HubSpot
When it comes to owning a business, time is your most valuable resource — but, time is finite, and are a lot of tasks competing for your attention. You need to make sure the right products are listed on your website, that you’re fulfilling orders and payments 24/7, and that you’re processing and dispatching packages efficiently… all while staying on top of marketing campaigns, user reviews, and customer service. And, as you scale, your ecommerce processes get even more demanding. So, how can you make time for the work that brings in more customers while keeping everything else on track? With ecommerce automation. Automation is playing a vital role in the future of tech — and it’s no surprise that we’re seeing more of it in tools designed for ecommerce businesses. As a store owner, it’s your secret to putting your time-consuming tasks on auto-pilot. In this post, we’ll explain…
Working from home can sound like a dream for many people. You get to enjoy more time in your house, you cut out the commute, and you get to see much more of your family. But the flip side has some not-so-dreamy realities, especially for parents having to balance work and childcare: a difficulty to focus; having to juggle work with looking after children and, in some cases, homeschooling them; blurry lines between work time and personal time, and kids lobbying for your undivided attention when you need to GSD. On the least glamorous WFH (work from home) days, you might feel like you’ve got no work done and you’ve been a bad parent. Juggling work and looking after kids can be done, but it does require a recalibration of expectations and working styles. To make your remote work reality more functional, here are some of our top tips for…
A customer walks up to your store. What’s the first thing you do? Ask them what they need? Show them a few choices that are trending? Let them check the store out before reaching out to them? The question is: why? Why do you need to make contact with your customers and understand their needs? Showing interest in your customer’s needs makes them feel valued and important. And that’s what every customer wants to feel when they walk into a store. It’s this feeling of attachment to a brand that makes customers come back and buy something again. But how will you go about the situation if you’re starting an ecommerce business? How do you build relationships with your customers online? It may seem like a difficult question, but it isn’t. There are so many ways you can build relationships with your customers online. Here are a few tips that…
There’s more scope for automation in your business than ever before. With automation, you can schedule emails to be sent at the perfect time, follow up with leads that have abandoned their cart, sync data between apps, and notify team members of new tasks. However, all of these options can be overwhelming, especially if your business isn’t a huge corporation with a lot of budget and resources to throw at automation. You might be wondering: What types of automation will benefit my business the most? What should I stay away from? How can I easily implement these while keeping life simple? Let’s explore the best types of business automation so you can start implementing a strategy in your own organization. 7 Ways to Automate Your Business 1. Email Marketing Automation When you think of automation, email marketing automation might come to mind first. It’s not only one of the most…
While there will always be fires to put out and short-term issues to tend to at any company, it’s essential to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture. This means looking to your business operations and creating a strategy that primes your B2B organization for success. Entrepreneur, angel investor, and former host of the reality show, “The Profit,” Marcus Lemonis, is a seasoned pro when it comes to spotting marketing opportunities and avoiding business failure. He also coined “the 3 P’s of success”: Process People Product According to Lemonis, the 3 P’s are fundamentals that every business needs to get right. If those fundamentals aren’t in place, success will be an uphill struggle. Building a robust B2B operation is all about getting those three P’s in the right place. Business Operations Definition Business operations are everything that happens within your company to keep it running and profitable.…
In an ideal world, your business has immaculate customer data. You know exactly where to find the right contact email, when they became a customer, and who in your team spoke to them last. Your data is segmented, up-to-date and reliable. But if that’s not the reality for you just yet, don’t worry… you are certainly not alone. It’s all too easy for customer data to descend into chaos, especially when your business is using multiple apps, as most are. However, even if your data is a mess, putting it in order is possible – and easier than you might think. Here’s how to keep your customer data up-to-date and reliable everywhere, even when you’re using several different apps. Why is customer data management so important? With your customer data in disarray, you will likely come up against these frustrations: Data silos, or pieces of information that only certain people…
Email newsletters are a powerhouse in marketing for solopreneurs and major corporations alike. Both types of businesses have to work hard crafting and sending newsletters that work for their audience and their brand. How do you make a newsletter you know is working? >Good writing. Good design. Good analytics. In this post, we’ll walk you through six things you should consider to craft a newsletter that not only looks good, but persuades people to click and convert, whether that’s getting them to come to your website, donate to a cause, or purchase a product. Six Fundamentals for Newsletters That Convert 1. Design a newsletter people want to read. When designing a newsletter, you shouldn’t just choose the first one that looks appealing. Think about what people expect from your brand. If you’re planning communications from a global top-tier financial brand known for its long history and industry expertise, your audience…
Cloud-based business applications offer brilliant, flexible, and affordable solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. They have their own structure, business model, benefits, and challenges, including contact management. We asked David Anderson, LionDesk Founder and CEO, about the impact of these platforms on the growth of SMBs and the importance of keeping different tools aligned. This is what he told us. Q&A With David Anderson, LionDesk CEO 1. How do you think cloud-based solutions and SaaS are impacting the growth of small and medium-sized businesses? Consumer expectations are at an all-time high. To remain competitive, businesses must evolve to deliver products and services faster, easier, and better. SaaS technology allows businesses to keep up with demand while running their business effectively and efficiently. For example, a LionDesk user can set up their system to remind them of important tasks, automatically follow up with contacts throughout the year, and show them at-a-glance…
Which apps are you using to power your marketing operations? Most teams collect and use data in their CRM as well as several marketing apps, such as an email marketing tool and automation software. These apps enable you to streamline operations, bring in more leads, and carry out effective marketing campaigns. However, do they work together and exchange data about your marketing leads and customers, or do they operate in silos? If you take away one thing from this post, make it this: Your marketing apps are strong independently, but they’re most powerful together. As a marketer, the most impactful sync to set up is betweenyour CRM and marketing apps. This sync has the potential to enrich data in your marketing platforms, amplify possibilities for segmented and personalized communication, and boosts performance. It also sets you up foralignment with sales. Fortunately, it’s never been easier to connect your CRM with…
The amount of data in the world is growing exponentially. By the time you finish reading this page, 90 million texts will be sent and received. 350,000 Instagram posts will be uploaded. 1.2 million Skype calls will be made. 21 million GB of traffic will be received on the internet. Big data is everywhere, from the Netflix shows we watch to the social media we browse. But did you know that big data can also benefit your small business? 61% percent of companies say that big data drives revenue because it delivers deep insights into customer behavior. With this valuable intelligence, you can delve deeper into the collective psyche of your customers — and find out what consumers really think. Imagine you could guess what customers purchase — and when and how. Big data isn’t a crystal ball, but it can certainly help you make smarter, faster decisions about the…