While several companies and small businesses use company pages on Facebook, many of them overlook the ability of a LinkedIn company page. Developing a professional appeal to consumers provides a "trust-like" factor. This is something several businesses miss in the online world.

LinkedIn has been around for years and was considered the first "real" professional social network. While there were a few who came before them, LinkedIn presented a style and appeal we could find in the offline world. Today it is one of the...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2011/7/19/build-and-attract-consumers-with-a-linkedin-page-to.html

Being a sales person is not an easy job, no matter what the economy. But it’s been especially challenging these last few years. So here are a few free online sales tools that really will help you sell.

1. Google Alerts– Want to know when someone mentions your products or services online? Or how about staying abreast of what your competition is doing? With Google Alerts you can have that information sent to you via an automatic email update, or a daily/weekly email report. You can also track alerts using an RSS feed reader.  

2. MyBrainShark– This free tool makes online marketing easy by enabling you to record and add...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/7-online-tools-for-salespeople/

I had all these ideas on my mind, but each of them was too short to make a blog post out of it. So, I decided to group all my ideas into one blog post. I hope you like it!

Idea #1: Stop Using the Wrong Metrics to Evaluate Business Success
When people want to figure out how much money you make as a business owner, they ask about your revenues or number of employees. I think those are two horrible ways to measure success. A $1M business with 75% profit margin is very different from a $1M business with a 6% profit margin. However, they both have the same revenue. Also, some businesses make a few million dollars with only one employee, while others make half that much but have several more employees, so don’t let the number of employees a business has fool you.

There’s only one way to measure the financial success of a company: profits.

Idea #2: Is Your Business in a Plateau? It’s Time to Re-Invent It
There’s a limit to how much you can grow..Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/cool-business-ideas/

“That’s too much money”. Is your client really correct? Or do you believe in the value of what you are offering?

Most business people simply don’t know what to do when confronted with this statement. They then try to handle the price objection by offering to lower the price. This approach sends three messages:

(1)  The price you were initially asked the client to pay was inflated. Therefore, had the client paid what you initially asked, you would have been overcharging them.

(2)  Where is the bottom to this thing? Translation: You have lost your credibility. From now on, every time you and the client do business together, they will expect to...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2011/7/13/drop-your-pricedrop-your-integrity-to-read-more-sales.html

Adding a blog to your marketing mix is a smart strategy for any size business. Writing articles on a regular basis will help your website’s search engine ranking. And a blog gives you credibility with your audience by establishing you as a thought leader in your industry.

In order to make your blog a successful marketing tool, it should include the following components:

1. Get creative with your blog theme. Devise a theme that appeals to your target audience and don’t be afraid to show your personality.

2. Create value for your readers. Include information in your blog that is relevant and...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2011/7/12/8-components-your-blog-needs-to-be-successful-to-read.html

You guessed correctly – it's both.

Social media networking and marketing requires both creative and analytical skills. And few of us are proficient at both. 

Left brain thinkers tend to be more linear and analytical.  Right brain thinkers tend to rely on more circular methods of organization and creative solutions.  A tip to keep the two straight is to associate the "L" of linear and left, and by deduction you know the right brain relates to the creative and intuitive skills.

Today I had a conversation with an association exec who was...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/is-social-media-left-or-right/

ocial media is one of the most measurable and engaging online compliments of marketing tools available. With that said social media is a rabbit hole that entire teams can dive down. It hurts your brand, it hurts your real world relationships and it wastes your resources. It’s time to get real about our habits.

Social media, particularly my blogging, Twitter and YouTube activity has brought me...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2011/7/7/10-hard-questions-about-your-corporate-social-media-use.html

The best independent practitioners have a singular focus on helping their clients achieve their goals. They deliver value at every stage of their work, and they do so as quickly as possible and with ruthless efficiency. I know, because roughly half of my own 28-year consulting career has been spent working in a large global firm, and half of it running my own practice. I also have an ongoing window into both worlds today: many of my clients are large professional firms, and at the same time, I belong to several communities of practice composed of highly successful independent practitioners.

As I look at these two worlds, I see eight practices that larger firms can learn—or relearn—from the most successful professionals who have small or solo practices. In observing them, I have noticed that:

Facebook can be a great branding tool for your business, but you can drive people away from your page if you engage in some of these behaviors:

1. You’re the only one posting. If you don’t let others post on your page, what’s the point? This is a “social” networking tool. Let your fans into the party! Encourage their participation.

2. Posts are once a week or less. The key to developing relationships on Facebook is consistency. If you post only once or week, or even less frequently than that, your target audience will forget about you, since your posts aren’t showing up in their news feeds.

3. Comments are ignored. When someone takes...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/news/2011/7/5/how-to-drive-people-away-from-your-facebook-page-to.html

Twitter has proven to be an effective marketing tool, but a lot of businesses struggle because of the time it takes to do it right.  Here are a few apps that can help you save time and use Twitter more efficiently for your business.

1. Hootsuite

HootSuite allows you to pre-schedule tweets in advance, to save time each day. This is useful for posting some “evergreen” tweets, when you’re too busy to tweet in real time, but it shouldn’t be used exclusively. Twitter works best when you can engage in conversations.

2. SocialOomph

This tool also lets you schedule Twitter posts for the future, and enables you...Read more at http://www.soldlab.com/hometop-5-twitter-apps-for-bus/