Facebook has more than 400 million active users. Recently it reported more traffic than Google Search. Most of Facebook users are 18-37 – adults with disposable income to spend.

That’s why advertising on Facebook presents a fabulous business opportunity. You can drive traffic to your website, connect with a huge community of your target customers, promote your services, products and special offers. What’s more – Facebook offers very cost-effective advertising opportunity through its own pay-per-click ads. However you can do it for free by just creating a business page or a group.

Pay-per-click advertising

Facebook allows businesses to purchase image and text-based ads that can be targeted to a specific demographic based on age, location, gender, marital status, interests and more. Therefore a luxury wedding planner in King’s Lynn can target women who are 25-40, engaged, within 20 miles from King’s Lynn and are college graduates. It’s impossible to achieve such targeting with Google AdWords as all you can specify is someone’s location.

Ads are charged on a cost per click (CPC) or cost per mille (or 1,000 impressions, CPM) basis. You can set up a daily budget and a bid per click or impressions. The minimum daily budget is $1. Facebook will show a suggested bid range displaying what other advertisers targeting your demographic are paying. To get good results you’ll need to bid somewhere in the middle of the suggested range.

How to succeed with Facebook Ads:

• Great Image – find an eye-catching and relevant image, as ads with images tend to get noticed more.
• Catchy text – keep your ad wording concise. Ads are restricted to 25 characters for the title and 135 characters for the body.
• Teasing header – be creative when writing your ad. A header that grabs attention tends to improve your click-through ratio.
• Soft landing – your ad needs to link to a “landing page” if you promote content outside Facebook. The landing page needs to be 1) compact, 2) clear, 3) with a call to action and 4) containing a means of collecting everyone’s information.
• Endless testing – create a few version of the same ad, but each slighly different (image or header or text). Don’t make ads too different as you won’t be able to understand what exactly was working. Then, when running all ads at the same time, you will be able to measure what’s working in order to get more clicks at a cheaper rate.
• Target marketing – unless you’ve got an unlimited advertising budget you need to think really carefully about targeting your advertising campaign. With over 8 different parameters to play with, there is no excuse not to create a detailed customer avatar before starting the campaign!

You can find more tips and articles on how to create a winning Facebook Advertising campaign here.

Facebook Groups and Pages

You can create Facebook groups and pages, which users can then join or become a fan of. You can suggest the page or group to your friends first, then ask them to do the same in turn. You can also promote the links via your website, email signature and newsletter. Groups and Pages represent a great opportunity to really connect with your consumers, advertise your offers and promotions to people who are actively interested to hear from you (by being fans). And it’s free to set one up too!

How to succeed with Facebook Pages:

• First plan why you are creating a page: is it to promote your business? or a product? or your industry in general? What are you going to talk about on the Page?
• You will need to keep the content fresh, by regularly adding news, images and videos on a regular basis. It’s good to link your Page to your Blog and YouTube stream.
• Invite existing Facebook friends and e-mail contacts to attract an initial membership base. Then you can create a unique username for the page at facebook.com/username (you need to have at least 25 fans).
• Facebook has many applications you can add to your page to enhance its functionality: Twitter, Blogs, Marketplace, Videos, Reviews etc. But nothing compares to the actual interaction between you and your fans. And that’s what it’s all about.

You can find TJConsulting Facebook Page here – feel free to become a fan too if you like what you see.

We often come across small business owners without a definite plan to follow up on their leads. They keep a collection of business cards from networking events, and have address books where they record contact details. But these are often used at random, if at all, and are sometimes simply forgotten. So what is a database, how does it differ from the card collection and why should a small business have one?

The answer is simple. Would you use a typewriter to prepare a proposal for your customer? Probably not. Same reasoning applies to managing your customer data. The business database is one of the most important assets in your business and, if used properly, it can generate a steady stream of income each time you turn to it.

A database is essentially a collection of information about something, in this case – about your customers and prospects. The main benefits over collecting paper cards are:

• Access: you can share access to the information between multiple team members, which you can’t do with cards.
• Flexibility: you can access the information wherever you are, without having to carry a big pile of cards with you.
• Accountability: you can track how well your business is doing in closing sales and converting leads into prospects.
• Security: you can lose the cards or your bag, and all the information with it. If your database is stored online it’s safe and secure no matter what.

Why would you need one? There isn’t a business type out there now that doesn’t need a database! If you do any networking, it’s a pointless waste of time and money without a proper follow up on leads and new contacts. If you are trying to drive traffic to your website it’s a waste of resources if you don’t capture details of your visitors. If you invest in advertising your shop you have to get everyone’s details in order to get them through the door again.

There are plenty of tools out there now, all aiming to make it easier for business owners to manage their data effectively. For example:

• SmartSheet –a modern, online, enhanced version of Excel, which can have tasks, reminders and attachments to cells.
• Business Contacts Manager –comes with Outlook 2007 in the Professional package and manages your contacts, emails and tasks within Outlook.
• Capsule CRM – a “proper” contact relationship management (CRM) system, where you can track contacts, prospects, sales, leads, opportunities, tasks etc.

The principle is the same across all tools: you import your data from any email program’s contacts or business cards. Sort it and arrange it into categories, tags, groups etc.

We recommend using Capsule CRM to our customers. It’s very easy to use, you can share access with many users and you don’t have to be a techie in order to use it effectively. The benefits however are very important:

• You can close more potential sales, without forgetting to follow up in time.
• You can see at a glance what potential business you have in the pipeline – peace of mind if you feel you are doing great or a warning in time to do something about it!
• You can access your data from anywhere with a web browser or a smartphone.
• You will seem super-efficient to your prospects as you will always be returning calls, following up and sending the information right when you agreed to do it.
• You will be able to spend more time nurturing relationships with your best customers (the 80/20 principle).
• You know exactly what you talked about last time, even if it’s been 6 month ago. Great memory? Just a great system on hand.

For those who have lots of paper cards that need to be converted into electronic format we have a special offer: up to 100 cards entered into Capsule, system setup and training – all for £85+VAT. Find out more about the offer here.

Or, if you would like to find out more and get your questions answered, join us together with Oma Edoja (client attraction coach from GetClearGetKnownGETCLIENTS.com) for a free webinar on Thursday, 22 July at 8pm BST. Recording will later be available for sale (so don’t miss out to learn it first-hand while it’s free). To secure your place while the last few are still available click here to register.

How do you rate your time management skills? Do you feel you get a lot done every day? Do you plan your day to the last detail or just “go with the flow” and deal with whatever landed on your desk/in your inbox? Whichever category you are in, it’s important that you take time to analyse what’s working for you and make adjustments where necessary.

I’m someone who’s fond of written to-do lists. I’ve got my hardcover diary where I scribble every day my lists and feel great emotional empowerment once all items on my to-do list have been ticked off. I add my meetings there too, any trivial household tasks like getting the shopping or doing the school run. In this way I know exactly how much time I’ve got between “fixed” commitments and can schedule and organise the rest of the tasks in between those.

Here are some tips from the born organisers (aka “virtual PAs”) for organising your day:

1. Write it down.
Make a list and write everything down – on paper, on computer, in Excel, on iPhone or Blackberry. It doesn’t matter where but it’s got to be written! You may be shocked, surprised and overwhelmed looking at your list of ‘to do’s’. But don’t despair – as they will all get done, if you follow the steps below. Also, don’t forget to schedule lunch in your diary, especially if you find yourself often working through your lunch break!

Another tip I’ve picked up from Nigel Botterill (UK top entrepreneur) – “this day isn’t over until tomorrow is planned”. Don’t stop the work until you’ve done the list. In this way you won’t waste time in the morning and you will be more likely to stick to your list/plan rather than changing everything because of an email that landed in the Inbox overnight.

2. Prioritise.

The next step is to number each item on your to-do list in importance of completion starting at 1 for most important and so on. Think strategically – where do you want your business to be in the next 3-6 months? Will this activity help you to get there quicker? If something just has to be done today and there is no excuse for not getting it done put it at number one.
Next estimate how long each task will take. Beware of time sappers – emails, social networking, browsing… It may seem that checking emails will only take 5 minutes but before you know it you could spend 3 hours of your day just reading and responding to messages! Be realistic about what you can get done in a day.

3. Delegate.

Go through your list and delegate things that don’t specifically need your attention. There are so many tasks that could actually be done by others: book-keeping, email marketing, arranging travel, posting a blog article, research, chasing invoices to name a few. Why not use your VA for those things? Or if you feel that a particular area of your business takes too much time because you are not an expert (sales, marketing, IT, HR, etc.) – why not hire a professional consultant? It may look expensive from the outset but a good professional adviser will save you money and time in the long run.

4. Use your list!

There is not point in writing your list and then never looking at it again. Your list is one of the most important tools that help you manage your business and your time. Therefore once you’ve arrived at work – open your list and get on with it from Priority 1 down. Try to use concentrated effort to get things done quicker (e.g. a short period of time when you have no distractions from the task in hand). Take short breaks between tasks to answer calls or read emails. Then go back to your list.

5. Things happen… Be cool!

We wish we could be in control of everything but we are not. A delivery may be late, a project could go pear-shaped, a subcontractor can let you down. Your list will have to be put on hold to solve an issue that’s threatening your business right now. In this situation don’t stress: getting frustrated and upset about this interruption is only a waste of your time. Deal with an issue as soon as you can and go back to your list.

6. Plans for Short and Long.

Ideally you need to have 2 separate lists. One – short-term actions, items that need doing today/tomorrow. You will be re-arranging and re-planning this list every day. Your second list is the list of your long-term business goals. For example, you would like to launch an email training course for your customers in 4 months. It’s a long-term goal. But then you need to start working backwards and figure out small, manageable steps to take today and tomorrow to achieve this big goal.

There is no point just adding the big goal to your today’s list as you won’t be able to do it. But referring to the goal and the list of actions required to achieve it – you can add those along with other items and complete everything in time.

7. Analyse and review.

At the end of the day look at your your list. Have you managed to achieve everything? If not, what went wrong? What can you do next time to prevent it? Can you delegate even more? Review what’s left to do, plan your list for tomorrow and the check your long-term plan.

Finally, if you have never made lists before it may seem time consuming and limiting. Try it though and give it some time! Very quickly it will become a habit – something that you will do without thinking. You will find yourself more productive, achieving more every day.

You will master the time… so how will you use it?

So what works for you? I’d love to hear your comments.

Some people are wondering if Twitter is more for fun and therefore is not suitable as a business tool. Or whether it’s just too full of spam and no one ever reading each other’s comments or messages.

Well, I’d say that Twitter is a bit of both.

It’s like a big party, where you can have fun, make friends and catch up with old connections. But at the same time meet new clients or strategic partners, get referred or make referrals for others. The key is to use Twitter appropriately.

If you just talk about social, your day-to-day life – not many will be interested (apart from your family and old friends). If you always talk about business – you will become one of those annoying people we have all met at networking events. You know, they don’t listen to you, they switch off immediately once they’ve heard what you do (you are not their “target” customer), or at the end of their long and boring elevator pitch they ask if you are interested to buy. You certainly aren’t, so they leave.

Twitter is about balancing social and business. Talk about what you do, your business, your clients and events you attend. Talk about your day, the weather, or the lovely dinner you’ve made. Obviously respond to RTs and mentions, participate in conversations,and  follow people back if you like what they are saying. But remember that you will get what you put in. And it’s unrealistic to expect lots of business and referrals from Twitter when you are only showing up once a month.

Here’s my Wordle for June. A lot about social media, business tips and call answering. What have you been talking about?

3-in-1 that work as One!

Over the past year we have been searching high and low for a super-efficient business system we can use in TJConsulting and offer to our clients. And finally, after trying and testing, reading 100s of reviews – it’s here.

It consists of 3 parts, but don’t despair – they all work as One, efficient, online, affordable solution. And they are…. Xero, Capsule and MailChimp.

Xero is the accounting system of the 21st century. If you are not an accountant and dread “reconciliation” or “P&L” – this is the system for you. It’s very simple to use, you can access it from anywhere with an Internet connection and it’s secure.

Capsule is an online Contact Relationship Management (CRM) tool that will integrate with Xero – so you only have to enter your data once. You can track leads and conversion, manage information, analyse sales and productivity, and (yet again) it’s very simple to use!

MailChimp is used to send your newsletters, mailshots and autoresponders. Without being repetitive – it’s simple, clean, straightforward. It can send regular newsletters and schedule a series of messages. MailChimp can integrate with a large number of social media networks, Eventbrite (for event bookings) and is a top-rated social media tool (according to mashable.com).

So what does it mean for you?

• You can store all business data securely online and give access to your accountant, virtual assistant or staff.
• You don’t have to move files back and forth between computers risking losing some data.
• You will save time on re-entering the same data between multiple systems.
• You don’t have to learn complex new systems to benefit.
• It’s quick to set up, you can import data from your existing systems or Excel files.
• Finally, you can try everything for free. And if you do decide to go ahead – your cashflow won’t suffer a severe dip, unlike spending 100s of £s on most IT license fees.
• Want to know more? We can demonstrate to you all 3 systems – drop us a line to book. Also read below for our 2 special offers (Xero and Capsule) and we can set up and design your newsletters in MailChimp as part of our e-newsletter design package.

Exclusive Xero benefits

Xero provides a view of financial information in real-time. There’s no need to buy expensive software and install upgrades. Xero is available on your PC or Mac in the office, at home or on popular mobile devices – anywhere, anytime. The beauty of Xero is you can invite a number of trusted people such as us, your accountants, to collaborate online. No more cumbersome transfer of data that can be corrupted or is out-of-date!

As a Xero Certified Partner we can introduce you to Xero and have you up and running in no time. The following services are exclusive to Xero Partners:

• Xero Cashbook. Manage your cashflow online with Xero, but leave the rest of your account management in our hands. Contact us any time using the number below if you have any queries.
• Managed Client Role. If you don’t have time or feel uncomfortable about managing every aspect of your accounts, but still want to have visibility of your cashflow then the Xero Managed Client function is for you. This lets you make comments about your bank reconciliation whilst we manage it.
• No VAT Cashbooks. We can offer reduced rates for businesses that are not VAT registered. This is perfect if you are just starting out or a non-profit organisation.

Interested? Contact us now to arrange a demonstration.

Biz Cards Buster, now with Capsule CRM!

You think you’ve seen it last month? Our popular Business Cards Buster offer is back, AND it’s even better this time round! As an exclusive partner of Capsule CRM we are now offering the setup to you as part of this AMAZING DEAL!

• Are you a keen networker meeting 10s or 100s of new prospects every month?
• Do you often end up missing out on potential business, as you haven’t got a system to manage those new relationships?
• Do you spend your valuable time entering business cards into your contact systems (Outlook, iPhone, Blackberry or CRM)?

Why not consider passing over the responsibility to your virtual assistant TJConsulting. Here’s what we offer:

• Your business cards scanned, sorted and processed.
• You can view (and download) your Excel contact file.
• You can easily import the Excel contact file into Outlook, Blackberry, iPhone or any social media network.
• Tax deductible.
• AND your Capsule CRM account will be set up for you with your new leads imported.
• You will receive full training on how to use the system.
• If you decide to upgrade to the Professional Edition – you will get extra 10% off.

You will get ALL of the above for just £85+VAT. BOOK NOW to secure this amazing limited offer!

Guest post by Alex Hearn, The Big A.

How do you instruct a designer in order to create an effective brand that works for your company?

To instruct your designer effectively give them useful information but also allow them to do their job freely, or you won’t get the best out of them.

How do you allow them to utlilise their expertise while ensuring you get what you want?

Express yourself clearly but in general terms. Too much detail and you’ll be telling them what to design, which is what you’re paying them for and is something they’re better at than you! For example, instead of specifying a particular shade of blue, try to identify the feeling or values you are trying to communicate, such as ‘conservative and stable’.

Make sure they discover all the necessary information.

Even if they have experience in your sector, they should investigate your competitors and market positioning so they fully understand where you are in the marketplace and what you are trying to achieve. Let them know why you think clients buy your product instead of your competitors. What do you like or dislike about how your competitors did? Make sure they do their homework. Moments of design genius come after a thorough understanding of the product.

Get feedback.

How do you know if what has been produced works? The proof is in the pudding – send the artwork to some existing clients and a few people in your target market. You’ll be surprised at how they want to get involved. Try to pull a thread through the feedback so you can give the designer a clear response. These things usually sound worse than they are and are easy to fix.

And last but not least…think about how your logo needs to be applied before getting quotes. For example, the logo might need to be applied to stationery, vans, signs etc. This is necessary to identify an accurate price early on in the process.

Alex is the Creative Director of The Big A [link to site] – design and branding agency in London offering affordable and creative design solutions for SMEs. Follow Alex on Twitter: twitter.com/the_biga

I’ve been sending out a lot recently the link to our online survey (what you STILL haven’t received it?! here it is again: http://tjconsultinguk.wufoo.com/forms/online-marketing-survey-tjconsulting-va/). I do love @DesignerDepot links and tweets – some have great design ideas and tips. “VA, delegation, call [answering], time [management], admin, emails [management], [virtual] working” – are all good words illustrating what we do and how we add value to our clients. What are you talking about on Twitter? Connect with me and let’s stay in touch.