Figure out what kind of business owner you are today! And where you need to focus your improvements, to mature your business even more.

Wow, digging deeper into your own business profile can be, well, daunting, because it may just reveal some things which you either know and are ignoring, or things you simply don’t know yet which simply require a little tweaking.

What I’m referring to is the The Apex Profile. It’s a simple test that you take, whether you’re an employee or a business owner, and it provides you with a great deal of insight into what type of business profile you most likely resemble today. This is not one of those personality tests which confirms or denies that you’re an introvert — this is a business profile assessment with a simple method to get you to understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie today. And the Apex Profile provides you with some really insightful information once you’re done. It will assess you based on 3 different profiles: Market driven, Process drive, and Product Driven. And they’re so important to evaluate, because you really could be focused on the wrong things, which is holding you back from maturing your business.

I walked through the test myself today, and I really enjoyed it. The reason I wanted to take the test was for a number of reasons, I wanted to evaluate a completely outsider perspective on “where my head is at” in terms of building my business. But, I also wanted to understand if I’m even meant to be a leader, or if I’m a better soldier.

I’m definitely a leader, the worse kind of soldier, because I constantly want to suggest a better way, but a visionary which requires to really work hard at a number of things, such as; more strategic planning and sticking to it, as well as work much harder to nurture the existing services which I offer and deepening the experience for my customers even more, and also not get so distracted with the latest “new shiny thing”.

I want to encourage you to look deeper and take a peak at what your Apex Profile looks like. The Apex Profile is created by another great Colorado based business and Entrepreneur, Chuck from the Crankset Group.

So, go now, and take less then 10 minutes to complete the Apex Profile, and be sure to provide your referral code: EmSpot during sign up. The cost is $79 and you will definitely find the value right away, from the profile evaluation, as well as the opportunity to work with Chuck for 90 minutes.

Another great factor about why you should get started and go grab your own Apex business profile, is once you’re complete Chuck takes you Deeper, much deeper then you expect. And offers a 90 minute interview to review and discuss your own Apex Profile, and will help you build strategic plans to help you build a better and stronger business based on You — a business that will continue to grow and mature, even if you go on vacation.

Go check out the Apex Profile now, and receive all the valuable business profile information which they share with you, as well as request your 90 minute consultation. Remember when you sign up to enter your referral code: EmSpot.

Once you’re done receiving your profile, and working with Chuck (your choice), you can share with us what you’ve learned and we can recommend where you can improve things in terms of your marketing strategies and your online presence. We offer any Apex Profile takers a free 30 minute consultation by looking at your strategic plan and your online presence and recommending where you should focus more energy in order to grow your business. Simply contact us once you’ve completed your profile, tell us what type of profile you are and we will schedule your free 30 minute empowering growth consultation.

Organic growth, in financial terms is growth wherein a company grows in terms of sales, by gaining more business from existing and new customers, rather then buying other businesses or merging and acquiring. Organic growth is the purest form of business survival, but it’s not always that simple or certainly not easy to uphold.

Nurturing your existing customers, and talking to new potential one’s has become a little bit more accessible purely due to technology. We can now reach millions of potential buyers purely because of all the large social media platforms which exists today. Organic growth has also been closely connected with word-of-mouth advertising and marketing. So, no one said word-of-mouth is gone. Now, more then ever, word-of-mouth has become unbelievably powerful, because we can reach thousands of people because we are so connected, on so many platforms.

Social media has really evolved since Facebook was founded, and Twitter was launched. Today, more then ever we have the really large platforms, including Google Plus and Linkedin, but we are seeing more and more smaller social platforms where people are saying; “Hey, come and stay connected here, where we focus on a specific subject”. Some examples are; Spokes, a social network for die-hard cyclist. There’s Chef Commons which connects members who all want to talk food and cooking — connecting chefs with foodies, is their slogan. One final example is Gentlemint, a social platform for Guys, and Guy things.

By understanding that there are many social media platforms, and many smaller, subject specific one’s evolving, is important to any business because there are just too many to be on all the time. So, you need to be very clear about who you are trying to reach, what you are trying to say, and then keeping your message aligned across those platforms.

And this all boils down to what I like to call Mindful Marketing. Being aware is one extremely important aspect of successfully communicating. If you were to imagine a mindful marketing plan, it would be a simple one, and it would start with the simple basics of: What problem do you solve?, For who exactly do you solve it?, and How much does it cost (to your customer)?

Organic growth takes time, patience, and hard work. There is no magic, no voodoo doll to turn tricks, and certainly no potion that will turn your business into unbelievable profit overnight. But there is a massive amount of technology that you can utilize, daily, which can help you automate your communication, your marketing, your accounting, your social media, and so much more.

EmSpot has 10 years of extensive experience and a toolbox which can help you become more productive and efficient today. We love talking shop, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like any help on any portion of this discussion.

Start with the definition of mindful; “conscious or aware of something”. When we are truly conscious or aware of what our customers truly need, marketing becomes less of an industry term, which sometimes gets frowned upon by business people as a sly way to manipulate people into buying things they don’t need, but more of what marketing aught to be, which is purely communicating with people who’s problems you are in business to solve — at the right place, the right time, and of course at the right price!

Too many companies have a thousand ideas of what maketing tactics they should use to get in front of their customers, but very few understand that the most successful marketing strategies out there are very simple, aligned, conscious and aware of exactly what problem they are solving, and for whom.

If you were to imagine a mindful marketing plan, it would be a simple one, and it would start with the simple basics of:

• What problem do you solve?
• For who exactly do you solve it?
• How much does it cost?

Now, not everything is that easily productised, but I bet you it could be. People countlessly ask me if creating a website of only a few pages is anything like creating a website with hundreds of pages, and they’re always surprised when I say; “not really”. It’s a website. Which requires an architecture. They both require the exact same attributes and building blocks — the only difference between the one with a few pages, and the one with hundreds of pages, is TIME. And time is a gift that should not be wasted.

So, what benefits does a mindful marketing strategy have:

• Awareness of your customers needs
• A clear message to state that you can solve their problem
• And an answer as to how much they will pay for your solution

Other then that being mindful, rather then guessing and constantly throwing every “marketing” tactic at your customers, will bring you a deeper understanding of how you can help people.

We’re not hear to convey anything other then, you’re brilliant idea, requires an online presence which can educate a visitor to the point of sale. It’s that simple, and complicated.

It takes years to to learn how to leverage your online business amongst the thousands of your competitors, unless you’re willing to learn from others, whom have already learned all the hard lessons, and who’s willing to share. EmSpot is here to share. We teach you the lessons we’ve learned, the lessons our peers and competitors have learned, because we can all successfully grow our businesses online, if we just use the correct combination of strategies, tools, resources, and are willing to throw in some elbow grease.

Start growing your business online today. You may even be closer then you think. Take a look at our Services, and Contact Us so that we can get you closer to your ultimate business goals.

Okay, so you want to know at least a little bit more. Slapping a new website together can be as simple as 1-2-3, but if the content that makes up the “meat-and-potatoes” of your website is dull, not well defined, and static, then the purpose of your website is not to attract readers, not to make sales, not to educate a target audience — no, it will be a static waste of server-side data.

Do us all a favor and do not just slap together another website that collects [virtual] dust. Check out how our Creative Services can help you make the most out of your online presence.

]]> http://emspot.com/website-design-development/feed/ 0 http://emspot.com/social-media-in-2012/ http://emspot.com/social-media-in-2012/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:08:21 +0000 Lizelle van Vuuren http://emspot.com/?p=32 Social media, defined by Wikipedia, is: “web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue.” Now, we have always socially shared, we still do in person everyday — the other day a lady standing next to me in the grocery store, turns over to me and says which one of the hummus do you recommend. I smiled and shared with her, my opinion, about which one I thought was best. (Alibaba Hummus Original is amazing)

Today, a lot of us are trying to share the same message, about what is good in our opinion, but with thousands of people with a click of a button. Facebook has redefined how we share information and interact with our friends and family. Twitter made sure that we say it short and sweet — you have exactly 140 characters to get a powerful message out to the world. Linkedin changed how we network as professionals, and became a live resume for us to share. Google Plus has recently surfaced and is here to stay. The fact that Google Plus is integrated with Google’s search engine make it a whole new animal when it comes to social sharing.

But, what does all these, and so many more which exists for smaller groups of interests, mean for you the small business owner? Just like the definition puts it in plain English, they are merely technologies free to use for communication. Gone are the days where standing outside of your restaurant still attracted enough clients for you to fill all your seats. You now need to utilize these social media technologies to reach a wider following, and even more so generate a fan-base to do the marketing for you.

Rule of thumb about communicating on social media platforms — do not fire off dozens of messages everyday screaming at people to buy your products, or choose your services, or to come eat at your restaurant. No, the best recipe for social media success is to indirectly talk about your product, educate about your services, and get people hungry, for the sake of the restaurant example. Nobody is going to follow you if you constantly yell at them to come buy your product. But, people are likely to follow you if you start a series of conversations about related topics which ties into your industry, products, services, or business, and then in turn you are creating an environment for people to share about topics they have in common. With this method you earn loyalty, and loyal followers will buy, recommend, and refer your business to others — and that’s the ticket.

Even though your strategy will continue to change, as you learn, and as your business grows — every business has to start somewhere. And that starting point is very important if it’s your objective to diversify your business from your competition. Today, more then ever having a well defined strategy for how you are going to educate your target market about your product or service, is critical, because there are millions of other businesses doing the same thing. EmSpot will help you by clearly defining your existing, and new target markets, come up with a plan and help you implement some of the most productive tools the cloud has to offer.

We provide years of marketing strategy experience, and we are truly here to help your business grow. Take a look at our Marketing Services, and Contact Us today to start your project.

And breathe! No really, we speak to countless small business owners who are truly intimidated by the words; social media. Relax, with a solid strategy in place you too can utilize some of the social media platforms, which you may already be on, and engage with more people about your business’ top subject matters, and build a loyal following.

We all have things in common. Well, that’s the beauty of social media, if you can find your voice and some confidence, plus plenty consistency, then you too can build a strong following of loyal customers, fans, interested parties, and more. EmSpot will show you a few simple rules and a recipe that will help you refine the intimidating beast: Social Media, and turn into a set of platforms which you can use to share your passion, products, and services, with the world. We’ll help you every step of the way.

Social Media is not this big scary “thing”. They are platforms, and with our help can be turned into sales channels for you and your business. Check out our Marketing Services, and Contact Us right now to get started with your social media campaign.