 2 business breakfasts a week?
  • Who are you meeting for lunch? Have lunch with an existing customer once a week and bring a prospect for them.
  • Where are you networking before 9 and after 5? At least two events or groups per week.
  • Are you a member of a business development group like BNI? At least one group.
  • Where are your face-to-face meetings occurring in order to maximize your exposure, and your sales opportunities? Where are your sales taking place?
  • Who is NOT returning your calls? WHY?
  • Who is NOT setting an appointment? WHY?

These are challenge questions to determine the productive use of time before and after normal work hours. From 9-5 you’re busy chasing people, leaving voice mails, and being frustrated by a consistent lack of progress. More than half of your time will be wasted (you just don’t know which half).

Sales require relationship building. Not just for loyalty of existing customer base, but also to earn referrals and testimonials. Early and late sales meetings net positive outcomes. And early-late prospecting is MUCH MORE relaxed.

What can you do? Here are 7.5 things to enhance your relationships and your sales results. CAUTION: They require WORK.

1. Establish a mutually agreeable game plan with EACH existing customer. Not just how to sell, but also how you will help them.

2. Discover and document ‘best times,’ ‘best topics,’ and ‘most important.’

3. Reach and engage customers and prospects socially.

4. Meet for early morning coffee every day if you can.

5. Send a weekly value message to everyone.

6. GIVE referrals.

7. Seek leadership positions in every group you join.

7.5 Study your struggles and your successes. Identify where your last ten sales came from, because it’s likely your next ten will come from the same places.

The key point of understanding is the difference between a job in sales, and a dedicated, relationship based sales career. Which do you have?

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].